ALEXANDER H. EVERETT.

Sir, we are sometimes told that all these efforts will be unavailingthat the African is a degraded member of the human family-that a man with a dark skin and curled hair, is necessarily, as such, incapable of improvement and civilization, and condemned by the vice of his physical conformation, to vegetate for ever in a state of hopeless barbarism. Mr. President, I reject, with contempt and indignation, this miserable heresy. In replying to it, the friends of truth and humanity have not hitherto done justice to the argument. In order to prove that the blacks were capable of intellectual efforts, they have painfully collected a few imperfect specimens of what some of them have done in this way, even in the degraded condition which they occupy at present in Christendom. Sir, this is not the way to treat the subject. Go back to an earlier period in the history of our race. See what the blacks were and what they did three thousand years ago, in the period of their greatness and glory, when they occupied the fore front in the march of civilization-when they constituted in fact the whole civilized world of their time. Trace this very civilization, of which we are so proud, to its origin, and see where you will find it. We received it from our European ancestors: they had it. from the Greeks and Romans, and the Jews. But, Sir, where did the Greeks and the Romans and the Jews get it? They derived it from Ethiopia and Egypt,-in one word, from Africa. Moses, we are told, was instructed in all the learning of the Egyptians. The founders of the principal Grecian cities, such as Athens, Thebes, and Delphi, came from Egypt, and for centuries afterwards, their descendants returned to that country, as the source and centre of civilization. There it was that the generous and stirring spirits of the time-Herodotus, Homer, Plato, Pythagoras, and the rest, made their noble voyages of intellectual and moral discovery, as ours now make them in England, France, Germany, and Italy. Sir, the Egyptians were the masters of the Greeks and the Jews, and consequently of all the modern nations in civilization, and they had carried it very nearly as far-in some respects, perhaps, a good deal further than any subsequent people. The ruins of the Egyptian temples laugh to scorn the architectural monuments of any other part of the world. They will be what they are now, the delight and admiration of travellers from all quarters, when the grass is growing on the sites of St. Peter's and St. Paul's, the present pride of Rome and London.

Well, Sir, who were the Egyptians? They were Africans :-and of what race?-It is sometimes pretended, that though Africans, and of Ethiopian extraction, they were not black. But what says the father of history, who had travelled among them, and knew their appearance, as well as we know that of our neighbors in Canada? Sir, Herodotus tells you that the Egyptians were blacks, with curled hair. Some writers have undertaken to dispute his authority, but I cannot bring myself to believe that the father of history did not know black from white. It seems, therefore, that for this very civilization of which we are so proud, and which is the only ground of our present

SHARP-A CITIZEN OF THE WORLD-L'OUVERTURE.

claim of superiority, we are indebted to the ancestors of these very blacks, whom we are pleased to consider as naturally incapable of civilization.-Speech at Massachusetts Colonization Society, Feb. 7, 1833.

ARCHBISHOP SHARP.

That Africa, which is now more fruitful of monsters, than it was once for excellently wise and learned men,—that Africa, which formerly afforded us our Clemens, our Origen, our Tertullian, our Cyprian, our Augustin, and many other extraordinary lights in the Church of God,that famous Africa, in whose soil, Christianity did thrive so prodigiously, and could boast of so many flourishing churches,—alas! is now a wilderness. "The wild boars have broken into the vineyard, and ate it up, and it brings forth nothing but briers and thorns," to use the words of the prophet. And who knows but God may suddenly make this church and nation, this our England, which, Jeshurun-like, is waxed fat and grown proud, and has kicked against God, such another example of vengeance of this kind.-Speech in House of Commons.

A CITIZEN OF THE WORLD.

The sum of five thousand pounds sterling, stands invested for the mutual benefit of two very excellent institutions in London-the Magdalen Asylum and the Foundling Hospital. It was bequeathed to them by one OMICHAND, a black merchant in Calcutta, who left many equally liberal donations to other charitable institutions in all parts of the world.

ANOTHER. A poor negro walking towards Deptford, Eng., saw by the road side an old sailor of a different complexion, with but one arm and two wooden legs. The worthy African immediately took three halfpence and a farthing, his little all, from the side-pocket of his tattered trowsers, and forced them into the sailor's hand, while he wiped the tears from his eye with the corner of his blue patched jacket, and then walked away quite happy.-Sholto and Reuben Percy's Anecdotes.

TOUSSAINT L'OUVERTURE.

CITIZEN CONSUL,-Your letter, of the 27th Brumaire, has been transmitted to me by Citizen Le Clerc, your brother-in-law, whom you have appointed Captain General of this island, a title not recognised by the Constitution of St. Domingo. The same messenger has restored two innocent children to the fond embraces of a doting father. What a noble instance of European humanity! But, dear as those pledges are to me, and painful as our separation is, I will owe no obligations to my enemies, and I therefore return them to the custody of their jailers.

You ask me, do I desire consideration, honors, and fortune? Most certainly I do, but not of thy giving. My consideration is placed in the respect of my countrymen, my honors in their attachment, my fortune in their disinterested fidelity. Has this mean idea of personal aggrandizement been held out in the hope that I would be induced thereby to betray the cause I have undertaken? The power I possess has been as legitimately acquired as your own, and nought but the

decided voice of the people of St. Domingo shall compel me to relinquish it.

It is not cemented by blood, or maintained by the artifices of European policy. "The ferocious men whose persecutions I put a stop to," have confessed my clemency, and I have pardoned the wretch whose dagger has been aimed at my life. If I have removed from this island certain turbulent spirits, who strove to feed the flames of civil war, their guilt has been first established before a competent tribunal, and finally confessed by themselves. Is there one of them who can say that he has been condemned unheard or untried? And yet these monsters are to be brought back once more, and, aided by the bloodhounds of Cuba, are to be uncoupled and hallooed to hunt us down and devour us; and this by men who dare to call themselves Christians.-Letter to Bonaparte, 1803.

"He was born a slave in St. Domingo, 1745. In his youth he was noted for his benevolence and tender feeling towards brutes, and his stability of temper. By assiduity he learnt to read, write and cipher, this, and his regular and amiable deportment, gained the esteem of his master, whom he saved in the revolution of 1791. That he never broke his word was proverbial. His unlimited power he never abused. The French general, being unable to corrupt, abducted him to a dungeon in France, where he perished in 1803."-History of Hayti.

Godwin, in his admirable Lectures on Colonial Slavery, says: "Can the West India Islands, since their first discovery by Columbus, boast a single name which deserves comparison with that of Toussaint L'Ouverture?" He is thus spoken of by Vincent in his Reflections on the State of St. Domingo: "Toussaint L'Ouverture is the most active and indefatigable man, of whom it is possible to form an idea. He is always present wherever difficulty or danger makes his presence necessary. His great sobriety,-the power of living without repose,the facility with which he resumes the affairs of the cabinet, after the most tiresome excursions,-of answering daily a hundred letters,— and of habitually tiring five secretaries--render him so superior to all around him, that their respect and submission almost amount to fanaticism. It is certain no man in modern times has obtained such an influence over a mass of ignorant people, as General Toussaint possesses over his brethren of St. Domingo. He is endowed with a prodigious memory. He is a good father and a good husband."

Toussaint, Thou hast left behind

Powers that will work for thee; air, earth and skies;
There's not a breathing of the common wind

That will forget thee; thou hast great allies.

Thy friends are exultations, agonies,

And love, and man's unconquerable mind.

WORDSWORTH.

PHILLIS WHEATLY.

No more America, in mournful strain,

Of wrongs and grievance unredressed complain;
No longer shalt thou dread the iron chain
Which wanton Tyranny, with lawless hand,
Has made, and with it meant t' enslave the land.

Should you, my lord, while you peruse my song,
Wonder from whence my love of Freedom sprung,
Whence flow these wishes for the common good,
By feeling hearts alone best understood,
I, young in life, by seeming cruel fate

Was snatched from Afric's fancied happy seat:
What pangs excrutiating must molest,
What sorrows labor in my parent's breast!
Steeled was that soul, and by no misery moved,
That from a father seized his babe beloved.

CINQUEZ AND THE AMISTAD CAPTIVES.

Thirty-eight fellow-men from Africa, after having been piratically kidnapped from their native land, transported across the seas, and subjected to atrocious cruelties, have been thrown upon our shores, and are now incarcerated in jail to await their trial for crimes alleged by their oppressors to have been committed by them. They are ignorant of our language, of the usages of civilized society, and the obligations of christianity. Under these circumstances, several friends of human rights have met to consult upon the case of these unfortunate men, and have appointed the undersigned a committee to employ interpreters and able counsel, and take all the necessary means to secure the rights of the accused. It is intended to employ three legal gentlemen of distinguished abilities, and to incur other needful expenses.

SIMEON S. JOCELYN,
JOSHUA LEAVITT,
LEWIS TAPPAN.

"The Africans had just arrived at Havana, probably under Amer. can colors. But whether they came under American or Spanish colors, it was piracy to bring them there. It was in violation of the laws both of this country and of Spain. Violation of law and the rights of the Africans was continued in another vessel, by their illegal imprisonment. Don Ruez became another jailor and received the robbed or stolen property, even by the Spanish laws, knowing it to be such, with an intention to work them for life. They rise for free. dom and for Africa; not for blood, nor for booty."

"Those blacks, when they left Havana, and were sailing on God's broad, free ocean, where in a state of involuntary durance and forced servitude; while the elements and every thing around them were redolent of freedom, they alone were prisoners and slaves. They were bound by no parole of honor, they had made no compact, and they were morally and by the laws of action usually recognized by chris. tian natives, justified in setting themselves free. They were forcibly and wrongfully restrained of their liberty, and under such circumstances, had a right to regain it even by the destruction of their enslavers. These blacks nobly resolved to achieve their freedom; they gained it at the hazard of their lives. They obtained it, and it is theirs; and we have no right to take it away from them. By the common opinion of patriots in all times and in all countries, those who make a generous and successful struggle to throw off the chain of slavery are noble and great, and entitled to admiration; and we

see not why Joseph Cinquez, who conceived and executed the design of liberating himself and fellow prisoners from their captivity, and who aroused and stimulated them to regain their liberty, and steer their bark for the shores of their native Africa, is not as much entitled to the appellation of a great, generous and patriotic man, as was William Tell, whose praises have been the theme of every pen and tongue. They both strove for the same noble end, for the same noble reason."

"On the fifth night, the captain being asleep on a matrass on deck, with his mulatto slave by his side, was attacked by this chief, with a sugar knife. The first blow did not inflict great injury, for after receiving it, he called to Antonio, also his own slave, and a cabin boy, to get some bread and throw it among the negroes, hoping thereby to pacify them. He was overpowered and slain by Joseph.

"About two days after the rising they had a heavy gale, which drifted them into the Bahama channel. Here they boxed about again, but saw no vessels; at last, being out of water, the negroes ordered Montez to make the nearest land, which proved to be the island of St. Andrews. Here the negroes met no one. After this Montez stecred for New-Providence, but the negroes were not disposed to land. By this time Joseph had learned to steer, and he took the helm in the day, leaving one of the white men to steer at night. Every night Joseph slept near the helm, and had two of the most trusty negroes by his side watching, and ready to awake him on the least alarm. Joseph lived abstemiously during the whole trouble, and insisted on the most perfect obedience to his orders. The only food eaten was portioned out by his hand, and not a box of the cargo opened but under his direction. He divided the spoil, taking the smallest portion for himself. He was the master spirit on board; every thing felt his influence."

The marshal committed Joseph Cinquez, the leader, and 38 others, as named in the indictment, for trial before the circuit court at Hartford, holden on the 17th Sept. 1833.-N. Y. Papers.

Washington, March 9, 1841.

The captives are free! The part of the decree of the district court, which placed them at the disposal of the President of the United States to be sent to Africa is reversed. They are to be discharged from the custody of the marshal-free. The rest of the decision of the courts below, is affirmed.

"Not unto us-not unto us, &c.”—J. Q. ADAMS.