nation, to attend not only to the commercial welfare of India, but to the moral welfare of our population at home. And we ask, What will be the necessary consequences of a measure which must send an almost unlimited supply of rum into the British Islands at a retail price less than that of any other spirit?

Cheap gin-that is to say, a nauseous compound of spirits of turpentine and nitric acid-sold retail at about ten shillings per gallon, is now and has been for many years daily destroying, by its not very slow poison, the bodies and souls of thousands. What then will be the effect of introducing a far more palatable spirit at the same or even a lower price, and one, too, which vulgar prejudice regards as "particularly wholesome!"

It is, no doubt, less pernicious than the abominable concoction swallowed by the British poor under the name of gin; but though a slower poison, it would be consumed in quantities far more than equalizing its deadly effects with those of "the spirit of the age."

Then, again, it is thought vexatious that the decision should be referred to our Government at home, whether any district does really keep out the prohibited foreign sugar or not. But when we bear in mind-first, that this decision when once made is final, so long as the fiscal restrictions in that district continue the same; secondly, that colonial discipline is notoriously far more lax than home discipline; and thirdly, that upon the due observance of the regulation depends the welfare of all our colonies, Eastern as well as Western, we must acknowledge that we consider the reference to the home Government not only not vexatious, but absolutely necessary. We cannot, we dare not, leave to the local authorities of India to decide questions which quite as nearly concern Jamaica or Demerara-questions which resolve whether the British possessions are or are not to be inundated with slave labour produce from Cuba, Brazil, and Porto Rico.

We take up this question on moral grounds: we know well that the opium grown in India is made instrumental to the corruption of many thousands of human beings, but we are not therefore entitled to say to the Indian planter, you shall grow no more opium. We know also, that the rum produced in India would, were its production encouraged, be made similarly instrumental, still we cannot say to the planter, you shall distill no more rum. All that we can do (and this it is our bounden duty to do) is to prevent its being made the means of still further demoralizing our own population. We would not willingly see rum as cheap as gin; we should be very sorry to see it

cheaper. There is the foreign market, and we would encourage exportation, for that is a matter of mere commerce. Other nations must decide upon what terms they will receive our rum. They are the guardians of their own morals, as we are of ours.

All these things, however, only prove the necessity of an influx of labourers in the West: and this influx the Government has as yet determined that these colonies shall not have.

We next proceed to the consideration of the remedies which have been proposed for the slave trade, and these divide themselves into four:

1. That which we have discussed at large, viz. the making our West India colonies productive, and thus enabling them to compete with those whose produce is obtained by slave labour. 2. That of Sir T. F. Buxton, to civilize Africa, and thus nip the evil in the bud.

3. That of Mr. Turnbull, viz. to give effect to the already existing laws on the subject.

And 4. To declare the slave trade, under all circumstances and under whatsoever flag it be carried on―PIRACY.

Now, in limine, it must be observed, that the first two and either the third or fourth, may be put into execution simultaneously; and if any good is to be done, to this plan must recourse be had, for the first expedient will necessarily be slow in its operation, and partial in its effects; the second, though universal in its consequences, will be still greatly slower in producing them; while the third and fourth, though only palliations, act both sharply and immediately. We have not left ourselves room to enter here into Sir T. Buxton's scheme for the civilization of Africa, and we regret this the less, as we hope all who have felt interested in our article, will immediately invest five shillings in the purchase of this handsome octavo, beyond exception the cheapest book ever submitted to critical scrutiny. We can only say that both in the plan itself and in the means whereby it is proposed to carry it into execution, long as it must be before any tangible results can take place, we most heartily concur. We wish its promoters "God speed," and feel ourselves privileged in being their advocate with the clergy and the learned world.

We pass, therefore, to the third plan-that of Mr. Turnbull: and before we can discuss this, we must explain to the reader what are the Courts of Mixed Commission, to which our author refers. In his dedication to Lord Clarendon, he says

"Deeply impressed with the necessity of finding or creating a remedy more prompt, practicable, and efficient than any thing hereto

fore suggested, my whole thoughts were turned in this direction: and in the following pages I have endeavoured to develope a plan, conceived in the midst of the scenes of wretchedness this traffic has produced.

"Should your Lordship do me the honour of following the train of reasoning which has brought me to this conclusion, it will probably recall one of those familiar expressions so often replete with force and meaning, peculiar to a language your Lordship has studied profoundly: Los que cabras no tienen y cabritos venden, de donde los vienen?' The Bozal negroes are the kids of the proverb; and I only ask for the Court of Mixed Commission the power to inquire from whence they came. The British judges are on the spot. The wedge is already entered it needs but a well-aimed blow to drive it home."

:

The Courts of Mixed Commission are courts consisting of two judges and two arbitrators: one of each British, and the other Spanish or Portuguese, as the case may be. Before the commissary judges is brought the case of every ship seized on account of her being concerned in the slave trade: if the judges agree, she is condemned or liberated accordingly; if not, as most usually happens, then the arbitrators are called in, and by their decision the case is concluded. Now, at the Havannah, since the two judges usually differ, and the two arbitrators usually differ also, the case of few ships engaged, or supposed to be engaged in this traffic, could be decided, they have recourse, therefore, to an odd expedient, but one perfectly in accordance with the Spanish character--dice are produced, and it is decided by a cast thereof whether the English or the Spanish arbitrator shall be called in to assist the two commissary judges. In other words, the dice decide whether the slave-ship shall be liberated or not! These courts, however, do possess, according to Mr. Turnbull, power sufficient to abolish the traffic, if the powers were acted upon according to the additional articles agreed upon by treaty; but the practice of throwing the dice must be discontinued, and the virtual as well as nominal observance of the treaty enforced. On this subject we must refer to the work of Mr. Turnbull; we will just quote his words as to the results which he expects from such enforcement

"In the mean time (observes he), let us accept the limitation of the increase to the power of these mixed tribunals, from the date of the ratification of the additional articles, without insisting on giving them any retro-active effect. The very first decision of the court, I venture to say, will operate like a charm. The whole machinery of the trade will be instantly disorganized; the newly-imported bozal will no longer command a price in the market: the mark of contraband is stamped on his person and cannot be effaced. A man is not imported, like a barrel of flour, for immediate consumption. Once landed, the

smuggled flour cannot well be distinguished from that which has paid the custom-house duties. On the contraband bozal, the marks of identity remain as long as he lives."-Travels in the West, Cuba, p. 395.

"The fate of the slave trade will be decided irretrievably by the first decree of emancipation pronounced by the court. Convince the trader that his goods are no longer marketable, and you may rest assured that he will not invest his capital in the unprofitable enterprise. The clipper builders of Baltimore will have no more orders; their ruffian crews will be compelled to content themselves with the moderate wages of lawful commerce; and the cold-blooded counting-house murderers of Rio and the Havannah, cut off from the exorbitant profits of man-selling, must seek some new investment for their ill-got gains."Turnbull, p. 395.

At the same time, while we agree in the main with Mr. Turnbull, we declare, with the Liverpool Association, that the slave trade can never be put down save by the total extinction of slavery. Hence our sympathy with Sir Fowel Buxton, while we see plainly, at the same time, how very slow must be the operation of his scheme.

Of all the palliations which can be proposed, we most approve of that which declares the slave trade, under all circumstances and under every flag-PIRACY. We do not, we cannot see any objection to this: the French are not sufficiently interested in the odious traffic to afford any real opposition: and towards America it becomes us to take a high tone and a high position, and to insist on her laws being carried really, and not only nominally, into effect Men may risk property, and will do so, when one successful cruise in three brings them an enormous profit; but they will pause before they incur the danger of hanging in chains.

There is, we are convinced, no better way-no other effectual palliative of the slave trade, than always to treat it as PIRACY.

We began by speaking about the buying and selling of our fellow-men, and of the cruelties which attend that most accursed traffic; but as we proceeded, new and still new views opened out before us, and we discovered that the plague-spot was not one which could be cured by a mere topical application.

We found that by its consequences it had affected every member of our empire-our colonial possessions, our commercial interests, our diplomatic relations, our fiscal arrangements, nay, the very parties of our political world. We found that, in order to attack it with effect, we must attack it in a thousand points at once; and like Kehama, who in the same moment thundered over all the bridges of Pandalon-so must we assail this colossal monster. One thing we would strenuously urge upon our colo

nists-it is that their true interest is to join heart and hand with those who are labouring for the utter and eternal abolition of slavery.

And now, in closing our remarks for the present, we remind our readers that we have not dismissed the subject. We have entered into the field as adversaries of slavery and the slave trade, and all that directly or indirectly promotes or supports it. In a quarrel like this, having once drawn the sword we have thrown away the scabbard-we shall return again and again to the charge. The East and the West-all colonial-all commercial questions-will pass under a scrutiny as severe as a Christian love for the souls and bodies of men can make it; and wheresoever slavery exists, whether it be in the opium grounds of the East, or in the sugar and coffee plantations of Cuba, or in the mines of Brazil, or cotton estates of FREE America, or the cotton factories of FREE England-to it will our notice be drawn, and against it our voice be heard.

ART. VII.-1. Observations on Grammar Schools, and the means of improving their condition, and extending their utility. By the Hon. DANIEL FINCH. London: Roake and Varty. 1840.

2. A Bill for improving the Condition, and extending the Benefits of Grammar Schools.

3. Endowed Grammar Schools in England and Wales. By NICHOLAS CARLISLE, F.R.S. Baldwin and Co. 1818.

THE "Observations" of the Hon. Daniel Finch, which have called our attention to the condition and utility of the Grammar Schools of England and Wales, are such as do credit to the good sense and Parliamentary experience of that gentleman. The necessity of a legislative interference to render these institutions as extensively useful as they were intended to be by their founders, has long been felt by the intelligent portion of the public. But whether the plans recommended by Mr. Finch and the framers of the proposed Act of Parliament above noticed be such as will most effectually tend to the improvements required, is a question for some consideration.

The subject before us is not one of yesterday. It was brought before Parliament by Mr. (now Lord) Brougham so far back as the year 1818, when commissioners were appointed to enquire into it and make a report of their proceedings.

"The reports of these commissioners not only contain an account