The Wheeling repository — Wheeling, Va. [W. Va.], 1807-05-28 00:00:00, page 3

««'iTi not render our meaning ambiguous 1
by withholding our weak, but fair ap
plause, upon this occasion. A heavy
debt,which the Honourof Great-Britain
has so long owed to suffering Humanity,
is now paid ; and, in regarding ourselves
:ls mere Philanthropists, we rejoice
at an event, which wipes off one of the
big blots in her national escutcheon.
Since it has been asserted by no mean
Authority, that “-When the judgments of
the Lord are in the earth,the inhabitants
will learn righteousness,” why should
we be ashamed to expose ourselves to
the sneer of modern pseudo philoso
phers, (whose opinion respecting the
true cause of the rise and decline of em
pires is widely different from ours,) by
expressing as cur sentiment, that the
righteous decision of this long depend
ing quest ion, by the Legislative Body
of Great-Britain, in the m idst of national
calamity and alarm, ought to have a
more cheering effect upon the spirits of
that people, than twenty Nelsons to com
mand their fleets ? For, as we think
ourselves warranted in the belief, that
the ruin or downfal of a kingdom never
happens without “ a cause,” lurking
somewhere in the minds of evil-doers ;
so is it, likewise, consistent with our
reason and measure of understanding,
to suppose that there is no surer way for
any people to avert impending judg
ments, than by cleansing their hands
from all pollution. At any rate, we are
now indulging ourselves, with a consi
derable degree of pleasure, in the hare
conjecture that the people of old England
have seriously begun to sift out the real
rause of their threatened degradation :
and, if permitted to express another un
fashionable sentiment, we would add,
hat if they perform this work faithfully,
it will not surprise us to be hereafter
told that they have discovered the cry
• ing cause to be at horn.1, amongst them
selves, and not, where too many of th ir
wise rulers have supposed it to be,—in
Bonaparte's ambitious heart.
In the recording of this late brilliant
transaction of the British Legislature,
we preserve, with singular satisfaction,
the speech of the classical Koscoe upon
the subject, as it was introduced hv the
motion of Lord II >wick,lor the house
to resolve its*. If into a committee on the
bill for the abolition of the African Slav.
Trad —In this elegant little specimen
n\ parliamentary eloquence, we find that
while the able advocate in the cause of
•the Blacks, is bent urging the
matter home to men’s bosoms, under i
the plea of sound policy, lie is not for-1
getful of those considerations, which an j
eye to the yustice of the moral law sug
gests.
It is hoped, that while this luminous
exhibition of that glaring Impropri f.ty,
which characterises the odious traffic of
blood, in a land of liberty, shines before
the eyes of our readers,—it is fervently
hoped, that they will not forget their own
pretensions to citizenship in a country,
which, though denominated equally
free, .vtill suffers the foul breath of com
plaining Slaves to sully her reputa
tion.—After this hint, I will conclude
these prefatory remarks with a fact, as
plain in circumstance as it is disgrace
ful to us who are ambitious of maintain
ing the unblemished character of a free
people. The fact alluded to is thus stated
in a little work now before me, which is
written by a kinsman of mine, who, af
ter much rummaging, has ventured to
publish his little volume of judicious
k‘ Remarks on the Slavery of the Black
People, addressed to the citizens of the
United States.”
1 here is a species of the blave 1 rade
carried on in the United States, which,
in cruelty, equals that to Africa. A
class of men whose minds seem to have
become almost callous to every tender
feeling, having agents in various places,
suited to their purpose, travel through
different states, and by purchase, or
otherwise, procure considerable num
bers of this people, which consequently
occasions a separation of the nearest
connections in life, husbands from
wives, and parents from children, the
poignant sensations marked on their
mournful countenances being disregard
ed, they are taken in droves through
the country like herds of cattle, but with
less commiseration ; for, being chained
or otherwise fettered, the weight and
friction of their shackles naturally pro
ducing much soreness and pain, they
are greatly incommoded in their travel.
Jails, designed for the security of such
as have forfeited their liberty by a
breach of the laws, are, through the
countenance of some in the magistracy,
made receptacles for this kind of mer
chandise; and when opportunity pre
sents for moving them further, it is gen
erally in the dead of night, that their
cries might not be heard, nor legal mea
sures pursued to restore to their rights,
such as have been kidnapped ; others are
cUairv'l iu the garret^&r cellars of nri
I
vate houses, till the number becoming
nearly equal to the success which may
have been expected, they are then con
veyed on board, and crotided under the
hatches of vessels secretly stationed for
the purpose, and thus transported to
such parts as’ will insure the best mar
ket, and many others are marched by
land to unknown destined places.5’
11 y reason of the prolixity of this pre
lude, we find it necessary to postpone the
insertion of the speech alluded to.
u
VARIETY.
A Hint for the Fair.
Beneath the Rose, that mild appears,
The envenom’d Thorn we find,
And oft the form that Beauty wears.
Conceals a canker’d Mind.
The nymph possess’d of Beauty’s charm
The praise of Fame may share ;
But she, whom love of Virtue warms,
Is still the loveliest Fair.
While that attends the flattering glass*.
To deck her beauteous face,
This, as the fleeting moments pass,
Improves each mental grace.
Accept the hint, ye lovely Fair,
Nor Friendship’s voice despise ;
For soon will Time’s rude hand impair
The bauble that ye prize.
Juvenile.
[Ev. Fire-side
Anecdote.
A regular physician being sent for by
a maker of universal specifics, grand
salutariums, Sic. expressed his surprise
at being called in on an occasion so ap
parently trifling. “ Not so trifling nei
ther,” replied the quack, “for to tell you
the truth, I have by a mistake taken
some of my own pills.”
Hoarding.
A miserable old man died lately in ait
obscure lane in the Liberty, Dublin, who
for a great number of years had been the.
victim of disease, and the most deplora
ble poverty. On taking oft' an old wig,
which he constantly wore under his
night-cap during his illness, some pa
pers were found sewed up in the caul,
which, on inspection, proved to be bank
notes to the amount of £ 975 ; and in
various parts of his tattered apparel, 71
half guineas were found sewed up. ft
V a0.' a fortunate circumstance that his