Chamberss Edinburgh Journal, No. 448 | Page 9

enough to cry
'Encore,' when down go the windows, and the harmonious sounds are
shut in from vulgar ears.
It is by this time nearly half-past nine o'clock, and now comes the
regular nightly 'tramp, tramp' of the police, marching in Indian file, and
heavily clad in their night-gear. They come to replace the guardians of
the day by those of the night. One of the number falls out of the line on
the terrace, where he commences his nocturnal wanderings, and
guarantees the peace and safety of the inhabitants for the succeeding
eight hours: the rest tramp onwards to their distant stations. The echoes
of their iron heels have hardly died away, when there is a sudden and
almost simultaneous eruption from every garden-gate on the terrace of
clean-faced, neat-aproned, red-elbowed servant-girls, each and all
armed with a jug or a brace of jugs, with a sprinkling of black bottles
among them, and all bound to one or other of the public-houses which
guard the terrace at either end. It is the hour of supper; and the
supper-beer, and the after-supper nightcaps, for those who indulge in
them, have to be procured from the publican. This is an occasion upon
which Betty scorns to hurry; but she takes time by the forelock, starting
for the beer as soon as the cloth is laid, and before master has finished
his pipe, or his game of chess, or Miss Clementina her song, in order
that she may have leisure for a little gossip with No. 7 on the one hand,
or No. 9 on the other. She goes out without beat of drum, and lets
herself in with the street-door key without noise, bringing home,
besides the desiderated beverage, the news of the day, and the projects
of next-door for the morrow, with, it may be, a plan for the enjoyment
of her next monthly holiday.
Supper is the last great business of the day upon Our Terrace, which, by
eleven at night, is lapped in profound repose. The moon rides high in
mid-sky, and the black shadows of the trees lie motionless on the white
pavement. Not a footfall is heard abroad; the only sound that is audible
as you put your head out of the window, to look up at the glimmering
stars and radiant moon, is the distant and monotonous murmur of the

great metropolis, varied now and then by the shrill scream of a far-off
railway-whistle, or the 'cough, cough, cough' of the engine of some late
train. We are sober folks on the terrace, and are generally all snug abed
before twelve o'clock. The last sound that readies our ears ere we doze
off into forgetfulness, is the slow, lumbering, earthquaky advance of a
huge outward-bound wagon. We hear it at the distance of half a mile,
and note distinctly the crushing and pulverising of every small stone
which the broad wheels roll over as they sluggishly proceed on their
way. It rocks us in our beds as it passes the house; and for twenty
minutes afterwards, if we are awake so long, we are aware that it is
groaning heavily onwards, and shaking the solid earth in its
progress--till it sinks away in silence, or we into the land of dreams.

SLAVES IN BRITAIN.
It has sometimes been predicted, not without plausibility, that if this
great empire should sink before the rising genius of some new state,
when all it has accomplished in arts and arms, and its wealth, its
literature, its machinery, are forgotten, its struggles for humanity in the
abolition of negro slavery will stand forth in undiminished lustre. All
the steps of this mighty operation are interesting. It is a peculiarity of
England and its institutions, that many of the most momentous
constitutional conflicts have taken place in the courts of law. In
despotic countries, this seldom occurs, because the rulers can bend the
courts of law to their pleasure; but here, even under the worst
governments, whatever degree of freedom was really warranted by law,
could be secured by the courts of justice. When it was said that the air
of Britain was too pure for a slave to breathe in--that his shackles fell
off whenever he reached her happy shore--the sentiment was noble; but
the question depended entirely on the law and its technical details. The
trials resulting in a decision against slavery, have thus much interest
from the influence they exercised on human progress.
There seemed to be every probability that the interesting question,
whether ownership in slaves continued after they had reached Britain,
would have been tried in Scotland. In the middle of last century, a Mr

Sheddan had brought home from Virginia a negro slave to be taught a
trade. He was baptised, and, learning his trade, began