judge was a manufacturer, could not occur in Old England in our day. But why should not the same kind and display of politeness between workman and workman in their ordinary intercourse obtain in Scotland and England which Mr. Thomson remarked in the United States? It is a clear proof of barbarism when a person affects to despise refinement of speech and manners, when addressing his fellow labourer, be it in the field or the shop. In America a child will say "Sir," "Please, Sir," "I will thank you," and so forth, when addressing a person. Whereas in Glasgow, Mr. Thomson was saluted by a girl, who said to him, “ Man, can ye tell me

where about," &c.

The

But then what reporteth the wool-spinner regarding more important forms of speech? "The abominable custom of swearing," he declares, "is universal, (alluding more particularly to the North and West of America)-not indeed in the more polished circles, or before ladies-but on the whole it is more common than in Scotland. most fashionable oath is 'By Jesus Christ;' and this sacred name is used as an exclamation either of surprise, of joy, or anger. Many are so fond of swearing that they will put in an oath in the most nonsensical way. For instance, if one is determined to take his own way, he will tell you, 'I guess I can do as I damned please.'

Again, the savage practice of the American people, of taking the law into their own hands, to the shooting and stabbing of one another, amazed and horrified our Scotchman not a little. And then the many chances of the killer escaping punishment if he be a white man, conveys a most unfavourable idea, not merely of the moral controul of the people, but of the administration of the law, and of the constitutional liberty of America.

Negro slavery was a subject that attracted the attention of our traveller; but his facts are neither very numerous nor novel relative to it. Still he observed the system and the slaves in certain rather striking conditions. For example, he was present at a quarterly meeting of the Baptist Church at Beaufort, where his brothers resided, when some sixteen or eighteen blacks were baptized. All churches, says our author, admit slaves as members; and on the occasion mentioned the poor creatures are described as conducting themselves with propriety and more graceful manners "than many of the lads and lasses in this country would have done." We wish that the whites had exhibited a similar degree of Christian politeness in the solemn service that took place in a later part of the day, and that all distinction of colour and of skin had been forgotten.

In the afternoon the Sacrament of the supper was administered. There were black deacons, who handed round the bread and wine to the negroes. They all used the same wine and bread. The white people did not use any of the cups that the slaves drank out of, but the cups that the whites had used were then used by some of the slaves. The negroes have generally

fine voices, and they joined in the psalmody of the church. They, of course, do not use any books; for it is contrary to law to teach a negro to read or write; but the pastor gives out the hymn in two lines at a time. They appeared to pay great attention to the service; but I was sorry to observe that the minister never turned his eye to the galleries nor addressed himself to the limited capacities of the slaves. Judging from the discourse, and the manner of the minister, one would not have known there was an ignorant negro in the house, although there were five or six times as many black skins as white.

To show that Mr. Thomson has had no wish to make out a case against the slave-system, or to state anything but what came under his personal observation, and hardly with the attempt at a comment, we cite a passage detailing a variety of particulars relative to the economy and treatment of the negroes.

On plantations, each family has a small house, generally built of wood, in rows, and mostly with some show of taste or regularity. I have inspected plantations where they work from ten to one hundred hands; and shall describe one house, which will serve for a specimen in general: Built of wood, covered with shingles, ten feet wide, twelve or fourteen feet long; a chimney and fireplace at one end, sometimes made of lath and plaster, sometimes built of brick, without any stove or grate, which, indeed, there is no use for; a few boards in one corner, sometimes raised a little from the floor, to lie on; and this, with a blanket, constitutes their bed. They have frequently an old trunk or box for holding their clothes, although many of them have little occasion for such a convenience; a pot, an iron spoon or two; some firewood in the corner; a little black negro lying naked in the floor, as plump and shining as the hair-bottom of a new chair; a seat at the door of the cabin where they sit, sometimes nursing, sometimes sleeping. They have locks on their doors, which are necessary, for they steal like rats. They frequently have a few chickens, or a pig or two, in a little crib before their houses, which they sell, or trade away for tobacco, molasses, &c.

In their persons they are dirty. They have a nasty smell, commonly called negro funk, which is quite perceptible, and not very agreeable, "when they pass between the wind and your nobility." They are very careless of their clothes, careless of their houses, or whether they be clean and comfortable; so much so, that I knew one who shifted his bed from one corner to another, when the rain came in, to save him the trouble of putting a shingle on the roof. But the fact is, when it rains they cannot mend the house, and when it does not rain, it is not necessary to have them watertight. They have stated tasks to perform. Custom has established great uniformity in the amount of work they have to perform; and, as far as I could judge, from the physical condition of the slaves, and the length of time they are generally in the field, they are not overwrought. I have seen them finish their task by mid-day, and some may not have finished their task when it is dark, in which case the deficiency is carried forward, and added to their next day's work; but, in general, they have no difficulty in accomplishing their tasks. Those of them who are employed as house-servants have not one-fourth so much work as a Scotch servant-lass: but they do not sleep VOL. I. (1843) No. II.

P

very soft at night—which, indeed, is no luxury in a warm climate, generally laying themselves down with their blanket about them, in the hall or lobby of the house, or about the landings of the stairs. The "cow-skin" is not much used in the field. The driver is always a black man, who has the immediate oversight of the hands in the field. Sometimes he carries a bundle of small wands, perhaps five or six; some have a horsewhip, which they apply to the shoulders of the women, and the bare buttocks of the men, when they make bad work, or misbehave in any way; but this sort of punishment is not very severe. It is when the "cow-skin," a piece of hide twisted into the appearance of a riding-switch, sometimes painted red, is applied to their bare back for some heinous offence that they make the woods ring with their cries, which I have heard; but I never saw the punishment inflicted, and I hope never shall.

But truth is all the end I aim at in writing these pages. Truth, then, compels me to say that the planters in general treat their slaves with great humanity.

Our traveller appears to have mixed a good deal amongst the people, both in Canada and the States, at public meetings, fieldpreachings, lectures, mobs, the raising of log-huts, and so forth. A scene of the last-mentioned sort, witnessed in Canada, is thus described:

Four blocks of wood, about a foot and a half above the ground, marked out the corners of the dwelling that was to be erected before night. On these blocks were laid the first tier of logs, dove-tailed in a very rough way. Four of the most experienced hands took their station, one at each corner. whose duty it was to make the joints and carry up the angles perpendicular. I observed that they took particular care not to let the logs touch each other, except at the corners where they rested. After the walls got so high that they could not lift up the logs, two saplings were cut, and the bark being stripped off to make them smooth, they were placed against the wall in a slanting position. This answered for a slide, on which the people below pushed up the logs with crutches, or long poles with forked ends..

At first they went to work moderately and with quietness, but after the whisky had been handed about several times they got very uproariousswearing, shouting, tumbling down, and sometimes like to fight. I then left off working, thinking I would be as safe out of the way a little; but this would not do, as they would have no idlers there. The handing round of the whisky was offered to me, but I declined the honour, being a teetotaller. So I had now no choice but commence working again, as I wished to see the end of the matter. I was sick of it before this; for most of them were drunk and all of them excited. The manner in which they use their axes was a "caution." Many accidents happen, and lives are frequently lost on these occasions, both from accidents and quarrels.

In all there were about twenty-four men, one half Irish; on the whole about the roughest specimen of humanity I have ever seen. So much was I disgusted at their conduct, that, even if paid for it, I would not live amongst them.

A house of very considerable dimensions was up before night, the doors and windows having to be cut out next day. But the Scotchman declares he would not like the foundation of his house laid with so many oaths to consecrate it as he heard that day.

From a chapter on Religion, we quote a notice of the Mormonites, with which we shall conclude. The passage also glances at the number of sects and the general state of religion in America. The view is gloomy and repulsive.

One of the newest lights is a sect called Mormons, whose leader is Joseph Smith, whom I saw in the city of Rochester, a chuckle-headed looking fellow who asserted he had found a new Bible, hid in a rock, written in an unknown character on leaves of gold; and that, by the gift of the Holy Spirit, he was enabled to read it. It is now published in one volume, about the size of the New Testament. From it they learn that our Saviour was in America, and underwent the same trials and sufferings as he did in the Old World, somewhere up in "the west, where a ship cannot go, neither a galley with oars." They believe that the Saviour will return in about sixty, or, I believe fifty-eight, years from the present time, and assume the temporal government of the world for 1000 years, in which there will be nothing but milenial peace and happiness. He is to make his advent in Illinois, where they are building a city called Navoo; and they are at present raising a temple for his dwelling.

When I was in Cincinnati, I lived a fortnight with a family that believed in this doctrine, as likewise did some of the boarders. They call themselves "Latter-day Saints," and do not disbelieve our Bible and New Testament; but profess to be the only party who understand it aright. They can prophecy, heal the sick by laying on of hands, and raise the dead; and they say churches that cannot perform or exhibit these signs of their authority and power are of the Devil; for it is said, "these are the signs by which they shall be known.”

I had several arguments with a gentleman who lived with us a few days, and was an elder in this only true church. He was a staid, respectablelooking man, and maintained his faith with great moderation. He mentioned several cases that had come under his own observation, of persons who had been recovered from sickness by the laying on of hands, and by the prayers of the saints; and, on the whole, he had probably the best of the argument. However, that was no great triumph.

Unitarianism is making great progress. All the preachers of this denomination that I have heard appear to me to be men of considerable power of mind.

I did not witness any of the large and continued camp-meetings, about which so much has been said and written; but, from what I could learn, I have little doubt but they sometimes exhibit human nature in a way that would astonish the natives of the year 2842, if it should ever reach their ears. It would fill a volume to give an account of all the different sects that have arisen-some calling themselves Saints, and some Sinners,-Quakers and Shaking Quakers. I think they might all be shaking.

Taking a general view of the state of religion in America, it appears to

me that the active and energetic minds of that enterprising people are in hot pursuit after truth. It is true, they appear to be groping in the darkextending their arms in all directions, like a blind man searching for a lamppost-catching at, and carried away by some unsubstantial shadow, "finding no rest for the soles of their feet..

What the end of the matter will be cannot be told. But, looking at the whole circumstances of the case, as a man of the world, it seems not improbable that, in process of time, by adding and substracting, pulling down and building up, denying old established faith, and inventing new, they will fritter down the whole Christian faith, until they leave not a vestige of it in the public mind.

ART. IV.—A Pedestrian Tour in Calabria and Sicily. By ARTHUR J. STRUTT. Newby.

SICILY, and still more Calabria, offer some of the freshest fields in Europe for the tourist. The latter country, although in the vicinity of Naples, and having both its coasts continually passed by ships, is seldom explored, and consequently is but little known. Several features in the character of the region and of the natives necessarily present in these circumstances singularities and curious points for description. Roads, means of travelling, and accommodation are wanting; modern art has done little to recommend the country to the man of taste, while the inhabitants, whether belonging to the aristocratic rank, or the order of peasants, remain in a condition not far removed from that which characterized other parts of Europe during the dark ages. This circumstance, however, might be supposed to present attractions to the philanthropist, as well as to the artist or the traveller in search of the picturesque and the romantic. But the fact is that Calabria has got such a bad name for being infested with brigands, and is generally understood to expose the tourist to so many dangers, not merely as respects property, but life, that the majority of people, without perhaps assigning the real cause, prefer to direct their steps in more secure and in better beaten tracks.

These prudential reasons and this personal timidity appear to get the mastery even of gentlemen who loudly proclaim their love of adventure, and who seek to relate stories of hair-breadth escapes. Otherwise, how can it be that a country which presents so much that is magnificent in scenery, so charming a climate at a certain season of the year, and so many exciting recollections, should remain next to a terra incognita in this age of galloping wonder-seekers?

Society in Calabria at this day is not only old-fashioned and primitive in many of its modes and prejudices, but peculiar in sundry respects. There are, we believe, still vestiges of the Saracen as well as of the Albanian among the people, whether costume, arts, or language be considered. Then the owners of the soil, while retain