Christianity, again, while he remains in contact with the white man distinctly advances, "Uncle Tom" is an abnormal specimen, it may be, and we are not inclined to place the moral condition of the negroes of the Southern States very high; but still, they have displayed a perfectly wonderful absence of vindictiveness toward the former slave-owners, obey the ordinary laws with fair regularity, and keep themselves above starvation by the labor of their own hands. The best of them, moreover, rise far beyond this point, the South containing both doctors and lawyers who, by the admission of the whites, are thoroughly competent men; and it may be said of the whole body that, though not equal to any European community of the same extent, they are far superior to any four millions of pagan negroes who could be selected in Africa. As they can not owe this rise in the scale to slavery, which at the best could only drill the negroes to industry, and at the worst must beget a permanent distaste for labor, the change must be owing to Christianity, plus the operation of laws based upon that faith. It follows that the largest group of negroes under civilized observation, the descendants, as is believed, of four widely distinguished tribes, have been raised in the scale of humanity by embracing a rude form of the Christian faith. The total conclusion, therefore, as yet justified by evidence, is that intermarriage, especially with the Arab, improves the negro tribes, that they gain in manliness by embracing Islam, and that they gain in the social virtues by embracing Christianity, the latter to a degree measured by the depth and earnestness of their faith. At home, when unconquered and unconverted, they do not advance, and the point still doubtful is whether, when left to themselves, they will not, even when converted, again recede or stop. The Abyssinians, who are Semites, have been Christians for ages. The conclusion is not very satisfactory; but it is certain that races of imperfect powers exist—e. g., the Australian aborigines—and that Providence does, for unknown purposes, occasionally waste even fine races—e. g., the Maoris—who will, to all appearance, die out, having fulfilled no function at all, not even that of preparing the way for the ultimate occupants of their country.—Spectator.
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THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY.
A curious economical study is afforded by the four groups of the Scilly Islands 'and Orkneys—which are as a rule prosperous—and the Western Hebrides and Shetland Islands—which are miserable—under similar outward conditions and surroundings. Those conditions and the rule of race failing to account for the difference, Mr. T. H. Farrer suggests that the explanation may be found in the fact that in Scilly and Orkney the industries by which men live "have become separated, specialized, and perfected, each practiced and developed by separate classes as a separate pursuit," while in the Hebrides and the Shetlands the crofter has to be at the same time a kind of Jack at all trades.
