A PLEA FOR AFRICA. CONVERSATION I. "Eternal nature! when thy giant hand Endless her forms, and man the lord of all; Sey was that lordly form, inspired by thee, To wear eternal chains, and bow the knee?"-Campbell. THE subject of your discussion,' said Mr. L, as he folded the paper which had for some time absorbed his attention, and turned to his children, who in the opposite part of the parlor, whilst he was reading, had been as busily employed in discussing the merits of the Colonization and Antislavery Societies, is certainly one that commends itself to the heart of humanity in either sex and among all people. Your inquiries, last evening, I had not time then to answer fully; but I shall be happy now to give you all the information in relation to it, in my power.' 6 The little group which Mr. L. thus addressed, consisted of his eldest daughter, Caroline, a lovely and interesting girl of sixteen; Henry, a sprightly and intelligent boy, who was next to his sister Caroline in age, and their two younger brothers, and little sister Mary. Caroline and Henry were conducting the debate, but all seemed deeply interested in the subject, and the eyes of all glistened with pleasure when A Diversity of sentiment. Mr. L. proposed to gratify their wishes by assisting them to understand a subject which they found attended with at least some difficulty. A beloved and respected father is authority to which a dutiful and affectionate child loves to refer for information and advice, and to which, ordinarily, an appeal is made with great confidence. Said Caroline, I thought from your remarks, last evening, my dear father, that you supposed the views of both Henry and myself to be somewhat incorrect; and I think nothing more probable than that mine are, for I confess I know not what to believe when I notice the conflicting opinions of so many good men in relation to this subject.' It need not surprise us,' rejoined Mr. L., to find prevailing some diversity of sentiment on a subject which, whether presented to the mind of patriot, philanthropist, or Christian, involves considerations of so great and important interest. Nor will it be thought strange by me, if my dear children should find, when we come to converse freely and fully on the subject, that they are in some respects in error, not in matters of opinion only, but of fact. I therefore suggested to you, last evening, for I had not time to say more, that, possibly you might find yourself, in some things, laboring under mistake. The hint was given, you will recollect, Caroline, in consequence of a remark of yours in respect to the "obtuseness" of the African intellect.' But, Pa,' said Caroline, with some degree of surprise, and with apparent incredulity, I presume you do not think the remark unjust? The stupidity of Africans, I suppose to be proverbial.' A point was now touched which it was evident had interested the feelings of the children in the previous conversation that had been held whilst Mr. L. was engaged in reading; for the smaller children drew closer around the table, The African race often traduced. and Caroline and Henry looked at each other and at their father, as if this was a matter respecting which they had not only agreed, but wondered that any one, and especially one whose opinion they so much respected, could entertain a thought different from theirs. The reply of Mr. L. engaged their feelings still more: 'It is true, my daughter, that in defiance of all records of antiquity, whether sacred or profane, and equally regardless of the evidence which our own times may furnish, the African race are often mentioned as if a distinct order of beings, a grade between man and brute ;* but― "O Pa!' interrupted C., 'I have no such idea as that.' 'I know that you have not,' resumed Mr. L., 'but, my daughter, you may not be doing ample justice to the Africans, if you suppose them incapable of the finest sensibilities and sympathies of our nature, and of making great advances in all that requires strength or even brilliancy of intellect, as any other people.' Is it not strange, then, Pa,' C. inquired, that none of * It is earnestly contended by some that the negro race are so inferior by nature to the rest of mankind that perpetual slavery is the destiny to which they are best adapted. They have been stigmatized "the disgrace and misfortune of the human race.' Others assert that the skull or cranium of the negro shows him to belong to a distinct species; and to settle the question whether the negro race be not a distinct species, reference has in some instances been made to the cranium. Nothing, however, can be argued from this source against facts that show the negro race to be capable of great mental effort and distinction, if such facts can be made to appear; and we think an impartial mind will not, upon inquiry, deny that very many instances of both moral and intellectual distinction among the race can be adduced. In Rees' Cyclopedia it is well remarked, "Without denying that there are differences both in the extent and kind of mental power, (in the various races of men,) we are decidedly of opinion that these differences are not sufficient in any instance to warrant us in referring a particular race to an originally different species; and we protest especially against the sentiments of those who would either entirely deny to the Africans the enjoyment of reason, or who ascribe to them such vicious, malignant, and treacherous propensities as would degrade them, even below the level of the brute. It can be proved most clearly that there is no circumstance of bodily structure so peculiar to the negro, as not to be found in other far distant nations; no character which does not run into those of other races, by the same insensible gradations as those which connect together all the varieties of mankind."-Article Man. Once an enlightened people. the African race have ever been distinguished for talent? I can easily conceive that Africans may have warm hearts; but it hardly seems to me that you are serious, Pa, when you speak of the capabilities of the African mind?' 'My daughter may be quite as incredulous then, if told that this very people, now so degraded, and who have been as if by common consent so long and so much traduced, were for more than a thousand years, which is almost twenty times longer than the government under which we live has been in existence, the most enlightened people on the face of the globe?' Why, Pa, you surprise me. You certainly do not mean to be understood that Africans have ever been distinguished for genius and intellectual attainments?" 'I do, my daughter, as strange as it may seem. Africa, unhappy Africa, is now degraded, and wherever are her sons and daughters, they are reproached and trampled under foot; but among her children stand immortalized in history a long list of names, as honorable, for aught I know, as any nation upon earth can produce.' This, C. professed, was to her a new idea; and Henry who admitted that he had always thought the Africans a much injured people,' and who protested that he felt 'very little respect for those people who sometimes place the African on a level with baboons,' acknowledged that the idea of literature and science associated with an African name,' was as novel to him, as it was to Caroline. 6 'You do not mean, Pa,' H. inquired, that any considerable number of Africans have discovered genius, or been distinguished for the cultivation of their minds ?' Distinguished men. Caroline declared that she did not know a single instance, unless it be that of Phillis Wheatley, who lived in Boston, sixty years ago, and wrote some very pretty poems.'* 'You have both of you, my dear children,' said Mr. L., 'heard of CYPRIAN, ST. AUGUSTINE, and TERTULLIAN, those fathers of the church; they were Africans. TERRENCE, who has been called "As sweet a bard As ever strung the lyre to song," was an African, and was once a slave. Quintillian says that Terrence was the most elegant and refined of all the comedians whose writings appeared on the Roman stage. You have also read of HANNO and HANNIBAL; they were among the valiant ones of Africa. It is said that the science of Al gebra originated in Africa. And what is more, the time was when Religion shed her rays brilliantly upon that now benighted quarter of the globe, and the church was there prosperous. Ecclesiastical history tells us that in one council of the church in that country, assembled on a question of great importance, two hundred and seventy-seven Bishops took their seats.' Henry now inquired of C. if she had ever thought of these as being Africans; confessing that he had not, although it now seemed to him strange that he never had. He thought that one would hardly suppose, looking at Africa as she now is, that such men were' her sons. And C. who also knew the fact that these were Africans, and could tell much of the ancient history of Africa, for she was well versed in history, both modern and ancient, but had been so long accustomed * Phillis was born in Africa-torn from her country at the age of seven, and in 1761 sold to John Wheatley of Boston. "Allowed to employ herself in study, she rapidly attained a knowledge of the Latin language. In 1772 at the age of nineteen, and still a slave, she published a volume of religious and moral poetry, which passed through several editions" on both sides the Atlantic. She obtained her freedom in 1775, and died five years afterward |