its own subjects, and for those of the ruffians of every other country who carry on this traffic of blood and desolation. The same view of the subject has happily been adopted by the friends of humanity in France itself; and they have loudly called for the infliction of an infamous punishment on the slave trader, as a measure of imperious and indispensable necessity, both to the ends of justice and the vindication of the national honour. In the session of 1821, as well as in that of the present year, various important discussions have taken place on this subject in the legislative chambers; and although the French government has not yet been induced to fulfil its distinct and reiterated promise to make the abolition laws more severe and efficacious; although, on the contrary, it appears to have become more reluctant than ever to adopt the measures required for its repression; yet good may be expected to arise from the frequent agitation of the question. Information will in this way be extensively diffused, public feeling excited, and a direction given to public opinion, which cannot fail to produce in no long time important results. UNITED STATES. The report does ample justice to the government and legislature of the United States, for the desire they have manifested to put an end to the slave trade. The activity of their cruisers has been great, and five slave ships, suspected of being American property, under foreign flags, were condemn ed in the vice-admiralty courts, previously to January, 1821. An elaborate opinion was pronounced by Judge Van Ness, in one of these cases, which deserves to be recorded. He intimated, that even if the ship and cargo in question, taken under the Spanish flag, had not been proved to be American property, he would have held that the demand of restitution by the Spanish claimant ought to be rejected, on the ground that the trade being pronounced illegal, and even criminal, by the municipal laws of Spain, and the property being liable to confiscation in the courts of his own country, no Spanish subject could have a right to claim restitution in the courts of the United States. He even went so far as to suggest whether a much broader principle might not now be fairly applied to cases of this description; whether, that is to say, this species of commerce ought not to be regarded as having altogether ceased to be juris gentium, and to be treated, therefore, as wholly out of the protection of the law of nations. The pertinacity with which some of the subjects of the United States still adhered to this infamous commerce induced the American legislature, as was stated in the introduction to the supplementary report of last year, to go a step beyond any other nation, even beyond Great Britain herself, in its measures of repression. act has been passed, declaring the crime of slave trading by American ships, or American subjects, to be piracy, and as such affixing to it the punishment of death. An By this decisive proceeding, the United States have probably done much to check the cupidity of such of their own subjects as could not be restrained by feebler means from the perpetration of this gain ful crime. An example has thus also been given to other Christian governments, which Great Britain, we doubt not, will be the first to emulate, and which we may hope will in no long time be followed by others, until the identity of the slave trade with piracy shall form a part of the international policy of the whole civilized world. Another important document has reached the directors from the United States. It is the report of a committee of the House of Representatives, in the session of 1820 and 1821, relative to the mutual exercise of the right of search by Great Britain and America, with a view to the suppression of the slave trade. This report contains a clear and decided opinion in favour of the exercise of such a right, as the only effectual means of suppressing the slave trade; while it demonstrates that its use involves no sacrifice of national interest, nor any compromise of national honour. The arguments by which this opinion is maintained, the directors conceive to be perfectly conclusive; and they trust, will be available not only to the immediate end for which they were employed -that of inducing the American government to agree to the exercise, with a view to the extinction of the slave trade, of a qualified right of search-but will serve also to overcome the scruples which continue to be felt in France on this subject. It seems impossible that France should still contend that the honour of her flag would be tarnished by a proceeding to which the great maritime states of England and America submit, for the sake of an object, the "justness and nobleness of which," to use the language of the American report, "are worthy of the combined concern of all Christian nations." A correspondence which followed on this subject between Mr. Stratford Canning, our ambassador at Washington, and the secretary of state of the American government, the directors are sorry to add, manifest a strong repugnance, on the part of that government, to the measure recommended by the committee. This sentiment, however, appears to be confined to the executive; for, notwithstanding the arguments so recently urged by the American secretary of state, a report of the Senate of the United States, presented during its last sessions (that of 1821 1822), concurs entirely in the view taken the year before by the House of Representatives, and earnestly urges the adoption of the proposed expedient of a reciprocal right of search, as a measure most desirable under all the circumstances of the case, and which may be so guarded from abuse as to be productive of little or no inconvenience. On the grounds so ably stated in this report, a resolution was adopted, requesting the president "to enter into such arrangements as he may deem suitable and proper, with one or more of the maritime powers of Europe, for the more effectual abolition of the African slave trade." The result of the negotiations which have probably followed this resolution has not yet been made known. MADAGASCAR. Under this head it is mentioned that the treaty concluded by governor Farquhar with Radama, king of Madagascar, has been maintained inviolate, and that every attempt to elude its beneficent provisions had been defeated. One of the conditions of this treaty was, that twenty Madagascar youths should be taken under the care of the British government; and that ten of them should be placed at the isle of France, there to acquire the knowledge of certain useful arts, and that the other ten should be sent to England for the same purpose. This condition has been fulfilled: ten youths are now in a course of instruction at the isle of France; and nine others, accompanied by prince Rataffe, a near relation of king Radama, came to England about a year ago. Prince Rataffe, after spending a few months in this country, returned to Madagascar, leaving his companions to pursue their education. Soon after his arrival in England, a deputation of the directors waited upon him to express the gratification they had derived from the measures adopted by the king of Madagascar for the abolition of the slave trade; and their readiness to aid, by every means in their power, his plan for the improvement of his country. The above extracts form part of the facts and details given in the report. The directors have proceeded with considerable success in their plan of diffusing in foreign countries information respecting the real nature of the slave trade. Much has already been done in printing tracts, speeches, &c., in the French, Spanish, and Portuguese languages. This plan, however, is attended with considerable expense; and it is stated that further efforts of the same kind which are in contemplation cannot be executed in consequence of the low state of the society's funds. Much that has already been accomplished, it appears, must have been left undone had it not been for the silent and unostentatious liberality of some individuals of the Society of Friends; but further aid is wanted, and it is to be hoped that the confidence, with which the directors express their persuasion "that the British public will never suffer such a cause to fail for want of support," will be fully justified by the event. The report, after describing the advantages which the unfortunate Africans, rescued from the holds of slave ships, enjoy in the colony of Sierra Leone, concludes with the following passages: "How different, or rather how opposite, in all particulars, is the scene exhibited to the world in all the provinces of Africa that are under the dominion of the crown of France! While we cannot but feel confident that what has been accomplished at Sierra Leone will have the effect of vindicating the much-injured natives of Africa from those imputations of inferiority to the rest of the species which have been so unjustly cast on them, we cannot also but indulge the hope, that if our neighbours of France will not be influenced by a higher motive, we shall surely shame them out of holding forth such a humiliating and disgraceful contrast to the example of this country, as will be afforded by their still continuing to diffuse desolation and misery throughout that unhappy land. "But a claim, a strong and unquestionable claim, results hence on Great Britain also. Let it be remembered, that the countries in Africa now subject to the French dominion were restored to them by us at the peace of Paris; and how can we acquit ourselves of the crime of having made the restitution without some effectual security for continuing to the natives the enjoyment of the blessings which they had possessed while in our hands, or at least an exemption from the miseries they are now enduring by the revival of the slave trade? Honest industry, and a bloodless commerce, had taken the place of fraud and depredation, while civil and social improvement were advancing with rapid steps. If these blessings have been lost to the unhappy natives through our improvidence, and if all, on the contrary, is now one wretched scene of guilt and misery, surely a strong and additional incentive is supplied to us for using our utmost efforts, not, alas! to undo the mischief that has been done, for that is impossible, but to produce in our neigh many bours of France a disposition to imitate our example, not only in our crime, but in our repentance. It has been reserved for the present age to verify, if not to discover, the important fact, that the small contributions of the are more productive than the larger donations of the few; and we cannot but hope that the bulk of our population will join with the more affluent, in paying back a part of that heavy arrear which, on grounds of strict justice, the natives of Africa powerfully, though silently, claim at our hands. All especially, who are interested for the progress of Christianity, must feel the force of this appeal. The anarchy, and the consequent insecurity of person and property, that are the sure results of the slave trade, effectually prevent the entrance of Christian light into the benighted egi ons in which it prevails. The dove can find no rest for the sole of its foot in that field of blood and desolation." II. FOREIGN. SPEECH of the KING of FRANCE at the opening of the Session, on Monday the 5th of November, 1821. "Gentlemen ;-It is with confidence, and on the present occasion under favourable auspices, that I come to open this session. "In preceding years I was compelled to participate my griefs with you. "More happy now, I have only to return thanks to the Almighty for the constant protection which he has vouchsafed to France. The son, with which Heaven has soothed my sorrows, grows with the public prosperity, and continues to be to me a source of confidence and hope. This child, my heart assures me, will be worthy of us; he will merit the love with which my subjects surround his cradle. "My relations with foreign powers have never ceased to be amicable, and I have a firm confidence that they will continue to be so. "Great calamities afflict the East. Let us hope that they approach their termination, and that the prudence and cordiality of all the powers will find the means of satisfying what religion, policy, and humanity, may justly demand. "The naval force which, under these circumstances, I have stationed in the seas of the Levant, has accomplished the object which I contemplated. Our ships have always effectually protected my subjects, and often they have afforded to misfortune a timely aid. "A destructive scourge desolates a portion of Spain; I have prescribed, and I will maintain the rigorous precautions which protect our coasts and frontiers from the contagion. "If we take a view of our domestic state, what motives have we not to bless Providence. The sensible progress of industry, agriculture, and the arts, attests that of commerce! and very soon new channels, by multiplying the means of communication and traffic, will extend the general good to all parts of the kingdom. The prosperity of the finances, the intelligible exposition of the public accounts, and fidelity to engagements, have consolidated public credit, and increased the resources of the state. "The period at which I have convoked you, and the orders which I have given that the financial laws should be first submitted to you, sufficiently manifest my desire to put an end to provisional grants: the Chambers will, doubtless, bo eager to second my intentions. "Our auspicious situation, and the return of internal and external tranquillity, have already admitted of a diminution in one of the most onerous of the taxes-that which attacks reproduction in its source, by overcharging landed property. Next year, those so assessed will wholly enjoy this reduction. I desire that successively, and as soon as the exigencies of the state and the dignity of France will permit, the various taxes which constitute the public revenue shall be investigated, and if it be practicable, diminished, or better assessed. "The laws are respected, and the depositaries of my power become every day more and more imbued with their spirit. Order and discipline reign in the army. "Everywhere passions are subsiding, and suspicions wearing away; and it gives me pleasure to acknowledge, gentlemen, that by your loyal co-operation you have powerfully contributed to all this good. "Let us persevere in the wise measures to which such prosperous results must be attributed. Let us persevere in that unity of views which has so efficaciously disarmed malevolence, and check the last efforts of the spirit of trouble and disorder. "In this the repose of Europe is not less interested than ours. It is thus that all the generous sentiments will be developed with which you know all hearts abound; and that you will establish upon the gratitude, the love, and the respect of my subjects, the throne which protects the liberties of all." |