The Sun.
London, England, 1842-11-24 00:00:00

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SUIT OFFICE Three ©'Clock.

Notwithstandl;l the disheartening failure of
the Niger Anti-Slivery expedition, it is impos-
sible to help laugh ng at some of the circumstances
connected with it—more especially as regards the
model-farm, the whole history of which is one
of the drollest ePsodes to be found in the annals
of Quixotic philanthropy. It seems that about
two years ago, a tarty of amiable, well-meaning
individuals, shocked at the extent to which the
slave-trade was tarried on in the interior of
' Africa, determine(. on sending out an Expedition,
whosl primary obect should be the suppression
of this accursed traffic. With this view it

was ;:directed to ascend the Niger ; open
a trade with tine natives—for the philan-

thropists had a snail eye to business, as well as
humanity ; endeLvour to establish a social and
familiar intercourse with them; and impress on
their unsophistica ed minds the horrible crime

they were guilty of in making slaves of 'their
fellow-creatures, cnd selling them to the highest
bidders. But asit was not supposed that the

negroes could be all at once preached into anti-
slavery, the crews of the Expedition were ordered
to plant a model-farm on the banks of the
Niger, which wax to be a sort of Utopia on a
small scale—say; rather, an African New Har-
mony—where the blacks, who composed the
colony, were to live like so many Cincinnatuses,
in a state of perfect republican simplicity ; to
practise all the household virtues ; subsist on the
produce of their daily labour, which must have
been very prod ii among swamps, under a
burning sun ; aid teach their savage country-
' men the arts of husbandry, besides inoculating
them with Penny Cyclopredia knowledge, and

the true principles of Christianity. Well, the
Expedition having established this model-farm,
set its black inhabitants fairly to work, and
seen that all was going on as it should
gor returned to England—or rather a few
sickly remnants of the crews returned,
tier the rest found their graves among the
marshes of the Niger, under the very nose of the
negro colony. And now comes the droll part of
the business—the cream of the joke ! No sooner
had the Expedition set sail on its way home, than -
the blacksthe virtuous, regenerated - blacks—
who, we may suppose, were all picked men, and
looked on as so many models of virtue and mo-
rality—held a meeting among themselves, at
which it. was resolved that they were all inde-
pendent gentlemen, and that as daily la-
bour was a very ungentlemanlike occupation,
it was expedient that they should have slaves to
labour for them. Accordingly, they laid in a
good stock of cats and whips ; sallied out one
fine morning from the farm ; gave, chase to a
party of negoes ; caught them; and then, by
way of setting them the required example of
intelligence, civilization, and philanthropy, made
slaves of them all! Stich was the course of con-
duct pursued by those who had been purposely
selected by the crews of the Niger Expedition,
to instruct and elevate the minds of their country.
men, and more particularly to impress on them
the awful iniquity of the slave trade ! We can
imagine the horror with which Sir FOWELL
BUXTON, and his amiable drab-breeched
coadjutors, must have heard of this untoward ter-
mination of their efforts to suppress African
slavery
! How they must have writhed and
wriggled at the idea that they themselves had
assisted in the manufacture of slaves,by planting
4 model-farm for them to work in ! Though we
sympathise with them in their disappointment,
yet we cannot say that it is wholly unmerited,
with the
fur NYetsl of theoblit
Golden
visionaries , would ever have
banksdreamed
of otfl'icereating an Utopia, and realizing the
blood-heat, and cl
Niger- thermometer at
o'c taAgiel e, amongia n'c swamps on the
hippopotamuses
confronting one at.every turn I
. ,

virtuous indignation lately against
Mr. greatßo.rceafi, aof
County
Sonic of the London Journalists have displayed
Magistrate, for accepting
1,0001. bail
oan
intilsrdee
npi
ca.
ar
nt 0 outr.. a
They ge ntlem
evidentlya n "
adl
about the amount of his property,
eklntaorwgett "I'Ltinhi
and therefore are incapable of judging whether
thissuui was proportioned to his means, or was not
even oppressive bail, yet go on writing in the
dark, and do all they can to blast the character
nothing
of a respectable and useful Magistrate. We
may let that pass, however, as Mr. ROTCH will
be able to defend himself; but we cannot
help repudiating the bad taste and feeling
displayed, not only in keeping the offence
before the public, but in calling for a full dis-
closure of the particulars in a Court of Justice.
Such exhibitions only tend to increase the crime,
and it would be infinitely better for public
morality arkd decency if such offenders were
:allowed to purchase, by a fine, perpetual ba-
nishment from the country. These writers seem
to have no idea of parental affection, and would
by exposure needlessly add to the poignant dis-
tress
which already overwhelms many fami-
lies, and casts a stigma on the victims,
however innocent, which they know can never
be effaced. The Scotch Courts, in general,
exercise a wise discretion in trying cases which
tend to corrupt the morals of youth, by ex-
eluding the press and the public. The Judges
and Magistrates of this country would do
well to imitate the example, and thereby
disappoint and check that morbid craving
for offensive and horrid details which dis-
tinguishes and disgraces the present age.
Mr. ROTCH, in place of reproach, de-
serves great praise for the course pursued. He
wisely concealed the evidence from all but the re-
latives and the accused, and thereby prevented
disclosures which could serve no possible good, but,
un the contrary, be productive of great mischief.
We admit the advantages of public trials, but there
are exceptions to every general rule. Publicity,
occasionally, not Only causes great distress to
the innocent, but incalculable injury to public
morals. One half; probably, of the suicides in
London are committed from the strong propen-
sity of imitation inherent in mankind. All the
sickening details are read with the strongest
interest by persons of diseased minds; their ma-
ladies are increased by the frightful pictures
which haunt their imaginations, and they are
at last driven in despair to follow the example.
Trials such as those our. Contemporaries wish to
be made Public have a pernicious effect on so-
ciety, and probably lead to many crimes which,
but for them, not one in a thousand would ever
have contemplated.
____

The following
extract is from the letter of a
naval
officer in China :--`'The EMPEROR is highly
satisfied
with all arrangements, and has asked if
he should send a Mandarin to the British Court,
sould
he be well received? The Admiral, it is
~aid, has re
plied that, should he wish to do so, a
frigate
should be placed at his service, and, ofcourse
he would be well received." It would appear
['tom this, that we shall probably ere long
have a Chinese Ambassador in London, with a
tail twice the length of Mix's, and a yellow face
as flat as a
pancake ! Conceive the sensation
that such aphenotnenon would create in the metro-
polis i
Not a Barbarian eye from Hyde Park cor-
ner to Mile.
end turnpike, but would open to twice
its usual
his Secretary, ogling
extent, to gaze at the interesting Im-
port. T
-rnagine QUA NG-F0 in a dress-box at
Covent-garde„,
one of the actresses through an opera-glass!
Truly, Wonders never cease, but a Chinese Am-
bassador in London, with a pig-tail as long and
Its
lively and 0-1.1,
one of the leading articles in the
Herald, is the greatest of all imaginable marvels !

We regret to learn by accounts from Bar-
celona that the news of the insurrection in that
town has been confirmed. The authorities had
fled, and
the citadel and different posts were
occupied
by the National Guards. Fighting in
the streets had continued far three (lays, and it
is said great numbers were killed and wounded.
No sufficient
outbreak, andcause is assigned for this sudden
with our present information it