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    MR. TYLER ON THE SLAVE TRADE. Ix 18 a co...

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    Manin's Example. The Great And Good Man ...

    opinions from all sorts of men by the unostentatious moderation of his demeanour . No spark of vanity , no theatrical passion , gave a meretricious glow to the energy of his patriotic efforts . He failed * and the Venetians failed with him ; but not until all the civilized ¦ ifforlct had heartily wished success to him and them , and praised the admirable audacity of the -citizens encompassed by hostile forces so overwhelming . Towards the close of the year 1849 , Maiu : n left the scene of his heroic and

    magnanimous labours and went to reside in Paris . There " he retired into the shade , and So unaffected was the modesty , of his life that , in 1854 , desirous of learning how this noble exile bore his own sufferings , and those of his country , we were compelled to inquire publicly whither he had retreated . The answer came . " Tell the Leader J' said Maniist , " that I am giving lessons in Italian . I am awaiting a favourable opportunity for recommencing the struggle . " Thus he remained until

    the time of his death , calmly anticipating a new national movement which , in one form or another , would deliver Italy from her cardinal curse , the domination of foreigners . He felt it Ms duty to labour towards this end , irrespectively of all sectarian , views . He would have Italy free , and leave her to work out , according to her own desires , the institutions of freedom . ^ Republican at heart , he offered no rancorous opposition to Constitutionalism so long as it was faithful to the Italian cause . Among Italians of all degrees , therefore 3

    orally and in writing , he perpetually preached the doctrine that they should rally round a common . flag , consolidate themselves into one national - party , direct their efforts towards the independence and union of Italy , concede their personal crotchets , insist upon nothing that would retard the general progress , and oppose nothing : that would aid it .

    He saw dissension in Piedmont ; conspiracy and despotism in Naples ; corruption , sycophancy , and suffering in Eome ; an iron , arbitrary Government in Jjombardo-Venetia , and he said , " These evils result from foreign domination ; we Italians should make it our first object to destroy that domination . Afterwards we may determine upon a form of future self-government . "

    And he was right , we think . His creed was Italy for the Italians—not Italy for Piedmont , Italy for Mahin , or Italy for Mazzini . The policy was national and practical , and it was not Manin ' s least service to the Italians that he enunciated this lofty , unselfish , unsectarian view . That he believed in it we know ; that he made many converts we know also ; and we confidently hope that ,, although he has descended into the grave , his maxims and his example will Remain the symbol and the beacon of a P ^ y - ; " Tfhisl mo reover , is certain , that the

    Austrians , feared Manin at least as much as any other . ofcthe Italian revolutionary leaderB . They knew him to be a man powerful in his ^ 5 ^^? p , K 9 f ? undly acquainted with the Italian character , resolute , " incorruptible , popular-rtejuvotly the chief whom , » fc another insurrectionary crisis , Venice would summon to' preside over her councils and to animate h ^ r ' patriotic army . The illustrious exile is dead ; ttie last year of his life was passed in the , shadow of . bereavement ; the Venetians have lost their great-hear ted leader ; but we repeat , he has left a voico , a doctrine , and an inestimable example .

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    Mr. Tyler On The Slave Trade. Ix 18 A Co...

    MR . TYLER ON THE SLAVE TRADE . Ix 18 a common idea in this country , that American statesmen who refuse to agree with the anti-shivery movement , are themselves the advocates of slavery in the abstract , and are desirous of even extending that

    institution . The English democrat is , revolted by so gross an inconsisteneyv Assuming that in literal terms the Negro is the equal with the White , he demands for Him , under any circumstances , an ^ equal suffrage ; and considers the institution of slavery as an act of despotism equivalent to any act of Lotjis Napoleon , of Charles IX ., or of Fbanoia . Such of our countrymen overlook the circumstances of the united States , and are actually

    ignorant of the * real opinion and conduct qf their public men . The inconsistency of slavery in a republic struck the first founders of the federation , and some of them had an idea of abolishing the institution . They found that it was too strongly rooted to be extirpated in an instant , and they necessarily compromised . Slaverv had been established in the

    United States by Great Britain , who had , in fact , forced the institution upon the Americans . The immediate question in " Washington ' s day was , how to maintain those principles of the British Constitution which the unhappy King of these countries was violating on the other side of the Atlantic ; for be it remembered that the United States severed themselves from the English Monarchy iu an act of conservative fidelity to the principles of the British Constitution ,

    which they retain to this day less altered from its original type than we do . N " ot only were numerous classes who assisted in that defence of the Constitution against the tyranny of the English King dependent upon property which could only be worked by slave labour , but whole states were in the same condition , and it was of course absolutely impossible to accomplish so serious a revolution and at the same time accompany it by an act of confiscation . The necessity which had pressed upon them clenched the institution in the federal republic ; but it may be _

    safely said that , ever since , the most elevated and conservative , as well as the moat active and progressive , of American statesmen have been devoting their earnest reflection to the means of mitigating the great inconsistency . We who have systematically combated the fallacious notion of slavery abolition have as faithfully pointed out the fact that , if shielded from any hostile moral invasion of that kind , public opinion in the South is quite capable of grappling with the domestic difficulty and curing it . We have before us two documents which

    prove the firmness , the elevated stubbornness of American statesmen on this subject . At a recent commercial convention in Knoxville , a farmer member declared that a provision in the treaty of Washington , concluded dui'ing ; the administration of President Tyler , was an act of discourtesy and an insult to the South , and on that ground he called for its abrogation . The declaration Beems to have met with the countenance of a large majority of

    the convention ; and the circumstance draws out Mr . John Txleb in person to explain how the stipulation was nqcepted by hj 8 Government , and to remind these irq , p ^ tient citizens of , the South how the republic stands ! Ilia reply to the agitators of Knoxville confirms all that we have said with reference to opinion in the South , if the South ' be left alone : — ¦ ¦ ¦ >¦ i - '

    . . > " Who , in 1842 . eren dreamed that tliere would be , aa early aa 1857 , a proposition seriously made to revive the slave-trade ? I certainly entertained no such idea nor did , I am quite sure , any one of the uble and patriotic atntesraon who were my constitutional advisera . J really thought and oficp declared that the Bouthorn states were more opposed to the slavetrade than

    - any other portion of our people . They had voted with singular unanimity for the act of Congress which declared that all citizens of the United States engaging in that trade should bo regarded , and if convicted punished , as pirates . Howit happens , then , that a provision introduced into a . treaty to enforce a law for which the South had voted can be rightfully regarded as an inault to tho

    South I must say passes my comprehension . Certainly such an idea : never entered my head or heart " In vindication of , his conduct Mr . TrLsk recites how the British Government , iu virtue of treaties -with various other countries , insisted upon the right of visiting foreign vessels on the coast of Africa to ascertain the true nationality of the ships . Mr . Stevenson then Minister at Iiondon , remonstrated ; GreneralCA-sg ; then . Minister at Paris , put forth an able pamphlet ; Mr . Tyleb , himself firmly stood his ground against the claim , and the two Governments were fairly antagonized .

    Great Britain urged , and urged with truth , that no insult was intended to the American flag ; but that without a visit it was impossible to ascertain the genuine character of the nationality of the ship ; for a Ereneh , Portuguese , or Spanish vessel might shield itself fr om search and capture , by simplyhoisting a fraudulent bunting . The American Government insisted upon dealing with such fraud by its own action . The question arose be to one of proximate hostility between the two countries , until at last Lord Ashbubton was sent over to "Washington to negociate . The American Government now took the

    only step which would really substantiate its claim to deal with fraudulent foreign vessels itself : Mr . Tyler says : — "I then suggested , by -way of discharging this duty on my part , that we should keep upon the African coast a na . val armament sufficiently great to visit all ships that might hoist the United States flag and fall under suspicion , but that we could not permit another nation to do so . Upon this basis the stipulation in the treaty has , in my mind , always rested . Certain it is that , for the after-time of . my service , no visit , much less search , of an American vessel occurred on the paTt of a British cruiser . What has taken place since I will , not undertake to say .

    " I have nothing to do with what the Government of this country may deem it proper to do in regard to that stipulation ; but this I will venture to say , that , repeal when it pleases that provision of the treaty , it will still find it necessary , for the enforcement of the laws of the United States , as well as for the protection of the traffic of merchant vessels on that coast—a traffic every year increasing in value , and destined in the end to be of vast magnitude—to maintain a fleet of at least eighty guns on the coast of Africa . It might be worthy of consideration by the next commercial convention whether , before they advise the cancelling of the provision in question , and denounce it as an insult to the South , they should not first repeal the law relative to piracy in regard to the slare- trade . "

    The subject is peculiarly interesting at the present moment , when a slavery question lias arisen between England and the United States . The Panchita , of New York , was seized in Ponfca de Senha , on the west coast of Africa , on the 9 th May last ; the capturing vessel was her Majesty ' s sloop Sappho , Commander Faibfax Mohesby , who suspected the Pauchita of being engaged in the slave trade ; and he sent it to New York iu charge of a lieutenant of the British navy , to bo

    delivered over to the American authorities tliere . On reaching hep destination she was handed over to the United States Marshal for the District ; and the British officers were subsequently arrested by tho owners for illegal seizure of the vessel , but were discharged . She was libelled in the Admiralty Court as a &| aver , and that suit is still undecided . The , seizure was a violation of the United States flag . . The British Government long since conceded , tho principle which , the American Government is now called upon to

    sustain . Our readers will pbserve that while President Tyler . —and lie is a fair representative of the statesmanship of America—on bis part is peremptorily resisting tho notion excited in the South by Abolitionist antagonisms , reviving tho slave-trade , tho American Government is called on to repol the attemp t ot a foreign power to execute its own pohcolaws on tho ocean . America deaircs to amend her own institutions ; the guardians

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), Oct. 3, 1857, page 16, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_03101857/page/16/