his tattered trowsers, and forced them into the sailor's hand, while he wiped the tears from his eye with the corner of his blue patched jacket, and then walked away quite happy.-Sholto and Reuben Percy's Anecdotes.

TOUSSAINT L'OUVERTURE.

CITIZEN CONSUL,-Your letter, of the 27th Brumaire, has been transmitted to me by Citizen Le Clerc, your brother-in-law, whom you have appointed Captain General of this island, a title not recognised by the constitution of St. Domingo. The same messenger has restored two innocent children to the fond embraces of a doating father. What a noble instance of European humanity! But, dear as those pledges are to me, and painful as our separation is, I will owe no obligations to my enemies, and I therefore return them to the custody of their jailers.

You ask me, do I desire consideration, honors, and fortune? Most certainly I do, but not of thy giving. My consideration is placed in the respect of my countrymen, my honors in their attachment, my fortune in their disinterested fidelity. Has this mean idea of personal aggrandizement been held out in the hope that I would be induced thereby to betray the cause I have undertaken? The power I possess has been as legitimately acquired as your own, and nought but the decided voice of the people of St. Domingo shall compel me to relinquish it.

It is not cemented by blood, or maintained by the artifices of European policy. "The ferocious men whose persecutions I put a stop to," have confessed my clemency, and I have pardoned the wretch whose dagger has been aimed at my life. If I have removed from this island certain turbulent spirits, who strove to feed the flames of civil war, their guilt has been first established before a competent tribunal, and finally confessed by themselves. Is there one of them who can say that he has been condemned unheard or untried? And yet these monsters are to be brought back once more, and, aided by the bloodhounds of Cuba, are to be uncoupled and hallooed to hunt us down and devour us; and this by men who dare to call themselves Christians.-Letter to Bonaparte, 1803.

"He was born a slave in St. Domingo, 1745. In his youth he was noted for his benevolence and tender feeling towards brutes, and his stability of temper. By assiduity he learnt to read, write and cipher, this, and his regular and amiable deportment, gained the esteem, of his master, whom he saved in the revolution of 1791. That he never broke his word was proverbial. His unlimited power he never abused. The French general; being unable to corrupt, abducted him to a dungeon in France, where he perished in 1803."-History of Hayti.

Godwin, in his admirable Lectures on Colonial Slavery, says: "Can the West India Islands, since their first discovery by Colum

bus, boast a single name which deserves comparison with that of Toussaint L'Ouverture?" He is there spoken of by Vincent in his Reflections on the State of St. Domingo: "Toussaint L'Ouverture is the most active and indefatigable man, of whom it is possible to form an idea. He is always present wherever difficulty or danger makes his presence necessary. His great sobriety, the power of living without repose, the facility with which he resumes the affairs of the cabinet, after the most tiresome excursions, of answering daily a hundred letters,—and of habitually tiring five secretaries-render him so superior to all around him, that their respect and submission almost amount to fanaticism. It is certain no man in modern times has obtained such an influence over a mass of ignorant people, as General Toussaint possesses over his brethren of St. Domingo. He is endowed with a prodigious memory. He is a good father and a good husband."

HAIL, happy day! when, smiling like the morn,
Fair Freedom rose, New England to adorn:
The northern clime, beneath her genial ray,
Dartmouth! congratulates thy blissful sway;
Elate with hope, her race no longer mourns,
Each soul expands, each grateful bosom burns.
While in thine hand with pleasure we behold
The silken reins, and Freedom's charms unfold.
Long lost to realms beneath the northern skies,
She shines supreme, while hated faction dies:
Soon as appeared the Goddess long desired,
Sick at the view she languished and expired;
Thus from the splendors of the morning light
The owl in sadness seeks the caves of night.

No more, America, in mournful strain,
Of wrongs and grievance unredressed complain;
No longer shall thou dread the iron chain
Which wanton Tyranny, with lawless hand,
Had made, and with it meant t' enslave the land.

Should you, my lord, while you peruse my song,
Wonder from whence my love of Freedom sprung,
Whence flow these wishes for the common good,
By feeling hearts alone best understood,

I, young in life, by seeming cruel fate
Was snatched from Afric's fancied happy seat:
What pangs excruciating must molest,
What sorrows labor in my parent's breast!

Steeled was that soul, and by no misery moved,
That from a father seized his babe beloved:

Such, such my case. And can I then but pray
Others may never feel tyrannic sway?

For favors past, great Sir, our thanks are due,
And thee we ask thy favors to renew,
Since in thy power, as in thy will before,
To soothe the griefs which thou didst once deplore
May heavenly grace the sacred sanction give
To all thy works, and thou for ever live,
Not only on the wings of fleeting Fame,
Though praise immortal erowns the patriot's name,
But to conduct to heaven's refulgent fane,
May fiery coursers sweep the etherial plain,
And bear thee upwards to that blest abode,

Where, like the prophet, thou shalt find thy God.

Inscribed to William, Earl of Dartmouth.

AUSTRIA.

Extract from the ordinance of his Imperial and Royal Majesty of Austria, dated 25th June, 1826.

"In order to prevent Austrian subjects and vassals from participating in any manner in the slave-trade, and in order to prevent slaves from bad treatment, his Imperial and Royal Majesty, in conformity with the existing laws of Austria (viz. section 16 of the Civil Code, which determines that every human being, in virtue of those rights which are recognised by reason, is to be considered a civil person, and that, therefore, slavery, and every exercise of power relative to the state of slavery, are not tolerated in the imperial and royal dominions,) and further, in conformity with section 78 of the first part of the Penal Code, which declares every hindrance of the exercise of personal liberty a crime of public violence-has been graciously pleased, by his sovereign resolution of 25th June, 1826, to determine and order as follows:-Art. 1. Any slave, from the moment he treads on the soil of the Imperial and Royal Dominions of Austria, or even merely steps on board of an Austrian vessel, shall be free." Austrian Consulate General, New York, Oct. 18, 1830.*

L. LEDERER

RUSSIA.

CONSULAR NOTICE.-Certain individuals who, in defiance of the laws of their own country, still continue to engage in the African slave-trade, having given cause for suspicion that they intend to make use of the Russian flag as a protection against the right of search and seizure, mutually assumed and conceded by the powers participating in the treaty for the suppression of this nefarious traffic, the undersigned, the Russian Consul General, at New York, being specially

instructed by his government, gives hereby public notice to all persons whom it may concern, that the Russian flag can in no case be resorted to without the previous permission of the Imperial Government, and without legal authorization in due form, and in strict accordance with the laws of the empire; that any proceeding to the contrary shall be considered as a fraud, exposing the persons guilty of it to all its consequences; and that no slave-trader, in any circumstances whatever, when seized under the Russian flag, or otherwise, can invoke the aid of the Imperial Government to screen him from just and well-merited punishment.

Russe du Consulate General, New York, April 2, 1836. ALEXIS EUSTAPHIEVE.

HISTORICAL EVIDENCE,

Concerning the Effects of Immediate Emancipation.

WHEN the question of immediate abolition was first started in England, the friends of slavery vociferated nothing more loudly, than the danger of universal insurrection and bloodshed; and nothing took stronger hold of the sympathies and conscientious fears of the people, than these repeated assertions. This is precisely the state of things in our own country, at the present time. We all know that it is not according to human nature for men to turn upon their benefactors, and do violence, at the very moment they receive what they have long desired; but we are so repeatedly told the slaves will murder their masters, if they give them freedom, that we can hardly help believing that, in this peculiar case, the laws of human nature must be reversed. Let us try to divest ourselves of the fierce excitement now abroad in the community, and calmly inquire what is the testimony of history on this important subject.

In June, 1793, a civil war occurred between the aristocrats and republicans of St. Domingo; and the planters called in the aid of Great Britain. The opposing party proclaimed freedom to all slaves, and armed them against the British. It is generally supposed that the abolition of slavery in St. Domingo was in consequence of insurrections among the slaves; but this is not true. It was entirely a measure of political expediency. And what were the consequences of this sudden and universal emancipation? Whoever will take the pains to search the histories of that island, will find the whole colored population_remained faithful to the republican party which had given them freedom. The British were defeated, and obliged to evacuate the island. The sea being at that time full of British cruisers, the French had no time to attend to St. Domingo, and the colonists were left to govern themselves. And what was the conduct of the emancipated slaves, under these circumstances? About 500,000 slaves had instantaneously ceased to be property, and were invested with the rights of men; yet there was a decrease of crime, and every thing went on quietly and prosperously. Col. Malenfant, who resided on the island, says, in his historical memoir: "After this public act of emancipation, the negroes remained quiet both in the south and west, and they continued to work upon all the plantations. Even upon those estates which had been abandoned by owners and managers, the negroes continued their labor where there were any agents to guide; and where no white men were left to direct them, they betook themselves to planting provisions. The colony was flourishing. The whites lived happy and in peace upon their estates, and the negroes continued to work for them." General Lacroix, in his memoirs, speaking of the same period, says: colony marched as by enchantment towards its ancient splendor; cultivation prospered; every day produced perceptible proofs of its progress."

"The

This prosperous state of things lasted about eight years; and would probably have continued to this day, had not Bonaparte, at the instigation of the old aristooratic French planters, sent an army to deprive the blacks of the freedom which

they had used so well. It was the attempts to restore slavery, that produced all the bloody horrors of St. Domingo. Emancipation produced the most blessed effects. In June, 1794, Victor Hugo, a French republican general, retook the island of Guadaloupe from the British, and immediately proclaimed freedom to all the slaves. They were 85,000 in number, and the whites only 13,000. No disasters whatever occurred in consequence of this step. Seven years after, the supreme council of Guadaloupe, in an official document, alluding to the tranquillity that reigned throughout the island, observed: “We shall have the satisfaction of giving an example which will prove that all classes of people may live in perfect harmony with each other, under an administration which secures justice to all classes." In 1802, Bonaparte again reduced this island to slavery, at the cost of about 20,000 negro lives.

On the 10th of October, 1811, the congress of Chili decreed that every child born after that day shoud be free.

In 1821, the congress of Colombia emancipated all slaves who had borne arms in favor of the republic; and provided for the emancipation in eighteen years of the whole slave population, amounting to 900,000.

In September, 1829, the government of Mexico granted immediate and unqualified freedom to every slave. In all these cases, not one instance of insurrection or bloodshed has ever been heard of, as the result of emancipation.

In July, 1823, 30,000 Hottentots in Cape Colony, were emancipated from their long and cruel bondage, and admitted by law to all the rights and privileges of the white colonists. Outrages were predicted, as the inevitable consequence of freeing human creatures so completely brutalized as the poor Hottentots; but all went on peaceably; and as a gentleman facetiously remarked, "Hottentots as they were, they worked better for Mr. Cash, than they had ever done for Mr. Lash."

In the South African Commercial Advertiser of February, 1831, it is stated: "Three thousand prize negroes have received their freedom; four hundred in one day; but not the least difficulty or disaster occurred. Servants found masters— masters hired servants—all gained homes, and at night scarcely an idler was to be seen. -To state that sudden emancipation would create disorder and distress to those you mean to serve, is not reason, but the plea of all men adverse to abolition."

On the 1st of August, 1834, the government of Great Britain emancipated the slaves in all her colonies, of which she had twenty; seventeen in the West Indies, and three in the East Indies. The measure was not carried in a manner completely satisfactory to the English abolitionists. Historical evidence, and their own knowledge of human nature, led them to the conclusion that immediate and unqualified emancipation was the safest for the master, as well as the most just towards the slave. But the West India planters talked so loudly of the dangers of such a step, and of the necessity of time to fit the slaves for freedom, that the government resolved to conciliate them by a sort of compromise. The slaves were to continue to work six years longer without wages, under the name of apprentices; but during this period, they could be punished only by the express orders of the magistrates. The legislatures of the several colonies had a right to dispense with the system of apprenticeship; but Antigua and Bermuda were the only ones that adopted immediate and unconditional emancipation.

Public proclamation of freedom was made on the first of August, and was every where received in joy and peace. Mr. Cobbett, a missionary stationed at Montego Bay, Jamaica, writes thus: "The first of August was a memorable day! Our preaching place was crowded at an early hour. At the close of the service, I read the address of his excellency the governor to the negro population, made several remarks in reference to the change of their condition, and exhorted them to be obedient to their masters and to the powers that be. There was in every countenance an expression of satisfaction, and of gratitude to God and their benefactors. The conduct of the negroes during this eventful period has been such as will raise them, I should think, in the eyes of all their friends."

Mr. Wedlock, of the same place, writes thus on the 13th of August: "The first day of August, a day to which the attention of the wise, the good, and the philanthropic, of other countries besides our own, was directed, has arrived and passed by in the most peaceful and harmonious manner. Such congregations, such attention, such joys and grateful feelings as are depicted in every countenance, I never beheld!-Up to this time, peace and harmony prevail."