maculate country is unsullied? I have not so forgotten the nature of our own colonial bondage, nor the melancholy fact that Britons first introduced slavery on these western shores.

Is it, then, to place her capital in humiliating contrast with the metropolis of my native land? I can see no distinction in principle between selling a gang of Negroes in the city of Washington, and executing in the city of London a bill of sale of a similar gang in our own West India islands.

Is it then to stigmatise slave-holders in general, as lax in their moral principles, savage in their dispositions, and dead to every feeling of justice and humanity? Nothing is farther from my intention than to insinuate an imputation so belied by facts. Among those who have the misfortune to be slave-holders, I can number some of the most enlightened and benevolent individuals it has ever been my lot to know. And were it otherwise, can I forget that General Washington was a Virginian slave-holder?

Why, then, do I enter into these sad details? why but to disclose to you the innate deformity of slavery itself, the evils inherent in its very nature; to exhibit to your view the dark aspect which it assumes, and the horrid atrocities which it gives birth to, even under a government pre-eminently free; in the bosom of a young and enlightened people, and in the broad daylight and sunshine of benign and liberal institutions. And is this a system which England and America, pre-eminent among the nations, can justify and uphold? Is this a system which they are willing to perpetuate? Is this a system which in our day and generation, a day and generation of Bible Societies and Missionary Societies, we can be content to hand down to posterity without one note of reprobation, one evidence of contrition, one step towards its ultimate, even though remote, extinction? Do we glory in having abolished our

Slave-trade, and shall we smile with complacency on slavery itself? Shall we, the younger sons of our highly favoured island, glorious in arts and arms, resplendent with literature and science, but yet more resplendent with the flame of philanthropy, and most of all with the bright light of Christianity, shall we deem it sufficient to glow with admiration of the labours of our illustrious compatriots, instead of stretching forward to catch their mantle, imbibe their spirit, and humbly, but resolutely, follow up their work?

If to reduce the African to slavery was a violation of his natural rights, to hold him in bondage one moment longer than is necessary to prepare him for freedom, is to perpetuate and participate in the injustice. And what though the sacrifice should be a costly one, and the task of emancipation perplexing and difficult? no sacrifice is so costly as the sacrifice of justice and humanity; no expectation more unfounded and puerile than that of returning without pain and effort from the dark and devious labyrinths of error.

"Facilis descensus Averni ; Sed revocare gradum superasque evadere ad auras, Hoc opus; hic labor est

But even if principle did not require the sacrifice, an enlightened view of self-interest would suggest it.

If the Gordian knot be not untied, it will be cut. "I tremble for my country," said the late President, Mr. Jefferson; "I tremble for my country, when I reflect that God is just."

And who that views with a dispassionate eye the state of our West India colonies, and of the slaveholding states of America, can imagine that the present system of things there can be of very long duration. That emancipation is a most difficult and perplexing problem I readily admit; but that it is visionary and impracticable no one can maintain who believes slavery to be at variance with the laws of our Creator, and obedience to his laws the

duty of his creatures. And are there no instances on record to prove its practicability? none in the cotemporaneous history of the South American provinces? none in the annals of the United States? none in the gradual revolutions of society in Europe? none in the progress of liberty in Great Britain herself?

In the New England States, once polluted with slavery, not a trace now remains of that odious system; and even so long since as the year 1770, in a suit on the part of several Slaves in Massachussetts against their masters for their freedom, and for wages for past services, the Negroes obtained a verdict, which gave a death-blow to slavery there. In

New York and Pennsylvania, emancipation has been proceeding systematically for years, and in three or four years the fixed period will arrive when it will be complete. In other parts of America, slavery exhibits itself in those intermediate and transitive states, which are at once a gradual approach to freedom, and an excellent preparation for it.

In England, slavery, which once blackened her fair fields, "was not ploughed up by revolution, or mown down by the scythe of legislative abolition, but was plucked up, stalk by stalk, by the progressive hand of private and voluntary enfranchisement. Slavery ceased in England only because the last Slave at length obtained his manumission, or died without a child. Why, then, should not the future extinction of slavery in the colonies be accomplished by the same happy means which formerly put an end to it in England-namely, by a benign, though insensible, revolution in opinions and manners; by the encouragement of particular manumissions, and the progressive melioration of the condition of the Slaves, till it should slide insensibly into freedom?" Not that the planters should be required to manumit their Negroes, especially on a sudden, without compensation. It would be robbery, under the garb of mercy,

to compel one class of individuals to atone for the injustice of a nation. But the planters may, and ought, to be required to adopt such plans for improving the social, moral, and intellectual condition of their Slaves, as may, and will, facilitate their ultimate emancipation. That much remains to be done in this respect in America, is evident from the facts I have detailed, from a cursory glance at the Code Noir, and from the general neglect and discouragement (not, however, without many exceptions) of education and religious instruction among the Negroes. That still more remains to be done in our own West-India islands, is evident from the non-increase, or scarcely perceptible increase, of the numbers of the Negroes, while in the country from which I am writing, in a climate much less favourable, and in occupations at least as deleterious, they multiply at the rate of three to five per cent. per annum. The annual returns now making will shew the precise ratio.

Last Sunday at the church (till lately there was no church here), two Methodist ministers from Ohio preached, having stopped here on their way down the river to New Orleans with produce. At the close of the service one of them rose, and said, that they did not come there to interfere with the institutions of society, or to excite commotion or confusion, but that it was their wish to address the Black population in the evening, if the planters should make no objection; that they knew it would not be generally agreeable to the planters, but they called upon them solemnly to consider the dreadful responsibility they would incur if they prevented their Negroes from hearing the message sent by our gracious Creator to the whole family of the human race. A deep silence followed, no planter opposed, and, to the surprise of many present, the ministers were allowed to preach to the Slaves.

I lately saw in the newspapers a notice from the mayor of one of the

principal cities in the South, present ing an extract from the law which prohibits the instruction of Slaves, expressing his regret to observe that this law had been infringed upon in several instances lately, by teaching the Slaves to read and write; and declaring his intention to inflict the penalty if the offence should be repeated. And yet in the Northern States among the most astonishing objects which I saw were the schools in which some hundreds of free Black Africans were receiving the elements of a somewhat liberal education, and where they exhibited both industry and intelligence.

I am sure I shall not have wearied, however muchImay have afflicted you, with the foregoing communications; but it is time I should now turn to other subjects. You ask me to inform you at what price a planter can afford to sell his cotton. To this question it is difficult to reply without entering into many particulars; since, paradoxical as it may appear, the expenses of production depend in a great measure on the . current value of cotton, and follow the more material fluctuations in its market price. Thus, when cotton rises,the value of Negroes advances in about the same proportion. Indian corn, their principal article of subsistence, follows, but at a little distance, because it can be imported from other states; and land at a still greater, because almost every planter possesses more than he actually cultivates. Corresponding effects are produced by a fall of cotton in foreign markets. It is evident, therefore, that a planter may realize at very different prices of cotton the same interest in his capital, understanding by his capital the sum which his land and Negroes would command at the respective periods, or which it would be necessary to invest in land and Negroes, in order to produce the same quantity of cotton. Alterations in the value of cotton, therefore, affect the value of his capital, but not the rate of interest, which he derives from it;

and fifteen cents per lb., when the value is reduced one half, may af ford him the average prices of stock in the country in which he resides, as certainly as thirty cents before the reduction. The expense of clothing the Negroes is almost the only element in the cost of produc, tion of cotton, which does not follow its fluctuations in value, and this is too insignificant to require notice. Could land and Negroes, therefore, in any particular country be applied to no other purpose than the production of the subsistence of the labourer and of cotton, the planter might afford to sell his cotton, or, in other words, have an inducement to cultivate it, at any price (three or four cents, for instance) at which his crop would leave a surplus after paying the expense of clothing his Negroes; a sale of his land and Negroes being on this supposition impracticable, and his only choice lying between a small profit and none. This, however, is no where absolutely the case; and in order, therefore, to judge of the probability of an increase or diminution in the culture of cotton, it is. of less consequence to inquire into the cost of production at any particular time (which may be easily ascertained, the items which compose the cost of production being taken at their current rates) than to ascertain the lowest price at which cotton would yield as large a return as other articles which might be substituted in its place. The price of other articles, therefore, enters essentially into the question, and any permanent rise or fall in the price of these would have the same effect in increasing or diminishing the growth of cotton, as a rise or fall in the price of cotton. itself. For instance, if indigo at one dollar per lb. and cotton at fifteen cents per lb. afforded an equal remuneration to the planter, it might be a matter of indifference to him which he should cultivate; but if indigo permanently advanced to two dollars, or cotton permanently fell

to ten cents per lb., the culture of indigo would be materially increased, and that of cotton proportionably diminished. Now to apply this to the actual situation of the United States In South Carolina and Georgia, the principal articles of culture at present are rice, a little tobacco, Indian corn, and cotton. The tobacco and rice lands are not generally suitable for the culture of cotton, and it is not likely that any probable variation in their relative value would lead to any material alteration in the relative extent of their cultivation. The soil, however, most suitable for the culture of cotton, is very congenial to the growth of Indian corn. If therefore, we could conceive of a foreign demand for Indian corn so extensive as to sustain it permanently at a price which would leave a greater profit than the culture of cotton, the cultivation of the latter would no doubt decline. This, however, cannot be anticipated, as the enormous quantity which would be raised would soon depress the price, and the foreign markets would ultimately be supplied by those states which possess as great, or greater advantages, for the cultivation of Indian corn, and are less adapted for the production of other staples. It does not, therefore, appear probable (the cultivation of indigo having been abandoned, and that of hemp easily overdone), that there are articles of produce which in Georgia or Carolina could be substituted for cotton, even though that article should decline considerably. It is possible, however, to transport the Negroes to other states; and it is necessary, therefore, to inquire whether any culture in the neighbouring states would afford an inducement to migration in case of a material decline in the price of cotton. Sugar, and perhaps sugar only, does afford such an inducement; but its growth is limited by a certain latitude, and there is a regular supply of Slaves from Virginia and North Carolina not previously employed in the cultivation

of cotton, and more than equal to the annual demand for the culture of sugar. Some of the spare lands on the plantations is generally applied to the growth of Indian corn, for the subsistence of the Slaves. Their subsistence on a cotton plantation may be regarded as costing the planter little or nothing, since his Negroes could plant one third more cotton than they can pick. The Indian corn, therefore, is obtained from land which would otherwise be unoccupied, and labour which would otherwise be unemployed. A very high price of cotton, indeed, will tempt the planter to buy his Indian corn, and plant more cotton; but this requires a degree of cruelty, in overworking the Slaves in the picking season, which many are unwilling to exercise, and most are ashamed to avow. Many of the small planters told me that they were always uncomfortable when cotton was high; as they put their families, as it were, on short allowance, and adopted a system of saving and scrambling, for the inconveniences of which their profits did not compensate. A very low price of cotton might, on the other hand, lessen the stimulus to exertion and privation; but the planters are very generally in debt, and are therefore compelled to activity in order to preserve their estates in their own hands. Those who wish an idle agricultural life, remove to the cultivated parts of the western country.

It is one of the inconveniences to which slave-holders are exposed (especially where the range of the articles to which the climate is favourable is limited) that they are constantly liable to a great extinction of capital by a reduction in the foreign market of the value of the articles they produce. The cost of production in that country, which can supply the articles at the cheapest rate and in sufficient quantity, fixes the price to which all the others must conform. Now if that price be insufficient to remunerate the cultivator by free labour, he discon

tinues the cultivation, and dismisses his labourers. The cultivator by slave labour, on the contrary, being compelled still to maintain his Slaves, continues also to employ them; but the value of the articles being reduced, the value of man; the machine which produces them, is depreciated nearly in the same proportion, and this depreciation may proceed so far, that the labour of a Slave is worth so little more than his maintenance as to afford no recompence to his owner for care and superintendence. In the progress towards this state of things, manumissions would multiply rapidly, for they would cost little; experiments would be made favourable to the freedom of the Negro; many Slaves would become free labourers, and slavery would verge towards its termination.

Does not this view of the subject throw a gleam of hope on the dark picture of slavery? If the free labour of the East can produce cotton, rice, and sugar as cheaply as has been stated, may it not undermine, and gradually exterminate, the slave labour of the West? The indigo of Carolina, long the staple of that state, has for many years been entirely superseded by the cheaper indigo of India. Upland cotton in Carolina and Georgia has fallen, in less than four years, from thirty to fifteen cents per lb.; and principally by competition, actual and prospective, with the cotton of Surat and Bengal. Sugar is now resorted to wherever the planter has sufficient capital, and his estate is within the latitude favourable to its production; but for this article legislative support has already been secured by protecting duties.

Nor is it from free labour only that the West-India and American planters have much to fear. They have already most formidable competitors in those colonies into which the importation of Slaves is still admitted. But I will not pursue the subject. I will only add, that the great revolutions which the natural course of

events is silently effecting in the West are calculated to rivet the attention both of the planter and of the philanthropist, and to inspire each of them with feelings of the most intense interest, though not a little differing in their complexion.

I must not forget to tell you, long as my letter is, that this place derives its name from the Natchez, a celebrated tribe of Indians extinguished some time since with circumstances of peculiar cruelty. Dr. Robertson describes them as distinguished from all the other southern tribes by hereditary rank, and the worship of the sun. The Choctaws, of whom there are nearly 20,000 in this state, often pay us a visit. I have not mentioned, either, that in consesequence of the fever last year, more than half of the families seem to be in mourning; and instances have been mentioned to me of great generosity on the part of the plantters towards those whom the ravages of death have deprived of their natural protectors, and left orphans and destitute.

We hope to set out in a few days on horseback, through the Indian country, to Richmond, in Virginia. (To be continued.)

Tothe Editorofthe Christian Observer. YOUR pages have often been employed in tracing the varieties in the quality of our national sermons, from the highest Supralapsarianism through all the stages of Calvinism, Baxterianism, and Arminianism, to the very limits of Pelagianism and semi-Popery. Would you be pleased to indulge a constant reader with an answer to a query which I venture to propose, respecting the quantity · of these pulpit exercitations? By what process, at what periods, and for what purpose were our national sermons cut down from a length of, perhaps, an hour and a half, to onesixth of that portion of time and space? Did the innovation begin with the abolition of the hour-glasses