The Sun.
London, England, 1840-07-27 00:00:00

LITERATURE.

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EVENING EDITION.

HORACE WALPOLE'S LETTERS.
177)L. IV. Botilrt,, London, 1840,
It is a truism to say of Horace Walpole's Letters,
that t',icy arc among the most delightful reading we
Pcssr for every one his Mt their charm, and is glad
'0 own it ; but we may go further, and add that, taken
as a body, the) are :lie most perfect specimens of epis-
tolary compositin in the language. Something to suit
---=rd not merely to suit, but to delight—every palate,
Say be found in them. Gray writes too much like a
'recluse scholar ; Cowper—though we cannot too highly
irlse the unaffected grace of his style—is limited in
she range of his subjects, and frequently touches on
themes in which we can now feel scarcely any interest,
"cent as they serve to show the kindliness and Do.riy‘
of his nature ; Burns is full of affectation, and eon.-
Itantly degenerating into mere fustian in his endeavours
''o").- fine things ; Byron, brAtant as are many of his
`epistles, is too much taken up with himself, and too little
tvith his correspondent ; but Horace Walpole exhibits
doneaet as
, (cftel:ese drawbacks, but writes ualformly with the
liveliness, and self-possession of the disciplined
man of the world. There is no showing-off in his Let,
1"s—no false lustre, His frequent epigrammatic point
limrtes without effort ; his vivacity seems to be the
watural growth of his mind, which to the last was re-
markable for its exceeding youthfulness, One thing
°Ply We miss ha him—fervid and vigorous sensibility.
All his feelings are on the surface ; there is nothing
ccP or sustained in them. Indeed, he seems to have
.IMagined that the betrayal of emotion was inconsistent
b,ith high breeding ; hence, even when describing the
moments of his dear friend and relative, Lord Wal-
"grave, he is perfectly self-possessed ; and in the very
411-ne letter—dated on the midnight of the day on
'which his Lordship died—in which he mentions the
particulars of the closing scene, he gossips about Bute's
resignation, and the other news of the hour, with a
no.ucka/ance that contrasts amusingly with his pretended
Brief, So when her " darling husband" lay dead in his
'clltniber, the fashionable wife, in Fielding's " Amelia,"
41ind time to discuss the momentous question of her
'mourning dress! In one only instance have we found
4nYthing like genuine feeling in Horace Walpole ; and
that is, in a letter to George Montagu, wherein he de- •
ribes his visit to his father's seat at Houghton, after a
sixteen years' absence ; but even here the feeling is
•°1""6"ial and suboests none but the most common-
Place

But if WalIrian that pole be deficient in keen sensibility, no
ever wrote shows a quicker perception of the
71(.1 and ridiculous in character. With what caustic
..tl`l'olour he hits off the eccentricities of a Newcastle, or
pompous formality of some aristocratic Dowager'
IYn° absurdity., however well-disguised, escapes his
terx,,,ee,. He strips the mask off Folly, and exhibits
I)eitig-isune really is. As a raconlcur,he is unrivalled, and
per „u"Y Conscious of his powers in this respect, he is
sonin,"earY of detailing a fashionable anecdote, or rea-
last the piquant sauce of his arch sarcasm, the
altetlt of Court scandal. Who forgets his racy
the ."es
.of the celebrated Gunnings ; of the trial of
de, .cost oh Lords for high treason, and their personal
,x;"ceanour during the process ; of Earl Ferrers's
fa uti" ; of Miss Chudleigh's house, and her
fount-martial
°us public breakfasts ; of Lord George Sackville's
'°llrt-roartial ; of the " Wilkes and Liberty " riots ;
°F the Coronation of George the Third ; and of his
ispet-castle at Strawberry Hill, which Burke con-
emptuously styled " a mere gingerbread toy r These,
and a hundred other sketches and anecdotes, that
N/0 could enumerate, were it needful, bloom fresh
4.
Yesterday in his evergreen pages, and will continue
tom. 6harm, so long as a relish for merry malice exists
us.

But notwithstanding Horace Wain°le's keen dis-
roment of character, the range of his observation is
inlited, being almost exclusively confined to the habits
Pd peculiarities of the class in which he moved, and de-
lighted to move. He betrays no acquaintance with
hum
—ar. nature at large, and indeed seems unconscious
of the existence of any other world than that of rank
Ind fashion. No man dissects mere conventional hu-
itanity with more skill ; but a bold, unsophisticated,
original character, such as Shakspeare, Cervantes, or
Fielding would have delighted to pourtray, would, we
suspect, have puzzled him exceedingly. The truth is—
despite his frequent affected contempt for the follies and
Pursuits of high life—he was at heart an Aristocrat of
the most decided stamp. None who peruse his Letters,
but must instantly perceive this. Toe impress of Aristo-
cracy is on every page. It tones down his humour ; gives a
polished edge to his sarcasm ; and mellows the mercu-
rial vivacity of his nature. So deep-rooted was this
conventional prejudice, that nothing annoyed him more
than the idea that he might be mistaken for an author;
and accordingly it became an object with him to divest
his style as much as possible of all professional peculia-
rities ; and in this, he has certainly succeeded, for there
are few or no symptoms of the craft in his Letters ; he
'ir.ites chastely and perspicuously, but as an accom-
plishes gentleman, not a practised author. Pity that the
fleet.weening prl'.ie of Aristocracy should have beset so
vital a "pacify, stinting its growth, and enfeebling its
Powers Had Horace Walpole but enlarged the
ran powers
of
annd his sympathies, and the boundary of his under-
Tg% be might have enchanted the world with essays
raete"•ttches of genuine, healthy English life and cha-
‘with,r, equal to those of Addison and Steele ; and this
lice'a
ut at all impairing his ability for pourtraying high

It has been the fashion for years to talk in high terms
°I Praise of Horace Wal olc's wit. We cannot fall in
with this
aeutenesa°,pinionfor though'P we find infinite smartness,
and vivacity in his writings, we have been
rable to detect thpreser ce of the rarer quality of wit,
totwithstanding that he possessed, in an eminent degree,.
bed?°sisar.v concomitant, a ready mind. As a critic,
•enuol.wtiva'ssPeanjet,(hlerrsiuch abilities as—had he sedulously
cursi:irnvg might have won him lasting re-
in this department of literature. H.
\Vs.°. remarks on Hurd's and Warburton 's
Shand
a;
, Clarendon's Life—Sterne's Tristram
Volt, s poetry—Lord Lyttleton's prose—
ill h.' r v}er e s histories—and numerous other works of note
11igniseictIa,Y.--,negligently as they arc thrown off, evince a
to
',is
• ant' discrimination not often surpassed. Though
capacity, of letter-writer Walpole is necessarily
compelled to po
talk often about himself and his con-
i"l n's, Yet nothing can be more graceful and adroit
14n the manner in which he acquits himself. his
eg°tistn is never wantonly intruded on his corre-
sPondents, but is always in strict accordance with
t:(1 breeding, Indeed in no instance is his in-
ate tact more remarkable, than in his references
° (lS'lf• He speaks of his pursuits, his peculiarities,
tl°,l• even his personal appearance, so frankly, and at
tlles so minutely, that from his scattered notices we
Should have little difficulty in drawing his character at
I°ll length ; but he knows exactly how much the tick-
Ish theme will bear, and when to dismiss it. Lord
33Yrna, svho was his avowed admirer, might here have
i.t.eitated him to advantage. It is singular that a man
thus distinguished by good sense, should in.ye attempted
tragedY, for which he had not the slightest talent ;
!NI romantic fiction, for which he was equally un-
fitted,
The " Mysterious Mother," possesses neither
freeoo of style, nor depth of sentiment ; and the `'Castle
Otranto." which was penned with a view to exhil;t
Its author's powers of imagination, exhibits nothing so
urie •
• quivocslly as an utter dearth of the imaginative
Had Walpole written nothing but these two
holits, his name would long since have perished, but
e lives in his Letters and his Historiettes—produe-
tiens which the world " will not willingly let die."
The foregoing observations base been suggested to
its • by Mr. Bentley's edition of " Horace Walpole's
Letters," the fourth volume of which is now lying on
eer table. We consider this publication as one of the
tpast useful and important that has issued from the
for the last quarter of a century ; for not only
",°es it comprise all the Correspondence that is
.1)e found in preceding editions, but much, also,
1,11101
ear'
not till now appeared in print
!, still further recommended to our notice by a
4,r`q3' of illustrative notes, drawn up with consummate
fully wherein all that is now obscure in the text is
‘
t*,,e explained ; and brief biographical sketches are
tiii °1 almost every individual of note or otherwise,
taiq ,'°,°l Walpole refers in his correspondence. \Ve
in addition, that it is embellished with nume-
tessy"rtraits, engraved from authentic originals, of
t'eilt
ith in °I the most celebrated wits, statesmen, and
o'sof the last century. Such a work, so enriched
Of the all that is necessary to render it complete, is one
litegelost valuable that any lover of' sterling English
"re here
a It',lre can possess. Its range is vast, extending over
br's-stiing Period of upwards of fifty years ; and it em-
s,. ees every topic of domestic or public interest that
nTs-try
which • eietY during that period. Characters of
gives us but a meagre outline,
by one Pourtrayed, con amorc and at full length,
very oath who knew them well. Famous beauties, whose.
befareatueas age almost forgotten, are here brought visibly
the Gulin' enchanter s 'wand. Here we see how
havoc nings looked, and Mary Lepel smiled ; what
vas wro
listet; Lady:loadh ht by the Duchess de Choiseul's " fine
and the Temple's courtly manners ; we seem to
farad, t ° vivacious small-talk of old. Madame du Def-
cerentinrieadto' int'
sprightly repartees of George Selw ; and
Imately acquainted with the ludicrous cc-
mor yes of his Grace
of Newcastle. Honour to the me-
t... Yof Horace Walpole ! But for his inimitable Let-
, much of the domestic history of one of the busiest
half-centuries in our annals, would have been wholly lost
to us.
CAp

--T----1 i first time in
FRE CHIEF.—.cor tle
atinali of the colony, a Caffre chief had appealed to the courts of
law for redress against the publisher of a libel on his character.
A correspondent of the Colonial Times had charged Pato, the
Caffre chief, with ordering a trader, 13czant by name, to be
barbarously murdered ; it was also said that, for a " similar
rime," Pate had been " disgracefully kicked out of the officers
wirters at Fort Peddle." The proceedings were by criminal
niforrnatio, and, Pato swore Ora he was innocent of the crime
imputed to him. An objection, that Pato not being a British
subject, could not institute criminal proceedings, was overruled.
lhe case of Bonaparte versus Peltier was cited by the plaintiff's
counsel Ihe trial was put off till the defendants could pro-
l'e witn‘sses from Caffreland.-- Commercial Advertiser.

GREAT ANTI 'T.

MEETIN G
AT BIIn4iNGHAIt.

DIRMINGDAM, SATURDAY.
Once Cl' t`he most numerous and respectable meetings
ever assembled in this town in behalf of liberty and hu-
manity, took place last evening in the Town-hall, being
the anniversary of the Birmingham Brltith find Foreign
Anti-Slavery Society, The interior cf the Magnificent
building presented a Most irilpOsing andintetesting spec-
tacle at the hour appointed For the commencement of
the proceeding; the body and galleries being filled by
an audience representing all sects and parties in this
tnwn and neighbourhood intereQt,ni Promoting the
liberation of the slave\ •ar,'cli securing to the enfranchised
negroes of ear West India Islands the full benefits and
advaciages purchased by the great boon of emancipation.
At six o'clock Sir Eardley Wilmot, Bart, M.P., made
his appearance on the platform, and was received with
loud cheers.) The Hon. Baronet was accompanied by
Joseph Sturge, Esq., the High Bailiff (Rice Harris,
Esq.), Charles Shaw, Esq., Magistrate, the Hon. J.
G. Birney and H. B. Stanton, Esq., of New York
(being a deputation from the friends of the cause in
America), John Sturge, and John Scoble, Esqrs., the
Rev. Thomas Mosely, the Rector of St. Martin's,
Birmingham ; the Rev. John Angell James, Indepen-
dent Minister ; the Rev. Mr. Macdonald, Wesleyan
Minister ; the Rev. Knibb, Baptist Minister
from Jamaica, and a large number of other ministers
and lay-gentlemen belonging to the town, and several
from America.

The proceedings were commenced by the Secretary,
Mr. William Morgan, reading the report, in which was
embodied a brief summary of the busicess transacted at
the great Anti-slavery Convention ►ccently held in the
metropolis.

In closing their report the Committee observed, that
from all that they had been able to learn, it appeared
that the enfranchised negroes, patient under continued
provocation, and obedient to the law, cruel as it was,
had exhibited conduct above all praise. On the other
hand, the malignity of the oppressor continued undimi-
nished. Already were laws in operation, the direct
tendency of which was to reproduce the most direful
fruits of slavery. Already one of those individuals on
whose behalf their sympathies were last year excited—
( Mr. Oughton, a Baptist missionary)—was incarcer-
ated in a prison for having done his duty to his con-
science and his God, and they would ask, whether these
things were to be ? If they would have liberty secured
and perpetuated to the negro, then let every indivi-
dual abolitionist, and every friend of humanity, unite in
a common effort to purify the Legislative Councils and
the Courts of Justice of these colonies.
Sir EARDLEY WiLmoT then came forward amidst
general acclamations. The report, he commenced by
observing, suggested to his mind reflections of deep in-
terest and importance. It had been his happiness to
attend several meetings of the Anti-Slavery Conven-
tion in London, and it was impossible to express to
them the gratification which he, in common with others,
felt in witnessing the scene presented by the assembly
of 400 delegates from every part of the civilised world.—
( Hear, hear.) But, however grateful these and other
meetings of a similar character were to his heart, he
felt a far higher pleasure in meeting them on the present
occasion, in a town in which he was personally known,
and in which he hoped he had many friends, and in a
cause in which they all felt so deep an interest. At
the period of their last meeting, they had
only approached, as it were, to the confines
of the dominions of slavery.—(Hear.) They had now
entered into the heart of the country, and he trusted
they would never relinquish the object they had in
view till they had secured the liberty of the coloured
race wherever they were held in bondage.—(Cheers.)
It was the opinion of many of their opponents that the
friends of abolition were adverse to free labour. There
never was a greater misapprehension than this. He
considered free labour the great stepping-stone to their
ultimate success.—( Hear.) But the friends of the
negro called free labour one thing—the planters in Ja-
maica called it another. He (Sir Eardley) called
that state of things free labour in which a man was
at liberty to give his efforts and his industry to
whom he pleased, and in whatever way he pleased, so
far as was consistent with the laws of God and man.
The " free labour" of the planters was Oak that
where the man was free, he must be compelled to
work as they please].—(Hear, hear.) Let them sup-
pose, for instance, that their Parliament, in one of its
insane moments--(Great cheering and laughter)—was
to pass a resolution, that any three labourers who wished
to earn their bread by the sweat of their brow for
the support of their wives and children—that these men,
in giving a preference to masters who treated them
kindly, should refuse to work for those who scarcely
considered them or treated them as human beings—
should they not, he asked, denounce that as a cruel law
which should sentence these three poor men to impri-
sonment, merely because they obeyed the dictates
of their judgments and the best feelings of their na•
ture ?—(Hear.) Should they not denounce that law
which sent men and women to prison for seeking shelter
for the night in sheds by the way side, driven from their
houses, and which prohibited them from fishing as they
were accustomed to do during the worst days of
slavery ?—(Shame.) Yet this was the way in which
the negroes were still treated, and yet the planters
complained of their losses, and the refusal of the negroes
to work. Let them but try the experiment of treating
the negroes with kindness, and he would venture to say
that, so far from experiencing pecuniary loss, in a short
time all complaints of this nature would cease.
The Rev. G. B. 111AcnotiALD, in moving the adop-
tion of the report, said, although he had no intention of
availing himself of the opportunity afforded him for ad-
dressirg the meeting while there were gentlemen pre-
sent in whose statements they must necessarily take
a deep interest, yet he felt that there was some propriety
in a Christian minister being selected to move the first
resolution at an Anti-slavery Society, for he considered
slavery as the greatest blot at the present time on the
Christian Church, in a large portion of the world ; and
it was therefore important that Christian ministers
should enter their protest against slavery, and wipe
their hands, so far as they were concerned, of that
abomination.—(Cheers.) He believed the various
Christian Churches of America were sadly polluted
with this curse, and perhaps not one of them more
deeply than the Wesleyan Episcopalians.—( Hear.)
The Wesleyans of England had endeavoured fearlessly
to do their duty by representing to them the enormity
of the system, but in consequence of the Anti-slavery
principles contained in their Christian remonstrance,
that remonstrance was suppressed in America.—( Hear,
and cries of " Shame.") They had heard much of
American revivals and the increase of their Churches,
but he was, he confessed, not a little suspicious of the
purity of the one and the sincerity of the other until
they abjured their connexion with slavery.—(Cheers.)
The Hon. J. G. BIRNEY was here introduced to

the meeting, amidst great applause, as a gentleman
who had voluntarily emancipated his slaves. The
Hon. Gentleman, in seconding the resolution, said
the sympathy expressed by the meeting in the an-
nouncement that he had emancipated slaves in his pos-
se,sion, was a higher proof of their regard for the prin-
ciples of' liberty than it could be matter of honour to
him that he performed a simple act of justice.
He took pleasure in seconding the resolution, and if
he were to follow the Chairman in the view he had
take❑ of the subject, he should be able to exhibit the
superiority of free labour over slave labour. It had
been tried, not upon a contracted scale, but in whole
communities, and it had been found that the free
states were more prosperous than the slave states. But
he would not dwell on that part of the subject, because
it would be gone into by others. He would, therefore,

hasten to another point not less interesting to the
meeting, and to those whom he represented. The
American delegates had come there to obtain
all the aid they could reasonably ask in the
enterprise in which they were engaged in their own
country. They needed it. Much had been
said about the dangers to which the American abolitionis s
were subject ; but enough could hardly be said. The extent
of it was not known in this country, but they were
not deterred by it. They had set their hearts upon the
attainment of a right object, and, come what might,
they were determined to proceed.—(Cheers.) But in
that determination they would not be reckless of conse-
quences, nor despise any aid they could obtain. They
had come there to ascertain the real feeling of English-
men, and ascertain in what way they could be assisted.
'l'here were various ways, but all must be centred in
and emanate from pure moral influence—(Hear, hear)
—upon the country, and especially upon the religious
portion of the community. In order to enable
them to judge of the necessity for this influence,
he should read documents which would show
clearly the great hold slavery had got amongst
the religious denominations. He should first direct at-
tention to the sentiments entertained by the religious
dcaornination to which he himself belonged. He
meant the Presbyterian body. At the general confe-
rence of the body held at Charlt ston and in the Caro-
i nas, they declared—
' That in the opinion of this Presbytery the
holding of slaves, so far from being a sin in the sight
of God, is nowhere condemned in his holy word—
(Cries of " Shame")----that it is in accordance with
the example, or consistent with the precepts of pa-
triarchs, prophets, and apostles ; that it is compatible
with the most paternal regard to the best good of those
servants whom God may have committed to our charge ;
and that, therefore, those who assume the contrary po-
sition, and lay it down as a fundamental principle in
morals and religion, that slavery is wrong, proceed upon
a false principle.'
The S, nod of Virginia declared unanimously, that
the dogma fiercely promulgated by the Abolitionist As-
sociations, that slavery, as it actually exists in our
slaveholding States, is necessarily sinful, and ought to
be immediately abolished, and the conclusions which
naturally follow from that dogma, are directly and pal-
pably contrary to the plainest principles of common
sense and common humanity, and to the clearest autho-
rity of the word of God. Now these were the sentiments
expressed by the duly constituted bodies of the Church.
It might be said they hay not been approved of by the
Churches in the other part of the country, He could

„ . .
?ray 64 had condemned by them. The men
•, • -
who had solemnly uttered and published them had never
been rebuked; and when such opinions were promulgated
by bodies what might they not expect from individuals ?
He would read an extract from the writings of a,.slave;.
owner. Mr. 13. then read the following ektt•it'fft ft-i.ni4, a
letter of the Rev. Robert Andeison, Who; in writing to
one 'df conmainibn, said---” If there be. any stray
goat of a Minister amongst us tainted with the blood;-
hound principles of abolitionism; let him be Rirreted.otit;
silenced, and exconimuninated; Mfd left to the public to
dispoSe of him in other respects." He well knew, con-
tinued Mr. 8., the interpretation that was to be put
upon this language. He well knew that he was handing
the unfortunate person whom he had described to Lynch
law—to deprive binn of !ife. language from a
rniwister of the Gospel! Well, what said the newspapers?
The Soul/rerte Christian Herold; a religious newspaper;
and.the organ of bno of the religious &nominations,
gives an r.ecokint of a meeting held in Lancaster, South
Carolina, which was addressed by the Rev. T. H.
Thornhill and the Rev. Mr. Carlisle, and which passed
resolutions, asserting—" That slavery as it exists
in the south is no evil, and is consistent with the prin-
ciples of revealed religion ; that all opposition to it
arises from a misguided and fiendish fanaticism, which
we are bound to resist on the very threshold ; that all
interference with this subject by fanatics is a vio-
lation of our civil and social rights, is unchristian.
and inhuman, leading necessarily to anarchy and
bloodshed ; and that the instigators arc murderers."
The Rev. James Smislie, a Presbyterian preacher in
the State of Mississippi, in a pamphlet published by him
a few years since, with the avowed intent of quieting
the consciences of some of his slaveholding Christian
neighbours, says, " If slavery be a sin, and if advertising
slaves with a view to restore them to their masters is a
direct violation of the divine law, and if the buying, sel-
ling, and holding slaves for the sake of gain is a heinous
sin and scandal, then verily three-fourths of all the Epis-
copalians, Methodists, Baptists, and P:esbyterians,
in eleven States of the Union are of the Devil."
(The reading of these documents caused a great sensa-

tion and strong marks of disapprobation.) -He should
next advert to the Wesleyan body, which exceeded in
numbers 700,000 persons. They lately held a confe-
rence in Baltimore, and at that conference it was de•
tided that no minister in that Church receive the testi-
mony of a coloured member against a white member.
What, he would ask, was that but a declaration that
the coloured member was not worthy of credit ? The
Baptist slave-owners were still more cruel. They de-
clared that if a slave was removed for life by virtue
of purchase, his wife should consider him dead to her,
and she might marry another. Amidst this almost,
general advocacy of the worst species of slavery, it was
well that among some of the smaller bodies of Christians
the system was not carried on. Amongst the Roman
Catholics nothing of the sort was carried on. The
Baptists had also some amongst them who were op-
posed to it ; these, however, were few ; and the ques-
tion came, how were they to induce all to abandon the
mischief ? By bringing the religious portion of the
community of this country to bear upon them. The
speaker next adverted to the conduct of several ministers
of religion, who, when they came to England, professed
to be opposed to slavery, but when they re-
turned, they resumed their slave-driving. Against
these men they must guard, and subject them
to a severe scrutiny on their next visit. The
Hon. Gentleman proceeded to point out several
ways by which the people of England could act upon
public opinion in the United States, such as through
remonstrances, by the agency of their missionaries, but,
above all, by their exertions to induce the Govern-
ments of Spain and Portugal to relinquish the traffic.
In conclusion he stated, that he hart received an ac-
count of a young gentleman in America, named Ed-
wards, who had set his slaves at liberty, and divided
amongst them four thousand pounds sterling.
The Rev. Mr. GALUSIIA moved the second re-
solution, expressive of the satisfaction of the meeting, at
the great impulse given to the objects of the Society,
by the Great Anti-Slavery Convention lately held in
London.
'rho Rev. Jolty ANGEL JAMES rose to second the
resolution, and was received with loud applause, after
which he delivered a most powerful address. He did
not hesitate to avow he felt himself honoured in being
associated with his American friends of the Abolition
Society, just as much as he should feel myself insulted
and disgraced with being associated with the American
advoc.tes of slavery ; and he trusted that that rneeting
was a preparation tor a period nearer than some gloomy
imagina,ions might be led to fear, when all America
would be united with all England in promoting the
cause of universal freedom. The days of slavery were
numbered—its fate was fixed—its doom was sealed—
it had been tried and found guilty of treason against
reason and the iniagc of God.—(Cheers.) It had been
found guilty and condemned, and however lingering the
time might be that would intervene its execution was
approaching—it must die—it would die—it shall die—
it was the decree of mau, who re-echoed, in pronouncing

it, the decree of God. In the British metropolis, the
centre of the civilized world—of all that
was intellectual—of all that was moral and
religious, before the venerable Clarkson, who lived
to be the judge in that trial, with the Bible before them
as the statute book, with witnesses that slavery had
violated it, with a jury impannelled from all parts of the
world of various politics and religious denominations,
under these circumstances, and where Sir E.Wilmot was
one of the jury, the criminality of slavery against God
was proved, and it was doomed to an ignominious and
accursed death.—(Cheers.) Die it would and die it
must. He in these observations of course alluded to
the Convention his excellent friend described as the
centre of moral influence on this great question. He
would pronounce that Assembly one of the most im-
portant, august assemblies, that had been held in
modern times or in any part of the habitable globe.
Let it not be thought, however, that they had an
easy task to accomplish or that they could succeed
with facility. They did not expect it. They
were not soldiers of the parade, they were nerved
in their arms, and they had courage in their hearts,
and were prepared for a long war, but confident
of the victory. They had not lost the records of hu-
manity in their own colony. Clarkson still lived, who
had taught them how to forgive, as well as how to work
and gain the prize. If it took twenty years to put
down slavery in the British colonies, let it not be sup-
posed that it would take less to put down slavery all
over the world. With respect to the resolutions of
the religious conferences in America, he would exclaim
—Oh that Christian men, and above all that Christian
ministers, should pass such resolutions! But he would
say, in spite of them all, slavery was hateful in the
sight of the God of justice and mercy ; and let them who
had the power send up the sacred incense of their
prayers before the throne of heaven for the final
destruction of the evil. [Addressing himself to the
American delegates, the Rev. Gentleman said]—Wil!
this, my respected brothers, have any influence in your
country ? From my very heart I pity you, and at the
same time in many respects I envy you. I can and do
entertain love for the land of my birth—l can enter into
the feelings of sorrow and anguish of soul, you feel as pa-
triotic men at having uncovered the dishonour of your
native land. I can. conceive how you blush to think
that your country should !be held up to ignominy
for its advocacy of foul slavery, that the very acts of
your Legislature are passed to the music of the groans
of the slave—where slavery is enshrined in the hall of
your legislators, and where it is chained to the very
chair of your President.; and in the ruthless hatred of
the efforts made to abolish this evil, your legislators
have sacrificed half your rights as freemen by preventing
the right of petition.—( Hear, hear.) Still I envy you,
that you should have the distinction of standing forth
to remove this blot upon your country—that you should
be willing to take up the martyr's post, and with it the
martyr's crown. Go, my honoured brothers, to your
country, thanking God and taking courage. You will
not be left to yourselves—you will have all our moral
influence as men, and the benedictions of the oppressed.
The Rev. O. WiNsLow moved the third resolution,
recommending the adherence of the friends of the slave
to the recommendation not to hold any Christian com-
munity with slave-holders in America.
RICE Hands, Esq., High Bailiff, seconded the reso-

lution.
H. B. STANTON, Esq., moved the next resolution,
expressive of the abhorrence of the meeting of the un-
just laws recently passed by the colonial legislatures,
with the object of depriving the negroes of their just
rights, and urging the adoption of petitions to Parlia-
ment for the repeal of those obnoxious laws.
The Rev. Was. KNIBB seconded the resolution in an
address of great length, in the course of which he ex-
posed many of the flagitious enactments by which it
was attempted to deprive the negro of his dearly pur-
chased freedom. No dependence could be placed on
the planters in the colonies that they would fairly ad-
minister the law, and he believed they had nothing to
expect from their present Colonial Secretary. Mr.
Knibb announced his intention of sisiting America in
the ensuing year, with the view of exposing the horrors
of transatlantic slavery.
JOHN STURGE, Esq., moved the following resolution :
—" That although emancipation has in some of the
colonies been attended by a temporary diminution
in the produce of sugar, this meeting is fully per-
suaded that such diminution has mainly arisen from a
\course of proceeding on the part of a great majority
of the managers of estates towards the consumers no
less blind and infatuated than it is oppressive and un-
just, and it is the decided opinion of this meeting that
the superior cheapness of free labour, aided by the in-
troduction of the plough and other agricultural imple-
ments, will soon not only produce an ample supply of
sugar for home consumption, but at no distant day
drive from all the markets in Europe the blood-stained
product of slavery." Mr. Sturge, in a very sound ad-
! dress, proved the accuracy of the views expressed in
' the resolution, by statements of facts which were most

con elusive.
JOHN SCOBLE, Esq., in seconding the resolution,
observed, that in the present state of the meeting, and
at that late hour, it would be utterly impossible to en.
gage their attention in such a manner as to repay them
for anything which he might have felt it to be his duty