but we must be permitted to feel some tenderness for our European brethren, although they are white and civilized, and to deprecate that inconsistent spirit of canting philanthropy, which in Europe, is only excited by the wrongs or miseries of the poor and the profligate; and on the other side of the Atlantic, is never warmed but towards the savage, the mulatto and the slave. Admitting all that has been said against the planters, and their African providers, we are much of the opinion which Lord Bacon has expressed in the following sentence." it is the sinfullest thing in the world to forsake a plantation (colony) once in forwardness, for, besides, the dishonour, it is the guiltiness of the blood of many commiserable persons."

Either the sad depression of colonial produce, however, or their own advancement to a much higher degree of philosophical illumination, has subsequently changed the views of these writers. And this is another instance, in which we have to felicitate ourselves upon our separation from the parent country. Now-and-then, indeed, the Legislatures of some of the non-slave-holding States, have so far forgotten what is due to our relations under the confederacy, and to the ties of consanguinity, as to insult us by a formal declaration of their opinions and wishes upon this subject. But as yet, a very becoming degree of forbearance has been exhibited by the people of those States. It is most unfortunate for us, that the District of Columbia, should have been subjected to the legislation of Congress. It is too evident, that that spot so governed, is destined to be the hot-bed of infinite mischief-the laboratory of all sorts of political quackery and imposture. So far as this unfortunate Ten-miles-square is concerned, we may lay our account with some trouble in this matter, and what shall be the effect of such projects, will depend very much upon the spirit in which the debate shall be carried on. It may be well, therefore, to let it be distinctly known, that our people take up this subject just where Captain Hall does. We avow it as our deliberate opinion, in his language, "that we cannot and OUGHT not [consistently with our own duty] to disentangle ourselves from the obligations which have devolved upon us, as the masters of slaves." All virtue is relative, and consists not in visions of ideal perfection, not in a puling and sickly sentimentalism, but in making the most of our situation, whatever it may be, for purposes of improvement and benevolence. The conscientious slave-holder, as our author well remarks, deserves a larger

share of the sympathy of those, who have sympathy to spare, than any other class of men, not excepting the slave himself. And we think, paradoxical as it may sound, that one great evil of the system, is its tendency to produce in process of time, laxity of discipline, and consequently, disorders and poverty in a country, by the excessive indulgence of careless or too scrupulous masters. In the course of a generation or two, the family relation, the tie of a sort of homage ancestral between master and slave, becomes so intimate, and so affecting, that the sternness and rigour absolutely necessary in the management of men, not under the spur of necessity, sensibly abate, and with them there is a corresponding falling off in the cheerful and ready obedience, and of course, in the happiness as well as the usefulness of the slave. It is impossible to look around us, and not see that some of the worst symptoms of the times are owing to this ill-judged, but we fear, inevitable facility and indulgence.* Nothing, indeed, can be more superficial than the idea, which generally prevails, and seems to possess even Captain Hall's mind, that no affection or confidence can grow up between the master and the slave-that the former is necessarily a tyrant, and the latter always a conspirator. Such a notion is a satire upon human nature, but an unmerited one. The very feeling of loyalty, about which this anthor discourses so philosophically, is sure to spring up on the one side, and a sort of parental or patriarchal kindness on the other. During the Revolutionary war, instances of the most devoted fidelity were every where exhibited by slavesand at that time, be it remembered, the treatment of this class of people, was, in every respect, harsher and more severe, though we will not say (in the long run) less humane than it is at present. Nor is this any evidence, as some may think, of their degradation. It by no means follows, that, because a man is not a Hampden, ready to resist and resent the slightest instance of arbitrary power, as a personal insult, he has, therefore, no moral principle, no elevated virtues left. Was there no exaltation, no heroism in the Vendean, or the Spanish patriots, because they were priest-ridden and degraded, and so blind as to fight for despotic princes? Was the Celtic Clan less devoted to its chieftian, for his exorbitant powers, and his occasional freaks of tyranny? According to the Jewish law,t slaves were adopted into the family of their master, but hired servants never; and it is remarkable, that throughout the scriptures,

Plato-de Legib lib. vi.-has some excellent remarks on this subject.

f Exod. xii. 45.-οἰκία δε τελεῖος ἐκ δουλων καὶ ἐλευθέρων. Arist. Pol. l. i. c. 3.

whenever an example of oppression is wanted, allusion is made to the condition of the latter. The truth is, that parcere subjectis was not exclusively a Roman virtue. It is the usual characteristic of all undisputed power.* It is a law of human nature, and in this very law of our hearts, as we verily believe, is to be sought a great mitigation of the evils of slavery-that compensation which exists in all the ordinances of Providence, and by which Infinite Wisdom is ever bringing good out of apparent evil. There are very few men who do not feel the whole force of that beautiful and touching appeal-" Behold, behold, I am thy servant," and no scenes of tenderness which we have ever witnessed, can exceed what we have seen on plantations, about to be given up by their hereditary owners. We do not agree with Captain Hall, that allusions to the poor's rate, and the parish work-house are as unsatisfactory as they are invidious. The Quarterly Review has in a recent paper shewn, that every labourer in the kingdom, is in greater or less danger of ending his wretched life in those receptacles of wo and want, the last refuge of a worn-out body, and a broken spirit. Compare this hideous prospect with the easy, cheerful, comfortable old age of the negro slave, made free by the very causes which bring the free operative down to the worst of bondage. To say that this does not as yet occur in America, is no answer to our view of the question, which is bottomed upon the inevitable tendency of the system, if it be successful in producing the so much desired results of accumulated capital and dense population. Such a frightful mass of evil as now exists in Englandso much bodily suffering and mental anguish-so many crimes prompted by the desperation of utter want, and punished with the unrelenting rigour of a stern and necessary policy, shew that, even under the most propitious circumstances, a large portion of mankind are doomed to servitude and misery. We are sincerely sorry for it, but so we are for all the evil, moral and physical, in the universe, and can only bow with deep humility before the inscrutable wisdom which orders or permits it. We will add, that the contract by which, according to Grotius, the master has a right to the services of his slave, in consideration of providing for his perpetual maintenance, is, except in very peculiar circumstances, a most losing one for the former.t So much so, that there can be no doubt, the gradual extinction of villainage all over Europe, is to be accounted for in this way.

And hence it is that, of the vicious forms of government, Monarchy has been found most bearable, and prevailed most universally.

† A friend reminds us of Don Quixotte's reflection-" Duerme el criado y esta velando el señor pensando como le ha de sustentar mejorar y hacer mercedes."

It is the euthanasia of slavery, and those who are for bringing our institutions to a violent and tragical end, would do well to ponder upon this view of the subject. Another piece of inconsistency in Captain Hall, is his sentimentalism about the use of the lash, whilst in another part of his work, he undertakes to prove, and we think, does prove, that in naval and military discipline, it is at once, the most efficacious, and the most merciful of punishments.*

We will now submit some extracts on this subject, without pointing out more particularly wherein we differ with him.

"I have no wish, God knows! to defend slavery in the abstract; neither do I say that it is the best state of things which might be supposed to exist in those countries; but I do think it is highly important that we should look this great and established evil fairly in the face, and consider its bearings with as little prejudice as possible. There is no other chance for its gradual improvement, I am well convinced, but this ealm course, which has for its object the discovery of what is possible— not what is desirable.

“One of the results which actual observation has left on my mind is, that there are few situations in life, where a man of sense and feeling can exert himself to better purpose, than in the management of slaves. So far, therefore, from thinking unkindly of slave-holders, an acquaintance with their proceedings has taught me to respect many of them in the highest degree; and nothing, during my recent journey, gave me more satisfaction than the conclusion to which I was gradually brought, that the planters of the Southern States of America, generally speaking, have a sincere desire to manage their estates with the least possible severity. I do not say that undue severity is no where exercised: but the discipline, taken upon the average, as far as I could learu, is not more strict than is necessary for the maintenance of a proper degree of authority, without which, the whole frame-work of society in that quarter, would be blown to atoms. The first, and inevitable result of any such explosion, would be the destruction of great part of the blacks, and the great additional misery of those who survived the revolt.

"The evils of slavery are, indeed, manifold. Take a catalogue of the blessings of freedom, and having inverted them all, you get a list of the curses of bondage. It is twice cursed, alas! for it affects both parties, the master and the slave. The slave, in bad hands, is rendered a liar and a thief, as a matter of course ;-he is often systematically kept in ignorance of all he ought to be acquainted with, from the truths of religion, to the commonest maxims of morality; he is sometimes treated like the beasts of the field, and like them, only better or worse, according to the accidental character of his proprietor. On the other hand, there is in our nature a mysterious kind of reaction, which takes place in all circumstances, from the oppressed to the oppressors, the result of which is, that no man can degrade another, without, in some degree, degrading himself. In Turkey, for example, where the women are * Vol. ii. pp. 167–171.

systematically debased-what are the men? I have the less scruple in taking this view of the matter, because it is one which, though not quite new to me, was brought to my notice on many occasions by the planters themselves, who, almost without exception, admitted to me with perfect frankness, that there was more or less of a deleterious effect produced on their own character by the unfortunate circumstances inseparable from their situation. They are compelled, at the hazard of their lives and fortunes, to maintain a system, often in the highest degree revolting to their better nature. Like officers on service, they are forced on many occasions to repress their best feeling and act with sternness of purpose, which, though every way painful to them, cannot be relaxed for one instant.

"I confess, for my own part, I have seldom felt more sincerely for any set of men, when I heard them lamenting with bitterness of spirit the evil influence of the systeri alluded to, infusing itself, daily and hourly, into the minds of their children, in the very teeth of their own strenuous efforts to prevent such contamination. It is a curious, and perhaps instructive fact, that the slaves themselves delight in encouraging 'young master,' or even young mistress,' to play the tyrant over them! What at first is mere sport, becomes in due time serious earnest. The difficulties, acccordingly, of right education in those countries, at all its stages, are magnified to a degree, of which people in happier climates can hardly have any idea.

"In condemning slavery, and scorning slave-holders, we are apt to forget the share which we ourselves contribute towards the permanence of the system. It is true we are some three or four thousand miles from the actual scene. But if we are to reproach the planter who lives in affluence in the midst of a slave population, it ought to be asked how he comes by the means to live at that rate. He gives his orders to the overseer, the overseer instructs the driver, who compels the negro to work, and up comes the cotton. But what then? He cannot make the smallest use of his crop, however luxuriant it may be, unless, upon an invitation to divide the advantages with him-we agree to become partners in this speculation-the result of slave labour. The transfer of the cotton from Georgia to Liverpool, is certainly one step, but it is no more than a step, in the transaction. Its manufacture into the goods which we scruple not to make use of, and without which we should be very ill off, is but another link in the same chain, at the end of which is the slave

"I shall be grievously misunderstood, if it be supposed that I wish to lessen the general abhorrence which is felt and expressed in the northern parts of America, and in England, for slavery. But I have a very great wish to see the subject properly viewed, and not shuffled aside, as it too frequently is, when all the matters at issue are taken for granted. My reason for desiring to see it so treated, arises from a conviction of there being no other way to do any good in the matter, except by considering it with steadiness and temper, and by giving due consideration to the interest and the feelings of the parties most closely connected with it-who, after all, are in strictness not one whit more culpable than ourselves, and are very often, in spite of all our abuse, the most zealous