496 Rtply to the Defence of the African Institution 



marked, there is " an originality about 

 him wliicli entitles bim to raiiic higher 

 than the highest form it) the school of 

 Pope." Some of the home touclies in 

 tlio Deserted Village can be compared 

 to nothing but the masterly pictures of 

 Shakiijjeare. 



I intend shortly to conclude these 

 letters by a slight examination of the 

 poetical writings of Young, Thomson, 

 Akcnsiile, and Cowper. II. Neule. 

 ' Kentis/i-Town; Nov. 9. 1816. 



[Jan. 1, 



yet he labours to make the public believe 

 lie dcies right in making ilie African In- 

 stitution the scape-goat for the sins of th« 

 Sierra-Leone Comjiany, the government, 

 theirolficcrs and servants." We liavc ex- 

 amined carefully, and cannot find a para- 

 graph in Dr. Thorpe's publicatioiis at- 

 tacking government for their treaties 

 with Spain and Portugal ; Dr. Thorpe 

 ]!«;operly cf^nsnres the Institution for 

 misleading the navy by their confused 



To the Editor of the Blonthhj Magazine, 



SIK, 



AS you arc a true abolitionist, con- 

 stantly proving yonr determined 

 hatred to slavery, and yonr zeal in tlic 

 investigation of truth, I beg leave to 

 claim a few columns of yonr valuable 

 magazine, in reply to a "Defence of 

 the African Institution, by Alethes," 

 published by you a few months since. 



Aletl'.es says, that "your cfirrespon- 

 dent, like Dr. Thorpe, unfairly identi- 

 ties the African Institution with the 

 Sierra-Leone Company, and the officers 

 of government at Sierra Leone;" it is, 

 however, well known, thai, when the 

 Abolition Act passed (March, 1807), the 

 Sierra-Leone Company surrendered their 

 nominal management of Sierra Leone 

 to govennnent, und at that instant the 

 African Institution was establislied; that 

 the chief managers of the con)pany be- 

 came the chief directors of the institu- 

 tion, and every olV.eer i:i the govern- 

 ment-service at Sierra Leone was ap- 

 pointed by the inlluence of those direc- 

 tors, except Dr. Thorpe. 



'I'lie directors confess that they ad- 

 \ised ministers on AtVican snbjeets; and, 

 from their own reports and letters, their 

 complete management of every tiiitig 

 relating to Sierra Leone is manifest ; jet 

 Aicthes assures us the Institution have 

 Hothing to do with tlicsc things; a mo- 

 <iern* author has, by a most happy 

 ligure, eineidated this prolens. "Tiic 

 identity of tiie two establishments (the 

 Sierra-Leone Company and Al'iican in- 

 stitution) may, perhaps not itiaptly, be 

 illustrated by fiie familiar cNaniple of a 

 snake, which does not lose its identity 

 merely because it has s!ip;:ed out of its 

 skin of the preccdhigyear." 



"If Dr. Hiorpe," says Alethes, 

 "chooses to attack ■ ovtrnment on their 

 treaties with Spain an<l Ptirtngal, what 

 h&ve the Institution to do w ith that; and 



Negro Emancijiiiliou uiatli,' Easy ; 



p. y). 



misconstruction of the Portugal treaiics. 

 The Instilntion confess they did mislead 

 the navy, but that it was from good mo- 

 tives, and uiidcr legal advice ; and, when 

 Alethes promulgates the sins of the com- 

 pany, of government, their ofiu ( rs and 

 servants, to make the Institution im- 

 maculate, he ou.E,ht to have recollected 

 that the j)rincipal sinless-perfection gen- 

 tlemen of tl:e Institution were also 

 managers for the company. 



The Reports of the Institution in- 

 formed us, that abimt eighty thousand 

 slaves arc aumially carried from the west 

 Coast of Africa by the Portuguese and 

 Spaniards, and that from these about 

 seven thousand have been captured by 

 Ei itisli cruisers; that is, about one thou- 

 sand have been liberated out of every 

 hundred thousand enslaved. Of those 

 captured, it apjjcars, that nearly three 

 tiioiisand have been compelled to be sol- 

 dit.is for life, one hundred and fifty hav« 

 been given to the navy, five hundred ap- 

 prenticed for li!e (for we have no proof 

 of liberations on tlio e.\piration of the 

 term in thcindenture), and the remainder 

 (since Col. McCarthy became governor,) 

 we shall suppose comfortably settled iu 

 the colony. This is the perfection of their 

 labours; now we shall examine the cala- 

 mity that has attached to their futile at- 

 tempts at, and unbounded professions 

 for, the abolition of slavery, and the civi- 

 lization of Africa. IVom the slave mar- 

 ket having become precarious. Dr. 

 'i'horpe has most feelingly described the^ 

 misery entailed upon the negroes from 

 their being driven from place to place 

 for eight and ten month.s, until a pur- 

 chaser was procured; but we can go slill 

 furtlier in depicting their hnnible sut- 

 ferings. I'rom excellent autlioriiy we 

 learn, tiiat, after those unfortunate beings 

 have been purehiLsed and lodged in a 

 depot, the factors have been so oftrji dis- 

 appointed b;, the capture of vessels they 

 expected, to receive the slaves they had 

 provided, that the slaves have perished 

 in tiicir yards tVuin want of food. ' 



Dr. Thorpe and the Institution Re^' 



poits agree iu tlicir statement as to the 



aceuiuulutcd 



