condition much superior to that of their countrymen any where else. A black footman is considered as a great acquisition, and consequently, negro servants are sought for and caressed. An ill dressed or starving negro is never seen in England, and in some instances even alliances are formed between them and white girls of the lower orders of society. A few days since, I met in Oxford-street a well dressed white girl, who was of a ruddy complexion, and even handsome, walking arm in arm, and conversing very sociably, with a negro man, who was as well dressed as she, and so black that his skin had a kind of ebony lustre. As there are no slaves in England, perhaps the English have not learned to regard negroes as a degraded class of men, as we do in the United States, where we have never seen them in any other condition.

It is true, that in our eastern and middle states, and in all north of the river Ohio, there are few or no slaves, and the emancipated blacks, in many instances, rise to the possession of property, and of some personal respectability, but probably, it will never be possible to blend them by intermarriage with the whites. After all that we say, and with much truth, of the superiority of our country over others in civil liberty, it is a foul dishonour, it is a crying iniquity, it is a most glaring inconsistency, that we tolerate slavery. Other nations throw back into our faces this dreadful opprobrium, to which we must submit, in the silence of conscious guilt and disgrace: while England, deeply guilty, in having first introduced slavery among us when we were her colonies-in still sustaining it in the West Indies, and in having so long sustained the slave trade, which she has at last prohibited-formerly oppressive in her attempts to subjugate us-still oppressive in

lier sway over the devoted millions of Asia-but proudly consistent at home, suffers no slave to contaminate her own European domain; the slave no sooner touches her shores, and breathes her atmosphere, than his chains fall from his limbs, and he exults in the consciousness of liberty.

No. XXII.-LONDON.

Vauxhall Gardens-Situation and extent-Splendidly illuminated -Description-Amusements of the place-Music-A mechan. ical panorama-Fire works-Dancing of courtezans.

VAUXHALL GARDENS.

In the evening, I went with a party of Americans to Vauxhall gardens. They are situated about a mile and a half from London, on the south of Lambeth, on the Surry side of the river. The gardens cover a number of acres, the whole surface is perfectly smooth, free from grass, and rolled hard. Avenues of lofty trees are planted every where, and the confines are filled with shrubs. I came to the gardens with the impression that I was about to see something excelling all other splendid objects which I had hitherto beheld. Nor was I disappointed. For, as we entered, a scene presented itself splendid beyond description, and almost beyond conception, exceeding all that poets have told of fairy lands and Elysian fields.

From the trees, even to their very tops and extremities, from the long arched passages, open at the sides, and crossing each other in geometrical figures, from the alcoves

and recesses which surround the whole, and from the orchestra and pavilions, such a flood of brightness was poured out from ten thousand lamps, whose flames were tinged with every hue of light, and which were disposed in figures, exhibiting at once all that is beautiful in regularity, and all that is fascinating in the arrangements of taste and fancy-that one might almost have doubted whether it were not a splendid illusion which imagination was playing off upon his senses. Do not suspect me of exaggeration, for, what I have now written can give you but a faint idea of this abode of pleasure.

The arched passages to which I just now alluded, cross the gardens at right angles with each other, and yet, not in such a manner as to obscure the trees. In the recesses which bound the gardens on several sides, and also beneath the trees, tables are placed, furnished with cold collations, confectionaries, and other refreshments. Transparent paintings rendered conspicuous by lights behind. them, terminate several of the avenues, and all the arbours and walks are painted in a splendid manner.

The rotunda is a magnificent room; it is finely painted, its walls are covered with mirrors and gilding, and two of the principal arched passages cross each other here. The flags of several nations are suspended within, accompanied by paintings characteristic of the several countries.

The orchestra is erected nearly in the centre of the gardens. It is in the form of a Grecian temple; the second story is open in front, and there the musicians are placed.

About 10 o'clock, thousands of well dressed people thronged the gardens. The first entertainment consisted of vocal and instrumental music from the orchestra, and

then a noble company of musicians, in number about thirty, most splendidly dressed, and known by the name of the Duke of York's band, performed in a very superior style. The orchestra itself is one of the most beautiful objects that can be imagined. It is a Grecian temple of no mean size, and it is illuminated with such a profusion of lamps arranged in the lines of the building that its appearance is extremely splendid. These lamps are simple in their form but very beautiful in their effect. They are somewhat spherical, open at the top and suspended by a wire. The wick floats in the oil, and the whole forms a little illuminated ball.

The entrance to the gardens presents you with double rows of these lamps arranged in perpendicular lines on the pillars, and then with other rows, corresponding with the form of the roof of the arched passage under which you enter. Along the concave of this roof, extending a great way into the gardens, other lamps are suspended so as to represent the starry heavens. Conceive farther, that these lamps are thus disposed in every part of the garden, in very various and beautiful forms, among the trees and green leaves, in the alcoves, recesses, and orchestra, and that some are green, others red, others blue, &c. thus transmitting rays of these colours only, and you may then form some idea of the gardens of Vauxhall.

Our little party in the gardens was under the direction of an American captain, who was familiar with the place. As soon as the band had finished performing, he told us to run after him, which we did with all possible speed, as we saw every body running that way, although we knew not why. Having reached the end of one of the arched passages, the captain, in language perfectly professional

told us to haul our wind and lay our course for the fence. This we did, and the mystery was soon explained. For, down in a dark wood, we perceived a curtain rise, which discovered London bridge, and the water-works under it nearly as large as the original. The scene was produced by a combination of painting and mechanism. An old woman was sitting and spinning at the foot of the bridge; the mail and heavy coach passed over into town, and a fierce bull followed driving before him an ass. The thing was very well done, and it was at once so odd, unexpected and puerile, that it afforded us more diversion than a fine strain of wit could have done.

After this exhibition there was music again from the orchestra.

It was now past eleven o'clock, and the bell rung for the fire-works. These were exhibited from the bottom of a long dark avenue, terminated by a grove. They were very splendid, and, as the night was uncommonly dark, they produced their full effect. It is impossible to give any adequate idea of them by description.

After the fire-works there was an intermission, while every body that was disposed sat down to the cold collation. Our party had engaged a table in one of the boxes, as they are called. They are, in fact, little apartments, without doors, closed on three sides, and opening into the gardens. I was now no longer at a loss for the meaning or propriety of the proverbial expression, a Vauxhall slice; for the ham was shaved so thin, that it served rather to excite than to allay the appetite. We sat, until the music, beginning again, animated the company to new feats.