In 1746 Woolman accompanied his beloved friend, Isaac Andrews, on a tour through Maryland, Virginia, and Carolina. It was on this journey that he beheld for the first time the miseries of slavery.[177] He became so depressed with what he saw that on his return he wrote an essay on the subject, publishing it in 1754. The essay appeared under the elongated title of "Some Considerations on the Keeping of Negroes Recommended to the Professors of Christianity of Every Denomination."[178] The theme of Woolman's discussion is the Brotherhood of Man. "All men by nature," he argues, "are equally entitled to the equity of the Golden Rule, and under indispensable obligations to it."[179] The whole discussion, which is an appeal to the Friends to be mindful of the teachings of the Bible, glows with the religious zeal which was so eminently characteristic of the author. It is replete with such Biblical references as are sure to have a wholesome effect upon a religious sect like the Society of Friends.

Woolman made a second visit in 1757 to the Southern meetings of the Society of Friends. Again he beheld the miseries of slavery and became greatly alarmed at the extension of the system. Everywhere he turned, he saw slaves. What pained him most was the presence of slaves in the homes of Friends. He declined, therefore, to accept the hospitality of his several hosts, feeling that the acceptance of such courtesies would be an indorsement or encouragement of the evil.[180] Meanwhile, he held confidential talks with Friends on the subject of slavery. On one occasion, when a colonel of the militia berated the Negroes' slothful disposition, Woolman replied that free men, whose minds are properly on their business, find a satisfaction in improving, cultivating, and providing for their families; whereas Negroes, laboring to support others, and expecting nothing but slavery during life, have not the same inducement to be industrious. Again, when another slaveholder gave the wretchedness of Negroes, occasioned by intestine wars, as a justification of slave-traffic, Woolman answered that, if compassion for the Africans, on account of their domestic troubles, was the real motive of buying them, the spirit of tenderness should incite the Friends to use the Negroes kindly, as strangers brought out of affliction. Many other arguments were urged in defence of slavery, among which number was the oft-repeated notion that the Africans' color subjects them to, or qualifies them for, slavery, inasmuch as they are descendants of Cain who was marked with this color, because he slew his brother Abel.[181] In short, a large portion of Woolman's time during this second journey was given over to answering such arguments. He travelled in the two months, during which he was out, about eleven hundred and fifty miles. His efforts were not without fruit, for he made a profound impression on many of the honest-hearted.

All this time Woolman fought single-handed against overwhelming odds, but he was destined soon to have help from two of the most remarkable and antithetical personages connected with this early movement against slavery; namely, Benjamin Lay and Anthony Benezet.[182] Lay represented the revolutionary type of reformer. Whittier describes his personal appearance as "a figure only four and a half feet high, hunchbacked, with projecting chest, legs small and uneven, arms longer than his legs; a huge head, showing only beneath his enormous white hat large, solemn eyes and a prominent nose; the rest of his face covered with a snowy semicircle of beard falling low on his breast—a figure to recall the old legends of troll, brownie, and kobold."[183] By birth he was a Friend, but the Society in England disowned him on account of his revolutionary propensities. He took up residence in the West Indies, but was compelled to leave on account of his violent denunciation of slavery. He went to Philadelphia, but finding slavery there, retired to a cave, where he lived a most eccentric life, refusing to eat food or wear clothes which had been secured at the expense of animal life, or produced by slave labor. He made frequent excursions, however, from his cave to denounce slavery, his favorite subject being "Deliverance to the Captive." He usually succeeded in being heard, though he was detested by the slaveholders. On one occasion, when he interrupted a meeting in Philadelphia, he was forcibly ejected by a burly blacksmith. He remained, however, the most fearless of the earliest abolitionists. Though his methods were entirely different from Woolman's, and though, no doubt, neither reformer was influenced by the other, Lay's stubborn fight against slavery was obviously helpful to Woolman's calmer campaign against the same evil.

Anthony Benezet, on the other hand, was a reformer of riper judgment and calmer methods than Lay. He has been described as "a small, eager-faced man, full of zeal and activity, constantly engaged in works of benevolence, which were by no means confined to the blacks."[184] He was a descendant of persecuted French Protestants. He, therefore, inherited an aversion to any form of persecution, and readily became a benefactor of the slave. It was inevitable that he should become a friend of Woolman, and a coadjutor in the movement to abolish slavery.[185]

Whether Lay or Benezet was influenced by Woolman may be a matter of speculation and debate. The consideration of primary importance is the increasing interest manifested in abolition. The Friends were beginning to realize that slavery was contradictory to the basic principles of their organization. Woolman's real opportunity, therefore, came at the memorable Yearly Meeting of 1758, in Philadelphia—the meeting which Whittier has seen fit to term "one of the most important convocations in the history of the Christian church." All during the early part of the meeting, Woolman remained silent, his "mind frequently covered with inward prayer." But when, towards the close of the meeting, the subject of slavery was brought up, he took such an active part in the discussion that he dominated that part of the meeting. His remarks were simple but impressive.[186] The effect was so immediate that many slaveholders expressed a desire to pass a rule to treat as offenders Friends who in the future bought slaves. But there arose the criticism that the real evil could hardly be cured "until a thorough search was made in the circumstances of such Friends as kept Negroes with respect to the uprighteousness of their motives in keeping them, that impartial justice might be administered throughout." Sober thought prevailed. Many assented to the proposition, and others declared that liberty was the Negro's right. Before the meeting closed, John Woolman, John Scarborough, Daniel Stanton, and John Sykes were appointed a committee "to visit and treat with such Friends as kept slaves."[187] Thus the first important step towards the abolition of slavery was taken.

The committee lost no time in setting out on their mission. Such a stupendous undertaking, however, was fraught with obvious difficulties. In the first place, the system of slavery had assumed such large proportions that it required a number of years to visit and treat with any appreciable number of slaveholders. Again, it was by no means easy to persuade slaveholders to give up a possession which meant so much to them in power and wealth. Finally, it was unfortunately true in the eighteenth century, as it is in the twentieth, that an argument of right and justice, based upon Christianity, did not have instantaneous effect upon professing Christians. But Woolman seemed divinely inspired to perform his mission. He travelled extensively and never hesitated to approach Friends on the subject of slavery.[188] At the Yearly Meeting for 1759, he was gratified to learn that a recommendation had been made to Friends "to labor against buying and keeping slaves."[189]

As a means of promoting his cause, Woolman published in 1762 the second part of his "Considerations on Keeping Negroes," a continuation of his appeal for the operation of the Golden Rule.[190] The overseers of the press offered to print the essay at the expense of the Yearly Meeting, but Woolman did not accept the offer. He published the essay at his own expense.[191] Woolman gives the following reason for not accepting the overseers' offer: "This stock is the contribution of the members of our religious society in general, among whom are some who keep Negroes, and being inclined to continue them in slavery, are not likely to be satisfied with such books being spread among a people, especially at their own expense, many of whose slaves are taught to read, and, such receiving them as a gift, often conceal them. But as they who make a purchase generally buy that which they have a mind for, I believe it best to sell them expecting by that means they would more generally be read with attention."

The story of the rest of Woolman's life is but a repetition of his travels and labors in behalf of abolition. He travelled extensively, beheld the deplorable conditions attending slavery, and preached to Friends his only sermon, that "Whatsoever ye would that men should do unto you, do ye even so unto them." He did not live to see the slaves manumitted by all the slaveholding Friends, but he "was renewedly confirmed in mind that the Lord (whose tender mercies are over all his works, and whose ear is open to all the cries and groans of the oppressed) is graciously moving in the hearts of people to draw them off from the desire of wealth and to bring them into such an humble, lowly way of living that they may see their way clearly to repair to the standard of true righteousness, and may not only break the yoke of oppression, but may know Him to be their strength and support in times of outward affliction."[192]

Woolman's career was fittingly brought to an end in England, the birthplace of the society for whose improvement he labored so faithfully. He landed at London in June, 1772, and went straightway to the Yearly Meeting.[193] He visited a number of meetings in neighboring towns. While he was attending a meeting of Friends at York, he was smitten with small-pox. He died of the malady, October 1, 1772. But his difficult duty had been performed, and his labor had not been in vain. His efforts had so greatly influenced the Society of Friends that the traffic in slaves had been almost abandoned during his life. Some, of course, continued the practice of holding slaves; but a protest against the practice was made at the Yearly Meeting two years after the death of Woolman, and in 1776 the subordinate meetings were instructed to "deny the right of membership to such as persisted in holding their fellow-men as property." Thus, within four years after the pious reformer's death, the Society of Friends embraced the doctrine of abolition and made slaveholding an offence against Christianity.

The life of John Woolman furnishes another example of a poor but courageous man, who, guided by the real teachings of the Christian religion, rendered a great service to mankind. Living at a time when the defence of black men's rights was considered reprehensible, he fought against discouraging odds for the brotherhood of mankind. He was meek, persuasive, and confident. He was not a scholar, but "the greatest clerks be not the wisest men," says Chaucer. Like Bunyan, he was a student of the Holy Bible, and well understood its teachings. He realized that no power is durable, or any religion permanent, that is based on hypocrisy. He realized, further, that the grave question of men's rights must be interpreted in terms of the Christian religion. His fellow Friends, incited by selfish motives, had become unmindful of the basic elements of their religion. In their attempt to condone slavery and embrace the religion of brotherhood, they had made Christianity appear farcical. John Woolman's task, then, was not to propagate a new religion, but to make fashionable the Christian religion in which all professed a belief. He succeeded because he was allied to the right. He succeeded because he fought courageously against the wrong. He succeeded because he was a true disciple of the Christian religion. Although his laudable achievement is somewhat overlooked in these days, and his name does not command a conspicuous place on the pages of anthologies, the true lovers of freedom and the sincere exponents of the Christian religion will always remember with reverence the wonderful service of John Woolman, the pious Quaker of New Jersey.

G. DAVID HOUSTON

FOOTNOTES:

[167] The Act of Banishment enforced by Charles II against all dissenters.

[168] This opinion was held and supported by Richard Nisbit, in his "Slavery Not Forbidden by Scripture, or a Defence of the West-India Planters." See "Slave-Trade Tracts," Vol. 1, Tract 3. The same opinion was given by John Millar, LL.D., of the University of Glasgow, in his treatise on the "Ranks of Society."

[169] Whittier, "The Journal of John Woolman," 7.

[170] Ibid., 7.

[171] Pa. Mag., IV, 28.

[172] Whittier, "The Journal of John Woolman," 8-9.

[173] Woolman relates this experience in the first chapter of his "Journal," as follows: "My employer, having a Negro woman, sold her, and desired me to write a bill of sale, the man being waiting who bought her. The thing was sudden; and though I felt uneasiness at the thoughts of writing an instrument of slavery for one of my fellow creatures, yet I remembered that I was hired by the year, that it was my master who directed me to do it, and that it was an elderly man, a member of our Society, who bought her; so through weakness I gave way and wrote it; but at the executing of it I was so afflicted in mind, that I said before my master and the Friend that I believed slave-keeping to be a practice inconsistent with the Christian religion. This, in some degree, abated my uneasiness; yet as often as I reflected seriously upon it I thought I should have been clearer if I had desired to be excused from it, as a thing against my conscience; for such it was." "Journal of John Woolman," Edition Philadelphia, 1845, pp. 30-31.

[174] Concerning this early home training, Woolman writes: "The pious instructions of my parents were often fresh in my mind, when I happened to be among wicked children, and were of use to me. Having a large family of children, they used frequently, on first-days, after meeting, to set us one after another to read the Holy Scriptures, or some religious books, the rest sitting by without much conversation; I have since often thought it was a good practice. From what I had read and heard, I believed there had been, in past ages, people who walked in uprightness before God in a degree exceeding any that I knew or heard of now living." "Journal of John Woolman," 20.

[175] "Journal of John Woolman," 25.

[176] That Woolman had a very lofty conception of his calling will appear in his following reflection: "All the faithful are not called to the public ministry; but whoever are, are called to minister of that which they have tasted and handled spiritually. The outward modes of worship are various; but whenever any are true ministers of Jesus Christ, it is from the operation of his Spirit upon their hearts, first purifying them, and thus giving them a just sense of the conditions of others. This truth was early fixed in my mind, and I was taught to watch the pure opening, and to take heed lest, while I was standing to speak, my own will should get uppermost, and cause me to utter words from worldly wisdom, and depart from the channel of the true gospel ministry." "Journal of John Woolman," 29.

[177] According to tradition, Woolman travelled mostly on foot during his journeys among slaveholders. Brissot points out the similarity between the Apostles' practices and Woolman's. The comparison is entertaining, but cannot on all points be reconciled with facts given by Woolman himself in his "Journal." See Brissot's "New Travels in America," published in 1788.

Woolman's impression of slavery at this time is best told in his own words referring to this first journey. He writes: "Two things were remarkable to me in this journey: first, in regard to my entertainment. When I ate, drank, and lodged free-cost with people who lived in ease on the hard labor of their slaves I felt uneasy; and as my mind was inward to the Lord, I found this uneasiness return upon me, at times, through the whole visit. Where the masters bore a good share of the burden, and lived frugally, so that their servants were well provided for, and their labor moderate, I felt more easy; but where they lived in a costly way, and laid heavy burdens on their slaves, my exercise was often great, and I frequently had conversation with them in private concerning it. Secondly, this trade of importing slaves from their native country being much encouraged amongst them, and the white people and their children so generally living without such labor, was frequently the subject of my serious thoughts. I saw in these southern provinces so many vices and corruptions, increased by this trade and this way of life, that it appeared to me as a dark gloominess hanging over the land." "Journal of John Woolman," 93.

[178] Note that this essay was not published until eight years after Woolman's journey. The publication in 1754 was due partly to the suggestion of Woolman's father, who, just before his death, persuaded his son to publish the essay. This essay may be found in "Slave-Trade Tracts," Vol. 2.

[179] See Some Considerations, etc.

[180] In this connection, Woolman has two striking passages on page 61 of his "Journal," viz., "Receiving a gift, considered as a gift, brings the receiver under obligations to the benefactor, and has a natural tendency to draw the obliged into a party with the giver. To prevent difficulties of this kind, and to preserve the minds of judges from any bias, was the Divine prohibition: 'Thou shalt not receive any gift; for a gift bindeth the wise, and perverteth the words of the righteous.'" (Exod. XXIII, 8.)

Again, "Conduct is more convincing than language, and where people, by their actions, manifest that the slave-trade is not so disagreeable to their principles, but that it may be encouraged, there is not a sound uniting with some Friends who visit them."

[181] Woolman answered this argument by showing that Noah and his family were all who survived the flood, according to Scripture; and as Noah was of Seth's race, the family of Cain was wholly destroyed. Woolman's opponent, however, replied that after the flood Ham went to the land of Nod and took a wife; that Nod was a land far distant, inhabited by Cain's race, and that the flood did not reach it; and as Ham was sentenced to be a servant of servants to his brethren, these two families, being thus joined, were undoubtedly fit only for slaves. Woolman answered that the flood was a judgment upon the world for their abominations, and it was granted that Cain's stock was the most wicked, and therefore unreasonable to suppose that they were spared. As to Ham's going to the land of Nod for a wife, no time being fixed, Nod might be inhabited by some of Noah's family before Ham married a second time. Moreover, according to the text, "All flesh died that moved upon the earth." (Gen. VII, 21.) For the full account of the argument, see the "Journal," p. 66.

It is interesting in this connection to note how Montesquieu, in his "Spirit of Laws," treats this color argument with ridicule. He writes ironically:

"Were I to vindicate our right to make slaves of the Negroes, these should be my arguments.

"The Europeans, having extirpated the Americans, were obliged to make slaves of the Africans for clearing such vast tracts of land.

"Sugar would be too dear, if the plants which produce it were cultivated by any other than slaves.

"These creatures are all over black, and with such a flat nose that they can scarcely be pitied.

"It is hardly to be believed that God, who is a wise being, should place a soul, especially a good soul, in such a black ugly body.

"The Negroes prefer a glass necklace to that gold, which polite nations so highly value: can there be greater proof of their wanting common sense?

"It is impossible for us to suppose these creatures to be men, because, allowing them to be men, a suspicion would follow, that we ourselves are not Christians."—Book XV, Chap. V.

[182] See Clarkson's "History of the Abolition of the African Slave Trade," II, 148, and Vaux's "Memoirs of Anthony Benezet."

[183] See John Greenleaf Whittier's "Introduction to John Woolman's Journal."

[184] This description is by the Marquis de Chastellux, author of "De la Felicite Publique."

[185] For an exhaustive discussion of Benezet, see the "Journal of Negro History," Vol. II, No. 1.

[186] Woolman reports his remarks in substance as follows: "In the difficulties attending us in this life nothing is more precious than the mind of truth inwardly manifested; and it is my earnest desire that in this weighty matter we may be so truly humbled as to be favored with a clear understanding of the mind of truth, and follow it; this would be of more advantage to the Society than any medium not in the clearness of Divine wisdom. The case is difficult to some who have slaves, but it should set aside all self-interest, and come to be weaned from the desire of getting estates, or even from holding them together, when truth requires the contrary, I believe way will so open that they will know how to steer through those difficulties." "Journal," pp. 91-92.

[187] "Journal of John Woolman," 93.

[188] Speaking of his mission, Woolman writes: "I have found an increasing concern on my mind to visit some active members in our Society who have slaves, and having no opportunity of the company of such as were named in the minutes of the Yearly Meeting, I went alone to the houses, and, in fear of the Lord, acquainted them with the exercise I was under; and thus, sometimes by a few words, I found myself discharged from a heavy burden." "Journal," p. 97.

[189] "Journal of John Woolman," 96.

[190] Following are two typical passages taken from the essay: "Through the force of long custom, it appears needful to speak in relation to color. Suppose a white child, born of parents of the meanest sort, who died and left him an infant, falls into the hands of a person, who endeavors to keep him a slave, some men would account him an unjust man in doing so, who yet appear easy while many black people, of honest lives, and good abilities, are enslaved, in a manner more shocking than the case here supposed. This is owing chiefly to the idea of slavery being connected with the black color, and liberty with the white. And where false ideas are twisted into our minds, it is with difficulty we get fairly disentangled." "Slave-Trade Tracts," Vol. 2.

Again, "The color of a man avails nothing, in the matters of right and equity. Consider color in relation to treaties; by such, disputes betwixt nations are sometimes settled. And should the Father of us all so dispose things, that treaties with black men should sometimes be necessary, how then would it appear amongst the princes and ambassadors, to insist upon the prerogative of the white color?" "Slave-Trade Tracts," Vol. 2.

[191] "Journal of John Woolman," p. 126.

[192] Ibid., p. 98.

[193] William J. Allinson, editor of the Friends' Review, tells the following story concerning Woolman's first appearance in England: The vessel reached London on the fifth day of the week, and John Woolman, knowing that the meeting was then in session, lost no time in reaching it. Coming in late and unannounced, his peculiar dress and manner excited attention and apprehension that he was an itinerant enthusiast. He presented his certificate from Friends in America, but the dissatisfaction still remained, and some one remarked that perhaps the stranger Friend might feel that his dedication of himself to this apprehended service was accepted, without further labor, and that he might now feel free to return to his home. John Woolman sat silent for a space, seeking the unerring counsel of Divine Wisdom. He was profoundly affected by the unfavorable reception he met with, and his tears flowed freely.

... He rose at last, and stated that he could not feel himself released from his prospect of labor in England. Yet he could not travel in the ministry without the unity of Friends; and while that was withheld he could not feel easy to be of any cost to them. He could not go back as had been suggested; but he was acquainted with a mechanical trade, and while the impediment to his service continued he hoped Friends would be kindly willing to employ him in such business as he was capable of, and that he might not be chargeable to any.

A deep silence prevailed over the assembly, many of whom were touched by the wise simplicity of the stranger's words and manner. After a season of waiting, John Woolman felt that words were given him to utter as a minister of Christ. The spirit of his Master bore witness to them in the hearts of his hearers. When he closed, the Friend who had advised against his further service rose up and humbly confessed his error, and avowed his full unity with the stranger. All doubt was removed; there was a general expression of unity and sympathy, and John Woolman, owned by his brethren, passed on to his work. Whittier, "Journal of John Woolman," 257-258.



THE TARIK E SOUDAN

The sixteenth century was the golden age of science and literature in Timbuctoo. Her scholars with the University of Sankore as a center had so generously contributed to the world's thought that they had brought to that country no less fame than its statesmen and warriors by their constructive work and daring deeds. The country, however, was finally invaded by the Moors and the scattering of the talented class resulting thereby led to the inevitable decline of culture. "Yet," says Felix DuBois, "the greatest work of all literature of the Sudan was produced in the first days of its twilight, namely, that Tarik e Soudan (the History of the Soudan)"[194] which we shall here briefly consider.

Investigators had for years endeavored to discover this valuable book, which because of certain traces in the Barbary States had been generally considered the work of Ahmed Baba. The explorer Barth, the first to make a study of this document, was of the same opinion. Felix DuBois expresses his surprise that a man so well informed on Arabian subjects as Barth could be so easily misled, when the very extracts themselves quote Ahmed Baba as an authority. This misconception was due to the failure of the German scholar to read anything but the fragments which he discovered at Gando and to his suspicion that the author in quoting Ahmed Baba was following the Arabs' custom of quoting themselves. Felix DuBois found an excellent copy in Jenne and made from it a duplicate which was corrected from a copy of Timbuctoo,[195] so that he now has the work in what he considers as complete a form as possible.[196]

In establishing the authorship of this work, Felix DuBois emphasizes the fact that the book contains the date, year, month and day of Ahmed Baba's death and that elsewhere the author gives a very circumstantial account of himself and his belongings. "His name," according to this authority, "is Abderrahman (ben Abdallah, ben Amran, ben Amar) Sadi el Timbucti, and he was born at Timbuctoo, (the 'object of his affections'), of one of those families in which science and piety are transmitted as a patrimony."[197] It seems that he was trained by a distinguished professor who inspired him with the desire to be intellectual. This book shows, too, that he was a mature man some time between 1625 and 1635, during the period when the star of Timbuctoo was waning. That he should still maintain himself as a scholar and obtain the respect of the destructive invaders was due to the reverence with which they held the learned men of the fallen Empire. Having established a reputation which far transcended the bounds of his native country, Abderrahman Sadi was received with marks of honor and presented with gifts during all of his travels to Massina and the regions of the Upper Niger. He was made iman of a mosque of Jenne in 1631, but was later deprived of that honor. He then returned to Timbuctoo, where he was received with sympathy and consoled by friends.

Abderrahman Sadi spent his remaining years, first at Timbuctoo, then at Jenne. It seems that because of his unusual learning and knowledge of politics and government he was employed by the pashas in diplomatic affairs. Although there was then no longer the same center of culture as flourished at the University of Sankore in former years, Abderrahman Sadi, still imbued with the desire to impart knowledge, devoted no little of his time to giving lectures and holding conferences. His most important undertaking, however, was his great historical work embracing all the countries of the Niger. For such a stupendous task he had adequate preparation not only by his former training but by his experience as a traveller, his services as a public functionary, his social contact and his access to documents which are no longer extant. The following is the preface:

"Praise be to God whom the weight of a pearl upon the earth does not escape. May prayer and salvation be with the Master of the first and last, our Lord Mohammed. We know that our ancestors took pleasure in mentioning the companions of the Prophet and the saints, the sheiks and eminent kings of their country, with their lives, their edifices, and the great events of their reigns. They have told us all that they have seen, or heard, of the times extending behind us.

"As for the present time, no one is to be found to take an interest in these things or follow the path traced by their ancestors. Witnessing the decline of this science (history), so precious on account of the instruction it offers to mankind, I have implored the assistance of God in writing down all that I have read, seen, or heard concerning the kings of the Sudan and the Songhoi people, and in relating their history and the events connected with their expeditions of war. I shall speak of Timbuctoo and of its foundation, of the princes who have wielded the power of that city, I shall mention the learned and pious men who dwelt therein, and I shall continue this history to the close of the dominion of the sultans of Morocco."[198]

While it is not our purpose to sketch here the history of this empire, some knowledge of it will give a better appreciation of this great work. As an historical document the Tarik e Soudan is the only source from which we get an idea as to the origin of the Songhoi. The natives of this country inform the traveller that they came from the east. The Tarik e Soudan says: "The first king of the Songhoi was called Dialliaman," meaning, "He has come from Yemen." Dialliaman quitted Yemen in company with his brother. They travelled through the country of God until destiny brought them to the land of Kokia. Giving a more detailed account it says:

"Now Kokia was a town of the Songhoi people situated on the banks of a river, and was very ancient. It existed in the time of the Pharaohs, and it is said that one of them, during his dispute with Moses, sent thither for the magician whom he opposed to the Prophet.

"The two brothers reached the town in such a terrible state of distress that their appearance was scarcely human; their skins were cracked by the heat and dust of the desert, and they were almost naked. The inhabitants questioned them concerning the country of their origin, and their names have been forgotten in the surname with which their reply provided them, 'Dia min al Jemen'—'Come from Yemen,' And Dialliaman the elder settled in Kokia. Now the god of the Songhoi was a fish who appeared to them from the water at certain periods wearing a golden ring in his nose; and the people gethered together and worshipped the fish, receiving its commands and prohibitions and obeying its oracles.

"Perceiving their error, Dialliaman hid in his heart a resolution to kill the false deity, and God assisted him in his design.

"One day he pierced the fish with a lance in the presence of the people and killed it. Then the people proclaimed Dialliaman king."[199]

Here the author has confused tradition with history.[200] The document itself, however, substantiates the contention that there arose in this region one of the world's greatest empires ruled by an almost unbroken succession of kings who piloted the nation through the trials of its incipiency, enabled it to develop a very advanced civilization, and extended its influence over a large portion of Africa. The empire of the Songhoi lasted about 1,000 years, during which three dynasties ruled over these people. The kings of these lines adopted the names Dia, Sunni, and Askia. The first included thirty kings who ruled from 700 to 1335; the second a line of eighteen kings from 1335 to 1492, and the third and last dynasty from 1494 to 1591.

During the reign of Dia Sobi of the first dynasty the empire passed through a crisis. Unable to conquer its enemies from without, it finally became the vassal of the Mali empire on the west. Jenne, the city of much wealth and culture, was then separated from the Songhoi empire. But finally there came Ali Kolon, of the second dynasty, who freed the Songhoi from the rule of Mali. The country thereafter continued for some time in peace. Later it expanded considerably under Sunni Ali, "the true Negro soldier," who ruled from 1464 to 1493. Although skeptical, violent and oppressive he paved the way for the establishment of the largest empire which had ever existed in that part of the world.

In 1494 the second dynasty was brought to a close when Sunni Barro, the last of that line, was obliged to flee from the country and Askia Mohammed usurped the throne. He began as a pious ruler and was, therefore, praised as "a brilliant light shining after great darkness; a savior who drew the servants of God from idolatry and the country from ruin."[201] He made pilgrimages to Mecca, scattered his funds in the holy places, rendered homage to the Khalif Abassid Motewekkel in Egypt, got in touch with the theologians and learned men of Cairo and endeavored to take over the more advanced civilization of Egypt. During these years, however, his piety did not deter him from the use of the sword. He ever fought his neighbors, conducting an expedition against some nation almost every year. He eventually succeeded in triumphing over his enemies, conquering Mali on the west and Agades, Katsina, Kano, Zegzey, and Sanfara on the east. He was then Askia the Great, the ruler of one of the greatest empires of the world, extending north and south from Thegazza to Bandouk and east and west from Lake Chad to the Atlantic Ocean. He was not a mere warrior. He was just as successful in carrying out a constructive policy of incorporation. Instead of being satisfied with the payment of tribute, he destroyed old systems, established his lieutenants in the seats of government, appointed viceroys to supervise the governors of provinces, promoted commerce, and built up a formidable standing army.

Askia the Great, however, finally declined and was deposed by his son Askia Moussa in 1521. He entered upon the policy of killing his hundred brothers and was finally assassinated. Then came a nephew of Askia the Great, Askia Bankouri, who, much like his predecessor, endeavored to murder his uncles who might pretend to the throne. Despite this blot on his escutcheon, however, it is said that he wielded power with magnificence and maintained a great court. He was dethroned by the Viceroy of Dandi in 1537 and Askia Ismael was proclaimed king. His motives, according to the Tarik, are interesting. "I accepted the honour for three reasons," declared he; "to rescue my father from his distressful condition, to enable my sisters to resume the veil that Bankouri had obliged them to relinquish, and to pacify Yan Mara, one of the hundred hen ostriches, who was wont to throw herself into a frenzy whenever she saw Bankouri."[202]

Ismael died in 1540 and was succeeded by his brother Ishak. Following the example of his predecessor, he put to death many of his relations. The last four Askia to rule over the entire empire had much difficulty in maintaining their positions because of the internal and external causes operating to make it decline and fall. The Moors, the most aggressive peoples then seeking to invade the dominions, finally overran the empire and made it a colony.

Referring to this turbulent period through which the empire passed, the Tarik says: "All was changed in a moment. Danger took the place of security, destitution of abundance, trouble, calamities, and violence succeeded to tranquillity. Everywhere the populations began to destroy each other. In all places and in every direction rapine became the law, war spared neither life nor property, nor the position of the people. Disorder was general, it spread everywhere till it reached at last the highest degree of intensity." "Things continued thus," adds the historian, "until towards the moment in which the Songhoi dynasty approached its end, and its empire ceased to exist. At this moment faith was exchanged for infidelity; there was nothing forbidden by God which was not openly done. Men drank wine, they gave themselves up to vice.... As to adultery, it became so frequent that indulgence in it was almost accepted as permissible. Without it there was no elegance and no glory. ... Because of these abominations, the Almighty in his vengeance drew down upon the Songhoi the victorious army of the Moors. He brought it through terrible suffering from a distant country. Then the roots of this people were separated from the trunk, and the chastisement they underwent was exemplary."[203]

The Tarik e Soudan, however, continues its story beyond the fall of the empire of the Songhoi. It throws light on Foulbes, Touaregs, Mossi and Ouolofs, mentions Morocco and Massina, sketches the careers of saints and scholars, sets forth the authors curriculum vitae, and brings this narrative to a close in 1653. His task as a historian finished, the author appends the annals of the country to the year 1656, saying: "What shall happen hereafter I shall relate in the same manner as that which is past, for as long as I shall be alive."[204] It is highly probable that the author died that year.

Considered from all angles the student must agree with the investigator that the Tarik e Soudan is a masterpiece. Barth, the distinguished German scholar, says that the book forms "one of the most important additions that the present age has made to the history of mankind."[205] Lady Lugard, another writer in this field, believes that it is not merely an authentic narrative but is an unusually valuable document since it throws unconscious light upon the life, manners, politics and literature of that country. "Above all," says she, "it possesses the crowning quality, displayed usually in creative poetry alone, of presenting a vivid picture of the character of the men with whom it deals. It has been called the 'Epic of the Soudan,'" continues the writer. "It lacks the charm of form, but in all else the description is well merited. Its pages are a treasure-house of information for the careful student and the volumes may be read many times without extracting from them more than a small part of all that they contain."[206]

Felix DuBois refers to it as serving him as his "charming and picturesque guide through the Soudan." "The Tarik e Soudan," says he, "is conceived upon a perfectly clear and logical plan according to the most correct rules of literary composition."[207] "It forms, with the exception of the holy writings, the favorite volume of the negro, and is known to the furthest extremity of western Africa, from the shores of the Niger to the borders of Lake Chad." "Its style," continues he, "is very simple and clear, entirely lacking those literary artifices so much in vogue among the Arabs; and the author displays an unusual conscientiousness, never hesitating to give both versions of a doubtful event."[208] On the whole it is a book of elevated active morals and with its charming combination of fables, marvels and miracles it is well adapted to influence the negraic mind. The work is not an uninteresting narration of events but an explanation of them as the rewards of God when fortunate and punishments of the wicked when calamitous. Devoted to religion and civic virtue, the author portrays as sinful the evil deeds of all whether they be peasants or kings. "The Tarik is to this day," remarks Felix DuBois, "the Hozier of the Soudan. In addition to the attractions to be found in its pages, it contains a charm which entirely escapes the Sudanese, and which we alone are privileged to taste, viz., the naivete, good nature, and delicious sincerity which pervade the book." The "book admirably reflects the life and mind of the Soudan of yesterday. One enjoys from its pages," says this writer, "the delicate repasts offered by Homer, Herodotus, and Froissard, and it is for this reason I have called the Tarik the chef-d'oeuvre of Sudanese literature."[209]

A.O. STAFFORD

FOOTNOTES:

[194] Felix DuBois, "Timbuctoo the Mysterious," 310.

[195] Ibid., 315.

[196] This work has been translated into French by M. Octave Houdas, Professor of the Oriental School of Languages in Paris.

[197] Felix DuBois, "Timbuctoo the Mysterious," 312.

[198] Felix DuBois, "Timbuctoo the Mysterious," 313-314.

[199] Felix DuBois, "Timbuctoo the Mysterious," 90-91.

[200] "Like Homer, Abderrahman sometimes wanders astray," says DuBois, "pen in hand. Side by side with the gravest events he mentions that 'a white crow appeared from the 22nd of Rebia to the 28th of Djoumada, on which day the children caught and killed it.' Elsewhere in the narratives of his voyage to Massina, one of his hosts gave him his daughter in marriage. He was fifty years of age at the time, and in possession of several other wives. Not content with imparting the event to posterity, he adds, 'My union with Fatima was concluded on the twelfth day of Moharrem, 1645, but the marriage was not consummated until Friday the sixteenth.' I believe he would have given us his washing-bills if the use of body linen had been familiar to the Sudanese. In referring to this tendency of the annalist, DuBois does not mean to say anything which might be taken as an undervaluation of this work. He aims to show how the Tarik reminds the reader of works of some of the leading writers of the most civilized countries." See DuBois, "Timbuctoo the Mysterious," p. 316.

[201] It was said "He made a pilgrimage to the house of God, accompanied by a thousand foot-soldiers and five hundred horse, and carrying with him three hundred thousand mitkals of gold from the treasure of Sunni Ali. He scattered this treasure in the holy places, at the tomb of the Prophet in Medina, and at the sacred mosque at Mecca. In the latter town he bought gardens and established a charitable institute for the people of the Sudan. This place is well known in Mecca, and cost five thousand mitkals.

"He rendered homage to the Khalif Abassid Motewekkel in Egypt, praying to be made his deputy in the Sudan in general and in Songhois in particular. The Abassid consented, requiring the king of Songhois to abdicate for three days and to place the power in his hands. On the fourth day Motewekkel solemnly proclaimed Askia Mohammed the representative of the sultan in Sudan. He accompanied this by placing a green fez and white turban upon his head and returning him his sabre." "Timbuctoo the Mysterious," 110.

[202] Felix DuBois, "Timbuctoo the Mysterious," 119-120.

[203] Lady Lugard, "A Tropical Dependency," 283-284.

[204] Felix DuBois, "Timbuctoo the Mysterious," 314.

[205] Lady Lugard, "A Tropical Dependency," 154.

[206] Ibid., 154-155.

[207] Felix DuBois, "Timbuctoo the Mysterious," 313.

[208] Felix DuBois, "Timbuctoo the Mysterious," 312.

[209] Ibid., 316.



FROM A JAMAICA PORTFOLIO—FRANCIS WILLIAMS[210]

A great dividing line in the history of Jamaica runs across the record between the years 1834 and 1838. On the further side lay slavery; on the hitherward side lies the freedom, partially proclaimed on August 1, 1834, and made complete and absolute on a like date in the year of grace 1838. Amid the noise and gloom of the period from these years back into the past, it is only here and there that the face and figure of a son of Africa stands out with anything like clearness or distinction against the background of historic events. It was in 1494 that the European first came to Jamaica. The island was then discovered by Columbus. Fifteen years later the Spaniards, who had meantime harried and slain the native Indians, set to work seriously to settle in the island. As the Arrowaks withered from the land, before the cruelty of the conqueror, the African was brought in to supply slave labor.[211] It is not our immediate task to enquire into the condition of the slaves during the Spanish occupation, nor does there exist very much material for answering such an enquiry, but it may be noted, as an interesting fact, that a black priest was in the deputation that came forth to negotiate with the British conqueror when, in 1655, the surrender of the capital city, St. Jago de la Vega, became a necessity. The Spanish Governor, Don Arnoldi Gasi, sent as one of his representatives Don Acosta, "a noble Portuguese." Belonging to his establishment and accompanying him as chaplain was a Negro priest. His name has not come down to us but we know his fate. One of the conditions of the surrender was that the Spaniards were not to attempt to remove their belongings.[212] The town, however, contained a party, chiefly of Portuguese, hostile to the surrender. The first article of the capitulation required that all "goods, wares, merchandizes, or what else upon the said island, be delivered up, etc., without any deceit, embezzlement, or concealment whatever." A certain Colonel made bold to drive away into the woodlands all the cattle he could collect. Don Acosta was not only as a man of honor shocked at this breach of a solemnly signed agreement, but he had the painful personal interest in it of being a hostage in the hands of the British for the due performance of the treaty of surrender. He therefore, we are told, sent to the Colonel "his priest, a discreet Negro, to remonstrate."[213] The Colonel put the priest to death, and apparently suffered no worse punishment for this dastardly act than to have the cattle he had gone away with discovered and brought back to the British lines.[214]

When the Spaniards a few weeks after evacuated the island, going by ship to Cuba, they took the liberty of further transgressing the treaty made with Penn and Venables, the British commanders, for, instead of taking their slaves with them, they turned them loose into the hills, with directions to harass the British as much as was possible. These slaves formed the nucleus of the Maroons, a body of mountain warriors whose deeds of daring and battle form a story too long and too interesting to be dealt with here.[215]

The British speedily introduced African slaves into the island, and, after a few generations, the population had taken the contour it still preserves, namely, the pure whites, the colored folk (mixed breeds) and the pure blacks. For one reason and another, individuals in the last-named section obtained their freedom. Sometimes it was granted to them by masters who appreciated some special service rendered. Sometimes it was bequeathed to them by kind-hearted masters. At times it was a gift from the state for services rendered in times of rebellion or other disaster to the commonwealth.[216]

Among the colored element of the population the tendency towards manumission was even more marked and extensive, for there the white fathers often not only bestowed freedom on their offspring but bequeathed to them comfortable, if not ample, means. Our immediate interest is, however, to be found among the blacks, for it is among them that we see a face and figure that holds our attention.

Among the earliest Negroes in Jamaica freed because of services rendered to the state was one John Williams. Under date of 1708, a law stands on record, the first of its kind, forbidding slave testimony being received in evidence against two Negroes, to wit, Manuel Bartholomew and John Williams. This was bestowing on them one of the vital privileges as a rule confined to whites. Eight years later there was passed another act extending the privilege to Dorothy Williams, wife of John, and also to the sons of these two, namely, John, Thomas, and Francis. Exactly what led to such marked discrimination in favor of Williams and his family the records have not so far revealed, but the mere continuation of the concession and its extension suggest that there was something special about the character and worth of John Williams, Senior, as viewed by the ruling authorities. Another fact emphasizes this. John Williams, between 1708 and 1716, had to endure the rather dangerous hostility of a member of the legislature. This legislator applied to Williams the term "a black Negro," as one of contempt. Williams replied with the term, self-contradictory no doubt but effective enough to rile a Jamaican legislator in the early part of the eighteenth century. He styled his would-be traducer a "white Negro." As a result he ran the risk of seeing his valued privileges withdrawn once and for all. Supported by a few of his friends, the irate legislator brought the matter before the House of Assembly, and it was actually proposed that the Act of 1708, the Magna Charta so to speak of the Williams family, should be revoked. The effort, however, failed, and it seems reasonable to view that fact as a testimony to something of worth in John Williams, especially when we find that soon after his privileges were extended to his wife and his three sons.[217]

Francis Williams now replaces John, his father, and Dorothy, his mother, against the background of the past. The Duke of Montague wished to put to the test some of his opinions about the capabilities of the Negro. He desired to see whether a black boy taken and trained at an English school and then at a university would not equal in intellectual attainments a white youth similarly educated.[218] The links that would explain how it was that the choice for this experiment fell on Francis Williams are missing, but there it did fall. He must certainly have been, as Gardner suggests, "a lively, intelligent lad,"[219] but that by itself would not fully explain his being chosen. Someone fairly high up in Jamaica must have been taking a special interest in the Williams family, and that interest, in view of the collateral facts, must have been based on something of note in John Williams, Senior.

Francis received preliminary training in Jamaica, and then was sent to an English grammar school. Thence he went to Cambridge University. Only the bare facts of his story remain, like a skeleton, but we can safely argue that he did not disappoint the expectations of his patron to any serious extent, for, when the time came for Francis to return to Jamaica, the Duke of Montague used his influence with some determination to get his protege appointed to a seat in the Council, that his abilities might be fully put to the test. The Governor of the island with whom the Duke had to do was Edward Trelawny, and this shows that Williams returned to Jamaica between 1738 and 1748, for it was between those years that Trelawny held sway. They were stormy times, and Trelawny was a man with anything but a placid temper or compliant views. The famous war of "Jenkin's ear," between Britain and Spain, began in 1738. Porto Bello was destroyed by Vernon and Cartagena was attacked with troops whose base was Jamaica. In fact, Trelawny added a Negro detachment to the army employed.[220] In the quarrels that followed the disastrous failure at Cartagena, Trelawny had even more than his fair share of the cursing, and it is hardly surprising to find that a man of such temper, and amid such storms of fate, was anything but malleable to the Duke's request. The Governor knew his mind, and it was that setting a black man in the Council would excite restlessness among the slave population. The Duke's experiment with Williams was, therefore, not completed as the Duke himself intended it should be.[221]

Williams settled down in Spanish Town (St. Jago de la Vega), the then capital of the island, and conducted a school for imparting a classical and mathematical education. He became known also in the island, and to some extent abroad, as a poet and the fragments of his work that have come down to us show that he was at any rate a fair literary craftsman. Of the sort of man he was personally, we have not the material for a fair judgment, for we are practically shut up to surveying the man through the very colored glass that the historian Long inserts in the loophole of observation he has turned on Williams. Long, who published his History of Jamaica in 1774, was of the planter class, and his prejudice on such a matter was probably so complete that he was not even conscious that prejudice existed. He says of Williams: "In regard to the general character of the man, he was haughty, opinionated, looked down with sovereign contempt on his fellow blacks, entertained the highest opinion of his own knowledge, treated his parents with much disdain, and behaved towards his own children and slaves with a severity bordering on cruelty. He was fond of having great deference paid to him, and exacted it with the utmost degree from the negroes about him. He affected a singularity of dress and a particularly grave cast of countenance, to impart an idea of his wisdom and learning; and to second this view, he wore in common a huge wig, which made a very venerable figure."[222] The influence of prejudice on this picture is easily to be detected. There is not a single line of sympathy through the whole presentation, and it is something more than probable that there is actual misrepresentation of facts. Long would repeat what was current in his own circle, without feeling himself at all bound to investigate the assertions before setting them down for future generations to read.[223]

That Williams was set in a most difficult position is obvious. It was one that could only be creditably filled by one highly and exceptionally gifted, both in intellect and spirit. Still more difficult was it so to fill that position that he would appear before an age of wider and sweeter altruistic principles without disfavor in its eyes. Long credits him with the saying: "Show me a negro, and I show you a thief";[224] and Gardner, who enters in his behalf a defence that is in many ways effective, merely says regarding this accusation: "The race to which he belonged was then almost universally despised, and the temptation to curry favor with the whites by denouncing the negroes was too great for him to resist."[225] But it seems to me that something more deserves to be said on the subject. We do not know whether Williams' epigram was a sober opinion or merely one cast off in a fit of irritation, that moment of "haste," which even the Psalmist knew, when he was led to sweep all mankind in under the term of "liar." But, further, if Williams was the deliberate sycophant and racial toady Gardner strives to shelter behind his shield of excuse, how was it that he had not won from the planter party, whose voice reaches us through Long, a more softened if not a more favorable opinion? There must have been some marked independence of spirit about a man who cut himself off thus on the one side and on the other. He was an educated man, placed in a false position; cut off by the narrowmindedness of the educated men around him from the environment for which training and education had fitted him. Had his savage epigram employed the term "slave," instead of "negro," and that was practically what it meant, it could stand as a thought-compelling truth, pointing beyond the slave to the tyrant system that made the slave.

Gardner, whose history was published in 1876, was, by class, of the missionaries, and by disposition a liberal, and a conscientious liberal. His estimate of Williams is thoroughly well-intentioned, and not wholly inadequate. It lacks subtlety, rather than sympathy. I cannot help hoping that time will bring to light material by which something may be attempted regarding the personality and character of Francis Williams, nearer what one feels instinctively is the truth than the outline at present holding the field.

Francis Williams has been mentioned as the author of the song: "Welcome, welcome, fellow debtor," but on what grounds, beyond tradition, it is not clear. We have, however, a Latin poem which is indubitably his work. It was addressed to General George Haldane, who arrived in Jamaica as Governor, April 17, 1758. It is panegyric, after the fashion of the eighteenth century, that is excessively so, but there are lines in it worth remembering. It is thus inscribed:

Integerrimo et Fortissimo Viro GEORGIO HALDANO, ARMIGERO, Insulae Jamaicensis Gubernatori; Cui, omnes morum, virtutumque dotes billicarum, In cumulum accesserunt, CARMEN.[226]

DENIQUE venturum fatis volventibus annum (e) Cuncta per extensum laeta videnda diem, Excussis adsunt curis, sub inagine (f) clara Felices populi, terraque lege virens. (g) Te duce, (h) quae fuerant malesuada mente peracta Irrita, conspectu non reditura tuo. Ergo omnis populus, nee non plebecula cernet (h) Haesurum collo te (i) relegasse jugum, Et mala, quae diris quondam cruciatibus, insons Insula passa fuit; condoluisset onus Ni victrix tua Marte manus prius inclyta, nostris Sponte (k) ruinosis rebus adesse velit. Optimus es servus Regi servire Britanno, Dum gaudet genio (l) Scotica terra tuo: Optimus heroum populi (m) fulcire ruinam: Insula dum superest ipse (n) superstes eris. Victorem agnoscet te Guadaloupa, suorum Despiciet (o) merito diruta castra ducum. Aurea vexillis flebit jactantibus (p) Iris, Cumque suis populis, oppida victa gemet. Crede, (q) menum non est, vir Marti chare! (r) Minerva Denegat AEthiopi bella sonare ducum. Concilio, caneret te Buchananus et armis, Carmine Peleidae scriberet ille parem. Ille poeta, decus patriae, tua facta referre Dignior, (s) altisono vixque Marone minor. (t) Flammiferos agitante suos sub sole jugales (u) Vivimus; eloquium deficit omne focis. Hoc demum accipias, multa fuligine fusum Ore sonaturo; non cute, corde valet. Pollenti stabilita manu, [(w) Deus almus, eandem Omnigenis animam, nil prohibente dedit] Ipsa coloris egens virtus, prudentia; honesto Nulus inest animo, nullus in arte color. Cur timeas, quamvis, dubitesve, nigerrima celsam Caesaris occidui, candere (x) Musa domum? (y) Vade salutatum, nec sit tibi causa pudoris, (z) Candida quod nigra corpora pelle geris! Integritas morum (a) Maurum magis ornat, et ardor Ingenii, et docto (b) dulcis in ore decor; Hunc, mage, cor sapines, patriae virtutis amorque, (c) Eximit e sociis, conspicuumque facit. (d) Insula me genuit, celebres aluere Britianni, Insula, te salvo non dolitura (e) patre! Hoc precor; o (f) nullo videant te fine, regentem Florentes populos, terra, Deique locus! FRANCISCUS WILLIAMS

(e) Aspice venturo laetentur ut omnia Saeclo. Virg. E. iv. 52.

(f) Clara seems to be rather an improper epithet joined to Imago.

(g) Te duce, si qua manent sceleris vestigia nostri Irrita, perpetua solvent formidine terras. Virg. E. iv. 13.

(h) Alluding perhaps to the contest about removing the seat of government and public offices from Spanish Town to Kingston, during the administration of governor Kn——s.

(i) Pro relevasse.

(k) Quem vocet divum populus ruentis Imperi rebus. Hor. Lib. I. Od. ii.

(l) Mr. Haldane was a native of North Britain.

(m) Tu Ptolomaee potes magni fulcire ruinam. Lucan. Lib. viii. 528.

(n) This was a promise of somewhat more than antediluvian longevity. But the poet proved a false prophet, for Mr. Haldane did not survive the delivery of this address many months.

(o) Egerit justo domitos triumpho. Hor. Lib. I. Od. xii.

(p) Iris. Botanic name of the fleur-de-luce, alluding to the arms of France.

(q) Phoebus, volentem praelia me loqui Victas et urbes, increpuit lyra Ne. Hor.

(r) Invita Minerva. Hor. de Art. Poet.

(s) Maronis altisoni carmina. Juv. Sat. xi. ver. 178.

(t) Flammiferas rotas toto caelo agitat.

(u) I apprehend Mr. Williams mistook this for jubara, fun beams.

(w) This is a petitio principii, or begging the question, unless with Mr. Pope,

"All are but parts of one stupendous whole, "Whose body nature is, and God the Soul." But, "Far as creation's ample range extends, "The Scale of sensual mental powers ascends."

(x) Mr. Williams has added a black Muse to the Pierian choir; and, as he has not thought proper to bestow a name upon her, we may venture to announce her by the title of madam AEthiopissa.

(y) Vade salutatum subito perarata parentem Litera. Ovid.

(z) See his apophthegms before mentioned.

(a) Maurus is not in classic strictness proper Latin for a Negroe.

(b) Mollis in ore decor. Incert.

(c) Me doctarum ederae praemia frontium . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Secernunt populo. Hor. Lib. I. Od. 1.

(d) Mantua me genuit, Calabri rapuere. Virg.

(e) Hic ames dici pater atque princeps. Hor.

(f) Serus in coelum redeas, diuque Laetus intersis populo. Hor.

This is Long's translation:

To That most upright and valiant Man, GEORGE HALDANE, Esq; Governor of the Island of Jamaica; Upon whom All military and moral Endowments are accumulated. An ODE.

AT length revolving fates th' expected year Advance, and joy the live-long day shall cheer, Beneath the fost'ring law's auspicious dawn New harvests rife to glad th' enliven'd (g) lawn. With the bright prospect blest, the swains repair In social bands, and give a loose to care. Rash councils now, with each malignant plan, Each faction, that in evil hour began, At your approach are in confusion fled, Nor, while you rule, shall rear their dastard head. Alike the master and the slave shall fee Their neck reliev'd, the yoke unbound by thee. Ere now our guiltless isle, her wretched fate Had wept, and groan'd beneath th' oppressive weight Of Cruel woes; save thy victorious hand, Long fam'd in war, from Gallia's hostile land; And wreaths of fresh renown, with generous zeal, Had freely turn'd, to prop our sinking weal. Form'd as thou art, to serve Britannia's crown, While Scotia claims thee for her darling son; Oh! best of heroes, ablest to sustain A falling people, and relax their chain. Long as this isle shall grace the Western deep, From age to age, thy fame shall never sleep. Thee, her dread victor Guadaloupe shall own, Crusht by thy arm, her slaughter'd chiefs bemoan; View their proud tents all level'd in the dust, And, while she grieves, confess the cause was just. The golden Iris the sad scene will share, Will mourn her banners scattered in the air; Lament her vanquisht troops with many a sigh, Nor less to see her towns in ruin lie. Fav'rite of Mars! believe, th' attempt were vain, It is not mine to try the arduous strain. What! shall an AEthiop touch the martial string, Of battles, leaders, great achievements sing? Ah no! Minerva, with th' indignant Nine, Restrain him, and forbid the bold design. To a Buchanan does the theme belong; A theme, that well deserves Buchanan's song, 'Tis he, should swell the din of war's alarms, Record thee great in council, as in arms; Recite each conquest by thy valour won, And equal thee to great Peleides' son. That bard, his country's ornament and pride, Who e'en with Maro might the bays divide: Far worthier he, thy glories to rehearse, And paint thy deeds in his immortal verse. We live, alas! where the bright god of day, Full from the zenith whirls his torrid ray: Beneath the rage of his consuming fires, All fancy melts, all eloquence expires. Yet may you deign accept this humble song, Tho' wrapt in gloom, and from a faltering tongue; Tho' dark the stream on which the tribute flows, Not from the skin, but from the heart it rose. To all of human kind, benignant heaven (Since nought forbids) one common soul has given. This rule was 'stablish'd by th' Eternal Mind; Nor virtue's self, nor prudence are confin'd To colour; none imbues the honest heart; To science none belongs, and none to art. Oh! Muse, of blackest tint, why shrinks thy breast. Why fears t' approach the Caesar of the West! Dispel thy doubts, with confidence ascend The regal dome, and hail him for thy friend: Nor blush, altho' in garb funereal drest, Thy body's white, tho' clad in sable vest. Manners unsullied, and the radiant glow Of genius, burning with desire to know; And learned speech, with modest accent worn, Shall best the sooty African adorn. An heart with wisdom fraught, a patriot flame. A love of virtue; these shall lift his name Conspicuous, far beyond his kindred race, Distinguish'd from them by the foremost place. In this prolific isle I drew my birth, And Britain nurs'd, illustrious through the earth; This, my lov'd isle, which never more shall grieve, Whilst you our common friend, our father live. Then this my pray'r—"My earth and heaven survey "A people ever blest, beneath your sway!"

The following translation of this poem has been supplied by Mr. E.J. Chinock, M.A., LL.B.:

A Poem in Honour of Sir George Haldane, Knt., A most virtuous and brave man,

Governor of the island of Jamaica, on whom all the endowments of morals and of warlike virtues have been accumulated.

Since the Fates wish the year should come at last, all the joys which are to be seen through a lengthened day are present. The people having shaken off their anxieties, are prosperous under a bright image, and the land flourishing under law. While thou art ruler, the useless things which had been done by an ill-advising mind will not return at thy appearance. Therefore, all the people, even the rabble, will see that thou hast removed the yoke clinging to their necks, and the ills which the guiltless island has formerly endured with dreadful tortures. The burden would have been excessively painful did not thy victorious hand, previously renowned for valour, wish of its own accord to aid our state going to ruin. The British King has no better servant than thou art, whilst Scotland rejoices in thy talent. Thou are the best of heroes to prop up the fall of a nation; while the island survives, the memory of thee will also survive. Quadaloupe will recognise thee as her conqueror, and will deservedly despise the plundered camps of its governors. The golden Iris will weep for her boastful standards, and together with her inhabitants will groan for the conquered towns. Believe me, it is not in my power, O man, dear to Mars! Minerva denies to an Ethiopian to celebrate the wars of generals. Buchanan would sing thee in a poem, he would describe thee as equal to Achilles in counsel and in war. That famous poet, the honour of his country, is more worthy to relate thy exploits, and is scarcely inferior to the majestic Virgil. We live under an Apollo driving his own flame-bringing team. Every kind of eloquence is lacking to slaves. Receive this at any rate. Though poured forth from one very black, it is valuable, coming from a sonorous mouth; not from his skin, but from his heart. The bountiful Deity, with a hand powerfully and firm, has given the same soul to men of all races, nothing standing in his way. Virtue itself, and prudence, are free from colour; there is no colour in an honourable mind, no colour in skill. Why dost thou fear or doubt that the blackest Muse may scale the lofty house of the western Caesar? Go and salute him, and let it not be to thee a cause of shame that thou wearest a white body in a black skin. Integrity of morals more adorns a Moor, and ardour of intellect and sweet elegance in a learned mouth. A wise heart and a love of his ancestral virtue the more remove him from his comrades and make him conspicuous. The island (of Jamaica) gave me birth; the renowned Britons brought me up; the island which will not grieve while thou its father art well. This I pray: O may earth and heaven see thee without end, ruling a flourishing people.[227]

Gardner quotes the line

"Candida quod nigra corpora pelle geris,"

giving it an interpretation disparaging to Williams' racial self-respect. With more understanding of the poet's surroundings it may be taken rather to express the poet's desire to be marked as distinct from the then condition of those who represented his race round him, namely slaves.

The following lines especially deserve praise for the height in emotion and manliness to which they ascend:

Pollenti stabilita manu, Deus almus, eandem Omnigenis animam, nil prohibente dedit. Ipsa coloris egens virtus, prudentia; honesto Nullus inest animo, nullus in arte color.

Mr. Chinook's rendering conveys some of their stirring force, but they deserve a better translation, and one reason for giving the whole poem here is the hope that it may elicit another translation from some one entering more feelingly and with equal lingual knowledge into the poet's conception.

T. H. MACDERMOT

REDEAM, KINGSTON, JAMAICA, B. W. I.

FOOTNOTES:

[210] The writer of the following article, though not of the race to serve which this JOURNAL specially exists, offers a contribution to its pages because of the deep and sympathetic interest he has long taken in the African race, and because of his belief in its future. He would also interest readers of the JOURNAL in his native island, Jamaica, where, although the creation still bears marks of human imperfection and incompleteness, a community has been brought into being in which the racial elements, in such fierce and embittered antagonism elsewhere, are gradually, but surely, blending into a whole of common citizenship. T.H. MACDERMOT, Editor of the Jamaica Times, Ltd.

[211] Gardner, "History of Jamaica," 10.

[212] Gardner, "History of Jamaica," 31.

[213] Bridges, "Annals of Jamaica," I, 204.

[214] Long, "History of Jamaica," 234; and Gardner, "History of Jamaica," 31-32.

[215] See Dallas's "History of the Maroons," I, 26.

[216] This is the history of gradual emancipation in most slaveholding states.

[217] Gardner, "History of Jamaica," 207.

[218] Long, "History of Jamaica," II, 476.

[219] Gardner, "History of Jamaica," 207.

[220] Gardner, "History of Jamaica," 123.

[221] Long, "History of Jamaica," II, 476; and Gardner, "History of Jamaica," 207.

[222] Long, "History of Jamaica," II, 478.

[223] Long says: "He defined himself 'a white man acting under a black skin,' He endeavored to prove logically, that a Negroe was superior in quality to a Mulatto, or other craft, or other cast. His proposition was, that 'a simple white or simple black complexion was respectively perfect: but a Mulatto, being an heterogeneous medley of both, was imperfect, ergo inferior,'" Long, "History of Jamaica," II, 478.

[224] ibid., II, 478

[225] Gardner, "History of Jamaica," 208.

[226] Edward Long undertook to analyze this poem in such a way as to show the inferiority of the Negro. These notes are all his. See Long's "History of Jamaica," II, 478-485.

[227] Gardner, History of Jamaica, appendix.



NOTES ON THE NOMOLIS OF SHERBROLAND

Among Sierra Leoneans the Sherbro country enjoys a reputation for mysteriousness. A country where every object, from the sandy soil one treads in the streets to the bamboo chair one sits upon at home, is supposed to possess intelligence and to be capable of "catching" one, to wit, afflicting one with disease; a country where the penalty for such a venal offence as stubbing one's devoted foot against the roots of a famous cotton tree, which stands perilously near the roadside, is a sure attack of elephantiasis; a country which boasts of a certain holy city upon whose soil no man on earth may walk shod and live to see the next day, a tradition for which the District Commissioners, adventurous Britons as they are, have had so much respect that they have been content to get only a cruising knowledge of the place, always summoning the headmen to conferences on the beach and delivering instructions from the safe precincts of a boat awning; such a country evidently deserves to be called a land of mystery.

Now, to this air of mystery is added one of interest for students of archaeology in general, and particularly for all Negroes who are interested in the study of the history of their race with a view to discover whether it has really made any worthy achievements in the past or, as its traducers love to make us believe, it is indeed a backward race, that is only just emerging from barbarism and beginning to enjoy and assimilate the blessings of Western culture. I refer to certain sculptured finds which are from time to time made in the country and are naturally looked upon by the unsophisticated native mind as nothing short of a mystery.

These images, or nomolis, as they are called in the vernacular, are by no means the empirical efforts of some crude artists, but are the products of finished workmanship wrought in steatite or soapstone, which abounds in the Protectorate. They present purely Egyptian and Ethiopian features, and are apparently of great antiquity, possibly thousands of years old. They are dug out from old graves in the course of ploughing, and the finder of one of them considers himself a lucky man indeed. He sees visions of an unprecedentedly rich harvest, or of an extraordinarily brisk trade, if he happens to be in the commercial line, as the nomoli is the presiding deity of crops and commerce. If the good services of the god are required on the farm a small shrine is erected there for it and a great big hamper and a bundle of rods placed in front of it. The demon is then addressed in some such manner as this: "I wish you to protect this farm from injury. Make the crop prosper more than everybody's else, and, to do this, every day you must steal from other people's farms and fill this hamper to the full. If you do this I shall treat you well; but if you fail, this bundle of rods is reserved for your punishment." The god is then heartily treated to a sample of the walloping it should expect in case of default. When its help is needed in the store a similar temple is put up for it in a corner within, and its duty is then to protect the store from burglary, to replenish it by theft and to "draw" custom by a sort of personal magnetism. In either case it must be well cared for. Whatever food or drink its owner partakes every day, a portion must be given to it—and don't forget the whipping. Whether you realize or are disappointed in your expectations of it the guardian angel respects force more than gentleness, and must be whipped soundly every morning.

It will be seen from this that the morality of the nomoli is of a rather naughty order. The controlling principle of its life is theft; in fact it idealizes this vice, since ownership in regard to it cannot be transferred except by stealing. The god argues it this way: "He who is so careless of me that he allows me to be stolen from him, is not worthy to be my master; but he who so much believes in my powers that he risks the consequences of theft for the sake of getting possession of me, is deserving to be my master and I will serve him." In the event of discovery the culprit is taken to the barre or native court and the Chief inflicts a fine on him; and, "whereas, contrary to customary law, Kai Baki, the plaintiff, did harbour a 'big man' stranger (to wit, a nomoli) in the chiefdom without intimating the Chief in order that his majesty might pay his homage etc., etc.," the aforesaid plaintiff, who in native law is entitled to receive the amount of defendant's fine as compensation, is not only mulcted in the same amount more or less, but his nomoli becomes forfeited to the crown in the bargain. Obviously, then, it does not pay to prosecute for nomoli stealing, and the robbed native would rather bear his trouble like a philosopher, secretly admiring the cuteness of the other fellow and stealing his property back at the earliest opportunity.

ORIGIN OF THE NOMOLI

If one depends upon the aborigines for a clue as to the origin of the nomoli the enquiry would, like Kipling's "eathen," "end where it began." The whole thing is veiled in mystery; there is not even a legend about it. All that the native would tell you, and it is what he honestly believes to be the truth, is that the image was created by Gehwor (God) and came down directly from heaven. The fact that no sculpturing of the kind is now-a-days prosecuted in the country, although the Sherbros are clever at wood-carving, makes him ridicule the idea that the nomoli is man's handiwork. The enquiring student must for the present, therefore, go upon very scanty basis to formulate his theory. In order to help in the solution of this problem I shall state one or two facts about the natives of these regions. The Sherbros and Mendis, both of whom inhabit the vast territory known as Sherbroland, are, of all primitive Africans, the least given to fetish worship. This fact has always proved a stumbling-block to the spread of Mohammedanism in that part of the world. Arab as well as Negro Moslem missionaries have always found the Sherbro and Mendi man rather hard nuts to crack. Many an emissary of the prophet has invaded Sherbroland, exposing for sale all the tempting superstitious paraphernalia of the faith, but the native has almost invariably beaten him with his cold logic.

"How long does it take to come here from Mecca?" once asked a native of an Arab Sheik, who went out hawking some charms in the course of a religious tour. "Oh, more than a month," answered the unsuspecting Moslem. "A month!" exclaimed the intended convert. "Yes." "And you have come all that distance to help us with these things?" "Yes." "Then you must have paid quite a lot of money for your passage?" "Quite a lot." "And I dare say, you must have only a little money left now?" pursued the native. "Oh, yes, that's why I am selling these potent charms so cheaply, because I wish to raise money to go back home," confessed the true believer. "But how is that?" queried the native; "if, as you say, these charms can make a poor man become rich, how is it that you did not stay in Mecca and use them yourself to become rich instead of coming all the way here to sell them to get money?"

As this attitude towards charms, which is typical of the Sherbro natives, shows that they are not a fetish worshipping people, it can hardly be supposed that the nomolis are relics of that superstition. If this were the case, it could easily be suggested by those who wish to discredit the race that the images might have been made by members of some foreign race and exported to the "heathen," who are supposed to delight in "bowing down to wood and stone," a sort of execution to order. This should be quite possible, because it was recently discovered that a certain London firm did a thriving business in idols with China; and it has even been suggested that the nomolis were imported into Sherbroland from Phoenicia.

But such a contingency being ruled out of court, in view of the Sherbro native's antipathy to idol worship, we must look for an explanation of the origin of the nomoli to one other feature in the customs of Sherbroland. The Sherbros have a custom almost similar to that of the Timnis, a kindred people. The latter are given to ancestor worship. At the burial of a Timni, a few stones are placed upon the grave, and after three days, when the spirit of the deceased is supposed to have entered into the stones, they are removed to a little shrine in the porch of the family house. The spirit then becomes a guardian angel, and offerings are made at the shrine from day to day. The Sherbros also make use of stones for the reception of the spirits of their departed ones, but not with a view to ancestor worship. If a Sherbro happened to die away from home, which is considered a great calamity, the remains are either exhumed and brought back to the old familiar scenes, or, if the distance be too great, three stones are taken to the last resting place and, after three days in the case of a male, or four days in the case of a female, the spirit is supposed to have entered the stones, and the latter are brought to the old town and buried.

Is it not possible, then, that the nomolis are real pictures of some ancient Sherbro men and women, and that these people, dying away from "home, sweet home," their images, after having supposedly received their spirits, were interred in the old homeland? I believe the Rev. Dr. Hayford in his "Ethiopia Unbound" suggests that Ethiopia or Negrodom was once the mistress of the world; that much-talked-of Egypt was but a province of hers, and the pharaohs not real kings, but merely governors sent from the mother country. If this be true, might it not be that some of these nomolis are sculptures of eminent men and women, natives of the region now known as Sherbroland, who went to far-away Egypt as Empire builders, lost their lives in the land of the sphynx; and, since distance prevented the return of their bodies, their busts, after receiving their imperishable parts, were brought back home and buried with due solemnity "under the stately walls of Troy?"

WALTER L. EDWIN

SIERRA LEONE, WEST AFRICA



DOCUMENTS

OBSERVATIONS ON THE NEGROES OF LOUISIANA

To present a broad view of the Negroes concerned in this and the subsequent series of documents we have given below accounts appearing from decade to decade, written by men of different classes and of various countries. Some received one impression and some another, as the situation was viewed from different angles. In the mass of information, however, there is the truth which one may learn for himself.

CONSIDERATIONS SUR L'ESCLAVAGE; NEGRES LIBRES; MULATRES DE LA LOUISIANE, 1801

L'esclavage, le plus grand de tous les maux necessaires, soit relativement a ceux qui l'endurent, soit par rapport a ceux qui sont contraints d'en employer les victimes, existe dans toute l'etendue des deux Louisianes. Il ne seroit pas facile de determiner pendant combien d'annees la partie septentrionale en aura besoin; mais on peut assurer qu'il doit exister bien des siecles encore dans le Midi si le Gouvernement veut y encourager l'agriculture, qui est son unique ressource. Les Negres seuls peuvent se livrer aux travaux dans ces climats brulans: le Blanc qui y perit jeune malgre toutes sortes de menegemens, ne feroit qu s'y montrer s'il etoit oblige d'y cultiver son champ de ses propres mains. Pour tirer parti de cette colonie, l'on doit donc proteger l'importation des Negres qui y sont en trop petit nombre; mais il est en meme temps de l'interet du Gouvernement, de veiller a ce que les habitans n'y abusent pas du pouvoir que la loi et droit de propriete leur donnent.

Apres la cruelle experience de Saint-Domingue, qui probablement aura ouvert les yeux de tous ces philantropes qui ne comptent pour rien la prosperite des empires, lorsqu'elle semble etre en contradiction avec ces sentimens d'humanite, dont ils feignent souvent d'avoir ete doues par la nature; je suis loin d'engager aucun gouvernement a relacher les liens de l'esclavage: on doit les laisser subsister dans leur integrite, ou perdre les colonies. Cependant doivent-ils negliger cette branche d'administration et s'en rapporter aveuglement aux proprietaires, qui paroissent avoir un interet direct a menager leurs esclaves? C'est ce que je suis loin de croire. Les passions agissent trop fortement sur le coeur des hommes, pour ne pas en restreindre la vivacite par des reglemens sages; leur interet meme souvent mal-entendu les aveugle sur leurs propres avantages. L'avarice crie a l'un que ses esclaves mal vetus et mal nourris, n'en sont pas moins tenus a lui rendre les services qu'l exige; la colere conduit l'autre a faire des exemples terribles, sous pretexte d'effrayer ceux qui seroient tentes de lui manquer; un grand nombre enfin se croit autorise a s'en servir pour assouvir ses passions et servir ses passions et servir ses gouts, fussent-ils meme contraires aux devoirs de la societe et opposes aux principes religieux. Aux yeux des gouvernans les hommes ne doivent etre que de grands enfans, dont, en sages precepteurs, ils dirigent les caprices de maniere a les faire tourner a leur plus grand bien.

Dans la basse Louisiane les Negres sont tres mal nourris: chacun ne recoit pas par mois audela, d'un baril de mais en epis, ce qui ne fait que le tiers d'un baril en grain;[228] encore beaucoup de proprietaries prelevent-ils quelque chose sur leur ration. Ils doivent se procurer le suplus de leur nourriture, ainsi que leurs vetemens, avec le produit de leur travail du dimanche. S'ils ne le font pas, ils sont exposes a rester nus pendant la saison rigoureuse. Ceux qui leur fournissent des vetemens, le contraignent a employer pour eux les jours de repos, jusqu'a ce qu'ils aient ete rembourses de leurs avances. Pendant tout l'ete, les Negres ne sont pas vetus. Les parties naturelles sont uniquement cachees par une piece d'etoffe, qui s'attache a la ceinture par devant et par derriere, et qui a conserve dans toute l'Amerique septentrionale habitee par les Francois, le nom de braguet. L'hiver ils ont generalement une chemise et une couverture de laine, faite en forme de redingotte. Les enfans restent souvent nus jusqu'a l'age de huit ans, qu'ils commencent a rendre quelques services.

Un maitre ne doit-il pas a son esclave le vetement et une nourriture substantielle, a proportion du travail qu'il en exige? Le jour du repos n'appartient-il pas a tous les hommes, et plus particulierement a ceux qui sont employes aux penibles travaux de la campagne? Ce sont des questions qui n'en seroient pas, si l'avarice, plus forte que l'humanite, ne dominoit presque tous les hommes, mais sur-tout les habitans des colonies. Que resulte-t-il cependant de cette avarice mal entendue? les Negres mal nourris et trop fatigues s'epuisent et ne peuplent pas; de l'epuisement nait la foiblesse, de la foiblesse le decouragement, la maladie et la mort. Pour augmenter son revenue le proprietaire perd donc le capital, sans que son experience le rende ordinairement plus sage. Je n'ignore pas que les Negres sont loin de ressembler aux autres hommes; qu'ils ne peuvent etre conduits ni par la douceur, ni par les sentimens; qu'ils se moquent de ceux qui les traitent avec bonte; qu'ils tiennent par la morale a la brute, autant qu'a l'homme par leur constitution physique; mais ayons au moins pour eux soins que nous avons pour les quadrupedes, dont nous nous servons: nourrissons-les bien pour qu'ils travaillent bien, et n'exigeons pas au-dela de leurs facultes ou de leurs forces.

Les Negres sont naturellement fourbes, paresseux, voleurs et cruels; il est inutile d'ajouter qu'ils sont tous dans le coeur ennemis des Blancs: le serpent cherche a mordre celui qui le foule aux pieds; l'esclave doit hair son maitre. Mais ce dontil est difficile de rendre compte, c'est l'aversion et la brutalite des Noirs libres pour ceux de leur espece. Parviennent-ils a se procurer des esclaves? ils les traitent avec une barbarie dont rien ne peut approcher; ils les nourrissent plus mal encore que ne font les Blancs, et les surchargent de travail: heureusement leur penchant a la faineantise et a l'ivrognerie, les tient dans un etat de mediocrite dont ils sortent rarement.

Quoique les Negres libres perdent tres-peu de leur haine pour les Blancs, ils sont cependant loin d'etre aussi dangereux que les Mulatres. Ces hommes qui semblent participer aux vices des deux especes, comme ils out participe a leurs couleurs, sont mechans, vindicatifs, traitres et egalement ennemis des Noirs qu'ils meprisent, et des Blancs qu'ils ont en horreur. Cruels jus qu'a la barbarie envers les premiers, ils sont toujours prets a saisir l'occasion de tourner leurs bras contre les seconds. Fruits du libertinage de leurs peres, dont ils recoivent presque tous la liberte et une education assez soignee, ils sont loin d'en etre reconnaissans; ils voudroient en etre traites comme des enfans legitimes, et la difference que l'on met entr'eux les porte a detester meme les auteurs de leurs jours. On en a vu un grand nombre, dans le massacre de Saint-Domingue, porter sur eux leurs mains parricides. Les plus delicats se chargeoient mutuellement de cette detestable commission. Vas tuer mon pere, se disoient-ils, je tuerai le tien.

Mais, dira-t-on, le premier droit de la nature est de se racheter de l'esclavage, comme c'en est un aussi de faire jouir des bienfaits de la liberte l'etre qui tient de nous l'existence. Ces verites ne peuvent etre contestees; mais une troisieme qui n'est pas moins evidente, c'est qu'il est du devoir d'un bon gouvernement d'assurer par toutes sortes de moyens la vie et la propriete des peuples qui vivent sous sa domination: or, par-tout ou il y aura des Negres libres ou des Mulatres, l'une et l'autre seront chaque jour exposees au plus imminent danger. Un esclave fuit-il son maitre? c'est chez un Negre libre qu'il va se refugier. Un vol a-t-il ete commis? si le Negre libre n'en est point l'auteur, il en est au moins le receleur. Lorsque par la suite de son travail ou de son economie un esclave peut racheter sa liberte, qu'il aille en jouir parmi les nations qui voudront le recevoir, ou qu'il retourne dans son pays, c'est tout ce que le Gouvernement lui doit. Mais je ne crains pas d'assurer que toute colonie ou l'on souffrira des Negres libres, sera le repaire du brigandage et des crimes.

Quant aux hommes de couleur, plus dangereux encore, il seroit probablement tres-avantageux d'en former des colonies dans quelques parties inhabitees du continent: cette mesure auroit une suite doublement utile; elle priveroit les colonies de ces etres par lesquels elles seront tot ou tard aneanties, et elle diminueroit ce gout crapuleux des Blancs pour leurs esclaves, qui est la ruine de la societe et la cause premiere du pen de population des pays qu'ils habitent.—Voyage dans Les Deux Louisianes, 1801, 1802, and 1803, pp. 408-415, par M. Perrin Du Lac.

OBSERVATIONS OF BERQUIN DUVALLON ON THE FREED PEOPLE OF COLOUR IN LOUISIANA IN 1802

The class of free people of colour is composed of negroes and mulattoes, but chiefly of the last, who have either obtained or purchased their liberty from their masters, or held it in virtue of the freedom of their parents. Of these, some residing in the country, cultivate rice and a little cotton; a great number, men, women and children collected in the city, are employed in mechanical arts, and menial offices.

The mulattoes are in general vain and insolent, perfidious and debauched, much giving to lying, and great cowards. They have an inveterate hatred against the whites, the authors of their existence, and primitive benefactors. It is the policy of the Spanish government to cherish this antipathy; but nothing is to be feared from them. There is a proportion of six whites to one man of colour, which, with their natural pusillanimity, is a sufficient restraint.

The mulatto women have not all the faults of the men. But they are full of vanity, and very libertine; money will always buy their caresses. They are not without personal charms; good shapes, polished and elastic skins. They live in open concubinage with the whites; but to this they are incited more by money than any attachment. After all we love those best, and are most happy in the intercourse of those, with whom we can be the most familiar and unconstrained. These girls, therefore, only affect a fondness for the whites; their hearts are with men of their own colour.

They are, however, not wanting in discernment, penetration, finesse; in this light they are superior to many of the white girls in the lower classes of society, girls so impenetrably dull, that like that of Balsac's village, they are too stupid to be deceived by a man of breeding, gallantry and wit.

OBSERVATIONS ON THE NEGRO SLAVE

We come now to the class of negro slaves, the most numerous but least fortunate of all. The negro Creoles of the country, or born in some other European colony, and sent hither, are the most active, the most intelligent, and the least subject to chronic distempers; but they are also the most indolent, vicious and debauched.

Those who come from Guinea are less expert in domestic service, and the mechanical arts, less intelligent, and oftener victims of violent sickness or grief (particularly in the early part of their transportation) but more robust, more laborious, more adapted to the labours of the field, less deceitful and libertine than the others. Such are the discriminative characteristics of each, and as to the rest, there is a strong relation between their moral and physical character.

Negroes are a species of beings whom nature seems to have intended for slavery; their pliancy of temper, patience under injury, and innate passiveness, all concur to justify this position; unlike the savages or aborigines of America, who could never be brought to servile controul.