1823.] 



and of the best quality ; with a propor- 

 tion of tea, sugar, rice, portable soup, 

 leraon-juice, and a variety of otiicr 

 things for the use ot the sick. Two or 

 three convicts are set ajjart as cooks 

 for the whole, receiving in return some 

 little perquisites, and the fat, or slush 

 as it is termed, ut the end of the voy- 

 age, wiiieii sells at Sydney for 8?. or 

 10/. besides (possibly the greatest 

 consideration of all) being by their 

 employment cxeaipted from strict con- 

 finement on the passage. 



We saded from Spithead July 2yth, 

 anil soon after, being clear of the 

 English channel, and becoming pretty 

 well acquainted with the individuals 

 and dispositions of our unhappy cargo, 

 gave them a degree of liberty at which 

 many will feel surprise, by adniitling 

 them freely on deck. Different sur- 

 geons have, in this respect, dilferent 

 regulations. Some admit only one- 

 half upon deck at a time ; some one- 

 third ; but, fortified by a good deal of 

 experience in two previous voyages, 

 our superinlendant admitted the whole. 

 He would not even permit those to 

 jemain below who were too indolent 

 or sluggish to take the trouble of 

 coming np ; of which class, idle by 

 previous habits, there are always many 

 on-board. From this persevering ex- 

 posure to the air, he chiefly attributed 

 his good fortune in not losing a single 

 ■man in the two [)rrceding voyages; 

 and his plan was fully justified by the 

 result of this one also, — not one dying 

 on the passage ; a degree of health 

 very extraordinary, considering the 

 dissolute and abandoned lives led by 

 the majority jirevious to being received 

 on-board. No village in Engbmd, 

 indeed, exhibits such a degree of 

 .salubrity. 



(To he continued.) 



To the Editor of llie Monthly Magazine. 



Alifno in loco 



Hand stabile ivguiini est. Seneca. 



SIR, 



ON the precarious and uncertain 

 tenure or control which slates 

 possess over distant colonies, modern 

 cxjierience evinces quite as much as 

 antiquity. 'J'he Greek and the Roman 

 dependencies were perpetually clian- 

 {fing, or aiming to change, their desti- 

 ■ iiicK. One of the most remarkable in 

 jnodf-rn times is that of the Pays IJns, 

 in shaking otltlie lyrainiy of Spain in 

 the reign of the despotic Fhili)), who, 

 Monthly M\a. No. 380. 



Uncertain Possession of Colonies. 225 



with his so well-skilled general, the 

 orucl and devoted Duke ol" Alva, was 

 unable to hold his colonists any longer 

 in subjection. 



North America is another instance 

 of the inefficacy of a parent state en- 

 deavouring to retain the unqualified 

 submission of a colony, which feels 

 itself sufficiently strong to assert and 

 maintain its independence. As much 

 may be said of South America, which 

 is daily exhibiting examples, and will 

 continue for some time to furnish 

 examples, of the truth of the maxim 

 inculcated in the above motto. The 

 world was greatly surprised at the 

 assumption of independence by the 

 blacks in the French part of the island 

 of St. Domingo ; and many of the most 

 experienced public writers of the time 

 prognosticated the speedy failure of 

 the attempt. The French themselves 

 have now, however, given up all ideas 

 of ever re-conquering that once to 

 them so valuable possession. It is 

 another of those instances of how 

 small an advantage a remote territory 

 is, on the whole, to the state which has 

 nurtured it; however rich and fertile 

 may be its soil. It was held to be 

 more i)recious to France bj far than 

 all tlie United States of North America 

 to Great Britain ; and yet, as this latter 

 state exhibited signs of greater strength 

 and prosperity after those distant pos- 

 sessions were severed from its control, 

 so has France betrayed no infirmity 

 whatever from the loss of that desi- 

 rable tract of country in the Atlantic 

 ocian, which has been described as 

 cajjp.blo, by an improved culture, of 

 yielding more of West India produce 

 than all the neighbouring islands put 

 together. France has freed herself 

 from her vast military debt in a manner 

 to surprise all Europe, without the aid 

 of the millions which ]\I. Blaneheland, 

 the last governor of St. Domingo, 

 said the island was capable of remit- 

 ting to France. 



In less than eight years after the 

 total sei)aration of the American states 

 from their parent. Great Britain, the 

 latter attained (contrary to the predic- 

 tion of the two celebrated statesmen 

 and politicians. Lords Chatham and 

 J^ansdowne,) a point of prosperity 

 which astonished the whole world. 

 The three per cents, were nearly at 

 par in the years 1791 and 1792; 

 proving that colonists in lime become 

 buidcns to the states which founded 

 U g tlicm : 



