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    Untitled Article

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    Untitled Article

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    FOREIGN CORRESPONDENCE.

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    Untitled Article

    The pamphlet before ns is written by the son of one of the chief workers in the cause of emancipation . It makes no pretensions to be a history such as we have sketched j its aim is to show in a few words what the two antagonistic systems have each done for £ iir possessions . What it professes to do is thoroughly done ^ The result of tlie evidence , for the fairness of which , on the whole , we can vouch , from an independent examination of most of the documents from which it is drawn , is , as might , have been foretold , entirely in favour of liberty . . ' ¦ ' Right never conies . wrong . ^ Those who believe that the crimes of Slavery would haveI gradually died out , had that " peculiar institution" been permitted to . ^ remain under the guidance of a remedial code , should remember that not many years before the fetters were struck from the limbs ot the working population of Jamaica and its kindred isles , the proposition that tlii 3 floirging of women shoiild be discontinued was put to the vote , after due discussion in each colony , and in everyone the result was the same . It was resolved that female slaves should continue to he subject to being stripped and flogged , at the mercy of any ruffian who might happen to have them under his charge . So horrified , indeed , were the planters at the unheard-of humanity of Mr . Lewis during his abode among them , that some of them actually , wanted the grand jury at Montogo Bay to prosecute him for overindulgence of his own slaves . It is commonly stated in society and in books of reference that in the Dutch colony of Surinam , the slaves are less cruelly treated than in any other place where the institution continues to exist . This may be so . When all are bad , it concerns us little to distinguish minute shades of difference . As that colony is , however , put forward by some persons as an argument in favour of Slavery , it is well to draw attention to some particulars which seem , to be pretty nearly unknown . Are its admirers aware that the Avar carried on Ivy the Dutch against their escaped slaves , who had founded villages and cultivated the soil far away in the forest , and . whose onh ^ crime Was escaping from bondage , has / been characterised by all the atrocities that usually accompany such wars ? Do they know that the "Home Government has frequently interfered to protect the . slaves , and that yet torture is still a usual -means- of compelling obedience ? The penal register of Surinam for 1851 informs us that during that year five hundred slaves , men , women , and children , were flogged by the legally-appointed officer , at -the ; . instance of their owners . Those who have seen the whips , describe them as black with blood ; and as tearing tlie flesh from every part of the bodv . The separation of the child from the mother is now illegal there , but the . tie of family is effectually broken by the State not acknowledging negro marriages . A black baby has , according to the law Of Surinam , no father . Mr . Biixton ' s work treats only of our own islands , Although he is obviouslv well informed on the general history of Slavery , his book contains no notice of the above facts , or of the horrible state of the servile population of the Spanish possessions . The perpetual complaints of the owners of the sugar plantations occupies much of his attention . Many of these persons really seem to have brought themselves to : believe that the profitable production of sugar and spices requires the greatest possible moral degradation in all those who are employed in their cultivation and manufacture . Probably no body of men ever spent less time and energy in the management of their estates than the owners of U est Indian property . In former times they almost universally abode in llmglnndi leavi ng to their agents the entire management of their estates and all their concerns . The state of their slaves was nothing'to them , except so far as it had to do with the cash account . I his cash account was in gradual progress of deterioration long before the slaves were made , free The carelessness and incapacity of many of tho agents or middlemen , and the . roguery of others , have -boon by far tho most , fruitful causes of decline . That it was not abolition that caused tho depreciation of property , is clear from the report of tho Parliamentary Committee of 1 S 32 , where it is stated that tho digress ol' tho planters had existed for ton or twelve years past . It is capable of the ' most positive proof that tho decrease in production had been going on for many years before ISS * . the time from which tho discontented planter dates all his woes . In Ihofon years ending with 1 . 8-20 , tho export of Jamaica was 1 . 10 «> , O /» hogsheads of sugar , while during tho hoxt decade it foil to 001 , 230 . hogsheads , showing a decrease of 201 , 8 < L 3 hogsheads in ton years . Tho West Indian planter of tho old school is fast becoming extinct . Tlio great bulk of the landed property in those islands lias changed hands within the last few yearn Most of the sugar grounds nro now cultivated by resident proprietors , many by nnuuUyo joint stock companies , composed in part or wholly of negroes , bomo ot tho black population Imvo already accumulated suflioient capital to hold plantations of their own . tfroodom and physical wcllbenw have here , as every whovo olso , had a strong tendency to clovatd tho people . Mimy can now road and write well , the degrading practice of eonoubiiuiKO becomes yearly less frequent , nmvnupc . w already tho rooouniaod social arrangement , and tho conduct and di-twaol the women show » yearly increasing improvement in morals . < - *«»«> : dont with this , wo lind that mnoug tho white nopulutlon the old nveiudioo ngflinst African blood is liwfc disappearing , thoiwh under tho old BYBtoih id was intonsoly ' strong , flo much ho that blades wore not allowed Imrudin tho smno oluiruhyard . wilh tho supurov race ; and at . St . John's , in Antigua , tlio white . nmn ' H funuvul holl was . not permitted to bo profiinod ' by tolling * lor tho donth ot ft ^ . ^ Za amnller ono waa notwally provided for tho use ot that dpgvadod people .

    Untitled Article

    ¦ April ' 28 , I 860 . ] The Leader aridSaturday ' Analyst . 405

    Untitled Article

    Rome , 14 th April , 1860 . THE HOLY \ VEEK . . ' ' ' . rpiIE ' ¦ . jSFU actmirarl school are out of favour . In our " earnest - * - working" age , it is the fashion to treat everything serioiisly , to find in everything * a deep hidden meaning , in fact , to admire , ' every-, thing . Since the days of Wordsworth and Petee Bell , every petty poet and romantic writer has had his sneer at the shallow . sceptic to whom a cowslip was a cowslip only , and who called a spade a spade . I feel , therefore , painfully that I am not of my own day when I -ex-press : n > y deliberate conviction , that the ceremonies of Holy Week at Home are- —the word must come out sooner or Inter— -an imposture . This is not the place to enter into the' religious aspect of the Catholic question—nor if it were , should I have any wish to enter tlie lists of controversy as a champion of either side . I can understand that for some minds the ideas of Church unity , of a mystic communion of the faithful , and of an infallible head of a spiritual body have a strange attraction ; nay , even a real existence . I can understand too-, that for such persons all the pomps and pageantry oft he Papal services present ' , themselves under an aspect to me unintellisrible .. Whether these ideas be right or Wrong- I am not able , nor do I care to argue . The Pontifical ceremonies , however , have not only a spiritual aspect , but a material and very matter-of-fact one . They . are / after all , great " spectacles , " got up with the aid of music nnd '¦ upholstery and dramatic mechanism . Now , how far in this latter point of view the ceremonies are successful or not , I think from seine small experience I am pretty well qualified to judge . : anil if I am asked ' . whether , as ceremonies , the services of the Chinch of Koine are imposing and effective ,: I answer , most unhesitatingly .. no . I know that this assertion upsets a received article of faith in Protestant England as to the seductive character of the , Pa pal ceremonies . I remember well the time when I too believed that tlie shrines of the old faith were the haunts of sense-enthralling grandeur , of wild enchantment and bewitching beauty ; -.. when . 1 too dreamt how amidst crowds of rapt worshippers , while unearthly music pealed around you and the fragrant incense floated heaven wards , your soul became ' lost to every thing , save to afeeling of unreasoning ecstasy . In fact , I believed in the enchantments of Papal pageantry , as firmly as I believed that a Lord-Mayor ' s feast was a repast in which Aricius would have revelled * or that an Opera ball was a scene of Oriental and voluptuous delight . Alas ! I have seen alL . and known all , and have found all three to be but vanity . . . Now , the question as to the real aspect of the Papal pageants , and the effects produced by them- upon the minds , not of controversialists , but of ordinary spectators , is by no means an unimportant one with reference to the future prospects of Italy and the Papacy . Let me try then , not irreverently or depreciatingly , but as speaking of plain matters of fact , to tell what you really do see and hour at the greatest and grandest of the Rpmati ceremonies . Of all the Holy Week services , none have a , more European fame , or have been more written or sung about , than the Misereres in the Sis tine chapel . Now to be present at the £ e services you have to start at about one o ' clock , or midday , in full evening costume—dress coat and black trousers . Any man who has ever had to walk ovi ' t in evening nttire : in the broad daylight will agree with me that tlie sensation of the general shabbiness and duskiness of , your whole appearance is so strong as to overcome all other considerations , not to mention your devotional feelings . In this attire you have to stand for a couple of hours amongst a perspiring- mid illtempered crowd , composed of tourists and priests , for the Italians are too wise to trouble themselves for such an object , During thosu two mortal hours you are pushed forward constantly by energetic Indies bent on being phtced . and pushed buck by the Swiss , guards , who defend tho entrance . The conversation you hoar mound you nndnci-force oii' -jve in , is equally unedifying , both i-oligionsly and lntelk-cLuully , a sort of ret'kaiff / i of Murray ' s handbook , flavoured with didciiefiiona on last Sunday ' s sermon . When you uro reduced to such a frame of mind and body as is the natural result of limo so employed , the doors of the ehapol aro oponed , and you have literally to fight your way in , amidst a crowd of ladies hustling , KCroaimug , nnd fainting . If you are lucky you get standing room in a sprl ol open pun , \ y 1 iouco , if you are tall , ypu can cuteW a sight ol the Vovu s tim-ain thodi . sti ' ineo ; or > ifyou belong to tho Boftuv box , you (? eD a place behind tho scroen , where you cannot see , but what winuoh k-ltor , can sit . The atmosphere of tho candlo-liglitcd , cnunruod clmnol is overpowering , and occupation you huvo none , exeunt trying in the dim light to decipher the frescoes on tlio vou , with voui- head turned backward * . For three long hour « yon Imvo a Huccoasioii of dreary monotonous strains , forniing portions ol u cliimr , to you unintolligible , hrolcon at intervals by n pHflsnuro ol intj . ni . iiun . There i . s no organ or iiwtrwintfntnl mti ¦ : ¦ . nnd tlio ab . so . ico ol ron ^ tnilto" voiooH is poorly compensated for by tho unnatural iij ^ untH of tho V , i n \ HiibHUUitOH ' for female vow . Hh ^ . The musio itnolt iniiy be very fine-competent critics dool . iro it 1 h , and I hayo no douU ( hoy n . Vr iht , but I say unboHltutlnKly , it I- not i » ub . o . ijt ^ i-bhob itself to popular tastes , or producoH nuy fV-ohngr save that ol vctirlnoHH on Vno-tunthH of Mb hourorr .. Y , n . can mark olourly tho oxnroHsioi of * dtl «/ iiol !«! i which Htoiils ovop every fnco . onndlo Siv candle of tho » tuok of w . axliyhtu before the nliiir >« put out BuiSoBHivoly , at intorvnlH of Homo twenty vninntofl . ^ rtho oqromuny wore ^ Seed to ono tenth IIh longlh , it . night be I ; rrtprowivo , but a liiio which Koch on for three bourn , and a oliandolio . p winch tnl es the aa «> " t nS to have its lights snuffud out become an nitolor .. blo nuteineo . The dying cadence of tho Mhorero in undoubtedly

    Foreign Correspondence.

    FOREIGN CORRESPONDENCE .

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), April 28, 1860, page 405, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2345/page/17/