as we are recommended to do, we can see nothing so very ridiculous in the picture of three particles of hydrogen surrounded by seventeen of oxygen. We can divine no reason why the remaining fourteen atoms of hydrogen should not remain very peaceable spectators of this chemical matrimony. Give them a proportionate number of the atoms of oxygen, (without which they feel no inclination to the alliance,) and we have not the least doubt but that we shall see them descend from their dignity, as it is somewhere termed, and form similarly constituted societies.

The only additional consideration that Mr. Dalton gives us as having any weight with him is, "that oxygen carries the greater part of its heat, and consequently of its repulsion, along with it in its combined state. The error which runs through the whole of this work is that which we pointed out at the very outset of this paper: Mr. Dalton has confounded the atoms with their atmospheres. He has forgotten the proposition with which he set out-that the power of attraction belongs universally to ponderable bodies. That this is the case evident from the concluding sentence of the first part, where in explanation of his plates he says, "The combinations consist in the juxtaposition of two or more of these, (viz. circles to represent atoms). When three or more particles of elastic fluids are combined together in one, it is to be supposed that the particles of the same kind repel each other, and take their station accordingly." It requires no argument to prove that attraction and repulsion cannot both subsist in the same matter. Therefore, when it is said that oxygen takes the greater part of its repulsion along with it in its combinations, it is evident that this can only go to the formation of the atmosphere of the new formed particle, and that it can have nothing to do with the internal arrangement of the simple atoms of the compound particle. The new formed compounds, of course, take their stations according to the new modification of attraction and repulsion between themselves; so that it matters little whether the oxygen take the greater part of its caloric along with it, and the hydrogen gives up its share, or the new atmospheres are made up of an equal proportion of both.

Having thus examined this first rule of the new system of chemistry, upon which all the subsequent inductions and reasonings are founded, we shall just refer to one experiment of Mr. Dalton on the composition of the sulphuric acid, which we conceive militates so strongly against the explanation of chemical affinity by mere juxtaposition of particles,

"Let

that we cannot refrain from laying it before our readers. one hundred measures of sulphurous acid be put into a dry tube over mercury, to which add sixty of oxygen, let then ten or twenty measures of nitrous gas be added to the mixture; in a few seconds the inside of the tube becomes covered with a crystalline appearance." This is the sulphuric acid. Mr. Dalton explains this phenomenon by stating that," in this process the nitrous gas unites with the oxygen, and transports it to the sulphurous acid, which, receiving it from the nitrous, becomes sulphuric."

How is this consistent with the hypothesis? Surely in the previous mixture of the sulphurous acid and oxygen, the particles must be as near to one another before as after the addition of the nitrous gas. Why then do they not combine? Upon Mr. Dalton's principles the atmospheres of caloric alone prevent the union. When the nitrous gas is added, the relative attraction of the atoms of this gas for those of oxygen is so predominant over the repulsion of their caloric, that they instantly combine, but without any loss of their specific heat. What diminution of repulsion can possibly by this arrangement take place to enable the sulphurous acid to combine with the oxygen under the additional disadvantage of the mutual attraction of the latter, and the nitrous gas?

After soaring so long in the company of Mr. Dalton and his atoms, with our fancies upon the stretch, not only to conceive the existence of these entities, but their shape, properties, and affections, we feel it a real relief to our minds to be set down again among old acquaintances, and to breathe in a grosser element within the precincts of sense and touch. We are not, however, so lost to the value of Mr. Dalton's researches, as not to be fully sensible how greatly he will have contributed to the stock of human intelligence, by bringing us to a much closer intimacy with these primordial parts of matter than Leucippus, or Democritus, or any of the ancient teachers of the atomic philosophy could pretend to have arrived at; for we do not recollect that these sages, or any that held similar doctrines with them on the subject of the material world, ever entertained their scholars with an account of the dimensions and weights of these evanescent substances.

We cannot help indulging a hope that as our telescopes have failed in showing us the inhabitants of the moon, we shall have full amends made us by being brought into great familiarity with a part of the creation which we have hitherto considered as far out of our reach. Mr. Dalton's researches may possibly one day es

tablish a distinction of sexes among atoms, as well as plants, and proceeding by firm and cautious steps, he may at length prove, beyond controversy or doubt, that an atom may be crossed in love. That there are alliances among them has already been made to appear; it remains for Mr. Dalton to rescue them from the scandalous imputation of that promiscuous and fortuitous intercourse which a censorious philosophy has laid to their charge.

If this shall be the fruit of Mr. Dalton's researches, the cold and timid investigations of professor Davy will shrink into nothing in the comparison. That last-mentioned gentleman seems, with a bashful consciousness of his limited powers, to have given up the chase of infinity. The nature and arrangement of ultimate atoms seem to have yielded their secrets only to Mr. Dalton, who with great courtesy of communication is willing to make us partakers of the privileges conferred on him; but, unhappily, the moment our minds are brought within the vortex of his atomic physiology, we feel such a state of vertigo, as makes us fancy Chaos is returned.

Professor Davy is afraid of venturing into the region of conjecture on the intimate nature of chemical combination; nor dares to pronounce upon the causes of ultimate affinity. Having ascertained the existence of this power, he is contented with investigating its laws, phenomena, and results. His discoveries appeal to our senses for their confirmation, whether his object be to shew the metallic basis of the fixed alkalis and earths, or to solve the great problem of the composition of the muriatic acid. For want of clear proofs he hazards no dogmas on the decomposition of the volatile alkali, and treads only with assurance where the ground is solid under him. He is never bold but when he is convincing, and is yoked to a syllogistic accuracy in developing the simplest natures; always intrenching himself in experiment and manual operation, he risks no flights of imagination, obtains victories without exposure to danger, triumphs by disarming opposition, and finishes each inglorious campaign by gaining laurels without receiving wounds.

ART. XVIII-1. Extracts from the Report of the Commissioners appointed for investigating the State of the Settlements and Governments on the Coast of Africa.—Ordered by the House of Commons to be printed, 9th March, 1812.

2. Reports of the Committee of the African Institution, read at the annual general Meetings in 1808, 1809, 1810, and 1811. With an Appendix to each Report.

3. Reports of the African and Asiatic Society for 1809, 1810, and 1811.

THE object of the legislature in abolishing the enormous mass of wickedness, which went by the name of the Slave Trade, was twofold. First, to remove from the country the reproach, the shame, and the moral responsibility which rested upon it for making an indulgence in gross crimes the source of its wealth; and secondly, to atone as far as possible for the miseries which a long perseverance in crime had introduced among the natives of Africa, by laying the foundation of an equally long perseverance in endeavours to introduce peace, civilization, and happiness among that debased and injured portion of our fellow

.men.

It

In the last number of the British Review we took the liberty of laying before our readers a statement of the effects produced in the West Indies by the abolition of this traffic, and the practical conclusions which result from such a contemplation. is our object on the present occasion to complete the view of this great and interesting subject, by discussing from the papers before us, the positive and practical results of the measure as it has affected, or may yet affect, the state of society in Africa. In the attention which the public may be pleased to bestow on the subject under either of these aspects, we have only to caution them against a hasty conclusion, that because a very few years, and one or two legislative enactments, have been insufficient to remedy evils which the practice of two centuries has fixed in the habits and prejudices of men, therefore the cause is hopeless, and all expectation of a satisfactory result enthusiastic and visionary. That the interested and the unfeeling, those who wish to profit by the misery of others, or who are too far immersed in sloth to use exertions and bear sacrifices in the cause of humanity, will thus argue, and with very sapient and triumphant grimace, we have no doubt. But the sober-minded, the virtuous, and the impartial portion of the community will not be so deceived. They will recollect that the course of na

ture is, not that the evil of a year can be remedied in a day, but that the ruin of a day will take years for its reparation. We would therefore rather express our gratitude and astonishment, that so much has been done in so short a time towards removing the long-established horrors of the slave trade, than that so many difficulties still remain to be encountered.

The first-mentioned of the papers in the title to this article is a document very lately laid before the House of Commons, and printed by their order. It contains the most material passages of a report made to government by certain commissioners who where dispatched to the coast of Africa, for the purpose of personally investigating the state of the governments and settlements in that quarter, and of pointing out in what manner they might be made subservient to the great object of African civilization. Their report was finished early in last year, and arrived in England after the prorogation of Parliament. It may therefore be considered as the substance of the latest intelligence from Africa now in the possession of the public; and we are sorry to observe that this document but too amply confirms the lamentable view of the subject, which we had been taught to entertain from a perusal of the reports of the African Institution, which stand as the second object of our present discussion. The third consists of three short reports of a society instituted for the relief and instruction of poor Africans and Asiatics, who find their way to this country, in the progress of our colonial intercourse, and are often left on the highway equally destitute of moral and religious instruction, and of the necessaries of life. We have noticed these last reports, principally with a view of bringing the objects and existence of the society into more general notice.

There is something so revolting to a well-constituted mind in the idea of fomenting discord and bloodshed, perjury and torture, among thousands of ignorant men, for the sake of an unfeeling profit to individuals who pervert their superiour intelligence to a diabolical purpose, expressly forbidden by the moral and political laws of their country, that nothing but the strongest evidence could induce us to believe that any of these offenders are subjects of the United Kingdom. We rejoice, however, that they bear but a small proportion to those of other states, and that in point of fact there are more British subjects at the present moment earnestly occupied in reforming the morals and manners of the Africans, than in reducing them to a state of bondage. We rejoice too that the stigma of infamy and the punishment of felony have been legally affixed to the