the doctrine of peace. As a speaker, Mr. Burritt does not rank
amongst the first. However, his speeches are of a high order, some think
them too high, and complain that he is too much of a cloud-traveller,
and when he descends from these aerial flights and cloudy thrones, they
are unwilling to admit that he can be practical. If Mr. Burritt should
prove as good a statesman as a theorist, he would be an exception to
most who belong to the aerial school. As a writer he stands deservedly
high. In his "Sparks from the Anvil," and "Voice from the Forge," are to
be found as fine pieces as have been produced by any writer of the day.
His "Drunkard's Wife" is the most splendid thing of the kind in the
language. His stature is of the middle size, head well developed, with
eyes deeply set, and a prepossessing countenance, though not handsome;
he wears an exterior of remarkable austerity, and everything about him
is grave, even to his smile. Being well versed in the languages, ancient
and modern, he does not lack variety or imagination, either in his
public addresses or private conversation; yet it would be difficult to
find a man with a better heart, or sweeter spirit, than Elihu Burritt.

LETTER XXII.

_A Narrative of American Slavery._

Although the first slaves, introduced into the American Colonies from
the coast of Africa, were negroes of a very dark complexion with woolly
hair, and it was thought that slavery would be confined to the blacks,
yet the present slave population of America is far from being black.
This change in colour, is attributable, solely to the unlimited power
which the slave owner exercises over his victim. There being no lawful
marriage amongst slaves, and no encouragement to slave women to be
virtuous and chaste, there seems to be no limits to the system of
amalgamation carried on between master and slave. This accounts for the
fact, that most persons who go from Europe, or from the Free States,
into Carolina or Virginia, are struck with the different shades of
colour amongst the slaves. On a plantation employing fifty slaves, it is
not uncommon to see one third of them mulattoes, and some of these
nearly white.

In the year 1831, there resided in the state of Virginia, a slave who
was so white, that no one would suppose for a moment that a drop of
African blood coursed through his veins. His skin was fair, hair soft,
straight, fine and white; his eyes blue, nose prominent, lips thin; his
he