V
lV i!u 'VtiUhtyhi Jnmoin Jkulif Mvrrlliar,
T.it )tn () Ntw-l'.vLu.l, though wand'rin; afif '
"Tfiu llio cene nhith nfllctVm onrc lit ith a ann'ilf,
Still recall tlx jpy viil'W when clultlhood's jotnjf fctar
( tkMKlkiullutijo;iijeftttftiul.mt)wJjf(s;i!c. ;
An! ttcm'ry ytt ran.M a ocr lUVa rcckV daw,"'
W hen Iwjmj amil'd lovely, uul rnrth i Tm'd r true,
When thought fond diet iVr 4ai! welcome Uic morn,
That Impart d to bk lu cerulean hue, '-
f Then carclr, toYiiigrr In V'a e's native lnm'r, f cenr ,
Vlcre spring pleasure V liantt-maid rtjoie'd o cr the
Tr when sober autntjw succeeded Umj flaw'N,
""To stray iklillc contentment lent xct ever keen. . . ' ,
Where JfrwaaV," half hid In the wood imd, pcarf
.AVhotc white sti-rplo riaes in priU from the gwJ 1
, 1 roani'd h tin heart beat to pic awn? and lore.
And sweet, lovely village! thy Tallica to m,
. Are deaf, and thy lulb where I laill tin firrt win, -
Svhcn school boy romantic, from apathy free,
. rcnoa'd In thy orchard, and batiVd in thy run. ' " A -
Afr the gay hamlet of plenty are found,
Though nunrlen In pompffo simpficity dear t
,JLn iiuec f the vUlat bcanklotlrouod. ,
Sec , tliy pride, O New.EhgUod, appear.
Recollection shall stray o'er the momrfiun and pLIn;
Though far, far away, yet in atorv and song,
Khali the minstrel return to thy bor ers arain.
For thy son, O New-Engh nd! now wsnd'ring afar
rrorn the acencs which aiTt-ction once fit widi a amile,
1 HtiU recall tlie fray tiion wIh-ii cluklhood'a young star
Could lead to enjoyment, and sorrow beguile. .
1 A beaiitif'ttiiflaje ftf ntxiit' f flonUn.
Variety't the vt:ry apice of life,
lliat givcv it all it flavor.
From n article in the 44tli No. of the Loiuhn Quar
Vrry flettrw, on a M Miauon from Cape Court CaaUe to
Aihantee, by T. K. Dowdlch, Emi"
It now remain to ive a short supimary o
the state of aociety, ami of the moral clraractcr
and customs of the Aahantees, which in truth
dilTcr but little from those published in the courae
of the last two centuries, con ce mine the scvera
petty states of the coast of Guinea, extending in
an eastern direction from Cape Mesuruda to Old
Calabar, and occupying a line of twelve hundred
treo"raphtcal miles.
The hiitory of the Aahantees, to which Mr
Eo'T'Jicb has dedicated a w hole chapter, is, like
that of all other savages who can neither read
nor write, the hinory of a d.iy, and little worthy
of notice : in the words of Mr. Dowdich. 1 there
is nothing (in it) to recompense cither the inves
tigation or the perusal.' The constitution and
lawn,1 as indicating the state of society.-would
have been more important, had Mr. Howdich
been better informed on these subject bul
iiqrunt of the language, and destitute of records,
v.l:ut indeed could he know on such matters?
ITe says, the king, the aristocracy, jiow reduced
t- fur, and the assembly of captains, ere the
three estates of the Ashantee government but
th .t the king, who in private is supposed to be
governed by this aristocracy of four, (who crca
i'.fi him,) receives from them, in public, ths most
A '6tt homage j that they approach him crawl-
ire on all fours,, and-covering their heads -with
dust ; as do the captains and cabocecrs, or heads
cf illagesr"Asforike-peopteratrwirare told
about them is, that they are ungrateful, insolent
and licentious If it be true that his Ashantee
majesty .repeatedly expressed his 1 belief that his
btilijccts were the worst people existing, except
the Tantccs; they might, as fur asVe can see.
lituin the compliment, by declaring him to he
thr most ferocious brute in the world, except hi a
ho' her of Dahomey, with whom he is pretty
no r;y on a par
The 'laws,' wc apprehend, are just what it
may suit the king and Ins counsellors to mane
them ; so that what is law. to-day mav te trcasan
to-morrow. We ,must thciefore dcjsl briefly
u'u'.i them. If any subject picks up gold in the
marUet-pIace, it is de-th j the scourings of the
livid being a royal perquisite. A creditor may
j seize the person of his debtor, or any of his fam
ily; as slaves. Murder is redeemable by a fine
to the family of the murdered except in the cae
of clave, who may be murdered by his owner
v;'..h impunity. If a person, kills himself, on the
lircd cf another, that other must kill himself also,
a practice frequently resorted to out of a spirit
TofCgeTof wfjicrlRfolIowing is an instance;
) Adumissa, an extfaordinary beautiful red
skinned woman of Cape Coast? possessed nu
merous admirers, but rejected them all. One
- ;ttiiem, in. despair, shot himself on her keuil,
ciose to licr house. The family "demanded sat
irf iction ; to save, .her relations from a ruinous
i uhver, she ''resolved to shoot herself in exjua.
tr?n. eaccort
; : icives fiorn various parts of the country, and
sluing, i ichly; diessrd, killed herself in t heirprcs
'iace, with golden bullets- After the hodv had
-v-fcxxposedin staie it was buried witTi a pro
: v iViion aX cloths and gold, The beamifctl Adn
fn?j)Sa is still eulogised, and her favorite patterned
cloth bears herNhame amongst the natives.
v ivta arc held in little estimation, and a man
,-m:iy take as many as he cbtises to purchase ; yet
:rc!ds Mr.'UowdichVvcrr'trrarilv and learnedly
It is forbidden, as it.was by Lvturgus, to praise
the Lw.ty of another man's wife, being intiigin
twftiaaun I l hey. wne eTTTealOus of leu
. . . - . . ' , .
ung i.jsirwoir.cn ncar anv thing' rcgardin tl
j;m Ilia Englishmen aHowtd every v.fjman U
l . I . I ! II . . .... I
iave a itusoutni to nerscu. im wc ait unm
uhl ol tnft 'novcrcign jKiwcr, .
The king is heir to all the gold cf every mb-
cct. from Iho highest to the lowest. TU IJ'I
of the royal family must not be hed royal
rimes, however, may be washed away ty ui own
ing the criminal in the river Uah. The king ol
Ashantee h allowed by law three thounaniniee
hundred and thirty-three wives, thu being the
precise mystical number on which the prosperity
of ihr nation depend. ' The number, it appears
on actual duty is not moro than it, ue rest ue-
lug shut up in two particular streets ol the town
closed at each cud with bamboo doors, and guard
cOf Hldiers. . The king ofj)ahotny Jurni hU
three tnousanu wives to ucucr attuuui , uv
stoutest of them are embodied in a regiment, and
rularly trained to the use of arms, under a fe
male gtneral and subordinate officers; und, ac
cording to the testimony of several Europe?!),
they o through their exercise with grcatpre
ci-ion. Covcmor Ahson Fa present at Aboujey
ivhen lhe.Jur:jnarcJ)
occasion he was attended by a body guard ol
800 wdmcn." '
On the death of the king, a most horrid scene
of human slaughter takes place ; all the sacriSces
that had been made for the death of every sub
ject during his reign, being required to be re
pcatea, to ampiuy tnai oi uic ucaui ui uic niuu
arch, and to solemnize it in every excess of ex
travagance and barbarity. I he brothers, wn.
and nephews of the king,' says Mr. Dowdich,
allccting teroX)rary insanity, oursi iorin wiw
their muskets, and fired promiscuously amongst
the crowd The crowd, wc take for granted,
wculd not be very numerous on such an occasion.
Indeed wo arc told that few persons of ran' dare
atir from their houses for the first two or three
clay; but that they drive forth their slaves us a
composition for their own absence' He adds.
the kincr's ocrasJa kind of dependant or house
hold-slaves,) are alt murdered on his tomb, to the
number of a hundred or more, and women in
abundance.' What becomes of the mystic num
ber of wires we are not told. They are probably
sent, at least no inconsiderable number of them,
Hccordint: to the notion that prevails in this un
nannr country, to 4 attend their deceased lord in
tho other world.' On this principle, human vic
tims are slaughtered on the death of every mem
ber of the royal family, the captains, cabocecrs
and all. in fact, who can afford it. ' Mr. Bowdich
says that ihe present king, a very amiable and
benevolent' sovereign! on the death of his mother,
devoted 3000 victims to water her grave,' 2000
of whom were rantee prisoners, and the rest
levied in certain proportions on the several towns
This devilish custom of immolating human
victims, under the notion of their being subser
vient to the use and administering to the pleas
urcs of the deceased in the other world, has been
the practice of nations who ranked higher in the
scale of civilization than the negroes; with a I
it is grounded on temporal pride or-pre-emi
nence as well as on imperfect and irrational no
tions of a future state. The king of Dahomey
used to hold a constant communication with his
deceased lather. Whenever he wished to an
nounce to him any remarkable event, or to con
suit him on any emergency, he would send for
one of his ablest messengers, and, after deliver
ing to him ins errand, chop ou his head. It
sometimes happened that, after the head was off,
he recollected isbmething else which he" wished
to say, in which case a second messenger was
despatched in like manner, with a postscript to
his former message. Mr Abson was present on
an occasion of thio kind. The poor fellow who
was selected for the honor of bearing his majes
ty s despatch, aware of what was to happen, dc
dared he was unacquainted with the road ; on
which the tyrant, drawing his sword, vociferated
4 1 11 shew you the way ! and with one blow scv
crcd his head from his body, highly indignant
J that an European should have witnessed the leas
expression ol reluctance in the performance o
a duty which is considered as a great honor.
THE FENrrEtfT m. co5Ci.ciE.
The body of the old man had been laid
out by the same loving hands that had so ten
derly ministered to all his wants and wishes,
when alive The shroud in which he was
now'wrapped had beerr imhercottager forlria-
ay a long year, una wnuc as u was, even as
the undnyen snow, scarcely was it whiter
than the cheeks and the locks now bound in
its peaceful folds.. To the eyes of my child
hood the Elder's face had sometimes seemed,
even in its benignity, too Austere for my care
less thoughts j impressed as it ever was with
an habitual hblirHS "iBuTall such austerity.
if indeed it had been ever there, death had
now removed from that silent-countenance.
His last moments had been blessed by hision1
.nti'onw4usdaughter4ave-is -grahd
child's pity his pastor's prayers And the
profound peace which his parting spiit had
tnjujrcu, ten hii expression on nis piaciu lea
tures, consolatory and sublime.
The Penitent Son was sitting at the bed
tde. We all took our plaices near him, and
tor a w niie remainea silent, wtth eyes fixed
a-tnai cuuuienance from which beamed tht
. . n n .... . ..I !i,..!M t'ill if
wttnin me: -z jt ,k
waIvt ire once nio c puit .;.,
aummfr strcatn,M said the Pastor with a be
nign voice. Hut art thou sure that my father's-
forgiveness was perfect J" "Yes, Will
Sim It was Wrfect. Not on hi s death bed
only, whrn love relents towards all objects
glimmering awav uum uui muiw j
the old man talle thee into his lieart I tut,
William, not a day, no not an hour has pas
scd oyer tncce nis silver naira, m wmui
father did not forgive thee; love thee, pray
fnr thee unto God and thy Saviour. It was
but hst.Sabbath that we stood together bv thy
mother S nraveio the kirkyarJ. aftcrjivinc
worship,' when 'all the congregation had dis
persed. He held his eyes on that tomb-stone,
and said1 0 Heavenly Father, when, through
the merits of the Kodtemer. we all meet again.
a family MTIIeavenr remember thou, Q Lord,
' .......
inv Door lost William I let these drop pieaa
forJiim.wrupg.out from .jyip!1! afel!.0
iten heart !" llie bigtears, W illiam, plash.
etl likrthe dropsf-tUh'un'deihower'sTw
face was, whiter than ashes but a divine as
surance came upon his tribulation and as
we walked together from the bural place,
there was a happy smile about his faded eye,
and he whispered unto me, my boy has been
led astray, but God will not forget that be
was once theprbp and -pillar of his father's
house. One hourvs sincere repentance will
vet wine awav all his transgressions.' When
we parted, ne was, i Know it, penectiy.nap
py and happy, no doubt,' he continued unti
he died. William! many a pang hast thou
sent to thy father's heart; but believe thou
this, that thou madest amends for them nil a:
the hour of his dissolution. Look, the smile o
jov, at thy deliverance, is vet upon his face."
The son took his hands fn m before his eves
gazed on the Cflestial- r xpression of his fath
er's countenance and his soul was satisfied
Alas ! alas !" he said in a humble voice
"what is reaion, such poor, imperfect, mis
erable reason as mine, to deal with the dread
ful mysteries of God ! Never since I forsook
my Bible, has the very earth ceased to shake
and tremble beneath my feet. Never, since
I spurned its aid, have I understood one sin
gle thought of my own bewildered heart !
Hope, truth, faith, peace and virtue, all at
once deaerjed me together. I began to think
of myself as of the beasts thst perish ; my
better feelings were a reproach or a riddle to
me, and I believ.ed in mv perplexity, that my
soul was of the dust. Yes ! Alice, I believ
ed that thou too wert to pc'iish utterly, thou
Jindjll thy. sweet babies like flowers that the
cattle-hoofs tread into the mire, and that nei
ther thou nor they were ever, in your beauty
and your innocence, to see the face of the be
ing who created you !"
Wild words seemed these, to that high-
souled woman, who for years had borne with
undiminished, nay, augmented affection the
heaviest of all afflictions, that of a husband's
alienated heart,, and had taught her. children
the precepts and doctrines of that, religion,
which he in his delusion had abandoned. A
sense of the fearful danger he had now esca
ped, and of the fearful wickedness, brought
up from the bottom of her heart all the unex
tinguishable love that had lain there through
vears of sorrow and she went up to him and
wept upon his bosom. Oh ! say it not, that
tp.M'l M. .Vast.. .11 l.l.j.W .l.t. I
and my little ones would never see their ma
ker they who were baptised in thine own
arms William, by that pious man, in the
name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy
Ghost ! " Yes ! my Alice ; I feared so once
but the dismal dream is gone I felt as if
the ground on which this our own sweet cot
tage stands had been undermined by some
tiend oi darkness and as if i were to sink
down out of sight with all its thatched roof
so beautiful its cooing pigeons its'murmur
mg bee-hives irid its blooming garden
U.athc v.2i rrcaiuii, tic u;c kcru;crttrr?n-
ng eyes chm to his face the grry-l'ncd
'ator uchdd l.im with solemn looks t!, :
mortal remains of his father lay before him ,
and, as he paused,1 there rose the sound of
the snow swollen flood.
I call the Almighty to witner.," rM tho
agitated man, rising from his n 1 pa
cing along the floor, "that these UJj trc
yet unstained by crime Dut oh ! how much
onger might they have to continued! Why
need the unbeliever "care for human life I
What signifies the spilling of i few drops of
worthless blood Be the grave once tho't to
be. the final doom of alland what then, is the
meaning of the word crime ? Desperate and
murderous thoughts assailed me by myself m
solitude," I had reasoned myself, as I thought.
out j)f my belief io revelation and all those
fcelingsT by 'which" alone faith" H possible, i t
the same time died away in my heart leav-
r t
'4-
iiaie oi iemuiev roctcfy n
.' .Kutclvnsr.n s;i i th.at (idunrat
-Mucpe
" i "
ana
best memories of earth, and the loftiest hope?
-of. .Heaven..""" ' ""
4'fiear;
thought of the generations of :-my fore -fathers
that had died in fc the Hazel Glen and they
seemed to me like so many shadows vainly
following each other along the hills. My
heart was disquieted within me ; for the faith
of my childhood was intertwined with all my
affectiois with all my love jor the dead and
the living for thee Alrccf and wtrrhildf en,
who do all resemble thee both in beauty and
innocence, jtthitber at thy bosom, or tottering
dong the greens ward, and playing with the
daises in the sun " Stich
dired wovenjhrot)mnSt3
not be torn thence but by a heavy hand. Al
ice ! - the sight of thee andthem drc ve me
mad j for whut sight sq. insupportable to one
who has no hope in futurity, as the smiles. and
tears of them he loves in his destruction !"
He who spake was no common man no
common man had been his father. And he
ol tntiaeuty.onapes came ana lempieu me
in thVm"obrs-r witheyesarid voices like, but
unlike the eyes and voices ol men. One had "
... 1 -J.I L!.. 'JL
a uagger in its nana ana uiougn ii saiu notn
ing, US urcauiui lace uicutu uic xa uo sonra
i.Iak .am t t w V. . . n I rjh r !,
IUUIUCI. A Ban th IU klHi IUU MJjUi IWI
the very middle'of the day and I was sit
tin? by myself on the wall of the old sheer;
fold, looking down in an agony, on the Hazef
Glen whore J was born, aad where I had ont
been so happy. It gave me the dagger and
laugnea as it aisappearea, i saw ana icit .
the dagger distinctly for some minutes in my
hand bit It seemed to fall down among the ,
heather and large blots of blood were on
my fingers. An icy shivering came over me.
though it was a sunny day, and without a
cloud and I strove to think that a brain-fever
had been upon me. . I lay for two daya .
and nights on the hill and more than onco - -
I sawmy children playing on Jhelkrccnbe- fV.
side the water-fall, and rose to go down and
put them to death but a figure in white It
might be thou,' Alice, or an angel, seemed to -
rise out of the stream, and quietly to drive
the chiUrcn towards the cottage, as thou
wouldst a few tottering lambs."
Durinj? all thia terrible confession, the speaker moved '
up and down the room u wc arc told or the footitcns
ti men in the condemned cell, heard pacing to and fro
i . a . I . . . a. .. . .
uimn uie nifrni prrccainfr me rxccuuoa. vxy i.at
such dreadful thought to the charge of thy aoul, said his
wife, now greatly alaiwlIIunnranaUurst,andtiia
nvi of the sun. and the dc vs of. the niirht. had Indeed
driven thee into a rurfnl fever nd God knows, that tho ...
beat of inen are often like demons in a disease !" Tha '
rastor, who had not dared to interrupt him during tho ' .'
heiglit of hia passion, now besought him to dlamlsafroih
ut mind all Mich grievous recollectiona and was just
nbout to addrt-n himvlf to pravcr, when an interruptiois
took place most pkuble ana affecfingr7 . " ;-
The door, at which no footstep had been heard, slowly ... a
and softly opened, and in glided a fittlo ghost, vHh asbrT--face
and open ryes, folded in a sheet, and sobbing as t j .
came along. It was no other than that lovinpr child faHc , . ; .
ing in its nlcep, and dreaming of its grandfather."" Not"
one of in had power to move. On Feet that acemed, in
the cautiousncas of aflTection, acareely to touch the floor. - -he
went up to the bed-side, and kneeling down, held np .
his little hands, palm to palm, and said a little prayer of ; ..."
hia own, for the life of him who was ryinjr dead within
the touch of his balmy breath. He then climbed up into
the bed, and laid hhnielf down, aa he had been wont to do,
by the old man's aide ..v..',.i';--....-:..
Never," said the Pastor, "saw I lore Lke thir" ana
he joined his sobs to those that were fast rinjr frm.n.. .
all at this insupportable sicit. Oh ! If mr blessed chihl ;
should awake," said his motherland find himself beside "
a corpse so cold, he will lose his si-nses I must indeed 1
aeparatc him from hisFrandfathcr.M Centlv did she dis- " "
cnag'e hi little hands from the shrouded breast, and ,
bore him into the midst of us in her arms. ,His face be-;r; ,
came Icss'dondlv white his erea less rlazedTr fixed T
and drawing a lonjr, deep, complaining mgh, he at last vi
sion ly awoke, and looked bewildcredly, first on nil mouv .. . ,
er'a face, and then on tlie other figures sitting In ailcnea ;
by the uncertain lamp-lifrhU "Come, mv sweet 'Janue---4
to thine own bed," said his weeping mother. ' ,Thehus
band followed in hialove-and at midnight the Pastor
ana mysen reiirt u io rew ai wnien nour, everv ropra hi
the cottage scemod as still as that wherein lay all that re-'
niaiiicd on earth of the t'atriarch and the Elder.r v ; l '. ' . '
. -,;
It was on Marlav that, along with mv venerable friend, '
I agaiii visited the cottage of the Ilazcl GlenT A week
of gentle and sunny rain had just passed over the sctnefT -rr
and brought all its loveliness into life. 1 could-scarcely
believe that io short a time ago the whiteness of the win
ter bad shrouded the verdant nolitudc.". Hire and there,
lliJLI'MdLPljnowJajJu
ly the dtip wreathes had Jiecn .drifted by vthe- storm. ;
The hum of insects even was not Unheard, and thWBjk
the glitler of tlie stream the trout was seen leaping st
gaudy prej', ts they went aailing downui poola
expandt d wings. The whole glen was filled widi SH"11 I ' '
glcil npirit of pleasure and of penaiveneas.
As we approached he old Sycamore, w e heard behind
us a sound of footsteps, and thai beautiful boy, whom ws
had"so loved in his afUiction, earne up to us, with a smil
ing facei nd with his Satclief tvc? lii shouldeE": Kt w
returning from school,' for tho ftfteraoon was a
day, and hlsjRtee.was" thf ticture -jpf joy" and ' innocence-
A sudden recollection assailed hii" heart, as aoon
heard pur voices, and It w;ould hVc been easy to JA :
changed hia smiles into tears,' But We rejoiced to
howJbenigiiIyrn
their was now nothing In memory, which he cU .
bear to think of, even among the pauses of hi paat-ihnes
He led the way happily and proudlyl a we. entered otce
more the cottage of Uie 'IlazclJCl--' -- " . . ' A
Ithe httshana
. X.
The simnle meal was on the 4able, an
was in the act of asktnf a blcawmj, with a ter'Jt voice.
When he ceased, he and his wife rose to KuluWeh?,n,f'
and Uiere was in their calm and quitt manner an air'
ance that thev were hiow. The children ncj
-i' 1 .a-'.. .... ..II A tntrethrr at
no.
... ,
t'vc fvun .jiv tut win ' . t I
cheerful boartU In the calm of the evening, taiaiiaw
wife walked with us down tV gie'n."? rst'if" ,'
the Manse nor did wdfcajr to speak of thtdemnn?ff
had been ' wTouentJO
thiT
of the privl
r.id ;he humV.e.c man, how the
. com: sc.!, loeV.ca u; Isls
.. .. ' ... .... i
11. ti; . ,
'Ms-