instituted till toward the end of 1803 ; and the re-^
port was made in 1804.
Previously to the inquiry, the Directors had
strongly urged to his Majesty *s Ministers the expe-
diency of transferring the civil and military power
of the Company to the British Government, leaving
to the Company the care of the commerce, culti-
vation, and civilization of the Colony. The only
condition they required was, that security should
be given on the part of the Government against any
admission of the Slave Trade or Slavery within the
colony. The communications on this subject con-'
tinned during the succeeding year, but led to no
conclusion; and in the mean time the Directors
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74 MEirOIRS OF QUAUfVlLLE SHARP. [IIL
were perplexed as to the line of coadgct which they
ought to pursue, while (from the suspension of the
expected grant from Parliament); the affairs of Ihe
Colony became every day more embarrassed, on
account of the insufficiency of the Company's funds to
defray the necessary expenses of the establishment.
Urged therefore by the view of the approaching
distress of the Colony^ as well as the peculiar tide
to protection which both the Maroons and Nova*
Scotians possessed, (all of wboo^ had been induced
to come to Sierra L€;one in the firmest confidence
of support firom the British. Government,) the Di-
rectors, in the year 1803, drew up a very spirited
representation on the subject,, which was likewise
laid before the Committee of the House of Com-
mons** Notwithstanding the heavy discourage-
ments which had attended the first efforts to establish
* The statement of the Directors gave a Very satisfactory
accoant of what had been etfected to answer the purposes of
the last parliamentary grants Captain Day, an officer of his
Majesty's Navy, had gone out as Governor, and, by the vigorous
measures which he had taken for rendering' the Colony secure
against any future attack from the Natives, had restored con-
fidence both to the Settlers and to the Chiefs who had be^
friendly to it ; and had induced the greater part of those who
had entered into a confederacy against it, to sue for peace.
The spirits of the Colonbts were of course revived, the Native
free laboarefs returned to their employ on the fanns> and
cultivation was auccessfuUy rc^Himfid.
An accession of territory having been gained by the Company
during the late hostilities, in that part of the peninsula whidi
lies between Freetown and Sierra Leone, lands were allotted in
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6.] HISTORY OF SIERRA LEONE. 75
a settlement of Free Negroes on the coiskst/ too maity
circumstances presented themselves of a differeot
cast| to suffer the hopes of such an establishment to
be wholly relinquished by the British Nation. The
centric situation of Sierra Leone, its safe and com-
modious harbour, the ^i^luable productions of the
surrounding country, rendered it highly important
to Great Britain; especially in the view of the
Abolition of the Slave Trade, in which case the
germ of civilization, planted there, would prove in-
valuable. But, independently of these powerful
reasons, the obligation, incurred by the Government,
of supporting the numerous Settlers who bad relied
on its promises for protection, and who must other-*
wise be left to unavoidable destruction, formed a
moral necessity, which precluded any possibility of
withdrawing wholly from their support, at least whfle
a further effort might be made in their fevour. The
result of the investigation by the Committee was a
that district to the Maroons, who are stated to have'proved a
â–¼aluable acquisition to. the Colony, by their submission to the
laws and general good condudt.
Captain Day returned tb England, on4;he dedaratipA of waf
against France ; and Mr. Ludlam resun^ed the go?eniinent of
the Colony.
The Committee^ of which the present Marquis of Lansdowne
was chairman, entered into a very minute and laborious in-
vestigation of the state and prospects of the Colony. Among
others. Captain Hallowell, whose unfavourable report had
induced Mr. Addington to suspend the grant, yfaa examined at
great length. — Report, IBM.
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76 MEMOIRS OF GRANVILLE SHARP. [IIL
recommendation to support the undertaking. A
sum, adequate in all points to the wants of the set*,
settlement, was, in consequence, granted by Parlia-
ment, for its effectual defence and maintenance ; and
its security was thus once more confirmed.
In the Report of the Committee, it was, however,
observed, that, from a full consideration of the many
difficulties which still continued to embarrass the
Company, as well as from the interest which tha
British Government must continue to take in the
settlement at Sierra Leone "*, it was their opinion,
that the great object for which the Colony had been
undertaken might be more readily and effectually
obtained, by a transfer of the civil and military
authority of the settlement tq the Crown ; with which
view, it would be expedient to invite the proprietors
to make a surrender of their rights to his Majesty.
This proposal met, of course, with the full approba-
tion of the Directors ; ai\d, having been afterwarda
submitted to the consideration of a General Court of
Proprietors, was approved of by them also. It was
reconsidered in another General Court, which met
on the 7th January 1807, and which had been
specially summoned for the purpose of examining
" the statements of the expenditure from the origin
of the Company, and the present actuar value of
* The Report is, in this respect, highly honourable to ou(
Government, as never ketitaimg on the necessity of supporling^
at whatever expense, those (the Nova^Scolians and Maroons)
for whom it had once pledged itself to provide.
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6.] HISTORY OF SIERRA LEONE. 77
\betr possessions ; of inspecting all their papers .and
docamentis ; and of institating an inqairy, from these
premises, whether it were possible, that, by further
subscription, any advantages might result to the
Company from their continuing to cultivate their
lands^ or establishing an open trade with the Colony ;
and, finally, virhetber by such, or any other means in
their hands, those advantages might be attained of
cultivation, commerce, and civilization, for which the
Company was at first formed:" when, the resolu*
tions of the previous meeting having been confirmed,
ti Bill was brought into Parliament for surrendering
the Colony to his. Majesty ; and it obtained the Royal
Assent on the 8th of August *. The Act strictly
forbad the traffic in slaves within the colony t» s^nd
continned to the Colonists the full enjoyment of all
civil rights which they had possessed . under the
authority of the Company.
In the course of the year 1807, peace had been
fully eiitablished by a treaty with the Native Chiefs ;
* It was entitled, *' An Act for transferring to bis Majesty
certain Possessions and Rights vested in the Sierra Leone
Company, and for shortening the Duration of the said Com-
pany, and for preventing any Dealing or Trafficking in the
Buying or Selling of Slaves within the Colony of Sierra Leone."
(8lh August, 1807.) Anno quadragesimo-septimo Georgii IIL
Regis, sess. 1 1.
t When the Act for abolishing the Slave Trade was passed
in England, a Court of Vice-Admiralty was established at
"Sierra Leone, for the purpose of giving full effect to its pro-
I in the colony.
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78 MEMOIRS OF GRANVILLE SHARP. [IIL
knd| on the Ist January 1808, the possession of
the setdement was surrendered to the Crown by
Governor Ludlam, and the Company withdrew from
its arduous enterprise, — bearing with it the grateful
consciousness, that it had humanely and vigorously
seconded the meritorious efforts of the founder, and
had rescued from imminent cbnger the progress of
those hopes and those plans of beneficence, with
which the Colony had first been formed ; that its
enlarged means and more powerful labours had
opened the paths of social improvement to a de-
graded continent, for the diffusion of the arts of
civilized life, and of the benign precepts of Chris-
tianity; that it had freely imparted the benefits
flowing from those sources, as far as the difiiculties,
with which it had to struggle, would permit ; that, by
thte education of numerous African youths, it had
tended to raise the minds of future chiefs of that
country to the contemplation of just and important
national objects, and had rescued their native cha-
racter and talents from the base aspersions of
European avarice ; that, by exposing the real nature
of the Slave Trade, and the artifices by which those
miscreants, who engaged in it, were so long able to
delude a hesitating Legislature, it had contributed
most materially to the abolition of a traffic, which
insulted the bounty of the Creator end inflicted
unspeakable evils on our fellow-creatures ;— that it
had displayed the superior advantages of English
law and English justice on a shore where England
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ۥ3 HISTORY OF SIERRA LEONE. 7^
had once been 6nly known for criikie^ and named
for execration; tbat, in fine, it had sticceeded in
establishing a point of civilization for Africa, on a
central part of the coast, now provided with adequate
means of subsistence and defence, which, under the
blessing of Providence, might in time become the
emporium of commerce with £urope, and maintain
between the two continents all the friendly relations
of peace, science, justice, and religious truth *•
* It is worthy of further remark, that, at the time of the
rarrender of the territory to Government, the Colony (as appears
from the last Report of the Directors, in 1808) ** had attained
to a situation of comparative strength and prosperity. The
fortifications had been so far advanced^ as to communicate to it
a sense of complete security. Its interna) order had gone on
improving; the confidence of the Natives had been restored;
imd the number of Native children, sent to Sierra Leone for
education, continued to increase. The Colonists were building
good houses, and shewed other marks of growing prosperity.
Cultivation was reviving. The Colony had also improved in
healthiness. During the first half of the last year, the proportion
of births tQ deaths was as twenty-three to fourteen. None of
the troops had died in that time, and, of the Company's servants,
only one had died since the Ist January, 1806." (p. 11.)
' In the year 1807, the population amounted to 1871 persons.
The security, and consequent respect, of the Colony had become
so great, that the Governor was sX one time employed in medi-
ating between twd of the neighbouring chiefs who had been
at war for seven yearis; and the mediation was successM in
putting a period to the contest.
How amply the hopes arising from those fovoaraMe appear-
ances have bfeen since confirmed, will be seen from the follow-
ing testimonies in the Report of the afbicak institution
for the year 1818. - »
^ The shfe-sbips appear to bse ao opportunity of attacking
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Sb MEMOIRS OF GRANVILLE SHARP. [HL
and destroying the legitimate commerce of the Windward Coasts
particuUrly that of Sierra Leone, which enjoys the proud pre-
eminence of being the object of their implacable hostility.''
** The accounts received from time to time, of the progress
of improTement at Sierra Leone, continue highly favourable.
Letters, dated the 21st January last, state, that every thing at
that time was going on well ; that trade was brisk in the colony ;
and that there was no war in the country around it."
** On the 31st March, 1817, the total number of scholars,
malie and female, educated in the different schools at Sierra
Leone, amounted to 1,422, (being an increase of 185 in the
preceding six months). The schools were remarkably welt
attended by the pupils generally, who appeared eager to reap
the benefits of the instruction afforded them ; and their im-
provement is stated to have been considerable.
** A very large proportion, probably five-sixths, of the indi-
viduals who are thus represented as enjoying the benefits of
Christian instruction, are liberated capHves, who have only
recently been rescued from the holds of the slave-ships. They
have been collected from various points on the extended line of
the Afirican coast to this spot, where, under the protection of
British law, and in the enjoyment of British liberty, they are
acquiring also the advantages of British knowledge and the
higher blessings of religious light."
*' Of the whole population of the colony, a very large pro-
portion consists of liberated captives, distributed in various
villages, pursuing the occupations of peaceful industry on farms
of their own, gradually laying aside their native superstitions;
and eager to avail themselves of all the means of instruction
within their reach."
Extract from a Letter from his Excellency the Governor of
Sierra Leone, addressed to the Secretary of the African
InstUuHon, dated Government House, 6th March, 1818.
' " I shall avail myself of an early opportunity to forward the
returns of the schools. The number of scholars of both sexes
in the country towns has increased ; and the grand total of men«
women, boys, and girls, now attending schools on the peninsula^
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j6.J' ^.HISTORT.OF SrFRRA LEONE. ' ?!
does not fall short of two thousand. The inhabifants of the
colony have so very frequently experienced the interest the
friends of Africa take in their prosperity, that I feel it a most
pleasing part of my duty to be enabled to prove, by incontro-
vertible documents, the very great improvements in the com-
mercial importance of this colony. The enclosed returns prove,
that during the year 1817 the amount of merchandize imported
into the colony exceeds that of the year 1816 by 39,286/. : and
the number of vessels fourteen. * I doubt not but "yoa will ob-
serve with pleasure, that this increase is on .the British goods.
The prospect of our exports for the present year is highly
flattering. The wood for ship- building having been so success-
Ailly tried in the Royal dock-yard, one vessel has already sailed
(in January), the Pyrennees : the brig Mary sails this day with
the same : the Magdalene is loaded in the harbour, on the
point of sailing : the ship Preston is loading near Bance island.
Several vessels are expected. The rice harvest has been abun«
dant : preparations are making for cleaning that article, so as to
render it fit for the West-India market ; and if the experiment
of rice mills, which I understand are now making in England,
should succeed, I have no doubt but from the neighbourhood
of this very colony, so Irequently traduced, a great proportion^
if not the whole, of our West-India islands could be supplied
with food, procured by British merchants, and with goods the
produce of the mother country or of her East-India empire;
and the adjoining rivers would thus be amply repaid for giving
up the Slave Trade.''
[For the further progress of the Colony, see ** Additional
Not&r]
In addition to the abov^ statements, it may be obsenred, that
.the instruction given in the schools \sinihe English tongue ; a
circumstance of which future ages will appreciate the value.
It is scarcely to be doubted, that the perseverance oif-^oiir
Nation will finaJly effect the establishment of civil relations with
Africa ; and the hand of gratitude or vengeance will, one ^Hy,
be stretched out from that continent towards the other quarters
of the globe.
VOL. II. G
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8S MEMOIRS OF GRANVILLE SHARP. {IIL
CHAP. VII.
After the general history of the settlement at
Sierra Leone, let us return to the narrative of Mr^
Sharp's part in the transactions of the colony ; a
part no less arduoos, and pursued with no less per*
severance and philanthropy, than when he first raised
from the dust the degraded image of his Creator,
and sturdily rescued him from the shackles of avari*
cious tyranny and prejudice.
The obstacles which opposed the larger plans of
the chartered Ccmpamf in tiiis singular settlement,
have been seen to be the want of sufficient power in
the hands of its Government, and the inadequacy
of its force to restrain the aggressions of the neigh-
boming Natives; the narrow scale of the establish-
nnent ; the unfavourable character of the Nova-Scotia
Blacks who joined tlie first Settlers ; the wiar with
France ; and, lastly, the unabated process of the
Slave Trade.
But these difficulties, great as they were, appear
light, in comparison, with the dangers of ^^ first
experiment^ and of the untrodden paths into which
Mr. Sharp had boldly ventured, and to which his
papers chiefly refer.
Of the hopes and disappointments which attended
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7.]* 8IERHA ISOKE. 8S
fais enterprise, his own letters, and those of the poor
Settlers themselves, will supply the fullest and most
interesting accounts. The latter will be found neces*
sarily below the standard of epistolary writing ; but
they axe worthy to be inserted, beoaose, even more
than the preceding narrative, they represent, by m
close and distinct view, such as the public has rarely
been acquainted with, the nataral struggles attendant
on the formation of an infant colony.
Extracts from Letters from G. SL to Dr. J. Sharp.
2Sd Jane, 1787.
*' I had. the pleasure of hearing this day of the safe
anriyal of the Africao Settlers at the Madeira islands ; and
that all the jealousies and animosities between the Whites
and Blacks had subsided, and that they had been veiy
orderly ever sincd Mr. Yasa and two or three other difr-.
contented persons had been left on shore at Plymouth.
Schools are estaUishied on board each ship, as I had pro*
posed ; and they have daily prayers. The account is from
the chiqilab, Mr. Fraser*.
** tl»t October, irS7.
** I have had but melancholy accounts of my poor little
ill-thriyen swarthy daughter, the unfortunate colony of
Sierra Iieone.
** They haye, howeyer, purchased twenty miles square
«of the finest and most beautiful country (they all allow)
* The Rey. Mr. Fraser, originally a member of the Scottish
Chttrch) was, at bis own request, and in compliance with the
wishes of the Settlers, allowed to attend the expedition .-<-jSlee
Letter from O. S. to the Archbishop of Canterbury, Augnft
1780, page 10.
o2
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84 MEMOIRS OF GRANVIL.LE SHARP. [IIR
that was ever seen! . The bills . are ' not steeper than
Sho6ter*s Hill; and fine streams of fresh water run dowa
the hill on each side of the new township ; and in the
front is a noble bay, where the river is aboat three leagfues
wide: the woods and groves are beautiful beyond descrip-
tion, and the soil very fine. So that a little good manage-
meut may, with God's blessing, still produce a thriving
settlement."
G. S. to Mrs. , New York.
[extract.]
" Madam, " January 12, 17SS,
'' I have long delayed acknowledging your letter, in
'the daily expectation of hearing from some of the adven-
turers who sailed last spring to form a new settlement at
Sierra Leone, on the coast of Africa ; but I had no tidings
of them till the middle of October last, and those but dis-
couraging : so that t had no inducement to communicatef
them.
*' Although the ships were ready to sail by Christmas,
1786, they did not get away till April last, which fatally
postponed their arrival on the coast till the rainy season
commenced ; whereby dreadful fevers and a gpreat mortality
ensued, the people not having had time to prepare suffi-
cient shelter and accommodation for themselves at their
landing. But the greatest blame of all is to be charged on
the intemperance of the people themselves ; for the mos^
of them (both Whites and Blacks) became so besotted
during the voyage, that they were totally unfit for business
when they landed, and could hardly be prevailed on to
assist in erecting their own huts. Besides, the distempers
occasioned by their intemperance carried off a large pro-
portion of them before they reached the coast; so that the
climate of Africa is by no means chargeable with the mor-^
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71] ] THE COLONT FOUITDED. ' 85
UOtff thoiigh our pablic prints haye asserted the contrary,
and ba?e asserted also that the purposed settlement had
entirely failed.*. But I am not without hopes that it may
itill saeceed and tbriye. The code of Regulations which
I drew up for the settlement, not being objected to by
Crorernmenty was adopted by the Settlers before they
sailed: and, if they would be carefhl t6 maintain it, they
would become the freest and the happiest people on earth ;
because the poor are effectually provided for, and their
rights secured, — ^the meanest cottager being allowed a due
share of the land, besides a property and interest in the
settlemeht. - There are about' two hundred Settlers still
lemaimng in the township that was formed on their first
* The nature of the reports here alluded to, may be gathered
firom the foUowiog paragraph, which appeared in Tfte Timet,
" Sir J H— y stated, that in the spring of the year
1788 he had been at Sierra Leone, where he had touched in an
East-India ship; and found the insalubrity of the climate such,
that, of one thowand Severn kimdred persons Yfho had been ther^
in the preceding year, only one remained ; all the rest having
died there, with the exception of about twelve, who took refuge
in an island in the river. One fourth of the crew of avessel
perished there duriug a stay of two months."
It b mortifying to observe in what degree the channels even
of respectable papers were open to the most erroneous state*
ments respecting this colony. The above paragraph was written
e^er the publication of Uie complete Reports of the Sierra
Leone Company. — It has already been shewn, that, instead of
MMileen hundred settlers, nbouifmr hundred only went out at
first from ^gland : the mortality amounted to lesft than one
half; and jt will presently appear, that Captain Thompson
iemained at Sierra Leone during the whole rainy season with
his Majesty's sloop Nautilus, and lost one man only by sickness I
and ewtn'hu death was not attributed to the climate, but to a
liever, caught by being wet through, while out a-shooting.
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86 MEMOIRS OF aRANVIi<I.E SHARP. [IIL
landing; and they are itillin p^oeable potsemioo of Ae
firee land which they obtained hy Tolntitary lEqpreement witli
the Natives. Any kind of cultivation may be carried on
there* Cotton, in particnlar, it b su(ipos6d» may be raised
of the most yalnable textarOj such as would always succeed
at the London market; and rice» fpata^ dying wood, mi4
other valuable articles iamunerablet may H^p be raised
with very little labour. •
'' J remain, defir madam^'' &c. &e«
<' P. S. There are several people hefe> both Blacks an^
Whites, who are very desirous to join the Settlers, but
have no means of obtaining a passage. If I could aSbri
to fit out a proper ship at my own expense* I wonld ceiv
tainly do it. I have several times offered to give 100 («
towards the expenses ; but it has not been deemed su^r
cient encouragement to undertake the business.*'
G. S. to pr. Leitsqm, M.p.
^ Wicken Park, nesr Stony Stratford, Backfl|
** Dear Sir, Octoliar is, 17S8.
** Your kind communication of a sensible letter froni
Pr,. Thornton at Pbiladeli^ua, has devolved on me an
indispensible duty to give you the fullest informatioi|
in my power respecting the new settlement at Siemi
Leone, because your friend seems to be heartily deairouii
to promote it. . .. i
^^ The opinion which be has adqxted of nay late Worthy
friend Jh. Fothei|^, Oat 4he esteblisUneM of li'ft^
settlement oo the <coast of Africa for' honourable trade
would be the most effectual m^ans of destroyUig the Slav^
Trade^ has §o far been always my. own opinijon, that it
induced me to pidvance mucb more mppey tfaan.^a private
person in my sitoi^tion opghit. to iiave dob^ ntaaog^^the
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7.3 . IHB COXOHr.FOUNDBP* 87
fink HtAm, to eneowNige tb^ir Mibariw^oa brt yew*.
Seireial oifQoiiiBtaiiees ooncwred to iqjvre thb first
attempt, dioaglir the oxpeilae of transports and snbsistencet
as.also. of tools, arms, .&o* vas defirayed by GoTemment.
Many of tlie Bkuk poor nme embarked in the river
Thamna before Christmas, 1786; but others delayed
gvwg on hoard till January and Febroary, 1787, being