be willing to undertake. You must be one to judge of the qualifications of those who are proposed to be missionaries, and to make report to the society in Scotland. And you must plan, advise, and prosecute. I am too old to do much. Perhaps you can influence the African Society in Connecticut to approve of some plan of this kind, and to exert themselves to get subscribers to promote the design. If application were made by them, or a committee authorized by them to the Legislature, to grant a brief for a contribution in all the congregations through the State, it might be obtained. The African Societies in Pennsylvania, New York, and this State, are composed of so many Quakers, who make the most active, ruling part; and they, for some reason or other, are not disposed to promote such a design. Therefore, there is no encouragement to apply to them for assistance. If the society in Connecticut should take the lead in promoting such a design, perhaps they might fall in afterwards, and join to carry it on. You will return the enclosed letter, when you have made all the use of it you think proper."

The correspondence of our philanthropist, on his favorite project of evangelizing Africa, was more extensive than has been supposed. He wrote to Britons and Americans, to men and women, to blacks and whites. Among others whom he addressed on the subject, was that interesting negress, Phillis Wheatley.* One would scarcely expect that a logical divine, at the age of fifty-three, would devote himself to the business of selling copies of a poetical volume, which was written by a female slave at the age of twenty. But there was nothing, honest and proper, which this enterprising man was unwilling to do for the welfare of the African race. He was not so versatile as he was strong, yet he had a richer variety of gifts than has been commonly ascribed to him. The nature of his correspondence with Phillis Wheatley is disclosed in the following letter, which she wrote to him, a few months after her book of poetry was published in London. She was about twenty-one years old at the date of her epistle. The chirography of it is remarkably beautiful. It is here copied verbatim et literatim.

"Reverend Sir: I received your kind letter last evening by Mr. Pemberton, by whom also this is to be handed you. I have also received the money for the five books I sent Obour, and 2s. 6d. more for another. She has wrote me, but the date is 29 April. I am very sorry to hear, that Philip Quaque has very little or no apparent success in his mission. Yet I wish that what you hear respecting him may be only a misrepresentation. Let us not be discouraged, but still hope that God will bring about his great work. though Philip may not be the instrument in the divine hand to perform this work of wonder, turning the Africans from darkness to light.' Possibly, if Philip would introduce himself properly to them, (I don't know the reverse,) he might be more successful; and in setting a good example, which is more powerfully winning than instruction. I observe your reference to the maps of Guinea and Salmon's Gazetteer, and shall consult them. I have received, in some of the last ships from London, three hundred more copies of my poems, and wish to dispose of them as soon as possible. If you know of any being wanted, I flatter myself you will be pleased to let me know it, which will be adding one more to the many obligations already conferred on her,

* See an account of her in Allen's Biographical Dictionary.

+ Dr. Channing says, p. 110, above, that Hopkins had no relish for poetry.

who is, with a due sense of your kindness, your most humble and obedient servant, PHILLIS WHEATLEY. "Boston, May 6, 1774. — The Reverend S. Hopkins."

*

As early as 1773, a society had been formed in Newport, under the auspices of Mr. Hopkins and Dr. Stiles, for the education and subsequent maintenance of these African missionaries. He then gave to this society the hundred dollars for which, in the days of his ignorance, he had sold his slave. Twenty years afterward, in 1793-4, when he received nine hundred dollars for the copyright of his System of Divinity, he contributed one hundred of it to this society. It was an Education Society. It was also a Foreign Missionary Society. In connection with it, there was a kind of monthly concert for prayer. It was probably in allusion to this concert, that Dr. Channing says: "It was my habit, in the years 1800 and 1801, to attend a monthly meeting of prayer for the revival and spread of religion. Our number sometimes did not exceed twenty or thirty. Still, a collection was taken for missionary purposes, and, as most of us were very poor, our contributions did not greatly exceed the widow's mite. On one occasion, as I have heard from Dr. Patten, however, a hundred dollar bill appeared in the box. Dr. Hopkins had received the same for the copyright of one of his books, and he made this offering at a time when he received next to no salary, and often, as I understood, depended for his dinner on the liberality of a parishioner." +

SECT. XXXVI. COLONIZATION OF AFRICA.

The plan which Mr. Hopkins formed for evangelizing Africa, was also a plan for colonizing it with reputable negroes from America. From various intimations it is probable, that he distinctly meditated this plan of colonization as early, at least, as April, 1773. He did not intend to dissociate the missionary life of the Africans whom he educated, from the civilized life of the Africans whom he would fain send out with these missionaries. His colonization was to be religious in its spirit and aims.

The first distinct allusion which we find to his scheme for planting a colony of liberated slaves in Africa, proves that the scheme was then far from being a novelty in his mind. It is mentioned as a plan which had been contemplated for some time. Thus he writes to Moses Brown the following very distinct words:

* Letter of February 14, 1840.

+ Letter of February 14, 1840. It is possible that Dr. Channing here alludes to the hundred dollars which Hopkins gave subsequently to 1793-4, the time of receiving the copyright of his System. If so, the gift had no connection, perhaps, with the African mission. One of Hopkins's early successors in the ministry at Newport, has informed the writer, that Hopkins gave one half of the copyright for his System to the African mission.

"April 29, 1784. There has been a proposal on foot some time, that a number of blacks should return to Africa, and settle there; that a number, who have been under the most serious impressions of religion, should lead the way, and when they are fixed there, should improve all opportunities to teach the Africans the doctrines and duties of Christianity, both by precept and example. In order to this, a number who shall be thought best qualified for this business, must first be sent to Africa, to treat with some of the nations there, and request of them lands, proper and sufficient for them and as many as shall go with them to settle upon. It is presumed land would be freely given. And it is thought, that such a settlement would not only be for the benefit of those who shall return to their native country, but it would be the most likely and powerful means of putting a stop to the slave trade, as well as of increasing Christian knowledge among those heathens. In order to this, there must be some expense. A vessel must be obtained, and a cargo procured of such things as will sell there, (all spirits excepted.*) A captain must be found, who can be relied upon, and paid. This supposes a sufficient number of blacks may be found for sailors, who are used to the sea, and that the advantage of the trade will repay most of the expense. I communicate these hints of a plan to you, that I may know how far you approve of it, and whether you think it practicable. And if you do, whether you, in conjunction with some of your able friends, would advance any thing considerable to promote such a design. It has been said by some, and doubtless by many, 'There are a number of men who have large estates, much of which they have gotten by the slave trade, who now profess to be convinced they have done wrong in having any hand in that trade, and manifest great zeal against it, and are great enemies of slavery. Let them show their repentance by their works; by giving up a considerable part of their estates to liberate the Africans and promote their good. Let them do this, and we will believe them sincere and honest men, but not before, &c.'"t

The following important letter to Mr. Brown was written just one month and one day before the first colony of blacks set sail from England for Sierra Leone:

"March 7, 1787. Dear Sir: This will be handed to you by Dr. Thornton, a gentleman from the West Indies, who has been in this city some weeks. He brings no recommendation, but appears to me to be an honest man, though too flighty and unsteady, perhaps, to be at the head of an affair in which he is very zealous: a settlement of the American blacks in some part of Africa. Should he have opportunity to converse with you, which I wish, and [which] will be agreeable to him, he will communicate to you his plan, &c. § I have, as you know, sir, been for years desirous of an attempt to make such a settlement, and am glad to hear that Friends in Britain, and other dissenters, have joined to carry this into execution, I suppose upon the late Dr. Fothergil's plan. I wish some gentlemen, who are able, would send a vessel to Africa,

As far as we can judge from the journal and letters of Hopkins, he was disposed to insert a temperance clause in all his important negotiations which would admit it.

This closing appeal is another illustration of the unbending faithfulness which characterized its author. He knew that the charge of inconsistency had been brought against the estimable man whom he was addressing, (see p. 123, above,) and he meant to use this fact as a motive for a more generous contribution to the new enterprise.

In 1784, Newport was incorporated a city, but returned to its old town government in 1787, a few days after the date of this letter.

It is important here to notice that Mr. Hopkins does not allude to Dr. Thornton's plan, as in any degree novel. His fears relate merely to the prudence of Dr. Thornton in executing it. Dr. Alexander says that Dr. Thornton is still remembered as a man of many eccentricities, arising from a vivid genius, and a real philanthropist." See History of African Colonization, p. 61.

perhaps to the Ivory Coast, with a proper cargo to trade there for ivory, &c.; and that some proper persons might go and treat with the princes or nations there for land, on which those who are disposed to return might settle. I think there would be a prospect of their gaining, rather than their losing money by such an undertaking, beside their promoting such a good design. I thank you for your letter of January, 1786, and the pamphlets enclosed with it. I have dispersed most of them, where I thought they might be of the most service. I have seen the piece, upon the slave trade, which obtained the highest prize in the University of Cambridge, in the year 1785, which you mentioned, and hope it will do much good. I conclude you have seen it. I have not been able to effect the design toward which you generously offered to give twenty dollars, as I have been much confined at home the year past. You have donbtless been informed that a gold medal was offered by the Society in New York for Liberating the Africans, for the best piece against the slave trade, to be produced at the last commencement in the college there. I have not heard any thing further of it. — Any further intelligence from Britain, or any other quarter, which you shall be able to communicate, respecting the slave trade, and the resettlement of blacks in Africa, will be thankfully received by your respectful friend, S. HOPKINS."

Nearly two years after the preceding epistle, we find its resolute author addressing Granville Sharp, the eminent colonizationist of Great Britain. The letter is inserted, with some abridgment, in Prince Hoare's Memoir of Mr. Sharp, pp. 340-342; but the whole of it is now published for the first time.

"Newport, January 15, 1789. Sir: As I am an utter stranger to you, I presume to introduce myself by the following narrative: I am the pastor of the First Congregational Church in Newport, on Rhode Island. I spent the former part of my life a hundred and fifty miles from this place; have lived here near twenty years. When I removed to this town, my attention was soon turned to the slave trade, which had been long carried on here, and was still continued. It appeared to me wholly unjustifiable and exceeding inhumane and cruel; and I thought I was obliged, in duty, to condemn it in public and preach against it. I had better success than I expected, and most of my hearers were convinced that it was a very wrong and wicked practice. But this procured to me many enemies in the town, which were increased and more irritated when I proceeded, as I soon did, to condemn the holding these Africans in perpetual slavery, who were brought here by the iniquitous slave trade. I was, so far as I then knew, almost alone in my opposition to the slave trade and the slavery of the Africans; but since, [I] have read, with great satisfaction, your writings on that subject, some of which, I believe, were published before the time above mentioned, and the writings of others. And I have had the pleasure of finding a conviction of the evil of this praetice to spread and prevail in America. And two respectable and numerous societies are formed, one in New York and the other in Philadelphia, with a view to promote the abolition of the slavery of the Africans, and protect and assist those who have obtained their freedom; of which you have doubtless been fully informed; of both which societies I have the honor to be a corresponding member.

"In Massachusetts, all the Africans are made free by their Constitution, and many have obtained their freedom in this State. But their circumstances are, in many respects, unhappy, while they live here among the whites; the latter looking down upon them, and being disposed to treat them as under

* An allusion to the Prize Essay which was mentioned in the letter of February 10, 1786, to Dr. Hart, and which was suggested to Mr. Brown by the Prize Essay of Clarkson, noticed by Hopkins a few lines above.

lings, and denying them the advantages of education and employment, &c., which tends to depress their minds and prevent their obtaining a comfortable living, &c. This and other considerations have led many of them to desire to return to Africa, and settle there among their brethren, and in a country and climate more natural to them than this. Particularly, there are a number of religious blacks, with whom I am acquainted, who wish to be formed into a distinct church or religious society, and to have a black appointed as their pastor, (and there is one, at least, who is thought qualified for that office,) and then to go, with all the blacks who shall be willing to move with them, to Africa, and settle on lands which they think may be obtained of some of the nations there, from whom some of them were taken, and whose language they retain; and there maintain the profession and practice of Christianity, and spread the knowledge of it among the Africans, as far as they shall have opportunity; at the same time cultivating their lands, and introducing into that hitherto uncivilized country the arts of husbandry, building mills and houses, and other mechanic arts, and raising cotton, coffee, &c., for exportation, as well as for their own use. This plan I have had in view for some time, and have wished and attempted to promote it. But no way has yet been opened in America to carry it into execution; there being no means yet found to defray the charge of sending a vessel to Africa with a number of blacks, to find out and procure the most convenient place for such a settlement.

"In the mean time, we have, to our great joy, been informed, that such a plan was projected and executed in England, in which the society of which you are a inember, had a great, if not a chief hand. We were assured that several ships, with a considerable number of blacks, sailed from England for Africa, in February, 1787, with a design to make a settlement on the Windward Coast. We have been earnestly waiting for an authentic information of the success of this expedition, and the place and circumstances of the proposed settlement, but have received none to this day. It is indeed mentioned by the Dean of Middleton, in his letter to the treasurer of our society, (p. 14, note,) that a settlement is already established at Sierra Leone; and he intimates that there is room for more settlers. And it is reported from Africa, that those blacks have arrived there from England, and that a tract of land twenty miles square had been procured for them, near the mouth of the river Sierra Leone, and that the settlement is going on. But we have contradictory reports of the success of it.

"I have thought, as do the most intelligent whites and blacks with whom I am acquainted, that if such a tract of land is procured, there is much more of it than can be occupied by the blacks which went from England, and therefore the design might be forwarded by giving a part of it to the blacks in America, who are disposed to go and settle there. We have a considerable number of freed blacks, in New England, who have been educated and habituated to industry and labor, either on lands, or as mechanics, and are hereby prepared to bring forward such a settlement, better than any other blacks, I believe, that can be found.

"All this, sir, is a lengthy introduction to the following request: that you would please to inform me, whether such a tract of land is procured, and on what conditions; whether the blacks, who settle on it, have the fee of the land; under what government they are; whether British, or their own by a particular civil constitution, formed for them, to be executed by themselves, or some English gentlemen who are for that end to reside among them; whether there is any provision made to maintain and propagate religious knowledge among them and others who may live in their neighborhood; whether the settlers have behaved well, and prospered, since they began, and what progress they have made; finally, whether the blacks in America, who are disposed to go, can have any part of these lands to settle themselves upon, and on what terms; and what encouragement and assistance might they probably have.

"If you are pleased to be at the trouble of writing me on this subject, a letter sent to any of the members of either of the societies above mentioned,