to his master, and will have a most depressing
effect upon the cotton cultivation. Anticipating,
perhaps, the time when her monopoly of the
market must cease, and bent upon supplying her
present wants as well, the South has even now,
it is stated, laid down half her cotton lands for
the growth of corn—a measure which already
reduces to a considerable extent the value of the
slave, who is required in ordinary times mainly
for the cultivation of articles of export. Let
the slave become still less valuable, and the
South fail to regain her former place in the
cotton market—which she must do unless England
be insane enough to neglect her opportunities of
getting supplies from other quarters—and slavery
cannot hold out. The abolitionists have always
urged this fact as an argument to induce
England to abandon her policy of reliance upon
America. Let but cotton fall to a low figure,
said they, and the slave will not be worth keeping;
he will become a burden which the master
will be unable to bear; and the master will be
glad to set him free, to avoid the responsibility
of providing for him. Such a state of things,
indeed, was nearly coming to pass about the
beginning of the present century, when the slaves
in the South were found so unprofitable to their
masters, that the latter met together, and agreed
upon a general emancipation. But before the
measure could be carried out, the cotton
manufactures of England made a sudden start, which
gave an increased market for the productions of
the South; the cultivation flourished, the value
of the slaves rose, and emancipation was not to
be thought of. What has happened before will
most certainly happen again, and, next time,
there will be no chance of any sudden demand
interfering with the natural consequence.
Moreover, the South, when separated from the North,
must cultivate alliances in Europe. Her tastes
as well as her policy would dictate this course.
And she would then find the "domestic institution"
a gulf between herself and nearly all other
nations, not easy to be passed over. Hitherto
the North has been the protective power, the
bulwark of the slavery system against Europe.

Meanwhile, we in England must look to
India for cotton. India has opportunities of
climate and soil for producing it which are
enjoyed by most countries in the East, West, and
South; her great advantage lies in her facilities
as regards labour; and labour is the great
difficulty in Australia, and in every large and
likely field. In the smaller fields there are
other obstructions, which render their case even
less hopeful. The result of Mr. Wanklyn's
inquiries are flattering enough as far as some
of these places are concerned, but everywhere
there are found to be three wants which are felt
more or less—Confidence, Capital, and Coolies.
These wants may be supplied in time; and,
eventually, we may expect to have regular
contributions to the cotton market from most of
the localities mentioned in Mr. Wanklyn's
report. But, in India, all of these wants are
supplied to hand. At present there is a rage for
the cultivation of cotton among speculators in
that country; and this will be encouraged by a
dye (extracted, we believe, from tar) which is
destined, say those interested in the discovery,
to supersede indigo, and render the
cultivation of that plant no longer profitable.
Already we hear of indigo planters on all sides,
turning their attention to cotton; and if British
capital and enterprise be freely employed in the
cultivation, and the authorities be in earnest
with that co-operation which they can and ought
to bring to bear, we shall soon hear of India
monopolising at least one-half of the market.
In this manner will our empire in the East be
raised to a state of prosperity, now scarcely
conceivable—a prosperity, giving back its
benefits to the mother country by a constant
and increasing demand for her manufactures,
and the establishment of a degree of political
security and social content equally beneficial to
both. Not the least, moreover, of our causes of
congratulation will be, that we have benefited
our industry, increased our wealth, and
strengthened our political position, by means
which as a natural consequence have led to the
abolition of slavery in its last civilised strong-hold,
and removed from America a stain which
was a scandal to the whole world.

FORM.

        A MAN walks thro' a wood
            Admiring what he sees there:
        How blessèd if he could
            Admire, and be at ease there!
But ah! his admiration he must utilise, or doubt of it.
So he lops off a branch, resolved to fashion
something out of it.

        As tho' the thing were not,
            Already ere he take it,
        A something more than what
            His utmost means can make it!
He knows not what he wants to make: this only
who shall gainsay?
Something he MUST make out of it, since man's a
maker, men say.

        He chisels, chips, and chops,
            And carves, as he is able:
        Now plans a, chair, now stops
            And meditates a table.
At length, grown somewhat weary, in the midst of
all his toils, it
Strikes him that, the more he chips and chops, the
more he spoils it.

        He pauses; wipes the sweat,
            Discouraged, from his forehead;
        Casts down his eyes; and yet
            The failure seems more horrid.
But lo you! in his workshop, having sidled thro'
the door there,
A little child is playing with the shavings on the
floor there.

        And, as they fall self-roll'd,
            Each wooden ringlet nearing,
        The child hath made, behold!
            Out of each a pretty earring.
Friend, that child, to finest uses fitting chances,
must appal you,
Turning accident to ornament,—your rubbish to his
value.