Staunton vindicator and general advertiser. (Staunton, Augusta County, Va.) 1858-1860, 1858-08-14
From he London Times, Jay.
CUBA AND THE SLAVE TRADE.

CUBA AND THE SLAVE TRADE.
There is a character 50 popular in com
mon stories that it must address itsslf t
very general ambition. It is the youn,
fellow whose quick sympatl,ies are happil,
assisted with health strength, and Sigh
acquaintance with the noble art Of defence
and who seldom appears on the scene with
out finding victim TO be rescued or 9 ruff
fan to be knocked down. The rufian is al
ways rough, burly brute, inaccessible t
reason, yielding to no argument but force
and Judging of men by their exterior. The
champion is slight, but active, wiry, and in
vincible in his rage. If for one instant h
appeals to the reason Of the better feelings
Of the wrongdoer, it is only that the novel
list may thereby aggrayate the crime anc
further justify the avenger. The result i
delightful, and dull indeed is the reader
who does not wish fer similar powers ano
opportunities of doing good. But wher
the transport of admiration is over it may
still occur that that is not the ordinary way
| in which good is done in this world. A
tugilistis encounter in the streets must be
regarded as an exceptional occurrence. Fist
cuffs are not the daily bread Of moral life.
The greater part Of mankind, be their spirit
ever so high, are not match for drunken
paTl5ur, or for the ineanest adept Of the
prize ring. The good that is dohe is by
other means. It BY tact, gentleness, per-
suasion, by the evidence Of sincerity, and
the inducements Of kindness, that most peo-
pie must do the little good they can ever
hope to do. This is tie gentle force, this
the art Of defence open to all, and not de-
pendent on youth, CT sex. on sinew or bone.
1t has not to 60 into the streets for it's OPP
portnnitles, and does not require for the
good of one being the destruction or injury
! Of another On the contrary, it does good
all around
| Having admitted that the more popular
ideal Of benevolence deals with blows rather
| than words, and must have victim as well
as an object, we are painfully aware that we
stand at a disadvantage in disputing lord
Palmerston's view Of national duty in regard
to the Slave Trade His speech is 60 thor
oughly imbued with the popular idea that
we are inclined to think he hes been reliev-
| ing his unofficial enmui With series Of light
reading from the circulating 1ibraries. He
sallies forth into the streets determined to
find somebody whom it is necessary to
knock down. There IS cnlJ enc way Of
dealing with mankind. Don't talk Of the
improved sentiment of Brazil though it has
given up the Slave Trade. It only yielded
to force. Don't talk Of Spain ever listening
to argument. She listens to none but that
Of guns, and reads truth only in CIR flag.
Taught by force, indeed, and ruled with a
rod of iron, even Spain, after the example
of Brazil, may Eventually acquire spon-
taneous humanity but Il must 60 through
hard tutelage, and England must be her
master. As for France, well, how about
France? Lord Palmetston dexterously re-
serves France for the peroration of his speech,
to illustrate tie inahehoe Of our example
Having demonstrated by Spain and Brazil
that we could do nothing but by force, he
finally brings in France to augment Of the
result, but omits to explain whether we wor
France to our cause by what he Fad pre-
viously laid down to be the only means O
doing good Then as for the United States
there again we are left in the dark. # is
sEeyident that the United States remain to b
converted, but whether BY broadsides OF BY
gentler means Lord Palmerston does no
say. The argument rests, then, on the
solitary example Of Brazil, and il involve:
the supposition that, but for our squadrons
and the Act Of Parliament which sets those
squadrons in motion, every port Of Brazi]
would become mart Of the Slave Trade
.rhe bare statements Of facts then, is far from
encouraging One State alone has beer
converted by Lord Palm erston's only argu-
ment, and that one conversion is hollow, I'M
willing and only Warrington the withdrawal Of
the sharp eye aud cutting lash. Meanwhile,
there are nations to whom the argument Of
force is inapplicable, and Lord Palmerson
has no mode of appealing to them. On his
own showing, therefore, this one argument
is bankrupt.
t As Brazil, then, is but an inadequate
basis to support the theory & conversion by
force, Lord Palme7ston brings in Africa
Eherself. His Argument here stands thus !
The African chiefs must have money and
European commodities. e We Jet chem
|lalone, they will get these By every now and
then surrounding village, and marching
the inhabitants several hundred miles to the
Slave-port. IF we stop this traffic tEeJ vii
take to other means Of raising revenue
and bring cotton, palm-oil, and ivory t
1.-THE Coast instead Of men, woman, and chill
dren Now, this is very old question
it is one. which presents itself in man,
forms; but experience has always answered
lit far otherwise than Lord Palmerston doe
in this instance We don't make good mel
by p,1nishing bad men. We don't Great
good trades by stopping bad ones. Gal
lows, gaols, hulks, and public works ma,
be necessary, but other Institutions, othe
. persuasives, are necessary for social i'm
pro7ement Of a positive character. If W
want to civi1ize Africa we must begin a
the right end, by taking all the steps in tn
power Of Government and compatible will
sound principles to develop peaceful trad
with the interior Of Africa No doubt tina
will tend to supercede the traffic in slaves
and may do so very quickly; whereas, tn
most vigilant watching by British cruiser
on the coast can only have negative inau
ence It can only do remote good t
struggle with an immediate wrong
All this time, if we really wish to sto1
the Slave Trade and are ready to sacri6c
onr y at;onal iealousies IA that oh;act we hay