EMANCIPATION

IN' riiK WEST INDIES. Thk f;ubst:LiK;c of the i',>l!oviii:i Ksy;iy w;is l^Ivou in Ihe ibnn of a Li>,cinre at

• Ooneonl, and aftorwanls, in Piostoii, wlivro it was jiriiihul isi The Vine and Valm,

The writer lias likewise {'uniislicl. eight articles fur the S/)rhi.i/f(C.ld Repulilican, eiu- bodyino; the same views, hut jireseiiled

a dilTereiit I'.ini;. He wishes, in this way, 

to contribute to the jiublic iii{oniiiiti(nt eoiMTritidg a luatter uidiappily but little 'iiiderstood even in New .Eiiglai)d. Doubtless there are erri.-rs in these piigos, but they are not, those of intention. Concord, March i'!lh, ISii'J. Sidney Smith mentions a criti(; wh.o would never read a 'leok till after he- had r(^v!ewi'd U; "beeause," he said, "rcadini*- is ant In bias the mind." King James I. used to wonder tnat his judges enuld deeid;e any case after thev h:i(l heard both sides; "for if I hear but the one jtnrty,'" said he. "my j)dg- ment is elear; but when tViey bavj' both told their story, by my saul! 1 eanna ttdl what to ?ay." Something like the wisdom of tbe.-e two sages seems to have taken |H.»sst.'Ssiun of the Amerieiin mind on the question of i'anan- eipation. There are ])Coi)le e'nough to ad- vunee the tiieory; thiere «re more than em)ugh to denovi'iee it, and ery out on ifs dangers and horrors; btit few of either jrarty ha(^ taken the trouble to inform themselves of the facts. For the abolition of Slavery is not a mere theory, like the hy|)oihesis of an open sea at the North .Pobs, which they say.liieut. Maury believed in. beeause be beard there were whales iti liafTin's .I'iay, with thi.'ir nosi.'s pointing to the north, — no, it is a great his- torical faet, and we are to judge of it as we do of other faebs. less by the arguments ad- vatieed in its favor than liy the results which liavc attended it. Let us consider, then, this mo.st important topic— Kmanei|)ation as a Vwt, ]iot iis a Theory, — eonfniing the impiiry to Negro Kmancipation in the West Indies. What should wc think of a man who should todav rrnwelv ra.i:-'e the question whether thi> Atlaiitleean be ffoss(;d by steam- ships, — wlu.'thcr a Sharpy's rilU; is better than a crossbow, m- a power jtress thaii a monk's inkh.orn arid sheejiskin V Should wo not imagine lie had strayed away fr(^m len- tucky or the olbce of tin; Bostfui (lourier? Vet till' facts whi(di prove the safety and prolit of I'anancip.ation are less r.eeent than tlm success of ocean steamships, against wliicb Lardner pro]>hesied in vain; nay, they are older than the bold contrivantics of i^'ni- t(»n. wdiich, wilhin half a (MMitury, have revo- lntio!ii/ed coiiimcrce and maritime warfare, "^^riiey lie at our viny iloor: we have ordy to look at then! to lu,' <'onviiiccd. Vet, so invi'terat(.' are the prejudices which our nnfortmiate political and connne.rcial sins liave brought upon lis. th;it not nne person in a Innidrcfl, it is safe to say. is at-qnainted with the truth of the West 1 ndian ex perinient of IVeedom In the British.!rcnch. and Dandsh West Imlies, and in Hayti. together with th(! Sf.iuth Afrii;an colonies of Hourbon. .Mauritius:nul th(.' ( 'api.' of (lood Uojk!, about 1000 000 slaves rtf the .frican race, have been set fr(>e since 170-. or within seventy years. Of these, half a miili<in were lihera- teil in TIayti, in I7!»o; 100 000 more in the satne island a few vears later; 770 8 '0 by Kti^land. in IS^JJi-f); and about 'iOO 000 by