tion. Upon my representation of the excessive weakness of the patient, leave was given by the Metropolitan, for a departure from the ordinary mode of baptism, viz. by pouring water on the head, instead of the immersion of the body. The administration of this sacred rite was committed by the Metropolitan to the Protopope of the Cathedral Church of St. Simeon, a worthy and highly respected man. At the time appointed, I attended the Prince to the chamber of our sick friend. The patient was serene and cheerful-answering the various questions put to him, with a distinct and audible voice--and was baptized into the death of Jesus, by the name of John. The Prince was greatly affected by the transaction, and could not refrain from tears. The Holy Communion was subsequently administered to the patient. Besides myself, our worthy friend, Dr. Pinkerton, was also present at this solemnity. The patient appeared very happy, and thanked us cordially for the attainment of his wishes; at the same time expressing his earnest desire, that many of his countrymen might be made partakers of this grace. On the following morning, he took leave of his attendant; and commissioned him to write to his parents, and inform them of every circumstance relating to him; adding, that he forgave all who had manifested opposition to him, and prayed that they might attain to the same grace which he had experienced. From this time, his weakness evidently increased, and was accompanied by occasional fits of delirium, during which he spoke much of his return home, asking why he was detained. In these wanderings, he likewise frequently mentioned the name of Sodnom. He Sunday, the 29th, was the day of his decease. I visited him at nine o'clock in the morning; but found his eyes already fixed, and his voice scarcely audible; yet he recognised me, and every other visiter. appeared to be constantly engaged in prayer, often raising his hands in an attitude of devotion, and exclaiming, "O Jesus, have mercy upon me!" At half-past two o'clock his soul took its flight into the realms of everlasting bliss. He had only attained to the age of twenty-three years. Reports of Societies. SEVENTEENTH REPORT OF THE AFRICAN INSTITUTION. [From the London Missionary Register.] This Report is almost entirely occupied, as has been usual of late years, with details relative to the Slave-Trade; and we regret to state, that those details continue to manifest the demoralizing influence of this Traffic, even on people who rank high among civilized nations. Proceedings of the Congress of Verona rela tive to the Slave-Trade. At a Conference of the Plenipotentiaries of Austria, France, Great Britain, Prussia, and Russia, held at Verona, on the 24th November last, on the subject of the deplorable continuance of this mischief, in spite of the Declarations, the Laws, and the Treaties which have interdicted and condemned it since the year 1815, the Duke of Wellington brought forward a Memoir, containing observations as to what he considered to be the causes of the evil, and pointing out different measures calculated to put an end to it. In this Memoir, after adverting to the Declaration of the Congress of Vienna in 1815, signed by the Ministers of the Eight Consenting Powers, and denouncing the Slave-Trade as a scourge which has long desolated Africa, degraded Europe, and afflicted humanity," and to the expression of their unanimous desire to put an end to it; and having stated, that, of those Eight Powers, Seven have passed Laws with the object of entirely preventing the subjects of their several States from engaging therein; the Duke proceeds to observe, that he has the means of PROVING that this traffic has been, since the year 1815, and is at this moment, carried on to a greater extent than it had been at any former period-that, in seven months of the year 1821, not less than 38,000 human beings had been carried off from the Coast of Africa into hopeless and irremediable slavery-and that not less than 352 vessels entered the rivers and ports of Africa, north of the Equator, to purchase Slaves, between July 1820 and October 1821, each of which was calculated to carry off from 500 to 600 Slaves. He further states, that the traffic does not assume the usual secrecy of a contraband trade, but is carried on generally under the protection of the Flag of France; for this obvious reason-that France is the only one of the great maritime powers of Europe, whose government has not entered into the treaties which have been conoluded with his Britannic Majesty, for giving, to certain of the ships of each of the contracting parties, a limited power of search and capture of ships engaged in this traffic; and that those employed in this service have too much respect for the French Flag, to venture, except in cases of extraordinary suspicion, to search the vessels which sail under its protection. It is remarked in the Memoir :— The consequence of this state of things is, that this contraband trade is attended by circumstances much more horrible than any thing that has been known in former times. It is unnecessary here to enumerate all the horrors respecting it, which have come before the public in the different discussions which have taken place, as well in France as in England; but it cannot be denied, that all attempts at prevention, imperfect, as they have been found to be, have tended to increase the aggregate of human sufferings and the waste of human life, in the transport of Slaves from the coast of Africa to the Colonies, in a ratio far exceeding the increase of positive numbers carried off in slavery. The dread of detection suggests expedients of concealment, productive of the most dreadful sufferings to a cargo, with respect to which it hardly ever seems to occur to its remorseless owners that it consists of sentient beings. The Memoir proceeds, after some additional statements, to suggest the measures most likely to repress the Trade. To this Memoir replies were given by the Plenipotentiaries of the other Powers represented at the Congress. After stating the substance of each of these Replies, the Directors quote the following resoadopted at a final Conference held at Verona, on the lutions respecting the Abolition of the Slave-Trade, 28th of November The Plenipotentiaries of Austria, of France, of Great Britain, of Prussia, and of Russia, assembled in Congress, at Verona, considering, that their august Sovereigns have taken part in the Declaration of the 8th February 1815, by which the Powers assembled at the Congress of Vienna have proclaimed in the face of Europe their invariable resolution to put a stop to the commerce known by the name of the African Slave-Trade Considering, moreover, that notwithstanding this Declaration, and in spite of the legislative measures which have in consequence been adopted in various countries, and of the several treaties concluded since that period between the maritime powers, this commerce, solemnly proscribed, has continued to this very day; that it has gained in activity what it may have lost in extent; that it has even taken a still more odious character, and is become more dread ful from the nature of the means to which those who carry it on are compelled to have recourse 134 That the causes of so revolting an abuse are chiefly to be found in the fraudulent practices, by means of which the persons engaged in these nefarious speculations elude the laws of their country, and the vigilance of the cruisers stationed to put a stop to their iniquities, and veil their criminal operations, of which thousands of human beings annually become their innocent victims That the Powers of Europe are called upon by their previous engagements, as well as by sacred duty, to seek the most efficient means of preventing a traffic, which the laws of almost every civilized country have already declared to be culpable and illegal, and of punishing with severity those who persist in carrying it on in manifest viola tion of those laws Acknowledge the necessity of devoting the most serious attention to an object of such importance to the honour and welfare of humanity; and consequently declare, in the name of their august Sovereigns, That they continue firm in the principles and sentiments manifested by those Sovereigns, in the Declaration of the 8th Febru ary, 1815; and that they have never ceased, nor ever will cease, to consider the Slave Trade as"A SCOURCE WHICH HAS TOO LONG DESOLATED AFRICA, DEGRADED EUROPE, AND AFFLICTED HUMANITY," and that they are ready to concur in every thing that may secure and accelerate the complete and final abolition of that traffic: That in order to give effect to this renewed Declaration, their respective Cabinets will eagerly enter into the examination of any measure, compatible with their rights and the interests of their subjects, to produce a result that may prove to the world the sincerity of their wishes, and of their efforts, in favour of a cause worthy of their common solicitude. of the increased and increasing horThe prospect of a total suppression rors of that odious traffic, seems indeed more distant than ever; and the that, as they advance in the discharge Directors must be allowed to lament, of the important duties confided to them by the Subscribers, the great object which both have at heart appears to recede from their view. This impression they themselves feel it impossible to resist; and they think it must operate with equal force on all those friends of the African Cause, who will ever so slightly attend to the conduct of France and the language of its Plenipotentiaries, in reply to the Memorial of the Duke of Wellington. other Allied Powers, they concur in When acting in concert with the reprobation, which, as experience all those vague generalities of verbal teaches, bind them to no specific efficient measures, and from which they could not with any semblance of hopressed by the Duke to prove their nour or good faith retire; but, when sincerity, by adopting such a line of action as should be really efficient, their answer is a mere tissue of excuses, founded, some of them, on misrepresentations of fact, others on circumstances of which the existence may be protracted to an indefinite extent, and of a nature which they pretend not to have the power, and cer Conduct of France, in reference to the Aboli- tainly do not exhibit the least inclina tion of the Slave-Trade. The course pursued by France at the Congress is detailed by the Directors; on this subject, and on the general result of the Congress, they remark The Directors have now detailed the Negotiations on the subject of the Slave-Trade, which took place at the recent Congress at Verona; and they anticipate the concurrence of the General Meeting, when they venture to express their bitter disappointment at the result of these conferences, if, indeed, any favourable result at all can be said to have been obtained. tion, to alter or remove. What expectation, after this, of any good from that quarter, can be rationally indulged? Cruelty with which the French and Span- The Directors have no reason to believe that any relaxation in the French Slave-Trade has taken place during the last year. Although they have not, at present, such ample de tails to lay before the Meeting as on several former occasions, yet the following account will show in what mode that traffic continues to be carried on. Sir Robert Mends was, commander of a squadron on the Coast of Africa, stationed there by the British Government to prevent the infraction of the laws for the Abolition of the SlaveTrade. He sent out Lieut. Mildmay, with the boats belonging to his vessel, to reconnoitre the river Bonny, a place notorious for carrying on this traffic. The boats having crossed the bar soon after day-light, about seven o'clock, six sail, two schooners and four brigs, were observed lying at anchor off the town of Bonny. When the boats were about four miles off,, they displayed their colours; and, as they advanced, the slave vessels were seen moored across the stream, with springs on their cables, all armed, with apparently about 400 Slaves on board; and the crews fully prepared to resist any attack that might be made upon them. The two schooners and three of the brigs opened a heavy fire, of canister and grape-shot and musketry, upon the English Boats, as they advanced. When the latter were near enough for their shots to take effect, the firing was returned. They advanced, and in a short time took possession of all the vessels. The ships proved to be, the Yeanam, a Spanish Schooner from the Havannah, of 360 tons, and 380 Slaves on board; the Vicua, a Spanish Schooner from the Havannah, 180 tons, and 325 Slaves on board; the Petite Betsey, a French Brig from Nantes, 184 tons, with 218 Slaves on board; the Ursule, a French Brigantine from St. Pierre, Martinique, 100 tons, and 347 Slaves on board; all manned and armed in such a way, as that they might fight desperately, if attacked. The Theodore, a French Brig, had no Slaves on board; but a cargo was on shore, in readiness for embarkation. Many of the Slaves jumped overboard during the engagement, and were devoured by the sharks. On board the Yeanam, which made the most determined resistance, the Slaves suffered much: four were killed, and ten wounded. Of the wounded, three were females; one girl, about ten years of age, lost both her legs, another her right arm, and a third was shot in the side. Even after the vessel had been surrendered, a number of the Spanish Sailors skulked below, and, arming the Slaves with muskets, made them fire upward upon the British. On board this ship, Lieutenant Mildmay observed a slave girl, about twelve or thirteen years of age, in irons to which was fastened a thick iron chain, ten feet in length, that was dragged along as she moved he ordered the girl to be instantly released from this fetter; and, that the Captain who had treated her so cruelly might not be ignorant of the pain inflicted upon an unprotected and innocent child, the irons were ordered to be put upon him. The Spanish Schooner, Vicua, when taken possession of, had a lighted match hanging over the open magazine-hatch. The match was placed there by the crew, before they leaped overboard and swam for the shore: it was seen by one of the British Seamen, who boldly put his hat under the burning wick and removed it. The magazine contained a large quantity of powder. One spark from the flaming match would have blown up 325 unfortunate victims, lying in irons in the hold. These monsters in iniquity expressed their deep regret, after the action, that their diabolical plan had failed. The Slaves, at the time of the capture of the vessel, were found in a wretched condition; some lying on their backs, others sitting on the bot tom of the ships. They were chained to one another by the arms and legs; iron collars were placed round their necks. In addition to these provisions for confinement, they were fastened together by a long chain, which connected several of the collars, for their greater security in that dismal prison. Thumb-screws, to be used as instruments of torture, were also found in the vessel. From, their confinement and sufferings, the slaves often injured themselves by beating; and vented their grief upon such as were next them, by biting and tearing their flesh. Some of them were bound with cords, and many had their arms grievously lacerated. Upward of 150 of the Slaves died on their passage to Sierra Leone. The Spanish Schooner from the Havannah was separated from the other vessels in a dreadful storm, as they were proceeding to that Colony, and sank with 380 Slaves on board. The other vessels reached their destination. Those from Spain were left at Sierra Leone for adjudication by the Mixed Commission Court of Great Britain and Spain; and those from France were sent to England, to be disposed of by the British Government, which ordered them to sail for France. The Slaves, however, had all been previously liberated, and distributed in the Colony of Sierra Leone, through the villages settled by other Captured Negroes; where they have regained their freedom, and now enjoy the opportunity of being instructed. The Directors have annexed to the Report a large Plate, to show the manner in which the wretched victims were crammed together, and the various instruments of torture by which they were tormented. Parliamentary Proceedings. On the 25th of July, of the last year, an Address to his Majesty for preventing the extension of Slavery at the Cape of Good Hope, was unanimously carried in the House of Commons, on the motion of Mr. Wilberforce. The Resolutions on which the Address was grounded, after expressing the great satisfaction, with which the House had learned that no Slave Labour was to be permitted on the New Settlements, and stating the mischiefs arising from the continuance of the State of Slavery at all, in the Colony, thus proceed— That the House also sees much reason to apprehend, that the time may come when the acts for abolishing the Slave Trade may be widely and fatally contravened in the New Settlements now forming in Africa, if Slavery shall be permitted there as a state recognised by law: That, under such circumstances, no effectual means can be devised for preventing abuses, injurious to the best interests of the Settlers themselves, pernicious to the natives of Africa, and derogatory to the honour of this country, but the extending as far as possible, by a fundamental law, to the New African Settlements, the same just and liberal principles of colonization, with such exceptions only as the Slaves actually in the Colony may render necessary, which have been so honourably and beneficially established at Sierra Leone: pleasure the honourable and successful efforts, which under the paternal influence of His Majesty's Government, aided by the liberal spirit of the Masters, have been made in various British Settlements, for meultimately putting an end to the state of Slaliorating the condition of the Slaves, and for very:-And that we cannot but hope that His Majesty's Government will studiously avail itself of any opportunities which it may possess, of acting in the spirit of these benignant precedents: That we cannot but contemplate with That we also beg leave humbly but earnestly to recommend the state of the Hottentots to his Majesty's benevolent care; a fied, who, however, have since abundantly race of men long misrepresented and vili proved, that any efforts used for their moral improvement would not be employed in vain: That we consider that the communication of Christian Instruction to the Slaves and Hottentots, is a paramount act of duty; and the more necessary, because efforts have been made, not without success, to propagate among them the tenets and prac tices of Mahomedanism: That no doubt can be entertained of the happy result of those Christian Endeavours: nor can we forbear to indulge the gratifying hope, that, by the gradual diffusion of the blessings of civilization and of moral and religious knowledge throughout the Coloured Population, those degraded classes of our fellow-creatures may by degrees be raised from their present depressed condition; and be rendered, not only useful members of the |