to enlighten them; for, like the Chinese, they suffer from a conviction of their own superiority to all other people, and from a feeling that holy Russia must always be on the right road to heaven, even if its material prosperity should not be clearly vindicated. This cold and massive slavery of the north is dangerous to Europe; which maintains over its northern frontier an immense aggregation of bone and muscles, operating like spindles and wheels, under the guidance of a motive power, without an idea of responsibility. The magnitude of the system prevents the hope of a revolution, except by force. The slavery of the United States would not exist for twelve months if it were con fined to a small number of persons. The number of the slaves is their chain. In the same manner the number of the Russian serfs binds them to the soil. If the United States have difficulty in emancipating four millions of persons, we may be satisfied that Russia has more difficulty in dealing with forty-four millions. The example of Hungary and Poland, both destroyed in some measure by the practice of serfery, has no influence upon the Russian landowners and nobility, who are not troubled with any desire for personal freedom. They accept their own slavery as the price of power. They are enabled thereby to continue their own influence over several thousand persons; and they revenge themselves upon the multitude beneath, instead of the few above them. The system will be shaken into fragments, but not perhaps until it has done more than one errand of blood into the world without; for yet its existence is often forgotten even by the neighbouring states, whose people direct their attention conveniently and almost exclusively to tropical slavery. An attempt was made to cultivate our West Indian colonies, after the emancipation of the slaves, by Hindoos. The scheme might have been successful, but it was opposed by "the benevolent;" who sought to wipe out the sin of our ancestry in making the negroes slaves, by turning them into protected workmen. They opposed the immigration of Hindoos from Asia, or negroes from Africa, on the different pleas that they were heathens who would contaminate the native West Indian negroes; that they would compete with the latter in the labour market, and reduce its price; and, finally, that they would be turned into slaves. These pretences were either false or frivolous. The contamination of the heathen would have been met by the same agencies that had converted their predecessors from idolatry. The various churches and societies interested in the conversion of the heathen generally should have been glad to find a number brought under their influence, and the example of others, upon a comparatively narrow field. The immigration of new labourers would have necessarily reduced the price of labour, but that was required; for the planters who were compelled to compete with the cheapest countries, were entitled to obtain work at the lowest possible price. The condition of the native negroes could not have been deteriorated on this account, for an industrious man is not dependent upon wages in a tropical island, with ground at a nominal price. The third objection that immigration would have been another name for the slave trade, implies that our authorities would not have attended to their business; that the objectors themselves would have neglected their duty; and that an emancipated population of nearly one million, with their ministers and other educated men-for they have educated persons among them-would have allowed the repetition of the crime without remonstrance. The opposition was only partially successful, for a number of Hindoos were engaged, and liberated negroes were allowed to labour for the planters, who have thus an interest in the prosperity of the cruisers after slave ships. The Anglo-Indian Government required onerous conditions on the emi gration of their subjects, which have been successful in the Mauritius, although, from the greater distance of the West Indian colonies, and the increased expenditure on the voyage, they have operated against the success of immigration to them. Still, we believe that these partial supplies of labour have saved the fragments of West Indian prosperity handed down to the present year, for it was natural to suppose that the emancipated negroes would prefer any other life to work in the sugar manufactories. The Brazilian Government and people, although they possess a vast extent of uncultivated land within the tropics, have legislated against the slave trade, and their legislation is faithfully observed. They have adopted this course partly at the instance of this country, and also, probably, because slavery had been abolished in all the South American republics. The press of Britain seldom refers to these republics except in terms of compassion for their slow progress. They are contrasted with the States, in forgetfulness that they want the forced labour of the Union. When the latter seized Texas, slavery was re-established. When General Walker expected to establish himself as President of Nicaragua, he repealed the act for the abolition of slavery. If the United States were now successful in their hostilities against New Granada at Panama, and on the Atlantic shores, they would engross the "waist" of America, and convert it into a slavehold. Our legislators commit the absurdity of always supposing that stolen goods cannot be sold cheaper than those that have been paid for. This preternatural nonsense vitiated all our legislation upon the subject, under the guidance of Lord John Russell, who thought that he could make a miracle by act of parliament, or even by a resolution on the sugar duties, which has scarcely the dignity belonging to a regular act. Free labour will be more profitable than the toil of the bondsman, in the course of years, to the world, but it cannot be cheaper under existing circumstances on the American continent. THE CUBAN SLAVE TRADE. The idea of forming an emigration of Asiatics to our American colonies was even adopted in Cuba. That island had a numerous population at the date of its discovery by the Spaniards. It was as now, so then, the Queen of the Antilles in beauty, and magnitude, and people. The latter were a mild and inoffensive race, whom the Spaniards have swept out of the earth. The last Indian of Cuba died alone long ago. Ever since the Indians were unable to supply the incessant labour required by their Spanish conquerors, the latter have directed a steady stream of African blood upon the island to irrigate its fertile soil. For many years the African population have gradually increased under the yoke, yet they are not much over one-half of the entire number of inhabitants-Spaniards—of Spanish descent and mixed races. The island is the largest of the West Indian group, and could occupy, perhaps, ten times its existing labourers in its proper cultivation. The Cubans have grasped a large part of the European sugar trade from the advantages secured to them, partly by our legislation and partly by our neglect. This country has paid large sums to Spain for treaties against the slave trade, and should insist upon their performance. Yet they are broken with cool pertinacity. The reason is intelligible after we are told that the present Captain-General of Cuba has cleared one quarter of a million sterling by fees, for overlooking importations of slaves during his short tenure of power. If this treasure be correctly reckoned, and we take it merely as it is given, an idea may be formed of the value of the trade. The slave-dealers will land their cargoes when they can, without paying fees, although that good fortune may not often befall them; for if they be cute, the Cuban officers are "cuter," where their own pockets would suffer from any dullness of vision. The latter, however, have opportunities of cheating the governor, who cannot be everywhere at once, even when he has the accumulation of dollars before him as a reason for watchfulness. A British cruiser, the Arab, captured off the Cuban coast, a month or more since, a small slaver. The vessel was abandoned by the Captain and the crew after they found that the Arab must overtake it. They left the negroes and the ship in the boats, expecting to get into a Cuban creek safely. Even that hope was disappointed-the Arab boats seized them. The captain belonged to the United States. The men were chiefly derived from that quarter of the world. The ship had been built there. Among the man-stealers their African interpreter alone was communicative. He stated that two cargoes of slaves were run out of African bights and creeks every week. The estimate is probably exaggerated, for other calculations make the annual importation of negro slaves into Cuba equal to five thousand only. The African gives nearly six times that number after allowing for only small cargoes; but upon the supposition that Cuba is the only cus 323 tomer for slaves, although that is not altogether clear. The captain boasted that while the capture would cause to him, personally, a loss of thirty thousand dollars, yet he was not ruined by the chase and its results, having cleared a little fortune by previous thefts, which he described probably as ventures. This man should be tried for piracy and hung, but as he is a citizen of the United States, he may escape with the loss of his slaves and his ship. The government of that republic professed to join other civilised nations in opposition to the slave trade, but they refused the right of search under their flag: and thus slavers sail under it and escape capture, unless the captains of our vessels have evidence that they carry slaves. The difficulty of obtaining this evidence is the slaver's shield. The crime of requiring it is the States' disgrace. The government and people of that country know perfectly that slave ships are built and fitted in their ports. They have, like other civilized nations, called the slave trade piracy. Will they even now seek possession of this captain and his crew, in order to do justice on their bodies? We are certain that the demand will not be made for that purpose. The vessel had originally shipped five hundred negroes; two-fifths or thereby had perished before the capture on the voyage. Great ingenuity was displayed in packing the negroes. The place was so small that the Arab's people were astonished to find nearly three hundred persons living there in one unsightly mass of filth and vermin. The young negresses, of whom forty were alive on the slaver, were lodged in the cabin, which was turned into a harem for the captain and his mate. When the remnant of this ill-fated company were landed in Jamaica, they exhibited all the ferocity of the starved for food and water. Their rescue astonished them more than their seizure, and the Arab gave to the Queen three hundred more of very loyal although very poor subjects by the day's work; and yet the object of the British cruisers on the African coast is known to even some of the inland nations, for Dr. Livingstone, we understand, found a welcome among tribes who had never been visited by one of his fellow-citizens, because he belonged to the nation who liberated the captives of Africa. Some persons say that the legislation of our Parliament upon sugar did not promote slavery. Without examining the reasoning on which they support this statement-because there is none to be examined-we infer that all parties in this country expect the strict observance of treaties. Great Britain has paid money to Spain for the suppression of this trade, and should insist upon obtaining the bargain, if necessary, by sending a fleet with a messenger-the former to the Havannah, and the latter to Madrid. The assumption, for a season at least, of the sovereignty over the unoccupied coasts of Africa, would be more decisive than negotiations with Spain or any other plan, and more useful; but the remedy would be described as theft, by the gentle men who would pronounce against an attempt to rescue a traveller from banditti, as a breach of the gallant non-intervention principle. thirty-eight sick men, whom tlie emigration officer never saw-that the men were kept on board by the use of sabres, and even grape and canister. They were lodged under artillery, and we are not astonished that they endeavoured to mutiny. The African slave trade is not the blackest sin of Cuba. A lower depth has been found in the The case of the John Calvin is a disgrace to the black pool of guilt connected with slave dealing ship's name, as, indeed, is that of the Duke of there than any hitherto sounded. After the pro.. Portland, for he was a warm-hearted man. The posal to employ Indian coolies in our West Indian John Calvin is, we believe, a Scotch ship, and we colonies had grown into practice, the Cuban have no hesitation in denouncing the trade in which planters considered whether they could not make it was engaged as not inferior to African slavesomething out of Asiatics. They could not ob-hunting. The captain of the John Calvin applied tain Hindoos, for obvious reasons. They felt for and obtained license to ship three hundred and that this class of men had powerful protectors, one passengers at Hong Kong, of whom all, except and it would have been very inconvenient, in- | eighty-one, left the ship before its departure, and deed, to have had British cruisers inquiring into the emigration agent certified, therefore, for the the treatment of British subjects on their coasts. latter number, but the John Calvin lost one The coolies of India had, moreover, abundant fields hundred and ten passengers on the voyage, and for their labour in the American colonies belonging landed a large number. That ship, therefore, to Great Britain, while the Anglo-Indian Govern- evaded the Emigration Act. The Duke of Portland ment had not sufficient confidence in the Spanish had one hundred and thirty deaths on the passage, viceroys to allow emigration to their colonies. or more than one-third of the number who sailed. Similar cases have become so common that the trade must be suppressed. British vessels cannot be permitted to recommence a second slave trade which is worse than the first. The Chinese Government was less particular, and had no objections to its male subjects courting fortune in the west, if the female portion of the community were not abstracted. The exception is remarkable, because female infants are not regarded with kindness in many provinces of China. Infanticide is not uncommon in that empire, but it is chiefly confined to female children. Some months since, the readers of the London police reports were shocked by the incidental narrative of a British captain and a portion of his crew. They quarrelled on some other subject, and during the examination, the nature of the ship's freight from China was mentioned. The vessel had been chartered to bring coolies to Cuba from Hong-Kong. These Chinese labourers were entirely unacquainted with the nature of the work expected from them. They virtually were kidnapped, for we have not the slightest doubt that they expected to land in Australia or California. The mortality on that ship during the voyage was scandalous. The vessel became a floating prison of the plague. Wherever it sailed the Angel of Death floated above, and the sharks beneath, its shadow. The horrors of the African middle passage were equalled in the terrors of the Asiatic. We refer to the case of the Duke of Portiand. Captain Seymour is acquitted in the official correspondence of cruelty to these Chinese emigrants. We cannot join in this "not guilty." He acknowledges that the men mutinied before they left the harbour of Hong-Kong, and endeavoured to land. They were prevented by force, to which he was an active, and, necessarily, a consenting party; yet he has no doubt that one-third of the men were kidnapped. As the Duke of Portland's freight did not depend upon the number of emigrants who came on board, but the number who landed at the Havannah, we assume that ordinary care was bestowed upon them during the voyage, but Captain Seymour knew that he sailed with We do not see how Captain Seymour, of the Duke of Portland, can extricate himself from the charge of driving a slave trade to the proportion of one-third of his cargo; when he confesses that this number were kidnapped. His own words are "The Chinese mutinied before we sailed from Hong Kong, on account of their wanting more money. I believe one third of them kidnapped.” He may allege that he did not believe in Hong Kong what he now believes in London; yet it was at the former port that the first mutiny broke out among his passsengers. That fact should have convinced him that he was not conveying voluntary emigrants, and any captain in the British mercantile navy should have examined the case thoroughly before he went further. Captain Seymour might argue that the Emigration Commissioner released him from any care over the passengers; or that the responsibility rested with Don R. A. R. Ferren, of Havannah, who was the shipper of the coolies, and who was then resident at Macao, or with the agents, Messrs. Lyall Still, and Co., of Hong Kong. These man-trappers shipped, according to Captain Seymour, over one hundred Chinese who were kidnapped. They easily obtained the services of a British captain and crew to coerce a number of stolen men. They called for and obtained the assistance of the IIong Kong police, who, we be lieve, are paid by this country and serve our Queen, in compelling the Chinese coolies to fulfil a tract which they never made. Mr. Millier, the Emigration Officer, certified readily that the ship was well found in every respect, and capable of conveying the poor Chinese passsengers to their destination. He did not even examine the lower berths of the Duke of Portland before the vessel sailed, or he would have found thirty eight of the con KIDNAPPING CHINESE COOLIES. add that he examined the agreements. He asserts, however, that the persons who were ill, on that gentleman's visit, suffered from sea-sickness, having made a rough voyage from Macao. On this subject, Mr. Farrer, by order of the Lords of Committee of Privy Council for Trade, writes to Mr. Labouchere on the 5th of last February, in the following terms: The statement made by Hagan, who, my Lords have reason to believe to be a respectable and trustworthy man, was made in the presence of certain officers of this departs Mr. Labouchere will observe that, if this statement be true, a large number of emigrants were sick at the time the emigration officer granted his certificate; that he did not see them individually; and that he does not appear to have had that personal communication with each of the emigrants which would seem to be necessary, in order to ascertain that the agreements with them were properly made, and understood. My Lords wish it to be understood, that they are not considering a charged as proved, which the emigration officer has no means of rebutting, but they think it right to call Mr. Labouchere's attention to the statement made, in order that full inquiry may be made at Hongkong. supposed emigrants unable by sickness to move out of them. The vessel, notwithstanding, started in the shape of a floating hospital, nearly a month behind the proper time to commence the voyage. Hong Kong cannot yet be so very large a place that these proceedings were not well known to its inhabitants. Even Sir John Bowring and his staff might have been acquainted with the departure of these emigrants. We must say, therefore, that the system reflects no credit whatever upon the authorities of that settlement; which Great Britain does not ostensibly support as a depot for kid- ment, and subsequently taken down in writing. napped coolies, who may as well be considered slaves. So far as is known of the treatment of these coolies in Cuba, they are all deceived or kidnapped. The most ignorant men on earth would not undergo voluntarily the torture, under the name of work, to which they are subjected. As a matter of morals, therefore, it signifieth not whether the coolies are caught by force or fraud. They are caught and deceived, or forced to sail. They mutiny, become sick, or become suicides in a very extraordinary number of cases-which only prove that those who entered voluntarily expected a short voyage, and find that they are bound upon a long one, even to the ends of the earth. Any little religion possessed by a Chinaman in his heathenish and natural state, is connected with the graves of his ancestry. By a distortion of Bhuddism itself he worships the dead; therefore, Commissioner Yeh attracts runaways back to his dominions by threatening to ruin and wreck the graves of their ancestors, after his intention to kill their posterity has failed to frighten them. The difficulty of inducing men with that belief to leave their native land permanently may be easily imagined, but in their present condition the Chinese are not acceptable settlers. The gradual overflow of that people into the Asiatic lands on their western frontiers, is a different matter from their transportation across the waste of waters, to an island eight or nine thousand miles from their homes, out of which they can never escape. We are not astonished, therefore, that Captain Seymour says he never lay down in bed during the Voyage without a cutlass by his side. marked by continuous fevers, by refusals to eat, A voyage when food had to be forced down the coolies throats, by frequent mutinies, by many suicides, with corpses almost every day, was sufficient to murder the sleep of any captain, however strong minded. The papers submitted to Parliament in this case contain a statement of John Hagan, who shipped as second mate of the Duke of Portland, at London, in March 1855. Captain Seymour has added notes to this statement, and together, texts and notes, they form an execrable document. Mr. Hagan says that Mr. C. B. Hilliers, the Emigration Officer, only visited the men once, and did not examine their agreements individually. Captain Seymour believes that Mr Hilliers was on board the vessel twice, if not more; but he does not the John Calvin was certainly of small importance From the enclosures to the Earl of Clarendon, No. 5, dated 1st January, it appears that the passengers embarked in the "John Calvin" were duly inspected, and the correctness of their agreements ascertained. In compliance with the concluding suggestion in the letter from the Board of Trade, dated 5th January, I have to request you will inquire what record or evidence may exist, that a similar course was pursued in regard to the "Duke of Portland.” The reply to this despatch cannot arrive until July, perhaps towards the close of the mouth; and when it comes no great light will be thrown upon the matter. We only fear that our own suggestion is correct, and that Mr. Hilliers, seeing that no good was done by being particular, had determined to inspect the Duke of Portland's cargo of coolies in bulk, and give them a lecture on patience before their departure, knowing well that patience would be more requsite for them on the passage than any of the other virtues taught by their Confucius; provided he did teach patience, which we suppose was the case; for few practise, but everybody teaches the propriety of seeking to attain the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit. 326 COMPLICITY OF THE BRITISH GOVERNMENT. With respect to both vessels, I wish an explanation upon the numbers they were computed to be legally qualified to carry. The body of rules appended to the Chinese passenger act required for each passenger a space of five superficial feet upon the upper, and 12 superficial feet upon the lower deck. I am not aware that the Hongkong legislature has exercised its power to substitute another set of rules, but the figures embodied in the Emigration Officers' Certificates would only allow about three superficial feet above, and eight below, in proportion to the number of passengers declared admissible on the "John Calvin" and the "Duke of Portland." I shall be glad to receive a report on this subject. The space prescribed in the rules aunexed is, in my opinion, decidedly not larger than sufficient, and it ought not to be diminished. I may also remark, that no requirement of the Passengers' Act is more important than the one limiting the numbers to be carried, and that it is additionally useful from its simplicity, and the consequent ease with which this security for the good of the passengers can be enforced. This extract raises an important question. Mr. Labouchere speaks of the Hong Kong Legislature as a power in the State. He could not write more respectfully of the Canadian Legislature; although we assume that the Hong Kong constituency is not very numerous. That municipal body who take a name that they do not merit cannot be allowed to alter regulations affecting British shipping in the way which the Colonial Secretary suggests. The number of feet allocated to each passenger, under the Passenger Act mentioned by Mr. Labouchere, are not too many. To the public generally they will rather appear too few. For a voyage in the tropics of eight thousand miles, we would like a little more space; but if the Hong Kong Legislature may contract even this miserable quantity at their pleasure, the Government might dispense with the farce of making laws on the subject at home. The answer to Mr. Labouchere's letter will not be here until mid summer. We inquire now-why this traffic has had any countenance from the imperial Government? The members of the Cabinet must have known that the Chinese coolies were ignorant respecting Cuba, and the duties of its labourers. They must have supposed that these persons were ignorant, not nominally but really, of the length of the voyage, and the treatment that they would meet on its completion. They might have enquired whether any, and how many, of those labourers who had passed the ordeal of Cuba, ever returned to tell their tales of hardship. Nevertheless, they authorised the trade from Hongkong by passing acts respecting the nature of the ships which would be permitted to clear out with emigrants from the British port of the extreme east. Even this Act, which seems not only to be full of objections, but to be altogether objectionable, is modified to please such firms as Lyall Still, and Co., or repealed virtually to allow any degree of pressure. A trade commenced with the vigour shown by the John Calvin and the Duke of Portland was sure to prosper. Accordingly, we receive no paper Chinese that has not evidence of its magnitude; while British shipping continues to do the chief business. By the last overland mail, information has been received that the Henrietta Maria had been picked up in the Chinese seas, with sixty Chinese emigrants, and four of her crew. The captain and crew had abandoned the vessel during a mutiny of the Chinese, with the exception of four persons named. Two hundred and forty of the emigrants left the ship subsequently. The fate of the defeated captain and crew, and of the great body of the mutineers, is unknown. The ship was bound for the Havannah. The paper in which we find the story of the Henrietta Maria, also contains the bulletin of Captain John Wardrop, of the ship Gulnare, in which he narrates his defeat of a piratical attempt by the coolies upon his ship to seize the vessel. A battle ensued between the coolies and the crew, which Captain Wardrop describes in warlike language. The coolies were defeated with the loss of five killed and thirty wounded, eight of whom died subsequently. The Gulnare returned to Hong Kong. Eighteen of the coolies were tried, according to Captain Wardrop, and three of them were sentenced to be hung; and are, he says, "to be hanged." The Overland Friend of China to one of these statements affixes the very innocent note, that complaints on these repeated mutinies on board coolie ships is not only unnecessary but useless. Being the first, it will also be the last. Yet here, we must see if comments, as they are necessary, cannot be made useful. The party who have had so much sympathy for Commissioner Yeh may, perhaps, be induced to give a better cause than his the benefit of their energy and leisure. This country must be roused against an incipient slave trade, conducted under its flag, for the sake of the miserable freight earned in the business. We have more particularly referred to the case of the Duke of Portland than to that of the John Calvin, because the result of the Lord Advocate's inquiry into the latter is not yet published. The AttorneyGeneral of England will omit a duty if he does not examine closely into the conduct of the person who carried off more than one hundred Chinese, in his ship, believing them to be kidnapped. He is acquitted of inhumanity in the parliamentary paper, but, with deference to official authority, the first charge against him is not inhumanity, except as an incident, of what we should call,—perhaps erroneously call,-man-stealing. Our Government cannot plead ignorance of the probable fate of these Chinese coolies in Cuba. They know that their doom is misery-a short life and toilsome-and they cannot be acquitted from a deep guilt if they do not suppress the trade at Hong Kong, and in British vessels. We do not allege, as a matter of fact, yet we would not be surprised to learn, that these proceedings had increased the enmity of the Chinese population |