A comfortable apartment, appropriated to her use, leads out of the school-room; and a stipend, with allowances, is granted by the society.

"HABITS OF THE SLAVES.-There is but one instance of marriage among them legally performed; and the chaplain ardently looks forward to the influence of religion, in putting an end to polygamy, as promoting a desire, and suitable reverence, for this hallowed bond. Although accompanied with no solemnity, their connexions are, by no means, to be regarded in the light of promiscu. ous concubinage. Many instances of connubial fidelity through life are to be met with; yet, from the unfortunate habit of living with more than one wife, the unison is, in other cases, too fre quently violated. Baptism is administered to all the infants, on ap plication made by the parents, and to all adults, after due exami. nation and instruction.

"Their behaviour at public worship is reverent, and, in many cases devout. Their desire for instruction is manifest; and they are heard conversing on subjects, which discourses from the pulpit, or the reading of their children, have suggested to their minds. As to their general conduct, the manager has repeatedly declared his conviction, that the introduction of Christianity has produced much beneficial effect, obvious to himself.

"In seasons of illness or distress, they are visited by the chaplain, at the hospital or at their own houses; and if there be a prisoner under confinement for some great offence, he is attended with reproof and exhortion.

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They seem to feel great confidence in their minister, and often seize opportunities of having intercourse with him; and their numerous little presents, and sorrow at parting with him, showed their attachment in a most affecting manner.

The Report proceeds to describe the general treatment of the slaves. Their labour has been much lightened by the introduction of the plough, " punishments of a severe nature, are very rarely inflicted, and the substitution of imprisonment for corporal chastisement, has been found to answer every purpose of correction." Nine years ago, the number

of slaves on the estates was 300. It is now 353; three Mulattoes have purchased their liberty, and no purchases have been made. The produce has been greater that it ever was before. The houses are good and in good repair, and Mr. Pinder the excellent chaplain from whose report these gratifying facts are ascertained, concludes his statement by assuring us, that a disposition on the part of the Masters to impart, and of the slaves to receive religious instruction, is at this time very evident.

With this information before our eyes, is it possible to doubt the propriety of instructing the Negroes, and instructing them under the superintendance of the regular clergy?

1

Why may not every plantation in the West Indies be managed as beneficially as the estates of Codrington College? Is there an example of equally successful treatment in the whole of the Missionary Records? We have no desire to undervalue the efforts of the Wesleyans: but can they produce a case in which the negroes have increased as rapidly as at Codrington; in which the produce has increased while the labour has been diminished; in which the managers have been fully satisfied, and the neighbouring planters so well pleased as to be desirous of following the example? Sir George Rose assures us, that the Methodists have done good, and we do not dispute the fact; but his opinion that the. clergy would not be equally serviceable, is answered by pointing to Mr. Pinder. Sir George overrates their actual success, as has been shewn in one of Mr. Macaulay's Appendixes. Their progress is checked by erroneous views of Christianity and human nature, by the excusable jealousy with which the planters regard them, and by a disposition to live in towns, and preach to white men or free blacks rather than plantation slaves. In the case of regular clergymen the two first of these difficulties do not exist; and the last would be got over by the presence of an ecclesiastical superior, and the strict enforcement of residence. If Sir George Rose can shew that something has been done by the Methodists, it is evident that much more may be done by the clergy,

But Methodists are not the only competitors whom the clergy have to encounter. Mr. Cooper, a Unitarian, has been recently employed upon the estate of Mr. Hibbert as a missionary to plantation slaves. And what are the fruits of four years' residence in Jamaica.-The Unitarian quarrels with the overseer-comes home and quarrels with the proprietor owns that his labours have been in vain-and publishes an invective against West Indians for Mr. Macaulay to garble!! The clergy will not be put to shame by such a rival. The Methodists have cause to triumph in their superiority over this rational Christian.

The case will appear still stronger if we revert to former experiments in the management of West Indian property. The celebrated Berbice commission is not yet forgotten. A government estate, cultivated by upwards of a thousand slaves, was committed under the administration of Mr. Percival to Mr. Vansittart, Mr. Wilberforce, Mr. Stephen, and others.Mr. Macaulay, of course, became secretary to the commission, consignee, agent, &c. &c. The estates continued under their management from 1811 to 1815. The produce diminished nearly one half. The slaves were starved, and de

creased in numbers twice as fast as they had done before. Every thing went wrong; and the return of profits to the treasury from an estate which would have been let (but for the interference of Mr. Stephen) for five thousand pounds a year, was nil. The Mitigationists were fairly put to the test, and they failed. They sent out Methodist preachers-they appointed and recalled overseers-they did in short just what they pleased; and the result was nothing, and worse than nothing.

Government has had no opportunity of making another experiment, or it is to be supposed that they would have tried another system, and procured their chaplain from another school. But the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel has saved them this trouble,-by shewing that a plantation is not necessarily ruined by humanity,-that slaves under the instruction of a clergyman will encrease if they are fed; and that the existing system in the Sugar Islands, well administered and gradually improved, is worth all the theories of Master Stephen and his secretary.

The only remaining obstacle to the settlement of this important business is the expense of religious instruction.Whether the slaves are taught by clergymen or methodists, the teachers must be fed. The Mitigation Society may contend that if the planters encumber themselves with the Church of England, they are bound to bear the expense of such an unnecessary appendage to Christianity. And the West Indians would rather pay stipends to clergymen than listen to methodist preachers gratis. But such a plan is neither fair nor practicable; the Colonies ought to contribute a part; but they cannot be expected to contribute the whole. Of the proprietors resident in this country, a respectable portion have subscribed to the Society for the Conversion of the Negroes, and additional contributions are confidently expected. The Society has already doubled the number of its missionaries, and will make further additions as its funds increase. By supporting such an institution the Colonists prove their readiness to bear part of the expense of religions instruction; and in their present impoverished condition more cannot reasonably be required. The generosity of individuals and the public purse must do the rest. And those persons who speak so much of the popular feeling upon the subject, will of course be the first to grant his Majesty a supply. Mistakes may have been committed on either side, or on both sides; but the business at last is in a good train, and we look forward to a speedy and satisfactory conclusion.

As a specimen of the instruction given to negroes by

clergymen, we had intended to review the Sermons of Mr. Harte, and the Lectures of Mr. Pinder. The former are valuable in every point of view, and we recommend them most earnestly to general attention. The latter afford a pleasing specimen of familiar instruction. Both are particularly interesting at the present moment, as they shew the sort of instruction which clergymen provide for slaves, as well as the sort of clergymen which the Church provides for the Colonies.

ART. XVII. Recollections of the Peninsula.

By the Author of Sketches of India. 8vo. 262 pp. 8s. Long

man.

1823.

THIS pleasing and interesting volume contains a narrative of the observations and feelings of a British officer during five years of the war in Spain. It embraces a period which was important from our political relations with that country, and from the influence which it had in determining a contest which so deeply involved the interests of Europe. Without pretending to throw any new light upon the progress of our arms, it contains a well-drawn picture of the various situations into which the large and meritorious class of subaltern officers are thrown while engaged in actual service. The alternations of hardship and pleasure, and the ardour of professional enthusiasm, surmounting all discouragements, are vividly and well pourtrayed. There are already a sufficient number of works which detail the progress of military operations, and present an arrative of the steps by which important advantages have been obtained; but there are few which describe the circumstances of individuals employed in fulfilling the subordinate duties of the army. We are at no loss to trace the progress of the General under whose auspices so much has been gained; but we have learned little of the feelings and situation of those who, without being so conspicuously placed, have had ample opportunity for observation.

In the description of scenery, the writer is poetical and animated; and he has been very successful in the delineation of the manners of the people, which he illustrates by several interesting anecdotes. Of the Spanish character he speaks, perhaps, in terms of greater commendation than it deserves. Enervated by the wealth and luxuries which flowed in upon them from the New World, the Spaniards have little left of the high and chivalrous spirit which they once possessed; "and in the degeneracy and loss of many of their national vir

tues they have paid a heavy price for the acquisition of re moter territory.

t

We cannot forbear to extract the account which is given of a scene of peaceful happiness, which might almost remind us of the simplicity of ancient days.

"In attempting to ride a nearer road from Garfete to Abrantes, than that which led by Gaviao, we lost our way, and were obliged to put up for the night in a poor goat herd's hut. We here, however, witnessed a scene of domestic happiness and patriarchal manners, which gave us reason to rejoice that we had slept under such a roof. The family consisted of a venerable old peasant, his daughter, a woman about four-and-thirty, and her five children: the eldest, a most beautiful girl of fifteen; and the youngest, a fine black-eyed boy of eight. The husband of this woman was absent on a journey; the old peasant was not within; and when we first entered, the mother and her children were at supper; they pressed us to partake of it; we declined, but procured from them some fine rich goat's milk; and boiling it up with bread of Indian corn, made an excellent meal. It was late when the old man came in from his labour; he expressed great delight at our having rested in his cot, as, he said, there was no house within two leagues of that spot, the night dark and stormy, and the road bad and dangerous. A small wooden bowl of vegetable soup was brought him for his supper; he crossed himself and said a short grace; but my astonishment was not a little excited, by observing, that during the whole time he was eating his frugal meal, the family all stood up; and with their hands closed and lifed up, and their eyes raised towards the crucifix, prayed; not with extravagant fervour, nor as if it were a tame unmeaning form, but with much natural feeling, and seemed to invoke blessings on the head of this, the respected elder of their cottage.

"The old man, too, however habitual it might be, appeared deeply impressed with the ceremony, and took his food with a sort of quiet, solemn thankfulness. The expression of the grandaughter's countenance, who seemed much attached to him, was really seraphic; and I thought the whole scene quite a subject for a painting. In general, the beauty of people, in a common class of life, carries with it a stamp of vulgarity, for which it is difficult to account, but which checks admiration. Here it was far otherwise. An expressive eye of the deepest blue, an elegant contour of countenance, dark clustering ringlets, and a perfect form, would have made this cottage girl remarkable any where and she would have been gazed on with interest as well as pleasure, amid the most brilliant assemblies of a capital or a court. When we lay down for the night, all the children knelt at the feet of their grandfather and received his blessing, sealed by him with a kiss upon their young foreheads. I slept with a sort of sweet and superstitious confidence under this happy roof; so much, and so pleas