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124 MEMOIRS OF CRAVVILLE SHARP. [III.
far beyond the bouDds of their aaihority. They, however,
have lost six men, by the stratagem of this slave-captain^
and he will probably attempt to sell them into slavery ; so
that the interference of Government may be necessary, to
compel the slave-dealers to restore them. The messenger
who brought the letters from Sierra Leone, is himself one
of the Settlers, a White man, who wishes to return again
to the settlement, and is tolerably intelligent ; so that, if
you should desire to make any inquiries of him respecting
the state of the country and climate, I will order him to
attend you.
** The people are earnestly desirous to obtain a sloop,'
to trade up the rivers and on the coast, for rice, and other
productions of the country that are fair articles of lawful
commerce, having plenty of seamen to man more vessels
than one ; and a small vessel is equally wanted, to keep
up a communication with the settlement. There are,
likewise, several of the Settlers in town upon my hands,
who are very desirous to return ; and many industrious
persons, who cannot find employment here, would probably
join them, if there was an opportunity of passage : for, as
the Settlers have burnt down and cleared a great deal of
the thick forest about the settlement, there will not be so'
much risque of life as when they first arrived. If, there-
fore, two small vessels (any of those that are frequently
forfeited at the out-ports for smuggling) could be granted-
for these purposes, I would endeavour to prevail on a
few respectable merchants in the City to undertake the'
charge of them, and to appoint proper masters, responsible,
and under their direction €u a public Board or Company ;
in which case they will be more easily induced to risque
the advance of their own money, to form a joint stock for'
freighting the said vessels properly, in order to commenco^
an honourable free trade, from the profits of which the
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9.] STATE OF THE COLONY. IS*
expenses of victualliDg imd keeping the vessels in repair
should be first defrayed, before any division of profit is
made.
'' This I conceive to be a better mode of securing the
maintenance of the vessels, in order to keep up a constant
trade and communion with the settlement, than if the
vessels were entrusted to tbe management of the Settlers <
themselves.
** I am, with great respect, Sir/* 8cc. &c.
While this investigation was going on, Mr. Sharp
received other ioteresting inquiries regarding the*
slate of the colony at Sierra Leone. They came
from one of the earliest advocates for the abolition
of slavery in America : the following are extracts
from his letter : —
>
The Rev. Samuel Hopkins, to Granville Sharp, Esq.
" Sir, ** Newport, January 15, 1789-
''I am the Pastor of the first Congregational Church *
in Newport, Rhode Island When I removed to this.
town, my attention was soon turned to the Slave .Trade, ,
which ha^ long been carried on here, and was still con*
tinned. It. appeared to me wholly unjustifiable, and
exceeding inhumane and cruel: and I thought I was.
obliged in duty to condemn it in public, and to preach ,
against it. I had better success than I expected :.»..bttt
this procured to me many enemies, who were increased
when I proceeded, as I soon did, to condemn the holding,
those Africans in Slavery, who were brought here by the^
iniquitous Slave Trade.
'' I was, so far as I then knew, almost alone- in my
opposition to this trade, and. the slavery of the Afidcans:.
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120 MEHCNTRS OP ORAiTVILLE SHARP. [III.
but have siiice^ i^ead wi& great Batisfaction your 'writings
on diat snlije<sty some of-n^hioh were pnbUshed, I believe^
before the time above mentioned. And I have had the
pleasure of finding a conviction of the evil of this practice
to spread and prevail in America ; and two respectable
Societies are formed, in New York and Philadelphia,
with a view to promote the abotition of the slavery of
Africans."
" In the commonwealth of the Massachusetts, all the
Africans are freed by their constitution ; and many have
obtained their freedom in this State : and all are born
free, by a particular law of this State, who have been bom
since March 1784, and all that shall be bom hereailer.
But the circumstances of the Freed Blacks are in many
respects unhappy, wlple they live here among the Whites;
as the latter look down upon the former, and are disposed
to treat them as underlingSf and deny them the advantages
of education and employment, &c. which tends to depress
their minds, and prevent their obtaining a comfortable
living, and involves them in many other disadvantages.
This, and other considerations, have led many of them to
desire to return to Africa, and settle there among tiieir
equals and brethren, and in a country and climate more
natural to them &an this. Particularly, there are a
number of religiouis Blacks, with whom I am acquainted,
who wish to be formed 'into a distinct church, or religious
society ; and to have a Black appointed to be their pastor
(and there is one kt least who is thought to be qualified
for that office) ; and then to go, with all the Blacks who
shall be willing to move with them, to Africa, and settie on
lands which, they think may be obtained of some of the
nations there, from whom some of them were taken, and
whose language they retain ; and there maintain the
profession and practice of Christianity, and spread the
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9;] siBiiRA L^ON«, 127
knowledge ef it among the AfrkMui8, as far As they shaU
l^avr cpportnaity : at the stfme time oultivating their lands,
and.intrpdttcing into that hitiierto-Qncivilised country the
arts of hiisbaDdry» bailding miHs and honses, and other
mechanic arts, and raising tobacco, coffee, cotton, indigo,
fcc*, for exportation as well as for their own use."
. ** Thi4 plan I have had. in Tiew for some years, and
l^ave wished and attempted to promote it* But no way
has yet be0n opened in Aidierica.to carry it into execution,
diere being no means yet found to defray the charge of
sending a vessel to Ainca, with a. number of Blacks, to
find out and procure the most convenient place for such a
settlement.
*' In the mean time, we have, to our great joy, been
informed that such a plan has been projected and executed
in England. We were assured, that several ships, with
a considerable number of Blacks, sailed from England
for Africa, in February 17B7, with a design to make a
settlement on the windwiird coast. We have been Ear-
nestly waiting for, and expecting, particular authentic
information of the success of this expedition, and the
place and circumstances of the settlement:' but have not
recdved any to this day* It is, indeed, reported from
Africa, by way of the West Indies, that those Blacks
have arrived there from England; and that a tract of land,
twenty miles square, has been procured for them, near
the mouth of the river Sierra Leone, and that the settle-
ment is gomg on. But we have contradictory rep<Mrts of
the success of it.
^* All this, Sir, is a lengthy introduction to the fol-
lowing request, — ^That you would please to inform me,
Whether such a trac^ of land is procured, and on what
conditions ? Whether the Blacks who settle on it have
the fee of the land ! Under ^at Government the; are ;
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128 MEMOIRS OF GRANVlLtt: SHARP. [IIL
whether British, or their own, by a particular civil con-
stitntibn formed for thdiii» to be executed by themselves,
or some English gentlemen who do for that end reside
among them ? Whether there is any provision made to
maintain and propagate religious knowledge among them»
and others who may live in their neighbourhood ? Whether
the Settlers have behaved well» and prospered, since they
began; and what progpress they have made? Finally,
Whether the Blacks in New England, who have been
educated and habituated to industry and labour, either on
lands or as mechanics, and are hereby prepared to bring -
forward such a settlement better, I believe, than any other
Blacks that can be found — whether these Blacks can have
any part of those lands to settle themselves upon, and on
what terms; and what encouragement and assistance'
might they probably have ?
" I am, Sir,'' «cc. &c.
In the reply to this letter will be found the further
progress of the settlement.
6. S. to the Rev. Mr. Samuel Hopkins, Newport,
Rhode Island.
** Reverend Sir, ' <• Leadenhall Street, 35th July, 1789.
" Some little time after your letter came to my hands,
I received an account respecting the new settlement at
Sierra Leone, so very discouraging, that I began to be
doubtful whether I ought to communicate to you the same
invitation for the Blacks in America to go to Sierra
Leone, which I had sent some time before to Philadelphia
and New York. I received such alarming intelligence
of a conspiracy, stirred up by the slave-traders to cut off
the settlement, that I began to give it up for lost. It is
but a few days ago (the 22d instant) that these fears have
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9.] PROGllESS OF THE 8ETTLEMENT4 129
been removed, by the arrival of one of the Settlers, with
letters from the Governor and several other persons in
the settlement.
*' The messenger was sent on purpose with these letters^
and had no other means of coming hither than by going in
a diave-ship round by the West Indies. By these letters
I find, that, contrary to my fears, their enemies have not
dared to meddle with the Settlers ; and that they are very
well united, and had punished two different captains of
slaye-ships for ill behaviour, by fine and imprisonment,
which occasioned the late combination against them.
Bujt their numbers did not exceed one hundred and twenty
people, men, women, and children, altogether. However,
I am infornied, that since those letters were written, some
more of the Settlers, who had been dispersed in the neigh-
bourhood, were returned, aud that they are. in all about
two hundred people,
" All the White people whom I sent out last year, to
assist in supporting the settlement, have been wicked
enough to go into the service of the Slave Trade at the
jieighbouring factories, having been enticed away, I
suppose, by high wages ; but the people who remained in
the settlement have carefully adhered to their promise^ not
to permit the iniquity of $lav6'dealing in the Province of
Freedom ; . so that, though they have not kept up strictly
to. other Regulations which I proposed for them, yet, in
this most essential point, they deserve commendation. I
shell send you, by the first ship, copies of the Regulations
which I wished to establish there.
** As the settlement has been lately re-purchased of
Kbg Naimbanna, the Settlers, I think, must now submit
to receive and accommodate all new comers with equal
lots of land, gratis, until they amount at least to six hun*
dred householders, notwithstanding the jimitation of time
VOL. II. K
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ISO MEMOIRS OF GRANVILLE SHARP. [III.
ill the Regulations ; so that I hope I may ventare to assert,
that whatever people from America will engage to sabmit
to the terms of the Regulations, and the English Go*
Yemmenty (which must be perfectly free, whilst frank-
pledge and a universal militia are maintained), will be
admitted to free lots, even if they amonn,t to more than
doable that namber, provided that th^ go aU at one time,
and shew this letter, or a copy of it, to the Governor
and Assembly of Settlers ia the Province of Freedom.
"In addition to the accounts which I had before received,
the Settlers, who brought me the last letters, inform me
that the land is very good, and the neighbouring Natives
very civil ; and that King Naimbanna, a very reverend old
man, whose town is just beyond the borders of the settle-
ment, is particularly kind to them* These accounts are
^corroborated by three other Settlers, who have been here
some time, and are all very anxious to get back again as
soon as they can. But I am sorry to inform you, that all
my expense and endeavours to procure a live stock of
caitU, have been rendered abortive by the imprudence of
the Captain with whom I contracted to procure it ; for,
instead of delivering the cattle at the settlement, as he
ought to have done, he only gave goods to the value of a
certain number of cattle, and obtmned a certificate from the
Settlers that they had received the value of so muck cattle,
though they have no means of transporting any to the
settlement ; and, therefore, if any people are sent from
America, it will be right to make some little reserve of
goods, or dollars, to purchase a few lean', breeding cattk
on the Aiiican coast, for their live stock, as they will very
soon increase, because there is plenty of grass ; and cattle
tiuive exceedingly well in most parts of the African coast,
where any attention is paid to them«
** I am^ with sincere esteem and respect,
"Rev. Sir^^&c&c-
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9.] SIERRA LEONE. 131
The fresh instances of base conduct in those who
deserted the cause of his benevolent undertaking,
and resorted to the infamous traffic of the slave-
dealersi made a deep impression on Mr. Sharp's
mind.
O. S., in reply, to ike worthy InhoBitanis of €h'anviBe
Toum*, in the Provmce of Freedom, Sierra Leone.
" Dear Friends. " nth November, 1789.
** On the 28d Jaiy last I received, by the hands of
Thomas Malady, letters from your chief magistrate, Mr.
Lucas, and a letter from Mrs. Lucas in the name of the
ladies of Sierra Leone ; and also letters from Messrs. James
Beid, John Cambridge, and John Homan ; to all of whom
I request you to return my thanks.
** It gives me great concern to find, by these letters,
that Mr. Tacitus, Captain Estwick, and Mr. Collins, have
deserted the Province of Freedom, in order to enter into
due Slave Trade. By the laws of the settlement, they
have forfeited, of course, every right and claim they had
to any share in it ; and I hope you will be careful that
none of them be ever permitted to return, without a very
earnest acknowledgment of repentance.
** After having, with indefatigable labour, for above
twenty-two years, and at a great expense, asserted and
maintained the glorious principles and foundations of the
Bnglish Law (and having thereby, through the blessing
and providence of God, prevented slavery from taking
root in England) — and after having also obtained from
* It appears by thb address, that the name of OratmUe
Tomn had been given to the ^t»t settlement, as well as to that
whieb wa» afterwards formed with the assistance of Mr. Fal-
oonbridge.
k8
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132 MEMOIRS OF GRANVILLE SHARP. JUL
GoTernmeDt a tacit pemiission to plant the same noble
privileges even in Africa itself, that the new settlement
might be truly deemed a Province of Freedom; — after
such a series of labour and expense, as well as of provi-
dential success, (the occasion obliges me to repeat it,)
your sincere friend, who hopes for your happy and pro-
fitable establishment, must necesarily be exceedingly
jealous of any deviation from the law of natural right and
justice in the Province of Freedom ; as men have no right,
witUout these, even to hope for God's blessing. Let me,
therefore, exhort you to preserve ex€tci discipline in your
militia, and a regular rotation of watch and guard
service, that yon may be able to arrest and punish every
refractory member of your community ; and that you hold
frequent courts, to assert the laws of common right and
justice, and more especially against eveiy person who
shall have presumed to sell a slave on shore within the
bounds of the settlement, or to retain any person as such
therein. Nevertheless, he courteous and hind to all
strangers that come to the settlement, even though you
know them to be stave-dealers or slave-holders, provided
they do not offend your laws during, their stay. What is
done beyond your boundaries you cannot help or prevent,
etcept the offenders belong to your community ; neither
must you interfere with others in the least, except by
kind and friendly warnings of God's impending vengecmce
against oppressors ; and this only when you have any fair
o/^rtunities of mentioning the subject, without giving
personal offence. But with respect to your late members,
Messrs. Tacitus, Estwick, and Collins, and nwre especially
Mr. Henry Demane (who, I am infom^ed, is now a. great
man on the Bulam shore, and a dealer in Slaves !), warn
them, from me, of the horrors and remorse whic^ must
one day seize those authors and abettors of oppression who
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9*] SIERRA LEONE. 133
do not save themselves by a timely repeatance. Remind.
Mr. Heniy Demone of Am awn feelings under the horrors,
of slavery, when he turned his face to the mast of the ship
into which he was trepaooed by his wicked master^ and
formed a resolution,. as he afterwards confessed, to jump
overboard that very night, rather than, submit to ajem*
porary slavery for life ; but he is now in danger of eternal
slavery ! — Remind him, also, 4f the joy he felt wbea he saw
two men, sent with a writ of Habeas Corpus, so exactly in
time (most providentially) to rescue him, that a single
minute later (as the anchor was up, and the ship under
weigh from her last station, the Downs) must have ren?
dered his recovery impossible ! Tell him I have ampte
reason to be convinced that bis escape was by a real in*
lerposition of God's providence ; because I once before
saved another Negro man (many years ago) from on board
a ship, also in the Downs, under the same critical droimif
stances, — ^the anchor being up, and the ship ready to sail
.••.,.Many other Negroes also I have saved* under such
alarming circumstances of danger, that my poor weak en-
deavours could not warrant even the least hope of success ;
which must therefore be attributed to the Divine mercy
alone, for it would be blind folly indeed to suppose that
such a succession of improbable facts should be the effect
only of accident or chance ! Tell him, and also Messrs
Tacitus, Estwick, and CoIlinSi wheo you have opportunity
of seeing them> that the practioes of slave-dealing and
slave-holding are inimical to the whole species of man, by
subverting charily, equity,- and every social and virtuous
principle, on which the peace and happiness of mankind
depend ; so that they may fairly be deemed unnatural
crimes, and ought to be ranked with the horrible unnatural
depravity of man devouring man. We have the highest
authority for thb estimation, because the practices of
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134 MEMOIRS OF GRAKVILLE SHARP. [III.
oppreuors were actually cMipared in holy Seriptare to the
cruel rage of caoiiibals, * who pluck off their skias from off
them, and their flesh from off their bones ; who also eat the
flesh of my people, and flay their skin from off them ; and
they break their bones and chop 4hem in pieces as for the
pot, and as flesh within the cauldron.' (Micah iii. 8*)
" I will use ray best endeavonr to recover the sis men
that were carried off by Captain W , as well as. to
punish the captain for die outrage. However, • 1 hope
you will in iiiture be more careful not to interfere in the
least with any master beyond the bounds of your territory;
and be sure to maintain a friendly communication with aM
the neighbouring factories, and more especially with those
that are most near, as the King of Robanna's people.
Banco Island, &c« ; and avoid all disputes with masters of
ships, about the fees for anchorage and watering. .... I
have no authority to iaterfere,. but am only anxious that
yon may avoid dbputes, and submit to lose your right in
this matter, nther than contend for it, if it be refused.
It is a point of public consequence, which Government
will probably take into consideration in due time.— James
Crane and George Stephenson, who, with two others of
your Settlers (Banks md Chilcot), were clandestinely
carried off by Captain Campbell, and narrowly escaped
being sold by him at Martinicp, are now here, with their
wives, and hope to find an opportunity soon of returning :
at present they are supported at my expense. Chilcot,
who was also on my list, has behaved ^veiy ill, so that I
think it would be dangerous to the welfare of the settle-
ment to permit so desperate a man to return to the
Pravinee of Freedom ,-^ where, if your Ptiblic Assembly acts
consistently with duty, men must be free from vice as well
as slavery. — ^Be pleased to acquaint Mrs. Lucas, and the
ladies of th^ setflement, that I have made earnest inquiry
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d-] ST. George's bay company. 135
after the Rev. Mr. Frazer, and hxv^ not yet been able to
find where he is ; but as soon as I do, I will take care to
procure a proper register of all the marriages.
'' I had great disappointment by Captain Taylor's not .
fulfiHing his eoutract for supplying live cattle^ and still
more by your giving him a certificate of your having
received from him goods to the value of forty-seven
bullocks^ for which I thought myself obliged to pay him,
GoTemment has reimbursed the money, and paid me also
for the presents made to King Naimbanna for the re-
purchase of the land, according to your certificate ; and
I have deducted from these allowances of Government
the 2007. which I before received to procure cattle, and
received only the balance. Thus you have lost the oppor-
tunity of having cattle, by your imprudence in giving a
certificate of having received goods instead of cattle.
*' I am exerting myself as much as possible, to engage
several respectable merchants and gentlemen to form a
Com^HzHy, in order to carry on an h(mourabU trade witk
the coast of Africa ; and I have at last great hopes of
success.
" With sincere wishes and prayers for your welfarg and
happiness, your affectionate friend," &c. &c. .
In conformity with the statement at the conclu*
sioD of this letter, Mr. Sharp, in the beginning of
the following year (1790), printed a public notice
of his proposal for the formation of the intended
Company (of St George's Bay), in a short Account
of the "fVee English Territory in Africa;'* giving
a description of the district purchased by the English
Government, and its natural advantages, and also
of the nature of the purchase, ** by which," he says,
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136 MIIMOIRS OF GRANVILLE SHARP. [IIL
*^ all the free customs and rights of the English
Common Law must of course immediately take
place there, and become (as in England) the most
valuable inheritance of the free Settlers.'* But " the
present Settlers" he describes as unable, from their
character and insufficient numbers, to avail them-
selves of the advantages of the territory.
'^ These poor people/' he continues, ** are in want
of many necessaries, and have no religious instruc-
tion. They earnestly required, in their last letters,
that some respectable merchants or factors might be
prevailed on to settle among them, in order to keep
open a constant communication with England by
their trade, which, they think, will be a means of
relieving their wants.
"A proposal/' he adds, " ha^ therefore been
made to form a Company of Merchants for the trade
of Sierra Leona ; and several respectable gentlemen
have given their names as subscribers, to promote
a measure which may hereafter prove of great
national importance to the manufactories and other
trading interests of this kingdom */'
* In a note to this little work are the following anecdotes
(from Pwrduu't Voyage»): —
" On the south of the bay (of Sierra Leone) is high land,
full of trees even to the sea-side, having divers coves, &c. &c*
On the farther side of the fourth cove is the watering-place, of
excellent water, continually running ; at which place, on the
rocks, we found the names of dinen Englishmen, which had
been there: amongst the rest, of Sir Francis Drake, which
hud been there seven-and-twenty years before (viz. in 1680) ;
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5.] ST. George's bay company. 137
Having succeeded iu recomniending his proposal
to the attention of the City, he began without delay
to use his utmost efforts for obtaining a Charter^
and to solicit the assistance of the .Goyerninent in
procuring vessels for the Company's first expedition.
It will be no surprise to find, at such a moment, the