that a direct intercourse with the southern coast of the Black Sea should be established, and that the trade with it should not be carried on, as hitherto, through Odessa.-(For further particulars as to Sinope, see Tournefort, Voyage du Levant, tom. ii. pp. 202-212; and Norie's Sailing Directions for the Black Sea. See also the article TREBISOND, in this work.)

SKINS. The term is applied in commercial language to the skins of those animals, as calves, deer, goats, lambs, &c., which, when prepared, are used in the lighter works of bookbinding, the manufacture of gloves, parchments, &c.; while the term hides is applied to the skins of the ox, horse, &c., which, when tanned, are used in the manufacture of shoes, harness, and other heavy and strong articles. Lamb and kid skins are principally used in the glove manufacture; 120 skins being supposed to produce, at an average, 18 dozen pairs of gloves.

Account of the Skins imported in 1831, specifying the Countries whence they came, and the Numbers brought from each.-(Parl. Paper, No. 550. Sess. 1833.)

Quantity retained for home consumption, deducting the quantity exported subsequently to the payment of duty

4 3 15

3

42,637 1 27 125,357 354,584 595,573 621,780 2,820,092 541,692

40,193 3 19 31,079 212,422 486,527 621,780 2,819,709 528,206

SLATE (ROOF), Ger. Schiefer; Fr. Ardoise; It. Lavagna, Lastra; Sp. Pizarra), a fossil or compact stone (argillaceous schistus), that may be readily split into even, smooth, thin lamina. There are several varieties of this valuable mineral, the prevailing colours being grey, blue, and brown. But the tints are very various; and slates are often marked with streaks of a different colour from the ground. Slate is principally used in the covering of houses, for which purpose it is infinitely superior to thatch or tiles, and is far less expensive than lead. Good roofing slate should not absorb water; and it should be so compact as not to be decomposed by the action of the atmosphere. When properly selected, roof slates are of almost perpetual duration; but those which are spongy and imbibe moisture speedily get covered with moss, and require, at no very distant period, to be renewed.

The use of slates in the covering of houses is entirely European. From the Hellespont to China inclusive there is not a single slated house; and this does not arise from any want of slate, which is as abundant in Asia as in Europe.

Slates carried by land have never been subjected to any duty; but those carried coastwise were, until 1831, charged with duties varying according to their size and species. The injustice of this distinction, and the impolicy of laying any duty on an article of this sort, are obvious. The revenue it produced was quite inconsiderable, not exceeding 35,000l. a year. It was repealed at the same time as the duty on coal carried coast wise.

Since the repeal of the duty, the consumption of slate has been materially increased; and it is now

extensively employed for various purposes to which it was not formerly made applicable, such as the flooring of warehouses and vaults, the paving of streets, the formation of cisterns, the covering of worn or decayed floors, and of the walls of houses in exposed situations, &c. The slate used for these purposes is cut by the circular saw into pieces of from an inch to 2 inches thick. Many hundred tons have been used in the course of the last 2 years in paving, flooring, &c. at the London Docks; and, we believe, with much advantage to the company. Large depôts of slates are now formed in London and other great towns.

The principal slate quarries in Great Britain are in Caernarvonshire. Those belonging to Mr. Pennant (formerly Lord Penrhyn's), near Bangor, employ about 1,500 men and boys, and are the most extensive and valuable in the empire. The other quarries in the same county employ about 1,620 men and boys and there are some in other parts of Wales. There are also extensive quarries at Ulver stone, in Lancashire; and others, of inferior magnitude, in various parts of Westmoreland and Cumberland.

The principal slate quarries in Scotland are at Easdale and Balachulish, in Argyleshire. Speaking generally, the Scotch quarries do not afford slates of the size and smoothness of those obtained from the Welsh quarries; and the wood-work of the roofs covered with them requires to be stronger. Roofing slates are of different sizes, and are denominated Imperials, Queens, Princesses, &c. Their prices, supposing their quality to be in other respects equal, depends partly on their size and partly on their weight. The subjoined account explains the mode in which it is determined. Account of the Prices of the different Sorts of Slate on Shipboard at Bangor, in January, 1838.

The subjoined account shows a very material increase in the quantity of slates exported. An Account of the Quantities of Slate exported from England to Foreign Parts in each of the Five Years ending with 1832.

(Slate and chalk laden on board any ship or vessel bound for foreign parts shall be deemed ballast; and all such ships or vessels having on board only slate, or slate and chalk, shall be deemed to be departing in ballast; and if, on the return of any such ship or vessel, any slates or chalk be remaining on board, they shall be deemed to be her ballast.-(4 & 5 Will. 4. c. 89. § 3.)

New Uses of Slate.-Slate is now generally used in framing the tops of billiard tables. The size of each slate is 6 feet 1 inch by 3 feet, and 1 inch thick; 4 of these make a table top, 12 feet by 6 feet clear of the cushions. The first slate billiard table was made in 1834, and 500 have been made in London down to December, 1836, many of which have been exported to the East Indies and America: the price of each table top is about 131.

Slate is likely to be largely consumed in the shape of blocks for railways; a piece of slate 2 inches thick being found to be as strong as a piece of stone 1 foot thick. A piece of slate 2 feet 6 inches by 2 feet and 2 inches thick, bore the pressure of 20 tons, and broke with 25 tons; and a piece of the same length and breadth, but 24 inches thick, bore 35 tons, and broke with 40 tons. The experiments were made by placing the slate blocks against a bearing of 3 inches at each end, leaving a clear hollow space of 2 feet between the bearings, and applying the piston of a hydrostatic press, 9 inches diameter, to the centre.-Sup.)

SLAVES AND SLAVE TRADE. A slave, in the ordinary sense of the term, is an individual at the absolute disposal of another, who has a right to employ and treat him as he pleases. But the' state of slavery is susceptible of innumerable modifications; and it has been usual, in most countries where it has been long established, to limit in various ways the power of the master over the slave. The slave trade is, of course, the business of those who deal in slaves.

Origin of Slavery.-A great deal of learning has been employed in tracing the history of slavery, though the subject is still far from being exhausted. It seems most probable that it originally grew out of a state of war. In rude uncivilised communities, where the passion of revenge acquires a strength unknown in more advanced states of society, captives taken in war are adjudged to belong to the victors, who may either put them to the sword, or reduce them to a state of servitude. In antiquity the ideas of war and slavery were inseparable. Probably, in very remote ages, prisoners were most commonly put to death; but the selfish gradually predominated over the more passionate feelings, and for many ages it was usual to reduce them to the condition of slaves; being either sold by their captors to others, or employed by them as they might think fit. "Jure gentium," says Justinian, "servi nostri sunt, qui ab hostibus capiuntur."-(Instit. lib. i. 5.)

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The practice of reducing men to a state of slavery, having once begun, was extended in various ways. The progeny of slaves, or of women in a state of slavery, were slaves; men born free might sell themselves as slaves; and parents had authority, in Judea and Rome, to dispose of their children for the same purpose.-(Michaelis on the Laws of Moses, vol. ii. p. 163. Eng. ed.) It was the law of Rome, and of most other ancient states, that the persons of debtors who had contracted obligations which they could not discharge, should become the property of their creditors.

Treatment of Slaves.-The treatment of slaves in antiquity, as in more modern times, differed very widely in different countries and periods, and among different classes of slaves in the same country and at the same time. A great deal also depended on the character of particular masters. Slaves bred up in the house or family of the masters were uniformly treated with greater indulgence than others, and became entitled, by custom, to several important privileges. At Athens, slaves appear to have been better treated than in any other ancient state; and Demosthenes mentions, in his second Philippic, that "a slave was better off at Athens than a free citizen in many other countries." In republican Rome, the masters had the power of life and death over their slaves, who were often treated with the most detestable barbarity. It was not an uncommon practice to expose old, useless, or sick slaves to starve in an island in the Tiber! We may, as Mr. Hume has justly remarked, “imagine what others would practise, when it was the professed maxim of the elder Cato, to sell his superannuated slaves at any price, rather than maintain what he esteemed a useless burden." (Plutarch, in Vitâ Catonis.) Ergastula, or dungeons, where slaves were confined and chained at night, and where they were sometimes made to work in the day, were common all over Italy. Columella advises that they be always built under ground—(lib. i. c. 6.); and remains of them are still seen in the lower stories of ancient buildings in Italy and Sicily. Hundreds of slaves were sometimes put to death for the crime of one only; and they were exposed, when they committed any petty fault, to all the violence of the most capricious and unrestrained despotism.

It was not uncommon in the barbarous ages to immolate captives on the tomb of such chiefs as had fallen in battle; and magnificent games were celebrated on these occasions.* The gladiatorial exhibitions, so common at Rome after the Punic wars, seem to have grown out of this practice. These were contests between slaves, denominated gladiators, trained to fight in public for the amusement of a ferocious populace, who took the greatest delight in their sanguinary combats. Thousands of unfortunate wretches were annually sacrificed in this inhuman sport. After his triumph over the Dacians, Trajan exhibited spectacles, in which no fewer than 11,000 wild beasts of different kinds were killed, and 10,000 gladiators fought!--(Adam's Roman Antiquities, p. 317.)

The cruelties inflicted on the slaves occasioned frequent revolts, attended by the most dreadful excesses. Spartacus, a Thracian captive, destined for the profession of a gladiator, headed a rebellion of gladiators and slaves, which continued for 3 years, and required all the force of the republic to suppress. When finally defeated by Crassus, about 6,000 of his followers were nailed to the cross, in double rows, that extended almost from Capua to Rome.-(Ferguson, Rom. Republic, c. 16.) No one acquainted with the manners of the Romans can be surprised at the atrocities of so many of the emperors. The worst of them treated the citizens better than the latter treated the slaves. Humanity could not be looked for in the rulers of a state in which human life was held in contempt, and human suffering made the subject of popular sport.

In consequence partly of their ill usage, and partly of its being accounted cheaper to buy than to breed slaves, vast numbers were annually imported into Italy. Thrace, and the countries round the Black Sea furnished large supplies of the best slaves; and numbers were obtained from Egypt, Syria, Cappadocia, and other places. Delus in Cilicia was the greatest slave market of antiquity; as many as 10,000 slaves have been sold there in a single day. (Strabo, lib. xiv.)

Besides its brutalising influence on the manners of the people, the institution of slavery was in other respects productive of the worst effects. The best Roman writers bear testimony to the negligence, waste, and bad conduct of slaves.—(Columella, lib. i. § 8.; Plin. Hist. Nat. lib. xvii. § 3.) The inferiority of the ancients in most of the useful arts is principally to be ascribed to the prevalence of slavery, which not only extinguished all emulation and invention on the part of most of those engaged in industrious employments, but made the employments be considered in some measure disgraceful. In the ancient world agriculture and arms were the only occupations that were reckoned worthy of a freeman. The mechanical arts were carried on either wholly by slaves, or by the very dregs of the people; and remained for ages in the same stationary state.

The establishment of Christianity contributed more, perhaps, than any thing else, first to mitigate, and finally to suppress the abomination of slavery. But within no very long period after its abolition had been completely effected in every part of Europe, its horrors began to be inflicted on America.

*Achilles sacrificed 12 Trojan captives on the tomb of Patroclus.-(Iliad, lib. 23.)

African Slave Trade. This infamous traffic was commenced by the Portuguese, in 1442. The trade, however, was but of trifling extent till the commencement of the sixteenth century. In consequence, however, of the rapid destruction of the Indians employed in the mines of St. Domingo or Hayti, Charles V. authorised, in 1517, the introduction into the island, of African slaves from the establishments of the Portuguese on the coast of Guinea. The concurrence of the emperor was obtained by the intercession of the celebrated Las Casas, bishop of Chiapa, who, contradictorily enough, laboured to protect the Indians by enslaving the Africans. The latter were certainly more vigorous and capable of bearing fatigue than the former. But this circumstance affords no real justification of the measure, which, at best, was nothing more than the substitution of one species of crime and misery in the place of another. (Robertson's Hist. America, book iii.)

The importation of negroes into the West Indies and America, having once begun, gradually increased, until the extent and importance of the traffic rivalled its cruelty and guilt. Sir John Hawkins was the first Englishman who engaged in it: and such was the ardour with which our countrymen followed his example, that they exported from Africa more than 300,000 slaves between the years 1680 and 1700; and between 1700 and 1786, 610,000 Africans were imported into Jamaica only; to which adding the imports into the other islands and the continental colonies, and those who died on their passage, the number carried from Africa will appear immense.-(Bryan Edwards, Hist. West Indies, vol. ii. p. 64.) The importations by other nations, particularly the French and Portuguese, were also very great.

It is not easy to say whether this traffic has been more injurious to Africa or America. In the former it has perpetuated and multiplied every sort of enormity and abuse. The petty princes have been tempted to make war on each other, that they might obtain captives to sell to the European traders; and when these could not be found, have seized and sold their own subjects. Many, too, have been kidnapped by the crews of the slave ships, nor is there any sort of crime known among pirates and banditti, which, for more than 3 centuries, the civilised inhabitants of Europe have not perpetrated upon the unoffending natives of Central Africa. In the West Indies, and those parts of America into which slaves have been largely imported, its effect has been equally disastrous. It has led to the most violent antipathy between the whites and the blacks; and been the fruitful source of crimes, convulsions, and disorders, of which it is difficult to see the termination.-(There are some good remarks on slavery as it exists in America, and on the multiplied evils of which it is productive, in a volume entitled "Excursion of an English Gentleman through the United States and Canada," published in 1824.)

It would be to no purpose to enter into any examination of the sophisms by which it was formerly attempted to justify the slave trade. We shall not undertake to pronounce any opinion upon the question as to the inferiority of the blacks; though it does not appear to us that the statements of Mr. Jefferson on this subject, in his "Notes on Virginia,” and similar statements made by others, have received any sufficient answer. But supposing the inferiority of the negroes were established beyond all question, that would be no justification of the infamous cruelties inflicted upon them. Did any one ever think of vindicating a robber, because he happened to be stronger or cleverer than his victim?

Abolition of the Slave Trade.-Notwithstanding the sanction it received from parliament, and the supineness of the public, the slave trade was frequently denounced by distinguished individuals, in this and other countries, as essentially cruel and unjust. Of these, Montesquieu is, perhaps, the most conspicuous. He successfully exposed the futility of the dif ferent pleas put forth by the advocates of slavery.-(Esprit des Loix, liv. xv.); and the extensive circulation of his great work, and the deference paid to the doctrines advanced in it, contributed powerfully to awaken the public to a just sense of the iniquity of the traffic. The Quakers early distinguished themselves by their hostility to the trade; of which they were always the consistent and uncompromising enemies.

The first motion on the subject in parliament was made in 1776; but without success. The subject was not taken up systematically till 1787, when a committee was formed, of which Mr. Granville Sharp and Mr. Clarkson, whose names are imperishably associated with the history of the abolition of the slave trade, were members. This committee collected evidence in proof of the enormities produced by the trade, procured its circulation throughout the country, and succeeded in making a very great impression on the public mind. After a number of witnesses on both sides had been examined before the privy council, Mr. Wilberforce, on the 12th of May, 1789, moved a series of resolutions condemnatory of the traffic. They were supported by Mr. Burke in one of his best speeches; and by Mr. Pitt and Mr. Fox. But, notwithstanding the resolutions were carried, nothing was done to give them effect. The friends of the trade having obtained leave to produce evidence at the bar of the house, contrived to interpose so many delays that the session passed off without any thing being done. In the following sessions the great struggle was continued with various success, but without any definite result. At length the triumph of humanity and justice was finally consummated in 1807; a bill for the total and immediate abolition of the slave trade, having

been carried in both houses by immense majorities, received the royal assent on the 25th of March, being the last act of the administration of Mr. Fox and Lord Grenville. "Thus ended," says Mr. Clarkson, "one of the most glorious contests, after a continuance of 20 years, of any ever carried on in any age or country: a contest, not of brutal violence, but of reason; a contest between those who felt deeply for the happiness and the honour of their fellow creatures, and those who, through vicious custom, and the impulse of avarice, had trampled under foot the sacred rights of their nature, and had even attempted to efface all title of the divine image from their minds." .

America abolished the slave trade at the same time as England.

But notwithstanding what had been done, further measures were soon discovered to be necessary. The Spaniards and the Portuguese continued to carry on the trade to a greater extent than ever; and British subjects did not hesitate, under cover of their flags, to become partners in their adventures. An effectual stop was put to this practice in 1811, by the enactment of a law introduced by Mr. (now Lord) Brougham, that made trading in slaves punishable by transportation for 14 years, or by confinement to hard labour for a term of not more than 5 years nor less than 3 years.

The British laws relative to the slave trade were consolidated by the act 5 Geo. 4. c. 113. But, as the greater part of this act has been superseded by the late statute for the extinction of slavery (3 & 4 Will. 4. c. 73.), we shall merely lay before our readers the clauses still in force relating to the dealing in slaves.

Dealing in Slaves in the High Seas, &c. to be deemed Piracy.-And if any subject or subjects of his Majesty, or any person or persons residing or being within any of the dominions, forts, settlements, factories, or territories, now or hereafter belonging to his Majesty, or being in his Majesty's occupation or possession, or under the government of the United Company of Merchants of England trading to the East Indies, shall, except in such cases as are by this act permitted, after the 1st day of January, 1825, upon the high seas, or in any haven, river, creek, or place, where the admiral has jurisdiction, knowingly and wilfully carry away, convey, or remove, or aid or assist in carrying away, conveying, or removing, any person or persons as a slave or slaves, or for the purpose of his, her, or their being imported or brought as a slave or slaves into any island, colony, country, territory, or place whatsoever, or for the purpose of his, her, or their being sold, transferred, used or dealt with as a slave or slaves; or shall, after the said 1st day of January, 1825, except in such cases as are by this act permitted, upon the high seas, or within the jurisdiction aforesaid, knowingly and wilfully ship, embark, receive, detain, or confine, or assist in shipping, embarking, receiving, detaining, or confining, on board any ship, vessel, or boat, any person or persons for the purpose of his, her, or their being carried away, conveyed, or removed as a slave or slaves, or for the purpose of his, her, or their being imported, or brought as a slave or slaves into any island, colony, country, territory, or place whatsoever, or for the purpose of his, her, or their being sold, transferred, used, or dealt with as a slave or slaves; then, and in every such case the persons so offending shall be deemed and adjudged guilty of piracy, felony and robbery, and being convicted thereof shall suffer death without benefit of clergy,-and loss of lands, goods, and chattels, as pirates, felons, and robbers upon the seas ought to suffer.-9. • Persons dealing in Slaves, or exporting or importing Slaves, &c. guilty of Felony.-And (except in such special cases as are by this act permitted) if any persons shall deal or trade in, purchase, sell, barter, or transfer, or contract for the dealing or trading in, purchase, sale, barter, or transfer of slaves, or persons intended to be dealt with as slaves; or shall, otherwise than as aforesaid, carry away or remove, or contract for the carrying away or removing of slaves or other persons, as or in order to their being dealt with as slaves; or shall import or bring, or contract for the importing or bringing into any place whatsoever, slaves, or other persons, as or in order to their being dealt with as slaves; or shall, otherwise than as aforesaid, ship, tranship, embark, receive, detain, or confine on board, or contract for the shipping, transhipping, embarking, receiving, detaining, or confining on board of any ship, vessel, or boat, slaves or other persons, for the purpose of their being carried away or removed, as or in order to their being dealt with as slaves; or shall ship, tranship, embark, receive, detain, or confine on board, or contract for the shipping, transhipping, embarking, receiving, detaining, or confining on board of any ship, vessel, or boat, slaves or other persons, for the purpose of their being imported or brought into any place whatsoever, as or in order to their being dealt with as slaves; or shall fit out, man, navigate, equip, despatch, use, employ, let or take to freight or on hire, or contract for the fitting out, manning, navigating, equipping, despatching, using, employing, letting, or taking to freight or on hire, any ship, vessel, or boat, in order to accomplish any of the objects, or the contracts in relation to the objects, which objects and contracts have herein-before been declared unlawful; or shall knowingly and wilfully lend or advance, or become security for the loan or advance, or contract for the lending or advancing, or becoming security for the loan or advance of money, goods, or effects, employed or to be employed in accomplishing any of the objects, or the contracts in relation to the objects, which objects and contracts have herein-before been declared unlawful; or shall knowingly and wilfully become guarantee or security, or contract for the becoming guarantee or security, for agents employed or to be employed in accomplishing any of the objects, or the contracts in relation to the objects, which objects and contracts have herein-before been declared unlawful, or in any other manner to engage, or contract to engage, directly or indirectly therein, as a partner, agent, or otherwise; or shall knowingly and wilfully ship, tranship, lade, or receive or put on board, or contract for the shipping, transhipping, lading, receiving, or putting on board of any ship, vessel, or boat, money, goods or effects, to be employed in accomplishing any of the objects, or the contracts in relation to the objects, which objects and contracts have herein-before been declared unlawful; or shall take the charge or command, or navigate, or enter and embark on board, or contract for the taking the charge or command, or for the navigating or entering and embarking on board of any ship, vessel, or boat, as captain, master, mate, surgeon, or supercargo, knowing that such ship, vessel, or boat, is actually employed, or is in the same voyage, or upon the same occasion, in respect of which they shall so take the charge or command, or navigate, or enter and embark, or contract so to do as aforesaid, intended to be employed in accomplishing any of the objects, or the contracts in relation to the objects, which objects and contracts have herein-before been declared unlawful; or shall knowingly and wilfully insure, or contract for the insuring of any slaves, or any property or other subject matter engaged or employed in accomplishing any of the objects, or the contracts in relation to the objects, which objects and contrac's have herein-before been declared unlawful; or shall wilfully and fraudulently forge or counterfeit any certificate, certificate of valuation, sentence, or decree of condemnation or restitution, copy of sentence or decree of condemnation or restitution, or any receipt (such receipts being required by this act), or any part of such certificate, certificate of valuation, sentence or decree of condemnation or restitution