449 Account of the Nerv Colony at Sierra Leona. (Concluded from p. 360) foldiers adopted by the British Gene- deftroyed their tickets of freedom, and Frequent repetition of thefe enormities had difpirited the Nova Scotia negroes, and almoft reduced them to defpair, when one day, fome company at dinner happened to be converfing on the projected fcheme of the Sierra Leona Colony, and mentioned Mr Grenville Sharp, a name revered among the negroes as the patron of the plan. A fenfible black who waited at table heard the accounts with eagernefs, and took the first opportunity of spreading them among his countrymen. The hope of relief animated them, and they refolved to fend over their agent, one Thomas Peters, a refpectible intelligent African, to wait upon the Company, and learn if they might expect encouragement to go to the new colony. This man arrived in London a fhort time before the act in favour of the Company paffed; he waited without delay on fome of the chief promoters of the plan, and received from them promifes of fupport, fhould the Act of Parliament pafs as was wished. Never did ambaffador from a fovereign power profecute with more zeal the object of his miffion then did Thomas Peters the caufe of his diftreffed countrymen. At laft matters were arranged, and he returned to communicate to The circumftances of the Nova Sco. tia A gentleman from America, who was prefent at the meeting when Mr Clarkfon gave this narrative, confirmed the preceding circumflances from his own perfonal knowlege, having had access to fee and converfe with fome of the unfortunate negroes as well as their villanous oppreffors. tia Negroes were ftated to Government, and orders were iffued to the Governors of the Provinces of Halifax and New Brunfwie, to interpofe in giving an effectual check to the abufes complained of, with a fevere reprimand for having ever allowed them; at the fame time they were directed to take proper opportunities of communicating to all the negroes the af. fairs of the Sierra Leona Company, and to give them what aid might be neceffary for carrying the measures into effect. A brother of the Rev. Mr Clarkson, a lieutenant in the navy, is gone out to Nova Scotia with thefe difpatches, aud with proper credentials for inviting fuch of the negroes as wish to leave the place, to the fettle ment of Sierra Leona. Government has agreed to provide shipping to tranf port them from Halifax, and lieuterant Clarkson is to accompany them to Africa. About fix hundred, it is now known, have embraced the offer, and will foon form a great acceffion to the new colony. Such is the rife of their eftablish ment, from which the friends of humanity predict the most happy effects. Nothing will more readily tend to introduce civilization into Africa than a colony thus formed on a liberal and benevolent plan, free from the enor mities that difgrace the Slave Trade. The foil is rich and fertile, and the cultivation of many of our Weft India commodities will foon flourish there. Befides this, an extenfive coaft and ri ver trade is opened, for the valuable productions of Africa, which are numerous, and highly ufeful. An extenfive inland commerce may foon alfo be established; a contract has already been made with the Mandingo Priefts, who are acquainted with every village in the heart of this unexplored country, and whofe perfons are held facred by all the contending chiefs: Through their medium á traffic may be carried on, reaching over all the African continent, by means of numerous caravans that travel over it in all directions; and even the filks and fpices of the caft may find their way from Cairo to the River of Sierra Leona. Thefe fpeculations, it is hoped, not altogether ideal, may not be immediately valued, but in time may take effect; mean while, should this colony do no more than check or overturn the nefarious Slave Trade, every friend of humanity will rejoice, and blefs the memory of the benevolent projectors. Dictated by Mr William Ged's Narrative of his Scheme for Block-printing. himself fome time before his Death, for the Satisfaction of bis Relations I HAPPENED in the year 1725 to be in company with a printer, who, talking of the lofs our nation was at for want of a letter-founder, and af, ter fhowing me the nature of the types fingly and compofed in pages, afked me, if I could contrive a method to remedy that defect. I answered, that I judged it more practicable for me to make plates from the compofed pages than make fingle types. To which he replied, that if fuch a thing could be done, an eftate might be made by it. I desired he would give me a page for an experiment, which, after fome days trial, I found practicable, and fo continued for near two years improving on my invention and making a great many experiments, feveral of which were expensive; but the more I practifed, and the lefs chargeable materials I ufed, I was the more fuccefsful, till at last I brought it to bear, as that no diftinction could be made between the impreffion from my plates and that from the types. I the I then applied to a gentleman in this place, who had five or fix thou fand pound ftock, and who, for a fourth fhare of the profits, contracted with me to advance all the money that might be neceffary for carrying on the work, But this Gentleman, afterwards converf, ing with a certain other printer in this town, was made to believe that eight thousand pound would not bring that undertaking to perfection; which did fo intimidate him, that in two years continuance of that contract he made no farther advance to me than I, 22. So finding no appearance of fuccefs that way, I was glad of any opportu. nity by which I might expect better encouragement. In July 1729, William Fenner, a London Stationer, being by accident here in Edinburgh, hearing of my project, made me propofals more difadvantageous than my former bargain, which however I accepted of. He claimed the half of the profits, in confideration he was to advance all the money requifite, and that I should procure my former partner's renuncia. tion of any farther concern with me in that affair: which being obtained, we entered into a contract for twentyone years, by which I was obliged to communicate to him the art. On his part he was obliged, four months after date, to have a proper house and all materials in readiness at London, where I engaged to be by that time; and thefe conditions under a penalty of L.1000 to be forfeited by the party failing. There was likewife a claufe in that contract, that if, in eight months after trial, my project fhould not prove advantageous, because of the oppofition it might likely meet with from the printers, in fuch event the contract was to be void and pull. I implemented my part, being at London within the time limited, where I found Mr Fenner had nothing agreed on provided, and I believe was as little capable. But being a stranger to his circumftances, he made me be lieve the reafon of this delay was, that he had got acquainted with a letter-founder, who would, for one 16th fhare from each of us, furnish all the different types fhould be wanted; upon which followed another contract, and we were accordingly furnished with two parcels of different types :— but when we came to use them, we found them altogether unfit for our purpofe; and were likewife informed, that he had been formerly employed by the King's printers, but was reject ed by them, becaufe one Caflon had eclipfed him in his bufinefs, which oc cafioned his applying to me, believing he could make a living by the profits he expected from his fhare in my project. Thereafter having feen a Bible printed in the King's houfe in Lon don on a beautiful letter, I applied to them to know if they would give fuitable encouragement to furnish them with plates for a Bible from that type. Accordingly a day was appointed to hear our propofals: in the mean time, they acquainted their new founder, Caflon, who told them he would give us fifty guineas, if we, in half a-year's time, made one page of a Bible from that type. Our appointment holding, we made demands, and they made offers of money, and we believed we might have agreed; but at the fame time told us of the above fifty guineas, and that the gentleman who had made the offer was in the houfe: being called into our company, he bragged much of his great skill and knowledge in all the parts of mechanism, and particularly vaunted, that he, and hundreds befides himself, could make plates to as great perfection as I could;which occafioned fome heat in our conversation, and which was diverted by a propofl of Mr Bket, That Caflon and I should each of us have a page given us to make a plate from, of that type, between then and that day fe'nnight; and that he who faled fhould give a handfome entertainment to the company: this being a greed Breed to, Mr Thomas Gib, overfeer Prayer-books; which motion took. of of the printing houfe, was appointed judge of the performance. " Next day, about dinner time, each us bad a page fent ús. I immediately after fell to work, and by five o'th'clock that fame afternoon I had finished three plates from that page, and caufed to take impreffions from them on paper, which I and partners carried direaly to the king's printing. houfe, and fhowed them to faid Mr Gib, who would not believe but thefe impreffions were taken from the type; whereupon I produced one of the plates, which, he faid, was the types foldered together, and fawed thorough. To convince him of his mistake, I took that plate from him, and broke it before his face, then fhowed him another, which made him cry out. He was furprised at my performance, and then called us to a bottle of wine; when he purpofed I Thould take cleven pages more, to a form, that he would fee how it might anfwer the fheet-way. My too expeditious performance here proved rather a detriment than advantage to me, as I came afterwards to understand from the king's printers themselves; who having acquainted Mr Caflon with what had happened, he declined keeping the appointment in perlon, but fent a fon of Mr Baf ket's to tell, That he could not perform the thing himself, neither could he get one of the hundred he spoke of to undertake it." make up Thomas James, the letter-founder above-mentioned, our partner, having a brother an architect, who was univerfally acquainted with the nobility and dignified clergy, he gave him one of thefe plates, and informed him of my above performance. Mr James handed the plate about, till he came to the Earl of Macclesfield, 'who told him that there was a vacancy in the university of Cambridge, who would be glad to receive us, and let us have the privilege of printing Bibles and So John James, the above architect, and my partner Fenner, went down to Cambridge, where their propofals were readily agreed to. But, before this time, I fufpected much the fafficiency of my partner's circumítances, which made me tell, that I inclined to leave them at the term of the eight months; which John James hearing, being a man of substance, made an overture, to divide in four fhares, and that he would make the fourth partner;" that he would lay me down 100l. that I fhould have yearly 100l. paid me for the ufe of my family, be fides thirty fhillings weekly for my own fubfiftence; that I thould be præfes of the company; and that any one of the other three partners, who joined voice with me, should determine the queftion; and that, laftly, he would ufe his intereft with the university of Cambridge, that I fhould have their privilege for printing the before mentioned books in my plate-way; which conditions I went in to, and had the faid tool. laid me down, We had feveral meetings at making up this contract; which being agreed to in the terms above, was put into the hands of Counsellor Hamilton, to be extended at large. Meanwhile the king's printers, having heard our defign, applied to the univerfity, and made an offer of pool. more than what they had agreed to take from us. Afterwards Thomas James, our letter'founder, fell to intriguing with the king's printers (who understanding the countenance we were likely to obtain from the university of Cambridge, which was equal to their own as to the privilege of printing Bibles and Prayer-books; and the more afraid, of having a man of fuch fubftance as John James his brother partner with us) in order to withdraw his brother, which afterwards appeared he had undertaken to do. The argument they made ufe of to fpirit him up (we having complained of the infufliciency mer plate,) till I convinced him of his error, by fhowing him the other plate. Not long after this, Mr Samuel Palmer (the most knowing printer in London,) who had frequently fee my performance in the plate-way, affured me, that the types I was using were altogether unfit for my purpofe ; and further, he and another gentleman told us, they heard our letter infufficiency of his types) was, to make him believe that the fault lay in my plates only, and not in his types, tho' they had been formerly rejected by themselves: wherefore, to convince his brother of ignorance or malice, I made impressions from both type and plate, in the manner following; viz. Having at that time five or fix fheet of an octavo Prayer-book in plates made from the fame types, I cau-founder fay, That as long as he was fed to make up a fheet where pages of plate were intermixed with pages of type; and having twenty fuch fheets to cast off, I asked him, before his brother, to diftinguish which was plate, and which type. To do which, he divided the one half of these sheets from the other, faying, the one was plate, and the other half type, whereas each of these sheets bore a mixture of pages, half one, half other. I made a fecond trial, on Thomas James's bringing two paragraphs of a different fize of letter, compofed in Latin, which he defired to be caft off with care, being to be fent to the country for a specimen. Obferving this to be a better type than what he had furnifhed us, I caufed to make up as much of our letter as would make a a folio page, joined with these two fpecimens, from which I made a plate, and caufed to throw off a parcel of fheets from both; which being brought to him, he mistook the one for the other,but carried one of each home with him, and next day he difcovered a fmall open in the tail of one fingle letter, whereby he was afterwards capable to diftinguish that plate from the type: for which reason I made another plate from the fame compofed page, and caufed caft off an equal number from the laft plate as from the former; and the impreffions being mixt and laid before him, he difcovered, his ignorance, by affirming that all the impreffions of my laft plate were taken from the types (not finding that chaẩm or open in a letter of the for our letter-founder, we fhould never hurt the trade; and it was for that reafon he had joined us in company. Having wrought about 18 months at London on feveral books with thefe imperfect types, which proved naught, and the leafe never yet obtained, tho the univerfity fent letters every two or three weeks to John James our partner at Greenwich, directed to the care of his brother the letter-founder at London, who, being in ufe of breaking open thefe letters, kept up a material one, wherein the univerfity defired us to take council, and talk with their agent at London, to whom they had fent their papers and powers. Next meeting, inftead of communicating the contents of this letter to the concerned, he told them he had feen a gentleman, who faid the gentlemen of the univerfity were furprised we had fo long delayed coming down to Cambridge to take out our leafe, which they were fo willing to grant us, and propofed to his brother and Mr Fenner to go down in the name of the company, which they had agreed to before I came. When they told me what had palled, I knowing the man's fincerity, which I had oblerved for fome time before, thought it not convenient without I went along with him; and then told them, I could endeavour to procure the recommendation of my Lord Inlay and others of my countrymen: and accordingly I obtained my Lord Iflay's letter to Mr Smith, profufior of the opticks in Trinity College, who happened to be præfes at that meet |