ANNUAL RE G 1ST ER, 1704. 



alsoan account of the death of prince 

 Naimboiina, who died, on the even- 

 ing ofhis arnv.ilat Sierra Leone, of a 

 putrid fever, contracted by liinn on 

 Ihiphoard, in the courfe of his pas- 

 sage from this country. This ami- 

 ahle young man had been for some 

 short time in England, under the 

 protection of the Sierra Leone coni- 

 ;})a ly. He possessed a v#ry excellent 

 j^irderstanding, a disposition earnest 

 •it! the pursuit of knowledge, and 

 .great facility in receiving instruc- 

 ,tion. His mental acquirements, 

 .during his stay in this country, 

 • were the subject of much admira- 

 tion, and his easy address and sua- 

 vity of manners endeared him to all 

 . those to whom he was introduced. 

 He had imbibed, and he professed 

 to the last moment of iiis existence, 

 the strongest allachmeDt to the 

 principles of the Protestant faith ; 

 and by his will (made in the begiii- 

 . ning of his illness.) he earnestly re- 

 quested -his relations to set their 

 faces against the slave-trade, and to 

 befriend the Sierra Leone company 

 to the utmost of their power. 



6th. Monday morning, at nine 

 o'clock,cameonbeforcthehighcouit 

 of Justiciary, at Ldinburgh, the trial 

 of William Skirving, accused of dif- 

 ferent seditious practices. He con- 

 -<1acted his defence without the a«- 

 pistance of agent or counsel, and 

 after a long trial, which lasted till 

 one o'clock this morning, he was 

 found guilty of sedition, and sen- 

 tenced to fourteen years transpor- 

 'tation. Aftc the verdict was re- 

 corded, and before sentence was 

 -passed, the panncl addressed the 

 court. He said by an unlucky 

 accident he had been deprived of 

 counsel on his trial, but had this 

 morning received, by post, what 



he had expected, viz. th« opinion 

 of English counsel on his trial : and 

 although it had arrived in some 

 degree too late, yet even at thii 

 period it might not perhaps be al- 

 together useless. He then stated 

 the opinion of the English counsel 

 to be, that the indictment was ille- 

 gal in so far as it charged him to be 

 guilty art or part of the crime lil id- 

 led. On such a charge as this, he 

 was informed, no legal trial could 

 proceed. He also stated, that to 

 this hour, although he had often 

 asked, he had never yet been in- 

 formed what sedition was. When 

 their lordships delivered their opi- 

 nions as to what punishment should 

 be inflicted,they also took notice of 

 the opinion of this English coun- 

 sel, of whom they said that, how- 

 ever learned he might be in the 

 law of England, he was grossly 

 ignorant of the law of Scotland, 

 else he would have known that there 

 was a Special Act of Parliament 

 authorising the charge of art and 

 part. After sentence was pronoun 

 ccd, the pannel addiessed the court, 

 saying the sentence did net at all 

 appal him, that he had long since 

 learned to throw aside all fear of 

 man ; but this sentence would be 

 rejudged, and that was all his com- 

 fort and all iiis hope. 



9th. Edtniurgh. This morning, 

 about ten o'clock, a vast crowd as- 

 sembled ill front of the Black-BuL'' 

 Inn, where Maurice Margarot, in 

 dieted forseditious practices, lodged 

 He shortly after came out, attendee 

 by three friends. When he got thi 

 length of the Register-Office th( 

 mob forced ail the four into a chaisi 

 which they hud provided, and fron 

 which they had previously taken th«j 

 horses. This done, they immedi 



atel 



