£2 
College for educating Blacks^ 
[Aug. 
reverend commentator from Plutarch did 
cot escape the attention of Shakespeare : 
——On a trihunal silvered, slie 
in the habiliments of the goddess Isis 
That day appeared, and oft before gave 
audience, 
As ’tis reported so- - jict III. Sctfie 5. 
Nevertheless this conjecture, like many 
Others of Dr. Warburtun, rather excites 
©ur admiration than conviction. 
—-But yet let me lament 
"With tears as sovereign as the blood of hearts. 
That thou, my brother, my competitor 
In top of all design—my mate in empire. 
Friend and companion in the front of war. 
The arm of mine own body, and the heart 
Where mine his thoughts did kindle, that 
our stars 
Unreconcilabie should laave divided 
par eq^ualness to this. 
The construction of the above pas¬ 
sage is extremely vicious, and I, think 
the poetry also of this striking apostrophe 
would be much improved by reading, 
^ O, thou, my brother, &c.’' 
» Ifr iff # 
This is a delightful play. The charac¬ 
ters of Antony and Cleopatra are exqui¬ 
sitely delineated; the magnanimity of 
this “ famous pair,'* as depictured in the 
closing scenes of the tragedy, bears its 
full proportion to their former follies, and 
our scorn is lost in admiration. The 
celebrity which attends and ahnost con¬ 
secrates their memories, in Haines and 
fascinates the imagination, and the con¬ 
queror appears little, if not contemptible, 
io the comparison. 
To the Editor of the Monthly Mag azine, 
SIR, 
BOUT two vears ago I dined in 
company with the surgeon of a ves¬ 
sel trading to the coast of Africa, and 
was much interested by an account he 
^ave me of his forcible detention in the 
dominions of the King of Dahomey, 
situated near the Equator. He dissi¬ 
pated many of my prejudices relative to 
the state of the Africans ; and, according 
to his account, the dominions of this al- 
xnost-unknown potentate contain seve¬ 
ral millions of inhabitants, in a half ci¬ 
vilized condition. 
He convinced me that much which we 
have hitherto been told by travellers 
relative to the Africans, is absolutely 
fabulous, and that tiie propensity of 
writers to astonish their readers, has led 
them to indulge in every species of mis- 
xepreseiuadon and distortion, relative to 
these nations. I submit it therefore to 
the Societies whicii have been formed for 
the purpose of befriending Africa, whe¬ 
ther one of their first steps ought not to 
be to send out scientific travelleis to re¬ 
port with fidelity on the exact state of 
the several countries and on the con¬ 
dition and habits of the people. 
I wonder indeed that^i college has not 
been instituted in England for th* pur¬ 
pose of educating native Blacks in th& 
arts of civilized life; apparent as it must 
be, that, if a few of them were returned 
every year to their native countries, thev 
would gradually effect every object that 
is desired by philanthropists, and would 
excite by their instruction and example, 
a spirit of emulation and improvement 
among their respective countrymen. 
To prove that we should receive some 
return for our liberality, I shall notice 
an extraordinary fact communicated to 
me by the Surgeon above described. On 
his mentioning the prevalence of a 
certain disease among the Blacks, I 
enquired of him whether they cured 
themselves by means of mercury.? To 
which he replied, in the negative ; ob¬ 
serving, that they had no idea of the 
medical uses of that mineral. How' then 
do they cure the disease? I am almost 
ashamed (said he,) to acknowledge that 
I do not know. 1 know simply, that tlie 
disease prevails, and that the infected 
are easily and rapidly cured, but without 
mercury, or any suspicion of the power 
of mercury. —But how could you, a pro¬ 
fessional man, remain indifferent to so 
important a fact? I was not wholly in¬ 
different to it (said he); but, while I was 
in Dahomey, I w-as several months in 
prison* for a long time I never expected 
to escape; and at other times I was plan¬ 
ning niy escape, or was secreted in 
hiding places ^before I reached the coast. 
I was dead, therefore, to every feeling of 
professional or scientific curiosity ; but I 
have thought on the subject a thousand 
times, and have as often reproached my¬ 
self fornot ascertaining their mode ofeure! 
\yhat a glorious object lieie presents 
itself then for a public embassy! —How 
much m-ore worthy would it be to send a 
few of our superjiuous millions in pre¬ 
sents to the King of Dahomey for this 
secret, than to send them as a bribe to 
any continental despot, to cut the throats 
of the French ! — At least would it not 
be some atonement to Heaven for the mv- 
riads which, in recent wars, we have sa¬ 
crificed to our folly or ambition !—Would 
it not appease the curses brought on us 
