tongues shall make them fall; and all men that see it shall say, this hath God done; for they shall perceive that it is his work!"* Two or three other tracts, relating to the controversy with the colonies, were published by Mr. Sharp; and in the same year, 1776, "The law of Retribution," "The just limitation of slavery in the laws of God, with a plan for the gradual abolition of slavery in the colonies;" "The law of passive obedience;" and "The law of liberty." We have alluded to Mr. Sharp's fondness for society and innocent recreation. "A barge on the Thames, long known to the circle of his friends for its festive hospitality, and particularly as a scene of musical delight, begins to occupy a place in his (M. S.) notes, from the August of 1775, immediately on his obtaining his first leave of absence from the ordnance board. The history *On the occasion of this work, he received the following lines from Payne, one of the directors of the Bank of England: TO MR. GRANVILLE SHARP, On reading his late instructive and excellent book, entitled, A declaration of the people's natural right to a share in the Legislature, as the fundamental princi◄ ple of the British Constitution of State. Wise, learned, meek, with reverential love Of God's just laws, and love of man informed, His own rights sacred as the rights of monarchs. But should the voice of warning not be heard; Should this devoted nation, left of God, Worship hell's blackest dæmon-lawless power, And driven by pride and wrath, precipitate Through streams of kindred blood, her hasty strides To the dark gulph of dissolution, O then, may thy just spirit, self-approved In its past efforts, with an eye of faith, Awful, yet calm, behold the signal vengeance, And on the spotless wing of liberty, Rise uncorrupted to its native Heaven. On these verses is written in red ink-Mɛm. “A seasonable warning to G. S. not of what he is, but of what he ought to be.” even of his amusements cannot be told, without adding to the dignity of his character." It appears to have been the resort of individuals of great professional eminence and skill, as well as of distinguished rank. It was occasionally visited by foreign ministers and by the sovereign of England. "Such was the deference (observes Mr. Hoare) shown to the integrity of Granville, even while he was strenuously contending against the measures of the cabinet, on the momentous subject of our American contest. His love of music, however, was more particularly remarkable. He was acquainted with its theory, but especially fond of it as practically adapted to the purposes of devotion. He had a good bass voice, and played on a variety of instruments.* Sunday evening concerts were alternately held at the houses of his brothers James and William, which consisted wholly of performances of sacred music, in "which voices and instruments were united to sound the praises of the Supreme Being." The most eminent performers frequently attended on these occasions. The conduct of Mr. Sharp towards a native of one of the South Sea Islands, who had been brought into England, shows the powerful sympathy which he felt for every object which offered any claims to his charitable exertions. Soon after the arrival of Omai (for such was the stranger's name) in 1775, Mr. Sharp sought an introduction, and expressed an earnest desire to impart to him a knowledge of the Scriptures. He voluntarily became his instructer; and in fifteen lessons (all which he had the opportunity of giving) communicated to him the first rudiments of the English language. He perceived the importance of "diffusing Christian light over a new race of men," and felt solemnly bound to improve every means which afforded the least hope of contributing to so desirable and joyful a result. During his interviews with Omai, he endeavoured to explain to him the Divine commandments, and to impress his heart with the infinite importance of a virtuous life. We concur with Mr. Hoare in the opinion, that "Granville Sharp might, with as much truth probably as any man that ever lived, have said, in the words of Terence's Chremes: Homo sum: humani nihil a me alienum puto. (To be continued.) * His performance on the double flute, is thus noticed by Mr. Shield: "This mode of performance was new in England. A pupil of Mr. Shield (Foster) afterwards adopted the instrument, and performed on it with great applause, in an overture composed by Mr. Shield for the opera of the "Noble Peasant." Latest from Liberia. MONROVIA, COLONY OF LIBERIA, DEC. 31st, 1825. To the Board of Managers of the American Colonization Society. GENTLEMEN:-A direct conveyance by the brig “Union” of Portland, having, after a lapse of more than four months from the transient visit and sailing of the "Cyane," at length offered, in coincidence with the close of the year; I avail myself of the occasion to lay before the Board of Managers as circumstantial an exposition of the past and actual state of the Colony, as the ends of accurate information require. I have already heard of the safe arrival in the United States, of the ship just named-but have never ceased to regret, that the commander's views of duty, at the moment of her touching at the cape, entirely precluded the possibility of making by her, any detailed communications what ever. Events of no surprising prominence of character, but still of the greatest importance to the welfare of the Colony, have occurred during the last year; and in them, problems of general interest to the people-especially the coloured population of the United States, have, in my opinion, been satisfactorily, and conclusively solved and, with emotions of unutterable gratitude to Heaven, I am happy to inform the Board, that the year under review, has proved a period of unprecedented, and almost unmingled prosperity to the Colony. The scale of our operations is, indeed, exceedingly limited: but it admits a great variety of interests, all of which have been steadily progressive. The health of the settlement has been, for several months, restored, and scarcely known the ordinary interruptions of the slightest diseases. Every enterprise of our negotiations and of our arms abroad, has been crowned with entire success. Internal improvements have been carried to a length fully equal to our means. The necessaries and comforts of life are accumulating in an abundance not known before. New resources are disclosing around us. An immense accession of influence and of territory has been secured; and the foundations of moral and civil liberty, and of a mild and efficient system of government and laws, are beginning to be fortified by the affections and answerable habits of a free, obedient, and improving people. The honorable Board of Managers-the numerous patrons whom motives of benevolence and patriotism have rallied around the cause of colonization-and your humble agents in this country, have been compelled to drink deep, and often, of the cup of disappointment; and have perhaps yielded to a dejection to which human weakness, under so many forms of discouragement, is sometimes obliged to give way. But, as far as the actual state and prospects of your establishment in this country,. can effect the great interest in which we labour, the dispensations of Providence, are now reversed, and its language authorizes and inspires the liveliest sentiments of our gratitude and joy. Those only upon whose hearts the destinies of this infant Colony have, for a course of years, maintained a strong hold, can enlist their sympathies in any answerable degree, with those of its founders and active friends. Such only can duly appreciate the value of that scale of success to which the age, the means, and the population of the settlement; of necessity confine it. The Colony is of less than 4 years standing :—it is situated in a corner of the habitable globe, visited by less than 12 American ships annually— the contiguous countries as well as the territory of the Colony itself, are covered with immense forests, and scantily peopled with impoverished savage tribes, whose wealth, industry and arts, extend only to the wants of a mere animal existence. The settlers have never much exceeded three hundred; and for the two first years, consisted of less than one hundred. The aid received from the United States has been, relative to its object, small; and of the aid actually intended, a large part has, from imperfect experience, been injudiciously applied. The settlement, in its earlier stages, suffered severely from war, from sickness, from the engrossing character of the slave-trade; from unworthy members, from a crude and imperfect mode of government, and from irregular supplies. Such, it is well known to all who have pursued this rising interest from the beginning, are the materials of a large portion of its history. And whatever has influenced so materially, its former growth, is obliged, to a certain extent, to be taken as the measure of its actual condition. The interests of the settlement have become so diversified, as to admit of a complete survey only by reducing the information relating to each, under its appropriate head. The disastrous influence of the climate of the country in forVOL. II.-No. 3. 2 mer years, naturally suggests as first in interest, the inquiry respecting THE HEALTH OF THE COLONY. It is my privilege to report to the Board the grateful fact, that, since the month of August last, the most perfect health has been enjoyed by the settlers; excepting a few cases of chronic decline, casualties, and a species of troublesome, but not dangerous, scorbutic affections, by which nearly all the emigrants to this country, are in their turn, affected. This evil commonly assails the constitution in the first year. One death only has ever occurred from this cause among the settlers; and the patient is seldom or never, while suffering from these disorders, subject to any other. Since my letter of the 17th June, three adults, all of whom were, at that date, in a lingering decline, have been removed from our number, by death; with two small children. Of these, three were of the Hunter's company. The question of the salubrity of Africa to the descendants of Africans, seems thus to be determined by the experiment. The children and young persons above three years in the country, appear to be in every respect, as healthy, muscular and vigorous, as the natives of the coast. Adults the same length of time in Africa, acquire for the climate of the country, a strong predilection over every other. They have as much health, and as large a share of animation, as they ever possessed in America. THE CIVIL STATE OF THE COLONY, Or the health of the social body, is a subject, which, from its intrinsic importance, and on account of the former agitations which it has suffered, merits a particular notice. The system of government drawn up and adopted in August, 1824, and of which the qualified approbation of the board was communicated the January following, with "permission to continue it as an experiment of the Agent," has, to the present time, undergone no material alteration. Some of the details have been a little extended, others either retrenched, or suffered to fall into disuse. But the system has, I flatter myself, proved itself, in its principles, entirely sufficient for the civil government of the Colony; and still as liberal and popular as the republican prepossessions of the Board would prescribe. The apparent complexity of its structure, of the effects of which, in so young a settlement, the Managers very naturally express some fears, in a great measure |