Intelligence. SLAVE TRADE.—No. 68 of the London Quarterly Review states, on official authority, some deplorable facts relating to the slave trade. Every day brings fresh proof that nothing but the ci⚫ilization of the natives of Africa, by the establishment of Christian colonies on the coast, will ever put an end to the horrors of this traffic. The American vessels engaged in this trade, are generally under the Dutch flag. One vessel under that flag was lately siezed, but the crew, consisting entirely of Americans, escaped unpunished. The trade under the French flag is as vigorously pursued as ever, and the French government makes no exertion to check it. In the first month of 1825, 5766 negroes were landed within twenty leagues of Havana, many of them from French vessels; and nineteen vessels left that port for the coast of Africa. The Abolition Society of Paris state, on the authority of official documents, that slave captains throw into the sea every year, about three thousand negroes, more than half of them alive, either to escape from cruisers, or because the negroes, exhausted by sufferings, could not be sold to advantage. "The Portuguese and Brazilians, so far from having the least respect for public opinion, consider the slave trade as an honorable and legitimate branch of commerce; and so little horror is felt among them at the enormities which are constantly occurring, that nothing is more common than for ladies to take share in an ebony adventure. In the case of one recent capture alone, there were four female consignees. The vessels with the Emperor Don Pedro's license, are universally in the most horrid condition-the mortality and suffering on board of them almost too dreadful for description. It is stated that in some of those vessels were fierce dogs of the blood hound species, trained to sit watching over the hatches during the night, lest the wretched beings below, driven to desperation, should make any attempt to reach the region of purer air."-Vermont Chronicle. A letter from Captain Clapperton, dated Hio, 22d of February, to a friend in Dumfriesshire, (and published in the Dumfries Courier,) states that he had been well treated in the capital of Youriba, during the two months he had been there; that the Niger was only two days distance, and certainly flowed into the Bight of Benin; that he was about to start for Youri, near which Mungo Park was killed; and that his travels hitherto had been over new and unknown regions of considerable interest. AFRICAN FEMALE TRACT ASSOCIATION OF THE CITY OF N. YORK. We learn with pleasure, that an association under the above title, auxiliary to the American Tract Society, was formed in this city on the 20th inst. with a fair prospect of extensive usefulness. The Board by which it is to be conducted, with the exception of the Directress, consists wholly of coloured fe males. A subscription of 25 or 50 cents annually, constitutes membership. The treasurer, Mrs. Margaret Brown, will receive subscriptions, and deliver to any member, the Tracts to which she may be entitled, at No. 12, Barclay street. It is a characteristic of Religious Tracts, as of the Bible, that, while the Christian who has made most advances in knowledge and piety, may derive benefit from their perusal, they are also adapted to the capacity of the most humble. The benevolent ladies who have commenced this somewhat novel enterprize, will receive, we trust, the thanks of the religious community, as they certainly will the approbation of Heaven.-N. York Observer. RELIGIOUS INSTRUCTION OF SLAVES. The last Synod of Kentucky passed a resolution recommending to its members the religious instruction of slaves within the bounds of their respective congregations. On the 16th ult. the present Synod inquired of each minister what attention he had paid to the recommendation; and the answers were generally satisfactory. Fifteen schools for people of colour are now in operatign within the limits of the Synod; and much is doing for the same object, in a less public and formal manner.-Ibid. THE SLAVES EMANCIPATED IN MEXICO. A writer in the National Intelligencer suggests that the slaves of American settlers in Mexico, recently emancipated by that government, were probably imported from Africa and Cuba, instead of the United States; and the Editors, in commenting on the article, express an opinion, we believe a correct one, that in any event the owners will lose their slaves, insomuch as the law of the United States prohibits the introduction of such persons from abroad —Ibid. GREAT BATTLE IN AFRICA. On the 7th of August, the Ashantees, amounting to 25,000, had advanced to Doodewan, and were met by 11,000 men, the whole of the British, Dutch, and other Troops. The battle lasted an hour, when the Ashantees fled, leaving on the field in killed, wounded, and prisoners, 5000 men. The loss of the English, &c. 800 killed, and 2000 wounded. The Ashantees left the King's camp and equipage on the field, in which was found the head of Sir Charles M'Carthy.—Ibid. Auxiliary Societies. Within two months past, about 20 Associations, (we believe more than this number,) have been constituted to co-operate in the great purposes of our Institution. Among these the Colonization Society of the State of Pennsylva nia holds a distinguished place. Its first donation of six hundred dollars has been already received. The place of its location, (Philadelphia,) the character of its members, and the zeal and success with which it has commenced operation, afford promise of very important benefits to the cause in which we are engaged. The citizens of the western part of Pennsylvania, of Ohio, Kentucky, and Tennessee, begin to look with deep interest upon our enterprise, and seem very generally disposed to give it countenance and support. Multitudes, we know, regard it as a work demanding for its execution the national exertion, and truly worthy of the national patronage. It is painful to add, that notwithstanding the liberality of several Societies and many individuals, yet, in consequence of some unexpected demands for the Colony, the funds of the Society do not justify the outfit, immediately, of an expedition. We still hope for the means to effect this, in the course of the winter. The hazard of failure in a matter so important, must, we think, itself prove a powerful appeal to every Christian heart. Resolutions. At a meeting of the Board of Managers of the American Colonization Society at Washington, December 14th, 1826, it was Resolved, That the annual Meeting of this Society shall be held in this city, on the second Saturday in January, at eleven o'clock; and that this be announced in the public papers. Resolved, That the Auxiliary Societies be requested to send delegates to the annual Meeting, and that the friends to our cause generally, be invited to attend. The place of meeting to be announced hereafter. November 1st, 1826. DEAR SIR, In your next Repository, be pleased to say that the deposit in Aug. last, of 52 dollars and 25 cents by Wells and Redfield, was to be credited to the following accounts, viz: Collected in the Reformed Dutch church in Tany Town under Do, in the Reformed Protestant Dutch church, Market street, $8.00 44 25 $52 25 In the report of September 20th, the $75 44 collected in Albany, N. Y. should have been put to the credit of Presbyterian and Dutch churches in that place. I am, very respectfully your ob❜t servant, R. R. GURLEY. RICHARD SMITH, Treasurer of the American Colonization Society List of Donations will appear in our next number Memorial of the Free People of Colour. THE alleged indisposition of the free people of colour to emigrate, constituted one of the earliest and most prominent objections to the plan of African Colonization. Even supposing the indisposition to have prevailed generally, at the time of our Society's origin, the objection appears to us baseless when tried by the acknowledged principles of human nature, (because from these it must be concluded temporary,) and we have been therefore surprised, to find it considered as valid by some intelligent and reflecting minds. Had there been wanting a few hardy and daring adventurers to make trial of the scheme, even at the hazard of property and life, the fact would have been a remarkable anomaly in the history of our species. Men ever desire to improve their condition; and since that of our coloured population is miserable, the success of the bold spirits who first landed in Africa, could not fail to act upon their brethren as an irresistible persuasive to emigration. We might as well suppose men to act without any motive as to fail to aet in view of an adequate one. Now the probability (we had almost said the possibility) of acquiring true Liberty, with its countless and invaluable blessings, all history assures us, has ever (except where the VOL. II.-No. 10. very conception of Liberty has been lost in the long darkness of despotism) proved a sufficient motive for the most difficult enterprises and the highest achievements. Impelled by this passion for Freedom, men have courted peril as the lover his mistress; and those bred in the polished cities and courts of Europe sought a home in the wilderness of the west. It would be strange indeed, should those, who know as little of Liberia as they do of Jupiter or its inhabitants, be anxious to remove thither, and equally strange, should' a knowledge of the condition and promise of the African Colony fail to excite a desire among the free people of colour, to secure its benefits to themselves and their posterity. To the hope and belief that we should contribute, essentially, to the improvement and happiness of the free people of colour, by establishing them in a community on the African coast, does the Colonization Society in a great degree owe its existence, and as the experiment of this Institution has proved beyond question, that this hope and belief were well founded, as good common sense is the only faculty requisite to apprehend the grounds upon which they now rest; it appears morally certain that every unprejudiced man of colour, possessed of this faculty, and acquainted with the facts which constitute these grounds, will be disposed to become a member of the Colony of Liberia. Nor is this mere hypothetical reasoning. It is truth, as seen in the daily effects produced by correct information concerning the Colonization Society, and the state of the Liberian Colony, on the minds of the free coloured population. We wish we could add, that a disposition to secure, by their own efforts, the means of transportation, were increasing equally with the desire of removal. There are, we doubt not many, who do what they can, and who resolve to rely as little as possible upon charity, and such individuals, will, we trust, in case of necessity, never be left destitute of friendly aid. Few, we think, can read without interest, the following memorial: At a meeting of a respectable number of coloured persons convened at Bethel church, December 7th, 1826, for the purpose of considering the propriety of promoting an emigration to the African Colony at Liberia, the Rev. William Cornish was called to the Chair, and Robert Cowley appointed Secretary. The meeting being organized, after due deliberation the following resolution and memorial were read and adopted. The proceedings were then ordered to be signed by the Chairman and Secretary, and published. |