We have given a few specimens of our author's skill in the more sentimental line of writing, and in his descriptions of nature, and picturesque delineation of its beauties, we now proceed to shew, his equally happy faculty, in what must be considered, a higher branch of the art; the representation of character; the landscape of human nature. And in this point of view, we consider the tale entitled, the "Last years of an old incumbent," to be of pre-eminent merit. The account of this venerable personage and his peculiarities in the discharge of his sacred functions, is given with the few, light, but expressive strokes of a master's hand.

"In every point of church discipline he adhered strictly to ancient custom. When he was engaged in the discharge of his clerical duties, he was never to be seen without his cassock. Yet with all his strictness, he never spoke unkindly of dissenters, I respect,' he would say, all those who act conscientiouly and from principle, however their opinions may differ from my own.' The old rector once parted with a curate, because, (among more serious causes for complaint,) the young man, although,' as the Doctor phrased it; he had proceeded regularly to the degree of Artium Baccalaureus in the University of Cambridge; he would not wear the gown appointed by the statutes for that degree, but a strangely devised vesture which he called a preaching gown, and moreover he would not wear a statutable hood, but took upon himself to wear the hood of a Master of Arts of Oxford, who had preceded him in the curacy.' The Doctor always took part himself in the celebration of divine service. He read the prayers without spectacles, in a firm and clear voice, and in a manner which showed how deeply he felt the beauty of our liturgy. Never shall I forget the deep tones and fine modulation of the old man's voice, when, after the invocation of the Redeemer by all the sufferings of his human life, he concluded the reiterated petition with that awful climax, 'In all time of our tribulation; in all time of our wealth; in the hour of death; and in the day of judgment: Good Lord, deliver us.' His sermons were generally short and sententious. The equability of his temper did not suffer him to delight in violent representations of the terrors of religion; and his somewhat reserved and dry manner prevented him from doing justice to the kindness of his heart, and from persuading and alluring his hearers to the ways of pleasantness and the paths of peace. Yet when he instructed his parishioners, he turned not aside to the pages of heathen philosophy, which amused many of his leisure hours. From the Bible alone he drew his morality: and the brief warnings and simple exhortations of the word of God, were more impressive from the lips of the aged minister, than the most diffuse and elaborate compositions of human eloquence."

It is not perhaps of much importance, but in the matter of the preacher's gown, the incumbent was manifestly mistaken; and there is a blunder also in the concluding story, about Clarendon's History of the Rebellion, which the author supposes to be the Rebellion in forty-five. But we pass over these and a few other blemishes, and upon the whole, beg to express our thanks, to "the Country Curate," for the entertainment he has afforded us, and our recommendation of his work to all such of our readers as may not yet have seen it.

ART. X. Substance of the Debate in the House of Commons on the 15th May, 1823, on a Motion for the Mitigation and gradual Abolition of Slavery throughout the British Dominions. With a Preface and Appendixes, containing Facts and Reasonings illustrative of Colonial Bondages 8vo. 246 pp. Hatchard. 1823.

ART XI. Report of the Proceedings of the Incorporated Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign parts; during the Year 1822.

ART. XII. Report of a Debate in Council, on a Despatch from Lord Bathurst to His Excellency Sir Henry Warde. 8vo. 40 pp. Barbadoes. 1823.

ART. XIII. Cushoo: a Dialogue between a Negro and ar English Gentleman, on the Horrors of Slavery and the Slave Trade.

ART. XIV. Some Account of the Society for the Conversion and Religious Instruction and Education of the Negro Slaves in the British West India Islands. Incorporated by Royal Charter, 1794.

ART. XV. Lectures on the Gospel of St. Matthew. By the Rev. William Marshall Harte, Rector of St. Lucy, in the Island of Barbadoes. Printed for the Society for the Conversion and Religious Instruction and Education of the Negro Slaves in the British West India Islands. 12mo. 403 pp. 1823.

ART. XVI. Advice to Servants. Five Family Lectures delivered to Domestic Slaves in the Island of Barbadoes, in the Year 1822. By the Rev. John Hothersall Pinder, A.B. Chaplain to the Codrington Plantations. 36 pp. Rivingtons and Cochran. 1824.

THE debates upon Negro Slavery with which Parliament must ere long resound, will proceed for the most part from three distinct quarters, Government, the Mitigationists, and

the West Indians. And if the orators find it expedient to give free utterance to their thoughts, we shall be treated with a curious medley of accusations and defences, charges and recriminations, direct assaults, and indirect insinuations, cánonading, cross-firing, raking, and sharp-shooting. The Edinburgh Review, a Mitigation Journal, has already condemned Ministers for giving a delusive support to the firm of Macaulay, and Stephen. The Colonies conceive that Mr. Canning and Lord Bathurst are the tools, or the dupes of the African Institution. Government must feel indignant at the conduct of" the Saints," and has somewhat to complain of in the proceedings of the Planters. The Planters and the Mitigationists assail each other with persevering fury, and will listen to no proposal of compromise or conciliation. It may not be impossible to simplify the subject by briefly reviewing the conduct of the various belligerents.

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To begin with Ministers. They will have no difficulty in defending themselves against the charges of Mr. Brougham. With a tithe of the tithe" of that gentleman's talents, it might be shewn that a Ministry which threw themselves, into the arms of the Mitigationists, would be very inadequately punished by the loss of their places. A more serious charge will arise out of the undue reliance which has been placed upon the Society. The Opposition will say, they are already saying that Government either in its aggregate capacity, or in the person of the Secretary of State for the Colonies, ought to have acted upon its own responsibility, procured its own information from its own officers, brought forward its own plan, canvassed that plan confidentially with the Colonial authorities, and abstained from any Parliamentary discussion of its merits until the whole was agreed to and arranged. It is evident that this would have been the preferable mode of proceeding. With a host of well-paid servants in the West Indies, Government should be better informed upon colonial subjects than Mr. Buxton or Mr. Brougham. They ought not to stand in need of the assistance even of Mr. Wilberforce. If it be said, therefore, that there are great and long-standing defects in the system of our Colonial Administration, we know not how such a charge can be disproved. Admitting it to be the duty of Ministers, not merely to defend the West Indies against foreign enemies; but to ameliorate its internal condition, no man can pretend to say that such duty has been fulfilled. In the nomination of Governors, Revenue Officers, Attorney's General, and other distinguished servants of the Crown, no one can pretend to say that the chief object has been to select men who could improve the country to which

they were sent. Has it ever been considered the business of the Governors of Jamaica, or Barbadoes, to devise, or even to execute schemes for the better regulation of their respective provinces. Lord Bathurst admits, that much remains to be done. And if he is asked why he did not set about it, untill Mr. Buxton brought the matter before the House of Commons, his Lordship will be at a loss for a direct and satisfactory reply.

The answer may probably be, that it is the fashion to leave these things to Parliament; that the improvement of New South Wales was long intrusted to Mr.Bennet; that Mr Hume was permitted to have all the credit of the recent reductions; and that it was thought better to leave the amendment of the criminal code in the hands of a Romilly and a Mackintosh; than commit it to experienced magistrates, or responsible law officers. This is all too true and it may afford a sufficient defence either for the existing administration, or for the in dividual specially entrusted with the charge of the Colonies. We are not their enemies, or their accusers. But as their friends and well-wishers, it may be permitted us to hope, that they will not always condescend to excuse their particular omissions upon the ground of their general neglect; that the Colonies will not always be governed in Downing-street, after consulting with the Mitigationists on one hand, and the West India Committee on the other; that every future provincial appointment will be made with a regard not merely to the past services, or general merits of the individual, but to his capacity for executing the beneficent intentions of his patron; that every succeeding governor may be enabled and required to let the wisdom, energy, and impartiality of Government flow freely through his hand without being strained too curiously through the Planter's sieve, or adulterated by the admixture of puritanical philanthropy.

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Feeling, therefore, that government is not entitled to a complete acquittal, we are aware that much may be urged in extenuation of its faults. The system we have condemned is not the growth of a day, and ought not to be abandoned without mature deliberation. The African Institution had stuck its fangs into the very vitals of society, and shewed no dispo sition to relax its grasp. The Abolitionists had been permitted to engross the public attention if not the public confidence, until it might not only be expedient to listen to their suggestions, but impossible to satisfy the country by a contrary line of conduct. If ministers knew or suspected what treatment they were to experience from the Society, they

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still might deem it prudent to have their suspicions justified, before they broke for ever with Mr. Stephen. And the West Indian complaints respecting this injudicious connection would be met fairly enough, by saying, that if the planters had done their duty, the necessity for such an alliance would have been prevented. Acting upon the received system, it might not be unbecoming, and it certainly was not ungracious in ministers to mediate between the contending parties. The parliamentary representatives, on either side, acquiesced in this pacific sug gestion--the West Indians with cordiality—and the Mitigati onists with distrust. It was admitted on all hands that there was much to be done; and that government ought, in the first instance, to be the doer of it. The Society found it necessary to acquiesce in the proposed delay. The planters promised their hearty support, and ministers undertook to proceed in the least irritating manner, to hear all sides, and protect all interests. How far the latter pledge has been redeemed, it is not possible at this moment to determine. The proceed ings of the Colonial office are not yet accurately known; but there are some reasons to doubt whether sufficient pains have been taken to convince the Colonists that they were not to be placed at the mercy of Mr. Stephen. We have no intention, however, to prejudge a question upon which Lord Bathurst may be able to afford satisfactory explanation.. The countenance which has formerly been given to a party so obnoxious to the Planters, is a circumstance rather to be deplored than condemned. Mr. Canning having been a zealous friend to the abolition, might suppose that he possessed some claims to the gratitude, and some check upon the conduct of its leaders. Under the influence of such a supposition, he. was excusable for endeavouring to keep upon good terms with the party; and if the endeavour has betrayed his colleagues into a squabble with the Colonies, the means of making an honourable retreat are placed within his reach. The connection between Government and the Mitigationists> may now be considered at an end; and an authorised de claration of this important event, will be accepted by the West Indian Planters as a satisfactory answer to their com plaints.

The first of these facts is not derived from any secretore confidential source, but from the open conduct and declaras: tions of the Society. After what they and theirs have said and done, it is impossible that ministers can act with them, or trust them. Professing to acquiesce in the suggestions of Mr. Canning, they have strained every nerve to counteract his plans. Having submitted for a time to his offer of me