in a good degree have been discharged by the end of another twelve months, affords ground for hope that a new era will then open on such as may live to see that day. What turn will then be given to the affairs of these Colonies will, I expect, very much depend on the measure of benevolence you shall continue in exercise toward a people so utterly incapable of appreciating motives of that sort, or who, it may be, are wilfully blinded to the perception of that character being at all due to the enterprise. "The important duty with which I was charged, on my emigrating to Africa, has had its fulfilment in so partial a degree, that I am ashamed to tell you there never has been a plough under my direction to operate on any part of our ground; and, until that has been done, and you are made acquainted with those results, I shall conceive myself morally bound to continue the experiments. It would, I have no doubt, be some gratification for you to know the causes of such improvidence, especially as you give me credit for so much more enterprise than I think myself entitled to claim. Permit me, therefore, to state, that the want of co-operation, not to say opposition, of these people, has led to my ultimate defeat in every attempt to procure cattle suited to such business, and the general indifference and mistaken notions held by a great majority in regard of the utility or profitableness of agriculture, to be carried on by the labor of Colonists, has, until lately, prevented every thing like assistance in forwarding my plans, except that derived from native labor. "Any farther advancement toward the perfection of your desires in this particular will have to be delayed until the close of the present rains; but enough has already been done at Bexley to confirm the fact, and that, too, beyond the possibility of contradiction, that, with an ordinary degree of labor, and the use of these two instruments, the hoe and cutlass, after the ground has been once cleared of the rank vegetation every where covering it, a sufficiency of bread-stuffs may with certainty be obtained, as the land does manifestly improve by cultivation. We have been able, as yet, to do but little toward providing live-stock. Fencing our grounds to defend our plantations from the encroachments of animals, would be too costly a business where the task would have to be repeated yearly; for such is the nature of our timber, excepting the larger forest trees, some of which is said to be more durable, a common stake, or post fence, would be gone in little more than a year. We therefore are content, in regard of meats, to be minus, except as they are to be obtained from abroad. This you of course will understand to be the case in general; some individuals in Edina and Bassa Cove have had many hogs, sheep, and some cows, calves, and goats, but the thefts constantly practiced on them, and the difficulty of keeping them from breaking through our bad fences, render it almost certain that they are sooner or later to be shot by some kind-hearted neighbor. We are hoping to do something to remedy these inconveniences in a year or two more, as your offer of premiums has spirited up some amongst us to raise lime hedges on the borders of our grounds, to serve in the stead of fencing. Somewhat of this will be attempted the present season, as the limes are now ripening. "If I dwell, more especially even unto tediousness, on this part of my communication, you will justify me on the account of its importance, as well as being my legitimate sphere of action, and with the garrulity that is generally admissible to age, I suppose your venerable body will at least hear me out; and I fancy you inquire, if these things are so, why is it that nothing more has been done in the past twelve or fifteen years towards cultivating a soil so kind in its productions, and grateful for the dressing it receives? I answer, it is because your Society has employed means, without intending it, to fasten these Colonists in indolence-not that I say they have always been employed in that way, or that all have participated equally in the benefit you intended them, but the perverted uses, and selfish, not to say dishonest, appropriation of them, has produced such effects. * "It is the opinion of some that colored Americans cannot labor under the influence of this climate, without its proving hurtful to them. This is a mistake. A common degree of prudence in redeeming time from sleep in the morning, and a decent regard for sober habits, which would take us to bed at nine or ten o'clock at night, would make it wholly unnecessary to labor during the heat of the day, if such a respite were necessary,' * "The commerce of this country shall next have a passing notice. Its principal staples are palm oil, cam wood, and ivory, though but a small quantity of this last article falls to our share. Of the first, there is no likelihood of there being at any time a scarcity, unless it should originate in one of these causes ; The trees are cut down by natives and Colonists to answer the purposes of eating and drinking. In the eating line, they cut out from the top a sort of cabbage, which is very good when we can have some Carolina bacon to cook with it, and the alternate supplies of nuts and oil is thus sacrificed for the indulgence of appetite. But, oh! the ineffable delight there is found by some in quaffing the delicious palm wine, equal to your new cider, and possessing somewhat of its flavor! But to obtain these, the trees must be felled; for, while the cabbage-eaters are satisfied with one end, the wine-bibbers take hold of the other, and thus, like Mohammed's hog," from tail to snout 'twas eaten," so the whole tree is destroyed. These trees, and the consequent use and abuse of them, abound in our Bassa country more than on any other part of the coast near to us, and will, when their value comes to be properly understood, form a vast source of income to their possessors. "Cam wood grows in a forest state, behind a range of mountains varying in distance thirty, forty, or fifty miles from the sea-board, and but very few trees are seen on this side. This article is the principal currency of the country, and has heretofore passed as money; indeed it is so called at $60 per ton, but the last general assembly of the Colonial Council has made it worth more, and it now passes at three cents per pound. It is said that the stock of this timber is inexhaustible, and that what we get is only of trees felled in clearing the lands for cultivation. Whether this is to be construed as an indication that the natives have no definite notion of its value is prob lematical; of this you may be able to form some guess by my narrative of an incident that I was witness to in March last: "I was directed by Governor BUCHANAN, as I could find opportunity, to mark out the route for the great road to the interior. When we had proceeded about three miles from our location of Rosanberg, which is on the St. John's, about nine miles, by water, from the beach, we were met at a fine stream of water by a bevy of natives, who inquired into the purpose of our doings. I told them we would make a road into the interior for the purpose of getting cam wood; but that they could not be persuaded to believe: Said they the country people carry you plenty of wood; why, then, do you take so much trouble about it? No,' said they, 'you are sent to open a road to carry war into the country, and your Governor, "BIG-CANNON," told you to say so, only to hide what thing you do.' Argument was entirely lost upon them; they seem to have no idea that cam wood was of the consequence to involve such an expenditure of time and labor." "On the subject of the road, I apprehend no difficulty, provided such arrangements can be made as that a portion of my time may be devoted exclusively to it; but I beg leave to introduce to your notice the remarkable saying of a learned prelate of our land. After the session of 1839, of which I was a member, there was so much dissatisfaction at the laws made by the Governor and Council, that there was a meeting called in Edina to look over and point out the grievances complained of. I had the honor of being called to the chair, and the road law was brought up, and that gentleman arose, and said he did not think it was right or proper for us to allow the Colonization Society to. open a road to the interior of this country, to take away OUR cam wood, which to us is the same as the gold mines of the Americans to them; said he, would they allow us to go to America, and open roads to their gold mines, and take away their ore, &c. When he had exhausted his theme, I said to him, you seem to forget, sir, that the Colonization Society are the proprietors of the soil,' upon which saying he absquatulated. It would be a great means of forwarding that enterprise, to have Rosanberg settled, and a factory established there with the least possible delay. The tract of land called Gracho, extending about one mile, and intervening betwixt Bexley and Rosanberg, can, I think, be bought at a price something above that paid for lands heretofore; but it would accomplish so valuable an end in forming an extensive settlement on the river, I wish that object could be accomplished. Some persons acquainted with the country and its customs, might be employed to take charge of that whole affair, so as to carry on the plan of your operations, which, so far as I understand them, will prove ultimately of benefit to the people of these Colonies." 66 "I am a good deal amused at the style of some of my correspondents, when they speak with so much confidence of the facilities and means here of growing rich. The humbug of those times, and the vehicles of lies such as gave origin to those impressions, are both of them fast declining, and we are now, I fondly hope, about to be awaked up to the sober reality of our condition. As to what profit you can have from commercial operations in this country, I believe you may extend them to any amount you choose, if the proper steps are taken to make all parts of the machinery operate at the same time. It is necessary, in order to this, that we should have other and better supplies than such as I have had on hand for the last ten months or more.” "It is, I judge, unnecessary for me to enter into a detail of the numerous kinds of fruits, roots, and other vegetables found here, as the accounts you have had, though in some particulars a good deal exaggerated, will show to you what specimens are here to be found-enough to convince us of our pitiable ignorance of their botanic qualities. Cannot you do something for us in this same behalf? Find a clever fellow-not a puppy fop-who is willing to come here and do good, by instructing us in the knowledge of the various kinds of articles appertaining to the vegetable kingdom; and, in order to do this, give him a suitable education." "On the subject of schools, it becomes me to be very modest, never having had the priviledge of being taught in one. To do good on the most extensive scale, will be to set up manual labor schools, and for the present we may find men enough to carry on establishments of this kind-for it is on the younger class of our children that our hopes now centre-and introduce as many natives as can be made entirely subject to the order and economy of such an establishment, setting aside forever those distinotions aimed at being kept up betwixt the children of Colonists and those of the natives; that is, let them be fed and clothed, and marked alike in every thing, be taught to know that God hath made of one blood all nations of men that exist on the face of this wide earth. If this is not done, poor Africa will yet stretch out her hands in vain, if those who ought to be her helpers still conspire to tread her into the dust. "Our politics are much the same as other people's: those who know the least have the most to say on the subject." From the Vermont Chronicle. THE TWO COLONIZATION PLANS. MR. EDITOR, I am one of that class of persons (a somewhat numerous class I fancy) who take a great deal of interest in other people's movements, perhaps sometimes to the neglect of my own. I read a good many periodicals, among them some Anti-Slavery papers. In these papers are some things which I find it very difficult to understand, or to reconcile with moral honesty. As Editors are supposed to know every thing, perhaps you can help me out of my perplexities. 1. I cannot understand how honest men can oppose the Colonization Society, because it "expatriates" the colored people, while the same persons are actively engaged in forwarding as many as possible to Canada. It will not surely be pretended that the one is less "expatriation" than the other. 2. I cannot conceive how intelligent people can believe that the colored race, whose home has ever been beneath or near the burning line," will find the climate of Canada more congenial to them than that of their fatherland. 3. I cannot perceive the consistency of those who are by profession the friends of human rights, and civil liberty, above all others, aye, the only true friends, in opposing most virulently the removal of colored men to Africa, to found a free republic; and favoring their removal to Canada, to become the most loyal subjects of her Majesty," the hereditary Queen of Britain and its dependencies. 4. I cannot understand the benevolence of attempting to found colonies of colored men in the midst of a white population, where they acknowledge themselves to be still subject to prejudice on account of color, rather than in the land of their fathers, where such prejudice can never exist. The history of Lower Canada shows most conclusively that the descendants of two nations, each preserving their own language, cannot live peacefully together. Little jealousies and heart-burnings, and strifes and violent party contests are the natural fruits of such a state of society. No honest man of common discernment can fail to perceive how much more extensive, inveterate and violent will be these difficulties where the line of demarcation is not one which education may modify or entirely demolish, but one which is impassable and indestructible. 5. I cannot comprehend the honesty of those who scoff at the idea of building up flourishing colonies and improving the state of Africa by selecting the best and most intelligent of the colored people in this country and transplanting them there, while at the same time they speak most confidently of the success of colonies established in Canada, and composed of runaway slaves indiscriminately. 6. I marvel at the strange conceit that the colored race, now generally ignorant and depressed, will be more likely to rise when mingled with the whites in the United States or the Canadas, and weighed down by the superincumbent pressure of the white man's superiority, than when relieved from this incubus, and roused to enterprise and activity by the excitement of forming new states in their father-land, and of having thrown upon them the responsibility and honor of self-government. 7. I know not what to think of the spirit of those who oppose with the utmost violence of language, not sparing even misrepresentation and calumny, the emancipation and removal to Africa of slaves with the master's consent and co-operation, and in accordance with the laws of the land, while at the same time they labor clandestinely to carry on a work of emancipation and removal to Canada, of slaves without the master's consent, and in vio lation of the laws of the land. I acknowledge that many such things which are constantly occurring around us, seem to me to partake more of the spirit which is from beneath than of that which is from above. It looks more like war against the slaveholder, to irritate and vent spite against him, than a scheme of benevolence and effort to do the slave or his master good. Now I like to think well of my fellow-men, especially when they are fellow-Christians. But I am sadly perplexed with some of these things. Can you not, Mr. Editor, explain some of these points so as to relieve my mind of some unpleasant, yea-painful suspicions, which have harassed me of late? PHILANTHROPOS. From the Correspondence of the New York Observer. THE effect of English emancipation is felt in two ways in the islands where slavery yet exists. In the first place, the knowledge of this among the slaves has produced a belief that they are to be free, and are now wrongfully in bondage. They are restless and insubordinate, and do their work with great reluctance. In the second place, it has caused many to run away to the contiguous English islands, and the desertions continue as frequent as opportunities offer. The French have determined upon emancipation. How it shall be done, the mixed committee of peers and deputies will report to the chambers in 1841. The Danes are determined to do the same: but the King of Denmark is poor and he does not wish to make direct compensation. The Governor of St. Croix and the planters have been in high discussion all summer. The former wishes the latter to give the slaves every Saturday, and to send the young children to school. The latter refuse, and say it is asking them to give up one-sixth of their crop, which they are too poor to do. They wish immediate emancipation and compensation. Finally, the planters have subscribed $5000, and Mr. SAUROW, an able advocate, is about to embark for Denmark to have a conference with the King. So the matter stands at persent, the planters however agreeing to give the slaves Saturday out of crop, being about five months every year. But until the negroes have Saturday during the year, that great moral nuisance, the Sunday market, will continue, for it is the only time the black has to sell his little articles of produce. This makes the Sabbath the most noisy, riotous, brawling day of the whole week; for all the country slaves come into town to trade. Estates have fallen in the Colonies where slavery exists. Even in those of Spain, the influence of England is felt, and her interference feared. The most intelligent planters are willing to sell, and all see the whole of the Antilles in a transition state. ADDRESS. On the evening of the 17th, His Excellency, Governor BUCHANAN, favored the Lyceum and a large concourse of ladies and gentlemen, with an essay on agriculture. The address was delivered at the request of the Lyceum, in the Presbyterian Church, which had been obtained for the purpose. It was plain and practical, adapted to the capacity of the auditory, and was much admired by all who heard it. We trust the forcible and well timed remarks, in relation to the false delicacy of those who regard manual labor as disreputable, will not pass without effect. We própose to publish in our next, the whole production, or copious extracts from it.-Liberia Herald. |