sent, enabled to load from the carts instead they have a small theatre at present, and one much larger is building: there are also balls twice or thrice a week; both these amusements are well attended. The Polish nobility are very gay, the ladies in general lively and pretty. of lighters, the mode pursued at prewhich is both expensive and less safe. Besides this grand mole, they have built several smaller ones, and others have been projected, which are now also going on. here is a fine Lazaretto placed in an airy situation, and a deposit house, where goods may lie eighteen months without paying duty; and if then found unsaleable, may be re-shipped on the payment of a trifling charge. The roads without the port are safe in summer, and the anchorage good; at present several hundred ships are riding in them, waiting for cargoes. The city of Odessa has existed scarcely four years; the population is already upwards of ten thousand, and is daily increasing. The houses and magazines are very good; they are all built of a kind of free-stone, and the town being formed upon a plan, you see at present (1805) fine streets, which in a few few years will be finished. The shops are commodious, and well stocked with every necessary article, the produce both of this and of distant countries. The market place is large, and is filled during the summer months with every species of the vegetable kind. The streets are wide, but from the infant state of the city are as yet unpaved; this makes them very disagreeable, both from the dust in dry weather, and the mud in wet. Not a tree is to be seen for many miles, owing, it is said, to the blighting winds which blow at times, to the destruction of every plant and tree unprotected from them. Small gardens, sheltered by walls, now begin to be formed, and shrubs make their appearance, formerly unknown in this country. Odessa is become the summer residence of the Polish nobility, who repair hither in crowds to enjoy seabathing. The places of public divertion are by no means contemptible; The duke, so deservedly the favou rite of every one, from the czar to the beggar, arrived only the day previous to my departure, so that I had not an opportunity to be introduced to him. I saw him, however, at the theatre and at a ball the same evening: he is tall and thin, but well proportioned; his countenance indicates penetration, and his manners are prepossessing: he appears to be about forty-five years of age. The palace occupied by this illustrious emigrant is but small; much inferior in size and decoration to many of the houses inhabited by the mercantile part of the community, who live under his government. The deputy governor of the town is an Englishman, a General Cobly, who was formerly a merchant at Naples, and was then esteemed the handsomest man in the two Sicilies. The merchants who reside in Odessa are much more respectable than those of Taganrock; they are formed of people from every country: two English houses are established here, but the principal part are Germans and Italians; their houses are respectable and in good credit. These merchants are very hospitable; they carry on an amazing trade: it is supposed that this year one thousand ships will be loaded in the port of Odessa. Wheat may be said to be the only export article; it is very far inferior to that of Taganrock, being soft wheat, the produce of Polonca, it is much more perishable, being apt to heat. They export also a few other articles, which I have mentioned as the produce of Taganrock; from thence they are brought hither. Account 664 Account of the final abolition of SLA VERY in ENGLAND. (From Clarkson's history of the Abolition of the Slave Trade.) BEFORE the year 1700, planters, merchants, and others, resident in the West Indies, but coming to England, were accustomed to bring with them certain slaves to act as servants with them during their stay. The latter, seeing the freedom and the happiness of servants in this country, and considering what would be their own hard fate on their return to the islands, frequently absconded. Their masters of course made search after them, and often had them seized and carried away by force. It was, however, thrown out by many on these occasions, that the English laws did not sanction such proceedings, for that all persons who were baptized became free. The consequence of this was, that most of the slaves, who came over with their masters, prevailed upon some pious clergyman to baptize thent. They took of course godfathers of such citizens as had the generosity to espouse their cause.When they were seized they usually sent to these, if they had an opportunity, for their protection. And in the result, their godfathers, maintaining that they had been baptized, and that they were free on this account as well as by the general tenour of the laws of England, dared those, who had taken possession of them, to send them out of the kingdom. The planters, merchants, and others, being thus circumstanced, knew aot what to do. They were afraid of taking their slaves away by force, and they were equally afraid of bringing any of the cases before a public court. In this dilemma, in 1729, they applied to York and Talbot, the attorney and solicitor-general for the time being, and obtained the following strange opinion from them: "We are of opinion, that a slave by coming from the West Indies into Great Britain or Ireland, either with or without his master, does not become free, and that his master's right and property in him is not thereby determined or varied, and that baptizm doth not bestow freedom on him, nor make any alteration in his temporal condition in these kingdoms. We are also of opinion, that the master may legally compel him to return again to the plantations.' This cruel and illegal opinion was delivered in the year 1729. The planters, merchants, and others, gave it of course all the publicity in their power. And the consequences were as might easily have been apprehended. In a little time slaves absconding were advertised in the London papers as runaways, and rewards offered for the apprehension of them, in the same brutal manner as we find them advertized in the land of slavery. They were advertized also in the same papers, to be sold by auction, sometimes by themselves, and at others with horses, chaises, and harness. They were seized also by their masters, or by persons employed by them, in the very streets, and dragged from thence to the ships; and so unprotected now were these poor slaves, that persons in nowise concerned with them began to institute a trade in their persons, making agreements with captains of ships going to the West Indies to put them on board at a certain price. This last instance shows how far human nature is capable of going, and is an answer to those persons who have denied that kidnapping in Africa was source of supplying the slave-trade. It shows, as all history does from the time of Joseph, that, where there is a market for the persons of human be ings, all kinds of enormities will be practised to obtain them. These circumstances, then, as I ob served served before, did not fail of producing new coadjutors in the cause.And first they produced that able and indefatigable advocate Mr Granville Sharp. This gentleman is to be distinguished from those who preceded him by this particular, that whereas these were only writers, he was both a writer and an actor in the cause. In fact, he was the first labourer in it in England. By the words "actor" and "labourer," I mean that he determined upon a plan of action in behalf of the oppressed Africans, to the accomplishment of which he devoted a considerable portion of his time, talents, and substance. What Mr Sharp, has done to merit the title of coadjuter in this high sense, I shall now explain. The following isa short history of the beginning and of the course of his labours. In the year 1765, Mr David Lisle had brought over from Barbadoes Jonathan Strong, an African slave, as his servant. He used the latter in a barbarous manner at his lodgings in Wapping, but particularly by beating him over the head with a pistol, which occasioned his head to swell. When the swelling went down, a diserder fell into his eyes, which threatned the loss of them. To this an ague and fever succeeded, and a lameness in both his legs. Jonathan Strong, having been brought into this deplorable situation, and being therefore wholly useless, was left by his master to go whither he pleased. He applied accordingly to Mr William Sharp the surgeon for his advice, as to one who gave up a portion of his time to the healing of the diseases of the poor. It was here that Mr Granville Sharp, the brother of the former, saw him. Suffice it to say, that in process of time he was cured. During this time Mr Granville Sharp, pitying his hard case, supplied him with money, and he afterwards got him a situation in the family of Mr Sept. 1808. Brown, an apothecary, to carry out medicines. In this new situation, when Strong had become healthy and robust in his appearance, his master happened to see him. The latter immediately formed the design of possessing him again. Accordingly, when he had found out his residence, he procured John Ross, keeper of the Poultrycompter, and William Miller an offcer under the lord-mayor, to kidnap him. This was done by sending for him to a public-house in Fenchurchstreet, and then seizing him. By these he was conveyed, without any warrant, to the Poultry compter, where he was sold by his master, to John Kerr, for thirty pounds. Strong, in this situation, sent, as was usual, to his god-fathers, John London and Stephen Nail, for their protection. They went, but were refused admittance to him. At length he sent for Mr Granville Sharp. The latter went, but they still refused access to the prisoner. He insisted, however, upon seeing him, and charged the keeper of the prison at his peril to deliver him up till he had been carried before a magistrate. Mr. Sharp, immediately upon this, waited upon Sir Robert Kite, the then lord-Mayor, and entreated him to send for Strong, and to hear his case. A day was accordingly appointed. Mr Sharp attended, and also William McBean, a notary-public, and David Laird, captain of the ship Thames, which was to have conveyed Strong to Jamaica, in behalf of the purchaser, John Kerr. A long conversation ensued, in which the opinion of York and Talbot was quoted. Mr Sharp made his observations. Certain lawyers, who were present, seemed to be staggered at the case, but inclined rather to recommit the prisoner. The lord mayor however discharged Strong, as he had been taken up without a warrant. As Lord Chief Justice Holt, who inany years before had determined, that every slave coming into England became free. He attacked and refuted it again by a learned and laborious inquiry into all the principles of Villenage. He refuted it again, by showing it to be an axiom in the British constitution, As soon as this determination was made known, the parties began to move off. Captain Laird, however, who kept close to Strong, laid hold of him before he had quitted the room, and said aloud, “Then I now seize him as my slave." Upon this, Mr Sharp put his hand upon Laird's shoulder, and pronounced these words: "I"That every man in England was charge you, in the name of the king, with an assault upon the person of Jonathan Strong, and all these are my witnesses." Laird was greatly intimidated by this charge, made in the presence of the lord-mayor and others, and, fearing a prosecution, let his prisoner go, leaving him to be conveyed away by Mr Sharp. Mr Sharp, having been greatly affected by this case, and foreseeing how much he might be engaged in others of a similar nature, thought it time that the law of the land should be known upon this subject. He applied therefore to Doctor Blackstone, afterwards Judge Blackstone, for his opinion upon it. He was, however, not satisfied with it, when he received it; nor could he obtain any satisfactory answer from several other lawyers, to whom he afterwards applied. The truth is, that the opinion of York and Talbot, which had been made public, and acted upon by the planters, merchants, and others, was considered of high authority, and scarcely any one dared to question the legality of it. In this situation, Mr Sharp saw no means of help but in his own industry, and he determined immediately to give up two or three years to the study of the English law, that he might the better advocate the cause of these miserable people. The result of these studies was the publication of a book in the year 1769, which he called "A Representation of the Injustice and dangerous Tendency of tolerating Slavery in England." In this work, he refuted, in the clearest manner, the opinion of York and Talbot. He produced against it the opinion of the free to sue for and defend his rights, and that force could not be used without a legal process," leaving it to the judges to determine, whether an African was a man. He attacked, also, the opinion of Judge Blackstone, and shewed him where his error lay. This valuable book, containing these and other kinds of arguments on the subject, he distributed, but particularly among the lawyers, giving them an opportunity of refuting or acknowledging the doctrines it contained. While Mr Sharp was engaged in this work, another case offered, in which he took a part. This was in the year 1768. Hylas, an African slave, prosecuted a person of the name of Newton for having kidnapped his wife, and sent her to the West Indies. The result of the trial was, that damages to the amount of a shilling were given, and the defendant was bound to bring back the woman, either by the first ship, or in six months from this decison of the court. Soon after the work just mentioned was out, and when Mr Sharp was better prepared, a third case occurred.— This happened in the year 1770.Robert Stapylton, who lived at Chelsea, in conjunction with John Malony and Edward Armstrong, two watermen, seized the person of Thomas Lewis, an African slave, in a dark night, and dragged him to a boat lying in the Thames; they then gagged him, and tied him with a cord, and rowed him down to a ship, and put him on board to be sold as a slave in Jamaica. This base action took place near the garden of Mrs Banks, the mother of the present Sir Joseph Banks. Lewis, it appears, on being seized, of confinement, by the exertions of Mr screamed violently. The servants of Mrs Banks, who heard his cries, ran to his assistance, but the boat was gone. On informing their mistress of what had happened, she sent for Mr Sharp, who began now to be known as the friend of the helpless Africans, and professed her willingness to incur the expense of bringing the delinquents to justice. Mr Sharp, with some difficulty, procured a habeas corpus, in consequence of which Lewis was brought from Gravesend just as the vessel was on the point of sailing. An action was then commenced against Stapylton, who defended himself, on the plea, That Lewis belonged to him as his slave." In the course of the trial, Mr Dunning, who was council for Lewis, paid Mr Sharp a handsome compliment, for he held in his hand Mr Sharp's book on the injustice and dangerous tendency of tolerating slavery in England, while he was pleading; and in his address to the jury he spoke and acted thus: "I shall submit to you," says Mr Dunning, what my ideas are upon such evidence, reserving to myself an opportunity of discussing it more particularly, and reserving to myself a right to insist upon a position, which I will maintain (and here he held up the book to the notice of those present) in my place and in any court of the kingdom, that our laws admit of no such property." The result of the trial was, that the jury pronounced the plaintiff not to have been the property of the defendant, several of them cry ing out "No property, no property." After this one or two other trials came on, in which the oppressor was defeated, and several cases occurred, in 1 which poor slaves were liberated from the holds of vessels, and other places It is lamentable to think, that the same Mr Dunning, in a cause of this kind, which came on afterwards, took e opposite side of the question. Sharp. One of these cases was singular. The vessel on board which a poor African had been dragged and confined had reached the Downs, and had actually got under weigh for the West Indies. In two or three hours she would have been out of sight; but just at this critical moment the writ of habeas corpus was carried on board. The officer, who served it on the captain, saw the miserable African chained to the mainmast, bathed in tears, and casting a last mournful look on the land of freedom, which was fast receding from his sight. The captain, on receiving the writ, became outrageous; but, knowing the serious consequences of resisting the law of the land, he gave up his prisoner, whom the officer carried safe, but now crying for joy, to the shore. But though the injured Africans, whose causes had been tried, escaped slavery, and though many, who had been forcibly carried into dungeons ready to be transported into the Colonies, had been delivered out of them, Mr Sharp was not easy in his mind. Not one of the cases had yet been pleaded on the broad ground, "Whether an African slave coming into England became free?" This great question had been hitherto studiously avoided. It was still, therefore, left in doubt. Mr Sharp was almost daily acting as if it had been determined, and as if he had been following the known law of the land. He wished therefore that the next cause might be argued upon this principle. Lord Mansfield too, who had been biassed by the opinion of York and Talbot, began to waver in consequence of the different pleadings he had heard on this subject. He saw also no end of trials like these, till the law should be ascertained, and he was anxious for a decision on the same basis as Mr Sharp. In this situation the following case offered, which was agreed upon for the deterination of this important question. Jame |