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Maryland State Archives Maryland Colonization Journal Collection MSA SC 4303 msa_sc4303_scm11070-0007 Enlarge and print image (5M) |
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Maryland State Archives Maryland Colonization Journal Collection MSA SC 4303 msa_sc4303_scm11070-0007 Enlarge and print image (5M) |
| MARYLAND COLONIZATION JOURNAL. ¦pirits, with the above exception, or traffics in it; and the State Society are pledged to carry the principle of abstaining from it, and pre- venting a traffic in it, into trie local government of the territory, and have ail the powers neces- sary for that purpose. Extract nf a letter to Moses Sheppard, Esq. from Stcpmj Harper, a Colored man. Monrovia, Liberia, Oct. 14,1834. Dear Sir,—Myself and family are well, and have met with no accident, except we lost our girl. We have our health better than we had in the United States. 1 should have went to Cape Palmas, but could not get the worth of my property. I arrived the 20th ol February, and in Alienist following was a voter. I am well satisfied with the land, and I want the Society to buy my property—so that I can go to Cape l'almas. Please to get a letter from------* about my son and send it to me. I want him to come to this country as soon as he is liberated, for this is a fine country. He need not dread coming here on account of his health. One died through imprudence and drinking spirits. Tell him for God's sake to use no spirituous liquors. 1 want Andrew Brown, J he ever gets in the notion to come to Africa, not to stop here, but go to Cape Palmas, which is about two days sail from here. Tell Charles Barrick, and tell him to come to this country. All this country wants is industry and good manage- ment. If we had two such men as Richard Garrel and John Boon, we could live like fight- ing cocks.f If you want to know any thing from me, write the questions, and 1 will answer. This I want published in Caroline Co.{ No man can vote without he is worth so much proper- ty. His land must be improved, and he have a deed for it. I hope that them that read this will always keep God before their eyes, farewell to you all. 1 add no more, Stei'.nv Hari'IlR. LATE INTELLIGENCE FROM CAPE PALMAS. It is nil important that the information con- tained in the nnnexed despatches from Dr. Hall, and in the address of the Colonists to the coloured peo pie of the United States, should he as widely circulated in the state as the press and verbal explanation with proper prudence can extend it. We look to the influence of tho friends of this cause in the respective counties, fir tljeir zealous and circumspect aid in accomplishing this object. [Extracts of despatches from James Hall, Esij. to J. If. B. Lalrube, Esq. dated Cape I'atmas, October 15, 1834.] In my last, per schooner Sarah and Priscilla, I informed you, that an embargo had been laid upon all our commerce by our neighbour king, and that we should soon be in want of provi- sions. I will briefly state the cause of this movement, on the part of his majesty. There had been a large quantity of plank stolen, be- longing to Mr. Wilson; and the people of this town and Grahway, mutually accused each other of taking it. I had a talk with King Freeman upon the subject, and he ""reed to send to Bjleo, and examine into the business. After a few days, he came up and informed me, he had sent a man, and Boleo had examin- ed his people's houses and found none, and that none could have gone to Grahway. A short time after, 1 was informed by Boleo, that the king had sent no messenger to him, and he had heurd nutliing about the plank. Thus stood matters when the expedition arrived. After despatching the vessel, I scut word to Boleo and Baphro, to come and receive their goods. On the morning of the day in which I expect- ed them. King Freeman came up and com- plained that 1 had not treated him properly as head king, in not sending him word, and letting him call the others. 1 then told him that I could not trust him to deliver any message; that he had deceived me in !ua pretended com- munication With Boleo, and that 1 rould not respect him as king, unless he acted like one, and punished thieving instead if fostering it; that I was sensible, if he pleased, he could at once put an end to it. At this he became en- raged, and proceedei! as above stated. He fbrebade the other kings, Boleo and Baphro, from taking any goods due for territory, or even the letters which you sent out, and allow- ed no one to communicate with our town. Thus matters stood for about three weeks, and 1 had determined not to yield or make him any satisfaction, until he would take some measures to stop their unceasing depredations. We were almost out of rice, and had no hopes of obtaining any, except through this town, but I had concluded to put the whole Colony upon half rations, myself among the rest, and make no overtures of reconciliation, until the whole was expended: und then to demand what was due us from their people, which I knew was already in their houses, or lo let some come from the neighbouring towns. I had little doubt, if left entirely to themselves, they would come forward and make honoura- ble proposals for setting the palaver,} ere our rations would bo entirely expended. • Wc regret we cmnot decyphcr the name of the person here mentioned. We shall forward a copy nf this paper to Mr. Harper, and hope he will favour us with his friend's name more distinctly written. t The writer imm to use this phrase facetiously in reference tu good living. } The editor of the Denton Advocate, Caroline Co. will please copy the above remarks and letter, tnd forward the paper containing them to our office. ^ This term is used technicilly by the natives to ¦mem any negotiation. F.ds In tins interesting state of affairs, with sa- vage men threatening on one hand, and starva- tion on the other; when we had voluntarily submitted to bear the privations and anxieties incident to our present precarious situation, solely with a view to secure our property from the unceasing depredations of the natives, I had the extreme, overwhelming mortification, to see one of our Colonists sent up to me by the king, chargnd with stealing cassada from I heir fields. His guilt was unquestionable. The king sent a message, desiring to know why I sent him to steal, that if his boys stole from me, I accused him of countenancing it, that he had a right to suppose the same of me. This entirely changed the state of affairs. The tables were completely turned, and we had nothing to do but back out. It mattered not that I offered to give him up to the king,to make him pay, or that I put him in irons, and confined him to public work. The Colonists were branded as thieves, and reduced to a level with them, and tho ground that I had taken, to make the king responsible for thefts, was by this movement rendered untenable. I could, in justice, do no less than acknowledge it. Some days after this, the king came up, in order to receive his goods, presents, &c. On being told what was due, he affected to bo in a great rage, and pretended that other articles, to a great amount were due, and among the rest, one puncheon of rum. I knew this was a mere sham, and only a pretext to extort something from me at this time, know- ing my present necessity for provisions. I stated the matter of our purchase and the amount paid, and called evidence, reasoned, coaxed, and threatened, but all to no purpose. They well knew that this was the last time that they would have the like advantage, and they were determined to improve it. I affected at last to believe that the interpreter had mis- understood me at the time of purchase, and compromised matters. After the palaver was fairly set, trade again commenced, and we have now on hand some hundred bushels of rice. Nothing, however, was done respecting the thieving, until one William Davis, a brother of the king, who had been some years at Sierra Leone, came home. He is a shrewd, cunning, energetic fellow, and was very soon convinced that matters were badly managed in town, anil set himself about breaking up the business. We very soon had some half dozen hoes, axes, hatchets, crows, &C.&.C. returned, that had long been missing. 1 cannot but hope, that in a short time, we can make some permanent arrangement, that will render the property of the colonists more secure- A short time since, I received a visit and dash* from Weah, king of Half Cavally. I endeavored to open negotiations tor his ter- ritory, (which you will recollect, is excepted in our purchase, although lying within our limits,) but I found that it would not be advis- able to press it at present, but wait until schools had been established at Grahway and the Cavally river, then they will see tile ad- vantage of being "America men," and eager- ly come forward and give up their territory to our control. King Tom, a mighty old chief on the Cavally river, also sent me an embas- sy and dash. He no doubt would be glad to come in and join us, but I think it best to wait awhile, until they clearly see the advantages which the inhabitants of Cape Palmas, Grab- way and Cavally enjoy, and they will be glad to have us settle among llietn, for no other con- sideration, than the establishment of schools, and a few presents to the head men. When 1 make any addition. 1 think it will be best to purchase the whole from Jarrowuy to the Ca- vally river, or even to Tabou point, and have thein all come into a league, offensive and de- fensive, to have all matters of difference be- tween any two towns adjusted by the agent here, in fact, to unite them under one govern- ment, and perfect that government by de- grees, as they become capable of bearing it. An incident occurred oonio days since, which 1 will trouble you with, that you may ju'lge m some measure, of the ultimate advan- tage we shall be to this country, when we can with safely interfere with their private go- vernment. Tiiey have a custom like our pious and sa- pient forefathers of Salem, of attributing all the great calamities of life to witchcraft, par- ticularly all sudden deaths of the middle aged and active. In such cases,the Greegree man. Doctor, or Grand Devil, synonymous terms, is consulted, and he points out the witch or ne- cromancer so offending. In order then to prove whether the suspected is actually guilty, lie is compelled to drink large quantities of the decoction of a poisonous tree, called saucy wood. Should he survive, he is deemed inno- cent, but otherwise, should it prove fatal, (iutte a number have been subjected to this ordeal, since our settlement, here, and some have died in the most excruciating tortures. Should the culprit vomit freely, within a hall hour or so, after taking it, heibre it has time to affect the system or influence the stomach, he experiences but little inconvenience from it. But should it remain on the stomach an hour or two, that organ, and the whole alimen- tary canal, become highly inflamed; constant und violent vomiting, and puVgmg succeed, anil continue until the subject is completely exhausted. And to add greatly to his misery, he is placed, at the moment of taking the de- coction, under a guard of soldiers, who keep him constantly in motion, racing about on the sand beach, in the hot sun, hardly allowing him rest during his violent evacuations. When his strength begins to fail, they force him to This word among the natives signifies a present Em continue his movements, by sharp sticks, knives and bayonets. The poor wretch now becomes frantic, and vainly attempts revenge upon his persecutors, until completely over- come by the potency of the poison, ami his ex- cessive exertions, he sinks upon the sand, ami expires in tho most excruciating agonies. One of the natives, who has frequently officiated as soldier of the guard in such cases, informed me, that the torments of the victims were so great, in the last stages, that the guard were fre- quently obliged to go to a distance, and turn their backs that they might not see their dis- tortions, or hear their waitings and blasphe- mies. Since our residence here, nine months, tour or five have been subjected to this ordeal, two cases of which have terminated fatally. But a lew days since, one of the head men, and one who has uniformly befriended the co- lony, was arraigned and found guilty of be- witching sundry members of the liimily of one of his rivals, and doomed to the trial of saucy wood. He had taken his first potion, before I was informed of it, and they had commenced driving him about. It had a very severe effect upon the poor fellow, but he was quite comfortable at night. But the Grand Devil, declared, that, inasmuch as it wrought thus hard with him, he must turn to, and take it again on the morrow. Being informed of (Ins, I went down early in the morning, called a palaver, and endeavored to have the man released. But all reason, entreaties, gills and threutenings were of no avail. They appear- ed to owe him a deep grudge, which nothing but Ins death could appease. On returning home, I was informed, that they have an an- cient rule something like this;—that in ease a man is condemned to ilrink saucy wood, that any friend of superior rank or standing, can clear him by taking him by the hand, when the potion is about to be administered; but the one so doing, takes upon himself the responsi- bility, and is liable either to supply his place or pay heavy damages. In this case the king wished and had attempted to clear Posso, the prisoner, hut he knew the consequence would be dangi rous, so great was the excitement against him. Upon hearing this, I immediate- ly set off for the sand uench, and arrived just as they were driving off his wives and chil- dren, who had been taking their last farewell. About five hundred people were collected, and formed into a hollow square, in the midst of which was his Satanic Majesty in full panoply, just raising a two gallon pot, tilled to the brim, with the poisonous decoction, to the lips of the wretched Posso; poor fellow! he was so altered from yesterday's drenching, ami the dismal prospect before him, that 1 should not have recognised him, had he been mixed with the crowd; his countenance was despair itself. I briefly told them, that if any one had any palaver for Posso, that I would satisfy him ac- cording to our laws, and would be responsible for all that they could prove against him: then taking him by the hand, inarched him off', amid the mingled shouts and execrations of his friends and persecutors. This one cir- cumstance will demonstrate .to you the bene- ficial influence, we even now begin to exert among the natives, and that our hopes of over- throwing their barbarous and long established customs, are not visionary. The number that annually fall victims to the accursed machina- tions and blind zeal of these Greegree men, a compound of priests, doctors, and devils, is in- calculable. During the nine months since our arrival, four have been killed in this way, in this one town; and within twenty miles of us, wc can number ten or fifteen towns, equally large, where this business is practised to the same extent. The sacrifices of Juggernaut cannot compare with this, either with regard to the number of victims, or the horror of the sacrifice. In that case, it is a religious self immolation; in many instances, stimulated by the noblest sentiments of our nature. The victim, in fact, dies a religious martyr, and glo- ries in his exit. But here, the innocent, tails a sacrifice to vile practice and jugglery, and suffers a shockingly painful and inglorious deatl as a criminal, which death, is consi- derec by these deluded people, as an incon- testitle proof of his guilt us a "witch man," or necrsmancer. This evil calls loudly for a re- ined;, and from the above incident, you see that a remedy is practicable, and at hand too. We might forcibly put a slop to it by legal en- actments, but this is not expedient. The more judicious way to put an end to this, and the man' other diabolical and cruel practices of their Greegree men, is to diffuse light and in- fornntion among the majority of the people. Thiscourse is slow, but practicable and -lire. Man;, very many, of the more intelligent na- tives already declare that they will have no- thing to do with such business; but still they are over-ruled by the rabble, and cry out ear- nestl/ tor more light. And to diffuse this light seasmahly, the colony unaided is inadequate. We must have assistance. Since my first acquaintance with the colony at Cape Messurado, | have been decidedly of opinion, that unless the natives of this country can be enlightened and improved; unless they cm be raised to a level with the colonists, and amalgamate with them,colonization will prove a heavy curse to both parties. And, inasmuch as it does not seem immediately advantageous U the colonists to enlighten the natives, we cannot expect them to use any great exertions Ij do it. They have concerns of their own to attend to, and can only influence the na- tives by example. We must have the aid of mssionarics and teachers, and of them, not a fev. Independent of the welfare of the colo- ny, I do not believe there is a place on the globe where missionary labour would yield so great a reward. Thfc population is dense, the inhabitants peaceable, intelligent, and extreme- ly anxious tor information, and there is no bar or hinderance whatever, to the most full and ample operations of the missionary and philan- thropist. The advantages that the colony and the missionary cause will mutually derive from each other, are incalculable. The missionary alone, surrounded by barbarians, totally dissi- milar in every mode of action or thought, is viewed as a supernatural being, and although they may ever so much admire his precepts and desire improvement; still, so great is the distance between what they are and would be, that the task seems too great for them lo un- dertake, their resolution is inadequate to it, and after a lew ineffectual struggles, despon- dency and indifference succeed to hope. But here we are introducing amongst people, many of whom are already accustomed to Euro- peans, some of their own race, possessing the advantages of civilization, acquired even during a period ot'slavery and degradation. Of these advantages, I assure you, the natives are fully sensible, and they are sensible too, that the same advantages are within their reach; that the difference between them and the colonists is artificial; and that the barriers to their ele- vation are easily surmounted. Their an.bitiou and perseverance are adequate to this task, and to effect it, and speedily too, they only re- quire instruction—instruction in the most ge- neral sense of the word. To preach the chris- tian religion to them without doing any thing more, in their present state, is to do nothing, and worse than nothing; they are unable to appreciate its excellencies, and would place it and its teachers on a level with their own long established superstitions and their Greegree men. They must, at the same time, possess the advuntage of acquiring information from letters, nnd be permitted to peruse any branch of knowledge most agreeable to them; they must he made acquainted witfi the minor affairs ap- pertaining to civilized life, ere ihey are called upon to change their religion, justly esteemed, both by the barbarous and civilized, the most important matter connected with their exis- tence. They must, to a certain extent, be made acquainted with political and scientific facts, and be convinced of their errors in mat- ters that admit tf dminnstialinn, betbrc we de- mand iheir conviction in matters of faith. In a word, to conduct the affair of civilizing and reclaiming the savage and barbarian, it re- quires not only a christian and philanthropist, hut men of the most profound knowledge of the human character, aiquaintcd with theworld, men of experience and extensive observation. Nor do I deem 't of great importance, that such an one should be a professional man. If so, the profession of medicine would be the most de.-iruble. Probably no man could so readily acquire the confidence, and exercise a general influence over the inhabitants of this coast, as an industrious and intelligent physi- cian. The remarks of Dr. Phillips, of the Cape of Good Hope settlement, upon this sub- ject, I think entitled to great weight, and ought to serve as a guide m all selections of men, for this interesting and important under- taking. DrcF.M»En29, 1834. Many of our two acre farm lots are cleared and nearly fenced, and a more delightful sec- tion of country, you never saw. Could nine- tenlhs of the colonists sell their town lots, they would, and be oft' tomorrow for the bush. I tell you what, you must send me a painter or scribbler, to tell of matters here, ami touch up our good slave-holders a bit. Could they see things as they truly are, they would give their slaves not only liberty, but their plantations, and come out here themselves. 'Tis decidedly a more delightful country, save fever, than America. The Colonists to the People of Colour of the I t,ii. .1 Mutes. Cape Pai.mas, October 11, 1834. At a meeting of the inhabitants of Maryland in Liberia, held this day, to take into conside- ration subjects relative to its future welfare, Jacob Gross was called to the chair and Wm. Polk appointed Secretary. Alter some deli- beration it was re.-olved, that a committee of five persons be chosen to make a report of the present situation of this Colony and its future prospects; to be addressed to the people of co- lour in the State of Maryland in the United States of America. Whereupon Jacob Gross, Wm. Polk, Chas. Scotland, Anthony Wood, and Thos. Jackson were elected to constitute said committee, and were requested to lay their report before a meeting of the citizens, to be held on Saturday the 25th instant. At an adjonined meeting held on the 25th October, to hear the report of the committee appointed on the 111!) uist. Wm. Cassell was called to the chair, and Wm. Polk appointed Secretary. All the members of the Colony were present excepting two who were indis- posed and unable to attend. The report was then read as lidlows:— To the Proi'LE or Coi.ovn in Mutt i wp. U- S. America. Dear Brv threw:—agreeably to a resolu- tion of our fellow-citizens herewith enclosed, we now endeavour to lay before you a fair and impartial statement of the actual situation of this colony; of our advantages and prospects, both temporal and spiritual. We are aware of the great difference of opinion which exists in America with respect to colonization. We are aware of the tierce contentions between its udvocates and oppo- ses; and we are of opinion that this conten- tion among the well meaning, is based princi- pally upon the various and contradictory ac- counts concerning this country and its advan- tages; received on the one hand from the en- 3 |