Selections: Mr. Wise And The Slaver

"Your yoiiiür im h sh ill öce viaioiia, umi your : oljinci) hlia.l (l.eani dicaa.:;'." If the above quotation s not correct, Mr. Editor, please make it so. Taking it as it stands, 1 suppose 1 must cali the fullowing sketch a dreain, as I have long rar.ked myself amung the old men. It may cötne tnie; there is notliing in the nature of things to prevent it. The premsc.-s nre lacts, and the conclusión is hkely to follow as a natural consequence. . The scène Vies about half a day's sail froni the coast of Cuba. Day is just do.wning upon the deck of one of our frigates, returning Trom the Bnizilian station, and upon the wide waste of waters, gently undulating beneatli the mild tradewiml. On board -the üliip is the llon. Henry YVise, of Virginia, uur late minister plenipotentiary to the Courl of Brazil. Ho has been recallcd by liis Government a little sooner than he wislicd; for ho bas not quile, givcn the deuth-blow lo the Afric.it) Slavti-Ti'ade, and is an.'vious to signalize himself, ere ho returns to his beloved country, by the capture of at least one slaver undcr American colors. Me has just emerged frorn his sí.M"room nnd bid good morniog to the ofTicerof the deck, when "sail ho," iscalled from tlie rnnst-head. "Where-away." shouted iho olTicer. "Two points on our lee bow, Sir." Tlie ship's course was altered. and as Jhe sun rose, . a handsome Baltimore-buill brig wasscen about tliree miles distaut. - The frigate rapidly came up vvith her, end through the spy-glnss ii was easy to perceivethat lierdeck was crowded with negroes. Mr. Wise in high glee cal led up the cnptain: liX(nv," soíd he "is our chance. Run up llio English colors, tliat fcllow wil! be surc to run up the American flag; heknows full well that Jolin Buil da res not search a vessel over which it wnves, whether she be a piraticnl vessel, a slaveior wliat not. Let the fellow once show the stars and stripes and he is ours.5i Everything worked as Mr. Wise wished; theslaver answered a gun from the frigate by running up the American fiag. and saucil}' continuing her course: what corèd she for a British man-of-war? The cross ofOkl England was then lowered, thestars and slripes took their place al the nast-head of tiie frigate, and another gun was fired. This manoeuvre proved successful; the chase baeked her töpsail and lay to, as did the frigate also: Mr. Wise donned hls official costume. and being determined to manage the whole matter himself, stepped nto the boat whh the üeutenunt, and was scon along side the layer. He mounted her ide with great agility, leapcd upon deck, (now olear of ïogroes,) and plncing himself in the atitude of one about to makc a speech, with one hand pointing upward, addfesssd the Captain thus: 'Sir, if that flng (to me on this broad ocean the sacrcd personification of a patriot's hopes nd a patriot's home) were traiüng in the dust of defeat, in glorious war, I could weep over it, and love it, and honor it still; but to see it lift itslulas, Jike the bola countcnance oí a bad wornan, over a tniflic nt once infamous and horrid. is shockingly revolling, and enough lo turn its white into red, willi shame." The Caplain Ioolced fírst at Mr. Wise, then uj) at his flag, and then at Mr. Wise again: ':Sacred personificalion!" quoth he: "well 1 never! You ought to be be made Professor of Poetry in the University of Vinginny. And as lor the trafc in niggerá, I never heard teil of its being infamous and horfid, before, and 1 have carried il on all my Üfe." 'Wrelch!'3 retorted Mr. Wise, "you shall swing for this: you are caught atast. Do y ou know vlio ï amT' "No, nor don'tcare." Mr. Wise's face turned os red as ihe American flng oughtto have done: "Well, tlien, ni let you know; I am the great r-!.-i r-sr.'ulo-exterminator, Henry A. ise. of Virginia." "Wise, or not, in my ojinion you are mnking a great (bol of yourself. I sailed f rom Oíd Virginny only ti fortnight ago, and noone there thought the trade in niggersso 'ahockingly revuiling' as you scem to fancy il; else, how did I manage to load my vessel at Norfolk?" IIr. Wfse here looked as slrcakcdí as thé (lag at tire tnast-heá'd cohtiñued lo do. í;Vbat," feaid he, rather fainíly, "are you from Norfolk, and boundtoNew Orleans." uTo be su re I am, I was driven ouí of my course by a storm," said the Captain."O-o-o-o-li" dra wied Mr. Wise, "that al tors the case." And to the lieutcnanl, and mgaining his confidence, he coniinued: "Herc, Sir, you have a bcautiful exemplification of the 'vast difference,' which exists 'betwixt tvvceuledum and tweedle-dee.' Twcedle-di;rn would have hung this man, iweedlc-dee sends hirn on liis way rojoicing. Tsveedle-dum vould have turned the wliite of thafflog into red, wilh shamp, and sent the stars aloft in disgust; tweedle-dee cnly mak es it wave the more proudly, the stê cred personification' of 'the land of the Tree and home of the brave.' Captain, I ask your pardon. I honor yon, and will do all in my power to protect you in your lawful commerce. I wondcred wliy that ilag did'nt turn red; the mystery is now explained.""Don't makc any apologies," said the Cnptain, "none are needed. Had I been fro.m Africn, 1 sliould have desvrved to be hung; hut rvs you say, trading in Virginny niggers is a different sort of a tliing. Whv, it musl bo all right, for here's my friend Parson Saoggs has got u dozen niggers on board, himse! f. He had a 'loúd cali' from Louisiana, wiiich lie lelt constrninod to accept, and having bought (i.-i r'ciosof sonic of his parisliioners, lie is tliein out to stock a sm.'ill flanlatioü u'ith. The law saysthatVirginny njggersare merchandise, and what tho law iriukes merchandise, is morcnndise." "To be 6iiro," replied !tr. Wise, ijtáfllo trade in Af r i can ncgiocs is pTraey; you ace the tv,'o' trades aro cntirely opposed to each otBe'r, and let me teil you. Captain, as one increases the other aiust decline,- we Virginians must look to ihat. Every negro carried from África inlo Brazil, Porto Rico, or Cuba, helps to swell the amount of sugar produced in those countries, and cönfêquently to locr its price in the markets' of the world. The result of this is to lessen tlie profils of the Louisiana sngar planters, and consequently !o diminish the ilem.ind lor slaves. ín sucli n state of things, t!)e slave-breeding States must either keep iheir negroes n home, or sell thcm fur a mere song. Tho lalter they would not do, and the keeping thern at home would soon lead to the abolition of Slavery in all ihe Northern slave States. You see, Sir, we must put down the African SlaveTrade."The visitera we re invited to partake of a collation, under the awning which covered ihe quarter deck; never did persons appear better satisficd with each othc:r. Tlic parson asked n blessing und made a short prayer, in whicli he alluded 1 to tlie Afrierm Slave-Trade ín such thetic terms as drew tears from all present. The Captain toasted Mr. Wiso, :s "the African Slave-Trade exterminator." This brought up that distingutehed gentleman, w'no rnade a long omtion upon liberty and equality, several times apostrophi'.ing the "sacred personification," and doding with, "Success to the American Slave-Trade!-" Th is was received with"threefimes thrCe.:' Several toasts equally patriotic, followed, and soon after Mr. WIse prepared to také leave. Buljust as he was stepping over ihe rail, a voice from the main hatchvvay was hearJ to cali out, "Massa Wise, Massa Wise!" Mr. Wise recognized the voice at once, slepped down upon the deck and caused the speaker to be brought beforo him. He proved io be an old acquaintance of Mr. Wise - the slave of his nexl door neighbor. The wife and children ofthismaa belonged lo Mr. Wisè himself.':Why, Tom, how came you here?" asked Mr. Wise. "Massa say lie want de möney; 1 ask him to wait till Massa Wise come home; he sny, no, and so here I am. Gorrntnorry! Massa Wise, do take me back to Sally and my little niggers." "Captain," said Mr. Wise, "let Tom go with me; I will write an obligation to secure vou from damnge." Mr. Wise'seye glistened as he spoke. The obligaron was w'ritten, and Tom went wilh Mr. Wise on board the frigatñ. He did not lond tho bont down with his baggage, and his own heart felt so light that his body scemed to him of no weight at all. The lwo vessels filled uway again and eontinued on their voyages. Mr. Wise was a thoughtful man throughout all that day. He walked at least ten miles on tho quarter deck of the frigaíe, spoke scarcely n word to any one, and wlien he retiredat night to üá Sí ate room, it was a long vhile before sleep visited his eyelids. As lie turned hirnself for the last time previous to falling nslcop, he muttered to hirnsoir, as the conclusión towhich lie liad arrived áfler a day of severo engiiation, UD - n it! I vcrily believo, if I had been raised in New England.I should have been as ved-hot an Abolilionist as Garrison himself." He never spoke a truer word in hi lifc.íce Mr. vYise's Inte correspondence on the Íálave-Trudc.