same theory of religion which is so triumphantly brandished against the slave-owner, might with a much greater force be arrayed against every person employed, directly or indirectly, in the service of arms. The mortal strife of opposing armies,earth strewed with the dying and the dead,the sacked fortress and the burning town, and the ravages of a ferocious soldiery,-are scenes far more abhorrent to the religion of the "Prince of Peace," and the God of Love, than any of the evils of a mitigated slavery. And yet can it be pretended that Christianity has repudiated warfare, and set the stamp of impiety or inhumanity on the military order? Did the greatest prophet among those born of women command the soldiers who flockedto his baptism to desert their standards? Did not the blessed Jesus crown the faith of the centurion with a praise excelling that of all the children of Abraham? Was not the devout soldier, Cornelius, selected as the first heathen to be blessed with the gift of the Holy Spirit? Were soldiers excepted from the apostle's general exhortation, "Let every man abide in the same calling?"

And yet, who can deny that the benevolent theory of the respectable Society of Friends harmonizes with the spirit of Christianity; and that the total renunciation of war, among the nations of the earth, would be most pleasing to the universal Father? But the acknowledgment of this truth

does not impose upon us the religious obligation of "beating our swords into plough-shares, and our spears into pruning-hooks."

The Christian religion seems not to have been intended for the Utopian world of the amiable and devout theorist, or to have held forth that promise of complete triumph among frail and mortal men, which is expected by the rapt Millenarian; for (tò use the imagery of the Scriptures) "we have this treasure in earthen vessels," and, "when the

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Son of Man cometh, shall he find faith on the "earth?" But it seems to have been the "Tree of healing" cast into the bitter waters of human life; designed, not to new mould the form of civil society by any unbending system of ethical or religious polity, but by sanctifying and purifying the individual men brought under its influence in the actual conditions of life as they exist in the order of Providence,-gradually to sweeten and amelio rate the institutions of the world. Christians are not therefore required to excommunicate the defenders of their country, as "sons of Belial."

We apply this argument, with all the emphasis of sincere conviction, to the question of slavery. We do not dissemble our belief, that the benevolent character of Christianity tends to improve the condition of men in every relation of life, and consequently to abolish slavery; but we reject the inference that the renunciation of slavery is a religious or moral duty; we utterly deny the conclusion

that Christianity demands of the nation that violation of justice, and good faith, and sound political wisdom, which is connected with the suicidal mea▴ sure of abolition. Are there any lovers of their country, and of its glory, firm supporters of na tional honour and British independence, who have been whooped on to a sort of religious crusade against slavery? We call upon them to be consistent with their principles. Let "peace societies" be established throughout the kingdom, and let the fanatical trumpet be sounded against the soldier as well as the slave proprietor! Let the hero statesman be stripped of his laurels, and the sepulchres of the mighty dead be spoiled of their monumental trophies! Let the funeral pile of a nation's honour be kindled with the immortalizing records of the poet and historian ! Let each anniversary of military glory be a day of fasting and humiliation; and let the nation mourn in penitential sackcloth the conquests for which her sons have bled-conquests that have been foolishly sought in prayer, and ignorantly acknowledged by hearts overflowing with grateful praise!

May the eyes of honest and unsophisticated Englishmen be opened to perceive the gulph into which these principles lead, and may they be warned in time! "In mediis tutissimus ibis," is the watchword of wisdom; and this happy medium the nation has attained in the humane mitigation of slavery. In this, we unfeignedly

rejoice; but beyond, all is dark and uncertain to the mental vision, and a thick cloud of fearful consequences obscures the gloomy prospect.

We are willing to confess that in former years, when slaves could be easily replaced, and before the mighty influence of public opinion had been felt, a harsher system may have prevailed. Perhaps it

was the feculent result of that moral tornado, the French revolution, which, if it purified the political atmosphere from some stagnant and noxious exhalations, shook to the base all civil order, and certainly made wide havoc with the religious and social affections of a large portion of mankind: for anterior to that memorable epoch, the system appears to have been almost as patriarchal and humane, as the "Code Noir" of the French kings would lead us to imagine*. And we do not dispute that individual cases of cruelty have occurred; for where is that community of the descendants of Adam which has not been tainted with more or less crime? But as that would not be a correct statistic report of the present state of England, which should be drawn from the documents of preceding years;-or that, a true moral

* It cannot be denied that the greater part of the new slave laws, published in the colonies, were substantially contained in the Code Noir of the French Government; and if this code had been enforced by the same efficient executive power which originally promulgated it, humanity would have had little more to desire.

estimate of the state of society, which should be formed solely from the police reports and the Newgate Calendar;-so, neither is it just, nor according to the law of Christian charity, that insulated examples of crime, and the abuses of former years, should be made the basis of that sweeping reprobation of the actual state of colonial slavery which is so prevalent in the present day.

Within the last four or five years much has been done for the mitigation of slavery in the Mauritius. The instructions of his Majesty's Ministers doubt less explicitly enforced the general view of amelio ration expressed by the British Parliament;-but to the judicious mode in which that object was forwarded by Sir Lowry Cole, much of the salutary progress of improvement is to be ascribed. The confidence excited by the frank and generous disposition of His Excellency,-the conciliatory intercourse he maintained with the principal inhabitants, their knowledge of his upright and honourable principles, and his abhorrence of any thing liké tyranny or oppression,-and their conviction of the sincere interest he felt in their welfare,-increased the moral influence of his high station, and gavé a paternal character to his government, which made his opinion respected, and ensured the success of measures sanctioned by his recommendation. The harsh tone of authority might have announced to the colony the various regulations of the new system; and the strong arm of power would have compelled