as black patches on the face would in the first Georgian court have been beauty-spots.

Historical notes, appertaining to Martyria, will appear in some future number of the Pioneer, as an appen

dix to the article.

Let this letter be read as a kind of preface to the paper, which I now send you for printing. A motto! I have none. Here is one taken at random,-" He that is once admitted to the right of reason is made a freeIman of the whole estate. What Plato has thought, he may think; what a saint has felt, he may feel; what at any time has befallen any man, he can understand." This is a quotation from the first page of a transcendental transatlanticist, which phrase is a transcendental synonym for an American philosopher. I am, yours, and your readers, &c. WILL. MOUNTFORD.

ADDRESS ON SLAVERY.

BY JAMES HAUGHTON.

TO THE MEMBERS OF THE METROPOLITAN ADVOCATE SOCIETY, IN THEIR ROOM, BOLTON STREET, DUBlin, THE 28TH JANUARY 1844.

MY FRIENDS,―The subject that has brought us together on the present occasion is one of deep importance. Slavery has been a foul blot on the history of man, in all ages, and in almost all countries; so that its advocates and supporters in the present day can claim for it the sanction of a venerable antiquity; and men are but too willing to lay hold on that excuse as a palliation of many of the evils which surround them, and which retard the advancement of society in virtue. It might be reasonably expected that, as civilization made progress in the world, man would have felt more and more disposed to acknowledge the rights of humanity. Has such been the fact? Alas, no! A slight acquaintance with history will convince us that the contrary is the melancholy truth. In the savage, or rather the

primitive state of man, general freedom of will and freedom of action have been, and still are, the rule. Slavery, or the alleged right of one man to make a chattel of another, is the spawn of civilization, an imperfect civilization, it is true, but still of that state of society which men call civilization. I need not occupy your time by any extracts from the history of remote times to prove this position, for I believe it will be generally admitted to be true; and my present object is rather to endeavour to assist in swelling that stream of public opinion, which is steadily increasing in strength, and rolling onwards, for the extinction of the evil, than to prove its origin. That it exists in the world, and that it is supported by professing Christian, as well as by Mahomedan and Heathen nations, is undoubted; that it is peculiarly the shame and disgrace of nations claiming to be Christian, is also, alas! too true to be denied: and it must, I fear, be also admitted that the efforts made by philanthrophic men to mitigate its evils or reduce the number of its unhappy victims, have not been attended with success. It is now upwards of fifty years since Clarkson, and Wilberfore, and Sharpe commenced their godlike efforts to put an end to the horrible traffic in human beings. Instead of being sustained in their labours by the universal voice of Christendom, they met with great opposition in every step of their progress; a depraved public opinion sanctioned the evil practices of those wicked and selfish men, who engaged in the nefarious occupation of slave-trading, and it was only through undaunted perseverance for years, that they succeeded in altering the public sentiment in Great Britain and Ireland, and in gaining a sufficient number of adherents to the side of humanity, to place the brand of infamy on the hellish trade, and cause the Parliament of these countries to declare the traffic infamous and illegal, This was supposed to be, and it really was, a great triumph of humanity; but the consequences have not been so favourable to the cause of man's inherent rights as was expected at the time. These benevolent and philanthropic men, and others who warmly seconded them in their work of mercy, made a cardinal mistake from the commencement of their exertions in favour of

humanity; they only aimed to overthrow the slavetrade, erroneously supposing that that point gained, slavery itself would be soon annihilated. In that opinion they were most grievously mistaken. After some years of anxiety and toil, and the most persevering determination, they overcame all the obstacles which were raised up to oppose them. England declared the slavetrade illegal; and by so acting, in conjunction with some other European powers, threw such difficulties in the way of the traffic on the coast of Africa, as to raise the value of slaves in Cuba, Brazil, and some other markets, so enormously, as to make any risk in obtaining them a highly profitable speculation. This, in addition to the increased demand for slaves, to meet the increasing demands of commerce, caused capitalists to embark freely in the horrid speculation; they caused to be fitted out fast sailing vessels, such as would be likely to escape the pursuit of the English ships of war, which were stationed off the coast of Africa; and they have succeeded to such an extent, that it has been computed by Sir Thomas Fowell Buxton, in his work entitled "The African Slave-Trade, and its remedy," that the annual loss to Africa amounts to half a million of human beings. Of this enormous wickedness, he lays 400,000 at the door of professing Christians, and 100,000 at the door of Mahommedans; of these, about 200,000 are carried into slavery; the remaining 300,000 are saved from that sad fate by death in various shapes, some in war, some by fatigue by their long marches to the coast over deserts, and others through suffocation on board ship. No human tongue or pen could adequately describe the miseries produced by this detestable system, which is pursued for gain, in violation of all the laws of God, and of all the rights of humanity. While the slave-trade was looked upon as a lawful traffic, it was marked with deep atrocity; yet, perhaps, there was some little attention paid to the comforts on board ship of its unhappy victims; but since the trade was declared an illegal one by some of the European powers, no trace of humanity marks its infernal proceedings. The object now is to crowd as many men, women, and children into fast sailing vessels as can be

crammed into them, and then to sail away on chance of escape from the British cruisers. If but one voyage out of three or four is successful, a large profit is made. In order to make the vessels hold as many persons as possible, the space between decks is only just high enough to admit a man in a sitting posture, with his legs stretched out before him, so as to be at right angles with his body. In this way, men are chained down, and packed as closely as possible; and thus they must remain till the end of the voyage, which often consumes many weeks. No change of posture is allowed. The situation is one of intense agony and misery. In this condition, the atmosphere becomes excessively close, and almost putrid, thus adding to the horrors of the scene. About one-fourth of the number die on the "middle passage," as it is called, and when the remainder arrive at their place of destination, they are in such a crippled and unhealthy state, as to require many weeks of care to render them fit for market. In this process, a great many more perish; so that it is probable not more than one-fourth of the entire number lost to Africa are ever sold into slavery in the West Indies and South America. The crews of the men-ofwar which are stationed on the coast of Africa to intercept the slave-trade, have a great interest in detecting and seizing slave-traders, as their ships are condemned and given as prize-money. This adds to the miseries of the traffic, by obliging the traders to act with more caution, which creates delay, and delay is often death to hundreds. The traders are also frequently chased; and when they are hard pressed, it is a common practice to cast the slaves overboard, to lighten the vessel, and thus many perish in the sea.

I have now, my friends, given you a faint outline of the horrors of the African slave-trade. You will perceive that it has not been diminished in the number of its victims, nor lessened in any of its dreadful details, through the means heretofore taken to effect its annihilation. On the contrary, these evils have been increased by the wickedness and cupidity of men, whose object is to gain gold, regardless of human suffering, and in desperate defiance of Almighty God himself. I am

sorry to tell you that British capital is still largely engaged in the nefarious business, and, I fear, there are men even in our own country, who lend their support to this greatest system of wickedness that has ever existed on the face of the earth;-a system at which the heart of humanity recoils, and from which every good feeling implanted in us by God shrinks in horror and dismay.

While on this part of my subject, I may tell you, and I do so with great pleasure, that Ireland is free from the stain of direct participation in the African slavetrade; it is not known that any ship ever left our shores to carry on that infernal traffic. In times long past, the stigma was attempted to be fixed on us by some merchants in Belfast; but, through the virtue of one man (whose name, I regret to say, has not come down to posterity), we were saved from that infamy. Let us rejoice, my friends, in the knowledge of this fact; and may it stimulate us in our exertions to free the world from the curse of slavery. The Almighty, in his mercy, having saved us from the disgrace of direct participation in the villainy of tearing our brethren away from their homes and their families, has imposed it upon us as a most sacred duty, to be ever found foremost in the ranks of those who labour for the rights of humanity. I have not gone into many details, or given you many authorities, in proof of my statements. These would lead me far beyond the limits of an address. My object is, to stimulate your minds to increased thoughtfulness on the important subject before us, rather than to enter into any lengthened dissertation upon it. Because the labours of good men who have gone before us, have failed in lessening the horrors of the slave-trade and of slavery in those countries where it yet exists, are we to fold our arms in despair of success? By no means; we are to press on with full vigour in the consciousness that God is with us, and that we shall certainly succeed. I will now turn your thoughts to some of the more pleasing features of this most melancholy subject. A bright ray of hope has dawned upon its dismal horizon; the clouds are broken, and the sunshine of freedom has shed its blessed light upon us, cheering us on