“The people of Alabama export what they raise, and import nearly all they consume.”  But it seems quite unnecessary to prove, what all persons of much intelligence well know, that the states mentioned export the larger part of what they raise, and import the larger part of what they consume.  Now more than one million of slaves are held in those states, and parts of states, where provisions are mainly imported, and consequently they are “doomed to scarcity and hunger.”]

Now let us make some estimate of the proportion which the slaves, included in the foregoing nine classes, sustain to the whole number, and then of the proportion affected by the operation of the seven causes just enumerated.

It would be nearly impossible to form an estimate of the proportion of the slaves included in a number of these classes, such as the old, the worn out, the incurably diseased, maimed and deformed, idiots, feeble infants, incorrigible slaves, &c.  More or less of this description are to be found on all the considerable plantations, and often, many on the same plantation; though we have no accurate data for an estimate, the proportion cannot be less than one in twenty-five of the whole number of slaves, which would give a total of more than one hundred thousand.  Of some of the remaining classes we have data for a pretty accurate estimate.

1st. Lunatics.—­Various estimates have been made, founded upon the data procured by actual investigation, prosecuted under the direction of the Legislatures of different States; but the returns have been so imperfect and erroneous, that little reliance can be placed upon them.  The Legislature of New Hampshire recently ordered investigations to be made in every town in the state, and the number of insane persons to be reported.  A committee of the legislature, who had the subject in charge say, in their report—­“From many towns no returns have been received, from others the accounts are erroneous, there being cases known to the committee which escaped the notice of the ‘selectmen.’  The actual number of insane persons is therefore much larger than appears by the documents submitted to the committee.”  The Medical Society of Connecticut appointed a committee of their number, composed of some of the most eminent physicians in the state, to ascertain and report the whole number of insane persons in that state.  The committee say, in their report, “The number of towns from which returns have been received is seventy, and the cases of insanity which have been noticed in them are five hundred and ten.”  The committee add, “fifty more towns remain to be heard from, and if insanity should be found equally prevalent in them, the entire number will scarcely fall short of one thousand in the state.”  This investigation was made in 1821, when the population of the state was less than two hundred and eighty thousand.  If the estimate of the Medical Society