Africa Wasted by Britain and Restored by Native Agency, in a Letter to the Right Honourable and Right Reverend the Lord Bishop of London - Softcover

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1843. Excerpt: ... The points to which I shall have the honour of calling your Lordship's attention, shall be limited to our national responsibility, past neglect and injuries, and future duty to Africa. In my endeavours to prove these points, I shall, in detail, refer only to such authorities and facts as may be needful for that purpose. I. The amount of responsibility incurred by Great Britain, from her long possession of the settlements and forts on the Western Coast of Africa,--from the limited extent to which she has provided for those under her authority and influence, notwithstanding the vast national benefits derived from those settlements,--as well as from the moral resources which Divine Providence has there placed within her reach for the accomplishment of the noblest objects,--are such as she cannot, without incurring a vast amount of national guilt, refuse to acknowledge. Let us consider what these colonies are, namely, the Gambia, Sierra Leone, and the Gold Coast, with their respective settlements and dependencies. For prudential reasons, indeed, the government, after the unhappy defeat of Sir Charles M'Carthy, resolved upon changing the character of the public establishments on the Gold Coast, and giving up the forts to a committee of merchants, to be held by them as factories. These gentlemen were to be appointed by the Government. This act, however, did not imply that the entire responsibility attending the future administration of their affairs was likewise transferred to the parties in question. On the contrary, it was expressly stipulated that British law should still continue to be enforced, and that " no rules, regulations, or appointments, made by the committee of merchants, should be valid until approved by the Governmentf." McCarthy's Island on the...