groes those moral and intellectual feelings, which, by your applying the epithets of pagan darkness and depravity,' you plainly deny them, and which, I agree with you, they are not yet advanced far enough to know the value of,-can there possibly be experienced by them those acute feelings of turpitude and degradation, which would make the comparison hold in any one point? Supposing, even for a moment, that the inhuman picture you draw had any other existence than in the disordered fancy of your own poetical imagination Compositum miraculi causâ.'But in thus colouring it, true or false, your purpose, you conceive, is sufficiently an swered, by harrowing up indignant feelings against treatment, which, without the slightest regard to the actual fact, you would attribute to the West Indian proprietor. I, sir, have served cures in the counties of Essex, Norfolk, and Hampshire, and in London, and will be bold to say, that I have never, during my subsequent residence of seven years in this island, with a population of sixteen thousand negroes under my charge, witnessed such absolute misery, or such crucl abuse of autho rity, as I have seen in the conduct of parish officers towards paupers, or in the hovel of the wretched husbandman, to which my painful professional duties have led me, in England."

Such is the language of a gentleman, whose station and opportunities certainly appear to give him no mean claims on our attention. His pamphlet, as we have already noticed, has called forth the virulent and contemptuous abuse of the Mitigation Society's penman, whoever that may be. Let us look at the one point in which the said penman condescends to meet him as to a question of facts. At page 26 of his brochure, thus speaks the Rector of Manchester :

"As to the pagan darkness' of the negroes, though their progress certainly does not keep pace with our anxious wishes to see them in that state which would make it safe to confide ourselves to their estimation

of a Christian oath, nor in that condition, which would render it advantageous to themselves to be trusted with the liberty of self-control, yet the promises of Christianity are so far understood, and its preliminary rites so ardently desired by them, that, during my residence in this parish, I have actually baptized 9413 negro slaves, many of whom attend church; some have learnt the Lord's Prayer, and ten commandments, and a few have so far advanced, as to be now disseminating their little stock of religious knowledge on the estates to which they are attached. As I said before, I believe all my fellow-labourers here have been

at least as assiduous as myself, and some more successful. I expect, therefore, that you, sitting by your own fire-side, four thousand miles off, will not refuse credit to this unanswerable fact, advanced by one, who is on the spot, an actor in the deeds he records, and who has certainly the better means of forming a correct judgment on the point at issue."

And at page 22 we find the following passage:

"In page 17 of your Appeal,' you confidently make an assertion, which it happily falls peculiarly within my province to reply to, upon the authority of that character beneath which I claim credit for my affirmations. You state that no attempts have been made to introduce among them,' the negro slaves, the Christian institution of marriage.' Now, sir, this I positively contradict by stating, that I have myself married one hundred and eighty-seven couples of negro slaves, in my own parish, within the last two years, all of whom were encouraged by their owners to marry; and that the anxious wish at present expressed by them to bind themselves by this sacred institution, we hail as one of the first-fruits of the dispensation of Christian principles. In another parish, St Thomas in the East, I have reason to know that there have been three times that number married during the incumbency of the present rector, Mr Trew; and, though not speaking from numerical information, I can safely affirm, that the labours of the clergy, in the remaining nineteen parishes, have been equally active, and doubtless crowned with the same success. I therefore trust, sir, that your candour will induce you to acknowledge the untruth of what your want of charity towards the labours of our established clergy has led you blindly to assert."

Now, the writer of the Mitigation Society takes no notice at all of Mr Bridges' statement as to Baptism—but he does take notice of his statement as to Marriage. And what sort of notice? Why, this most christian opponent, this most evangelical opponent, re-echoes an insinuation of THE TIMES, yes, of THE TIMES! that the immense majority of the marriages which this clergyman of the Church of England tells the world he had celebrated "within the last two years," have been "got up" (that is the phrase) for the occasion. This is charity, this is loving-kindness, this is the candour and the decency, and, we may add, the honesty, of these partizans. Mr Bridges will no doubt make his own answerwe have little difficulty in guessing,

that it will be as convincing as indig

nant.

One more quotation, and we shall leave the Rector for the present.-The passage is certainly a very important one; and be it observed, the Mitigation Society have passed it sub silentio, as well as the conclusion to which it leads.

"I think it is in your eleventh page that you quote an act of the Barbadoes legislature, referring to the negro slaves, and reciting that they being brutish slaves, deserve not, for the baseness of their condition, to be tried by the legal trial of twelve men of their peers.' Now your only possible motive for raking up a disgraceful record like this, which has been buried in merited oblivion these 135 years, must have been the hope that careless readers of a popular and exotic subject, might confound dates; and actually be led to conceive it the opinion held, and acted upon, at the present day: thus calculating upon the odium and indignation which would be excited against our unfortunate planters, whose ruin you so calmly contemplate. The plain narrative of an unfortunate occurrence which recently took place in this island, will most effectually confute such an idea, should any one be so far imposed upon as to entertain it.

In the autumn of 1821, a negro slave, of the most infamous character, was, by

three associated magistrates of the parish

of Hanover, condemned to death for returning from transportation; which previous sentence had been humanely passed upon him for crimes which subjected him to capital punishment. By some error in judgment, however, these three magistrates did not call him before a jury of twelve men, but merely identified his person, and he was hanged. The instant such an omission was made known to the late Lieutenant-Governor, these three magistrates were superseded, disgraced, deprived of their various appointments, and indicted by the Attorney-General for wilful murder. In all these acts of degradation was included their custos, the Hon. Robert Oliver Vassall, a connection of your noble friend, Lord Holland, and a gentleman of the most upright character and unblemished integrity; who was, in fact, a hundred miles off when this unfortunate occurrence took place; and was no further implicated than in having associated such incompetent magistrates. In the Spring assizes of the following year, the matter came to a hearing the grand jury threw out the bill as it affected Mr Vassall, and another of the magistrates; leaving the rest, however, to stand their trial. They were acquitted: but, however hard the case, the anxiety with which negro life is here protected,

forebad the reinstatement of any one of the four in that place of honour or emolument, which he had previously filled. Of course, all the interest which Mr Vassall's friends

possessed, was exercised to obtain the restitution of his honours; a year, however, elapsed; and, it was not until within the few last weeks that this object was effected, by express orders from his Majesty's Mi

nisters. This lamentable transaction was speedily followed by an enactment of our local legislature, taking the power of life and death out of the hands of the magistracy, and placing it in those of the Governor alone; a salutary measure, which will prove, beyond controversy, that the planters of Jamaica have always considered that boasted privilege of British freedom, a trial by jury, to be indispensably applicable to the most depraved negro slaves; and that new laws are continually made for their further protection."

Our readers cannot, we trust, mistake even for a moment our object in making these quotations. We are not arguing that there is no cruelty among the West Indian Planters-but we are arguing, that the Wilberforces exaggerate the thing-that they exaggerate the amount, and distort the particulars.

And this is a matter of no slender importance to the best interests of the negroes themselves. These Association people may rave as much as they will; but no sane man really believes, that any radical and efficient reform can possibly take place in the condition of the negroes, unless by and with the concurrence and the aid of the planters themselves. Nobody but a madman dreams, that the high hand can be resorted to here. We must reason with rational men, our equals, and our brethren; we must not bashaw it as if we were working with the moral and intellectual refuse of our species. And this brings us to the second general remark which we feel ourselves called upon to make as to this whole matter. It is this. We have as yet met with nothing to make us throw out of view altogether, the gross general improbability of the statements which have been so mercilessly reiterated upon us, with the view of persuading us, that the West Indian Britons are inferior in every particular and moral feeling to all other classes of his Britannic Majesty's subjects. We have put the sentence in italics: we wish it to be well looked to: we do not fear how much it may be scrutinized.

And why?-why, for the simplest reason in the world. We have no need whatever to take our opinion of these fellow-subjects of ours from the flimsy tracts, and extravagant declamations, of people we know so little about, as these Institutions and Associations. The whole surface of society here at home, is studded over with men and women, who have spent great part of their lives in our West Indian colonies. Whole cities here in the midst of us, are occupied by people who have either done so, or who are connected by the closest ties of blood and friendship with such as have done so. Look, for example, at Liverpool -look at Glasgow-look at the City of London. Are not these places crammed with West Indians?-Are they not overflowing with a population of these men and women, who, if we believe Wilberforce's ipse dixit, are the most perfect brutes-cannibals savages-wild-beasts-so many incarnations of every bad, gross, and cruel passion that ever sullied the bosoms of the children of Adam? The fact is indisputable-the people are here-we see them every day we must all have more or less associated with them, and their families-We suffer our wives and children to mix as freely as possible with them and with theirs we dine with them-we drink with them -we hear their freest sentiments.-If we are Christians, we sit in the same churches with them-if we are Magistrates, we sit on the same bench with them-if we are Jurymen, they are our fellows-we cross them and jostle them at every turn-we live among them, and die among them. And do we know nothing of these people? -Are their true characters a mere blank for us?-Do we really look upon ourselves as such egregious idiots, that we are to believe nothing about these people, except what we are told in the pamphlets of the African Institution, and the Mitigation Society, who hold meetings, and make speeches, once a-year, in the City of London Tavern? Why, this is really something stranger than strange-In old times, we had books full of Cannibals and Anthropophagi, and men who do wear their heads beneath their shoulders; but these books always laid the scene of their murders at a pretty toIerable distance from those who were to read them. Here, thanks to the VOL. XIV.

spirit of modern modesty, things are altered with a vengeance-"Nous avons changé tout cela"-Here are books full to the brim of such monsters; and the monsters, they tell us, are rubbing the elbow of every mother's son of us-Well, and if it be so, sure it is nobody's fault but our own, if we do not see them.

But see them we do not-No, not one horn, hoof, claw, or bloody muzzle-not one. It would seem, that Trinculo is after all right, to the very letter, when he says, that "in England, a monster makes a MAN."

This cry-some people will start at being told so, but it is nevertheless very true-was first set on foot by that most amiable philanthropist, Mr Henry Brougham. If anybody will take the trouble to turn over the longforgotten pages of his Magnum opus "on Colonial Policy," the thing will be plain enough. It was there, and in the infamous journal to which that person has all along been a main contributor, that this wanton attack upon the moral character and feelings of this class of our fellow-subjects, was first begun. This is a fact which nobody can deny; and the quarter from which it originally proceeded, certainly throws great weight into the scale of the elaborate calumny.

This, however, is a part of the subject to which we at present cannot afford more than a single glance in passing. If we wished to enter once more upon the most unnecessary labour of exposing the Edinburgh Review, we could, to be sure, do it here as triumphantly as we have ever had occasion to do in regard to any one subject whatever. Contrast the recent language of Brougham with that of his coadjutor Mr Sydney Smith, in the far-famed attacks on the Methodist party in general. Contrast this fellowship of Brougham and his "very dear friend," (as he lately called him,) Mr Wilberforce, with the jocund Parson's diatribes, in Volumes 11th and 14th of the Edinburgh Review, about the danger of the English colonies from "the dynasty of fools,"" the ferocious fanatics," &c. &c. &c. Compare these things, and reflect a little-just reflect for a single moment, upon the late glorious alliance that has been struck between parties so long and so bitterly opposed to each other. Reflect upon this-and give honour to whom ho

3 L

nour is due !-Turn, if it be but for the joke's sake, to the very first Volume of the Edinburgh Review (p. 227), and read this sentence

"The negroes are truly the Jacobins of the West Indian islands. They are the anarchists, the terrorists, the domestic enemy. Against them it becomes rival nations to combine, and hostile governments to coalesce."

Or read ibidem

"Whether all the mischief of negro liberty comes at once, and falls on the system with an instantaneous shock, or only undermines it gradually, and then covers it with ruin in the end, we need scarcely take the pains to inquire."

Then turn to Volume Sixth"The real question in many a thinking man's mind is, how long they will suffer us to exist in the new world."

But the whole conduct of the Edinburgh Review, as to this subject, has been so thoroughly sifted by a most able hand, that we may safely indulge ourselves with quoting instead of composing. It is thus that the author of "Colonist's Letters,"* (Mr M'Queen,) comments upon the extraordinary change which the tone of the Review has of late undergone!

"Assuredly, the menaces held out by the Reviewer and his friends against the white population, and the cruelty with which they load their name, is not the way to make the slave obedient, or calm his resentment. Opposition, on the part of the white people, is derided. Though unjustly accused, and told they must submit to oppression, they are dared to complain. "Their puny legislatures must tremble and obey. (Edin. Rev. vol. i.) If a threat of following the example of America is meant, that is rebelling; then the answer is, that what was boldness in the one case, would be impudence in the other; and that England must be reduced very low indeed, before she can feel greatly alarmed at a Charibbean island, like Lord Grizzle, in Tom Thumb, exclaiming, s'death, I'll be a rebel.'-(Edin. Rev. vol. xxv. p. 344.) A contrary language is held to their slaves, which, however disguised, is really thisFear not, persevere, we are your friends, come and aid us.' Am I wrong, Mr Editor, when their own fanatical writers tell us, that they not only look forward to the progress of African freedom, but even of African sovereignty in the West Indies, with satisfaction rather than dismay.'(Opportunity, p. 42.)

"But it is not one Charibbee island which

is here interested. It is the whole of them. They are all united, and, at this moment, a general congress is assembled, to deliberate upon the measures necessary to be pursued in this alarming emergency. And I will ask the Reviewer, when traduced, defamed, and held up to the execration of mankind, as they are, and finding the only power from whom they had a right to expect protection, taking, in defiance of every warning voice, measures that will insure their destruction, if, under such circumstances, they could be blamed for throwing themselves under the protection of any power who would receive them? When St Domingo was treated in a similar manner, who ever blamed her for seeking the protection of Great Britain? And I will further ask, if, perceiving the storm approach, they should declare themselves independent, and the slaves free; or, what is more probable, as offering the greatest prospect of safety and success, if the whole Charibbean Archipelago should place itself under the protection of the United States-if then, in that case, it would be Tom-Thumb play for Great Britain to subdue them? In neither case, whatever the ultimate results were, could the consequences be so fatal to them as when left to the mercy of their slaves, worked up to a pitch of revolutionary phrensy. Abbé Raynal predicted that these islands would one day belong to Ame. rica. Driven to despair at this moment, the thing is not improbable. Jamaica is 5000 miles from Britain, but not 500 from Florida. The United States, with arms in their hands, in the contest about to ensue with Spain, and aided by all South America in flames, would be ready to accept the charge, and to strain every nerve to keep it. The Reviewer, before he turned Methodist, told us, that the fate of a large empire, with all its wealth, depends upon the result of the discussion,' which concerned their situation; and farther, that the event of a rebellion among the slaves, 'would completely subvert all the established relations between the different members of the European commonwealth, besides producing a vast absolute diminution in the prosperity of the old world.'—Edin. Rev. vol. vi. p. 340. If such would be the effects of a rebellion, where all property would be lost, what would the consequences be to this country, were the colonies, driven to despair, to throw themselves under the protection of a rival power? And if these colonies really are inhabited by men, who, according to the Reviewer and his frantic associates, are so totally devoid of principle, as to render it impossible to trust them on their honour, or their oath, on what ground can the mother-country, when oppressing

hem, expect submission to her will. Were they men of such principles, or actuated by the malignant political mania of the Reviewer, how soon could they clear off their mortgages, and free themselves from their encumbrances! That they do not act so, is a convincing proof that honour and honesty yet reside among them.

"There is a degree of levity and want of feeling in the conduct of the Reviewers, and which, increasing with age, deserves the severest reprobation. We may apply to them what Mr Burke said of the Jacobin politicians of his time, to such men, a whole generation of human beings are of no more consequence than a frog in an airpump.' And in the words of the Reviewer, as applied to others when similarly employed, and which may here fairly be applied to himself, for the distant prospect of doing, what most probably, after all, they will not be able to effect, there is no degree of present misery and horror to which they will not expose the subjects of their experiments.'-(Edin. Rev. vol. xii. p. 178.) Precisely similar is the conduct of those innovators in the present colonial establishments. Worse than the idle school-boy who scatters squibs and crackers in the crowded streets, to the annoyance of peaceable passengers; the Reviewer and his as'sociates, in this instance, stand with flaming torches in their hands before a maga zine of gunpowder, placed in the middle of a populous city, resolved to try, if, by applying the former to the latter, it will explode; and then, with the thoughtlessness of children, in the language of Tom Thumb, tell us, that they are not scared nor alarmed, (Edin. Rev. vol. xix.) to contemplate consequences, which would make a Robespiere fear, and a Napoleon tremble."

Such are the new associates of Messrs Wilberforce and Company. We heartily wish them much joy of this holy alliance; and, in the meantime, shall sum up, by stating our opinion-our belief-we might say our knowledge, that the present clamour, raised as it was in the spirit of restless zeal and extravagant exaggeration, and now maintained in the face of a solemn pledge on the part of the most prominent persons concerned, is in reality the work, not of one body, but of THREE entirely, or almost entirely, distinct of people. These are

FIRST, A body of persons who act, or, at least, suppose themselves to be acting, under the influence of no motives whatever, but those of general philanthropy and religious zeal.

Of this body Mr Wilberforce may be considered as the facile princeps. The extreme imprudence, to say the least of it,

with which this party have rendered it impossible not to charge them-more especially in their recent publications, and the absolute unfairness of their conduct subsequent to Mr Buxton's motion in the House of Commons

all this has been already sufficiently commented upon.

The SECOND is a far more coolheaded body-consisting of persons who agitate the public mind, in regard to the West Indian colonies, in the hope of seriously injuring them, and of thereby gaining direct commercial benefit to themselves.-This description of persons comprehends many ruling characters within the East India Company, and a still larger proportion of well-known individuals deeply connected with the free trade to India and the coast of Africa. We are sorry to say, that many who desire to be considered as forming part of the first class, really belong to this. Many of the most eminent leaders in the African Institution, for example, are well known to have great capital sunk in these branches of commercial speculation; and even Mr Wilberforce himself has not in all quarters escaped the suspicion of lending himself with eyes not quite shut to the interested views of these persons. Of this we are heartily disposed to acquit Mr Wilberforce; but certainly we must admit, that the compliment thus paid to his probity, is in so far paid at the expense of his understanding. Even in the very last publication of his associates, (the report of the Buxton debate already alfuded to,) it is impossible, one would think, not to be struck with the indications of mercantile bias, which here and there make their appearance in notes and appendices. For example, in a note on the speech of Mr Alexander Baring, who had expressed his decided opinion that a hasty emancipation of the West Indian slaves would be fatal to the cultivation of sugar in those colonies, we find it very calmly and consolingly stated by the godly Scribe, that we may have less sugar from the West Indies, but WE SHALL

HAVE IT FROM SOME OTHER QUAR

TER.”—P. 233. App. AA. And in the immediately following page, we are greeted with what we should have conceived to be a tolerably intelligible query-"Is the trade of INDIA, or Java, or Ceylon, less valuable, because the inhabitants are free,