tune by the help of his voice, were he to quit his convent and go upon his travels. He told me he could imitate the voices of most of the singing birds, and that he had acquired that art by walking out alone when young, and attending to their notes. My companion had been absent some time from his convent, which joined to a neighbouring village: as we approached it the country people of all denominations greeted him courteously as he passed, and signified to him, by their honest smiles, that his arrival gave them pleasure. Some of them called after him, and earnestly pressed him to accept of some refreshment after the fatigues of his journey. I entered with him into the monastery, which was very homely, but at the same time extremely neat. The cells were placed in rows down a long gallery, and were all of wood; over each of them was inscribed a text of scripture from the Latin Vulgate. After refreshing myself with a glass of fresh water in the pilgrim style, I set off for Giornico, a small village on the bank of a torrent, where we were to take up our abode that evening. In my way I found a young female peasant sitting on a stone opposite a small chapel by the side of the road; she was reading with some earnestness to a little boy that was near her. I was anxious to know the contents of a book that so strongly engaged the attention of these young persons. I went up to them, and of tered to look over the book; the paysanne shut it at my approach, and at first appeared offended or frighten ed at the liberty I took; but at last perceiving I had no bad intentions, she smiled, and opening her book held it to me, and said, un bel libro. Indeed her character of it was just, it was called the Giardini spirituale, and contained several excellent prayers and exhortations. Sights of this kind are not very common in our age or country; I confess it affected me much, and it is with pleasure I mention so agreeable a circumstance.

We met this night with a very bad inn, slept but little, and rose next morning two hours before day-break. An hour's march from Giornico brought us to a bridge, where we passed over into the Bellinzone, and in four hours more we reached the town of that name, which with the province is under the dominion of the three small

cantons of Uri, Underwald, and Schwitz, which send their respective bailiffs here by turns. About twenty years ago the skeleton of a Roman Consul was dug up under the castle above this town; a gold chain was hanging round the neck with a golden medaille, on which was engraved the name of Manlius. From Bellinzone I set forward for Lugano. Pursuing my way along the valley, I came to the lake of Lucarno, from whence I ascended the mount Chenese, through a wood of chesnut-trees. Descending this mountain, I found myself in the midst of vines, which hung laden with fruit, by the side of the road. The country was flatter as I approached Lugano, where I arrived at six o'clock, the third day after my leaving Altorf. I here dismissed the guide, and paid him four louis d'ors for the use of two horses. The price was enormous, but as our aubergist at Altorf was called to the bar, (as he himself informed me) the magnitude of the fee might be accounted for. Upon the whole, the mode of travelling which I had adopted was very agreeable, and I never repented of it. I was sometimes overcome with heat; but this was only troublesome two or three hours in the day, on account of the height of the mountains, which cast a refreshing shade all around them; the numerous torrents also, which are met with every half hour, always bring with them cooling gales, which alleviate the heat and recruit the drooping strength of the fainting traveller. I had provided myself with plenty of lemons and sugar, which I have ever found to be the best antidote against excessive thirst, and had generally a crust of bread in my pocket, which, pilgrim-like, I dipt in the springs as I passed along, and almost every hour regaled myself with a delicious morsel. The distance from Altorf to Lugano is generally computed at thirty leagues; the way is much better and shorter in the winter than in the summer season; for the snow is soon frozen sufficiently to form a good hard road, and the vallies are entirely filled up, so that one passes straight over without even perceiving them. The points of view throughout the whole of this passage are delightful and various, as may be easily imagined, from the abundance of rocks, wood, and water, hill and cale, which, at every moment, pre

sent themselves under the different forms of the beautiful and the sublime. Nothing contributes more to the beauty of the prospect than the infinite number of streams, which gush from the mountains in every different form and direction, and seem as if nature had designed them for the sole ornament of this enchanting region. Some times they fall headlong from the top of an immense precipice, and dash with tumultuous fury against the divers fragments which oppose their passage; sometimes their course is less tumultuous though not less rapid, and the eye is amused by the gliding velocity of a current, whose waters are of a crystal transparency, and, though deep, exhibit to the view those numerous variegated pebbles which adorn its bed: at other times, the streams fall from rock to rock down the declivities of the highest mountains, and, flowing through woods of pines or larches, form the most elegant cascades, and at length empty themselves, within a few yards of the public roads, into basons of stone, These are sometimes so regular, that they seem the works rather of art than of nature; and one might almost suspect that a Brown or a Richmond had been displaying their taste amidst these wild romantic regions.

Another considerable addition to the beauty of these Alpine prospects is the variety of churches, which are built of the most elegant stone, though all the houses are only composed of wooden materials. These sacred edifices must have been reared at no small expence, as the stone must have been brought from a considerable distance. Whatever was the motive for thus distinguishing the house of God above the habitations of men, the circumstance itself ought to be contemplated as a severe reproof on that slovenliness which characterizes many of our parish churches, which in neatness and elegance are sometimes on a level with the meanest cottage in the place. These churches are mostly placed among the loftiest trees, towards the top of the hills, and, as often as possible, on the narrowest points of rocks and precipices; so that one is apt to wonder by what means they are rendered accessible. I assigned two reasons for this singularity of their situation; first, the advantage of their appearance on such elevated spots; and secondly, in or

der to render them more frequented: for the lower class among the catholies generally apprehend that the more difficulties they go through to arrive at a church, the more acceptable are their devotions; imagining, no doubt, that the transcendency of their merit bears an exact proportion to the steepness of the ascent. Should there be found in these retired regions an artful priest, with an arithmetical head, he might perhaps, by the power of figures, calculate the proportion to a hair. An Italian priest in the neighbourhood, endued with more simplicity than wit, honestly confessed to me, that he believed there was much truth in what I imagined.

(To be continued.)

To the Editor of the Christian Observer.

ARE you candid? are you just? Then pause before you decidedly condemn the White Female Slave Trade, on which a correspondent, in your No. for March, animadverts with such severity. This correspondent, probably, writes with good intentions, but evidently with little caution or thought. It becomes you, Sir, to adopt a diffe rent conduct, to remember the title by which you have distinguished yourself, and to observe carefully before you pronounce peremptorily. I, therefore, intreat you to weigh with coolness the following remarks.

Your correspondent has, in his style of argument, imitated those whom, by a very appropriate epithet, he terms "the zealous African abolitionits." He debates the question on the two grounds of humanity and policy. I hesitate not to encounter him on both. But, although as fast a friend to humanity as the most zealous of these zealous abolitionists, I could wish that the policy of slavery had been the only point at issue. I confess, Sir, I love a solid, tangible, material, subject of discussion. Men's notions of mental qualities vary with the varieties of climate and situation. Their ideas of humanity, in particular, are infinitely diversified, from the Gentoo who religiously feeds on rice and pulse, to the savage who dutifully dines on his decrepit parents. The rule of expediency, on the contrary, is, in given circumstances, invariable; and is, in fact, now acknowledged by

all sensible men to be the only standard of right and wrong. But I waive the advantage which I might derive from these preliminary remarks, and am content to discuss this question on the principles both of humanity and of policy.

To begin, therefore, with the policy of the White Slave Trade, it cannot escape you, Mr. Editor, that the White Slave Trade is the grand nursery of British coachmen. In this species of population Great Britain is confessedly unrivalled; and every nerve of the state should be strained to maintain a succession of so hardy a race. What numbers of them are annually employed in the Slave-carrying-trade, I have not sufficient data to calculate; but they are evidently very considerable. The obvious effect of the service in which they are employed, is, to render them vigilant, impetuous, and patient of toil. Your humane correspondent, indeed, complains that they suffer from the rigour of a northern winter." But he should have known that they fortify themselves against the inclemencies of climate by the unlimited use of a certain staple article of West Indian produce; an excellent habit, which has the further effect of ministering to the greatness of our colonial commerce. The use too of this commodity frequently excites among them the most generous single combats, which are maintained with a spirit quite unknown to the pedestrian vulgar. This practice, not unaptly termed boring, has, like duelling, the double effect of refining the manners, while it quickens the courage, of this energetic and deserving order of men.

To enumerate the benefits which our revenues derive from the White Slave Trade would be endless. I shall barely mention, that the vehicles which annually clear out for the carrying-trade in this island, swelled the income of government for the last year by little less than £.180,000. The lamentations of your correspondent over the loss which he supposes population to sustain by the White Slave Trade, are idle. Perhaps a few sickly ones may die in the seasoning, but the gap is soon filled up; and whoever writes elegies on them, would be as well employed in whining over the drowning of so many blind kittens.

I shall next proceed to an argument, which will prove both the

po

licy and the humanity of the White Slave Trade at a stroke. I mean the antiquity of this species of commerce. Every wise man, Mr. Editor, will keep his eye on past times, at every step he takes in life; exactly as a seasoned stage-coacher always rides backwards. Now the Female Slave Trade, I am bold to assert, has prevailed in all civilized countries throughout all ages; and who are these upstart witlings that oppose their shallow systems to the wisdom of our ancestors? I will farther be bold to say, that the more civilized any nation becomes, the more does this trade flourish in that nation*. In our own country, it can be traced at least as high as the reign of Queen Elizabeth, so dear to all true Englishmen; and no man will dare to deny that it has been increasing ever since that period. Now if it were unjust and impolitic, would it not have been abolished before our times? Were our ancestors ever unwise or cruel? and, if they were, is it our business to correct them, who were our elders, and to whom we owe so much? Besides, it should be remembered, that the faith. of parliament is pledged to support these White Slave Traders. The public slave markets in this metropolis are regularly licensed, as such, by the legislature; and the numerous markets held by private individuals are, in fact, licensed also, on condition of their annually paying various taxes, Now, Mr. Editor, I myself frequently hold one of these private markets; and I do so, relying on the justice of parliament. I wish, therefore, that these zealous gentlemen would inform

" I

*In Mr. Francklyn's "Answer to the Reverend Mr. Clarkson's Essay on Slavery and the African Slave Trade," the following paragraph occurs, setting forth a new and most curious test of civilization. cannot avoid observing, in addition, that, on the discovery of Mexico by the Spaniards, slavery was in use among them; and that it was not only prisoners of war who were slaves. I conceive this remark to be the more pertinent, because it sheres the dif The nation of Mexico, and the neighbourference between civilized people and savages. hood, had attained a much higher degree of civilization than was known in Europe even in the fourteenth century, and pos sessed slaves; whereas the savages, a very few degrees to the northward of them, had none, except their wives," pp. 52,

53.

me whose interest they would have parliament consult; those of the Slave Traders, to whom its faith is pledged, or those of the Slaves, to whom it never dreamt of pledging any faith at all? of the Slave Traders, who would be so grievously disappointed by the abolition; or of the Slaves, who must, by this time, have made up their minds to their condition, and would, perhaps, therefore be incommoded by a change?

Let the subject be next argued, Sir, on the ground of humanity alone. Here I must put a question, which has often been urged with great effect against the abolition of the African Slave Trade. Would the persons thus enslaved have been happier at home? We know, with respect to the African Slaves, that they are frequently sold by their own parents; that they have, in general, already forfeited their liberty in their own country, by being deep in debt, or by being convict ed of practising witchcraft; and that, if returned on the hands of their owners as unsaleable, they are coolly butchered. Is the case of our White Slaves very different? Are not these also brought to the shambles by their own parents? In spite of the tuition of their new master, do not we find them after all but too bewitching? and, if not enslaved by fashion, would they not be killed by ennui? Then, as to happiness, who so happy as our White Slaves? I will venture to affirm that an ordinary slave, if in health, will squeeze a greater quantity of laughing, singing, and skipping into the space of a month, than any ten free women would sprinkle over the surface of two whole years.

In fact, these white negroes occupy that place in the scale of society to which nature destined them. They are an inferior order of beings; and their inferiority is proved, like that of the Africans, by their complexions and their hair. Not that their colour is black, or their heads woolly; but then both have other qualities not less singular. You, doubtless, guess, Mr. Editor, that I allude to the great and sudden changes they undergo. A slave who, in the morning, is a sallow spectre, appears in the market a brilliant brunette, and the brunette of today becomes all fair and flaxen tomorrow. She has colour, hair, and eyebrows, that grow for the occasion, and they even vary on different occa

sions. This remarkable approach to the properties of a noted little animal of the lizard kind, proves, that the intellect of a White Slave is not very commanding: besides, the connection between the inside and the outside of the head must be obvious to every man that has one of his own; nor can the pineal gland be worth much, where the mucous membrane is so vicious. Indeed the greatest impostor that ever lived, and who, therefore, could not well be imposed on himself, has decided this point, by clearly as certaining that female slaves (and in his country all females were slaves) are totally unfurnished with souls; and so firmly did he believe this truth, that he destroyed the bodies of all who pretended to doubt it.

You cannot but have perceived, Sir, the adroitness with which your correspondent, whom I am opposing, has declined discussing this subject on the ground of religion. "It would be a folly (he says) to inquire into it on this principle." It would have been folly, indeed, in him; but I shall take care that he gains nothing by his wisdom in shunning such inquiry. What will you say, Mr. Editor, when I inform you that the White Slave Trade is expressly foretold in scripture; and that, therefore, we Slavers are only fulfilling a prophecy? I shall content myself with reminding you of one passage, which tells us that "in the last days men ......... shall creep into houses, and lead captive silly women, laden with sins, led away with divers lusts." It is true, some may object, that our conduct is to be regulated, not by prophecies but by precepts; and that, if we really believe the prophecies, we need not be anxious to take the accomplishment of them on ourselves. But such sophistries are easily framed; and you will agree with me, that to combat them would be an unprofitable waste of time and toil.

I shall only add, that I have some little title to be heard on this subject; because, as I before stated, I not unfrequently hold a private Slavemarket on my own premises. This practice I certainly shall not relinquish; because, were I even to do so, some other trader would step into my place, the trade would thus be continued, and I should starve. But I repeat that it is a trade, lawful, just, and politic; lawful because by law