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expired.' The original is in Spanish; but the following appears to be a pleasing version.

'Being of infinite goodness! God Almighty!
I hasten in mine agony to Thee!
Rending the hateful veil of calumny,
Stretch forth thine arm omnipotent in pity;
Efface this ignominy from my brow,
Wherewith the world is fain to brand it now.

O King of kings! Thou God of my forefathers!
My God! Thou only my defence shalt be,
Who gav'st her riches to the shadowed sea;
From whom the North her frosty treasure gathers-
Of heavenly light and solar flame the giver,
Life to the leaves, and motion to the river.

Thou canst do all things. What thy will doth cherish,
Revives to being at thy sacred voice.

Without Thee all is naught, and at thy choice,

In fathomless eternity must perish.

Yet e'en that nothingness thy will obeyed,
When of its void humanity was made.

Merciful God! I can deceive Thee never;

Since, as through ether's bright transparency,
Eternal wisdom still my soul can see
Through every earthly lineament for ever.

Forbid it, then, that Innocence should stand
Humbled, while Slander claps her impious hand.

But if the lot thy sovereign power shall measure
Must be to perish as a wretch accursed,
And men shall trample over my cold dust-
The corse outraging with malignant pleasure-
Speak, and recall my being at thy nod!
Accomplish in me all thy will, my God!'

CONCLUSION.

While these notices may be of use in aiding the cause of the much oppressed negro, they are in no respect designed to establish the fact, that the white and dark races are upon the same native intellectual level, and that education and other circumstances effect all the difference which is observable between them. It would, we believe, be imprudent, however philanthropic, to attempt to establish this proposition, for it is inconsistent with truth, and can only tend to obstruct our arrival at a less ambitious, but still friendly and hopeful

proposition respecting the negroes, which appears, both from their organisation and external manifestations of character, to be the only one that can be maintained-that is, that, in the mass, they are at present far behind the white races, but capable of being cultivated, in the course of successive generations, up to the same point; a small advance in each generation being all that can be achieved in the way of civilisation even among the white races, and being apparently the law of social progress. The negro intellect is, we believe, chiefly deficient in the reasoning powers and higher sentiments: these, though doubtless present in some rudimental form, could no more be called instantaneously into the same vigorous exercise in which we find them in Europe, than could the wild-apple, by sudden transplantation to an orchard, be rendered into a pippin. They would require, in the first place, a species of tender nursing, to bring them into palpable existence. From infancy they would need to be fondled into childhood, from childhood trained into youth, and from youth cultivated into manhood. It is not a thin whitewash of European knowledge which will at once alter the features of the African mind. The work must be the work of ages, and those ages must be judiciously employed.

There is no fact more illustrative of this hypothesis than the occasional appearance of respectable intellect, and the frequency of good dispositions, amongst the negroes. Such men as Jenkins and Cary at once close the mouths of those who, from ignorance or something worse, allege an absolute difference in specific character between the two races, and justify the consignment of the black to a fate which only proves the lingering barbarism of the white.

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A VISIT TO SHETLAND.

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VER since reading that most delightful of Scott's romances, The Pirate, I entertained a strong desire to visit Shetland, which, however, I had little expectation of being permitted to see. By a fortunate circumstance I made the acquaintanceship of a young gentleman from that interesting country, during a winter which he spent in Edinburgh, and was kindly invited to accompany him home on the ensuing summer. Agreeing to his earnest entreaties to visit his native place, we set out on our expedition in the month of June 1844, taking a portion of the North Highlands in our route. The ordinary mode of visiting Shetland is by a steam-vessel from Leith, which touches at the principal ports in its voyage along the east coast of Scotland. The last of its halting-places is Wick, in Caithness, whence it crosses the Pentland Firth to Kirkwall, in Orkney, and there shoots off in a north-easterly direction for Shetland. It is only, however, during the summer months that a steamer plies to this distant land, which at other seasons can be reached only by sailing-vessels. Having calculated our time pretty accurately, my friend and I arrived in Wick a few hours before the appearance of the steamer, and had scarcely time to look about us ere it was necessary to go on board.

It was a charming morning towards the end of June, when our No. 60.

vessel left the port and stood out to sea, bound for what was to me an unknown land. The sea was beautifully green, the air mild, and scarcely a breath of wind agitated the face of the deep.

The coast

of Caithness on our left was bare and uninviting, and mostly level, with high pastoral hills rising in the distance. In from two to three hours after leaving Wick, our vessel was off John o' Groats, the north-eastern extremity of Great Britain, and about to cross the Pentland Firth. This is the strait or arm of the sea betwixt the mainland of Scotland and the Orkney Islands, extending about twenty miles in length from east to west, by a breadth varying from five and a half to eight miles. It is the most dangerous of the Scottish seas, yet is the route necessary to be taken by all vessels of a large size passing to and from the east coast of Scotland in communication with the Atlantic-the Caledonian Canal now allowing the passage of vessels of moderate burden. The dangers of this dreaded gulf arise from the conflict of the tides of the Atlantic and German Oceans, and the impetuosity of various currents agitated by the winds. It also is beset by whirlpools, one of which, near the island of Stroma, is exceedingly dangerous. On the present occasion, the sea was so tranquil that the smallest boat might have sailed along the firth without any risk of injury; and as we steamed across, we perceived a number of small fishing-craft busily plying their labours. The Orkney Isles lay straight before us, like so many rugged masses crested on the horizon: bending a little to seaward, we soon had them on our left, and passed at a respectful distance several bold headlands and islands. That which lay nearest our course was Copinsha, a small island, consisting of a huge pile of rocks, on which sat such vast numbers of sea-birds, that the whole rocky surface seemed to be covered with a living mass. The captain of our vessel, to amuse his passengers, requested the mate to fire a musket, and the noise produced the most extraordinary spectacle I had ever beheld. Alarmed for their safety, the poor animals set up a universal scream, which was prolonged for some minutes, almost like the roar of thunder, while the whole atmosphere became filled with birds darting in different directions, upwards and downwards, and careering away in great clouds towards the northern boundary of the horizon.

Our steamer now made a curvature to the west, and in an hour or thereabouts entered Kirkwall Bay, and came to a pause in front of the town. The time allowed for the vessel to remain was only an hour and a half; yet in this brief period I was able to pick up a tolerable idea of the capital of the Orkneys. Kirkwall is a curious old-fashioned-looking town, reminding me of the ancient and picturesque towns of the Netherlands. It consists of little else than a single narrow and irregular thoroughfare, with the gables of the houses turned generally towards the street. Many of these houses bear strong marks of old age, as the doors and windows are very

small, and the walls uncommonly thick. The apartments within must accordingly be anything but light or cheerful. The town takes its name from the great kirk or cathedral of St Magnus, a structure of great antiquity, and remarkable as the only building of the kind in Scotland, besides that of Glasgow, which survived the outbreak at the Reformation. We went to see this celebrated edifice, which, with the exception of the spire, partly destroyed, is in good condition, and contains a number of interesting old monuments. Near the cathedral stood the castle of Kirkwall, now a complete ruin, but a place of great strength in the beginning of the seventeenth century, when it was in the possession of the infamous Patrick Stewart, known in these parts as 'Earl Pate.' This man deserves a passing notice, if only for the purpose of shewing the state of affairs in Scotland two hundred years ago. He was the son of Robert Stewart, natural son of James V., who in 1581 was raised to be Earl of Orkney. Patrick, who succeeded his father as earl, was a man of a haughty turn of mind; and being of a cruel disposition, he committed not only many acts of rebellion, but of local oppression. Assuming the airs of a petty king in his earldom, he kept a retinue of desperadoes to do his bidding, and became the terror of the surrounding islands and seas. Unable any longer to endure the insolence of Earl Pate, James VI. despatched a strong force to dislodge and capture him; and after a desperate encounter, he was taken, brought to Edinburgh, tried, condemned, and executed, vastly to the relief of the long-abused Orcadians.

There are some other antiquities worth seeing in Kirkwall; but our allowance of time was elapsed, and we were compelled to hurry on board without paying them a visit. I was glad to observe that even this remote town has been latterly improved by the erection of new houses, and that it is an industrious and thriving little port. Its principal communication is with Leith and Edinburgh, from which it is distant 352 miles.*

*Stromness, the only other town and port of any consequence in Orkney, is situated on the west side of the mainland, and from it is supplied a considerable number of the sailors engaged in whaling expeditions. "The English and Scotch whalers arrive about March at Stromness. Their tonnage amounts to from three to four hundred tons; and their complement of men is usually about fifty, of whom about twenty are regular sailors. The Orkneymen, who acquire from childhood great skill and intrepidity in the management of boats on their stormy and dangerous seas, are usually employed almost exclusively in the boat-service. But it is remarked of them, that, being habituated to the constant vicinity of coasts and harbours, they are apt to fail both in perseverance and courage when exposed to the perils of distant cruises in open boats; so seldom is the human mind prepared for circumstances to which it is unaccustomed, exhibiting either the rashness of inexperience, or the confusion of ungrounded apprehension. The Orkneymen being unpractised in the management of vessels, are very unskilful in that branch of nautical duty. The number of natives who went from Stromness on this service in the present year was seven hundred, a number far inferior to that formerly employed, amounting sometimes to one thousand. The English are said to have offered themselves lately more readily, and to have proportionally displaced the natives of the northern isles. The vessels return from the fisheries about harvest-time. They are now daily expected, and their arrival is dreaded at Stromness, the inhabitants being prevented walking in the streets by day, as well as by night, by the tumultuous revels in which the Orkneymen indulge for some time after their return. Their

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