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iv    PREFACE.

Freedom, either by birthright or by emancipation, always bear in mind, that by their good conduct they not only promote their own happiness, but that they advocate the cause of Universal Emancipation, by showing to the world their capability of enjoying the benefits of society, and providing comfortably for themselves.

In preparing these pieces for the press, I have taken the liberty of abridging some of those which have already appeared in print. And in some instances, where in the first narration, the character was not fully delineated or finished, I have supplied that deficiency from later writers, or from inquiries of those who had been personally acquainted with the individual, as in the cases of Joseph Rachel, Phillis Wheatley, &c.

A. M.

Hickory Grove, 11th mo. 1825

The following remarks, as well as divers other pieces in this selection, are generally taken from an inquiry into the intellectual and moral faculties of the Negroes, by GREGOIRE.

"Many authors have borne testimony to the pleasantness and fertility of Africa, and to the generosity, and filial affection of its inhabitants. In reading Ledyard, Lucas, Mungo Park, Hornman and others, we find that the inhabitants of the interior are more virtuous and more civilized than those on the sea coast; surpass them also in the preparations of wool, leather, cotton, wood, and metals; in weaving, dying, and sewing. Golberry says that 'in Africa there are no beggars except the blind.'

"Adanson, who visited Senegal in 1754, when describing the country, says, 'It recalled to me the idea of the primitive race of men. I thought I saw the world in its infancy. The negroes are sociable, humane, obliging, hospitable, and they have generally preserved an estimable simplicity of domestic manners. They are distinguished by their tenderness for their parents and great respect for the aged, a patriarchal virtue, which in our day is too little known.'

"Robin speaks of a slave in Martinico, who having gained money sufficient for his own ransom, purchased with it his mother's freedom. The most horrible outrage that can be committed against a negro, is to curse his father or his mother, or to speak of either with contempt.'

"Mungo Park, observes, that a slave said to his master, 'Strike me, but curse not my mother.' And that a negress having lost her son, her only consolation was, that he had never told a lie. Casuax relates, that a negro seeing a white man abuse his father, said, 'Carry away the child of this monster, that it may not learn to imitate his conduct.'

"The Bishop Jacqumin, had been twenty-two years at Guyanna where he was much beloved. When they ceased to employ him as a pastor, those Indians said to him, 'Father, thou art aged: remain with us, and we will hunt and fish for thee.'

"Many others might be added from the official depositions made at the bar of Parliament, and before the select committee of the House of Commons, in England, in 1790 and 1791; but these may suffice to encourage others to similar acts of piety, and filial affection, remembering also that we must expect our children to follow our example.

"As no human being can choose the place of its birth or the advantages of ancestry, so it manifests great folly to build our fame on the virtues, riches, or honours, of those who have gone before us; or to despise a fellow being on account of the poverty or obscurity of its birth. In so doing we arraign the goodness of our Creator, and act inconsistently with our dependent situation."

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES, &C.

1. FRANCIS WILLIAMS, the son of African parents, was born in Jamaica, about the year 1700, and died when about 70 years of age.

2. Struck with the conspicuous talents of this negro, when he was quite young, the Duke of Montaigue, Governor of the Island, proposed to try whether, by an improved education, he would be equal to a white man, placed in the same circumstances.

3. He accordingly sent him to England, where he commenced his studies in a private school, and afterwards entered the University of Cambridge, where he made considerable progress in the mathematics, and other branches of science.

4. After several years stay in England, he returned to Jamaica, where, with the patronage of the Governor, he opened a school and taught Latin and the mathematics. He also wrote many pieces of Latin poetry, some of which were presented to the Governor; and one of his friends says, "we do not find among the defenders of slavery, one half of the literary merit of Phillis Wheatley and Francis Williams."

1.JASMIN THOUMAZEAU was born in Africa, in 1714 brought to St. Domingo and sold for a slave when he was 22 years of age, but afterwards obtaining

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