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"The trade," he says, "is carried on with impunity in the very neighbourhood of the British colonies of Gambia and Sierra Leone. Within 150 miles of the latter place, indeed, is the river Gallinas, from whence not less than fifteen or twenty thousand are every year exported, and this through the scandalous prostitution of the Portuguese flag.

"The slavers proceed to the Gallinas, Bonna, Cameroons, and other rivers on the coast of Africa, near the entrance of which

are large establishments for the reception of slaves when brought from the interior, and in general, for facilitating the slave trade. The chiefs in the vicinity of these stations make sudden incursions into the interior, laying waste the country, and carrying off all such of the inhabitants as may suit their purpose, and have been unable to conceal themselves. On the required number being obtained, they are put on board, as shown in the model. For these, cloth, beads, gunpowder, muskets, &c., are exchanged, at the rate of about 5 sterling per head. The profit derived may be imagined from the fact of the slaves being sold at from 50%. to 70%. per head on the other side of the Atlantic.

"Every device is resorted to in order to escape the British cruiser; and the vessel loaded in some cases to absolute suffocation, the whole voyage being in the tropics, the sufferings of the negroes defy description; nor would these poor wretches escape the fate of the prisoners confined in the Calcutta 'black hole,' but for their being permitted about one-third at a time to take the air on deck.

"During the voyage, the slaves are fed upon farina,' the root of the casava scraped and dried, a little yam or rice, with about a pint of water to drink daily. A short time previously to reaching the place of disembarka tion, they are fed up with palm oil, indeed rubbed over with it, in order to give them a fat and glossy appearance, and thus expedite

their sale."

"With all these humiliating facts," says the Times journal," it is clear to demonstration, that our abandonment of the slave-trade has not materially diminished the amount, and that it is carried on at ten times the cost of human suffering inflicted when it was a traffic carried on by all nations, and subject to regulation. It appears by commercial

letters from Rio de Janeiro, that in that port alone, 4,042 slaves were brought in three ships; and that in the month of February last, 6,137 slaves were brought in ten ships. As the destruction of life in these voyages, owing to the strict precautions used against capture, is seldom less than one half, these transactions for one Brizilian port, and during two months only, involve the sacrifice of more than 14,000 human beings!"

of America! that thou, with the word of How grievous to reflect, thou Citizens Freedom everlastingly hanging on thy lips, should countenance the slavery of thy fellow-creatures, and be the prime cause of rivetting the chains of the enslaved Africans. Shame on thee!

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CHARITY NEVER FAILETH. CHARITY is an emanation from the choicest attribute of the Deity; it is, as it were, a portion of the divinity engrafted upon the human stock: it cancels a multitude of transgressions in the possessor, and gives him a foretaste of celestial joys. It whetted the pious Martin's sword, when he divided his garment with the beggar, and swelled the royal Alfred's bosom, while a pilgrim was the partner of his meal. It influenced the sorrowing widow to cast her mite into the treasury, and held a Saviour on the Cross, when he could have summoned Heaven to his rescue. Its practice was dictated by the law, its neglect has been censured by the prophets; and when the Lord of the vineyard sent his only Son, he came not to destroy the law, but to fulfil it. Other virtues may have a limit here; but Charity extends beyond the grave. Faith may be lost in endless certainty, and hope may perish in the fruition of its object; but Charity shall live for countless ages, for ever blessing, and for ever blessed.

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A CRUISE IN THE ATLANTIC.

SOME fifty or sixty years ago, before steamboats, tourists, excisemen, et hoc genus omne, (translated into cockney dialect and all that sort of thing,") had penetrated into the most wild and remote creek and corner of that ultima thule of her Majesty's British dominions-the Highlands and Islands of Scotland-the inhabitants carried on what

they, in their simplicity and ignorance, called an honest trade in rum and brandy with the Faro Islands. Since that period, however, the "schoolmaster has been among them," and, supported by the strong arm of the law, has at length convinced them, that to exchange their fish, oil, and seal-skins, for rum and brandy, or even to convert the scanty crop of grain raised under their inhospitable sky, into ardent spirits, is a crime against society and morality.

However sound and unanswerable the logic might be by which the "schoolmaster" himself had arrived at the above conclusion, it could hardly be expected that a simple, primitive people, whose perception of right and wrong must necessarily have been very imperfect, from their total ignorance of the world, could at first be made to comprehend the enormity of their crime, in exchanging their own property for something else they preferred; or, in drinking the produce of their soil instead of eating it. It was therefore frequently necessary to resort to another species of argument; and all those whose craniums did not unfortunately admit of their being convinced, were convicted, and forthwith sent to some penal settlement, or on board of a man-of-war, to learn morality. But the simple islanders were so blind to their own interests as not to appreciate this paternal solicitude for their welfare on the part of their rulers, those among them whose inclinations led them to "do what they liked with their own," still evading, as far as in their power, the revenue laws, and the discipline consequent on their infringe ment; and, at the same time, possessing the sympathy of such of their fellow-countrymen as were not directly engaged in this contraband trade. The active exercise of this sympathy frequently frustrated the ends of justice, and, on one occasion, led to the following

adventure.

John M'Kenzie, or, as he was commonly called, Jan Dhu Mor, one of the most daring smugglers of the Hebrides, was, after innumerable hair-breadth escapes, at last betrayed into the hands of a party from a revenue cutter, by one of his own men, and carried to Stornaway, in the island of Lewis, where he was offered by the authorities, who, under the circumstances, were not guided in their proceedings by the strict letter of the law, the option of being sent to the county town for trial, or to enter on board his Majesty's

Jan

sloop of war, Revenge, of eighteen guns, then
lying in the harbour of Stornaway.
Dhu Mor knew very well, if he went to prison
he should be transported, unless he could
effect his escape; and he did not feel the
slightest inclination to serve his Majesty; he
therefore begged, as a favour, to be allowed
until the next morning to decide.

This boon was readily granted, for Jan Dhu Mor was highly respected; and his character was not only beyond reproach, except on the single point which led him into his present dilemma, but his notions of honour were of a superior order. He was never known to take an unfair advantage even of the revenue officers; on the contrary, he treated them with marked civility when he happened to be stronger, and never on any occasion used unnecessary violence.

Jan was confined for the night in the only inn in the town, which, unfortunately, could not boast of a prison, (a fact strongly indica tive of the barbarism of its inhabitants,) and a marine from the ship of war stationed at the door of his chamber.

Among those whose sympathy for the pri soner was strongly excited on this occasion, was a young midshipman belonging to the Revenge, of the name of Norman M'Leod, the son of a gentleman of landed property on the island. This youth was well acquainted with Jan, and had been first inspired with a love for a seafaring life by the romantic legends of the bold smuggler; he therefore conceived the bold design of liberating him. For this purpose he asked leave of absence till the next day.

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The room in which Jan Mor was confined was over the cellar, and the flooring consisted of rough planks, clumsily put together. This circumstance was well known to our midshipman; he therefore contrived to abstract the key of Jan's room from the place in which it had been deposited by the landlord, to whose care it had been entrusted, and, stealing into the cellar, he made himself known to the prisoner. He then thrust the key through one of the crevices in the floor, and bade him make the best use of it he could.

The sentinel was found on his post next morning; but gagged, and tied hand and foot. It appeared that the smuggler's hand was on his throat before he could give the alarm, and that he was, without much difficulty, reduced to the helplessness in which he was found by the superior strength of his antagonist. Jan took the precaution to carry off the marine's firelock and cartouch-box.

Our smuggler, without having any parti cular object in view, except putting the greatest possible distance between himself and the Revenge, retreated to the other side of the island. Having reached the point nearest Barnera, he found one of the long skiffs, in use among the islanders on the

shore, and containing a quantity of straw just imported from the mainland. Into this boat he threw himself, and soon fell asleep. When he awoke, the day was far advanced, and he found himself on the "broad Atlantic," with the "sky above, and the sea below," and one of the small native cattle of the island as his Compagnon du voyage. He then recollected having observed some cattle near the boat when he entered it, and immediately concluded that they had surrounded it for the sake of the straw, and that his fellowvoyager being more adventurous than his companions, had got into it when the tide had receded. The rope by which the boat had been fastened, which was made from a species of long grass peculiar to the island, had been eaten away. It was therefore evident that the returning tide had carried himself and his present companion to sea, in consequence of the destruction of the rope. Jan Dhu Mor would gladly have exchanged his present ship and crew for a place before the mast in the Revenge, much as he disliked the strict discipline on board of her; but there was no choice left for him now, and he was not a man to waste time in use. less repinings. He therefore took his place at the helm, and kept the boat steadily before a fresh easterly breeze, in the expectation of hailing some ship ere he should reach the other side of the Atlantic. For he thought, and rightly too, that, if he could not return, he might as well use all the means in his power to go forward, and that he had as much chance of being picked up while traversing the pathless ocean in one direction as another. There was not a morsel of food (except the live stock) on board, nor, what was of greater consequence, a single drop of water.

For two days, our smuggler ran steadily before the wind, without seeing a solitary sail. He now began to suffer from intense thirst; and the only means by which he could allay this most dreadful of all sensations, was the blood of the unfortunate quadruped, which, upon the whole, fared much better than its superior, having abundance of straw moistened by occasional showers.

But to kill the animal under the present circumstances, would be like destroying the goose that laid the golden eggs, as it presented the only prospect of prolonging his life. Our smuggler, therefore, had recourse to a practice sometimes resorted to by his poor countrymen during seasons of scarcity, viz. bleeding the cattle at stated periods, for the sake of the blood, which they mixed with a small portion of oatmeal.

Having quenched his thirst, and bound up the wound, he continued his course. On the evening of the third day it became a dead calm.

Jan Dhu Mor could no longer withstand the cravings of hunger; he therefore com

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menced with his stock of beef, after the Abyssinian fashion-by cutting off the tail! Next morning a ship hove in sight. It appeared at first to take no notice of him; but having struck a light with the marine's musket, and set fire to some of the dry straw, he soon attracted its attention, and a boat was sent off to take him on board.

The ship proved to be the "Franklin," of New York, an American privateer, carrying twelve guns, owned and commanded by Captain Jenks. The smuggler had no sooner been taken on board the Franklin, than the man at the mast-head sung out "a sail," and soon afterwards "English colours." All was bustle on board the privateer. On the nearer approach of the strange sail, it was discovered to be a British ship of war, carrying six guns more than the Franklin. Captain Jenks, on this discovery, deemed it advisable to set every stitch of canvass, a slight breeze having sprung up, and sheer off with all possible speed.

The Englishman, however, proved to be much the better sailer before the wind; and, after a chase and running fight of several hours, in which the American suffered severely, the latter struck her colours.

Three boats were immediately sent to take possession of the prize. As the unsuspecting boarders were in the act of pouring into the privateer, the American captain, forgetting all sense of honour, and mad for the loss of his ship, ordered his men to attack them. Jan Dhu Mor, who had fought bravely till the Franklin struck, was standing at a short distance from the captain when the order for this cowardly attack was given, and, before he could recover from his astonishment at an act so totally repugnant to his own sense of honour, he observed Captain Jenks levelling a pistol at the head of an English midshipman, who was coming over the side. Before he could bring the deadly weapon to bear upon his enemy, one blow from the smuggler's cutlass severed three of his fingers, striking sparks of fire from the pistol, as it glanced on its shining barrel; and another cleft his skull. The midshipman was Norman M'Leod, of his Majesty's ship Revenge.

The first lieutenant of the Franklin, a brave and humane man, seeing his captain killed, surrendered the ship into the hands of the captors.

Jan Dhu Mor was, through the interest of his friend Norman, promoted to be a petty officer on board the Revenge, in which he served until the close of the war, when he was, on the recommendation of Captain Norman M'Leod, appointed to the command of one of the Revenue cutters, for the suppression of smuggling in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland; and thus ended Jan Dhu Mor's Cruise in the Atlantic.

M.

PLAYS WRITTEN BY DIVINES. [MR. J. W. CALCRAFT, lessee and manager of the Theatre Royal, Dublin, has lately published a very interesting Defence of the Stage, displaying great research and knowledge of his subject. It is in answer to a Sermon preached by the Rev. J. B. Bennett, (Wes feyan,) in Dublin. We shall not go into the controversy, but merely extract a summary, not less interesting than curious, of the number of plays written by divinity-men.] "Gammer Gurton's Needle," was written by the Rev. J. Still, afterwards bishop of

Bath and Wells.

*

*

*

Dr. John Bale, bishop of Ossory, called bilious Bale, from the acrimony of his controversial writings, is the author of above twenty dramatic pieces, four of which were published.t-Dr. Nicholas Brady, the coadjutor of Tate (who was also a dramatist) in the version of the Psalms, is the author of a tragedy called "The Rape, or the Innocent Impostors."-The Rev. Thos. Broughton, prebendary of Salisbury Cathedral, is the author of a tragedy called "Hercules." -The Rev. William Cartwright, who died in 1643, is the author of the "Royal Slave," "The Lady Errant," "The Ordinary," and "The Siege." He was an eminent preacher. The learned and prous Dr. Fell, Bishop of Oxford, said of him, "Cartwright was the utmost man could come to."-Dr. Samuel Coxall, archdeacon of Salop, is the author of the "Fair Circassian."-Dr. John Dalton altered and adapted to the stage Milton's "Comus."-Dr. Dodd, who, though his end was unfortunate, was an able divine and a religious man, wrote the oratorios of "Ruth" and "Balaam," the tragedy of the "Syracusan," and edited the "Beauties of Shakspeare," with notes and annotations. Dr. Warburton, bishop of Gloucester, bestowed much time on an edition of Shakspeare, and in writing notes to his works. Dr. Percy, bishop of Dromore, wrote an essay on the English stage, and contributed many notes to the various editions of Shakspeare.

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The Rev. Thomas Goff, who was esteemed as an excellent preacher, wrote the tragedies of the "Raging Turk," " Orestes," and the "Courageous Turk," and a tragicomedy called the "Careless Shepherdess." He died in 1627.-Dr. Zachary Grey wrote critical, historical, and explanatory Notes to Shakspeare. The Rev. John Upton, prebendary of Rochester, wrote critical obser

Milliken and Sou, Dublin, 1839

The Camden Society have lately published "Kynge Johan, a Play, in Two Parts, by John Bale;" printed from the original manuscript, in the library of the Duke of Devonshire. The date when "Kynge Johan" was originally written, cannot be clearly ascertained: perhaps before Bale was made an Irish prelate by Edward VI., in 1552. Bale was originally a Roman Catholic; became a Protestant; made a Prebendary of Canterbury; and died in 1563.

vations on Shakspeare The Rev. Stephen Gosson, who afterwards became a noted persecutor of the theatre, and wrote "The School of Abuse," an invective against poets and players, is the author of a tragedy called "Catiline's Conspiracies," the comedy of "Captain Mario," and a morality called Praise at Parting."-Dr. John Hackett, bishop of Lichfield and Coventry, is the author of "Loyola," a comedy acted before James the First.-The Rev. Samuel Hard

ing wrote the tragedy of "Sicily and Naples, or the Fatal Union."Dr. Peter Hausted, chaplain to the Earl of Northamp ton in the civil wars, wrote the comedies called "Rival Friends," and "Senile Odiuni." - Dr. John Hoadly, prebendary of Winchester, is supposed to have materially assisted, his brother in the celebrated comedy of the "Suspicious Husband," and is the author of the following dramatic pieces:"The Contrast," "Jephtha," Love's Re venge," "The Force of Truth," and "Phoebe," and left several dramatic works in manuscript behind him. The Rev. John Home is the author of "Douglas," a play that will keep possession of the stage as long as any taste for true natural poetry remains; and also of "Agis," " The Siege of Acquileia," "The Fatal Discovery," "Alonza," and " Alfred." The rigid principles of the synod of Scotland were shocked at the idea of a member of the kirk becoming a dramatist; they, accordingly, in a public convocation, expelled him, and disqualified him.from the ministry; in consequence of which he resigned a good living, and withdrew from the jurisdiction of the presbytery. The opinion of mankind has amply vindicated him, and condemned the harsh bigotry by which he suffered; and the late King George III., then Prince of Wales, afforded him a substantial recompense, in the form of a handsome pension, which placed him beyond the effects of further persecution.-Dr. James Hurdis is the author of "Panthea," and "Sir T. More," tragedies, and "Cursory Remarks on the Arrangement of the Plays of Shakspeare." The Rev. W. Mason, chaplain to the king, rector of Aston, and canon-residentiary of York, and prebendary of

Christian, in a letter to Dr. Hunter, speaking of the Cowper, a pious, and in some respects severe tragedy of "Sir Thomas More," says, "I wish to know what you mean to do with Sir Thomas, for though I expressed doubts about his theatrical possibilities, I think him a very respectable person, and, with some improvement, well worthy of being introduced to the public.-Hayley's Life of Cowper, Letter cxxxviii. See also "The Task," book vi. p. 254, in which he eulogises Garrick, and, in speaking of the Jubilee at Stratford, in 1769, in honour of Shakspeare, says :

""Twas a hallowed time; decorum reigned,

And mirth without offence. No few returned, Doubtless much edified, and all refreshed." It is evident from this, Cowper had no horror of the theatre; yet his character and conduct are often quoted by the most rigid.

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The Rev. James Townley is the author of the popular farce of "High Life below Stairs," so often attributed to the pen of Garrick, and many others. Dr. John Wat son, bishop of Winchester in 1583, is the author of "Absalom," a tragedy, in Latin. Dr. Welch, bishop of Derry, in 1670, wrote two comedies, called "Hermophus,' (in Latin,) and "Love's Hospital."— Dr. Francis Wrangham, archdeacon of York, is the author of a farce called "Reform,"

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written in 1792.-Dr. James Plumptre is the author of a comedy called the "Coventry Act," the tragedy of " Osway," "Observations on Hamlet, with an Appendix," and "Four Sermons on Subjects relating to the Stage," preached in St. Mary's Church, Cambridge. In these discourses Dr. Plumptre takes the middle course, and points out the distinction between the uses and abuses of the stage. He says, "this powerful engine can be made to promote the cause of virtue and religion, and to become, not only an innocent amusement, but a highly rational and pleasing source of instruction." These discourses were written under the sanction of the Rev. Dr. Pearson, vice-chancellor of the University of Cambridge, to whom they are dedicated. The reader would do well to peruse them entire, and not draw his opinion of Dr. Plumptre's object, or the mode in which he enforces it, by the summary ac count included in Dr. Bennett's Appendix. The book is reasonable and moderate, and the notes abound with highly entertaining information. This production Dr. Bennett regards as a curiosity in theological litera ture." It may be so. That a clergyman should say a word or two in defence of the stage, may appear to him curious, but I think I have shown that, at all events, it is not singular.-Dr. Edward Young, the author of "Night Thoughts," wrote the tragedies of the "Revenge," "Busiris," and The Brothers;" the last of which (a fact, I believe, not generally known) was written and acted for the express purpose of adding to the fund for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts.-In more modern times, the Rev. C. Maturin, who is remembered in this city as an eloquent preacher, is the author of the tragedies of "Bertram," "Manuel," ""Fredolfo," and "Osmyn the Renegade."-The Rev. H. Millman is the author of "Fazio," which was eminently successful on the stage when produced at Covent Gar

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den for Miss O'Neill, "Belshazzar's Feast," the "The Fall of Jerusalem," and the "Martyr of Antioch."-The Rev. C. Croly is the author of "Catiline," and a very successful comedy, called "Pride shall have a Fall." The Naturalist.

BOTANY.

Leaves of Plants.

IN whatever way absorption takes place in plants, no doubt the leaves are the agents of it; for if you put into water two branches,one with leaves, and the other without them,--the water will rise in the former, but not in the latter. But leaves have also a directly absorbing power. In summer, plants are revived more by watering the leaves, than by watering the roots. In this way we account for plants growing in arid soils, and on rocks, where no rain falls for months together. The water-melon, though in hot countries, sometimes grows to the weight of fifty pounds; and the water must have been derived from the leaves. Experiments have been made to determine by which of their two surfaces it is, that absorption takes place. A leaf of the white-mulberry, when laid on its upper surface on water, died in five days; but if laid on its lower surface, it lived many months. With the leaves of other trees, it seemed of little consequence on which surface they were laid. In some plants which have no roots (as the fuci) the leaves are the sole organs of absorption.

The cooling power of leaves should also be mentioned. This is accomplished by the evaporation of the fluid they transpire; and the transpiration and consequent evaporation are always greater on a hot day. If you place your hand on a growing vegetable, or on a grass-plot, in hot weather, you will feel it very cool. This is seen well in the ice-plant. We here see another reason for the large leaves of tropical plants;-their affording a large space for transpiration. Coolness is also promoted by heat being reflected, instead of absorbed; and many tropical plants have smooth leaves, which are well adapted for reflection. Plants, from being colder than the surrounding atmosphere, often create a dew around them. Drops of dew are often seen on plants after a cold night. Even in the day-time, if a fog should happen to arise, trees arrest it in its progress, condense it, and let it fall in an abundant shower of rain ;even though all around may be parched with drought. In one of the Canary Islands, the inhabitants were said to be chiefly dependent on this source for a supply. A large tree, of the laurel kind, condensed the fog which. daily rose from the sea; the water was collected in a large basin underneath; and was distributed to the natives by a superintendent. This account was once rejected by philosophi

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