They are carried over in the unfavourable situation described.

It is observed here, that though their abilities cannot be estimated high from a want of cultivation, they are yet various, and that they vary in proportion as the nation, from which they have been brought, has advanced more or less in the scale of social life.

This observation, which is so frequently made, is of great importance: for if their abilities expand in proportion to the improvement of their state, it is a clear indication, that if they were equally improved, they would be equally ingenious.
But here, before we consider any opportunities that may be afforded them, let it be remembered that even their most polished situation may be called barbarous, and that this circumstance, should they appear less docile than others, may be considered as a sufficient answer to any objection that may be made to their capacities.

Notwithstanding this, when they are put to the mechanical arts, they do not discover a want of ingenuity.

They attain them in as short a time as the Europeans, and arrive at a degree of excellence equal to that of their teachers.