Daily State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis, Ind.) 1861-1865, 1865-10-27
DAILY SENTINEL
FRIDAY MORNING. OCTOBER "a.
From . Lopaoa Paper.I
anteresttag BLACKS.

A paper on ths "Occ'dsntAl or estsrn Nc
xro~." By Mr.. Crawford, was read At the meet
ing Of the British Association at Birmingham, by
M. Bates. The paper com nenced By observing
shat. bv the term negro, In 30 far. % least, as it
IL applicable to Africa, we understand q human
bang with The hair Of the head and other parts
Of the BODY always black, and more or less Of
the tsrturs OF WOOL. With . black skin Of various
shades: dark eyes. . fat face, depressed nose,
iutting Jaws and thick lips. and a large mouth,
with obliqse incisor teeth To this il 70 be added
. ,ecsliar odor OF the skin. offensive to, and un-
known 10. the other races Of man. As Ne know
nothing TO the contrary. We may assume that all
The races Of mar are OF equal antiquity, or that.
in 90 far a. mere time Is concerned. every race
has lad the same length Of time for making sd-
vancenent in civilization. The great diversity
of social conditions in which We nov fnd them
nust therefore depend on quality Of race or on
difference Of opportunity. The negroes Of Az
rica are unquestionably the most advanced of all
the uooly-headed races. They have been imme-
MORALLY In almost exclusive possession Of the
greater part ofa vast continent. most Of il within
the tropics. but q considerable part also in q tenn
perate climate. The region they inhabit is Ger
tainly not, compared to some other parts of the
globe. peculiarly fitted 70 foster an early eivili-
nation: for IL Is too unbroken q mass, having a
broad desert to the north, and . wild unsaeltered
coast far from civilized man, to the south. Yet
~ . not W1tnOuf sts Advantage IN "a u
terror IL has some great naVigable lakes, aud on
Is western side. although not On ia eastern, it
has several good navigsble rivers. although these
INDEED be, In magnitude and length OF course, far
from equalling those of Asia, America. or even
Europe.
The negros OF Africa, ever since they have
been known 10 civilized man. have been in pos
session OF the OF, the sheep. the goat. the horse.
the camel. the hog and the dog. "A long as we
49, 1885, - - 49, ~nlss--toA ralor
pulse and rice. and. since the discovery OF Amer
lea, maize, while the cotton plant is either indi
geneo1s TO their ora country OF time out of
mind was introduced from India. Wherever
they have been seen by Europeans they have
been found Ia possession, however rudely exsr-
cised, Of the art OF fabricating malleable iron,
and gold is the product Of several parts Of thar
country. On the western coast the negroes
have been 10 communication with the civilized
nations Of Europe for 406 years: on the eastern.
with the Arabs and Hindoos ~immemorially Let
90 note, then, the kind OF civilization which has
grown with the African negro under conditions
far more advantageous than with many other
races. One remarkable example Of the abuse
ness Of the African race. although referred to on
q former occasion, deserves 10 be repeated The
elephant is more abundant in the country OF the
negroes than IN any other part OF the world; yet
they hunt i: only for It's flesh aud its tssks,
and have never tanned and reduced il TO ser vi
tude, as have done all the nations OF Asia in
whose country the elephant Is Indigenous.
Negro literature 10 an absolute blank. Archi-
lecture, in any scientific sense, is equally e
blank with letters. The dwellings of the ne
groes, and even the palaces Of negro kings, are
ever OF poor, temporary, perishable materials
The art OF making bricks, or hewing stone.
seems to be unknown 10 all the purely negro ma
tons Of Africa. From one extremity Of the land
OF The negro 10 the other, there exists no monu-
ment OF enduring materials, no temple. no tomb,
dot even a bridge. The single exception consists
in mosques, with walls OF mud and matched
roofs, and those only ia very few localities, where
the negroes have intermixed With Arabs. and
adopted the religion of Mshomet. The religion
OF the negroes would be better named witch
craft, with wizards for priests. The wars of
the negroes are but the incursions of savsges,
their chief object being plumber, and the main
booty IMAM TO be sold into slavery, or offered
up as a sacrifice to some demon. On the wes-
tern SIDE OF the continent fire arms arc the usual
weapons. furnished by European nations; but or
the eastern, the bow and arrow are more fire. |
Quent. The art OF war is somewhat more skill
full where the Arabs have irtcrmi1ed with the
natives. and here alone We find cavalry. Gov
eminent among the negroes is IN therudest form
q despotsm the most absolute and unrestrained.
The negroes OF Africa are eminen.iy q home
keeping. unadyenterous race. Neither war.
commerce.. noI colonization have tempted them
to transgreSs their native bounds. Some
writer's have in my opinion, yery idly
imagined that the African negro made some !
approach TO the authorized apes, forming, as II !
were, a link between man and monkey, a fancy
as uufounded as il would be to insist that a Shet-
land pony was not a horse because it wanted the
size and strength OF a London drawhosse, or the
heetress OF q racer; or that q spaniel is not a
dog. because il wants the courage Of n bull dog.
the size and strength OF the mastif, and the
s~viftness OF the greyhound. Loud applause
Among the arguments relied on for the degrade
ton OF the negro below the level OF other men
are some minute and assuredly fanciful differ
ences between the internal anatomy Of the negro
and European. These differences, when real,
appear TO me of no value whatever, because for
aught We know to the contrary 4 superiority for
the negro might Just as reasonably be argued
for them ss inferiority. The negro is a nan with
every attribute OF one he is one of many races.
With very unequal qualities. he - equal. IN
strength and stature. 10 the European. but very
far below him in mental endow nents he X
superior IN strength. but inferior in intellect. to
all the races OF Asia who have had the same or
poriunities OF development as himself. be is
greatly superior in physical strength to she red |
man Of America. but intellectually scarcely his
equal, II We are 10 Judge by the progress made
BY the Aexicans and Perryians, lAboring under
uisAu'aueases WniSh the negro was noL SUB
ject. But The African negro, although greatly
inferior to many races. il far from being a. the
bottom of the scale lie surpasses the Hotten-
tot and the Australian, and IS far above all The
races of Oriental negroes. The inleriority of
the African IL pleaded as a reason Tor holding
aim in slavery; but | presume il will hardly be
argued that any one race OF man was expressly
created TO be slaves 20 another, as certain black
ants have been created TO be the servants aud
ala n. of cartafn rad auaa A fa- fro.3 a.0o-
in the colonies Of European nations. bu, never
10 their orn country. have occasionally acquired
some distiDotion in art. science. and literature,
and well meaning persons have adduced such
cases as evidence OF high capacity But the ex-
smples have been rare, and the attachments not
above mediocrity We wonder at them onl,
because they appear in a negro shape, much as
The poet represents superior beings as wondering |
az the Attachments OF Newton.