.

ship, a large piece of rock gold, cloths of the finest texture interwoven with silk, valuable monkey, panther, and boa skins, ivory, samples of their pottery, of working in leather, of their dyes, their carving, feathers, perfumed vegetable butter; in short, specimens of every art practised in Booroom, and every natural production found there, and in the neighbourhood.

Captain Thompson's Letter.

We have recently received from the Hon. Richard Rush, the following letters, accompanied by a number of the Wesleyan Methodist Magazine, containing a very valuable article on the study of the Arabic language, which we presume to be from the pen of Capt. Thompson, the whole of which we propose hereafter to insert in our Journal. These papers escaped the recollection of Mr. Rush on his return to the United States in 1824, and it was only a few weeks ago that they were discovered. Capt. Thompson, it appears, was Governor of Sierra Leone, nearly twenty years ago, and must therefore be regarded as capable of forming an enlightened opinion on the subject of African colonization. There is great weight in his remarks concerning the peculiar advantages enjoyed by Americans, for penetrating into Africa, and "pouring back a coloured population to civilize the land of their origin;" and let it be remembered, that these remarks are from the pen of an English gentleman, better acquainted, doubtless, than almost any other, with the subject upon which he writes.

MY DEAR SIR:

I do not at all scruple to send you the accompanying letter and books from Capt. Thompson, whom you will have found, I am sure, an interesting and strong-minded man; and who is disposed, on all occasions, to throw his knowledge over the waters, in the hope that it will turn to good. I am truly, my Dear Sir, your obedient Servant, JOHN BOWRING.

Hon. RICHARD RUSH.

ROMFORD, 14th MARCH, 1824.

MY DEAR SIR:-If you should have an opportunity, and not think the matter impertinent, I should be gratified by your

transmitting the accompanying number to his excellency Mr. Rush, as containing at p. 106, which I have marked, some observations connected with Africa, which would possibly be interesting to some of Mr. Rush's friends of the American Colonization Society.

The Methodists have brought forward an Arabic student, on the strength of this article, who appears to promise well. I should be glad to have an opportunity of saying, that if any American student, either from civil or religious motives, should be desirous of assistance in Arabic, and think I can afford him any, I shall be happy if he will, without ceremony, put himself in communication with me, which he may always effect through you; and he shall have every information which I can give. You must not accuse me of being anti-national, when I say, that I believe the Americans have facilities for penetrating into Africa, which the English have not. You well know that all the English minor colonial governments are arbitrary; and under arbitrary governments there is never that security for individual interests, which can alone enable men to vanquish the difficulties of a new country. If we should ever see something like a twenty-seventh state taking root in Africa, there would be hope. But it would be truly a remarkable phenomenon, if a negro population, after their ancestors had been carried by the crimes of others to America, should be poured back again to civilize the land of their origin.

In what is termed the war of mountains, the principle is, that wherever there is a river, there is a road; and consequently, whoever holds the elevated region from which the rivers diverge, has the key of the surrounding countries. This has been particularly exemplified in European wars, in the case of Switzerland. An appearance of somewhat the same nature is presented in Africa. In an arid country, still more than in a mountainous, communications and cultivation must follow the course of rivers. Four great rivers, the Senegal, the Gambia, the Rio Grande, and the Niger, all rise within a comparatively small distance of each other. Whoever, therefore, occupies that country, will have all the chances of possessing Africa, either in a physical or moral sense. It would be an admirable sight, to see a concourse of American black citizens, somewhere about Park's

Kaniaba; and the thing, with time and patience, is not so impracticable as it looks. And if it was effected, I suspect it would not be many years, before the Pasha of Egypt would be astonished by the stars and stripes in the upper waters of the Nile; for every thing seems to point to the Niger's being the Bahr Al Asrah, or western branch of that river.

I should certainly be happy to have an opportunity of throwing any information I may possess, into the stock of the American Society. It is fourteen years since I was governor of Sierra Leone; half of which, I have been in India and Arabia, and always with thoughts on Africa. One faculty I have obtained in the course of my occupations; which is that of corresponding in Arabic. I apprehend that Arabic is understood in the interior of Africa, to an extent which has not been suspected, and that it may be made a powerful engine of communication. Any thing I know in that way, is very much at the service of the American Society.

I ought perhaps to say, that I am not a Methodist, but have an hereditary attachment to the Methodists. Perhaps this may prevent some of the society of Friends, who in all probability, are strong in the Colonization Society, from being alarmed at my profession. I am, my dear Sir, yours very truly and sincerely.

J. BOWRING, Esq.

T. P. THOMPSON, Capt. 17th Lancers.

【ま

Fourth of July.
[COMMUNICATED.]

We trust that all hearts will respond to the following eloquent appeal, and that every church and congregation in our land, will make an offering on some Sabbath near the approaching joyous anniversary, to the cause of Africa.

The anniversary of our independence, with its sacred associations, is again returning upon us. This grateful day ought not to be perverted to purposes of mere festivity and unreflecting mirth. Its intentions are not simply that we should assemble to discharge a few national salutes, and drink a few patriotic toasts.

Its purpose is of a more dignified and sacred order,—it is to refreshen our memories with the virtues and sacrifices of our forefathers; to catch the pure spirit of patriotism that animated their breasts; to incite each other to an emulation of their devoted example; to strengthen the ties of our social and civil compact; to pledge ourselves anew to the great cause of freedom and humannity; to bless our Almighty Benefactor for the enjoyments of the past, and to invoke his gracious benedictions upon the future.

The benevolent feelings which naturally accompany recollections, resolves, and aspirations like these, may well express themselves in a liberal offering to some commanding object, connected with the prosperity of our country, and the general happiness of mankind. Such an offering would doubly consecrate the occasion, perpetuate the expansive spirit of our ancestors, and by blending the grateful feelings which are awakened through every section of our country, bind us together as the heart of one man. This object should be so purely national, as to raise it above sectional prejudice, and so humane, as to appeal to our deepest sympathies. It should be one from which no denomination of christians can dissent, no school of politicians withhold their approbation. It should be one to which every individual is led by the convictions of an enlightened mind, by the impulses of a patriotic devotion, and by the unhesitating tendencies of a benevolent nature.

We have been ranging over the humane enterprises of the day, and no one, in our humble opinion, can be found more national in its character, or possessed of stronger claims to effective patronage, than that which has given birth to the American Colonization Society. The object of this association has no local references that are not merged in the happiness of the whole. The evils which they propose to remedy, affect us as a nation; and the salutary result which must flow from their success, will be felt through every section of the union. Who would not rejoice to see our country liberated from her black population? Who would not participate in any efforts to restore those children of misfortune to their native shores, and kindle the lights of science and civilization through Africa? Who that has reflection, does not tremble for the political and moral well-being of a country, that has within its bosom, a growing population, bound to its in

stitutions by no common sympathies, and ready to fall in with any faction that may threaten its liberties?

For the existence and degradation of our coloured population within our borders, no particular section of our country is solely responsible. Even slavery must be viewed as a great national calamity; a public evil entailed upon us by untoward circumstances, and perpetuated for the want of appropriate remedies. While hundreds, perhaps we might say thousands, of the free coloured people, are seeking a passage to Liberia; hundreds who hold slaves, would willingly set them at liberty, were the means of their removal provided. And till those means are provided, the liberation of the slave would neither be a blessing to himself, nor the public. His liberty, under any circumstances, may be a debt due in the abstract to the claims of human nature; but when applied to him individually, it would be a calamity. We cannot conceive of a more deplorable state of society, than what our slave-holding states would present, with their black population afloat, without a home, without the means of subsistence, and without those self-relying habits, which might lead them to obtain an independent livelihood. It is not therefore incumbent upon those who hold slaves, to set them at liberty, till some means are provided for their removal, or at least for their subsistence. They owe it neither to themselves, to their country, nor the unfortunate beings around them. No where is slavery more loudly deprecated than in several of those states where it exists, and no where are more ardent prayers put up for some gracious expedient, by which the evil with its countless sorrows may be removed.

No scheme has yet been devised so rational and salutary in its provisions, as that embraced by the Colonization Society. Not only are the beings thus transported, taken from our own shores, and placed on the most salubrious part of their legitimate soil, but their removal is the first series in a train of events, that may spread civilization and christianity, with their attendant blessings, through Africa. The civil and moral sufferings of that country, have already been mitigated through the benign influence of the Colony at Liberia. The day is not far distant, we trust, when the growing influence of this colony, connected with the salutary effects of an extensive internal commerce, and