in their native language, or could not obtain it without difficulty and heavy expense, have been amply, and in many instances gratuitously supplied.—The Continent of Africa among all these, till now, is the least enlightened by the light of the Gospel; and as the Colony of the Cape of Good Hope is perhaps the most extensive Christian Dominion in all that Continent, every one ought fervently to wish, that our blessed Religion may be most universally known and established here; that the means, which are now within our reach, for bringing men to the knowledge and practice of this Religion, may be multiplied heremay be so improved and established, as to diffuse, if possible, into the more interior countries of benighted Africa, those blessings which we have ourselves enjoyed. It is however certain, that several Christian families in this Colony, from their particular situation, have no means nor opportunity of procuring a Bible to themselves, or of supplying their children and servants with it. These circumstances united have led to the formation of a plan for circulating more extensively the Holy Scriptures in this Settlement, and for offering this gift to every one who desires it through the medium of the Bible and School Commission.

"In conjunction with the different Clergymen and other Christian Teachers in this Colony, the Bible and School Commission will endeavour to be informed, where, by whom, in what quantity, and in what language, the Bible may be wanted throughout this Settlement.

"The Bibles requisite, according to such informations, will be ordered by the Bible and School Commission, such will be distributed to the indigent, either at reduced prices, or gratuitously. Moreover, every Benefactor (to the funds of the Bible and School Commission) of the sum of 100 Rds. at once, or any annual Subscriber for 50 Rds, will be entitled to purchase, at the amount of two thirds of his donation, at reduced prices from the Bible and School Commission. Every Benefactor and Subscriber, besides this, will be entitled to receive every six months a short printed account of the proceedings of the Bible and School Commission, together with an abstract of receipts and disbursements.

"That an Institution of this nature is deserving of the support of all inhabitants, not only of Cape Town, but even of the most distant districts, needs not any further demonstration or proof.

"The mere distribution, however, of the Bible, especially in this Colony, without being accompanied by that Education, which must afford the means of understanding it, would be defective. To such who cannot read, or cannot understand what they read, the Bible becomes a closed book, and an useless gift. For this reason, His Excellency the Governor has some time ago taken measures to establish Schools, even in the most distant districts, and to render the means of Instruction attainable; notwithstanding these benevolent measures, there remains a considerable number of children, especially in Cape Town and in the Villages, who are not properly Educated, partly on account of poverty, partly from a bad mode of teaching, partly from a dislike of exertion, order and discipline. Government therefore now desires, through the means of the Bible and School Commission, to remedy this also, and to introduce for that puspose, by degrees,, the System of Education established in England by Dr. Bell and Mr. Lancaster; a System, which, being chiefly calculated for the poor and most neglected class of children, has produced the most salutary effects in promoting religious and moral improvement, and therefore has met, as may be seen also in the last week's Gazette, with deserved and universal applause. For the better apprehension of this new System, the following abstract has been made of its peculiarities:

"1. The tuition of the School by the Scholars themselves, becoming the teachers of younger children, by which aid one master is able to teach 1000

children.

"2. The children are taught to write on sand, which is found to be particularly attractive to the mind of the child, and to be attended with the most wonderful effect; inasmuch as a child of three years and a half old, has been known in the space of four months to learn and write on the sand board, words of one syllable.

"3. The children are taught to spell by papers with the alphabet printed or written in large characters, fixed against the wall, around which the children stand with a tutor to direct them; and instruction is given in arithmetic by dic tation, from the master.

"4. Emulation is excited by putting the best scholars in the highest place in each class, and medals, &c. are given to such who most distinguish themselves. "5. A System of discipline is employed towards the preservation of order, cleanliness, &c.

"6. Thus time is saved,- -as every child in the school is constantly and usefully employed during the hours of attendance; trouble again is avoided, by the mode of marching from their places to be heard by the master or teacher, without noise or confusion; every one knows precisely what he has to do, and care is taken that he does it. The economy too of the new system is evident ; sand, slates, and slate pencils being substituted for pens, ink, and paper; and sheets of paper, with printed or written letters or syllables, that are placed against the walls, in the room of books.

"The system, moreover, has been already tried here, in the military schools of this garrison; and has not only been found really practicable, but has been attended with the best success.

"It is therefore the desire of the Bible and School Commission to establish without delay a Public Free School in Cape Town, according to this plan, and to make use of all such means for this purpose as are at hand.

"At the same time, the Commission will endeavour to obtain from Europe one Master at least, who has been trained up according to this System, and who understands the Dutch language. They will also take care to educate in this School young men of character and ability, for the profession of Schoolmaster, with a view that such young men in future may fill up the vacancies that occur in the different places through the colony.

"The establishing only of one School in Cape Town, according to the principles of the new System, will necessarily lead to the erection of more Schools at the villages upon the same model; and will have a salutary influence upon all other Schools, in transferring a spirit of order and discipline, so remarkable in the System, if even they should not be conducted according to the new mode, or be entirely transformed in every detail to its peculiarities.

"This then is the manner in which the Members of the Bible and School Commission intend to proceed, in order to effect, under the Divine Blessing, the more extensive circulation of the Holy Scriptures, and to establish solid System of Education.'

a

The main object is, 1st. to spread indiscriminately among all classes of this community religious light. 2dly. to render the numerous and most neglected class of children capable of comprehending religious notions and principles of moral conduct, and to do this through a simple, cheap, and most successful mode of teaching.

"What therefore some of the religious and philanthropic inhabitants several years since have endeavoured already of themselves to accomplish, namely, the spreading of religious and mental improvement, is now to be completed by the united efforts of all. Such is the sacred and benevolent work, which at this moment all friends of religion and the happiness of mankind in this Colony are called upon to support; this, the work which the eminent Patron his Excellency Sir John Cradock, (in imitation of his illustrious Sovereign and the Royal Family) and all the Members of the Bible and School Commission, trusting in such liberal assistance, will, with the blessing of God, forward with their best zeal, and to the utmost of their abilities.

THE PHILANTHROPIST.

No. XIV.

History of the Colony of Sierra Leone.

ITV was stated in a former Number of THE PHILANTHROPIST, that the black poor in London and its vicinity, who had been fed in the year 1786 by the bounty of the late Mr. Granville Sharp and others, were collected in 1787, and put on board the ship Myro, to be conveyed to Sierra Leone, there to get their own living by their industry, and to form an independent community of themselves. Very little more was then said of them than that they landed, and that they experienced many hardships. It will be proper therefore, as we profess to furnish something like a History of the Colony of Sierra Leone, to give a more detailed, though a short, account of them, both before and after their arrival at it.

When they set sail from London their number exceeded 400, and they were accompanied by several white adventurers, of whom the greater part were women, chiefly of the lowest order, in ill health, and of but very moderate character. They experienced adverse winds and a long detention in the Channel. In consequence of this, and the disorders which many had brought on board with them, and which had been previously aggravated by drunkenness and debauchery, they came into Plymouth, where they were obliged to put in by stress of weather, in a very sickly state. Fifteen found means after their arrival there to leave the ship, and no less than 50 of them died.

The remainder, some of whom were yet very weak, proceeded on their voyage; and though the sea air contributed to bring a part of them back to convalescence, yet the constitutions of 34 of them had been so impaired, that they paid the debt to nature on their passage; so that, including the runaways and all the deceased, about 100 were lost to the intended settlement before they arrived at it.

At length the Myro, accompanied by her convoy, the Nautilus

VOL. IV.

sloop of war, under the command of Captain, now Admiral Thompson, cast anchor in St. George's Bay, a deep and noble bay opposite to the intended settlement, and commanding a fine view of the lofty mountains of Sierra Leone, which were seen rising above each other, and crowned with continued forests of verdant wood. The first step to be taken was to secure to the new comers peaceable possession of part of the territory before them, by the regular purchase of it from the native chiefs. Captain Thompson accordingly made a bargain with King Tomb, that is, King of Mitombo, who was the nearest of the neighbouring chiefs, and received of him, in consideration of certain articles of merchandize then delivered, a grant of land, supposed to be about 20 miles square, on the banks of the river; but as King Tomb was a vassal of King Naimbanna, who lived in the Island of Robanna, higher up the river, Captain Thompson thought it proper to obtain a similar grant by a similar purchase from the latter.

It happened very unfortunately, from unexpected delays in the outfit of the Myro, and detention at Plymouth and in the Channel, that she did not reach her destination in Africa till after the rainy (the most unhealthy) season there had commenced, and before which time every family carried there ought to have been under permanent shelter on shore. Captain Thompson, however, did the best he could for them. He assisted them in raising their huts he protected them while doing it; and, when he left them, he took care that a handsome quantity of provisions should be landed for their support for a given time. But no care on his part could control the effects of the climate, and more especially on the bodies of those who had arrived in a diseased state. Sickness began to spread; and in four months after their arrival 86 others were numbered with the dead, among whom was Mr. Irwin the conductor, the schoolmaster, and about 20 of the most respectable of the whites.

The rains being over, the survivors, reduced now (blacks and whites together) to about 250, began to grow seasoned. It appears that from September 1787 to January 1789 they lost only about eight persons by the climate. During this time they had an excellent form of government under which to live, as drawn out for them by the late Mr. Granville Sharp; but, unfortunately, too many of them wished to rule, and too many disliked restraint, so that they were in general disorderly, aud quarrelled often among themselves. They were also, too many of them, given to drunkenness. In such a state they would soon have fallen a prey to the slave-dealers, had not King Naimbanna protected them. Every effort was made by these miscreants to poison the mind of

the latter against them; but he not only signified his concern for their welfare, but settled several of the disputes which they had with the natives as well as with one another. They were in general far from industrious; and yet, by a moderate application to cultivation, they produced from the earth a sufficiency of food for the community. They raised also poultry, of which the increase was wonderful, so that, though they had but a small, they had an increasing property; and they might have done well, as far as getting a plentiful livelihood was concerned, but for the following unlooked-for occurrence: Captain Savage was sent by Government in the Pomona frigate, at the latter end of the autumn 1788, to carry out Sir William Dolben's bill, which regulated the number of slaves to be carried according to the tonnage of the vessel, and to serve it upon all English slave-ships which might be then on the coast of Africa. Having visited the Gambia and other rivers, he came at length into that of Sierra Leone, and anchored in the vicinity of the settlement. While lying there, Captain Bowie, of the slave-factory at Bence Island, came to him to complain of an injury which his employers had sustained from King Jammy, who was the successor to King Tomb, then deceased, and to desire him to punish the latter. Captain Savage, irritated by the representations made, too easily gave into the request. Accordingly an officer and boat's crew, in which were some marines, was sent just before dusk on shore. These made the best of their way, Bowie acting as their guide, to the town where King Jammy lived. When they arrived there, not an inhabitant was to be found. Bowie, incensed at this, fired a pistol into the thatch of the house belonging to the king, which immediately took fire; and the fire spreading, not only the king's house but several others were consumed. Soon after this guns were fired by King Jammy's people in return, who lay in ambush in the woods, by which a lieutenant of the frigate, the serjeant of marines, and two or three others were killed, and some wounded; the latter of whom were with great difficulty, in the dark, brought down to the shore by those who had escaped unhurt. The next day Captain Savage brought his guns to bear upon the remnant of the town, and destroyed it as well as the neighbouring woods. Soon after this he left the river, but without being able to bring about a reconciliation between himself and King Jammy. After his departure the king sent a formal notice to the settlers, that as King George had destroyed his town, so he would destroy theirs, but gave them three days' notice, that they might leave it without suffering the consequences of an attack. Finding resistance would be to no purpose, they obeyed the message, and accord