FROM LETTER IXD

　　escription of Charleston；Thoughts on Slavery；on Physical Evil；a Melancholy Scene

　　Everywhere one part of出e human species are taught the art ofshedding the blood of the other，of se~ing fire to their dwellings，ofleveling the works of their industry，half of the existence of nationsregularly employed in destroying other nations．What liale politicalfelicity iS to be met with here and there，has cost oceans of blood topurchase．a(chǎn)s if good was never to be the portion of unhappy man．Republics，kingdoms，monarchies，founded either on fraud or successfulviolence，increase by pursuing the steps of the same policy until they aredestroyed in their turn，either by the influence of their own crime．s or bymore successful but equally criminal enemies．

　　If from this general review of human nature，we descend to theexamination of what is called civilized society；there the combination ofevery natural and artificial want makes US pay very dear for what littleshare of political felicity we enJoy．It is a strange heterogeneousassemblage of vices，and vi~ues，and of a variety of other principles，forever at war，forever jarring，forever producing some dangerous，soreedistressing extreme。Where do you conceive then that nature intended weshould be happy？Would you prefer the state of men in the woods to that．of men in a more improved situation？Evil preponderates in both；in thefirst they often eat each other for want of food，and in the other they oftenstarve each other for want of room．For my‘part，I think the vices andrniseries to be found in the〕atter exceed those of the former，in which realevi〕is more scarce，more supportable，and less enormous．Yet we wish tosee the earth peopled，to accomplish the happiness of kingdoms，which issaid to consist in numbers．Gracious God！T0 what end is the introductionof SO many beings into a mode of existence in which they must gropeamidst as many errors，commit as many crimes，and meet with as manydiseases，wants，and sufferings！

　　Thc following scene wil！I hope account for”dlese melancholyreflections and apologize for the gloomy thoughts with which I have filledthis letter；my mind is and always has been，oppressed since became awitness to it．1 was not long since invited to dine with a planter who livedthree miles from．”where he then resided．In order to avoid the heat ofthe sun．I resolved to go on foot，sheltered in a small path leading througha pleasant wood．1 was leisurely traveling along，attentively examiningsome peeufiar plants which I had collected．when all at once I felt the山Tstrongly agitated，though the day was perfectly calm and sultry．1immediately cast my eyes toward the cleared ground。from which 1 wasbut at a small distance．in order tO see whether it was not occasioned by asudden shower，when at that instant a sound resembling a deep roughvoice，uttered。as I thought，a few inarticulate monosyllables．Alarmed andsurprised．I precipitately looed all round，when I perceived at about Slxrods distance something resembling a cage，suspended to the limbs of tree，all the branches of which appeared covered with large birds of preyfluttering about and anxiously endeavouring tO perch on the cage Actuated by an involuntary motion of my hands，more than by any designof my mind，I fired at them；they all flew to a short distance，with a mosthideous noise，when，horrid to think and painful to repeat，I perceived aNegro，suspended in the cage and left there to expire！I shudder when Irecollect that the birds had already picked out his eyes，his cheek boneswere bare．his arms had been attacked in several places，and his bodyseemed covered with a multitude of wounds．From the edges of thehollow sockets and from the lacerations with which he was disfigured，theblood slowly dropped and tinged the ground beneath．No sooner were thebirds flown．than swarms of insects covered the whole body of thisunfortunate wretch．eager to fCcd on his mangled flesh and to dhnk hisblood．I found myself suddenly arrested by the power of affright and terror；my nerves were convulsed；I trembled；I stood motionless，involuntarilycontemplating the fate of this Negro，in all its dismal latitude．The livingspecter，though deprived of his eyes，could still distinctly hear，and in hisuncouth dialect begged me to give him some water to allay his thirst．Humanity herself would have recoiled back with horror；she would havebalanced whether to〕essen such reliefless distress or mercifully with oneblow to end this dreadful scene of agonizing torture！”Had I had a ballinmy gun，I certainly should have despatched him；but finding myself unableto perform SO kind an office，“I sought，though trembling，to relieve himas well as I could．A shell ready fixed to a pole，which had been used bysome Negroes．presented itself to me；I filled it with water，and withtrembling hands I guided it to the quivering lips of the wretched sufferer．Urged by the irresistible power of thirst，he endeavoured to meet it，as heinstinctively guessed its approach by the noise it made in passing throughthe bars of the cage．‘’Tanke．一you white man，tanke you，pure somepoison and give me．”“How long have you been hanging there？”I askedhim．“Two days，and me no die；the birds，the birds；aaah me！“Oppressedwith the reflections which thiS shocking spectacle afforded me，I mustered strength enough to walk away and soon reached the house at which Iintended to dine．There I heard that the reason for this slave being thuspunished，was on account of his having killed the overseer of theplantation．They told me that the laws of self-preservation rendered suchexecutions necessary"and supported the doctrine of slavery with thearguments generally made rise of to justify the practice，with the repetitionof which I Shall not trouble you at present．

　　……