The examiner. [volume] (Louisville, Ky.) 1847-1849, 1849-11-10
WHOLE NUMBER 1876.

: sparkle OF tneir deilgnted eyes, giedmin
with strong excitement, as they waved thei
:, swords and standards in the air, fully &C
knowledged the force Of the kings ques
tion-.'Could be. by signing the treaty
change the sentiments Of whole peoPlei'
The sight which was witnessing was d
me a.stronger argument than any the kim
had yet used; here there was no palliating
no softening down, no attempt TO concea
their real sentiments under the plea Of ne
cessity for undertaking their slave hunting
wars, bat a fierce, wild and natural instinct,
speaking in language that could not be mis-
understood. ts.~.
AT no time before my arrival ia bis
country did ever entertain the fainiest hope
OF his acceding TO it in good faith; and since
| had ascertained at Whydah the amount oi
revenue derived from this trade, and had
seen the rude and expensive magnifcence
of bis State. could not bat feel that q
repetition Of my paltry offer Of an annual
subsidy Of 1000 dollars would only clothe
me with ridicule. / was anxious, howev-
Ter, 70 ascertain whether the king really re-
garded it in merely pecuniary point Of
view. and would forego the trade in slaves
upon finding his revenue made up from
other sources. He assured me he would;
bat even with this assurance, may be al
lowed TO doubt whether monarch and a
people Of such ambitious character would
cease from making war upon their neigh
bors.
Mr.. Cruickshsnk had subsequent con-
versatiohs with the king OF Dahomey on
the subject Of his mission, but all equally
unavailing. Afterwards, De Souza, per-
son famous in the annals OF slavedealing,
rendered piece Of advice which seems Ear
from unreasonable. '"Your government
wishes to put a stop TO the slave trader"
said he. sssented. Then leave II
alone; leave it alone" he repeated; land
believe me, you will dissPPoint the slave
dealer far more than by the most stringent
laws you could form; and in the course Of
couple Of years you will be much nearer
your object than by enforcing the strictest
blockade which the whole navy Of England
could make Of the coast Of Africa" The |
source from which this counsel was derived |
may render il very suspicious in the eyes Of
some, nevertheless. am inclined 10 think
that the old gentleman was giving true
opinion upon the subject, and certainly, as
being the observation OF a man Of De
Souza's shrewdness and experience, it is
worth more than casual notice. Ii is a
distressing truth that our present blockade
is no check whatever to the slave trade:
it is fourisbing at this moment to such
degree, that the last accounts from Brazil
report more than 5000 slaves in the market
there without any purchaser; and not long
ago a cargo Of slaves arrived at the same
place, which found such bad market, that
they were given up to pay freight. In pre-
sence OF such facts as these, and the addi-
tionsl fact, that during the whole period
that we have maintained cruisers on the
coast, the slave trade has gone on uninter-
we must be convinced Of the fu-
tility of such a system: 1t appears to me to
serve no other purpose than TO increase the
horrors of the traffic. In the first place, the
certainty Of losing considerable proper
ton by capture, increases the slave mer-
chants orders for supply TO the slave-huni-
ing African kings, and so renders more FIRE. |
quent and incessant their cruel forays, with I
their endless tale Of miseries, from the
bloody battlefield, where they were token
prisoners, or from their smoking huts. where
they were surprised in sleep, throughout
their toilsome journey over the burning
plains and through the swamPy forests, I'M
Ill their arrival on the seashore. In the |
next place, the precautions necessary to
avoid the cruisers oblige the slavers 10 cram
these miserable objects into the sitting
holds Of small vessels, where il is well |
known thousands die from suffocation. In
addition to this, l believe may add, that it |
sometimes happens that the slave merchant
has been more fortunate than he calculated
upon, and that more Of his slaves have es-
capped capture than he expected; he does
not therefore require the additional lot OF
slaves who have been hunted down for him; |
so they are left sometimes to starve in the
hands of their captors, and sometimes are
led forth to crafty them with their tortures.
There can be no doubt but that much Of
this incredible suffering would be avoided
IL there were no cruisers; and truly, il We
cannot alleviate the miseries Of these wretch |
es by our blockade, let us not add to their |
torrents by our philanthropic but fruitless
exertions.'
De Souza was right. Our attempts to
put down the slave trade by armed cruisers
is proved to be utterly hopeless, and mon
strous on the score Of inhumanity, not to
speak of expense. Ships cannot repress
the slave trade. neither would line OF for.
tresses on the coast: for in the latter case,
the trace would only be diverted into a
new channel. Besides, a land blockade
would embroil us with the Americans,
French, and other nations. In the name Of
common sense, then, why is the present
pernicious and ruinously expensive policy
persued' II we must have hand in the
thing, why are not more placable means
-employedl To the consideration Of this
most important subject the mind Of all rea-
sonable persons ought to be directed. Un-
reasonable philanthropy, in this as in other
things, has done nothing but mischief
Chambers Edinburgh Journal.
CONSTRUCTIVE MLkAsk.-The Washington cor
respondent Of the New York Courier and Enqui-
rer says that Mr.. Comptroller, WarrTLEsEY has ne