more especially the governments which are instituted by men, in the very nature of things, seek their own aggrandisement, even at the expense of doing an incidental injustice to others, the citizens of the Republic should make due allowance for the zeal of British political abolitionism in its attempt to destroy an institution which in its operations they conceive to be inimical to their interests. When England defended and upheld and propagated slavery in America, it must be remembered that the territory and the slaves were hers; now that the ownership of that territory and those slaves has passed into other hands, it could scarcely be expected that her policy in reference to the industrial pursuits of that country would not undergo a radical change. That the Anti-slavery party of Great Britain in assuming the leadership of the emancipationists of New England, and in the announcement of its intentions, should be profuse in its protestations of a merely benevolent and philanthropic purpose, should not be a matter of surprise; but in deciding upon the weight to which their counsels are entitled, we should, as men, consider the magnitude of the interest involved, and as Americans, we should not suffer ourselves to be deceived in regard to their real sentiments and purposes, in our admiration of the outer garments with which they have enveloped them.

In order that I may not be misunderstood, I will

here again state my own belief that the policy of this party in assuming a hostile attitude towards the developement and the power of the planting States of America, is neither conducive to their own interests nor those of mankind. England should shape her policy in accordance with the promptings of a more enlarged statesmanship. No other two nations of the world have so many inducements to cultivate a sincere and enduring friendship. Every additional bale of cotton which may be produced in the planting States, adds just in that proportion to the material power and wealth of Great Britain. Nay, more than this, there are political considerations and heart sympathies, which when left to their own free action, impel them towards each other, and which it were wise that England should consider and respect. It is a shortsighted policy on the part of any government or people, however powerful, to repel by injustice or even unnecessary harshness, the sympathies of those with whom from natural causes they might be supposed to entertain sentiments of kindness. None know better than those who are familiar with English history, upon whom rests the responsibility for the establishment of slavery in the Southern States of the American Union. None know better than intelligent Englishmen how wisely and how humanely the Southern States have given direction in the interests of mankind, to that institution which they had no agency

in erecting and which they had not the power to subvert. None know better than the great English statesmen, that the adoption of the policy urged upon the South by the anti-slavery propagandists, could end in nothing but misery for the slave, and utter irremediable ruin for the white race. And none know better than they upon which side of the line dividing the South from the North they might expect with confidence to find a magnanimous foe, or a generous friend, upon a contingency which might develope the one or the other of these relations. But even though the British anti-slavery leaders give no heed to such considerations, they should remember, that the friendships they cultivate in the United States, having their foundations in a common sentiment of hatred, are not to be relied upon in the hour of trial and danger; while the animosities thus engendered live to bear fruits long after the causes which produced them have disappeared.

LETTER VIII.

Causes of disaster to Republics-Tendency of Slavery to produce equality in the dominant race-Morals of Slave and Free States-Capital and Labour united in Slave States.

THE unsuccessful efforts which have been made in Europe to construct free governments upon the ruins of despotisms, have had their origin in the ignorance of the masses of the populations. This ignorance has been made use of by more enlightened demagogues to subvert the very Governments which they professedly sought to establish. The ignorant people were led to believe that liberty and license were synonymous, and that freedom consisted in the absence of the restraints of law. The calamities which have generally followed upon the heels of every successful effort to overthrow Despotisms, have been brought about by the excesses induced by such violations of the principle upon which free governments should be founded. Moreover, these same ignorant classes were in turn equally the instruments by which Despots have been able to resume their lost power.

In the formation of the different Governments of the American Confederacy, if the negroes had been

made citizens, they would have constituted the material out of which demagogues would soon have produced a state of affairs that would have caused a radical change in the form of the Government. Happily, such a policy was not adopted, and hence the Slave States entered upon their career as Republics without being subjected to those dangers which originate in the ignorance and incompetency of its citizens. The material which has been successfully employed in the Old World to make Republics impossible did not exist. That class of the community, which elsewhere led by wicked counsels produces revolution, was unknown in the Slave States. The humblest white man felt that there were below him, socially and politically, a considerable portion of the population. He had all the incentives of pride to fulfill properly the duties which, as a free citizen, he was called upon to perform. No matter how humble his position, he never occupied that station in regard to the wealthier portion of the population which would impress upon him a feeling of inferiority. He performed none of those menial services for others which would degrade him in his own estimation, or which, from the nature of his relations to his employer, would make him but an instrument in the hands of his superior. All these services were rendered by slaves.

The existence of slavery thus rendered facile the