%images;]>LCRBMRP-T2513The fourth annual report of the American Society for Colonizing the Free People of Colour of the United States : with an appendix.: a machine-readable transcription. Collection: African-American Pamphlets from the Daniel A. P. Murray Collection, 1820-1920; American Memory, Library of Congress. Selected and converted.American Memory, Library of Congress.

Washington, 1994.

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 91-898252Daniel Murray Pamphlet Collection, 1860-1920, Rare Book and Special Collections Division, Library of Congress. Copyright status not determined.
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THEFOURTH ANNUAL REPORTOF THEAMERICAN SOCIETYFORColonizing the Free People of ColorOF THEUNITED STATES.WASHINGTON:PRINTED BY DAVIS AND FORCE, PENNSYLVANIA AVENUE,(Publishers of the National Calendar.)1821.

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THEFOURTH ANNUAL REPORTOF THEAMERICAN SOCIETYFOR COLONIZING THEFREE PEOPLE OF COLOROF THEUNITED STATES.WITH AN APPENDIX.WASHINGTON:PRINTED BY DAVIS AND FORCE, PENNSYLVANIA AVENUE,(Publishers of the National Calendar.)1821.

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ANNUAL MEETING OF THE AMERICAN COLONIZATION SOCIETY.

On Thursday evening, the 18th of January, 1821 the Fourth Annual Meeting of the American Colonization Society, was held at Dr. Laurie's church, in the city of Washington.

Walter Jones, Esq. informed the meeting that he had received a letter from the Hon. Bushrod Washington, President of the Society, stating his regret that a severe indisposition prevented his attending the meeting, and his undiminished confidence in the ultimate success of the Society, and his ardent wishes for the final accomplishment of its great and benevolent objects.

The Hon. Henry Clay, one of the Vice Presidents, was called to the chair; on the taking of which, he made a handsome and appropriate address, principally urging persevering efforts in the prosecution of the original objects of the Society, and obviating the objections which have been made against its success, from the occurrences of the past year; and justly concluding that, whilst there was much to animate the members to perseverance, there was nothing to create despondency or alarm.

The Annual Report of the Board of Managers was then read by the Secretary.

The following resolutions were moved and adopted, accompanied by appropriate remarks from the Hon. Daniel P. Cook, the Hon. C. F. Mercer, Walter Jones, Esq. and Francis S. Key, Esq.--Setting forth the great advantages which the measures of the Society promised this country and to Africa; particularly, its importance in aiding the friends of Humanity in putting an end to the slave trade.

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The highest encomium was made by several of the speakers, on the conduct of the officers and crews of our navy, employed on that service, in suppressing the slave trade, and for that humanity and kindness which have so often distinguished our navy officers, in the attention, kindness, and liberality, which they had shown to our suffering settlers.

On motion of the Hon. Daniel P. Cook,Resolved, That the thanks of this meeting be given to the Board of Managers, for the zeal and ability with which they have conducted the concerns of the Society; and that the Report now read be received and adopted and that it be published under the direction of the Board.

Resolved, That, while the society laments the calamities which have befallen it during the past year, it does not despair of that success, the hope of which led to its organization, and which, from its moral and political importance, is so desirable.

On motion of the Hon. Charles F. Mercer,Resolved, That, with mournful regret for the untimely death, the Society entertain a high respect for the memory of the Rev. Samuel Bacon and Join P. Bankson, agents of the United States, and of Samuel A. Crozer, agent of the Society.

On motion of Walter Jones, Esq.Resolved, That that the thanks of this meeting be given to Captain Edward Trenchard, and Captain Alexander S. Wadsworth, and to the officers and crews of the United States armed ships Cyane and John Adams, for the aid, advice, and succour, which they have given to the agents and people sent to form a settlement on the west coast of Africa.

On motion of the Rev. William Hawley,Resolved, That the thanks of the Society be presented to Captain Randall, of Cape Shilling, for his hospitality 00055in receiving into his house the late Rev. Samuel Bacon, and his kind attention to him during his sickness and death.

On motion of Dr. Smith,Resolved, That the thanks of this meeting be given to the Auxiliary Societies, for the continuance of their support in aiding the funds of the Society.

On motion of the Hon. C.F.Mercer,Resolved, That the Officers of the Society appointed at the last annual meeting, be continued during the ensuing year.

OFFICERS

The Hon. BUSHROD WASHINGTON, President.Vice-Presidents.Hon. Wm. H. Crawford, of Georgia.Hon. Henry Clay, of Kentucky.Hon. Wm. Philips, of Massachusetts.Col. Henry Rutgers, of New-York.Hon. John E. Howard, of Maryland.Hon. John C. Herbert, of Maryland.Isaac M'Kim, Esq, of Maryland.John Taylor, Esq. of Caroline, Virginia.Gen. John Hartwell Cocke, of Virginia.Gen. Andrew Jackson, of Tennessee.Robert Ralston, Esq. of Philadelphia.Right Rev. Bishop White, of Philadelphia.Gen. John Mason, District of Columbia.Samuel Bayard, Esq. of New-Jersey.William H. Fitzhugh, Esq. of Virginia.Managers.Francis S. Key, Esq. Rev. Wm. Hawley,Walter Jones, Esq.Rev. Henry Foxall,Rev. Dr. S. B. Balch,Wm. Thornton, Esq.Rev. Obadiah B. Brown,Thomas Dougherty, Esq.Rev. Wm. Wilmer,Col. Henry Ashton.Elias B. Caldwell, Esq. Secretary.John Underwood, Esq. Recording Secretary.Richard Smith, Esq. Treasurer.

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REPORT.

Since the last Annual Meeting of the Society, the Board of Managers have found it necessary, on several occasions, to communicate to the members, and to the public, some of the interesting occurrences of the past year.

The first of these communications stated the arrival of the Elizabeth on the coast of Africa, and the reception and situation of the colonists on the island of Sherbro, and was accompanied with the letters of our Agent, and the Agents of the Government, filled with the hopes and expectations which then flattered them.

The pleasing anticipations excited by this intelligence were soon changed to doubts and fears--rumours of the most distressing calamities awakened many anxious apprehensions, and the Address of the Board in October last, stated the melancholy intelligence then received, and the true extent of the affliction which, in the unsearchable dispensations of Providence, had been permitted to occur. The arrival of this intelligence placed before the Board a subject for its immediate and most solemn consideration. They were in the first place to determine whether a great and beneficent object, the importance of which is scarcely questioned, should be abandoned as hopeless and impracticable. If a full and fair experiment decided this point, if the effort made had ended in total disaster, proceeding from causes the operation of which they could not hereafter control or avoid; if no reasonable means presented themselves for a further prosecution of the enterprise--then whatever might be the feelings of the Board, their judgment must decree, at least, a suspension of their labours. 00077The result of their deliberations appears in that Address. They lamented, in the death of their agent, Mr. Crozer, and in that of Mr. Bacon, and Mr. Bankson, the agents of the government, the untimely loss, in the midst of their usefulness, of men highly qualified for the difficult and interesting stations in the service of their country, their fellow-beings, and their God, in which they had fallen.

The fate of the officer and boat's crew of the Cyane, detailed by the humane commander of that ship for the assistance of the agents, was an affecting event, calling for peculiar commiseration. To these abundant causes of sorrow, were to be added, the sickness and mortality prevailing among the coloured labourers and colonists, some of the most useful and deserving of whom became the victims of disease.

But the Board, in the midst of these regrets, could not see, in any or all these circumstances, the total failure of their attempt. The sickness and deaths which had occurred did not prove to them that a fatal and inevitable disease rendered that part (much less every part) of the African coast uninhabitable to strangers; for they saw that about 70 out of 88 of the coloured people exposed to the disease, had survived and recovered, and many instances of a much greater mortality had occurred in various places, owing certainly to other causes than a pernicious peculiarity of climate. They were at no loss to conjecture what causes most probably operated in this instance. The unfortunate period of the Elizabeth's arrival, (it being near the commencement of the rainy season) was of itself sufficient to excite apprehensions.

The want of preparation and accommodation for their reception was another cause. This threw the agents into a state of great exposure, fatigue, and anxiety, and the early death of Mr. Crozer left them without medical 00088advice or aid. This was followed by the immediate sickness and early death of the United States' agents. The coloured people, it was fairly supposed, must have been thereby left exposed to the attacks of disease, without that advice and authority, care and skill, so necessary to combat it with success. The officer and sailors of the Cyane were exposed to the same, and probably (from their confined situation in a small boat) to greater dangers, and with no better means of resistance. The Board knew that settlements had been made and persisted in, and resulted most favourably, where causes such as these could not have operated so powerfully, and where the first ravages of disease were far more destructive. The early history of our own country furnished such instances: and when they looked along the African coast, and found that this supposed fatality of climate had not deterred the guilty votaries of avarice from forming and holding to this day their various establishments of iniquity, they could not but believe that similar attempts, undertaken with far other views, and in high reliance upon Him whose bidding can restrain "the pestilence that walketh in darkness, and the destruction that wasteth at noon day," would be made (as they were intended) the means of extending the glory of his name and the good of his creatures. Thus they must have believed, even without that proof which Sierra Leone affords, of what benevolence thus persevering and thus relying, will be permitted to achieve.

Another difficulty may be supposed to have interrupted the progress of their enterprize, and demanded the consideration of the Board. The land had not been ceded by the natives, and some unexpected delays and obstacles were to be encountered. The Board thought this was to be in some degree accounted for by the death of the agent, and the consequent absence of what 00099the natives might consider a sufficient authority. Still there was nothing from which to presume that a well selected territory in that neighbourhood, if not the one already designated, was unattainable.

Much difficulty in obtaining lands from a people to whom it was of little or no value, in exchange for such articles as were most important and desirable to them, could not reasonably be expected. Although the articles originally sent out for this purpose might have been insufficient, and not selected with a proper knowledge of what was necessary, or might have been injudiciously applied, yet a small additional expense, with more knowledge and care in the application of it, would justify the hope of a successful issue to the protracted negotiations upon this subject. There was not, therefore, in the opinion of the Board, any evidence of the unhealthiness of the African coast, or of such impediments in obtaining lands for a settlement, as ordinary care and prudence might not be expected to overcome. Nor did they find themselves destitute of proper means for continuing their efforts. The liberality of their patrons, though necessarily affected by the pressure of the times, had not ceased. The same impulses of duty and benevolence which had called forth the former agents to the labours and dangers in which they fell, had awakened the zeal of others, who offered to follow in their path, and give themselves to the same cause. Nor had they any reason to believe that the strong desires, so earnestly expressed by many of the free coloured people in this country, to find an abode for themselves and their posterity in the land of their forefathers, would be so easily overcome by the difficulties incident to such an enterprise, as to deter them from accepting the means of removal. With these views the Board considered it their duty to continue their preparations, and invited the members of the society, 001010and the friends of the institution, to preserve in their efforts. Since the date of that Address, the arrival of the Cyane has brought them later and more particular intelligence. The letters of the Rev. Daniel Coker, (extracts of which appear in the Appendix) show the nature of the subsequent occurrence, and the situation and prospects of the people. This person, a man of colour from Baltimore, had been recommended to the Board as useful, intelligent, and pious.

Mr. Crozer, who had already employed him in negotiations of importance with the native kings and chiefs, selected him, during his last illness, to take, at his death, the charge of the Society's property and affairs, till another agent should be sent out. A similar trust, as to the property and concerns of the government, was placed in his hands upon the death of the United States agents. In the execution of the difficult duties thus unexpectedly devolved upon him, he has justified the confidence reposed in him, and has acted with the greatest discretion and propriety. The disappointment in procuring the lands contracted for, the discontents of the settlers and labourers, and the unwillingness of some among them to submit to his authority, are the faults of others, and were beyond his control. His removal of the people from their temporary location on Kizzel's island (to which they had been compelled to resort, from the want of shelter elsewhere) to reside on the island of Sherbro, his visit and application to the governor of Sierra Leone, and his perseverance in his claim for the land negotiated for, meet the entire approbation of the Board. The despatches of Capt. Trenchard to the government, contain information somewhat later than the date of Mr. Coker's letters; and we have read with peculiar interest the letter of Cap. Trenchard, and two official reports made to that officer, written with great 001111ability and intelligence by Lieu. Mervine and Dr. Dix. These gentlemen had been sent from the Cyane to Campelar and Sherbro, under orders to ascertain the condition of the labourers and settlers, and to report the nature and causes of the sickness and death of the officer and boat's crew of that frigate, and the mortality that had prevailed among the coloured people. The fatal operation of the causes heretofore supposed, in occasioning these deaths, are clearly ascertained by this investigation. Dr. Dix states that "Mr. Townsend (the midshipman from the Cyane) was taken ill with fever on the 7th of April, owing to fatigue and exposure to the heat of the sun. The Augusta (the schooner purchased by Mr. Bacon) arrived at Campelar on the 10th. Mr. Crozer, agent of the Colonization Society, who was the physician of the colonists, was taken ill at the same time with fever, and could render no medical assistance.- Mr. Bacon was the only one among the whites to do any thing for the sick, but his efforts availed nothing. Mr. Townsend died on the 17th, the day after Mr. Crozer. From all accounts it appears that most unfortunately Mr. Bacon was, at this time, taken fatally ill. Mr. Bankson was ill too, and Mr. Coker absent on business of the colony. Not one of the black colonists could do anything for them, while they were totally unable to assist each other. Mr. Bacon hired a young man to attend them, who belonged to Sierra Leone. This man remained on board, and assisted them, till the last one died, on the 13th of June. Our men died during the hot and dry season, and when the thermometer averaged about 84 degrees, which is seldom exceeded here. The place where the schooner lay is very seldom visited by a sea breeze, and an occasional tornado, accompanied with rain, is the only essential change of air felt. The land on both sides is low and muddy, alternately dry and covered 001212with tide water, in which a thick forest of mangrove trees flourishes." He attributes the mortality among the settlers to "the extreme sultry heat of the climate, to their confined local situation, to indulging in eating freely of tropical fruits, and particularly to the impurity of the water of the place. To these may be added, idleness, inattention to cleanliness, and depression of mind, with want of medical attendance and nursing."- It may be proper here to correct what we observe to be a very common but mistaken impression--that this location of the people at Campelar, was the one selected to be purchased for their permanent settlement; whereas it was only taken as a temporary shelter, till they could get the land on the Bagroo, which is high and healthy, and abounds in good water, and where the settlement was intended to be located. Both these gentlemen concur in speaking in very favourable terms of Mr. Coker, and of the measures he has used for preserving the property and people under his charge, and we regret that it appears from their statements, that so many of the people are refractory and averse to his authority. No further progress had been made in the negotiations for lands, and from some unexpected disappointments, we have reason to apprehend that that object will not be attained until the arrival of another agent, and additional means. These gentlemen represent the people to be at present quite healthy, and the situation of Yonie, where they left them, such as to render the recurrence of disease improbable. They had been offered a residence at Cape Shilling, until the arrival of other agents from America, and it is not improbable but that Mr. Coker may already have availed himself of that offer. A particular statement of the deaths, from the report of Dr. Dix, is inserted in the Appendix. A letter has been also received from Captain Wadsworth, of the John 001313Adams, which is subjoined in the Appendix. This intelligence has been recently obtained, and while preparations were making by Messrs. Winn and Bacon, agents lately appointed by the government, for taking out some captured Africans, and the necessary labourers and articles, in execution of the act of Congress of March, 1819.

The Board having been permitted to send out one of their agents, and some articles in the same vessel, Mr. Christian Wiltberger, jun. is now in Norfolk, and will proceed in the Nautilus, with the United States agents from that port; that vessel having been taken up for that purpose, as was expected at the time of the last address. The agent will be instructed to make an attempt to procure the lands on the Bagroo, and if disappointed there, to make immediately some other suitable selection, with directions also (if it shall be found necessary) to fix the people temporarily at Cape Shilling until they can attain and enter upon their land. The Board felt confirmed, by these communications, in their former impressions of the practicability of the original design of making a safe and prosperous settlement upon that coast of Africa. Far more inauspicious circumstances have marked the commencement of most new settlements; and in our own country, several of the most powerful and populous States in the Union, were compelled to struggle against greater losses by disease, and greater and more numerous difficulties. It is now known to be the intention of our government to keep a ship of war continually upon the African coast, for the suppression of the slave trade. The advantages of such an arrangement to a new settlement in a strange land, are obvious, and cannot fail greatly to contribute to the order and comfort, as well as to the security of such an establishment. Upon the suppression of the slave trade, 001414a subject nearly connected with the objects prosecuted by this Society, the Board of Managers are happy to remark, that the judicious steps taken by the government, and the determination they have avowed of carrying into execution, with the utmost zeal and diligence, the honourable provisions of the acts of Congress at the two last sessions, have been attended by their expected effects. Five slave vessels have been captured and sent in; four by Cyane, and one by the Hornet; of which four have already been tried and condemned. We hope soon to be enabled to give to the public a particular account of the vessels, and the circumstances under which they were captured, with the names of the persons interested in them, and concerned in their voyages. These captures have adorned our flag with a brighter trophy than its most splendid achievements have ever won. They have brought down upon the most cruel oppressors the punishment they had long provoked, and delivered hundreds of their intended victims from the lowest deep of misery. The successful cruise of the Cyane has alarmed the fears of those whose cupidity can be no otherwise retrained; and there is reason to believe that many of those, who to the disgrace of our country, and in defiance of her laws, have long persevered in this trade, are at length compelled to yield to the dread of punishment, what neither shame nor principle could ever make them abandon.

At the last annual meeting of Society, a committee was appointed "to prepare and present a memorial to Congress, requesting that they would take such further steps, as to their wisdom might seem proper, to ensure the entire abolition of the slave trade." That memorial was laid before Congress, and, with the report of committee on the slave trade, and the law of the last session upon the subject, will be found in the Appendix. This law will strike, it is hoped expected, 001515a surer and deeper blow upon this inhuman traffick, which was found still to evade the sanctions of the preceding laws of 1819. This law denounces these offenders against the laws of God and man in their appropriate character, "as enemies of the human race;" makes their crime piracy, and their punishment death. The passage of this act, the avowed desire of the government, and the well-directed measures they are pursuing to enforce it execution, have already, it is believed, checked in some degree the profligate ordure of these adventurers. If other measures shall be found necessary effectually to obtain this great object (as from the powerful temptations of gain it is to be feared there may,) the Board indulge the hope, that the negotiation now entered upon between our government and that of England will issue in the adoption of such a course as shall take away from these offenders every remaining possibility of escape. The Board have been gratified by the increasing expressions of approbation of their fellow citizens, and they acknowledge with gratitude, the very respectful communications they have received from the ministers of Russia, France, and Denmark, in the names of their sovereigns, and from members of the government of England, and other distinguished foreigners, and the encouragement thus condescendingly bestowed upon the humble efforts of the Society. They have also to express their thanks to the former and present Governor of Sierra Leone, for the interest they have manifested in the views of this institution, and the aid they have kindly proffered to the agents and people at Sherbro. Nor can they conclude without declaring their obligations to the commanders, officers, and crews of the ships Cyane and John Adams, lately employed on the African station. They have deserved the thanks of every friend of humanity, by their benevolent exertions to relieve, 001616advise, and comfort the distressed settlers at Sherbro, no less than by their unremitting vigilance in prosecuting the interesting object of their voyage, and have thus earned, with characteristic merit, the reward of toil and enterprise, of generosity and kindness. The Board having now taken the best measures that their information and judgment could suggest, trust that they may commit the issue to Him, on whose blessing they rely, and who can give to the most unworthy instruments and inconsiderable means, a success that shall redound to his praise.January 18, 1621.

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APPENDIX.

The intelligence received from the Rev. Daniel Coker, of the state of the American Colony of Free People of Colour, now on the coast of Africa, is calculated to restore the hopes of the friends of both continents. The total loss does not exceed 25 persons, viz. 3 white, and 22 coloured. Of these, 21 died in the first month, through the unhealthiness of the spot selected for their temporary abode, and the influence of causes not likely to occur a second time. Sixty yet survive and were left in health by the John Adams, after passing through the rainy, which is the unhealthy season of Africa. The following extracts from the letters of the Rev. Daniel Coker, the present agent of the Colonization Society, whose wife and children are about to rejoin him in Africa, will best illustrate the condition and hopes of the infant colony, and show how little foundation there exists for the numerous misrepresentations of both, which have reached the United States. He writes after a narrative of their past sufferings, which he imputes to the treachery of one of his own men, and the perfidy of a pretended friend.

"Goree, Sept. 12, 1820.

"To close, I would observe, that although we have met with such trails, and are here, a small handful, and our provisions running low, and we in a strange heathen land, and have not heard from America, and know not whether any more people or provisions will be sent out, and know not what is to become of us, far distant from my dear family and friends, yet thank the Lord, my confidence is strong in the veracity of his promises, and in the honour of your Society, and the government. On last Lord's day, I preached in the king's town, and administered the Lord's supper to our little society, in presence of many natives. It was a glorious time. Some natives were affected."

"Tell my brethren to come: not to fear. The land is good: it only wants men to possess it."

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"Let nothing discourage the Society; or the coloured people. See how Sierra Leone is spreading. It had its troubles. It only wants zeal and the work will go on. I think we have done wonders or rather God has done wonders for us in standing our ground."

"I have opened a little Sunday school for native children, I teach out of doors. Some can spell. Oh, sir, it would do you good to see the little naked sable sons of Africa around me and Peak, and the parents looking on with wonder. Tell the American people to come up to the help of the Lord. Who will not help in this good cause--who will not suffer in this good cause?"

Sierra Leone, September 25th, 1820.

"The Sierra Leone and London papers were politely handed to me by the Harbour Master, (he had just reached that port on a visit.) I found much had been published in the paper of the colony against the American settlement being established so near Sierra Leone.

"Previous to my seeing him (the governor) I read a statement in the paper that the United States ship Hornet had been there, direct from America, for the purpose of hearing our wants, should we be in need. But after hearing of our distress, instead of coming, or sending to us, had put to sea. This has astonished me and others, much; I cannot account for it. They certainly know that the statements in the papers were intended to discourage them. But, if they believe the statements, I would have thought the greater the distress we were in, the stronger the inducements for them to come to us.

"On yesterday, I had to call on his excellency: (you perhaps know that Gov. M'Carthy left this colony about two months ago, in good health, for England.) Governor Grant took his place. I met with a very kind reception. He conversed freely, and seemed desirous of possessing my intention, and wishes, and very kingly offered to aid in any way I might desire. He wishes to know if I hag given up the intention of a setlement in the Sherbro. I told him that I had given the present for the land; and that the chiefs had agreed to deliver up the land in four or five days: but had not fulfilled their promise,* and I doubted whether they would until an addition was made 001919to our number. As I did know when that addition would be made, I thought that our little means of subsistence and remnant of people (about sixty in all) were in jeopardy: and that while our schooner was in a state that we dare venture in her, it would judicious to try to get to Sierra Leone hoping to meet with one of our cruisers, or armed vessels, or some instructions or arrival from America; and that, as I believed, the Society had confidence in the friendship of the colonial authority of Sierra Leone, I felt it my duty, to advise with his excellency. But that I could not feel myself free or justified in abrogating or relinquishing what was done. I thought it safest, to wait a few days, perhaps there might be an arrival of some description. He concurred with me in opinion. Wished me to deliberate on the matter and call often.

*One of the colonists from New York had secretly misrepresented their character and views to the king after the death of the white agent.

"Oh, sir, with what anxious wishes do I cast my eyes towards the Cape, and with what eagerness do I look out for the flag at the prosperous condition of Free-town, and then cast my eyes at Kissey-town, at Leicester mountain and Regents-town, at Cape Shilling, it causes my heart to pant for the day that America shall have a foot-hold on the continent. This colony has had its great difficulties, but it now blooms. Our people's minds seem to be turning towards it, but they wish with all their hearts for the establishment of our colony; but doubts begin to arise in the minds of some, and I have but few comforters among them. But I have not yet lost my confidence in government, or society, and, above all, in my God. I value the glory, the rising glory of America: and although it may cause a smile yet I will hazard the assertion, that every exertion America makes to better the situation and stop the bleeding wounds of Africa will cause her to rise in her national character more resplendent, and meet the approbation of every good and what I call great man at home and abroad: and, above all, the approbation of that God who holds in his hands the destiny of nations. This I will say, the contemplated plan of colonizing the free people of colour, somewhere on the coast, is inseparably connected with a death blow to the slave trade; as the colony will be the proper place for the reception of the recaptured Africans. I am confident of one thing, that for some time we shall need white agents.

002020

"October 6th. This afternoon I was informed that two officers of the "John Adams," of the United States Navy had just come on shore and wished to see me. When I called on them which was as you may suppose immediately, they informed me that the ship was lying outside the Cape twenty five miles, that they had come in a boat to see if they could get a pilot, and expected the Cyane might be in port, and to hear if possible of us. That they had met the Hornet or he way to America with sad news. They said they were to return to the ship in the evening at 4 o' clock, and wished me to accompany them, which I did. I cannot describe the heart--felt pleasure it afforded me when I came to the Adams and saw the falg flying. I was conducted into the cabin and received by the Captain in the most cordial manner.

"October 19th. The Commander of the John Adams has now met my desires. He and I have got through with an examination of letters and instructions brought out by him for the agents, and he has concluded on repairing the schooner and manning her from the Adams to go back with me to the Sherbro, and we expect to start in a few day. He encourages me to presevere, and states that an armed vessel will kept on the coast constantly, and thinks our schooner will be manned constantly from some one of the armed vessels that may from time to time arrive. And it is his opinion that when our misfortune reaches American it will stop the exertions of government or of the Society. What you have sent us by the Adams is a proof that you have not forgotten us. May our good Lord reward you.

"I will observe that about four weeks ago one of our best carpenters got discouraged and left us: came to Sierra Leone and got employment. The governor told me on my arrival that he was much pleased with him. But the arrival of the John Adams has made such a change in his mind, that this morning he called me to know if I would receive him again: that he wished to return with the schooner to Sherbro and that he would stick by us. I told him yes. I thought it best; you know sir, all men can't bear difficulties alike.

"Dear sir, I hope the accounts in the Sierra Leone papers will not discourage you. Tho' I have suffered in this glorious undertaking I am willing to suffer more. Oh, sir, how I long to see your agents arrive. Send Mr. E. 002121Bacon. Give my love to him. I am pleased with your constitution. It is just the thing: may the time speedily come for it to be put in force. This undertaking requires a world of patience, but patient perseverance will do much.

"I think, sir, it is of importance to us to get the intended situation on the Bagroo, should the Society here-after get another place more suitable for commerce.--1. We have given the present and have them under an obligation, to cede the land.

"2. We have lost much time and suffered to bring them to what we hoave, and the dry season is now setting in; which is the only time for clearing, building, and getting ready for planting for the next rains.

"3. The land I believe is good, the water good, (I have seen and drank of it,) and the timber plenty and large, much stone coal.

"I think the little aid obtained from the Adams will be of great service (not by using arms.) They will find that the thing is not to be easily given up. But if we can keep our heads above water till a few more well-chosen emigrants come, I think the thing will soon be decided without hostility.

"I would observe that I surprised this day on board our schooner, (about twenty men from the John Adams at work in repairing her,) nothwithstanding the death of the former crew, it was application after application to go with us. 'This is the Lord's doing and it is marvellous in our eyes.' I must close this long, long letter, by observing that the conduct of the Captain and officers of the Adams has been such that I feel them to be very near me. I believe it would have done your heart good to have witnessed the pleasure that it appeared to afford the Captain, officers, and crew to afford us any possible aid in their power. I hope and give it as my last that nothing may discourage you."D. COKER."

002222

List of deaths of the Agents and people sent out to form a settlement on the West Coast of Africa, taken from Dr. John Dix's Report, dated 22d Nov. 1820.Samuel Bacon, U. States Agent, died at Cape Shilling, May 2d, 1820.

Samuel A. Crozer, C.S. Agent, died at Campelar, April 15th, 1820.

John P. Bankson, U.S. Agent, died at Campelar, May 13th, 1820.Of the Colonists have died at Campelar,Mrs. Francis,Mrs. Johnson,Mrs. Augustine and )Mrs. Carcey,three children,)William ButlerMrs. Cameron,)Maria Crook,and Nelly,)Reuben B. Crook,Mrs. Fisher,Child of Kean's,Eliphalet Newport,A son and daughter ofMrs. Newport,Isaac Alexander,William Amen,Robert Smith.Three of the above deaths were casualties.

CAPTAIN WADSWORTH'S LETTER.

U. States ship John Adams, Coast of Africa,October 18, 1820,--at sea.

Sir--I would write you particularly respecting the settlement at Sherbro, had I time, but consider it of less consequence, as I presume the communications of Mr. Coker, which I forward you, will be more in detail, and afford you sufficient information. I found Mr. Coker, (on whom all the affairs of the settlement had devolved, by the death of the agents,) at Sierra Leone, in a state of the greatest despondency, and on the point of abandoning the settlement. I advised him to sustain himself in his present situation until he should receive instructions from the United States, as the ultimate success of the 002323settlement depended materially on such a course. I delivered him the presents I had brought out in the ship, addressed to Mr. Crozer, for the Colony, together with a few articles of necessaries and groceries from the officers of this ship, and despatched an officer and boat's crew with him to Sherbro, to render such aid and assistance as might be deemed necessary, and to obtain all information in their power. As the rains are now over, I have no doubt but the survivors will continue healthy. He left us greatly encouraged, and in good spirits, and confident, with the assistance we afforded him, that he should be able to act so as to meet the wishes of the Colonization Society. What information I may receive on my return to that place, will be communicated to you with the greatest pleasure, by the first opportunity.

With the wish, sir, that the benevolent exertions of the Colonization Society may be sucessful, I subscribe myself,Very respectfully,Your obedient servant,ALEX. S. WADSWORTHCommanding United States ship John John Adams.Elias B. Caldwell, Esq. Washington.

MEMORIAL TO CONGRESS.

To the Honourable the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States.

The President and Board of Managers of the American Colonization Society, respectfully represent that, being about to commence the execution of the object to which their views have been long directed, they deem it proper and necessary to address themselves to the legislative council of their country. They trust that this object will be considered, in itself, of great national importance, will be found inseparably connected with another, vitally affecting the honour and interest of this nation, 002424and leading, in its consequences, to the most desirable results.

Believing that examination and reflection will show that such are its connexions and tendency, they are encouraged to present themselves, and their cause, where they know that a public measure, having these advantages, cannot fail to receive all the countenance and aid it may require.

The last census shows the number of free people of colour of the United States, and their rapid increase. Supposing them to increase in the same ratio, it will appear how large a portion of our population will, in the course of even a few years, consist of persons of that description.

No argument is necessary to show that this is very far indeed from constituting an increase of our physical strength; nor can there be a population, in any country, neutral as to its effects upon society. The least observation shows that this description of persons are not, and cannot be, either useful or happy among us; and many considerations, which need not be mentioned, prove, beyond dispute, that it is best, for all the parties interested, that there should be a separation; that those who are now free, and those who may become so hereafter, should be provided with the means of attaining to a state of respectability and happiness, which, it is certain, they have never yet reached, and, therefore, can never be likely to reach in this country.

Several of the States, deeply interested in this subject, have already applied to the general government; and, concurring in the views of your memorialists, both from considerations of justice towards themselves and humanity to the coloured people, have expressed, to the general government, their desire that a country should be procured for them, in the land of their forefathers, to which such of them, as should avail themselves of the opportunity, might be removed. It has been the one single object of the Society, which your memorialists represent, to effect this end. They have made the most cautious and particular inquiries, as to the practicability of such a plan and its prospects of success, both in this country and in Africa, and they are warranted in declaring, that there are no difficulties which they do not confidently 002525expect will be easily overcome by a moderate exertion of discretion and perseverance.

In this country, and in almost every part of it, they have found a zealous and decided approbation expressed, both in words and deeds, by a vast majority of all classes of our citizens; and this sentiment is continually increasing as the measure becomes more the subject of discussion and reflection. Its importance all admit; and its practicability, though doubted by many at first, is daily less questioned.

The two last reports of the Society, to which your memorialists beg leave to refer, show the success of their mission to Africa, and the result of their inquiries upon that continent. From those it is manifest that a situation can be readily obtained, favourable to commerce and agriculture, in a healthy and fertile country, and that the natives are well disposed to give every encouragement to the establishment of such a settlement among them. Thus, it appears, that an object of great national concern, already expressly desired by some of the States, and truly desirable to all receiving, also, the approbation of those upon whom it is more immediately to operate, is brought within our reach.

But this subject derives, perhaps, its chief interest from its connection with a measure which has, already, to the honor of our country, occupied the the deliberations of the Congress of the United States.

Your memorialists refer, with pleasure, to the act, passed at the last session of Congress, supplementary to the act formerly passed for the suppression of the slave-trade. The means afforded, by the provisions of that act, for the accomplishment of its object, are certainly great; but the total extirpation of this disgraceful trade, cannot, perhaps, be expected from any measures which rely, alone, upon the employment of a maritime force, however considerable.

The profits attending it are so extraordinary, that the cupidity of the unprincipled will still be tempted to continue it, as long as there is any chance of escaping the vigilance of the cruisers engaged against them. From the best information your memorialists have been enabled to obtain, of the nature, causes, and course of this trade, and of the present situation of the coast of Africa, and the habits and dispositions of the natives, they are 002626well assured that the suppression of the African slave-trade, and the civilization of the natives, are measures of indispensable connection.

Such an opinion has been avowed, years ago, by those best acquainted with this subject, and experience has abundantly confirmed it.

The documents and papers which your memorialists had heretofore the honour of presenting to Congress, and those contained in the late reports of the Society, prove this position.

Since the establishment of the English settlement at Sierra Leone, the slave trade has been rapidly ceasing upon that part of the coast.

Not only the kingdoms in its immediate neighbourhood, but those upon the Sherbro and Bagroo rivers, and others with whom the people of that settlement have opened a communication, have been prevailed upon to abandon it, and are turning their attention to the ordinary and innocent pursuits of civilized nations.

That the same consequences will result from similar settlements, cannot be doubted. When the natives there see that the European commodities for which they have been accustomed to exchange their fellow-beings, until vast and fertile regions have become almost depopulated, can be more easily and safely obtained by other pursuits, can it be believed that they will hesitate to profit by the experience? Nor will the advantages of civilization be alone exhibited. That religion, whose mandate is "peace on earth and good will towards men," will "do its errand," will deliver them from the bondage of their miserable superstitions, and display the same triumphs which it is exhibiting in every land.

That such points of settlement would diffuse their light around the coast, and gradually dispel the darkness which has so long enshrouded that continent, would be a reasonable hope, and would justify the attempt, even if experience had not ascertained its success. Although, therefore, much may be effected by the vigilant operations of a well-disposed naval force, it is to be feared that much will always remain to be done, until some degree of civilization is attained by the inhabitants of the coast of Africa. The present measures, therefore, for the suppression of the slave trade, if unconnected with others for the improvement of the natives, must be long continued, 002727and the effects produced by them will be partial, tedious, and uncertain; and the least relaxation of this vigilance will revive it.

But those measures, and all others involving expense and labour, may be withdrawn, as soon as these establishments upon the coast become strong enough to participate in the contest against avarice and inhumanity, and shall obtain from their evident advantages over the natives, a proper influence among them. And here your memorialists beg leave, respectfully, to suggest their fears that many of the profligate adventurers in this trade will evade the search of our cruisers by their artful contrivances in disguising their national character. We have reason to believe that the slave ships of other nations assume the flag and character of Americans, to evade the search of British cruisers. It is not, therefore, to be expected that the act lately passed will often be defeated by American slave ships assuming a foreign flag and character? A careful consideration of this subject has convinced us that all our efforts will be insufficient to accomplish their purposes, unless some friendly arrangement can be made among the maritime powers of the world, which shall leave no shelter to those who deserve to be considered as the common enemies of mankind.

Whether a permission, under any modification, to certain specified ships, or in certain latitudes, to search and seize slave-ships, under our flag, such as Great Britain, and other European powers have mutually given to each other, can be properly granted by our government, we cheerfully leave to the wisdom and justice of Congress to determine. Your memorialists will only express their hope and belief, that your deliberations upon this interesting subject will enable you to discern a way, without any compromitment of our national honour, by which our country may be placed among the foremost and most efficient assertors of the rights of humanity. But your memorialists humbly consider, that the colonization of Africa offers the most powerful and indispensable auxiliary to the means already adopted, for the extermination of a trade, which is now exciting, in every country, that just indignation which has been long since felt and expressed in this.

No nation has it so much in its power to furnish proper settlers for such establishments, as this; no nation 002828has so deep an interest in thus disposing of them. By the law passed at the last session, and before referred to, the captives who may be taken by our cruisers from the slave ships, are to be taken to Africa, and delivered to the custody of agents appointed by the President. There will then be a settlement of captured negroes upon the coast, in consequence of the measures already adopted. And it is evidently most important, if not necessary to such a settlement, that the civilized people of colour, of this country, whose industry, enterprize, and knowledge of agriculture, and the arts, would render them most useful assistants, should be connected with such an establishment.

When, therefore, the object of the Colonization Society is viewed, in connection with that entire suppression of the slave trade, which your memorialists trust it is resolved shall be effected, its importance becomes obvious and extreme. The beneficial consequences resulting from success in such a measure, it is impossible to calculate. To the general cause of humanity, it will afford the most rich and noble contribution, and for the nation that regards that cause, that employs its power in its behalf, it cannot fail to procure a proportionate reward. It is by such a course that a nation insures to itself the protection and favour of the Governor of the world. Nor are there wanting views and considerations, arising from our peculiar political institutions, which would justify the sure expectation of the most signal blessings to ourselves from the accomplishment of such an object. If one of these consequences shall be the gradual, and almost imperceptible, removal of a national evil, which all unite in lamenting, and for which, with the most intense, but hitherto hopeless anxiety, the patriots and statesmen of our country have laboured to discover a remedy, who can doubt, that, of all the blessings we may be permitted to bequeath to our descendants, this will receive the richest tribute of their thanks and veneration?

Your memorialists cannot believe that such an evil, universally acknowledged and deprecated, has been irremoveably fixed upon us. Some way will always be opened by Providence, by which a people, desirous of acting justly and benevolently, may be led to the attainment 002929of a meritorious object. And they believe that, of all the plans, which the most sagacious and discerning of our patriots have suggested, for effecting what they have so greatly desired, the colonization of Africa, in the manner proposed, presents the fairest prospects of success. But if it be admitted to be ever so doubtful, whether this happy result shall be the reward of our exertions, yet, if great and certain benefits immediately attend them, why may not others, still greater, follow them? In a work evidently progressive, who shall assign limits to the good that zeal and perseverance shall be permitted to accomplish?

Your memorialists beg leave to state, that, having expended considerable funds in prosecuting their inquiries, and making preparations, they are now about to send out a colony, and complete the purchase, already stipulated with the native kings and chiefs of Sherbro, of a suitable territory for their establishment. The number they are now enabled to transport and provide for, is but a small proportion of the people of colour who have expressed their desire to go. And without a larger and more sudden increase of their funds than can be expected from the voluntary contributions of individuals, their progress must be slow and uncertain. They have always flattered themselves with the hope that when it was seen they had surmounted the difficulties of preparation, and shown that means applied to the execution of their design, would lead directly and evidently to its accomplishment, they would be enabled to obtain for it the national countenance and assistanc. To this point they have arrived; and they therefore respectfully request, that this interesting subject may receive the consideration of your honourable body, and that the Executive Department may be authorized, in pecuniary and other aid, in such way as may meet your approbation, to extend to this object such as it may be thought to require and deserve.

Your memorialists further request, that the subscribers to the American Colonization Society may be incorporated, by act of Congress, to enable them to act with more efficiency, in carrying on the great and important objects of the Society, and to enable them, with more 003030economy, to manage the benevolent contributions entrusted to their care.

JOHN MASON,)W. JONES,)E.B. CALDWELL,) Committee.F.S. KEY,)

Report of the Committee to whom was referred, at the commencement of the present session of Congress, so much of the President's Message as relates to the Slave Trade, accompanied with a bill to incorporate the American Society for colonizing the free people of colour.

The Committee on the Slave Trade, to whom was referred the Memorial of the President and Board of Managers of the American Society for colonizing the free people of colour of the United States, have, according to order, had under consideration the several subjects therein embraced, and Report:--

That the American Society was instituted in the city of Washington, on the 28th of December, 1816, for the benevolent purpose of affording to the free people of colour of the United States the means of establishing one or more independent colonies on the western coast of Africa. After ascertaining, by a mission to that continent, and other preliminary inquiries, that their object is practicable, the Society request of the Congress of the United States a charter of incorporation, and such other legislative aid as their enterprise may be thought to merit and require.

The memorialists anticipate from its success, consequences the most beneficial to the free people of colour themselves; to the several States in which they at present reside; and to that continent which is to be the seat of their future establishment. Passing by the foundation of these anticipations, which will be seen in the annual reports of the Society, and their former memorials, the attention of the committee has been particularly drawn to the connexion which the memorialists have traced between their purpose and the policy of the recent act of Congress, for the more effectual abolition of the African slave trade.

Experience has demonstrated that this detestable traffick can be no where so successfully assailed as on the 003131coast upon which it originates. Not only does the collection and embarkation of its unnatural cargoes consume more time than their subsequent distribution and sale in the market for which they are destined, but the African coast, frequented by the slave ships, is indented with so few commodious or accessible harbours, that, notwithstanding its great extent, it could be guarded by the vigilance of a few active cruisers. If to these be added colonies of civilized blacks, planted in commanding situations along the coast, no slave-ship could possibly escape detection; and thus security, as well as the enhanced profit which now cherish this illicit trade, would be effectually counteracted. Such colonies, by diffusing a taste for legitimate commerce among the native tribes of that fruitful continent, would gradually destroy among, also, the only incentive of a traffick which has hitherto rendered all African labor insecure, and spread desolation over one of the most beautiful regions of the globe. The colonies, and the armed vessels employed in watching the African coast, while they co-operated alike in the cause of humanity, would afford to each other mutual succour.

There is a single consideration, however, added to the preceding view of this subject, which appears to your committee, of itself, conclusive of the tendency of the views of the memorialists to further the operation of the act of the 3d of March, 1819. That act not only revokes the authority antecedently given to the several State and Territorial governments, to dispose, as they pleased, of those Africans who might be liberated by the tribunals of the United States, but authorizes and requires the President to restore them to their native country. The unavoidable consequence of this just and humane provision, is, to require some preparation to be made for their temporary succour, on being relanded upon the African shore. And no preparation can prove so congenial to its own object, or so economical as regards the government charged with this charitable duty, as that which would be found in a colony of the free people of colour of the United States. Sustained by the recommendations of numerous societies in every part of the United States, and the approving voice of the legislative assemblies of several States, without inquiring into 003232any other tendency of the object of the memorialists, your committee do not hesitate to pronounce it deserving of the countenance and support of the general government. The extent to which these shall be carried is a question not so easily determined.

The memorialists do not ask the government to assume the jurisdiction of the territory, or to become, in any degree whatever, responsible for the future safety or tranquillity of the contemplated colony. They have prudently thought that its external peace and security would be most effectually guarded, by an appeal, in its behalf, to the philosophy of the civilized world; and to that sentiment of retributive justice, with which all christendom is at present animated towards a much in-jured continent.

Of the constitutional power of the general government to grant the limited aid contemplated by the accompanying bills and resolutions, your committee presume there can exist no shadow of doubt; and they leave it to a period of greater national prosperity to determine, how far the authority of Congress, the resources of the National Government, and the welfare and happiness of the United States, will warrant, or require its extension.

Your committee are solemnly enjoined, by the peculiar object of their trust, and invited by the suggestions of the memorialists, to inquire into the defects of the existing laws against the African slave trade. So long as it is in the power of the United States to provide additional restraints upon this odious traffick, they cannot be withheld, consistently with the justice and honour of the nation.

Congress have heretofore marked, with decided reprobation, the authors and abettors of this iniquitous commerce, in every form which it assumes; from the inception of its unrighteous purpose in America, through all the subsequent stages of its progress, to its final consummation; the outward voyage, the cruel seizure, and forcible abduction of the unfortunate African from his native home, and the fraudulent transfer of the property thus acquired. It may, however, be questioned, if a proper discrimination of their relative guilt has entered 003333into the measure of punishment annexed to these criminal acts.

Your committee cannot perceive wherein the offence of kidnapping an unoffending inhabitant of a foreign country; of chaining him down for a series of days, weeks, and months, amidst the dying and the dead, to the pestilential hold of a slave-ship: of consigning him, if he chance to live out the voyage, to perpetual slavery, in a remote and unknown land, differs in malignity from piracy, or why a milder punishment should follow the one, than the other crime.

On the other hand, the purchase of the unfortunate African, after his enlargement from the floating dungeon which wafts him to the foreign market, however criminal in itself, and yet more in its tendency to encourage this abominable traffick, yields in atrocity to the violent seizure of his person, his sudden and unprepared separation from his family, his kindred, his friends, and his country, followed by all the horrors of middle passage. Are there not united in this offence, all that is most iniquitous in theft, most daring in robbery, and cruel in murder? Its consequences to the victim, if he survives; to the country which receives him; and to that from which he is torn, are alike disastrous. If the internal wars of Africa, and their desolating effect, may be imputed to the slave trade, and that the greater part of them must, cannot now be questioned, this crime, considered in its remote, as well as its proximate consequences, is the very darkest in the whole catalogue of human iniquities; and its authors should be considered as hostes humani generis.

In proposing to the House of Representatives, to make such part of this offence as occurs upon the ocean, piracy, your committee are animated, not by the desire of manifesting to the world the horror with which it is viewed by the American people; but, by the confident expectation of promoting, by this example, its more certain punishment by all nations, and its absolute and final extinction.

May it not be believed, that when the whole civilized world shall have denounced the slave trade as piracy, it will become as unfrequent as any other species of that offence against the law of nations? Is it unreasonable to 003434suppose, that negotiation will, with greater facility, introduce into that law such a provision as is here proposed, when it shall have been already incorporated in the separate code of each State?

The maritime powers of the christian world have, at length, concurred in pronouncing sentence of condemnation against the traffick. The United States, having led the way in forming this decree, owe it to themselves, not to follow the rest of mankind in promoting its vigorous execution.

If it should be objected, that the legislation of Congress would be partial, and its benefit, for a time at least, local, it may be replied, that the constitutional power of the government has already been exercised in defining the crime of piracy, in accordance with similar analogies, to that which the committee have sought to trace between this general offence against the peace of nations, and the slave trade.

In many of the foreign treaties, as well as in the laws of the United States, examples are to be found, of piracies, which are not cognizable, as such, by the tribunals of all nations. Such is the unavoidable consequence of any exercise of the authority of Congress, to define and punish this crime. The definition and the punishment can bind the United States alone.Extract from "An act to continue in force `An act to protect the commerce of the United States, and punish the crime of piracy' and also to make further provision for punishing the crime of piracy." Passed May 15, 1820.

Sect. 4. And be it further enacted, That, if any citizen of the United States, being of the crew or ship's company, of any foreign ship or vessel engaged in the slave trade, or any person whatever, being of the crew or ship's company, of any vessel owned in whole or in part, or navigated for, or in behalf of, any citizen or citizens of the United States, shall land, from any such ship or vessel, and, on any foreign shore, seize any negro or mulatto, not held to service or labour by the laws of either of the States, or Territories of the United States, with intent to make such negro or mulatto a slave, or shall decoy, or forcibly bring or carry, or shall 003535receive such negro or mulatto on board any such ship or vessel, with intent as aforesaid, such citizen or person shall be adjudged a pirate, and on conviction thereof before the circuit court of thy United States for the district wherein he may be brought or found, shall suffer death.

Sect. 5. And be it further enacted, That, if any citizen of the United States, being of the crew or ship's company of any foreign ship or vessel engaged in the slave trade, or any person whatever, being of the crew or ship's company of any ship or vessel owned wholly or in part, or navigated for, or in behalf of any citizen or citizens of the United States shall forcibly confine or detain, or aid and abet in forcibly confining or detaining, on board any such ship or vessel, any negro, or mulatto, not held to service by the laws of either of the States or Territories of the United States, with intent to make such negro or mulatto a slave, or shall, on board any such ship or vessel, offer or attempt to sell, as a slave, any negro or mulatto, not held to service as aforesaid, or shall, on the high seas, or any where on tide water, transfer, or deliver over, to any other ship or vessel, any such negro or mulatto, not held to service, as aforesaid, with intent to make such negro or mulatto a slave, or shall land or deliver on shore, from on board any such ship or vessel, any such negro or mulatto, with intent to make sale of, or having previously sold, such negro or mulatto, as a slave, such citizen or person shall be adjudged a pirate, and on conviction thereof, before the circuit court of the United States for the district wherein he shall be brought or found, shall suffer death.

003636
CASE OF THE SCHOONER PLATTSBURGH.

[The Board of Managers have been enabled to procure the following able and eloquent Opinion of Judge Van Ness, in the case of the Plattsburg. They hope soon to get the proceedings in the other cases.]DISTRICT COURT UNITED STATES,SOUTHERN DISTRICT, NEW-YORK.The Officers and Crew of the U. States ship of war Cyane, vs.The schooner Plattsburgh, her tackle, &c,Tillotson and Hoffman, for plaintiffs.D. B. Ogden, and Wells, contra.

This vessel was captured in April last, on the coast of Africa, for being engaged in carrying on the slave trade, in violation of the laws of the United States.

The acts passed by Congress on this subject, are,1. The act of 22d March, 1794.2. Act of 10th May, 1800.3. Act of March 2d, 1807.4. Act of April 20, 1818.5. Act of March 3, 1819.The libel contains several counts.

[The Judge's statement of the various counts in the libel, are omitted.]

These various allegations are intended to comprehend, substantially, all the applicable interdictions of the different acts of Congress prohibiting the slave trade, and they seem ample enough to embrace every possible effort that can be made, within our jurisdiction, to engage in this traffick, and every intermediate facility that may be required by foreigners in its pursuit.

The answer to these charges is filed by Manuel Gonzales, styling himself captain, for and on behalf of Juan Marina, of Santiago de Cuba.

It denies all the material allegations in the libel, and avers, that the vessel in question, during all the time specified in the libel, was wholly Spanish property, owned by the said Juan Marina, a subject of his catholic 003737majesty, born and resident at Santiago de Cuba; that he, the said Gonzales, was master and commander of the said schooner; that he is, and always has been, a subject of the king of Spain; that the said schooner, at the time of her capture, was sailing under the Spanish flag, and was duly documented, in all respects, as a Spanish vessel; that she was fitted out, and equipped for sea, on the voyage on which she was captured, in a Spanish port or place, to wit, Santiago de Cuba; that she was not to his knowledge or belief, built, fitted, equipped, loaded, or otherwise prepared at the port of Baltimore, or Charleston, or any other port within the United States, nor caused to sail from the port of Baltimore, or Charleston, or from any other port in the United States, for the purposes in the said amended libel charged; that she was engaged in a trade or commerce permitted by the laws of Spain, and therefore not amenable to any tribunal of the United States of America.

The truth of this answer is now to be tested by the evidence, which has been produced, and by the circumstances of the case.

I say, by the circumstances of the case, because it is a well and long established rule of admiralty courts of examine with care the circumstances of the cases submitted to their consideration, and compare them cautiously and deliberately with the testimony in the cause. It is among their most laborious and difficult duties to weigh the evidentia rei, and to give it, in their deliberation, its due effect, when contrasted with the positive declarations of a witness; and the known facts, and admitted circumstances of a case, must often be allowed to control its fate. This is a course of investigation, and a mode of decision, founded in necessity, and in justice too. Cases brought here, are often, if not commonly, founded in fraud, and the perpetrators of a fraud never fail to resort to the most ingenious devices, to enable themselves or others to swear, without incurring the penalties of perjury here, and by a casuistry of their own, generate a hope to escape the condemnation of heaven. Swearing alone, therefore, is not enough. It must be credible swearing. Not swearing that puts faith to the torture, and baffles every rational effort to reconcile it with plain and palpable facts. The most frivolous 003838and ineffectual forms, a bill of sale for example, given without consideration or proper inducement, to be cancelled or returned, when the temporary purpose for which it is given, is accomplished, often forms the foundation of a positive oath, as to property and ownership. Proceedings of this sort, when their fairness may be reasonably suspected, must be investigated rigorously with a view to detect the true inducement to the transfer, and the fraud, if any. These can only be developed, by means of the circumstances connected with the transaction, and when they are all at war with the forms that sustain the oaths of the witnesses, they must be allowed to outweigh and invalidate them. The importance and effect often conceded to circumstantial evidence, in courts of admiralty, necessarily results from the course and constitution of those courts. They seek and receive testimony and information from sources unknown to the common law. Men are here often swearing under the pressure of pecuniary interests or the terror of personal penalties. Their aberrations and evasions must be corrected by a careful consideration of the plain facts and circumstances of the case.

I have made these remarks in reply to the stress that we laid upon the oath said to have been taken by Marina, at St. Ago, that this vessel was his property. I do not perceive by the papers, that he has sworn to that fact, although it is in evidence, that the documents for the vessel could not have been obtained regularly without it. Be this as it may, unwilling as I am to impute perjury to any man, yet if in the execution of my public duty, I think that the necessary and irresistible inferences from the other evidence in the cause, from the other facts and circumstances connected with it, lead to such an imputation, I am not permitted to shrink from a decision that involves the charge.

Before I proceed to the written and verbal evidence in this cause, it will be best, perhaps, though at the hazard of a little irregularity, to dispose of some other legal positions that were urged on the trial.

Undue weight, if not absolute conclusiveness, was claimed for the Spanish documents found on board this vessel. This court, however, and I should suppose every other, receives papers of this sort as prima facie evidence 003939only of the fact they are intended to establish to wit, the national character of the vessel. When verified and unimpeached, they are conclusive, and entitled to the prompt recognition of the court. But they are liable to impeachment by all the means developed by the facts in the case, and the court must determine, by the ordinary rules of evidence, which is entitled to credit.--(Case of the Odin.)

It has been contended also, that the onus probandi rests upon the libellants. That it is incumbent on them to prove affirmatively and conclusively, that this vessel was American property at the time of capture. This is also a mistake. In proceedings in rem, the United States must make out a prima facie case, and will then be entitled to all the benefits of the benefits of the presumptions arising from it, until the claimant explains and obviates the difficulties in which his property is involved. When it is found under suspicious circumstances, or placed in a situation, or employed in pursuits interdicted by the laws of the country, it is reasonable that the owner should be held to develop the mysteries that surround it, and the innocence of his object. He possesses all the means, and can readily furnish all requisite explanations. He is not permitted therefore to sit with folded arms, and demand in the first instance, a demonstration of his fraudulent design or illegal pursuit.

As part of the defence, the jurisdiction of this court has been resisted, because, as is contended, the commander of the Cyane ought to have sent the captured vessel into the port of Baltimore. The fifth section of the act of 1819, directs the commander of a vessel making a capture "to bring the captured vessel and cargo, for adjudication, into some of the ports of the State or Territory to which such vessel so captured shall belong, if he can ascertain the same." What degree of evidence ought to satisfy the commander of that fact, is not, I conceive, for this court to determine.

Jurisdiction in these cases is expressly given to all the District Courts of the United States, and a departure from their instructions by the commanders of our armed ships, can never deprive a court of its general jurisdiction. When the capture is brought within the district, the jurisdiction attaches, and the officer is responsible 004040elsewhere for the violation of his duty, if any has been committed.

The pleadings, as stated, present two questions of fact for the decision of the court.

1st, Whether this vessel, during any period of this enterprise, was wholly or in part American property; and,

2dly, By whomsoever owned, whether she was prepared within, or caused to sail from, the United States, in violation of their laws.

In adverting to the testimony in the cause, I shall first state the principal and leading facts, and then, if necessary, refer to the details of the evidence to support the conclusions I have drawn.

This vessel sailed from the port of Baltimore, in December, 1819. In April following, with an American supercargo on board, navigated chiefly by Americans for all her officers, except Gonzales, alleged to be her captain, were American citizens, and with a cargo which had recently left the United States, she was found on the coast of Africa, engaged in the slave trade. These circumstances justified, and amply justified, the commander of the Cyane in seizing and sending her in for adjudication. They make out a strong prima facie case, and impose imperatively upon the claimant the burthen of showing that she was there legally, and employed in a legal pursuit. For this purpose a bill of sale is produced, with the intention to prove that the vessel in question, at the time of capture, was the property of a Spanish subject, and her papers are produced to show that she was regularly documented as a Spanish vessel. This brings us directly to the inquiry, whether this transfer was a bona fide, or, is alleged by the libellants, a fraudulent transaction. In prosecuting this inquiry, the papers must be laid out of view, because, if obtained through fraud, they are vitiated, and the claimant can derive no benefit from their possession.

It is in proof that this schooner, at the time she left Baltimore, was the property of Thomas Shephard, Henry Didier, jun. and John D'Arcy; that she left it with the name of the Plattsburgh, with Joseph F. Smith, master, and Garage Storks, supercargo. She cleared for the island of St. Thomas, but went direct to Santiago de Cuba. Here, if there be a fraud, is the first link of the 004141chain that leads to its detection--a false, or at least a concealed, destination. But clearances of this sort, it is said, are not uncommon; and where, it is asked, is the motive for concealment? But where the voyage is a legal and a fair one, a clearance for one place, with an intention to go to another, is uncommon; and, in this instance, the motive for such a course is, to my mind, very obvious. It was known that the slave trade could not be prosecuted from the island of St. Thomas; that it was interdicted by the sovereign to whom it belongs. It was equally notorious that in Santiago this traffick was pursued with much vigour and activity. We have it in evidence that the Plattsburgh was well calculated for that employment--a destination to St. Thomas, therefore, was not calculated to excite suspicion, but a clearance for Santiago, with a vessel of her construction, could scarcely have failed to attract the attention of the collector, whose vigilance had already been awakened by the reputed transactions of her supercargo; for it would seem that this man was well skilled and well practised in these nefarious pursuits, and an adept in evading the laws of his country. No part of the cargo of the Plattsburgh belonged to her owners; a circumstance consistent, to be sure, with a fair voyage, but still more so with the caution and circumspection required by a fraudulent design. She arrived at Santiago de Cuba the 25th or 26th of December, and her cargo, which consisted of various articles belonging to different persons, was all landed by the 4th or 5th of January, as is stated by the claimant's own witness. The moment her cargo was discharged, the repairs or alterations necessary to equip her for an African voyage, commenced. The two principal witnesses on both sides, to wit, Fervee and Rapp, concur in their statements of these three facts--the period of her arrival at Santiago, the time occupied in discharging her, and the commencement of the repairs. Rapp states that it took about a month to repair her, which fixes the date of her complete equipment on the 4th or 5th of February. She was transferred on the 27th of January. Now by whose authority and at whose expense, had these heavy repairs been made? Three weeks out of four, had been consumed in equipping her, and the title remained in 004242the original proprietors. Can it be supposed, that Marina would have expended such considerable sums on this vessel on his own account, before he received his title? The presumption is inconsistent with the habitual precision and caution of the mercantile character, and the inference is fair and forcible, that the schooner was equipped for and on account of Shephard, Didier, and D'Arcy.

But she was finally transferred, and by whom? By George Storks, her supercargo. In the recitals to the bill of sale, he has represented himself as the sole owner of the Plattsburgh, which is untrue--at least it is untrue according to the evidence before the court. Shephard, Didier, and D'Arey, were the owners when she left Baltimore, and it is not pretended that they at any time sold or transferred her to Storks. No power of attorney from them to sell her, has been produced or pretended. It has been called for in vain. If this vessel had been sent to the West-Indies for the purpose of being fairly sold, would not the owners have furnished their agent with the means necessary to give a legal title to her? They would either, it seems to me, have invested her with the legal title or with sufficient power to transfer it. Would not a bona fide purchaser, for a valuable consideration, examine the papers of a vessel, to ascertain to whom she really belonged, or demand of the supercargo his authority to sell her. It is not, I believe, among the usual privileges and prerogatives of a supercargo, to sell his vessel when and where he pleases. Marina, however, neither examined the one, nor demanded the other, but received from Storks, a bill of sale, for aught that appears, perfectly unauthorized, and then swears, as is said, though it does not appear in evidence, that the vessel belongs to him.

There is certainly something in these proceedings thus far, that expose them to decided and just suspicion. It was essentially necessary to the claimant's success, that he should have shown a legal title to this vessel; a valid transfer from the real American owners. As the evidence now stands, the title remains legally in Shephard, Didier, and D'Arcy. Whether it was ever intended to be conveyed, may, perhaps, be more satisfactorily determined upon a still further prosecution of this inquiry.

004343

When the Marie Gertrudes (for that was the new name given her by Marina) was equipped, a cargo was of course to be procured, suited to the objects of her intended voyage. How and where was it obtained? The solution of this question may throw some light on this dark and involved transaction.

It appears by the deposition of James M'Culloch, that about the time the Plattsburgh left Baltimore, as was pretended for St. Thomas, another vessel, belonging to the same owners, by the name of the Eros, cleared out from the same port, for Santiago de Cuba, loaded with a cargo suited to the slave trade. This circumstance of course excited suspicion, but as the vessel herself was supposed unfit for the purposes of an African voyage, the collector allowed her to proceed with her cargo, after depriving her of her guns and other articles that might be deemed constituent parts of an equipment for such an enterprise. The cargo of the Eros belongs to George Storks, who sailed in the Plattsburgh as supercargo, and transferred her to the Spaniard, Marina, at Santiago. A great portion of this cargo of the Eros was found on board the Plattsburgh or the Marie Gertrudes, as she is now called, at the time of her capture, and on her arrival within this district. These facts lead directly to the conclusion, that the sailing of these two vessels formed a part of the same design. The one intended for the coast of Africa, to evade the laws of the United States, sailed under circumstances, as far as they were known, not liable to suspicion, but with the view of receiving the cargo of the other, at some place beyond the jurisdictional limits of the United States.--Thus both escaped detention. The Eros arrived at Santiago a few days after the Plattsburgh. Her cargo belonged, it must be remembered, to the supercargo of the Plattsburgh, and I know the witness, Rapp, swears it was sold to one Girard, in Santiago. But how did it get on board the Plattsburgh? Did Girard put it there? If he did, and had bought it fairly, why does he not ask to have it restored? It is here unclaimed. The real proprietor seems to disown it, and thus justifies the inference, that it is the property of a person, who would incur the penalties of our laws, by asserting his title.

Having looked briefly into the origin of the cargo, I 004444shall proceed to an examination of the crew. Who and what were they? All the persons that composed the crew of the Plattsburgh, when she left Baltimore, supercargo, officers, and men with the exception of two seamen, were found on board the same vessel, with a new name, on the coast of Africa. It will not be denied that this is an important fact entitled to great weight in the consideration of this cause. The same Storks, who left Baltimore as supercargo, was still on board in that capacity; the same mates still held their former rank and stations; Joseph F. Smith, master of the Plattsburgh on her voyage from Baltimore to Santiago, was still a conspicuous personage in the Marie Gertrudes, active, I am bound, I think, to say, in the management of the vessel, and the discharge of important functions. But it is alleged that he was not the master of this vessel when she was captured. If not, who was? This has now become a necessary inquiry: a satisfactory solution of it will form an expressive feature in this case. It is contended that Gonzales, the present claimant, was the commander of the Marie Gertrudes--the papers are referred to, to prove it--he swears it--Rapp swears it; but what say the facts in the case, for I still think they are worth much more than swearing, under the delusive and ingenious forms of a well-concerted project? That the name of Gonzales is in the papers, is true; that he possessed some document that would enable him to swear, if necessary, to his authority, without incurring the legal penalties of perjury, I do not doubt. This is an indispensable and invariable precaution in cases of this sort. Who, then, was Gonzales, and what was he? Nothing is known or proved concerning him, but that he was a resident of Santiago. It appears clearly that he was not a seaman, and that he was ignorant of navigation. Rapp, nevertheless, knows that he was the real master and commander of this vessel; but I am unwilling to repose with implicit confidence on the testimony of this witness. I mean to press nothing to his injury; I cannot, however, withhold the remark, that he swears with a promptitude and intrepidity not usual with those who have a deep and solemn sense of the obligations of an oath. He is full of knowledge, perfect master of all the minutiae, and details, and machinery connected with this transaction, 004545but I hope it is not uncharitable to observe, that his knowledge seems brought up to the necessities of the case rather than the result of accident, or acquired in the usual and natural course of events. He was chief clerk in the compting-house of the man who loaded and fitted this vessel for her voyage, and yet when asked, though possessed of all this useful information, swears that he was not sent here to testify in this cause:--I hope, for his sake, it is so. It is in proof that Gonzales could neither write, read, nor speak English intelligibly. His log-book was kept in English; his mates were Americans, for aught that appears, ignorant of the Spanish language. Here, then, we have the strange spectacle of a master, who, besides being professionally ignorant of his duty, and unfit for his station, could neither read the log-book of his own vessel, nor converse intelligibly with his officers. Charitable as I am disposed to be, it is asking too much, I think, of charity, to concede that men of common sense would thus have prepared and organized a long and dangerous voyage.

But Joseph F. Smith, the master of this same vessel when she left the United States, was on board, and Rapp swears without hesitation, or reserve, or doubt, that he went out merely as a passenger. To elucidate this point I will again resort to the acts and conduct of Smith, as a better and purer source of information. They cannot lie. I will began at the commencement of the voyage, at Cuba. When the vessel was about to sail, Smith, it seems, was on shore, and in the evening, previous to the day of her intended departure, wrote to the mate of the vessel, whose name was also Smith, the following letter:

Mr. Smith,

"Sir--I wish you to get the schooner down to More in the morning, and get the men quartered to the guns, and station them in the tops and forecastle, the same as on board an armed ship, and get all ready for going to sea, to-morrow night. After you get down to the Moro send the boat with four men, for me.

"Your's,J. F. SMITH.""Feb. 23, 1820."P. S. Themust go as it is."

It is conceded, that there are difficulties in reconciling the language of this letter with the character and situation 004646of a passenger. It has been attempted, however, but entirely without success. It is clearly the style of one having authority--of one having the command and management of the vessel. It is directed to the mate. Would a passenger have written to the second officer, giving instructions like these; to station the men at the guns, and in the tops, and then to send a boat with four men for him? He must have been a passenger of distinction at all events; none, certainly, but a dignitary of the first rank, would have attempted it. This letter goes very far towards proving that Smith still retained the command of the vessel. But let us follow him to the coast of Africa. When Lieut. Stringham approached the Marie Gertrudes, in his boat, and hailed her, Smith answered him. When he avowed his determination to board, Smith consulted with the other officers on the quarter deck, and then told him, he might board. He received Stringham at the gang-way, ordered the helm put up, and performed all the duties of captain. When the papers were demanded, Smith spoke in Spanish to Gonzales, who procured the papers and handed them to Smith, by whom they were surrendered to Lieut. Stringham. This transaction has been relied on, to show that Gonzales had possession of the papers, and was in the command of the vessel. That he had possession of these papers may be conceded, but the act of getting them and delivering them to Smith, shows no independent authority. The construction put upon this operation by Lieut. Stringham, is perfectly natural. He supposed at the time, that Gonzales was a clerk or some officer subordinate to Smith, and that he had been sent to the cabin for the papers. I think an inference may be drawn from this proceeding, in favor of the authority and command of Smith. It is said, too, that Smith performed all these duties gratuitously, and only because he understood English. But where were the regular officers of the ship? They could all speak English. One of the mates, 'tis true, was on shore, but the other was at his post. And where was the ingenious Mr. Storks, the sugercargo, who had acted so conspicuous a part in the antecedent stages of this enterprize? He too was present and could speak English, as now appears, though equipped in a Spanish dress. But no one, it seems, was called on to 004747officiate on this important occasion, but a mere passenger. There is another circumstance in the conduct of Smith, entirely incompatible with every idea of a fair and bona fide transaction. He had assumed a feigned name. He went at the time, by the name of Thomas Finely. I will not take the trouble to inquire or even to conjecture the motives for this vulgar deception. It is consistent only with an unworthy pursuit. Any man engaged in a fair employment, would have disdained the artifice. We have now seen, that Smith's conduct, from the commencement to the end of the voyage, has been uniform and consistent. He has, throughout, exhibited the deportment of a man in power and command. His conduct, and the incapacity of Gonzales, cannot be reconciled with any other conclusion, than that he continued to be the real master of this vessel, up to the time she was seized, and that Gonzales was only a nominal captain, a capitan de papel, as the Spaniards call him, a mere man of straw, to answer the purposes of fraud, and of defence in courts of justice.

The prize-master arrived at this port with the Plattsburgh, on the 26th of May last. The certificate of the registry of this vessel was returned to the collector, on the 29th, with an endorsement, stating the vessel to have been sold to foreigners at St. Thomas. This endorsement could only have been made for the purpose of concealing some improper transaction. It is proved to be totally false by the very evidence offered in support of the claim. The whole defence is placed upon the fact, that she was sold at Santiago.

I will now for a moment advert to the general character and description of the evidence by which the defence in this case has been supported. The papers of the vessel, the oath of Gonzales, and the testimony of Rapp, are all that is relied on to sustain it. Where, permit me to inquire, is the testimony of Shephard, Didier, and D'Arcy? They owned the Plattsburgh when she left Baltimore, and if they have sold her, or if she has been transferred in good faith, and for a valuable consideration, by their authority, they are competent witnesses to prove the fact. They are all resident in Baltimore, and might without difficulty have been produced on the trial, or examined under the statute. Why has not Marina interposed 004848his claim, and sworn in person to his property? He has had ample time. What has become of the gentleman in the Spanish dress, the famous Mr. Storks, the supercargo of the Plattsburgh, and of the Marie Gertrudes, and who is familiar with this proceeding from its inception, to its termination? The man who executed the bill of sale? If he owned the Plattsburgh, or had a power from the owners to sell her, and sold her honestly, he could have testified to that fact. He is likewise, it is said, in Baltimore. And Smith too, the passenger, he must as such, be disinterested, and is in Boston.--Testimony from any of these persons, would have come with peculiar force. For their knowledge on the subject of this inquiry cannot be doubted, and nothing but wilful perjury on their part, could have withheld from us the real character of this transaction. But the proprietor, whoever he be, has not thought proper to furnish the court with evidence drawn from any of these sources, and has placed his whole reliance, for the recovery of a valuable property, on the testimony of his nominal captain, as I have decided him to be, and of a clerk in the counting-house of Wanton & Co. The inference to be deduced from this course, must all be against him, and in concert with the facts I have enumerated, and the evidence to which I have referred, have established a conviction in my mind, that this transaction is a fraud throughout. That Gonzales was the colourable, Smith the real captain; that the Spanish authorities at Santiago have been deceived; that the property never was bona fide Spanish, but was, and is in truth and in fact, American.

This judgment disposes of one of the principal charges in the libel, and is enough for the purposes of the present prosecution. I am seldom willing to go further in my decisions than is rendered necessary by the matters put in issue, but on this occasion it may, perhaps, be useful to depart from the customary course: as far as the opinion of this court may be entitled to weight, it may operate to prevent similar attempts.

If this vessel was sent from Baltimore with the intention of prosecuting a voyage to the coast of Africa, of which I have no doubt, the device adopted to avoid suspicion and detention is certainly entitled to the credit 004949of much ingenuity. But however it may escape observation at the moment, it can never be permitted to operate as an effectual evasion of the laws. Sending one vessel from the United States, designed for the slave trade, in ballast if you please, and another with her cargo and equipments, to be transhipped at a foreign port, or at a place beyond our jurisdiction, brings her, in my judgment, within the spirit and the terms of the acts of 1794 and 1818.

It will be seen that I have hitherto made no use of the testimony of Fervee. I did not think it necessary; but it is proper to state, that I see no sufficient reason for laying it aside. He is corroborated in several important circumstances by Rapp himself, and some parts of his statement are supported by facts in the cause otherwise established. If his testimony is to be received, the Plattsburgh took in articles at night before her departure from Baltimore, that brought her clearly within the prohibitions of the law. But it would be superfluous to press this part of the case.

Still another view may be taken to this subject.

By the laws of the United States, and by those of Great Britain, the slave trade has long been prohibited to their respective citizens and subjects. Great and serious difficulties in the execution of these laws have hitherto tended to defeat the just and benign purposes for which they were enacted. Although they might operate to the exclusion of their own people from a direct participation in this criminal pursuit, yet it was in many instances indirectly prosecuted, under all the forms which fraud and ingenuity could devise; and while the other nations of Europe sanctioned this traffick, but little seemed to be accomplished in the great cause they were intended to support. The principal powers of Europe, have, however, successively abolished this trade, and the period has, I think, arrived, when courts of admiralty may safely hold, that prima facie, this trade is illegal, and impose upon the claimant of the captured property the necessity of showing his exemption from the general rule. If he claims to be pursuing a trade permitted by the municipal laws of his own country, he must show it. This is alleged and contended in this case. But how stands the fact? Spain, in her treaty 005050with Great Britain of the 23d September, 1817, stipulates to abolish the slave trade to the north of the equator, as soon as the ratifications of the treaty shall have been exchanged, and to interdict it wholly after the 30th of May, 1820.

This treaty, it is to be presumed, was duly executed, and its execution appears too by an ordinance of Spain.

The Marie Gertrudes had a document of board, permitting her to trade south of the line, in conformity to this treaty and this ordinance. But she was seized north of the line, trading in direct violation of her license, and of the laws she now invokes for protection. Upon her own showing, then, she was subject to confiscation in the courts of her own country, and upon the principle here assumed, this claim must be rejected.

The application of a still broader principle, it is conceived, may properly be submitted to the consideration of courts instituted for the administration of national law. The United States, and all the nations of Europe, with the exception of Portugal, have now prohibited the slave trade; the prohibition, therefore, is nearly universal, and it is pressed upon their serious deliberation, whether this traffick may not now be pronounced, as well contrary to the law of nations as of nature. A great portion of what has long been considered the law of nations has received a less general recognition, and is founded on a basis not more sound or solid. After all the treaties that have been formed, and all the abolition laws passed, pursuant to their provisions, it may well be questioned, whether this species of commerce had not ceased to be juris gentium. The civilized world has abolished it, and its annals should no longer be polluted by the foul record of barbarities it has proscribed.--After an humiliating conflict of half a century, reason and humanity have a length triumphed over these criminal and eccentric efforts of commercial warfare. The victory has been dearly won, and should be maintained, by means of all the legal securities, and the application of every salutary principle, that can be fairly extracted from municipal or from public law. I am in no way influenced by the fashionable theories of the day, which by anticipating remedies, may envenom the disease, and perpetuate the evil; nor am I insensible to the benefits 005151of a fair and honest commerce. Its benign influence on social and national intercourse, is recorded in the history of civilization, and every enlightened government must recognize the importance of cherishing commercial enterprise. The spirit of commerce, when properly directed, is a noble and magnanimous spirit. In its sagacious and adventurous career, it traverses alternately, the ocean and the land. It pursues its object in the remotest regions of the globe. It gathers wealth from every soil, or seeks it in the deep, and proclaims as it mounts upon the billow, the enterprise and the glory of the nation. But it is difficult to prescribe limits to the avarice of man, and when this hardy and vigorous principle of human action is perverted to bad purposes, it endangers the peace, and corrupts the morality of the world. The pursuit which produced this inquiry, exhibits it in its most pernicious form, and nothing less than the united authority and powerful co-operation of civilized nations, can arrest the further prosecution of this gagantic evil.

I have condemned this vessel upon the facts, which I think have been sufficiently established by the evidence, namely, that she was, at the time of seizure, American property, and that the voyage originated in a port of the United States. But I have drawn into view other principles, in the hope, that upon a further defence of this prosecution, they may attract the attention, and receive the consideration of the Supreme Court.

Copy of a letter from Captain Alex. S. Wadsworth, to the Secretary of the Navy.United States ship John Adams,Off the Islands de Loss--October 18, 1820.

Sir--I have the pleasure to inform you, that since writing you by the Hornet, on the 20th ult. I continued to cruise on the coast, between Cape Mount and the Isles de Loss, until the 6th inst. without meeting with any slave vessels, although we boarded every vessel we saw, except one, which escaped us in the night; neither was I able to communicate with the establishment at Sherbro, on account of the continuance of the rains, and violent weather, which prevented us from making free with the land. After being off the Isles de Loss, on the 3d inst. 005252I ran down for Sierra Leone, to endeavour to get information respecting the Cyane, and to send a boat from thence to Sherbro. On the 6th we anchored off Sierra Leone, and sent a boat in for a pilot. On the 9th we received a pilot, and run in. At this place I found the schooner Augusta, a vessel purchased by the late United States agent, Mr. Bacon, and Mr. Daniel Coker, the only surviving agent of the establishment of Sherbro. From him I learned the death of Mr. Bacon and Mr. Bankson, the agents of the United States, Mr. Crozer, the agent of the Colonization Society, and of Midshipman Townsend, and six men belonging to the United States ship Cyane, with several of the black emigrants. The situation of the survivors was extremely unpleasant and precarious. The bad faith and avaricious disposition of the natives preventing their getting the land on the Bagroo river, which had been bargained and partly paid for, and the injuries and insults they received from them, since the death of the agents, together with their not hearing from the United States, had almost determined them to abandon their situation, and retire to Sierra Leone; the Governor of that colony having promised an armed force, which would probably be necessary for the removal of such stores and provisions as remain. Deeming it of importance to the final success of the settlement, as well as to the establishment of an agency on the coast for the reception of liberated slaves, I advised Mr. Coker to persevere, and not abandon the claims he has upon the chiefs, until he should receive assistance and instructions from the United States. To encourage and assist him, as well as to obtain better and correct information, I sent two Midshipmen, and a boat's crew of ten men, on board the schooner Augusta, to proceed with Mr. Coker to Sherbro, and by the time I shall be enabled to return to Sierra Leone, shall receive certain information, which will be transmitted you by the first opportunity.

As there is no United States agent on the coast, to provide for the reception of slaves, I considered it preferable, instead of sending any that may be captured by me to the United States, to make an arrangement with the gover or of Sierra Leone, for their reception at that place, and believe it can be effected without expense 005353to the United States, and probably that they will be delivered up whenever required for any establishment of the United States on this coast. As yet I have made no final agreement.

The schooner Augusta is a schooner apparently of about eighty tons; her timbers and bottom good, her plank, above her cooper, was considerably worm eaten, having lain aground at Sherbro some time; and she required considerable repairs to enable her to return to Sherbro. This I was enable to effect with the men of this ship, without any expense, except supplying her with a kedge anchor, and an old sail, from this ship. When I receive my men from her, I shall leave her in charge of Mr. Coker. Learning at Sierra Leone that there was an American vessel in the Rio Pongas, for slaves, I sailed on the 15th for that place, intending to send my boats up the river for her. On my passage yesterday we fell in with the United States ship Cyane, Capt. Trenchard, by whom I send this. I likewise send you all the papers I could collect, relating to the accounts of the late United States agent, Mr. Bacon, together with his letter book.

As my crew have been healthy, notwithstanding the rains, I have not thought it necessary to leave the coast, as permitted by your instructions. My provisions, however, are getting short, and I shall be obliged to leave the coast by the 15th of November, having then on board but thirty days bread, and some other articles of provision, which, however, with care, I expect will last us to St. Thomas. The times of a great part of my crew will be out in December, and more than half in January, which will make it desirable to reach the United States in at least all that month.

The rains on the coast have now nearly ceased, and the tornadoes are commencing with great violence. I have nothing further of consequence to communicate. We shall proceed on the Rio Pougas, when we part company from the Cyane.

The Hornet parted company from us about the 23d of September, to the south of Sherbro, bound to the West-Indies.

I have the honour to be very respectfully, your obedient servant,ALEX. S. WADSWORTH.Hon. Smith Thompson, Secretary of the Navy.

005454

Copy of a letter from Captain Edward Trenchard, to the Secretary of the Navy.United States ship Cane, 25th December, 1820,Working up the harbour of New-York.

Sir--With pleasure I have the honour to inform you of my arrival at this port, after a passage of fifty-seven days, last from Sierra Lain.

For your further information, I beg leave to state, that after leaving Port Praya, on the 4th of October, I ran down the coast, and off the Rio Pongo, standing along the main land, as near, (on account of islands and shoals,) as prudence would permit, the 18th, when off Cape Sierra Leone, we descried two strange sail, one of which, upon exchanging signals, proved to be the John Adams, which we were in search of, in company with his Britannic majesty's brig Snapper, on their way to the Rio Pongo, for the purpose of looking after a suspicious armed vessel, said to be in that river.

On our passage down, we were considerably retarded by an almost constant succession of tornadoes, rains, and calms.

on exchange of signals, Captain Wadsworth politely came on board, and handed me your instructions of June 21st, 1820. The next morning he sent on bid me your instructions of June 21st, 1820. The next morning he sent on board such despatches and papers as he wished transmitted to the United States, which I have forwarded as directed.

As it was considered essential to procure a further supply of water, previous to our sailing for the United States, we ran in and came to anchor off the cape, to avoid sickness, which was then very prevalent on shore, and commenced filling it up; during which time I despatched a boat, under command of Lieut. Mervin (who is the bearer of these despatches, and will furnish every information in his power, that may be required,) assisted by Surgeon Dix, with orders to proceed to the Island of Sherbro, and obtain all the information in their power, respecting the death of Midshipman Townsend, and men detailed from the Cyane to the assistance of the colonists, with every circumstance connected with the same; also to learn the present state and condition of the surviving settlers, the number of deaths which had occurred, the probable cause of the mortality which had taken place among them; likewise the local situation of the place, the quality of the water, the disposition of 005555the natives towards the colonists, with every circumstance they might consider essential; and on their return, to report the result of their observations and inquiries, in order that I might be enabled to transmit the same for the information of the Department, a copy of which I have herewith the honour to enclose.

Being deeply impressed with the deplorable fate of those sent from this ship, with Mr. Bacon, to assist the settlers, the death of the agents, and the deranged state of the colony; likewise reflecting, that should any vessels soon be captured by United States cruisers, having Africans on board destined for slavery, that in the present state of affairs they could not immediately be received and accommodated at Sherbro, there being no person properly authorized to take cognizance of them; after mature consideration, trusting it would meet the approbation of government, I addressed a letter to the acting governor of Sierra Leone, to inquire whether he would be willing to receive, and if received, how and in what manner he would dispose of such Africans as might be found on board slave vessels, captured by cruisers belonging to the United States, in the event that they could not be immediately received and accommodated by the colony at or near Sherbro, a copy of which letter and answer I have likewise enclosed.

On the evening of the 27th the cutter returned from Sherbro, all well, accompanied by the Rev. Daniel Coker, acting agent of the colony, from whom I learnt, that a spirit of insubordination and disagreement had manifested itself among the colonists on their passage out, and had continued to increase, notwithstanding the unremitted efforts of Mr. Bacon and the other agents, to control and pacify them; that on the death of Mr. Bacon, they fell into total disorder, openly declaring that they knew no authority, and would not be controlled, stealing and pilfering whenever an opportunity offered, and threatening the acting agent, if he attempted to restrain them. The natives observing their disunion and feuds, instigated by cupidity and avarice, took advantage of their ignorance and disagreement, and would not assist or afford them any relief. In addition to this, sickness soon made its appearance among them, and carried off their physician, with those sent from the Cyane to assist them, and about one third of their own number. Of the 005656survivors, some continued where they were, others left the place, and went to Sierra Leone,. as fancy or inclination led them. The acting agent, Mr. Coker, apprehending violence from those who remained, contemplated removing with the schooner and stores to Sierra Leone, until he should receive advice from the United States.

It appears from the whole, that they have been deceived and imposed upon by the natives, among whom John Kizzell, an influential man among them, and their own misconduct, have been the chief cause of their being reduced to their present condition.

On the 28th we got under way, when Mr. Coker left us.[The remainder of this letter relates to other matters.]

I am, with the highest consideration,Respectfully, sir, your obedient servant,EDWD. TRENCHARD.Hon. Smith Thompson,Secretary of the Navy.

Copy of a letter from the Rev. D. Coker, to the Secretary of the Colonization Society.Sierra Leone, November 1, 1820.

Honoured Sir--Having written to you largely a few weeks ago, by the Cyane, (the letters having been delivered to the Cyane by the Adams,) I have only now to say, that the Captains of the Cyane and Adams will inform you of all that has taken place since. And you may put the fullest confidence in the information you may receive through these offers, for they have not spared any pains to get a correct knowledge to the state of things. I shall wait with great anxiety of the arrival of your agents. May the Lord direct you in your future movements. I am in much haste, but yours, still, in the same esteem and affection.

D. COKER.

N.B. I sent the second part of my journal, and several letters to you, about four months ago, by the way of England, in care of governor M'Carty, which I hope you have received before this time. I would observe again, that I cannot speak in too high terms of the officers of the Adams, and Cyane. The kindness of the Captains of the Cyane, and Adams, with the officers, will never, (I hope) be forgotten by me. Elias B. Caldwell, Esq, Washington.

005757

[The following note, so highly creditable to the parties, was received by Mr. Coker from the officers of the John Adams, and forwarded by him to the Society.]

Captain Wadsworth, and the Wadsworth, and the Ward-room Officers of the United States ship John Adams, present their compliments to Mr. Coker, and beg of him to do them the favour to make use of the enclosed. Removed to such a distance from the United States, and the uncertainty of any direct or immediate communication with his friends at home, Mr. Coker, it is believed, in the exercise of the unpleasant duties of his situation, may be exposed to some difficulties and embarrassments. It is from a consideration of these circumstances, as well as from their personal esteem of Mr. Coker, that the Officers are induced to tender this small assistance to him, which, as it subjects them to no inconvenience, they hope he will oblige them by accepting. While the Officers regret the necessity which suspends their further acquaintance with Mr. Coker, they take leave of him with assurances of their best wishes for his prosperity and happiness.United States ship John AdamsOff Sierra Leone, November 23, 1820.

[The following extracts are made from the late able and interesting Report of the Frederick County, Virginia, Auxiliary Society.]

"Africa, the pride and the original seat of the arts and sciences, has for three hundred years been visited with every act of oppression which could be devised by the tyranny or injustice of mankind. After improving the condition of the ancient nations of Europe and Asia, by instructing them in the principles of civil government and the maxims of philosophy, she has, in modern ages, been rewarded for her services by a system of cruel, inhuman persecution, unparalleled in the annals of the world. By means of the slave trade, that scourge of Africa, the countries bordering on her sea-coast have been disolated, her virtues blasted, her peace destroyed, her civilization retarded or converted to barbarism, and her intercourse with foreign nations annihilated, except in the diabolical traffick of human flesh! Our own country is blackened with the victims of slavery, already amounting to nearly two millions of souls; and to contemplate 005858their increase though the vista of futurity, is alarming to the patriot and the philanthropist.

"While we deprecate the horrors of slavery, it is consoling to reflect that our country is originally guiltless of crime, which as legalized by Great Britain under our colonial government, and consummated by commercial avarice, at a time when our powerless legislatures vainly implored the mother country to abolish a trade so impious in its character, and dreadful in its consequences. In the year 1772, Virginia discouraged the importation of slaves by the imposition of duties, and supplicated the throne to remove the evil; and in 1778, having broken the fetters of British tyranny, she passed a law prohibiting the further importation of slaves. The attention of the continental Congress was called to this interesting subject as early as the year 1774, and the opposition then expressed to the slave trade was afterwards effectuated by a law enacted by the constitutional Congress as soon as its delegated powers would permit. In an address which was carried unanimously in in both houses of the British parliament, it is said "that the United States of America were honourably distinguished as the first which pronounced the condemnation of this guilty traflick." In pursuance of our example, enforced by the eloquence of Clarkson, Wilberforce, and their coadjutors, the British government, and subsequently the other nations of Europe (with the exception of Portugal) have fully united in this work of humanity; whilst Portugal has also renounced the slave trade to the north of the equator.

"About the era of the French revolution, the colony of Sierra Leone was firmly established, as an asylum for captured Africans, on the very spot where modern slavery commenced. This coincidence is truly remarkable, and connected with the progress of the principles of civil liberty, and the many laudable institutions of the present revolutionary period, for the propagation of Christianity, and the gradual extension of human happiness, may serve to convince us that the omnipotent being 'who seeth not as man seeth,' can direct these astonishing events to work together for the good of his creatures, even amidst the wreck of nations, the crush of empires, and the desolation of the world.

"From the successful establishment of the colony of Sierra Leone, the idea was probably first suggested in 005959this country of colonizing the free people of colour. In the year 1802, Mr. Jefferson, then President of the United States, in compliance with the request of the Virginia legislature, communicated by Governor Monroe, endeavoured to accomplish the important object of our Society by a negotiation with the Sierra Leone company, and afterwards with Portugal: but the attempt at that time unavoidably failed, and was perhaps permaturely made. Not discouraged, however within the failure, we find the venerable patriot, in 1811, again approbating the proposition of Ann Mifflin, of the Society of Friends, to procure a colonizing establishment on the coast of Africa. In short, the advocates of the plan of colonization increased, until on the 21st of December, 1816, the first meeting to form a Colonizing Society was held at Washington, and shortly afterwards the American Society was established by the particular exertions of Dr. Finley, of New-Jersey, and under the patronage of individuals who are considered ornaments to their country; many of them occupy a seat in the highest councils of the nation, and some in every department of the government. Auxiliary associations followed in rapid succession, and the 20th of September, 1817, was formed the Auxiliary Society of Frederick county, Va.

"Encouraged by the approbation of a committee of Congress of the legislatures of Maryland, Virginia, Georgia, and Tennessee, of various ecclesiastical synods and conventions, and of a host of friends not less distinguished for their wisdom than their virtue, or ever profession, and from every section of the United States, the American Society, with a degree of prudence only equalled by its unshaken resolution, proceeded to adopt such incipient measures as were necessary to lay the foundation of of the splendid edifice which it proposed to erect as refuge for suffering humanity."

"Ours was the first Auxiliary Society formed in Virginia. On the 20th of September, 1817, its operations commenced, and in a short time about six thousand dollars were subscribed, payable in five annual instalments, besides permanent subscribes. The individuals who contributed so liberally on this occasion, enjoy the smiles of an approving conscience, the gratitude of their country, and the admiration of the world. May they live to behold their efforts crowned with success--to see the midnight gloom which envelopes benighted Africa, 006060dissipated by the Sun of Righteousness, and 'Ethiopia stretch out her hands unto God!'

"Nor can we omit to mention that the additional sum of $146.13 was lately collected in Frederick county, by female exertions, for the purchase of clothes to be distributed by the agents of the Society among the unlettered sons and daughters of Africa, who may resort to them for instruction. On this occasion, the ladies, with a tender sensibility peculiar to their sex, in a very short time completed three hundred and sixty-four garments, for no other reward than the pleasure of doing good: and to this will be added the blessing of that God who delights in universal benevolence; who created bond and free, Africans and Europeans, of the same kindred, and equally heirs of immortality.

"Our Society pursues its career with unabated vigour; but while we continue to gain many new proselytes, and to receive the sanction of the public from all parts of the Union, we have to regret that many, whose virtues we respect, whose talents we admire, and whose motives must be pure, are still indifferent or hostile to the objects of the Society. Have they, we would ask, sufficiently examined our principles and our progress? Or have they been precluded by professional avocations from bestowing due consideration on a Society unquestionably charitable in its design, and wide as the world in its operation? If the latter be the fact, we must intreat their attention to the remainder of this report, while we shall endeavour to refute some of their most material objections; as we cannot forego the hope of being able to convince some of our respectable opponents, that their opposition arises from an inattention to the facts and principles by which we are governed."

"Having thus attempted to prove the expediency of our design, we proceed to consider its practicability:

"Ist. A fertile and salubrious territory can be procured, at a moderate expense, on the western coast of Africa, uniting every possible advantage. This proposition can be fully demonstrated by extracts from the most authentic writers. For the sake of brevity, we shall content ourselves, with giving the result of their inquiries, and for further information on this subject we refer to the several annual report of the American Colonization Society.

"On the Bagroo river, opposite the island of Sherbro, 006161it is contemplated to locate the colony. This country is healthy, fertile, well watered and agreeably interspersed with hills and valleys, luxuriant meadows covered with perpetual verdure, productive uplands and lofty mountains.

"The Bagroo has four fathoms water, which is amply sufficient for the purposes of foreign commerce; and the country adjacent will admit of a profitable inland navigation. Its productions consists chiefly of rice, corn, cassada, yams, sweet potatoes, bananas, plantains, coconuts, limes and oranges, coffee, indigo, and cotton; besides a variety of medicinal roots, and plants, and woods, barks, and leaves for colouring. Domestic fowls are quite numerous. Fish, also, are said to be numerous, and of a good quality. The animals used for food consist of deer, buffaloes, sheep, goats, oxen, wild hogs and fowls. The soil is admirably adapted to the cultivation of sugar, and every species of tropical produce. Some estimate may be formed of the fertility and productions of the Bagroo country, by adverting to those of Sierra Leone, which is but a small colony, and inferior to our proposed settlement in every respect: yet governor M'Carthy thinks it might in a few years produce a sufficiency of rice for the supply of all the British islands in the West-Indies. A statement published in the Second Annual Report of the American Colonization Society, of the exports for one year from Sierra, Leone, will throw additional light on the subject now under consideration.

"This delightful region, so favourable to agriculture, commerce, and manufactures, like the rest of tropical Africa, is nearly depopulated by slave trade, which has desolated the coast, and driven the persecuted natives to the interior. Hence millions of acres are uncultivated, and may be purchased almost on our own terms. The agents of the parent Society, when in Africa, thought that the same goods which would purchase a full cargo of slaves, would exchange for lands sufficient to accommodate five or ten thousand people.

"All accounts concur in assuring us of the salubrity of the climate on the Bagroo; nor could it be otherwise than salubrious, considering its elevated situation, refreshed by a pleasant sea-breeze on the one hand, and the mountain air on the other. Its temperature is much more uniform than that of our climate, and by no means so high as might be supposed. 'At Cape Coast Castle,' 006262says Meredith on the Gold Coast, "which is situated in about five degrees of north latitude, the thermometer has been known, at one period, as high as 93 degrees; but the usual degrees of heat observed in the hottest months, were from 85 to 90 degrees; and Cape Coast Castle is considered the hottest situation on the Gold Coast.' At Winnebah, east of Cape Coast, in the months of June, July, August, and the greater part of September, Fahrenheit's thermometer has been known to vary only from 74 to 78 degrees. Compare this temperature with that of our own country. At the town of Windsor, in Vermont, in September of the present year, 1820, from the 6th to the 10th of the month, inclusive, the range of the mercury was from 88 to 98 degrees. At Washington City, in July last, the mercury was as high as 96 degrees, and the mean temperature of that month was nearly 79 degrees. Our climate is rendered unhealthy by its sudden and great fluctuations; from which defect the Bagroo climate is exempt.

"2d. The friendly disposition of the natives, enhanced by a national sympathy for the colonists, will greatly facilitate the establishment of our colony. Aided by this friendship, 'the colony of Sierra Leone boasts, at this moment, a greater degree of prosperity, than distinguished any one of the British colonies, now the United States, at the same period after its foundation.' True it is, the colonists once suffered from an incursion of their neighbours: but this calamity originated, in the early period of the colony, from their own imprudence and misconduct, and was so easily and effectually repelled, that it has never since been repeated. Our colonists, composed of better materials, need not dread a similar invasion, particularly as their objects are now understood and approbated by the natives. Instead of the war-whoop of the savages, armed with implements of death and torture, they go to meet their friends and brothers, a generous, humane, hospitable race, who already welcome their approach, as the harbinger of civilization and social happiness. We the Africans are kind and amiable; and who, that is acquainted with their history, can doubt it? On the coast, they are measurably corrupted by the slave trade: but what white man ever visited the interior without being treated hospitably, and at his departure receiving the negro's benediction?

006363

"Go, white man, go, but with thee bear"The negro's wish, the negro's prayer,"Remembrance of the negro's care."

"3d. Ways and means can be supplied to effectuate the objects of our Society. And why not? Has not the colony of Sierra Leone been successfully established? Were not the colonies of our own country established under more unfavourable auspices? Could Xerxes transport five millions of souls, with a hostile design, to an immense distance, by an expensive land transportation; and cannot we transport a much smaller number, under the banners of philanthropy, by water, a method of transportation far more cheap and expeditious? In the course of twenty-five years 1,500,000 slaves have been exported from Africa. And cannot we restore an equal number in the same time? Can avarice and iniquity effect more than humanity and justice?

"It is undoubtedly desirable gradually to emancipate and colonize the whole coloured population of the United States. If it be expedient to colonize the whole, it is also expedient to colonize a part; therefore in effecting only the latter, we deserve the patronage of the public. We shall attempt, however, to demonstrate the practicability of accomplishing the whole object, with the co-operation of government; while we shall claim the victory if we prove it practicable to colonize only one thousand, or even a smaller number, of these unfortunate beings.

"Captain Paul Cuffee, from actual experiment, estimated the expense of transporting free persons of colour to Africa, at 60 dollars each. The whole number of blacks, bonds and free, may be estimated at 1,900,000, and the annual increase at 58,000. An annual appropriation of five millions of dollars would be adequate to transport every year at 60 dollars each, 83,333, which is 25,000 more then the increase. Thus by sending out every year 25,000 more than the increase, we would in forty years export the whole number. This calculation is strictly accurate, making due allowance for the annual diminution of the increase.

"According to Seybert's Statistics, the whole number of free persons of colour in the United States amounted in 1810, to 186,446. Admitting 23,000 of this number to be able to transport themselves, the residue agreeably to the foregoing process, might all be transported in two years! And we take it for granted that money will always 006464command any number of vessels, even if it should be necessary to build them.

"It is obvious that the estimate of the expense of transporting the whole black population, would be lessened at least one third, were we to make a fair deduction for all those who would be able, from the ordinary causes applicable to emigration, to defray their own expenses. But we are willing to concede every thing to our adversaries, confident of our ability to defeat them upon their own data.

"But it is said the appropriation of five millions per annum is too enormous. To this we reply, that the evil to be remedied is still more enormous, and the vast resources of our country, continually augmenting, would fully justify an expense essential to her own safety and welfare. To some persons fifteen millions appeared a great price for the purchase of Louisiana; and yet, by giving that price, we probably escaped a war which would have cost us one hundred millions, besides the loss of valuable lives. Thus a liberal expenditure may eventually become a national saving.

"But although the nominal expense would be considerable, our country would in reality lose nothing: on the contrary, the national wealth be greatly increased. The sale, value, of the lands necessary to the support of our black population, would more than defray the expense of their transportation; and by substituting in their place the labour of freemen, the saving would be astonishing.

"This idea may be illustrated by referring to the state of agriculture and domestic economy in the slave-holding states. A farmer cultivates a farm of 10,000 acres with 300 slaves. Of these, at least 150 may be deducted as supernumeraries, and fifty more as old and infirm, children and sick, domestics, and such as are required to administer to the daily wants of their fellows. But deduct only fifty in all, and it is evident that they, as well as their master and overseers, must be supported by the labour of the residue. Owing to this wretched system, connected with the bad cultivation, the indolent and destructive habits, generated by slavery, the master amasses nothing, but barely supports his family, while his property is daily depreciating. It may be assumed that the labour of forty freemen, judiciously bestowed on these 10,000 acres, would be as productive as that of 300 slaves. But the labour of 300 slaves may, under our assumption, be 006565considered about equal to their support, and at 100 dollars each, will amount to 30,000 dollars; which sum will be necessary for the preservation of the estate, or principal. The support of forty free labourers, at 150 dollars each, will be 600 dollars. Consequently, the gross produce of the labour of the slaves and freemen being the same, while the profits of the former are entirely absorbed for the support of the farm, there will be an actual clear profit in favour of the latter, of $24,000 over and above their support. And thus there will be an addition to the national wealth of $24,000, resulting from the substitution of 40 freemen in the room of 300 slaves.

"Some of the slaves, chiefly on the small estates, are doubtless employed more profitably: but admit that our argument applies to 100,000 of them, which is little more than one-twentieth of the whole, and by extending the computation to this number, there will result an annual addition to individual and national wealth of eight millions of dollars! But five millions of dollars annually, for a limited period, would be an abundance to colonize the whole black population. Therefore, by appropriating this sum, the annual saving to the nation would in a few years be immense.

"This gain would in process of time be greatly enhanced, owing to the improved cultivation of freemen: and the lands would be more equally distributed among the citizens, who would labour for their emolument, and thereby augment still more the national wealth. Let us, for example, divide the farm of 10,000 acres into 40 farms of 250 acres each, which would be considered large in Pennsylvania and other States exempt from the curse of slavery. The clear annual profit of these farms, at 1000 dollars each, would at no distant period be 40,000 dollars; his sum would be saved by transporting the 300 slaves now employed on the same land.

"By parity of reasoning, the removal of 100,000 slaves, similarly employed, would save annually to the nation 1,333,333 dollars.

"We must now draw to a conclusion, with an humble hope that the common Father of all mankind will excite a sympathy in behalf of his children; and we are confident that when our objects shall be fully understood, and impartially considered, they will be generally embraced by statesmen and politicians, moralists, philanthropists, and Christian."

006666

The American Colonization Society, in account withRichard Smith, Treasurer.Dr.

To Cash paid the Rev. William Meade,30 00Do. Davis & Force, for Printing,913 86Do. Rev. Mr. Andrus, and Mr. Bacon,100 00Do. amount of E. Bacon's account for suppliesshipped on board the Elizabeth, for thecolonists, &c. in Africa,1,183 34Do. do. on board the John Adams, do. do971 81Do. do. for other disbursements for Agents,799 67Do. do. for travelling and other expenses, fromNovember, 1819, to December, 1820,642 89Do. E. B. Caldwell, for money paid forprinting, &c126 12Do. Rev. Mr. Andrus' account for suppliesshipped on board the Nautilus, forcolonists, &c. and for stores,and expenses of agents, &c2,212 71 1821To Balance on hand,2,428 59 -----------Dollars, 9,039 02-----------Cr.By amount of subscriptions, &c. receivedduring the past year from the Auxiliary Societies, &c.3,481 12Do. do. in cash and goods received through E.Bacon, agent,4,511 62Do. do. received through Rev. Mr. Andrus, agent,896 28Do. E.B. Caldwell's draft on Mr. Ralston, in favorof Ch. Wiltberger,150 00---------- Dollars, 9,039 021821----------January, By Balance,2,428 59

Note...A considerable amount of donations in goods, has been collected and shipped for the colonists, beyond what is contained in this statement. For a part of the same, no returns have been received, and many articles enumerated, had not the value affixed.

006767

Amount of Subscriptions and Donations received from Auxiliary Societies, &c. during the last year.Maryland Auxiliary Society,$273Auxiliary Society, Frederick county, Va.270* Messrs. M'Kim and Oliver's subscription,500Chapel Hill Auxiliary Society,50Vermontdo.140Harper's Ferrydo.100North-Carolinado.800Charleston, Va.do.245Leesburg, Va.do.100Newburyportdo.55Montgomery county, Md.do.86Rockingham, Va.do.75Auxiliary Society, Winchester, (by E. Bacon,) 271 13Auxiliary Society, York, Penn.do.157 20Auxiliary Society, Norfolk,do.240

*Instead of 647 dollars, formerly stated to have been received from the Frederick county Auxiliary Society, it should have been 1967 dolls

Additional Subscriptions, taken in Washington, &c. Harriet B. Wilson,$30 F. Lowndes,1Richard Potts,30 Ingle & Lindsley,1CF.. Mercer,70 Collection in Dr. Laurie'sSome person unknown,100 church,98Col. N. Washington,10 Wm. Felch,1A friend to the Society, 103John M'Creary,5 H.M. Steiner,1William Bartlet,5 J.D. Barclay,1John Coyle, jun.10 D. Easton,1Rev. Reuben Post,10 J.R. Nourse,1Rebecca Winn,5 John S. Haw,2Peter Force,5 Donation from Mr.Rev. A.T. M'Cormick,1 Cannine, the Brit. Min.50Samuel Bacon,1 Wm. Walker, of Georgia,50C.H. Wiltberger,2 A lady of Virginia,20John Dix,1 Two ladies of Maryland,40Nathaniel P. Poor,1 John M'Phail, Norfolk,260Ch. Andrews,2 Ladies in Bristol, R.I. toJeremiah Williams,1 constitute BishopEugene A. Vail,1 Griswold member for life, 30M. Nourse,2 Collection at St. Mary'sJoseph Mountz,1 ch. Chester co. Penn. byWm. B. Randolph,2 Levi Ball,10006868Received from Mr. Custis, of Arlington--Donation from children's saving society, 3Do. from children of a colored school,1 87Do. a religious meeting of coloredpeople in Virginia,1 25----6 12Collections made by Rev. Mr. Andrus, Agent.Mr. Van Rensselaer, of Albany, N.Y.$15J. Langworth & Brother,20Rev. Cheever Felch, Dedham, Mass.5Dr. Wheaton,do.5Public Collection, New_Haven, Conn.27 30Do.do.Bristol, R. I.30Do.do.Albany, N. Y.76From several Ladies in Providence,17 50Thomas [?] Ives, Providence, R.L.30Nathanial Searle,do.25Samuel W. Bridgham,do.10William Bodget,do.10Ethan Andrus, Middlebury, Ver.100

Other collections were made in money and goods, amounting in all to ten or twelve hundred dollars. The goods are on board the Nautilus. They were obtained in Vermon's, Boston, and Providence.Collections in Cash and Goods, made by Mr. E. Bacon, in various parts, of which no particular statement has been returned. Cash donations in city of New-York,$1617 50Donations in goods indo.447 37Do. in clothing from the ladies of Fred. co. Va.90Cash and goods at Norfolk,150 25Clothing from the ladies of Georgetown, D.C.400Cash collected on board the steam boat,5Do.do.Lancaster, Penn.80 30Do.do.Columbia, do.30 20Do.do.Adams co. do.41Do.do.Franklin, do.112Do.do.Cumberland, do.47Do.do.Dauphin,do.53 50 Do.do.Lebanon,do.18Do.do.Berks,do.42006969Cash collected in Northampton,5Do.do.Bethlehem,20Do.do.Easton,35Do.do.Morristown, N.J.24Do.do.Newark,34Do.do.Baltimore,273Individuals in Richmond,15Do.Petersburg,53 50For clothing, Norfolk, by E. Bacon,33 10 Donations obtained by Rev. Mr. Andrus, in Baltimore. E.P. Barrows, in cash,$75R.A. Taylor & Co. 5 boxes pipes,12 50Matthew Smith,1do.2 50Daniel Hoffman, 2 bbls. flour,8William Hanson, 1do.4Robert Sinclair, 1 plough,10Edward Jenkins, 1 saddle,10William Vace, tools,25John M'Cabe, 4 horse collars,5Felix Jenkins, bridles and seats,10W. & R. Cole, 2 blind bridles,5Fielding Lucas, Samuel Wood,C.F. Janney, Cushing & Jewet,}stationery,25Philip E. Thomas, cash,50Wm. E. George,do.50Evan Thomas, jun. do50Talbot Jones, half bbl. sugar,14J.F. Harrod, lb. of tea.15Young Men's Bible Society, 25 bibles, and 25 testaments.Tract Society, 1000 tracts,Prayer Book and Homily Society, 25 prayer books,P.E. Thomas, 71 pamphlets,John Small, in cash,41 00A box of books, and a large quantity of tobacco, for Coker, Noah Ridgley, a box of medicine,25 00From 3 to 400 ready made garments.A large number of do. from ladies of Frederick co. VaSeveral other articles have been presented, which are not recollected. Articles collected from the citizens of Petersburg, Va. Harris & Fenn, I iron pot, and I skillet,Heslop & Brander, 3lb. coffee,Stark & Mabry, 10lb. nails,007070Joseph Rowlett, 2 dollars,Boisseau & Thayer, 1 lb. tea,John Boyle, 2 pieces bacon,Bragg & Jones, 1-4lb. calomel, 1-4 jalap, 1-2 bark,Lea & Dissosway, 7 1-2 yds, flannel,A. Burge, 10 lb. nails,Levi Joy, 3 pair of shoes,William Godfrey, 1 piece bacon,William Hawthorn, 3 3-4 lb. soap, 1 lb. chocolate, 1 pair cotton cards,D. Spotswood, 2 bottles castor oil, 1-2 dozen pewter basons, and halfdozen pewter plates,J. Myrick, 8lbs. broken sugar,George Zimmerman, 3 sides leather,Matthew Davidson, 4 do. do.L. White, 1 bottle oil, 2 oz. calomel, half lb. jalap,T.N. Cameron, 1 bottle castor oil, 2oz. calomel, 1 lb. bark,J. Scott, 2 butcher's knives, 1 pair plyers, 3 gimblets, 1 woolen cadder,Samuel While, two dollars,William Carter, 4 pair shoes,James R. Farrar, 10 lb. salts,John Williams, 2 blankets,John Stith, 1 hand-saw, and 2 drawing-knives,Wallace & Stevens, 1 skin upper leather,Richard Furt & Co. 1 bbl. flour, 10 lb. coffee, 25 lb. sugar, and 2 galls.gin,Joseph Y. Cooper, 3 adze, 1 hoe, 2 axes, 1 bbl. leaf tobacco, 1 hhd.crockery ware, assorted.

A considerable amount of donations in goods has been received in Baltimore, Richmond, Petersburg, Norfolk, &c. shipped for the colonist in the Nautilus, of which we have no returns.

007171

List of Officers of the Putnam County, Ga, Auxiliary Society.C.B. Strong, judge supreme court, President.J.A. Cuthbert, M.C. Vice President.William Turner, Secretary.John Hudson, Treasurer.Managers.W. Abercrombie,Dr. Wilson Williams,Rev. D.L. White,Rev. E. Moseley,William Flournay, sen.Eli S. Shorter,Dr. Thomas Hoxey,Irby Hudson.Subscribers, annually, for five years.John Hudson,$ 5 John Trippe5G.M. Wolcott,5 John C. Mason,6E.S. Shorter,5 Alonzo Church,5J.I. Smith,10 Jeremiah Harvey,5Willie Abercrombie,10 Augustus Hayward,5Theodorick Montfort,5 William Williams,5Thomas Hoxey,5 Wilson Williams,5Milton Cooper,5 Samuel Strong,10David Edwards,5 Elijah Moseley,5Thomas Hardiman,5 Jabez Hudson,5Solomon Pace,5 Stephen W. Harris,10William E. Adams,5 Andrew Park,5Iddo Ellis,5 * *C.B. Strong,1Zaccheus Butler,5 * *William Turner,1William Alexander,5 Coleman Pendleton,5Joseph Turner,5 John A. Cuthbert,10Beverly Slaughter,5 Isham Brooks,5Elisha Reid,5

*Messrs. Strong and Turner would have subscribed a larger amount, but had previously subscribed to the Milledgeville Society

007272 List of Officers of the Greensborough Auxiliary Society.George Swain, President.Vice-Presidents.1 David Worth,3 Jacob Hubbard,2 Jonathan Hadley,4 Abel Coffin.John M. Dick,Secretary.James Johnson, Treasurer. Managers.Joseph Swain,Henry Ballenger,Job Worth,Hermelious Mendenhall,Sylvanus Swain,Reuben Swain,Obed Anthony,List of the Members, with the sums subscribes by them. George Swain,$ 5William Dicks,1Cham Moore,5David Worth,5Timothy Macy,1Henry White,2Abel Coffin,5Henry Ballenger,5Trestram Davis,1John M. Dick,10Joseph Swain,1George Stufford2Job Worth,2Jacob Hubbard,2James Johnson,10John W. S. Napier,1Jonathan Gardener5Hermelius Mendenhall,1Jethro Swain,1Obed Anthony,1Sylvanus Swain,1Jonathan Anthony,1Sylvanus Swain jun.1Reuben Swain,2Thomas Hunt,2Richard Williams,1Thomas White,3William Worth,1Joseph Polson,2Jonathan Hadly,2Joseph Perkins,2William Renolds,1Nathan Dicks,1William Basin,1Ezekiel Dilson,1Jonathan Hodson,1Robert White1Those Auxiliary Societies which have not yet forwarded list of their Officers and Members, are earnestly requested to do so.

0073

THENATIONAL CALENDAR,FOR1821,PRINTED, PUBLISHED, AND FOR SALE BYDAVIS & FORCE.

It contains a Corrected List of all the Officers and Agents, civil, military, and naval, of the United States, with the places of their birth and employment, and their annual compensation, pay, and emoluments. To which is added, a variety of Statistical, and other useful information.

Each Department of the Government, and all the subordinate Offices, are preceded by Introductory Heads, showing when they were created, the changes made in them, from time to time, by law, and describing their powers, and particular duties at present.LIST OF CONTENTS.President and Vice-President of the United States.Secretary of State, and Clerks.Patent Office.Public Ministers of the United States.Consuls to the Barbary Powers.Consuls and Commercial Agents to other countries.Commissioners for Northern Boundaries.Patents issued in 1820 for useful inventions, improvements, &c. with the name and residence of the patentee, and date of patent. Abstract of Laws relative to Patents.Books, &c. deposited in the Department of State, in 1820, for securing Copy Rights.Method of securing Copy Rights.List of Newspapers authorized to publish the Laws of the United States. Foreigh Ministers, Consults, &c. in the United States.Secretary of the treasury and Clerks.First and second Comptrollers.First, second, third, fourth, and fifth Auditors; Register, Treasurer, and Clerks.General Land Office, Commissioner and Clerks Registers of Land Offices. Receivers of Public Moneys.Custom-house Officers; Collectors of Customs; Naval Officers; Surveyors of Customs, Weighers, Gaugers, Measures.Superintendents & keepers of Light-houses.Collectors of Internal Revenue.Mint of United States.The Tariff; Duties payable on goods, wares, and merchandise, imported in American or Foreigh vessels; Articles Free of Duty; Tonnage Duties and Light Money. The Fisheries. Tare and Drafts, and Allowance. Regulations respecting Drawback.Tables, showing the amount of Duties Which accured on Merchandise, &c. and the expense of Collection; amount of American and Foreign Teen-age; District Tonnage of the United States; the value and quantities respectively of Merchandise, on which duties accrued; and the Net Revenue of the United States, for each year since the peace. Amount of Exports from what States, and to what countries, in 1820. Coins and Currency of the United States.Public Debt of the United States; when created, denomination of the several stocks, original amounts, when reinburstable, and amount unredeemed. With the Manner and time of transferring Public Stocks, the payments of interest thereon, &c.Public Lands of the United States; manner and terms of sale; different titles under which they are held. Total amount surveyed, sold and unsold Lands surveyed for Military Boundties.Sales of Public Lands; Forfeitures, sums paid by Purchasers, and due From Purchasers and Receivers.Amuities for cessions of Lands from Indians to the United States. Land warrants issued for Soldiers (or their heirs) for services during the late war.Light-houses, where, and when built, original cost; expenses of keeping, repairing supplying, &c. from 1791 to 1819.Survey of the Coast.list of the Banks in which public moneys are deposited. 0074Secretary of War and Clerks. The Several officers of the General Staff of the Army. Military Establishment. Army Register, containiing a list of all the officers, &c. composing or connected withthe army of the United States, their rank, dates of their commissions, [brevels?], &c.Military Academy. Professors, &c. of the Academy, Cadets.[??]. &c. of the Army.Indian affairs. Indian Agents. Indian Trade.Army of the United States; aggregate for each year since the war. [Strength?] of the Army by regiments and corps.Distribution of the Army.United States Fortifications, &c. with the number of Guns in each. National [Armies?]. Description, &c. of the [Armies?], at Springfield, Mass. and at Harper's Ferry, Vir.Military Invalid Pensions, Half-pay Pensions, and Revolutionary Pensions. [Elitia?] [Holi?]-pay Pensions.Secretary of the Navy and Clerks.Board of Commissioners for the Navy; Secretary and Clerks.Naval Establishment; History of the Navy; Navy List, showing all the Officers, &c. in the Navy of the United States, their rank, date of their commissions, to what vessels attached, or where stationed.Marine Corps; Officers of the Corps.Pay and Subsistence of the Officers, &c. of the Navy, and of the Marine Corps.Navy Agents; Naval Storekeepers; Naval Contractors.[??] of war of the United States; when [??] where built, with their present state and condition.[Navy?] Yards, and Commandants.Table showing how many Officers (and of what rank) were born in either State of the Union, or in any foreign country.[Navy?] Uniform; Flag of the United States.Navy Pensions to Officers and Seamen; to Widows and Orphans. [??] Pensions.Congress Manner of Election, Powers, Duties, Compensation, Privileges, &c. [??] the Member of both Houses.[??] at the present Session, showing the [expiration?] of their [terms?], and who were [??] the 15th Congress.Officers of the SenateRepresentatives at the present Session, distinguishing those of the 15th Congress, and showing, the changes made in the present Congress. Officers of the House of Representatives.Librarian to Congress.List of Senators, Representatives, and Delegates, in alphabetical order. Senators whose term of service will expire March 4th, 1821. Committees of both Houses of Congress.Number of Representatives from each State; the Representatives Population, and the Fractions, according to the apportionment and census of 1810. Table showing the length of each session of Congress, from March 4th, 1789, to March 3d, 1821; where held, and under what President and Vice-President. Pay of Members of Congress.The Judiciary; Judges, Attorneys, Marshals, and Clerks of the Supreme Court, District Courts, and Territorial Courts.Places and times of holding the Supreme, District, and Circuit Courts of the United States.Post-office Establishment; Post-master General, Assistants and Clerks; Rates of Postage.City of Washington; Improvements in 1820.Literary and other Societies; Masonic Lodges.Public Buildings; Commissioners, and Architect.Directory for Public Offices, and Members of Congress.State Governments; Governors of States and Territories, with the Seats of Government.Militia of the several States, according to the latest Returns. Number of Militia in service during the late War, from what States, and amount of their Pay.Electors of President and Vice-President, the manner of their appointment, and statement of the Votes.Colleges in the United States; Professors;Deaths in Boston, New-York, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and Charleston, in 1819; with a statement of the diseases, ages, &c.Emigration to the United States, in 1820. showing the total amount, from what country, of what age or sex, and their various professions. Historical Review for the year 1820.An Improved Almanac for 1821.

The Calendar, this year, is embellished with a handsome view of Capitol; the, [?] of the Senate Chamber and of the Hall of the House of of Representatives, desig[??] [??] [??] [??] Member; and Views of the Public Offices, with Floor Plans.