6 JULY 1839, Page 15

CAPTAIN MARRYAT'S AMERICA.

IF not the most philosophical or pretending work on America which has yet appeared, Captains MAintrAT's is the most readable and one of the most valuable. In the descriptive parts, it is as pointed in composition, as tinged with humour, and, allowing for the ab- sence of story, as amusing as one of his novels : in the grave and more general views, it exhibits much sound sense and shrewdness ; a good deal of knowledge upon subjects where the sailor and the novelist might have been supposed deficient ; as well as an unbi- assed judgment upon men, manners, and institutions, and a total absence of soreness, which, after the affronts he is said to have re- ceived in the States, is more than might have been looked for. Although the book is Si complete in itself," the subject is not finished ; the author having been unable to press all his matter into three volumes, and his observations on American society and government being therefore postponed. So far as it goes, his work consists of three divisions-1. An introduction, giving a brief view of the general conclusions lie has come to, with such explanations as he deems needful. 2. Extracts from his diary, describing inci- dents of travel, the appearance of' places and landscapes, the impression they produced upon his mind, and such other subjects as figni the usual material of books of travel, where the writer limits himself to personal occurrences and remarks upon them. 3. An examination and general view of language, credit, penitentiaries, &c., the army, the marine, slavery, religion, societies and associations, law, Lynch law, climate, and education, as observed by himself, painted by American writers, or developed by statistical returns.

The extent of his travel, or the order of his route, does not positively appear ; for the parts of his diary are taken without re- gard to connected order, passing from one place to another by jumps. So far as may be gathered from his extracts, however, he landed at New York, and visited the principal towns and places in the Northern seabord provinces from Washington to Boston. He steamed up the Hudson ; passed along the Lakes as high as the last vestiges of settlement and civilization, at the Sault St. Marie ; and took a short sail on Lake Superior, but was driven back by a gathering storm, as a "birch canoe, in a gale of wind on Lake Superior, would not be a very insurable risk." Returning, he

passed through the Canadas to Montreal, and accompanied the army under Sir Joinv COLBORNE in its march against the rebels at

St. Eustniche ; having, on his return to New York, to make an ex- planatory speech to the " majority" at St. Alban's, for having said they had passed "resolutions" of sympathy with the rebels, in " total ignorance " of the whole affitir. lie subsequently visited several of the American outposts scattered along the Western fron- tier ; descended the Wisconsin, in a difficult, if' not a perilous man- ner ; steamed down the Mississippi to its junction with the Ohio; which he ascended to a place called Guyandotte; whence he set off for the Cheltenham of the Alleghanies ; eventually reaching Balti- more by coach. Further South he may have travelled, but it does not appear ; though he speaks decidedly of New Orleans and the Southern States.

It' the composition of the work be closely looked at, it may be said to furnish a key to its author's leading literary qualities. The first of these consists in seizing the characteristic of any thing presented to Iris notice, especially it' humorous or ridiculous : the second, in rejecting every tiring which would militate against the

particular effect he would produce upon the reader. In the very highest class of intellect, this faculty of rejection gives rise to com- pression ; ins MAIIIIYAT it SOIllefitlICS causes omission. Let us ex- emplify what is meant by adducing an example.

GALE ON LAKE IIURON.

The next morning it blew bard, and as we opened upon Lake Huron, we had to encounter in heavy sea ; fortunately, the wind was fair for the island of Mackinaw, or we might have been delayed for some days. As soon as we were inn the lake, we made sail, having fifty-six miles to run bethre it was dark. The gale increased, but the canoe flew over the water, skimming it like a sea- bird. It was beantillil, but not quite so pleasant, to watch it, as upon the least carelessness on the part of the helmsman it would immediately have filled. As it was, we shipped some heavy seas; but the blankets at the bottom being saturated, gave us the extra ballast winch we required. Before we were clear of the islands, we were joined by a whole fleet of Indian ranotsmitb their dirty blankets spread to tine storm, running as we were for Mackinaw, ?king on their return from Maniton Islands, where they had congregated to receive presents from the Governor of Upper Canada. Their canoes were most of them smaller than ours, which had been built for speed, but they were much higher in the gunnel. It was interesting to behold so many hundreds of beings trusting themselves to such fragile conveyances in a heavy gale and running sea; but, the harder it blew the (lister we went ; and at last, much to my satisfaction, we found ourselves in smooth water again, alongside of the landing wharf at Mackinaw. I had had some wish to see a fresh-water gale of wind; but in a birch canoe I never wish to try the experiment again.

All is done here that the writer seems to have proposed,—his own risk, the character and capability of his own craft, the specific contrast between the Indian fleet and his own canoe : but the gale itself, the commotion of the waters on that inland sea, the com- mingling of the angry elements, and the appearance of the shore, when the shore was visible, are left to the imagination of the reader. In his fictions, where all is created by the writer, this peculiarity is rarely felt, whilst the clearness and compactness it produces contribute to give the readableness which distinguishes MARETAT. In a description of reality the deficiency is sometimes more obvious. When before the grander scenes of nature, although he conveys a distinct idea, yet there seems to be a poetry beyond him, which he has either omitted or not seen. In the exposition of a subject, nearly all he says is sensible ; with much of it the reader feels in- clined to agree ; and though the writer may be dealing with dry topics, nothing is drily treated—we get along as rapidly as in the most superficial " article." But the reader perceives that the subject has not been exhausted for him, if it has even been mastered by the expositor—that something more has to be told, and perhaps learned. Of course this does not apply to every thing, but merely to those loftier scenes or large subjects which require an exten- sive comprehension to grasp. In endeavouring to present an idea of the book, we will begin with the Diary. What first greeted the author on his arrival was

A CRISIS AT NEW YORK.

Two hundred and sixty houses have already failed, and no one knows where it is to end. Suspicion, fear, and misfortune have taken possession of the city. Had 1 not been aware of the cause, I should have imagined that the plague was raging, and I hail the description of Defoe before nue. Not a smile on one countenance among the crowd who pass and repass ; hur- ried steps, care-worn faces, rapid exchanges of salutation, or hasty commu- nication of anticipated ruin before the sun goes down. Here two or three are gathered on one side, whispering and watching that they are not overheard; there a solitary, with his arms folded and his watching slouched, brooding over de- parted affluence. Mechanics, thrown out of employment, are pacing up and down with the air of fiunished wolves. The violent shock has been commend- .rated, like that of electricity, through the country to a distance of hundreds of miles. Canals, nrailroads, and all public works have been discontinued, and the Irish emigrant leans against his shanty, with his spade idle in his hand, and .starves, as his thoughts wander back to his own Emerald Isle.

THE STATE OF "BARTER" REACHED.

Nobody refuses to take the paper of the New York banks, although they virtually have stopped payment ; they never refuse any thing in New York.; but nobody will give specie in change, and great distress is occasioned by this want of a circulating medium. Some of the shopkeepers told nee that they had been obliged to turn away a hundred dollars a day, and many a Southerner, who has come up with a large supply of southern notes, has found himself a pauper, and has been indebted to a frieud for a few dollars in specie to get home

The distress for change has produced a curious remedy. Every man is now his own 'franker. Go to the theatres and places of public amusement, and, instead of change, you receive an I. 0. U. front the tummy. At the hotels and oyster-cellars it is the same thing. Call for a glass of brandy and water, and the change is fifteen tickets, each " good for one glass of brandy and water." At an oyster-shop, eat a plate of oysters, and you have in return seven tickets, good for one phase of oysters each. It is the same everywhere. The barbers

Streets, you I.: Acts, good for so many shaves ; and were "there beggars in the Streets, I presume they would give you tickets in change, good for so much philanthropy. Dealers, in general, give out their own bank-notes, or, ns they swe called here, shin plasters, which are good for one dollar, and from that down to taro and a half cents, all of which are redeemable, and redeemable only upon a general return to cash payments.

Pass on to Boston, where they are

MORE ENGLISH THAN THE ENGLISH.

Massadmsetts is certainly very English in its scenery, and Boston essen- tially English as a city. The Bostonians assert that they are more English than we are ; that is, that they have strictly adhered to the old English customs and manners, as handed down to them previous to the Revolution. That of sitting a very long while at their wine alter dinner, is one which they certainly adhere to, and which, /think, would be inure honoured in the breach than the observance ; but their hospitality is unbounded, and you do, as an Englishman, feel at home with them. I agree with the Bostonians so thr, that they certainly appear to have made no clump in their manners and customs for these last hundred years. You meet here with frequent specimens of the Old English Gentleman., deseendunts of the best old English thmilies who settled here long before the Revolution, and are now living on their incomes, with a town house and a country seat to retire to during the summer season. The society of Boston is very delightful ; it wins upon you every day, and that is the greatest compliment that can be paid to it. Beauties of nil the Americans the Bostonians arc the most sensitive to any Illiberal remarks made upon the country, for they consider themselves, and pride themselves, as being peculiarly English ; while, on the contrary, the ma- rrity of the Americans being that they are English. There certainly is less intermixtiire of foreign blood in this city than in any other in America. It will appear strange, but so wedded Inc they to old customs, even to John Bull- -ism, that it is not more than seven or eight years that French wines have been put on the 11.-don tables, and become in general use in this city.

This feeling, however, is wearing away—self-interest is destroy- ing sentimentality. The Northern States manufacture as well as Englund.

CAPTAIN MARRYAT AND THE LADIES SCHOOLS.

again is a rivalry between Albany and Troy, each of them glorying in pylsessiug the largest seminary for the education of young ladies, who are sent

flirs' ems. Stair of the Union, to be finished off at one or the other of them. He N, at.: ade 'n ninny other establishments, the young holies upon quit-

Cues it Laze s given to them, if they pass their examinations satisfac- torily. Tilt-• educated upon a system which would satisfy even Miss Mar- tineau, and-pripared to exercise the rights of which she complaini that women have been so unjustly deprived. Conceive three hundred modern l'ortias, who regularly take their degrees, and emerge from the portico of the seminary full of algebra, equality, and the theory of the constitution h The quantity and variety crammed into them is beyond all calculation. The examination takes place yearly, to prove to the parents that the preceptors have done their duty, and is in itself very innocent, ns it only causes the young ladies to blush a little.

This afternoon they were examined in algebra, and their performance was very creditable. Under a certain age girls are certainly much quicker than boys, and 1 presume would retain what they learnt if it were not for their sub- sequent ditties in making puddings and nursing babies. Yet these are affairs which must be performed by one sex or the other, and of what use can algebra and other abstruse matters be to a woman in her present state of domestic thraldom.

The theory of the American constitution was the next subject on which they were examined; by their replies, this appeared to be to them more ab- struse than algebra ; but the fact is, women are born Tories, and admit Mather than petticoat government as legitimate.

The next day we again repaired to the ball, and French was the language in which they were to be examined; and the examination afforded us much amuse- ment.

The young, ladies sat down in rows on one side of the room. In the centre, towards the end, was an easel, on which was placed a large black board on which they worked with chalk the questions in algebra, &c.—a towel hanging to it, that they might wipe out and correct. The French preceptor, mum 011 Einigr6 Count, sat down with the examiners before the board, the visiters (chiefly composed of anxious papas and mammas) being seated on benches be- hind. them. As it happened, I had taken my seat close to the examining board, and at some little distance from the other persons who were deputed or invited to attend. I don't know how I came there. 1 believe I had come in too late ; but there I was, within three feet of every young lady who came up to the board.

0 Now, messieurs, have the kindness to ask any question you please," said the old Count. " Mademoiselle, you will have the goodness to step forward." A question was proposed in English, which the young lady hail to write in French. The very first went wrong: I perceived it, and without looking at her, pronounced the right word, so that she could hear it. She caught it, rubbed out the wrong word with the towel, and rectified. it. This was carried on through the whole sentence, and then she retreated from the board, that her work might be examined. " Very well, very well, indeed, Miss ; c'est par- faitement hien ;" and the young lady sat down blushing. Thus were they all called up, and one after another prompted by me ; and the old Count was de- lighted at the success of his pupils. Now, what amused me in this was the little bit of human nature ; the tact displayed by the sex, which appears to be innate, and which never deserts them. Had I prompted a boy, lie would most likely have turned his head round to- wards me, and thus have revealed what I was about ; but not one of the whole class was guilty of such indiscretion. They heard me, rubbed out, corrected, waited for the word when they did not know it, but never by any look or sign made it appear that there was any understanding between us. Their eyes were constantly fixed on the hoard, and they appeared not to know that I was in the room. It Was really beautiful. When the examination was over, I received It look from them all, half comic, half serious, Willett amply repaid me for my assistance.

As young ladies are assembled here from every State of the Union, it was a fair criterion of American beauty ; and it must be acknowledged that the Ame- rican women are the prettiest in the whole world.

BUFFALO AND PROGRESSION.

Benda is one of the wonders of Ameriea. It is hardly to be credited tint

such a beautiful city could have risen up in the wilderness in so short a period. lit the year 1811 it was bond down, being then only it village ; only one home was left standing., and now it is a city with twenty-five thousand inhabitants, The Americans are very judicious in planning their new towns : the streets are laid out so wide that there will never be any occasion to pull down to widen and improve, its we do in England. The city of Buffalo is remarkahly well- built ; all the houses in the principal streets are lofty and substantial, and are either of brick or granite. The main street is wider, and the stores handsomer, than the majority of those in New York. It has five or six very tine churches, it handsome theatre, town-hall, and market, and three or four hotels, one of which is superior to most others in America; and to these we must add a fine stone pier, with a lighthouse, and a harbour full of shipping, and magnificent steam-boats. It is almost incomprehensible that all tbw should have been ac- complished sines the year 1814. And what lets oceasioned this spring,ing np of a city in so short a time as to remind you of Aladdin's magic paten ? the Erie Canal, which here joins the 'Nilson River with the Lake, passing through the centre of the most populous and fertile states.

commuter. THE LAKES.

How little are they aware, in Europe, of the vastness and extent of com- merce carried on in these inland seas, whose coasts are now lined with flourish- ing. towns and cities, and whose waters arc pheighed by magnificent steam-boats and hundreds of vessels laden with merchandise. Even the Americans them- selves are not fully aware of the rising importance of these lakes as connected with the West. Since the completion of the Ohio Canal, which enters the Lake Erie at Cleveland, that town has risen almost as rapidly as Buffalo. It is beautifully situated. It is shout six years back that it may be said to have commenced its start, and it now contains more than ten thousand inhabitants. The buildings are upon the same scale as those of L'uffalo; and it is conjectured, with good reason, that it will become even a larger city than the other, as the ice breaks up here and the navigation is open in time spring six weeks sooner than it is at Buffalo; abreast of which town the ice is driven down and col- lected previous to its forcing its passage over the falls.

MR. VAN BUREN

Is a very gentleman-like, intelligent man ; very proud of talking over his visit to England, and the English with whom he was acquainted. It is re- markable, that although at the head of time democratic party, Mr. Van Buren has taken a step striking at the very roots of their boasted equality, and one on which General Jackson did not venture ; i. e. he has prevented time mobo- cracy from intruding themselves at his levees. The police are now stationed at the door, to prevent the intrusion of any improper person. A few years ago, a fellow would drive his cart, or hackney-coach, up to the door, walk into the saloon in sell his dirt, and force his way to the President, that he might shake' him by the one hand, whilst he flourished his whip in the other. The revolting scenes which took place when refreshments were handed round, I he injury (lona to the furniture, and the disgust of the ladies, may be well imagined. Alr. Van Buren deserves great credit for this step, for it was a bold oils ; but I must not praise hint too much, or Ile may lose his next election, SMUGGLING ON THE itos.set.

At Windsor, which is directly opposite to Detroit, where the river is about half a mile ocross, are stores of English :4not6, sent there entirely for the sup- ply of time Americans, by smugglers. There is also a row of tailors' shops, for cloth is a very dear article in America, and costs nearly double the price it does in the English provinces. The Americans go over there, and arc ma- imed for a suit of clothes ; which, when ready, they put oa, and cross back to Detroit with their old clothes in a bundle. The smuggling is already very ex- tensive, and will, of course, increase as the Western country becomes more populous.

Before leaving the more miscellaneous part of the book, we may note it few points. Captain MARRYAT denies Miss .M ‘RTINEAU'S assertion that " America has solved the great problem that a re- public can exist for fifty years:" on the contrary, he says the go- vernment lms been changed greatly since WASHINGTON'S death— changed, in fact, from a republic to a democracy. With no particu- lar admiration of the political institutions or the character of the government, he admits it is the best government for the present condition of the country. Of the soil of Upper Canada he speaks highly, and thinks its climate the best in America ; but marks the want of enterprise in the Canadians, and the foolish manner in which money has been wasted for the present on public works-

strongly contrasting with the judicious liberality on the other side of the frontier. Though quickly excitable, he pronounces the Americans to be a very good-tempered people; and from the loco- motive and emigrating habits of the race, intelligent and pleasant persons may be met with everywhere, even in the most remote parts. Principle, he says, is not m much demand at Washington— we wonder if it is at any place where profbssional politicians con- gregate? Of the rapidity with which fortunes are made, (by speculation,) and of the extraordinary advance in the value of pro- perty, many instances are given ; of which this is the most startling perhaps.

AN UNLUCKY SWAP.

I was told a singular fact, which will prove how rapidly value of land

rises in this country as it becomes peopled. Fifty-six years ago, the major part of the land upon which the city of Cincinnati stands, and which is now worth many millions of dollars, was swapped away by the owner of it for a pony ! The man who made this unfortunate bargain is now alive, and living in or near Cincinnati.

The definite subjects, treated by the author under separate heads, MAY be followed by us in a kindred manner ; regard being had to their importance and our space. And first, Tun Ma !NE.

This chapter deserves an attentive perusal, not only fur its expo- sition of the American part of the subject, but fbr its suggestions as regards the British mercantile marine. These arc some of the lead- ing points. The pay of the American officers is on the whole very much more than double that of ours ; and, by a fiction, they have frequently fiat pay even when unemployed—not out of any liberal feeling in the Democracy, but from simple compulsion. There are so many ways of' making money, that if the remuneration were not high the navy would go without officers. Few, if any native Ame- ricans, are brought up as apprentices for foremast-men: they are bound with a view of becoming mates on the expiration of their in- dentures, and then masters; by which means, a class of officers is formed much superior to those in British trading-vessels. The ma- rine, both national and mercantile, is principally manned by itritish seamen, attracted by higher WO Res ; and this was also the case during the war,—a ffict we have heard from other sources. The American merchant-vessels carry fewer hands than ours, but the higher %vages stimulate harder work, and procure picked men. The secret of the greater profits of the American ships, despite of heavier wages, is resolved by their doing more work. From their superior build, they make three voyages to our two ; their masters are more active ; and they will carry any thing, and go anywhere, instead of being restricted to particular trades. The cause of their better architec- ture, or rather of our worse, Captain MaaavaT ascribes to injudi- cious taxation, through which vessels were built to evade the ton- nage-duties. " In every class" of the ships of war, says 'Mau- RYAT, " you cannot but admire the superiority of the models, and the workmanship." Upon a subject which is disputed to this day, Captain MAR RY AT shall speak for himself.

RATING OP AMERICAN snips.

The ratings of these vessels will, however, very much mislead people as to the real strength of the armament. The 74s and 80s are in weight of broad- side equal to most three-decked ships ; the first-class frigates are double- banked of the scantling, and carrying the complement of of our 74s. The sloops are equally powerful in proportion to their ratings, most of them carrying long guns. Although flush vessels, they arc little inferior to a 81 .gist frigate in scantling, and are much too powerful for any that we have in our service under the same denomination of rating. All the line-of-battle -hips are named after the several States, the frigates after the priticipal rivers, anti the sloops of war after the towns or eitn a, and the names are decided. by lot.

Of the naval officers he speaks well.

During Inv sojourn in the United. States I became acquainted with a large portion of time as mint officers of the American navy, and I founl them gifted, gentleman-like, and liberal. With them 1 could converse freely upon all points relative to the last war, and always Mund them ready to admit all that could is expected. The American naval officers certainly form a strong contrast to the majority of their countrymen, and prove, by their enlightened and liberal ideas, how much the Americans in general would be improved if they eojoyed the same means of comparison 1,ith other countries which the naval officers, by their profession, have obtained. The partial successes during the late war were often the theme of discourse, which was conducted with candour and frankness on both sides. No iml,pledsant feeling was ever excited. by any arwit- meta with them on the sulject, whilst the question, raised amongst their ' free and enlightened' brother citizens, who knew nothing of the matter, was certain i0 bring down upon me such a torrent of bombast, falsehood, and igno- rance, as required all my philosophy to submit to with apparent indifference.

nu.: ARMY Is not a favourite service in America, and is ill treated. The pay is much lower than in the navy, and half-pay is not allowed. The officers are banished to frontier fiats, and capriciously shifted about from one to another, sometimes before they have had time to settle themselves. The total number of the army, including the medical and general staff, is 7,8:34 men, of which 5,652 are privates ; a force too small for the duties it has to discharge. The bulk of these appear to be foreigners, mostly English or Irish, eked out by American " bald subjects ; " and discipline, of course, is with difficulty maintained. The English are chiefly deserters from Canada; and Captain MARRYAT it' a pardon were offered, "a good effective regiment" might easily be formed, which would be valuable on the frontiers, and still more valuable by checking further desertion by exposing the real character of the service. Of the officers he speaks highly. This is his account of

AMERICAN MILITARY PUNISHMENTS.

Corporal punishment has been abandoned in time American army, except for desertion ; and if ever there was a proof of the necessity of punishment to enforce discipline, it is the many substitutes in lieu of it to which the officers arc compelled to resort: all of *them more severe than flogging. The most common is that of loading a man with thirty-six pounds of shot in his knap- sack, and making him walk three hours out of four, day and night without intermission, with this weight on his shoulders, for six days and six nights; that is, he is compelled to walk three hours with the weight, and then is suf- fered to sit down one. Towards the close this punishment becomes very severe ; the feet of the men are so sore and swelled that they cannot move for some days afterwards. I inquired what would be the consequence if a man. were to throw down his knapsack and refuse to walk. The commanding officer of one of time forts replied, that he would be hung up by his thumbs till he timinttal—a variety of piquetting. Surely these punishments savour quite as mooch of severity and arc quite as degrading as flogging. The pay of an American private is good—tourteen dollars a month, out of which his rations and regimentals take ei„At dollars., leaving him six dollars a month for pleasure. Deserters are punished by being made to drag a heavy ball and chain after them, which is never removed day or night. If discharged, they are flogged, their heads shaved, and they are drummed out at the point of the bayonet.

SLAVERY

Is discussed sensibly, by a man who, though adverse to its exist- ence, is aware that wishes and tierce words are not sufficient to

produce extensive and beneficial changes in a social system. Divid- ing the Slave States into two classes, which he calls the Eastern and Western, Captain MARRY AT thinks that in the Eastern States (Maryland, Delaware, Virginia, the Carolinas, Kentucky, and Tennessee,) the slaves arc well treated; the work being light, front the nature of the soil, or the pastoral character of the em- ployment, which suits the Negro—in short, the slaves work sepa- rately, not in gangs. In the Western States, comprehending Missouri, Louisiana, Arkansas, Mississippi, and perhaps Georgia. and Alabama, the Negroes are worse off than they were in the West India Islands. The majority of the Whites arc of the very worst class, " reckless in their habits, intemperate, tmprincipled, and lawless ; " many of them having fled from the Eastern States tbr their crimes—" miscreants defying the climate, so that they can defy the laws." In addition to such masters, the climate is extremely hot and unhealthy ; the toil exhausting on virgin soils, whose miasma is always more pernicious; and carried on in gangs, where the slave is at once under the eye of the driver and ex- posed to his sudden caprice.

To the proceedings of the Abolitionists Captain MARRYAT is opposed. They cannot legally effect any thing, for the Congress has not the power to abolish slavery ; it must emanate from each particular Slave-holding State. As yet, all that their violence and enthusiasm have done, is mischief. They have roused the slave- owners to corresponding violence, set them against all improve- ment of the Negroes, and, so far as they have influence, prevented all public discussion of their claims.

As regards the natural abolition or termination of slavery, Cap- tain MaaavaT thinks, that free will supersede slave labour in the Eastern States in twenty or thirty years, if the Abolitionists will let the subject alone. The arable soil being in a measure exhausted, the staple growth is corn, hemp, and tobacco; upon the pasture lands stock is raised ; the climate permits the Whites to work in the fields ; the Negroes are more numerous than the demand for their labour requires; and the planters are anxious to get rid of slavery. Of the Western States he cannot attempt to pi ophesy. The yet unoccupied lands would employ three times the number of existing slaves; and as long as the increasing demand for cotton gova on, so long will slavery continue to exist and increase. The only chance he sees to check it, is for Great Britain to recognize Texas, on condition of their not establishing slavery ; and as, fron the prevalence of the sea breezes, Whites can labour there, her fertile soil would beat the other States out of the market. This suge gestion, however, is too remote and impracticable to build upon— too much like a scheme : we had better endeavour to increase the cotton crops of India. In the mean time, we suspect that the aboli- tion of slavery in the Eastern entirely depends upon its check in the Western States. Till that take place, it will be maintained in the one as an qffieinu gentium for the other. It may be true, as Cap- tain Runty .s.r says, that lbw breed slaves, or even sell them to the West ; that mummy support their Negroes in idleness, rather than have recourse to the practice ; and that sonic have been known to emigrate with their slaves, rather than sell them. But circum- stances, should the demand increase, will be too strong for them: the more scrupulous will, as we have seen, emigrate to the West themselves ; time others will be tempted into slave-breeders.

Any fbreible result is not anticipated : the slaves in the Eastern, States do not contemplate an insurrection, which indeed would be difficult, if not impossible to effect successfully : and as for a se- paration of the Union, the interests of the North arc too closely concerned to render that likely.

It needs not be imagined from this that slavery is without its horrors, or that Captain .:NIARRYAT suppresses them. One aggra- vating point in America, though a means of final abolition perhaps, is the colour.

But doing justice, as I always will, to those who have been unjuslly ealmn- Mated, at time same time I. must admit that there is a point connected with slavery in America which renders it mire (idiot's than in other clum ries ; I refer to the system of amalgamation which has, from promiscuous intercourse, been carried on to such an extent, that you vet often meet with slaves whose skins are whiter than their master's.

At Louisville, Kentucky, I saw a girl, about twelve years old, carrying a child; and, aware that iii mt slave stale the circumstance of White people hiring themselves out to service is almost unknown, I inquired of lice if she were a slave. To my astonishment, she replied in the affirmative. She was as fair as snow, and it was impossible to detect any iulmixture of blood from her appearance, which was that of a pretty English cottager's child. 1 afterwards spoke to the master, who stated when he had purchased her, and the SUM which lie had paid.

I took down the following advertisement for a runaway slave, which was

posted up in every tavern I stopped at in Virginia on my way to the Springs. The expression of "in a manner white," would imply that there was some shame felt in holding a White man in bondage—

"31st July 183S.

"Fifty Dollars Reward.

"Ran away front the subscriber, on Saturday, the 21st instant, a slave named

GEORGE ;

between twenty and twenty-four years of age, live feet ilve or six inches high, slender made, stoops when standing, a little bowlegged; generally wears right and left boots and shoes; bud on him when he left a fur cap, a checked stock and linen round about ; bad with him other clothing, a jean coat with black horn buttons, a pair of jean panta- loons. both coat and pantaloons of handsome gray mixed ; no doubt other clothing not recollected. He had with him a common silver watch; he wears his pantaloons generally very tight in the legs. Said toy is in a manner white. would be passed by and takenfor a I Vhite man. His hair is long and straight, like that of a white person; looks very steady when spoken to, speaks slowly, and would not he likely to look person full in the face when speaking to 1 . It is believed he is making lib way to Canada by way of Ohio. I will give twenty dollars for the apprehension of said slave if taken in the county, or fifty dollars if taken out of the county, and secured so that I recover him again.

"Union Monroe City, Virginia. "ANDREW BEIRNE junior."

The above is a curious document, independently of its proving the manner in which man preys upon his fellow man in this laud of liberty and equality. It is a well-known fact, that a considerable portion of Mr. Jefferson's slaves were his own children. If any of them absconded, he would smile, thereby implying that he should not be very particular in looking after them ; and yet this man—this great and uoon man, as Miss Martineau calls him—this man who penned the paragraph I have quoted, as having been erased from the Declaration of Independence—who asserted that the slavery of the Negro was a violation of the most sacred rights of life and liberty—permitted these his slaves and his children, the issue of his own loins, to be sold at auc- tion after his demise, not even emancipating them, as he might have done, be- fore his death. And, but lately, a Member of Congress for Georgia, whose name I shall not mention, brought up a fine family of children, his own issue by a female slave ; for many years acknowledged them as his own children ; permitted them to call him by the endearing title of papa, and eventually the whole of them were sold by public auction, and that, too, during his own life- time.

But there is, I am sorry to say, a more horrible instance on record, and one well authenticated. A planter of good family (I shall not mention his name or the State in which it occurred, as he was not so much to blame as were the laws,) connected himself with one of his own female slaves, who was nearly white ; the fruits of this connexion were two daughters, very beautiful, girls, who were sent to England to be educated. They were both grown up when their father died. At his death his athirs were found in a state of great dis- order; in fact there was not sufficient left to pay his creditors. Having brought up and educated these two girls, and introduced them as his daughters, it quite slipped his memory that, having been born of a slave and 110I MOBIL- mitted, they were in reality slaves themselves. This fact was established after his decease : they were torn away from the affluence and refinement to which they had been accustomed, sold and purchased as slaves, and with the avowed intention of the purchaser to reap his profits from their prostitution !

We must briefly dismiss the remainder. The Language of Ame- rica, Captain MARRYAT considers more uniform than at home, but not so good. The peculiarities, however, are less, from new coin- ings, than from words used in a new sense, or obsolete ,words. Of the former class, he gives many curious instances; but omits a singular though comprehensive term, which ought to have im- pressed itself on him, when the American broke into his bedroom on his fatiguing journey to Baltimore, with " Captain of all the humans, you are the one I most wish to see." In Law, the author is scarcely at home. But he finds fault with the popular election of district judges, the low rate of their remunera- tion, and their indecorous, scarcely decent behaviour, on the bench ; though of the profession generally he speaks well. They, with the officers of the army and navy, form the aristocracy of America. Lynch-law is sensibly treated in its origin ; and really, in its pre- sent practice, substantial justice seems to be obtained, where any other justice is not to be had. Of the Penitentiaries, the system of' Philadelphia, where sepa- rate confinement with work is practised, Captain MARRYAT con- siders the best and most effectual ; but there, as elsewhere, the -dismissed criminal cannot live honestly. He has learned a trade; he may have reformed ; but no one will employ him. The aver- sion of the Americans to capital punishments frequently facili- tates the escape of the most atrocious criminals ; yet, strange con- tradiction, they kill one another wholesale in duels ; and at Augusta, in Georgia, fifty-nine assassinations took place in a year. The Climate, Captain MARRYAT considers far from good,—going some way with the philosophers of the last century, who maintained that all animals degenerated in America. The extremes of heat and cold everywhere, the rapid changes in some places and the prevalence of miasma in others, undermine the general health, and induce various diseases—consumption, ague, bilious and other fevers, according to the exciting causes. Not alluding to Burrox's theory, he asserts that the Americans are physically inferior to the English, their stature becoming lankiness, and the best of them being narrow-chested. He also thinks it an exciting climate—he found he could not take so much wine or spirits as in England ; and has no doubt that many new comers die from not attending to this cir- cumstance. (We suspect, however, that all considerable change of air is exciting, more or less ; it is a modus mama) As regards the South, the Americans hold the same opinion : a cautious, pru- dent Yankee, who emigrates Southwards, becomes as reckless and regardless of consequences as the people he lives among. But may not example have as much to do with this as atmosphere ?

The remaining subjectspEducation, Religion, and Societies and Associations, we must pass for the present. Perhaps they will more aptly be touched upon in conjunction with the future volume on Government and Society.