The Press. — London, England, 1857-08-01 00:00:00

752. fiteraturt. Letters from the Slave States. By James Stirling. London : J. W. Parker and Son. Mn. STIRLING in his excellent letters has com pressed into a small space a considerable amount of valuable information, interspersed with reflections which display candour, kind ness, and sagacity. The question of slavery of course receives the greatest share of his atten tion, but the general subjects of democracy, the suffrage, and the characteristics of Ameri can society, are each handled in turn with sense and shrewdness. His remarks upon slavery naturally range themselves under the three heads of material, religious, and political. Under the first he treats of the comparative value of labour and land in the Northern and Southern States, and the probable effects of emancipation upon American commerce. His views aro broad and generous : One thing seems clear to me : the time for a wholesale deportation of the negro population has gone by. You cannot transport a people four million strong. The futility of such an idea is clearly proved by the ludicrously inadequate efforts of the "American Colonisation Society. Between 18 . 20 and 186, inclusive, that society sent to Liberia 9,5(4 persons. In the same period the increase of the slave population of the Union (supposing the average rate to have continued during the last six years) has been 1,999,527; so that Liberia has only absorbed the odd thousands, leaving an increase of nearly two millions to be disposed of. Even if practicable, colonisation would only be justifiable with the full consent of the negroes. They were brought hither against their will, and should not be ser.t hence but of their own good pleasure. Undoubtedly they have a right to be heard ill the matter. Now, with rare exceptions, I believe negroes dislike going to Liberia. Slaves themselves have Old me so. They have been brought up among whites; they are accustomed to lean on the superior race, and in many cases have a strong attachment to them. They love the country, too, where they were born and bred, and which contains all their associations and old memories. For the negro, therefore, colonisation is but a name for banishment. • • • • • The time, too, for any general scheme of emancipation and remuneration of the slaveowner is past and gone. The interests at stake are too vast and various, opinions are too conflicting, and feelings are too hostile, to afford the slightest chance of combined national action for slave emancipa tion. The present money cost of slaves is, of itself, au insurmountable difficulty. Major Beard, the great slave auctioneer of New Orleans (a most competent authority), estimates the present average value of the slaves of the United States at 700 dollars each. Now, 4,000,000 slaves at 700 dollars, or 1501., amounts to 800,000,0001.: equal to three-fourths of the national debt of Great Britain : a sum which assuredly will not be forthcoming for any scheme of negro emancipaticn. It is not by legislative or political, still less by philanthropic action, that this plague can be stayed. If slavery is to cease, it must be through econo mical influences. The interests of the slaveowner must free the slave, if he is to be freed at all. * * • • • The average value of an acre of land in the Free States (exclusive of California) is 20.84 dollars; in the five frontier Slave States, containing much of the most fertile land in the Union, with easy access to the best markets, the average value is only 12.4 V dollars. It cannot certainly be thought extravagant to presume that a successful sub stitution of free for slave labour would add at least five dollars to the value of the acre. Now, these five States contain 58,425,223 acres, which, at five dollars, would amount to 29:.,220,115 dollars. The direct results, then, of a judicious system of self emancipation to those five States may be set down as equal to an increase of half a million of labourers, and an addition of nearly 300 millions of dollars to the value of land. He repeatedly deprecates the recommenda tion of European nostrums, observing that although political economy can teach us clearly enough what would be the results of emanci pation, if successful, it is to the national experience alone that we must look for the means of making it so. This is wise and can did. Abstinence from meddling with the affairs of other nations does not involve the abandonment of great principles; nor is the maintenance of these principles promoted by a constant and irritating demand for their immediate adoption. Religiously, Mr. Stirling takes up a position less tenable perhaps than his previous ones. He thinks that slavery is not condemned by the New Testament, and that the abolitionists would do well to abandon the scriptural argu ment. But may wo not say that upon this, as upon other great questions, an example was intended to be set of the manner in which all reformations should be accomplished? At the first origin of Christianity, its Divine author might easily have disposed the hearts of men to accept r” its doetpaell iit t 4011; west literal THE PRESS, AUGUST stringency. For some good purpose this was not the method He pursued. A variety of precepts antagonistic to the ideas and prac tices of the heathen world are introduced with caution and even ambiguity. It was left for mankind to interpret particular passages by the general spirit of the whole system ; and when they do not choose to do so, it is often not difficult to find excuses for any course of conduct they may desire. Slavery, therefore, an existing institution of paganism, which could not have been suddenly swept away without great social and political dis turbances, is not condemned in the same tone as the violation of morality, or the coldness of religious faith. But that slavery practically, and as we think inevitably, presents features irreconcilcable with other parts of the Christian scheme must surely be acknowledged by most impartial reasoners. Politically, Mr. Stirling does not think that the slave difficulty will lead to the dissolution of the Union; and lie grounds his confidence on the character of the American people ? We fear, if this is all, that he is over sanguine. The national character of America is not, by Mr. Stirling's own admissions, allowed fair play under her present political constitution. That class by whose moderate and enlightened counsels such a catastrophe might be averted is mute before the sovereignty of the mob, and a rule of compulsory equality has crushed down intellect, education, and refinement into one muddy level of prejudice and ignorance. Out of this " dismal swamp " we see very little hope arising that any but the most violent and shortsighted policy will prevail. Indepen dently of these considerations, we must recol lect that the question at issue between North and South is of such a nature as to render any compromise extremely difficult. Slavery is not merely one of those disarrangements of the so cial machinery which a little skill and patience can set to rights. It is not like a question of suffrage, or taxation, or prerogative. The point to be determined is whether an institu tion coeval with the foundation of the Re public, and intertwined with the traditions and prejudices of a large number of its in habitants, shall stand or fall. The question is almost of as much magnitude to America as the Reformation was to Europe; and when we add to this that the pride of class is involved in the maintenance of slavery, and that for the South to submit to the dictation of the North would be felt as an insupportable disgrace, we shall begin to perceive the probability of more danger than Mr. Stirling is willing to admit. We should readily linger over one or two other topics which Mr. Stirling has treated in both an agreeable and an impartial style; but, as we cannot do this, we would especially recom mend to our readers' perusal the 12th letter, upon American manners; the 13th, upon the suffrage ; and the 15th, upon the English and American idea of work. Mr. Stirling does full justice to the virtues of our Anglo-Saxon brethren, and has glanced at their foibles and their vices in a more conciliatory and gentle manlike tone than the majority of European tourists have hitherto adopted. History of the Royal Sappers and Miners. By T. W. J. Connolly, Quartermaster of the Royal Engineers. Two Vols. London: Longmans. THE first edition of this valuable and interest ing work has long been out of print, and we are glad to see this new and greatly improved publication. At the present time it will be found a pleasant work for general readers, besides being of value to those professionally interested in the history of one of the most distinguished corps iu the British Service There are curious plates in the two volumes illustrating the changes of uniform from 1772 to the present time ; and military tailoring would seem to be almost as arbitrary as that which regulates the fashions for lay persons. In examining these volumEs we have been struck with the fact that a good handbook of English military services does not exist. Wo have various and worthless compilations for the circulating libraries, but we have no classic reC9X4 Qf tie *karti44 090'000 Of t h e 130403 1852'. troops. Most of the modern English exploits 'for the last three hundred years, excepting the immortal campaigns of Marlborough and Wellington, have been chiefly colonial wars ; and in attacking by sea and shore simulta• neously the English army has often splendidly distinguished itself. Our conquest of Canada from the French, where we had enormous diffi.; culties to contend against, and which at various periods tasked our energies, was a glorious achievement, the whole history of which has never received adequate notice. In that case we had to encounter a severe climate, difficulties of navigation, a peculiar conforma tion of soil most unfavourable to invaders, and, last, not least, the gallant soldiery of a renowned nation, led on by scientific officers. Some of the West Indian islands, also, gave opportunities for showing the British prowess in attacking by land and sea. The Royal Sappers and Miners is a corps of modern formation. It is not a century old. The first passage in this work records the origin of this distinguished body : Before the year 1772, the works at Gibraltar were mainly executed by civil mechanics from the Continent and Eng land, who were not engaged for any term of years, but were hired like ordinary artificers, and could leave the Rock whenever they felt disposed. Not being amenable to military discipline, they were indolent and disorderly, and wholly regardless of authority. The only means of punish ing them was by reprimand, suspension, or dismissal, and these means were quite ineffectual to check irregularities. The dismissal of mechanics and replacing them by others was always attended with considerable inconvenience and expense, and often failed to secure an equivalent ad vantage. Consequently, the works progressed very slowly, imposing much additional trouble and anxiety upon the officers. Even the better class of artificers—locally termed "guinea men" from their high wages—who had something at stake in their situations, could not be relied upon. It therefore became necessary that steps should be taken to put a stop to the evil, and to secure the services of a sufficient number of steady, obedient mechanics, upon whom dependence could, at all times, be placed, for the proper execution of the works. With this view, Lieutenant• Colonel William Greon, the chief engineer at the fortress, suggested the formation of a company of military artificers as the only expedient. Of the value of this suggestion some experience had been derived, from the occasional occupation on the works of mechanics belonging to the different regiments in garrison. Indeed, ever since the taking of Gibraltar, 1704, soldiers had so been employed, particularly artillerymen, whose services to the fortress were always found to be beneficial. There was every reason, therefore, to expect that, when the department became entirely military in its character, corresponding results on a large scale would ensue. Besides which it was considered, that the employment of a military company on the works, organised expressly for the purpose, would produce a great saving of expense to the public ; and also, that the men would be ready to participate in any military operation for the defence of the place, either as artificers or soldiers, should our re lations with other countries render it desirable. From that time the services of the corps are traced down to the present reign. The ser vices in Flanders in 1793—the siege of Valen ciennes--capture of the West Indian Islands — East Indian warfare—the war in the Penin sula, the Crimea, and Sebastopol, are all duly detailed. Most of the facts, of course, we have had before; but there is a detail in this work. and a fairness of statement, which give it much value. " The Ordnance Survey of Ireland" was one of the great works in which the Sappers and Miners eminently distinguished them selves. Mr. Connolly only does them justice in saying : Seventeen years bad the Sappers and Miners been em ployed on the general survey and had travelled all over Ireland. They were alike in cities and in wastes, on mountain heights and in wild ravines, had traversed arid land and marshy soil, wading through streams and tracts of quagmire in the prosecution of their duties. To every vicissitude of weather they were exposed, and in storms at high altitudes subjected to personal disaster and peril. Frequently they were placed in positions of imminent danger in surveying bogs and moors, precipi- tous mountain faces, and craggy rocks and coasts. Boat ing excursions too were not without their difficulties and hazards in gaining islands almost unapproachable, and bluff isolated rooks and islets, often through quicksand and the low channels of broad sandy bays and inlets of the sea, where the tide from its strength and rapidity precluded escape unless by the exercise of extreme caution and vigilance, or by the aid of boats. • • • • • • • Hardship and toil were the common incidents of their everyday routine, for on mountain duty theirs was a career of trial and vicissitude. Comforts they had none, and what with the want of accommodation and amuse• ruent in a wild country, on a dizzy height, theirs was not an enviable situation. Covered only by a canvas tent or marquee, they were barely closed in from the biting cold and the raging storm ; and repeatedly tents, It*TeSe .444 41, bye ),2,94 ,wept " Il i b y / 111 W iad gi