State of Public Affairs. vernor of the two houses of assembly in the island. Here as in England is a proper place for improvement: and it is unjust to say that great improvements have not been gradually taking place under the local legislatures. All has not been done that the sanguine emancipator may expect; but it would be time for Mr. Wilberforce and his friends to call on a superior authority when, having proposed to the colonial legislatures a regulation, it had been rejected by them without cause. The rude attempt to legislate for all the islands is such an attack upon the local legislations as cannot but excite dismay and distrust; and if a similar thing had been attempted in England, interfering with all our corporate bodies, the table of the House of Commons would have been overwhelmed with petitions from every part of England. The spirit of insurrection first appeared in the island of Barbadoes, and it displayed itself in the burning of plantations to a very great extent. From the energy of the whites the misled blacks were brought into subjection, but not without consider able slaughter of the latter in the field, and the execution of others by the hand of justice. The island, however, is in that state that the whites are compelled to keep a strict watch over their dependents. The proclamations issued by the governors of other islands indicate that a similar watchfulness is necessary in them; but it is hoped that as the whites are now every where on the alert the intended mischief may be prevented. In this state of things Mr. Wilberforce's motion was coming forward, but it was delayed till government had received its dispatches; and after they had arrived, Mr. Wilberforce made a long speech tending rather to inflame than to appease the existing troubles. He was replied to by a gentleman connected with the West Indies, who contented himself with a plain representation of facts, which pointed out the inevitable loss of the colonies unless speedy measures were taken to make it clear to the blacks that no such measure was in agitation as their emancipation. He proposed that an address should be presented to the Prince Regent to request that the governors of the islands might be directed to issue proclamations testifying his high displeasure at the late outrages and the insidious attempts of those who were exciting hopes of emancipation, since no such measure was in contemplation, though every effort should be encouraged which had in view their moral and religious improvement. All sides of the House saw the necessity and propriety of this measure, which was unanimously voted, and we trust that it will have the desired effect, though it must not be concealed that, at this mo 371 ment, the holders of property in the West Indies are in fear for its security, as well as for the lives of their friends and relatives in those regions. The mischief that has already been done will make the legislature pause before it gives its countenance to a set of persons so little acquainted with our West India islands and deriving their information from very suspicious quarters. The spirit of discontent has appeared in our own country. Great outrages have been committed in the isle of Ely; the alleged cause-the distresses of the poor from want of work and want of proper pay. By a due degree of spirit these infatuated people were brought under, and a number of rioters were committed to prison. A special commission was appointed of two judges to sit with the judge of the isle of Ely upon this occasion, and after the trial and condemnation of a few of the ringleaders, the crown very humanely stopped farther prosecutions, letting the rest go out upon recognizances for future appearance and bail for their good behaviour. An occurrence has taken place of a singular nature, which might give room for many comments. A meeting of the county of Kent took place at Maidstone for the purpose of congratulation on the late royal marriage. An address was moved and seconded, but on taking the show of hands scarcely any hands were held up in its fayour and the meeting was dissolved. The principal gentlemen retired to an inn and requested the High Sheriff to take the chair, which he with great propriety declined, and the company resolved that copies of the address should be sent to the principal towns for signatures. Addresses so signed want the legitimate stamp and can convey only the sentiments of individuals; and the expression of popular feeling at the ineeting cannot be construed into any intended affront to the young couple, in whose happiness all must be interested, though it is indicatory of a discontent which it will be the duty of government to examine, and if there are just causes for it to endeavour to remove the grounds of it. In France all is quiet, if we are to believe government reports. The principal instigators to the insurrection in Dauphiny have been executed. The court has been occupied with two grand events--the marriage of the Duke of Berri and the celebration of their grand feast called by them the Feast of God. On the day for this feast processions are made in every parish of the Catholic world. The wafer god is paraded about the streets-altars are erected at various places-and the deluded multitude falls prostrate as it passes before this miserable emblem and other abomi◄ The nations of their strange idolatry. whole represents a heathen rite. During the reign of Buonaparte such exhibitions were prohibited, but they are now revived with all their ancient folly and superstition. Symptoms of some new regulations with respect to the Barbary powers have made their appearance. They have for too long a time been permitted to exercise a tyranny over their captives in war, which is disgraceful even to the religion they profess. The Americans have shown what may be done with them, and England has interfered to procure the liberation of a namher of Christians from a wretched captivity in which some of them had been held for many years. A project was on foot for the union of the Christian powers to put an end to these disorders, and it is indeed a melancholy thing that the ane shores of the Mediterranean should be subject to a race of men little better than pirates. Germany goes on very slowly in its new constitution. Spain indicates no amelioration. It has had some successes in its colonies, but still it remains doubtful whether its ancient influence can be restored. Wherever its power extends its march is disfigured by cruelty. Vast emigrations are taking place from all parts of Europe to America. There is land enough for all," and it is to be hoped, that in quitting this supposed civiйzed part of the world, they will leave behind them the vices by which it is peculiarly distinguished. NEW PUBLICATIONS IN THEOLOGY AND GENERAL LITERATURE. An Essay on the Existence of a Supreme Creator possessed of Infinite Power, Wisdom and Goodness. (To which Mr. Bur nett's First Prize of Twelve Hundred Pounds was adjudged.) By Wiliam Law rence Brown, D. D. Principal of Marischal College, Aberdeen. To which is prefixed a Memoir relating to the Founder of the Prizes. 2 vols. 8vo. 1. 18. boards. A Sermon delivered at the Unitarian Chapel, Chichester, April the 21st, 1816, on Occasion of the Death of Thomas P. Powell, M. D. By W. J. Fox. 4to. The Value of a Child; or Motives to the Good Education of Children. In a Letter to a Daughter. By John Taylor, D. D. of Norwich. 2nd. ed. 12mo. Ecclesiastical Claims Investigated and the Liberty of the Pulpit Defended. By Daniel Isaac. The Christian Doctrines of the Trinity and Incarnation considered and maintain ed, on the Principles of Judaism. By the Rev. J, Oxlee. Vol. I, 8vo. 12s. History of the Inquisition, abridged from Limborch; with an Historical Survey of the Christian Church. 8vo. 13s. Persecution of French Protestants. Report on the Persecution of the French Protestants, presented to the Committee of Dissenting Ministers of the Three Denominations. By the Rev. Clement Perrot, 8vo. 28. 68. Sketch of the Past and Present State of the Vaudois or Waldenses, inhabiting the Vallies of Piedmont. By the Rev. Thomas Morgan. (Published by order of the Committee of Dissenting Ministers of the Three Denominations.) Svo. 6d. An Historical View of the Reformed Church of France, from its Origin to the Present Time. With an Appendix, containing Documents and Remarks on Lord Castlereagh's Speech. 8vo. 5$. CORRESPONDENCE. Our correspondent Liberus is informed that the article of Public Affairs is always written by the same gentleman, who expresses in it his own sentiments without assuming to represent those of the Editor, correspondents or readers. The Editor is too sensible of his obligations to this gentleman to attempt to interfere with the free statement of his views of public events. The Slave Registry Bill is a measure to be decided not by the feelings but by a cool judgment on the state of the West India Islands. To such as wish to understand the question, we recommend an able pamphlet just published, entitled, "The British Legislature's Interference respecting Slaves in the West India Islands deprecated." The paper on Poetical Scepticism, with various other articles, was too late for insertion the present month! ERRATUM. P. 191. col. ii. l. 1. for "jocundum,” read jucundum. FRENCH PROTESTANTS. THE Committee appointed by the General Body of Protestant Dissenting Ministers of the Three Denominations, for the Purpose of Inquiry, and also for the Superintendance and Distribution of the Funds for the Relief of the French Protestants, suffering for Conscience-sake, trust that the following Extracts, from Letters recently received, will afford satisfactory evidence of the feelings with which our Aid is received by the unhappy sufferers, and of the powerful claim which exists upon our continued exertions in the same sacred cause. In a Letter from an eminent Minister to the Secretary, dated June 21st, 1816, acknowledging the safe receipt, and detailing the manuer of distribution of a part of our Funds, the writer expresses himself in the following terms: "Be persuaded, Sir, and very honoured brother, that we are penetrated "with the most lively and profound gratitude; and assure the benevolent "persons who have taken an interest in our wretched situation, how deeply "sensible we are of their truly Christian charity. We can make no other "return than our very sincere wishes for their prosperity, and that of their country, and our most ardent prayers to the Sovereign Benefactor of the "human race, that he will be himself their recompence. 66 "I thank you for your expressions of good-will on our behalf, and I trust "the whole of our conduct will prove that we are not less attached to our holy religion than were our fathers; and that, should we be called to the "trial, we are prepared to seal the truth with our blood." 66 From the correspondence of a much-valued friend, whose personal exertions and hazards, in the cause of our suffering brethren, confer on him the most lasting honour, we give the following Extract : : July 16th, 1816. "The affairs of our brethren in the south of France go on very badly. I "have received several letters, which, by the allegories which the writers "feel themselves compelled to employ, and the ambiguous expressions they "use, prove the state of anxiety in which they remain. In the department "of the Gard, and particularly at Nismes, the utmost dread oppresses the "Protestant population." "We are tranquil,' says a correspondent, but ours ' is the tranquillity of a person who has been nearly bled to death. If our persecutors do not go to the same lengths they formerly and so recently did, impute it only to the lassitude of murderers, and the wealth amassed by the ⚫ devastators and spoliators of our property. Harmless Protestants, unarmed, so weighed down by terror that they dare not speak to one another, and are even afraid of mingling their tears together, whom dread compels to relinquish the endearing intercourse of intimacy and relationship - are arbitrarily arrested false witnesses are not wanting and imprisonments, fines, and marks of dishonour follow. What remedy is to be found when Injustice and Oppression have the sanction of the law?' A Another Correspondent, from the foot of the Pyrenees, thus expresses himself: 'With tears of gratitude we have beheld the benevolent and Christian Resolutions and efforts of the Dissenting Ministers who meet in Red Cross 'Street, in reference to the misfortunes of our brethren of Lower Languedoc, and the extreme want to which our pastors are reduced. I sometime ago wrote to these honoured brethren a letter*, expressive of my gratitude and devotedness. To this I received no answer, though I could not imagine how it could miscarry, as I forwarded it through the Minister of Religion at Paris. At this distance from the scene of the criminal outrages, we have not been without uneasiness, and ascribe our safety to your firm and persevering efforts. These efforts are yet necessary. Perse vere in the good work, and the blessing of God attend you! "Many letters "addressed to me have not come to hand; and a friend who passed through "the south of France six weeks ago could not prevail on my friends there "to entrust letters to him. All our exertions are yet indispensable. We “will never relax till judgment is brought unto victory!" No such letter has been received. Collections received since the last Publication. Rev. Mr. Pomery's Con. St. Austell £1 8 5 Rev. Messrs. Grundy and Rod bert's Con. Manchester £57 10 0 M.B. 2 11 0 0 0 1 0 0 10 2 Contributions will be received by the Rev. T. Morgan, Williams's Library, Red Cross Street; and such as are designed for the immediate Relief of the Necessitous VAUDOIS, or WALDENSES, will be exclusively appropriated to the Fund, established for that purpose, by the Committee. To be had of all the Booksellers, 4. The REPORT on the PERSECUTION of the FRENCH PROTESTANTS, presented to the Committee of the Dissenting Ministers of the Three Denominations, in and about the Cities of London and Westminster. Price 2s. 6d, By the Rev. CLEMENT PERROT. 2. A SKETCH of the past and present STATE of the VAUDOIS, or WALDENSES, inhabiting the Vallies of Piedmont, Translated from the original MS. by the Rev. THOMAS MORGAN, Secretary to the General Body of Dissenting Ministers of the Three Denominations.- Price 6d. Speedily will be published, 3. An HISTORICAL RELATION of the PERSECUTIONS endured by the Protestants in the South of France. By the Rev. CLEMENT PERROT. In One vol. 8vo. Williams, Printer, Clerkenwell. Biographical Account of the Negro An T gelo Solimann. * [Translated from "Literature des Negres," by M. Gregoire. (p. 180.) Paris, 1808.] HOUGH Angelo Solimann never published any thing, he merits one of the chief places among Negroes distinguished by a high degree of cultivation, and extensive knowledge, and still more, by moral excellence. He was the son of an African prince, the sovereign of Gangusilang, and his family naine Magni-Famori. Besides the little Mmadi-Maké, (which was Angelo's name in his own country) his parents had a younger child, a daughter. He used to relate with what deference his father was treated, being surrounded by a great number of servants. Like all the children of princes in that country, he had characters imprinted on each thigh, and long did he indulge the hope that he should be known by those characters and discovered to his parents. The recollections of childhood, * It is my duty publicly to mention the names of those to whom I owe the biography of this estimable African, who was first mentioned to me by Dr. Gall. On the application of my countrymen of Hautefort, attached here to the foreign relations, and Dodun, first secretary to the French legation in Austria, great zeal was discovered to sa, tisfy my curiosity. Two respectable ladies of Vienna, Madame de Stief and Madame de Picler paid the greatest attention to it, carefully collecting the accounts furnished by the friends of the deceased Angelo. From these materials this interesting narrative has been compiled. In the French translation it loses much elegance of style; for Madame de Pieler, who drew it up in German, possessed the rare talent of writing equally well in prose and I have great pleasure in expressing to these obliging persons my just grati verse. tude. VOL. XI. 33 C especially of his first attempts to draw the bow, in which he surpassed his Companions, the remembrance of the simple manners, and the fine sky of his country often produced in his mind a pensive pleasure, even to old age. He could never sing his country's songs, which his excellent memory had retained, without being deeply affected. It appears, from the recollections of Angelo, that his nation had then attained to some degree of civilization. His father possessed many elephants, and even horses, which are rare in those countries. Money was unknown, but the commerce of exchange was regularly conducted, and they had sales by auction. They worshipped the stars, and practised circumcision. Two families of whites resided in the country. Authors who have published their travels mention perpetual wars among the nations of Africa, of which the objects are revenge, plunder, or the most shameful species of avarice, the conqueror haling his prisoners to the nearest market, to sell them to the whites. A war of this kind, against the people of Mmadi Maké, broke out so unexpectedly that his father had no suspicion of danger. The child, at the age of seven years, one day, standing by the side of his mother, who was suckling his sister, they suddenly perceived the clash of arms and hurling of arrows. The grandfather of Mmadi Maké, seized with terror, rushed into the house crying out the enemy is at hand. Fatuma started up alarmed, the father seized his arms, and the little boy, terrified, fled with the swiftness of an arrow. His mother called to him loudly, where are you going Mmadi Make? The child answered, In advanced there where God wills. age he often reflected on the important meaning of those words. Having fled from the house he looked back and saw |