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    every respect unexceptionable ; it is not tainted with the admixture of political design or of religious fanaticism ; it is simply the improvement of Afj ica by the encouragement of the peaceful and useful arts of life . When wef speak of the talents of its supporters , we refer not to

    the truly respectable list of jrs subscribers , but to the publications which have issued from the society ; which are finished specimens of sound argument and good writing * : We pretend not to any secret information ? but we are persuaded we trace the handot Mr 'Wilbek force

    in the Reports , who , as a writer or speaker , is always eloquent , and , except on religion and practical politics , always reasonable and convincing . This Second Rep . ort ^ which was read at the Annual General Meeting on the 35 th of March , 1808 , is not so much a

    detail of what has been done by the Institution , as a more ample exposition of its designs . It has , as yet , only begun to feel its way ; and from the state and situation of Africa it is probable that much time -will elapse before we

    shall have to undertake the pleasing office of setting before our readers , for their entertainment and repast , the fruits of British beneficence in that country , at once distinguished by the gifts of nature and the injuries of European States ^

    44 The first care of the committee has been to open a correspondence with such persons in Africa as were likely to be Useful in promoting the Society ' s views . The persons to whom they have -written are Mr . l , udlam , the governor of Sierra

    l ^ eonc , and Mr . Torarie , the governor of Cape Const Castle . " This correspondence has been directed principally to the following subjects : —The state and capacities of the African continent , and the condition of its inhabitants :

    the degree in which the abolition laws of Great Britain , and of other nations , are ^ ffectuai ; and , if ineffectual , by what means , and under what pretences , they are evaded ; and also what steps may be advantageously taken to prevent such evasions : what can be done to

    counteract tho 3 e pernicious habits which the slave-trade has nourished , and particularly to convince the native Chiefs how essential it is to the prosperity of their country , that measures should be imme-

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    diately adopted for ensuring to their subjects the safe : enjoyment of persokf and property : the best means of setting on foot journies of discovery , jof promoting agriculture , of cultivating the frienfdship and confidence of the native paWers , and of producing among them powers , ana or proaucing among them

    a spirit of union and harmony : the systenft of policy best suited to the colony of Sierra JLeone , 4 n regard to its interior management and its relations with the African Chiefs * and m regard * a } o to the promotion of civilization , both within the colony , and , by means of the colony , afrrong the surrounding natives .

    " The Committee , at the same tim « empowered ^ Mr . Laxtf ' am & erect a school at Sierra I , eone , under the patronage and at the expence of the Institution * the object of which should be not merely to teach reading and writing ,

    but to combine with these elementary branches of knowledge , instruction in agriculture , and other useful arts * It was suggested , that to the school f-heuld be annexed a small farm , which might be cultivated , either wholly or in parr " , by the labour of the scholars j and where

    they might be taught to raise , and prepare for market , articles of exportable produce , as well as to rear cattle and cultivate provisions . The state of the Society ' s funds obliged the Committee todiiect , that this Seminary should be begun on a small scale , ( though they wished it to be formed on a plan which should admit of its indefinite extension ); and that , until their funds would allow

    of its enlargement , ca / e should be taken that the youths , selected for education , should be . of such a rank as would give them influence over their countrymen in after life . The Committee having learnt that there are now in this country two African youths , about the age of nineteen or twenty , who have been

    enjoying , by means of the Sierra Leone Company , the benefits of education for the last six or seven years , and that it was intended they should return in no long time to Africa ; resolved to take upon themselves the expence of having them fully initiated in Dr . Bell ' s System of Education . Measures are now

    taking with this view , and the Committee trust that they , shall be able , in no long time , to transplant to Africa this cheap and expeditious method of instruction , av

    * We cannot forbear remarking , that the Report fs primed with a degree of ¦ ki CQivcctncss which seldom attaches to the London Fre ^ s .

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    612 titieffigctoxie . — African Institution .

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• Citation
  • Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Nov. 2, 1808, page 622, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2398/page/46/