Few subjects have agitated this country more deeply than the important question of the abolition of the Slave-Trade; if we except, what was its final and necessary consequence, the extinction of Slavery itself. The wrongs of injured Africa seemed at length to have come up in remembrance before God, and the days of mourning to be approaching to their end. The strife of politics and the passions of contending parties gave way to the great cause of humanity, and a Pitt and a Fox, supported by many of their respective adherents, here met on common and neutral ground. The walls of parliament re-echoed with the tones of an eloquence the most sublime and impassioned, because it is the generous emotions of the heart that invigorate the intellect, and give to it a persuasive and commanding power. In the meantime the mammon of unrighteousness was not inactive; commercial cupidity and self-interest raised up a severe and determined resistance, which protracted the final settlement of this question for nearly twenty years. But its doom was sealed. The moral feeling of the country pronounced the solemn verdict of condemnation, long before the decision of Parliament confirmed that verdict by the authority and sanction of law. William Wilberforce, Esq., the great champion of this cause, who had pleaded its rights with an eloquence that had never been surpassed, and a perseverance and ardor that no opposition could subdue, lived to see the traffic in slaves declared illegal by a legislative enactment; his own country rescued from an injurious imputation; and himself distinguished by the honorable and nobly earned title of The Liberator of Africa.* We have already stated that Cowper was urged to contribute some popular ballads in behalf of this benevolent enterprise, and that he composed three, one of which is inserted in the previous page. We now insert another production of the same kind, which we think possesses more pathos and spirit than the former. THE NEGRO'S COMPLAINT. Forced from home and all its pleasures, To increase a stranger's treasures, But, though slave they have enroll'd me, Still in thought as free as ever, * The slave trade was abolished in the year 1807; declared to be felony, in 1811; and to be piracy, in 1824. Skins may differ. but affection Why did all-creating Nature Hark! he answers-wild tornadoes, Deem our nation brutes no longer, See Poems. To the Christian and philosophic mind, which is accustomed to trace the origin and operation of principles that powerfully affect the moral dignity and happiness of nations, it is interesting to enquire what is the rise of that high moral feeling, that keen and indignant sense of wrong and oppression, which form so distinguishing a feature in the character of this country? Why, too, when the crime and guilt of slavery attached to France, to Portugal, to Spain, to Holland, and above all to America, not less justly than to ourselves, was Great Britain the first to lead the way in this noble career of humanity, and to sacrifice sordid interest to the claims of public duty? This inquiry is by no means irrelevant, because the same question suggested itself to the mind of Cowper, and he thus answers it The cause, though worth the search, may yet elude Conjecture and remark, however shrewd. They take perhaps a well-directed aim, Table Talk. The foundation of this high national feeling must evidently be sought in the causes here specified. To these may be added the influence arising from the constitution of our government, the character of our institutions, and the freedom with which every subject undergoes the severe ordeal of public discussion. May it always be so wisely directed, as never to incur the risk of becoming the foaming and heedless torrent; but rather resemble the majestic river, so beautifully described by the poet Denham: Strong without rage, without o'erflowing full." the servitude there mentioned was a limited After urging various other arguments, and insisting largely, in his "Law of Retribution," on the extent and enormity of the national sin, and its fearful consequences, he draws an affecting picture of the desolation of Africa, quoting the following words of his illustrious ancestor, Archbishop Sharp"That Africa, which is now more fruitful of monsters, than it was once of excellently wise and learned men; that Africa, which It is due, however, to the venerable name of formerly afforded us our Clemens, our Origen, Granville Sharp, to record, more particularly, our Tertullian, our Cyprian, our Augustine, the zeal with which he called forth and fos- and many other extraordinary lights in the tered these feelings, and devoted his time, church of God; that famous Africa, in whose his talents, and his labors, in exposing the soil Christianity did thrive so prodigiously, cruelty and injustice of this nefarious traffic. and which could boast of so many flourishing He brought it to the test of Scripture. He churches, alas! is now a wilderness. refuted those arguments which pretended to wild boar out of the wood doth waste it, and justify the practice from the supposed au- the wild beast of the field doth devour it,' thority of the Mosaic law, by proving that and it bringeth forth nothing but briars and The following lines from Goldsmith's "Traveller," have always been justly admired, and are so much in unison with the verses of Cowper, quoted above, that thorns."" 'The Such were the appeals of Granville Sharp to the generation that is now swept away by we feel persuaded we shall consult the taste of the reader the rapid current of time. The grave has by inserting them. "Fired at the sound, my genius spreads her wing, By forms unfashioned, fresh from Nature's hand; entombed their prejudices. The great judgment day will pronounce the final verdict. It is a melancholy proof of the slow progress of truth, and of the influence of prejudice and error, that De Las Casas pleaded the injustice of slavery, before the Emperor Charles V., nearly three hundred years from the pres ent time; and that it required this long and protracted period before the cause of humanity finally triumphed; and even then, the triumph was restricted to the precincts of one single kingdom. That kingdom is Great Britain! Five millions are said to be still *In the seventh year thou shalt let him go free from thee. And when thou sendest him out free from thee thou shalt not let him go away empty." Deut. xv. 12, 13 reserved in bondage and oppression.* May this foul stain be speedily effaced, and civilized nations learn, that they can never found a title to true greatness till the rights of humanity and justice are publicly recognized and respected! We could have dwelt with delight on the zeal of Ramsay and Clarkson, but our limits do not allow further digression, and the name of Cowper demands and merits our attention. How much the cause is indebted to his zeal and benevolence, may be collected from the following extracts. Canst thou, and honored with a Christian name, Charity. The verses which we next insert unite the inspiration of poetry with the manly feelings of the Englishman, and the ardor of genuine humanity. I would not have a slave to till my ground, It is computed that there are two millions of slaves belonging to the United States of America; a similar number in the Brazils; and that the remainder are under the control of other governments. That's noble, and bespeaks a nation proud But, highly as we appreciate the manly spirit of the Englishman, and the ardor of the philanthropist, in the foregoing verses, it is the missionary feeling, glowing in the following passage, that we most admire, as expressing the only true mode of requiting injured Africa. Let us not think that we have discharged the debt by an act of emancipation. In conferring the boon of liberty, we restore only that of which they ought never to have been deprived. Restitution is not compensation. We have granted compensation to the proprietor, but where is the compensation to the negro? Never will the accumulated wrongs of ages be redressed, till we say to the sable sons of Africa, Behold your God! We have burst the chains from the body, let us now convey to them the tidings of a nobler freedom, a deliverance from a worse captivity than even African bondage and oppression. Let us announce to them that God hath made of one blood all nations of men that dwell on the face of the earth." Acts xvii. 26. their minds be expanded by instruction, and the Bible, that great charter of salvation, be circulated wherever it can be read, and thus Britain may acquire a lasting and an honorable title to their gratitude and love. Let Inform his mind; one flash of heavenly day With what feelings of deep gratitude ought we to re cord the final emancipation of eight hundred thousand Negroes, in the West India Colonies, by an act which passed the British legislature, in the year 1834, dating the commencement of that memorable event from the first of August. The sum of twenty millions was voted to the proprietors of slaves, as a compensation for any loss they might incur. Mr. Wilberforce was at this time on his dying bed, as if his life had been protracted to witness this noble consummation of all his labors. When he heard of this splendid act of national generosity, he lifted up his feeble hands to heaven, exclaiming, Thank God, that I have lived to see my country give twenty millions to abolish slavery." The noble grant of the British and Foreign Bible So †The force and beauty of this passage will be best understood by the following statement. A slave, of the name of Somerset was brought over to England from the West Indies, by his master, Mr. Stewart. Shortly after, he absented himself, and refused to return. He was pursued and arrested, and by Mr. Stewart's orders forcibly put on board a ship, the captain of which was called Knowles. He was there detained in custody, to be carried out of the kingdom and sold. The case being made known was brought before Lord Chief Justice Mansfield,ciety (to commemorate this great event) of a copy of in the Court of King's Bench, June 22, 1772. The judgment of Lord Mansfield, on this occasion was as follows:-"A foreigner cannot be imprisoned here, on the authority of any law existing in his own country. The power of a master over his servant is different in all countries, more or less limited or extensive; the exercise of it therefore must always be regulated by the laws of the place where exercised. The power claimed by this return was never in use here. No master ever was allowed here to take a slave by force, to be sold abroad, because he had deserted from his service, or for any other reason whatever. We cannot say the cause set forth by this return is allowed or approved of by the laws of this kingdom, and therefore the man must be discharged." In other words," says a report of the case, "a negro slave, coming from the colonies into Great Britsin, becomes ipso facto Free." New Testament and Psalter to every emancipated negro that was able to read, deserves to be recorded on this occasion. The measure originated in a suggestion of the Rev. Hugh Stowell. It was computed that, out of a population of eight hundred thousand negroes, one hundred and fifty thousand were capable of reading, and that ar expenditure of twenty thousand pounds would be necessary to supply this demand. Forty tons eudic measure of New Testaments were destined to Jameics alone. The Colonial department was willing to assist in the transfer, but the Government packets were found to be too small for this purpose. It is greatly to the honor of some ship-owners, distinguished for their benevolence and public spirit, in the city of London, that they offered to convey this valuable deposit, free of freightage and expense, to its place of destination. The sum of fifteen thousand pounds was eventually contributed. Then would he say, submissive at thy feet, At my best home, if not exiled from thee." Charity. That Ethiopia shall one day stretch out her hands unto God we have the assurance of a specific prophecy, as well as the general declarations of sacred scripture. "All the ends of the world shall remember and turn unto the Lord, and all the kindreds of the nations shall worship before thee." At what time or in what manner the prophecy will be accomplished, it is not for us to determine. But should it please divine providence that the light of the gospel, through the instrumentality of Britain, should first spring forth from among that people in our own West India colonies, the land of their former servitude and oppression; should they subsequently, with bowels yearning for their own country, see fit to return, seized with a desire to communicate to the land of their nativity that gospel, the power of which they have previously felt for themselves; and should the hitherto inaccessible and unexplored parts of that vast continent thus become evangelised, such an event will furnish one of the most remarkable instances of an over-ruling Power, educing good out of positive evil, ever recorded in the annals of mankind. We beg to add one more remark. The blacks are considered to be the descendants of Ham, who first peopled Africa. It pleased God to pronounce an awful curse on him and his posterity. "Cursed be Canaan, a servant of -ervants shall he be." For the long period of four thousand years has that curse impended over their heads. They have drunk the cup of bitterness to its lowest dregs. We conceive this terrible interdict to be now approaching to its termination. The curse began to be repealed, in part, when the abolition of slavery was first proclaimed by a British parliament. This was the seed-time of the future harvest: the example of Brit ain cannot be exhibited in vain: other nations must follow that example, or suffer the consequences of their neglect. They must concede the liberty which is the great inherent right of all mankind, or expect to behold it wrested from them amidst scenes of carnage and blood. Policy, justice, and humanity, therefore, require the concession. We have said that the repeal of the curse had begun in part; it will be completed when civil privileges shall be considered to be only the precursors of that more glorious liberty flowing from the communication of the gospel of peace. Then will Africa be raised up from her state of moral degradation, and be elevated to the rank and order of civilized nations. Then will she once more boast of her Cyprians, her Tertullians, and her Augustines; and the voice of the Lord, speaking from his high and holy place, will proclaim to her sable and afflicted sons, "Arise, shine, for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord hath arisen upon thee." There is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, bond, nor free: but Christ is all, and in all." Col. iii. 11. How sweetly does the muse of Cowper proclaim the blessings of this spiritual liberty! But there is yet a liberty, unsung By poets, and by senators unprais'd, Which monarchs cannot grant, nor all the pow'rs Of earth and hell confed rate take away: A liberty which persecution, fraud, Oppressions, prisons, have no power to bind : Which whoso tastes can be enslav'd no more. 'Tis liberty of heart deriv'd from heav'n, Bought with His blood, who gave it to mankind, And seal'd with the same token. It is held By charter, and that charter sanction'd sure By th' unimpeachable and awful oath And promise of a God. His other gifts All bear the royal stamp, that speaks them his, They are august; but this transcends them all. He is the freeman whom the truth makes free, And all are slaves beside. There's not a chain That hellish foes, confed'rate for his harm, Can wind around him, but he casts it off With as much ease as Samson his green withes. He looks abroad into the varied field Of nature, and, though poor perhaps. compar'd The interesting nature of the subject, and its popularity at the present moment, must plead our excuse for these lengthened re marks and extracts. But we were anxious to prove how much this great cause of huits progress, to the powerful appeals and remanity was indebted, in the earlier stages of presentations of Cowper. We now resume the correspondence. TO MRS. HILL.* Weston Lodge, March 17, 1788. My dear Madam-A thousand thanks to you for your obliging and most acceptable present, which I received safe this evening. * Private correspondence. Had you known my occasions, you could not possibly have timed it more exactly. The Throckmorton family, who live in our neighborhood, and who sometimes take a dinner with us, were, by engagement made with them two or three days ago, appointed to dine with us just at the time when your turkey will be in perfection. A turkey from Wargrave, the residence of my friend, and a turkey, as I conclude, of your breeding, stands a fair chance, in my account, to excel all other turkeys; and the ham, its companion, will be no less welcome. I shall be happy to hear that my friend Joseph has recovered entirely from his late indisposition, which I was informed was gout; a distemper which, however painful in itself, brings at least some comfort with it, both for the patient and those who love him, the hope of length of days, and an exemption from numerous other evils. I wish him just so much of it as may serve for a confirmation of this hope, and not one twinge more. Your husband, my dear madam, told me, some time since, that a certain library of mine, concerning which I have heard no other tidings these five-and-twenty years, is still in being.* Hue and cry have been made after it in Old Palace-yard, but hitherto in vain. If he can inform a bookless student in what region, or in what nook, his longlost volumes may be found, he will render me an important service. I am likely to be furnished soon with shelves, which my cousin of New Norfolkstreet is about to send me; but furniture for these shelves I shall not presently procure, unless by recovering my stray authors. I am not young enough to think of making a new collection, and shall probably possess myself of few books hereafter but such as I may put forth myself, which cost me nothing but what I can better spare than money time and consideration. I beg, my dear madam, that you will give my love to my friend, and believe me, with the warmest sense of his and your kindness, Your most obliged and affectionate W. C. TO THE REV. JOHN NEWTON.† Weston Lodge, March 17, 1788. My dear Friend, The evening is almost worn away while I have been writing a letter, to which I was obliged to give immediate attention. An application from a lady, and backed by you, could not be less than irresistible. The lady, too, a daughter of Mr. Thornton's. Neither are these words of course: since I returned to Homer in good *Cowper's books had been lost, owing to his original illness, and his sudden removal to St. Alban's. † Private correspondence. Lady Balgonie. earnest, I turn out of my way for no consideration that I can possibly put aside. With modern tunes I am unacquainted, and have therefore accommodated my verse to an old one; not so old, however, but that there will be songsters found old enough to remember it. The song is an admirable one for which it was made, and, though political, nearly, if not quite, as serious as mine. On such a subject as I had before me, it seems impossible not to be serious. I shall be happy if it meet with your and Lady Balgonie's approbation. Of Mr. Bean I could say much; but have only time at present to say that I esteem and love him. On some future occasion I shall speak of him more at large. We rejoice that Mrs. Newton is better, and wish nothing more than her complete recov ery. Dr. Ford is to be pitied.* His wife, I suppose, is going to heaven; a journey which she can better afford to take than he to part with her. I am, my dear friend, with our united love to you all three, most truly yours, TO THE REV. WALTER BAGOT. W. C. March 19, 1788. My dear Friend,-The spring is come, but not, I suppose, that spring which our poets have celebrated. So I judge at least by the extreme severity of the season, sunless skies, and freezing blasts, surpassing all that we experienced in the depth of winter. How do you dispose of yourself in this howling month of March? As for me, I walk daily, write verses. By the aid of such means as be the weather what it may, take bark, and these I combat the north-east wind with some the hope of enjoying it, to the warmth of measure of success, and look forward, with summer. Have you seen a little volume, lately published, entitled, "The Manners of the Great?" It is said to have been written by Mr. Wilberforce, but whether actually written by him or not, is undoubtedly the work of some man intimately acquainted with the subject, a gentleman, and a man of letters. If it makes the impression on those to whom it is addressed, that may be in some degree expect ed from his arguments, and from his manner of pressing them, it will be well. But you and I have lived long enough in the world to know that the hope of a general reformation in any class of men whatever, or of women either, may easily be too sanguine. I have now given the last revisal to as *Dr. Ford was Vicar of Melton Mowbray, well known and respected, and a particular friend of Mr. Newton's. The author of this work proved to be Miss Hannah More. |