To the zeal and firmness of attach ment to the cause of Missions cherished by their friends and supporters, the Directors will confidently look for countenance in this trying period of the history of their Society. The opponents of Christian efforts to disseminate the word of God by oral instruction, and by the circulation of the Scriptures, (for both are involved in their censure,) have embraced the unhappy events of Demerara, as means of prejudicing the public mind against those efforts, and of lessening the resources by which they are carried on. The London Missionary Society must necessarily share largely in that opposition. Its Directors trust, therefore, that having, (as they hope,) exculpated the Society from blame, they may confidently commend it to the Christian community at large, for that increased support which will more than repair any injury that may by such means be done to its interests. It need not be stated, with what satisfaction the Directors will perceive, and with what gratitude they will acknowledge, such indications of the continuance of public approbation and favour towards their Society.

It is with sincere concern that the Directors confirm their statements, formerly made by them, of the ill state of Mr Smith's health. The only letter they have from himself (which is subsequently given) represents him in a condition of extreme weakness, and, from the nature of his disorder, much is to be feared. The Directors will, however, cherish the hope, that he will be spared to return to his native land, and will live to witness the entire removal of all prejudice excited against his character by the calumnies cast, upon it.

The Directors subjoin the Resolutions of their body, on the result of their applications to His Majesty's Government in reference to the trial of Mr. Smith.

At a Meeting of the Directors of the London Missionary Society, held at the Mission-House, in Austin Friars, on Thursday, the 19th of February, 1824, and specially convened to receive the Report of the Deputation appointed to communicate with His Majesty's Government, on the case of their Missionary, the Rev. John Smith of Demerara;

WILLIAM ALERS HANKEY, Esq. Treasurer, in the Chair.

The Deputation, reported, that the Rt. Hon. Secretary of State for the Colonial Department had communicated to VOL. XXIIL NO. III.

them the decision of His Majesty's Government, to remit the sentence of death against John Smith, and to direct that he be forthwith dismissed from the colony of Demerara and Essequibo, and enter into recognizance, in the penalty of two thousand pounds, not to reside within the said United Colony, or within His Majesty's Colony of Berbice, or within any Colony or Settlement in the possession of His Majesty in the West Indies. The Deputation further reported, that this communication was accompanied by an expression of the approbation of Government with the "Instructions" given by the Directors to their said Missionary, Mr. Smith, which approbation has been subsequently conveyed in a letter from Earl Bathurst, addressed to the Treasurer; whereupon it

was

Resolved, I. That the Directors of this Society have, on many occasions, received from His Majesty's Government those favours which have greatly encou raged their efforts, and that they have ever entertained towards the Government sentiments of the sincerest gratitude and respect.

II. That they have learned, with great satisfaction, that his Majesty's Government approve of the "Instructions" given by the Directors to their said Missionary, John Smith, as to the conduct to be observed by him in reference to the Slave-Population, whereof the following is a copy : ̈

Extract from the Instructions of the Directors, given to the Rev. John Smith on his going out to Demerara, dated 9th December, 1816.

"IN the discharge of your missionary duty, you may meet with difficulties almost peculiar to the West Indies or Colonies, where slaves are employed in the culture of the earth and other laborious employments. Some of the gentlemen who own the estates, the masters of the slaves, are unfriendly to their instruction; at least they are jealous, lest, by any mismanagement on the part of the Missionaries, or misunderstanding on the part of the negroes, the public peace and safety should be endangered. You must take the utmost care to prevent the possibility of this evil; not a word must escape you, in public or private, which might render the slaves displeased with their masters, or dissatisfied with their station. You are not sent to relieve them from their servile condition, but to afford them the consolations of religion, and to enforce upon them the necessity 2 E

of being subject, not only for wrath, but for conscience sake,' Rom. xiii. 5.1 Pet. ii. 19. The Holy Gospel you preach will render the slaves who receive it the more diligent, faithful, patient, and useful servants; will render severe discipline unnecessary, and make them the most valuable slaves on the estates; and thus you will recommend yourself and your ministry even to those gentlemen who may have been averse to the religious instruction of the negroes. We are well assured that this happy effect has already been produced in many instances, and we trust you will be the honoured instrument of producing many more."

III. That notwithstanding their deference and respect for His Majesty's Goverment, they have learned, with disappointment and regret, the decision come to upon the case of their Missionary Smith.

Because, 1st-They consider the reports of the Insurrection at Demerara to have been greatly exaggerated as to its importance and duration, for the purpose of casting odium on the measures proposed by His Majesty's Government, and the legislature, in reference to the Slaves.

Because, 2dly-They have satisfactory reason to believe, that, owing to the influence of religious instruction, the revolt was unaccompanied by the horrors usually attendant on West India insurrections; in confirmation of which opinion, they have the assurance of a clergyman of the established Church of England in the Colony, that, in his judgment, many of the Whites residing on the Plantations are indebted for the preservation of their lives to the Christian precepts of the Missionary, Mr. Smith. This assurance is contained in the following extracts from a private let

ter:

"I feel no hesitation in declaring, from the intimate knowledge which my most anxious inquiries have obtained, that, in the late scourge which the hand of an All-wise Creator has inflicted on this ill-fated country, nothing but those religious impressions which, under Providence, Mr. Smith has been instrumental in fixing-nothing but those principles of the Gospel of Peace which he has been proclaiming-could have prevented a dreadful effusion of blood here, and saved

the lives of those very persons who

are now (I shudder to write it), seeking his."

Because, 3dly-They perceive that, for the insurrection in the Colony of Demerara, other causes, both remote and proximate, may be assigned than those which the adversaries of the Missionary have thought proper to allege.

Because 4thly-They regard, as unconstitutional and oppressive, the whole proceedings under which their Missionary, Mr. Smith, was imprisoned; his papers seized; his communications with his friends prevented, and his trial conducted; and the protraction of Martial Law, under which, contrary to the ordinary regulations of the Colony, the evidence of slaves was admitted against him, and an appeal from the sentence to the King in Council, possibly precluded.

Because 5thly-They discover in the proceedings of the Court Martial, during a trial, not commenced for two months after the insurrection, and protracted during six weeks, many deviations from that equal justice which Britons in their native country are accustomed to enjoy. Because, 6thly-They conclude from the evidence adduced (although evi. dence upon which, by the ordinary laws of the Colony, no property of the value of forty shillings would have been affected, or the guilt of a white person established for any offence,) that the Missionary was not guilty of any of the charges alleged, and that the insurrection was not, either directly or indirectly, promoted by him.

IV. That although the Directors would be led by their duty and the regulations of their Society, to exclude from their protection any Missionary who had actually violated their instructions, as to the conduct required to be observed by him in respect to the Slave-Population, yet they cannot withdraw their confidence and esteem from their Missionary, Mr. Smith, whose innocence they see no cause to impugn: and that he be instructed (if he shall he so advised by his Counsel, and if it be expedient on due consideration of the state of his health) immediately to tender an appeal against the sentence of the Court Martial, in order that the subject may be duly investigated before the Lords of his Majesty's Privy Council in England; and that he be assured, that, on his return to Eng

land, he will be assisted by the Directors to the utmost of their power in his endeavours to establish his innocence. V. That the Directors will, on their part, take such further measures for obtaining, in this country, the reversal of the sentence passed by the Court Mar. tial in Demerara, against the said John Smith, as they shall be advised.

VI. That, although the Directors have long perceived, with just indignation, the systematic and continued attempts, by garbled extracts and calumnious reports, to prejudice the public mind against their Missionary, Mr. Smith, they have abstained from all animadversions and replies; but it appears to them that justice and humanity now require that their sentiments should be publicly expressed.

VII. That the above Resolutions be signed by the Chairman; that they be inserted in the next Monthly Chronicle of the Society, and in such other channels of public intelligence as the Directors may hereafter direct.

W. ALERS HANKEY, Chairman.

COPY OF THE CHARGES AGAINST MR.

SMITH.

The following are the charges upon which Mr. Smith was tried: the clauses in italics, between the brackets, are the parts not found in the sentence of the Court:

Charges preferred by order of his Excellency Sir John Murray, LieutenantGovernor and Commander-in-Chief of the United Colony of Demerara and Essequibo, &c. against John Smith, Missionary:-1st, For that he, the said John Smith, long previous to, and up to the time of, a certain revolt and rebellion, which broke out in this Colony on or about the 18th of August last past, did promote, as far as in him lay, discontent and dissatisfaction in the minds of the Negro Slaves towards their lawful masters, managers, and overseers, [he the said John Smith thereby intending to excite the said Negroes to break out in such open revolt and rebellion against the authority of their lawful masters, managers, and overseers,] contrary to his allegiance, and against the peace of our Sovereign Lord the King, his Crown and dignity.

2. For that he, the said John Smith, having, about the 17th day of August last, and [at divers other days and times,] one day theretofore preceding, advised, consulted, and corresponded with a certain Negro, named Quamina, touching and concerning a certain revolt and re

bellion of the Negro Slaves within these Colonies of Demerara and Essequibo; and further, after such revolt and rebellion had actually commenced, and was in a course of prosecution, he, the said John Smith, did further aid and assist in such rebellion by advising, consulting, and corrresponding, touching the same, with the said Negro, Quamina; to wit, on the [19th and] 20th of August last, he, the said John Smith, then well knowing such revolt and rebellion to be in progress, and the said Negro, Quamina, to be an insurgent engaged therein.

3. For that he, the said John Smith, on the 17th of August last past, and for a certain period of time thereto preceding, having come to the knowledge of a certain revolt and rebellion intended to take place within the Colony, did not make known the same to the proper authorities, which revolt and rebellion did subsequently take place to wit, on or about the 18th August last past.

4. For that he, the said John Smith, after such revolt and rebellion had taken place, and during the existence thereof; to wit, on or about [Tuesday and] Wednesday, the [19th and] 20th of August, now last past, was at Plantation Le Resouvenir, in presence of, and held communication with Quamina, a Negro of Plantation Success; he, the said John Smith, then well knowing the said Quamina to be an insurgent engaged therein, and that he, the said John Smith, did not use his utmost endeavour to sup press the same, [by securing or detaining the said insurgent Quamina as a prisoner, or] by giving information to the proper authorities, or otherwise; but, on the contrary, permitting the said insurgent Quamina, to go at large and depart [without attempting to seize him, and] without giving any information respecting him to the proper authorities, against the peace of our Sovereign Lord the King, his crown and dignity, and against the laws in force in this Colony,, and in defiance of the proclamation of martial law issued by His Excellency the Lieut. Governor.

Letter of Mrs. Smith, addressed to the Secretary.

Demerara, December 4, 1823.

Rev. and dear Sir,-You have no doubt heard of the trouble which has befallen Mr. Smith and myself, and the temporary ruin of the Missionary cause in this colony, in consequence of the revolt of the Negroes on the East Coast: You would have been fully informed by

formed by men that attended the chapel, and that one of our deacons was a ring leader.

From all we can learn from the evidence on Mr. Smith's trial, it appears the plot was laid by two Negroes, named Jack and Paris. Jack was the son of Quamina, (one of the deacons in question,) and he was the person to whom the Governor's servant made the communications concerning the instructions from England. Jack was a dissolute, gay young man, very irregular in his attendance at the chapel. Religion, it is to be feared, he had none. Paris was boat-captain to the plantation to which he belonged, and, had he been disposed to attend the chapel, it was out of his power to do so, at least nineteen Sundays out of twenty. His work was to take plantains to town, to sell on Sunday. I do not suppose he attended the chapel more than once a-year.

As to Quimana being a ringleader, all we know about it is from the evidence on Mr. Smith's trial. Several contradictory things are said concerning him by some negroes, (Bristol and Seaton) whose inconsistencies have been made manifest. But Mr. John Stewart, his manager, says, on oath, "I did not see Quamina do any thing improper: he was keeping the rest of the people back from hurting me.' And Dr. M'Turk, a bitter enemy to Mr. Smith, says also on oath, "When Quamina was shot in the bush he was not armed." Hence it does not appear from the evidence that he was any thing more than a runaway, although he was shot and gibbeted. All we know, however, of this matter is from the evidence produced on Mr. Smith's trial; which is already forwarded to the Society.

While the Negroes belonging to the Resouvenir were in the act of rising, Mr. Smith endeavoured to persuade them to desist from their purpose, and asked them what they wanted. They behaved to him with considerable rudeness (though not with violence *) and they told him

it would be good for him to go to his house, that they were not going to hurt any person, but they would have their rights. We remained at quiet in our house, until the afternoon of the third day after the revolt, when we were forcibly taken from it, under a pretence, first, that Mr. Smith disobeyed the orders of a captain commanding in the district, by refusing to enrol himself in the militia; and then directly afterwards another was alleged, namely, that our remaining in our house could not be accounted for on any other principle than that of our being a party to the revolt.

Having us both in close confinement, the legal authorities and the planters set to work with all their might to take together something in the shape of evidence to condemn us. They examined scores, I believe I might say hundreds, of persons; and after near seven weeks labour, in this way, they preferred against Mr. Smith those serious charges which they supported by the evidence you see.

How the Court Martial could justify a conviction on such evidence, must, I think, be a wonder to every unprejudiced person. But the verdict of a Court Martial is decided by the majority of its members; several of the members of this Court were much prejudiced against Mr. Smith, two of them at least, could not refrain from showing their ill-will towards him on the trial. Here, at present, almost all are prejudiced against Mr. Smith, from the highest to the lowest.

It

His journal seems to have caused a great deal of enmity against him. contains many reflections on the evils and iniquity of slavery; and some remarks on the opposition made by the authorities here, to the instruction of the slaves. Most, if not all, the passages of this nature were read by the Judge Advocate, as evidence against Mr. Smith on his trial; but they were not satisfied with this, the journal was accessible to many, probably to all the Judge Advocate's friends. Many persons read it,