and swore that if he spoke another word he would sabre him. Mr. Smith's papers (including his private journal, of which a most unjust and cruel use was made on his trial) were seized; and they were hurried away to the place of confinement, which was near the roof of the house, exposed to the burning rays of the sun in a sultry climate; and where they were not suffered to procure from their own habitation a necessary change of linen. Mr. Smith was here closely confined, without permission to see his friends, without the use of pen and ink, or liberty to correspond with the Directors, for about seven weeks, when he was brought to trial before a Court Martial.

A Committee of Inquiry was formed by the Colonial government, who, after sitting several weeks, produced four charges against Mr. Smith. The first was, that he had long been a promoter of discontent and dissatisfaction among the slaves, thereby intending to excite them to rebellion. The second was, that he had advised, consulted, and corresponded with Quamina touching such rebellion, both before and after it broke out: thirdly, that he knew of the intended rebellion, but did not make it known to the Government; and lastly, that after the revolt took place, he did not detain or secure Quamina, or give information to the proper authorities, that he might be taken. To all these charges Mr. Smith could, and did most conscientiously plead, Not Guilty.

It is not here necessary for us to go into the particulars of the evidence brought against him, the futility of which was well exposed by his own cross-examination of the several witnesses, and has since been triumphantly demonstrated by the admirable speeches of Mr. Brougham, Sir J. Mackintosh, Mr. Williams, and Dr. Lushington, in the House of Commons. Suffice it briefly to state, that the Court Martial by whom he was tried, acquitted him of the principal part of the first charge, namely, an intention to promote revolt; and as to the other part of it, promoting discontent," Mr. S. affirmed that he cautiously avoided that evil, and refrained from even reading portions of Scripture, or using hymns which might, through ignorance or misapprehension, have caused dissatisfaction.

With regard to the second and third charges, Mr. Smith maintained that he did not know of an intended revolt. He knew, and all the colony knew full well, that great uneasiness did prevail among the negroes, and he had merely heard some foolish talk, which he severely reproved, about obliging the managers to go to George Town and procure a new law of freedom, which they falsely imagined, for want of that information which their superiors ought to have given them, had come from England; but he never dreamed of an insurrection till it

actually took place; and this some of the dying negroes also affirmed with their last breath at the place of execution.

With respect to the last charge, Mr. Smith did indeed see Quamina two days after the revolt, he having incautiously been sent for without Mr. Smith's knowledge, by his wife; but there was not a tittle of evidence that he then knew him to be a rebel, or a reputed rebel, nor that he gave him the least encouragement to proceed in the revolt; but there is satisfactory evidence on the contrary, for Mrs. Smith took a solemn oath before the Governor, that Mr. Smith said to Quamina that he was sorry and grieved that the people had been so foolish and wicked and mad, as to be guilty of revolting, and hoped that Quamina had not been concerned in it, to which that unhappy man, misled probably by his son Jack, (who, with one other, seems to have plotted the revolt) made no reply, but retired abashed and confounded, and soon after fled to the woods, whither he was pursued and shot, but without any arms in his hands. And as to Mr. Smith's securing him, his not doing which formed a part of the charge, he truly said on his trial, pointing to his emaciated body, "Look at me, gentlemen, say whether it was possible for me to secure the person of such a man?"

The trial of Mr. Smith continued twentyeight days, including various adjournments, and was concluded on the 24th of November, when Mr. S. was condemned to be hanged, at such time and place as the Governor should think fit to direct. But this cruel and most unjust sentence was such as, we have reason to think, the Court did not dare to execute, and therefore added to the sentence of death the following qualification : But the Court under all the circumstances of the case, begs humbly to recommend the prisoner, John Smith, to mercy." This proved no small disappointment to many of the populace, who expected and eagerly longed for his immediate execution. The sentence and recommendation of mercy were immediately transmitted to His Majesty.

His Majesty's Government thought proper to remit the punishment of death; yet whilst thus showing mercy, admitted the correctness of the Court Martial in finding him guilty of high treason, and confirmed that part of the sentence which banished him from the colony, and required him to enter into recognizances, under the penalty of 2,000l. never to return.*

* A Petition to the House of Commons from the Treasurer, Secretary, and Directors of the London Missionary Society, was presented by Sir James Mackintosh, praying that the House would institute such inquiries, or direct or adopt such measures as may tend to obtain the revision or rescindment of the sentence, and ensure needful protection to Christian Missionaries in every part of the British empire throughout the world!"

In the mean time, Mr. Smith was removed from the Colony-house to the common jail, and placed in a room situated over a stagnant water, the pernicious fumes of which passing through the joints of the boards, some of which were a quarter of an inch separate from each other, could not but be injurious to him, especially in his weak and disordered state, and therefore loudly complained of, together with the bad state of the windows, by his medical friend. Here he was confined for about seven weeks, till it was evident that death was not far distant; he was then removed to an upper room in a more eligible part of the jail, where Mrs. Elliot, with much difficulty obtained leave to join Mrs. Smith in kind attention to the patient sufferer. And it is but justice to Mr. Padmore, the keeper of the prison, to state that he was treated by him with the greatest humanity and tenderness. The attention also of Dr. Chapman to Mr. Smith deserves to be recorded with gratitude, for no means were spared which might contribute to the alleviation of his sufferings.

On the 12th of January, 1824, Mr. S. addressed his last epistle to the Directors, from whom he had received affectionate letters, alluding to which he says,

"Under my persecutions and afflictions it affords me no small consolation, that the Directors cherish the assurance of my entire innocence. That I am innocent of the crimes which they have laid to my charge I have not only the testimony of my own conscience in my favour, but the attestation of all my friends, who have made strict inquiries into my conduct relative to this affair. The Instructions I received from the Society I always endeavour to act upon."

It is here material to observe, that Mr. Smith was accused by many of the planters in Demerara, of being the agent and spy of the Anti-slavery society, and other similar institutions in England, and on this account was exceeding obnoxious to them; but Mr. Smith, in the near prospect of death, solemnly disavows any such connexion. These are his words,

"It appears as if the Directors have some apprehensions of its having been possible that I have diverted my mind in some measure from the real object of my mission, and entered into correspondence and con

This petition was introduced in a most able and impressive manner, by Sir James Mackintosh.

Mr. Brougham afterwards made a motion in the House, for the production of the papers relating to the insurrection in Demerara. These were accordingly produced, and Mr. B. gave notice of bis intention to found a motion upon them. Accordingly, on the 2d and 10th of June, discussions took place, in which Mr. Brougham, Dr. Lushing on, Mr. Wilberforce, Sir. J. Mackintosh, and Mr. Williams, took a distinguished part, when the innocence of Mr. Smith, and the injustice of the Court Martial were displayed with a degree of force and eloquence seldom equalled.

nexion with some of those Societies which are formed for the gradual abolition of slavery. I can assure the Directors that this is not the case; no letter or correspondence of the kind Ever having occurred between me and any Society."

In a subsequent part of this interesting letter, Mr. Smith says,

"It grieves me, dear Sirs, that I am now a useless burthen upon the Society. I have endeavoured from the beginning to discharge my duties faithfully; in doing so I have met with the most unceasing opposition and reproach until at length the adversary found an occasion to triumph over me; but so far have these things been from shaking my confidence in the goodness of the cause in which I was engaged, that if I were at liberty, and my health restored, I would again proclaim, all my days, the glad tidings of salvation, amidst similar opposition. But of this I see no prospect; the Lord's hand is heavy upon me; still I can praise his name, that though afflictions abound towards me, yet I can say, the consolations of the Gospel abound also, and I believe he will do all things well for me."

In this truly pious manner, Mr. Smith concludes his correspondence with the Society, who will ever cherish his memory with respect and affection, while they mourn over his unmerited sufferings, sympathize with his afflicted relict, and pray for them who so despitefully used and persecuted their beloved and faithful Missionary.

The Directors having been informed of Mr. Smith's dangerous illness, and apprehending that a removal to his native air might prove beneficial, made a respectful ap plication to the Right Hon. Earl Bathurst, requesting that he might be allowed to return home; the Directors rendering themselves responsible for his appearance and good conduct. His Lordship very politely attended to the request, and sent orders to Demerara to that effect, if the circumstances of the case, at the termination of the trial, should admit of that measure. But this gracious concession did not reach Demerara till about the day of his decease, and then gave prodigious umbrage to the enemies of Mr. Smith.

Mr. Smith had, for some time previous to the revolt, laboured under considerable indisposition, and repaired to George Town on the morning of that very day on which the revolt happened,* to take the advice of a physician there, who strongly recommended his removal, as soon as possible, to the salubrious air of Bermuda. But this measure

*Had Mr. Smith entertained the least apprehension of the revolt, he would either not have travelled nine miles to George Town on that day, or if he had gone thither, would certainly not have returned, in his weak state, to the scene of tumult and danger.`

subsequent events soon rendered impossible; for, in three days, he became a prisoner, and remained such till death released him, in about six months.

The state of his mind during his imprisonment, was calm and happy, although he had much to encounter. The defence he had to form, under many disadvantages, must have been exceedingly laborious; and the false accusations brought forward, not only by professed enemies, but by professed friends also, whose fear of death induced them to bear false witness against their innocent pastor, must have been afflictive in the extreme: and what must have been his feelings when, being in a room above that in which the Court sat, he heard the shoutings of joy, as he had reason to believe, on the agreement to pronounce him guilty. Yet amidst all these sufferings, "in patience he possessed his soul." And, at length, when flesh and heart began to fail, the frame of his mind was such as corresponded with his life of piety and labour. We cannot express this more properly than in the words of his widow, in a letter to the Directors, dated 13 Feb. 1824:

"The information I have to impart is no other than the death of my dear husband. His severe sufferings terminated about halfpast one o'clock, on the morning of Feb. 6, in the most happy manner. He was perfectly sensible to the last moment, and manifested the same resignation to the will of his Divine Master, the same unshaken confidence of his acceptance with God, through the merits of a crucified Saviour, and the same ardent love for reading and prayer, for which he has ever been distinguished since I had the happiness of knowing him. I feel that in being bereft of him, I have not only lost an affectionate husband, but one peculiarly qualified to be an help-meet, in the highest sense, But I trust that God, who has seen fit to take him from me, and who, I think I may say, in a wonderful manner supported me under the distressing circumstances in which I have, for some months past, been placed, will still be my friend, and lead me in that narrow path, no matter whether through floods of tribula

tion or not, until I have the happiness of find-ing myself landed on that peaceful shore, where sorrow and sighing shall for ever cease, and where death shall not again part us from those we love."

The funeral of Mr. Smith was ordered by the public authorities to take place at the very unusual and inconvenient hour of four forbidden to attend it. in the morning, and Mrs. Smith was cruelly She so far complied with the stern mandate as not to "follow the corpse," but she with her friend Mrs. Elliot, preceded by a slave with a lantern, met the body at the grave, where the solemn service was performed by the Rev. Mr. Austin, a clergyman of the Established church, and who has incurred the general odium by vindicating the injured character of a man whom he believed to be perfectly innocent of the crimes laid to his charge. The enmity of Mr. Smith's adversaries followed him to the grave, and magisterial orders were issued to remove some slight memorials of respect which the affection of some of his hearers were placing around it.

But "his record is on high," and the day is approaching in which his persecutors must appear before the judgment-seat of Christ, to answer for their conduct towards this oppressed minister of the Gospel. Our sincere prayer is "that they may find mercy of the Lord in that day."

For Mr. Smith's bereaved flock, now scattered as sheep without a shepherd, we feel a most tender concern, and humbly hope that the great Shepherd of the sheep, who came to seek and save that which was lost, will, in his own good time, furnish them with a pastor after his own heart.

Importance of the Work of distributing Bibles to Seamen.

There is probably, at this moment, at least 5000 seamen, who properly belong to us to

supply, destitute of the Bible; and we should not be surprised, if this port, in the course of one year, should present twice that number. It is a fact much to be questioned, consider

ing the increase of sea population, whether this Society, in the eight years of its existence, has gained much, if any, upon the number of the destitute. And if this be a fact, it must surely show a want, either of engagedness on the part of the managers, or of feeling on the part of the Christian community; or of both united, in regard to the magnitude and importance of the work in which the Society is engaged, Be this as it may, it is still very manifest to your managers, that their work is a very important one. It is important, because, that, on its performance depends, under God, the moral improvement and salvation of many seamen.

The Bible, we all know, is able to make even seamen wise unto salvation, through faith in Jesus Christ; and therefore it may be as important to them as the salvation of their own souls, and as important to those whose duty it is to supply them with the Bible, as that their duty be done to these men, so that they can meet them in peace at the judgment-seat of Christ.

It is also a very important work in another point of view. The Bible, if it makes seamen religious, surely makes them moral and honest; and it may have this influence, even where it does not terminate in the saving conversion of the soul. Those who are only morally improved by the Bible, may be the means, of improving the moral habits of others; and in this way become of more real value to the owners and masters of vessels, in a single voyage, than would be their adequate proportion to give to the Marine Bible Society in a whole year. And besides this, the moral influence which seamen have on Society, makes it very important that every probable means for their moral and religious improvement be used with a persevering engagedness, proportionate to the value we put upon the moral state of Society.

The Bible, it must be acknowledged, is one of the most important means of improving the morals of any class of community, and, therefore, the managers cannot but feel that the M. B. S. will receive support proportionate to the value which the Christian community put upon the moral and religious improvement of seamen. The work, then, in which the Society is engaged, seems as important as the moral and religious improve ment of seamen, and the consequences of such improvement to the generations who are yet unborn.

Deficiency of Means.

Viewing the importance of the enterprise in which they are engaged, the heart of your managers has often been pained when thinking of their scanty means to accomplish so great and important an end. They have felt, that without the Bible to enlighten him, the soul of the mariner is hung round with midnight darkness; and the pain of heart, at

this view, has been heightened by the re flection, that they could not give him God's revelations, because the means were not in their hands. The means of this Society are vastly too scanty for the magnitude and importance of the work which they have taken in hand. It will be seen, by a recurrence to the Treasurer's Report, that the whole amount of its means for a whole year's operations, has fallen short of 220 dolls.

Most of this little income has been raised by a few annual and life subscribers to the Society. This small pittance, by the most. judicious management, can do but little towards supplying the multitude of destitute seamen of this port with the word of eternal life. A tenth part of the nett profits on a single cargo which is brought to the owners by the toils and hazards of seamen, would often double this sum. And if commercial men were sufficiently to feel their obligations to God and to seamen, the managers feel that no institution for the benefit of seamen would be suffered to languish for the want of pecuniary support. With means so restricted as are those of the M. B. S. it can never be expected that much should be accomplished towards supplying the thousands of destitute seamen with the Bible.

Number of Bibles distributed.

By the Report of the distributing committees, it appears that there have been distributed by the Society, during the year, only 173 Bibles; and "what are these among se many?" Some of these have been given to seamen, a few have been sold to them, and some of them have been put on board of vessels, for the use of the crew while at sea, with a request to the captains to sell as many of them to seamen as might be conveniently done. In addition to these, some members of the distributing committee have distributed about 20 Bibles, furnished by the Society for promoting the Gospel among seamen, being parts of donations given to their agent, while engaged in pleading the cause of seamen in the country. These, together with the former distributions of this Society, make the entire number of Bibles distributed by them 3985, and 225 Testaments; which, together, make a sum total of 4405 copies of the Scriptures, or parts of the Scriptures, which have been put into the hands of seamen by the Society since its organization. This whole number seems to your managers little more than sufficient for the real wants of a single year; and they see little prospect of ever gaining the object which they have in view, unless it can be done by a very great increase in their means, or a different arrangement in their plans of distribution, or perhaps by both combining to accomplish it.

New Mode of distributing Bibles. By the little experience which your mana

gers have had in the work of supplying seamen with Bibles, and of bringing them properly to value that book, they are persuaded that it is not the most judicious way, nor yet the way best calculated to accomplish the great ends which the Society have in view, for a general practice to supply seamen with the Bible gratuitously. When a Bible is so easily obtained, there is reason to fear that in many instances it is too lightly esteemed; and it is a lamentable fact that some charities of this description have been most grossly and wickedly profaned. And as there are few seamen, who either value the Bible much, or who would make a good use of one when on shore, who are not able to buy one at the reduced price at which it may be had, the managers have come to the resolution, that as a general principle, they will not without price give the Bible to seamen as their own property. When cases occur, however, in which real indigence, accompanied with an anxious desire to possess the Scriptures, and an apparent solicitude to read and profit by them, your distributing committee are not restrained, but are still at liberty to exercise, and act according to their judgment as before. But as a general principle, your managers think it best, and therefore they have resolved on the measure of supplying vessels, rather than individual men. Their object is to supply as many vessels as their means will allow them, with a certain number of Bibles, say one to three, or one to six men, as the case may be; and then, if possible, induce the owners to purchase such Bibles as a part of the vessel's furniture; and when this cannot be effected, authorize and request the master to sell as many of them as he can to the ship's company, before their wages are wasted "with riotous living and with harlots." It is pretty evident to your managers, that more seamen will be supplied with the Bible in this way, than in any other which has been devised; and it would be no surprising event to them, if in a short time, more Bibles should in this way be sold to seamen, than they are now able to give to them. They are confirmed in this opinion, by the experiments made, and the success which has attended its adoption in other places; which success, together with their own continuedly embarrassed circumstances, and the slow progress which they have been able to make in their good work, have led them to the adoption of this measure. The plan which your managers have adopted has been most effectually tried, both in London and at Liverpool; and the result has been such as can hardly fail to impress every reflecting mind with the propriety of its adoption by this board. At Liverpool it has succeeded so well that they now have little or no difficulty in supplying all their destitute. Two years since, out of 961 vessels, they had only 254 which needed any VOL. V.

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supply. The number of destitute in that port is greatly diminished within a very short time, and the means of supplying are much more abundant.

Conclusion.

Were every important sea-port to adopt the same measure, and pursue it with that vigilance which the importance of the subject demands, the managers would expect the time soon to arrive when every vessel would be supplied with the word of life. And what port is there in the western hemisphere, in which such a plan should be adopted and pursued with more life and spirit than in the port of New-York? It will readily be perceived, that in the prosecution of the present plan, in any degree as it should be prosecuted, a much larger amount of means, for a year or two, will be necessary, than in any preceding year. And the managers look to this enlightened and Christian community, which owes much of its prosperity and elevation of character to that commerce which is carried on by the labours, and toils, and sufferings of seamen; and more still to the moral influence of that book, which it is the desire of this Society that every seaman should possess, and improve to the saving of his own soul; to such a community the managers look for that co- · operation and aid which is so necessary for the object before them; and they trust that they shall not be suffered to look for it in vain. The managers are anxious, on this new plan, to receive sufficient co-operation on the part of the friends of seamen, and of humanity, to be able to put in operation, on the minds of seamen, the moral influence of at least a thousand Bibles during the current year. This it will be exceedingly easy to do, if a sufficiency of means can be procured; and the the means would spontaneously flow to their hands, if the importance of the subject were felt, either in a temporal or spiritual point of view. Let the eight thousand commercial men, and the four thousand professional men, of this city, who annually suffer more or less through the immoralities of seamen, give but a single shilling each, to the funds of this Society, the loss of which, they would never feel, and it would enable your Managers to supply every vessel of the port of New-York with the Bible. Or again, let but twelve thousand of Christ's own dear children, which he has purchased with his own blood, each give but the same small pittance, and it would produce the same happy result. And can it be, that they will not feel enough for the perishing sailor, to do for him as much as this! Shall the sailor, at the risk of his life, furnish them with Leghorns, and Merinoes, and Cashmeres, and Silks; with Teas, and Sugars, and Wines, and with almost the entire luxuries of life, besides much to gratify curiosity, and improve the