THE DARK CONTINENT. 239 where, a hundred years later, the war of sécession burst forth, în which the question of slavery bore the most con- spicuous part Several of the Northern States, Virginia, Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Pennsylvania prohibited the trade, liberating the slaves, in spite of the cost, who had been îmported into theîr territories. The campaign, thus commenced, was not limitcd to a few provinces of the New World ; on this side of the Atlantic, too, the partisans of slavery were subject to a vigourous attack. England and France led the van, and energetically beat up recruits to serve the righteous cause. " Let us lose our colonies rather than sacrifice our prin- ciples," was the magnanimous watchword that resounded throughout Europe, and notwithstanding the vast political and commercial interests involved in the question, it did not go forth in vain. A living impulse had been com- municated to the liberation-movement. In 1807, England formally prohibited the slave-trade in her colonies ; France foUowing her example in 18 14. The two great nations then entered upon a treaty on the subject, which was con- firmed by Napoléon during the Hundred Days. Hitherto, howevcr, the déclaration was purely theoretîcal. Slave-ships continued to ply their illicit trade, discharging theîr living cargo at many a colonial port. It was évident that more resolute and practical measurcs must be taken to repress the enormity. Accordingly the United States în 1820, and Great Britain in 1824, dcclared the slave-tradc to be an act of piracy and îts perpetrators to be punishable with death. France soon gave in her adhérence to the new treaty, but the Southern States of America, and the Spanish and Portuguese, not having signed the act of aboli-: tîon, continued the importation of slaves at a great profit, and thîs în défiance of the recognized rcciprocal right of Visitation to verify the flags of suspected ships. But although the slave-trade by thèse measurcs was in a considérable measure reduced, it continued to exist ; new slaves were not allowed, but the old ones did not recover their liberty. England was now the first to set a noble example. On the I4th of May, 1833, an Act of Parliamcnt,
