tia Negroes were stated to Government, and orders were iffued to the Governors of the Provinces of Halifax and New Brunswic, to interpofe in giving an effectual check to the abufes complained of, with a fevere reprimand for having ever allowed them; at the fame time they were directed to take proper opportunities of communicating to all the negroes the affairs of the Sierra Leona Company, and to give them what aid might be neceffary for carrying the measures into effect. A brother of the Rev. Mr Clarkfon, a lieutenant in the navy, is gone out to Nova Scotia with thefe difpatches, aud with proper credentials for inviting fuch of the negroes as wish to leave the place, to the fettlement of Sierra Leona. Government has agreed to provide fhipping to tranf. port them from Halifax, and lieutenaat Clarkson is to accompany them to Africa. About fix hundred, it is now known, have embraced the offer, and will foon form a great acceffion to the new colony. Such is the rife of their eftablishment, from which the friends of humanity predict the moft happy effects. Nothing will more readily tend to introduce civilization into Africa than a colony thus formed on a liberal and benevolent plan, free from the enor mities that difgrace the Slave Trade. The foil is rich and fertile, and the cultivation of many of our West India commodities will foon flourish there. Befides this, an extenfive coaft and river trade is opened, for the valuabl● productions of Africa, which are numerous, and highly useful. An extenfive inland commerce may foon alfo be established; a contract has already been made with the Mandingo Priefts, who are acquainted with every village in the heart of this unexplored country, and whofe perfons are held facred by all the contending chiefs: Through their medium a trať fic may be carried on, reaching over all the African continent, by means of numerous caravans that travel over it in all directions; and even the filks and fpices of the caft may find their way from Cairo to the River of Sierrą Leona. Thefe fpeculations, it is hoped, not altogether ideal, may not be immediately valued, but in time may take effect; mean while, fhould this colony do no more than check or overturn the nefarious Slave Trade, every friend of humanity will rejoice, and bless the memory of the benevolent projectors, Dictated by Mr William Ged's Narrative of his Scheme for Block-printing. himself fome time before his Death, for the Satisfaction of bis Relations. I HAPPENED in the year 1725 to be in company with a printer, who, talking of the lofs our nation was at for want of a letter-founder, and after fhowing me the nature of the types tingly and compofed in pages, asked if I could contrive a method to remedy that defect. I answered, that I judged it more practicable for me to make plates from the compofed pages than make fingle types. To which he replied, that if fuch a thing could be done, an eftate might be me, made by it. I defired he would give me a page for an experiment, which, after fome days trial, I found practicable, and fo continued for near two years improving on my invention; and making a great many experiments, feveral of which were expenfive; but the more I practifed, and the lefs chargeable materials I ufed, I was the more fuccefsful, til at laft I brought it to bear, as that no diftinction could be made between the impreffion from my plates and that from the types. I then I then applied to a gentleman in this place, who had five or fix thoufand pound stock, and who, for a fourth fhare of the profits, contracted with me to advance all the money that might be neceffary for carrying on the work. But this Gentleman, afterwards converfing with a certain other printer in this town, was made to believe that eight thousand pound would not bring that undertaking to perfection; which did fo intimidate him, that in two years continuance of that contract he made no farther advance to me than I. 22. So finding no appearance of fuccefs encouragement. In July 1729, William Fenner, a London Stationer, being by accident here in Edinburgh, hearing of my project, made me propofals more difadvantageous than my former bargain, which however I accepted of. He claimed the half of the profits, in confideration he was to advance all the money requifite, and that I fhould proCure my former partner's renuncia. tion of any farther concern with me in that affair; which being obtained, we entered into a contract for twenty one years, by which I was obliged to communicate to him the art. lieve the reafon of this delay was, that he had got acquainted with a letter-founder, who would, for one 16th fhare from each of us, furnish all the different types fhould be wanted; upon which followed another contract, and we were accordingly furnished. with two parcels of different types :but when we came to ufe them, we found them altogether unfit for our purpofe; and were likewife informed, that he had been formerly employed by the King's printers, but was rejected by them, because one Caflon had eclipfed him in his business, which occafioned his applying to me, believing he could make a living by the profits he expected from his fhare in my project. Thereafter having feen a Bible. printed in the King's houfe in London on a beautiful letter, I applied to them to know if they would give fuitable encouragement to furnish them with plates for a Bible from that type. Accordingly a day was appointed to hear our propofals: in the mean time, they acquainted their new founder, Caflon, who told them he would give us fifty guineas, if we, in half a-year's time, made one page of a Bible from that type. Our appointment holding, we made demands, and they made offers of honey, and we believed we might have agreed; but at the fame time told us of the above fifty guineas, and that the gentleman who had made the offer was in the houfe: being cal led into our company, he bragged much of his great skill and knowledge in all the parts of mechanism, and particularly vaunted, that he, and hundreds befides himfelf, could make plates to as great perfection as I could ;which occafioned fome heat in our converfation, and which was diverted by a propofal of Mr Basket, That Caflon and I fhould each of us have a page given us to make a plate from, of that type, between then and that day fe'nnight; and that he who fail ed fhould give a handsome entertainment to the company: this, being aL12 On his part he was obliged, four months after date, to have a proper house and all materials in readiness at London, where I engaged to be by that time; and thefe conditions under a penalty of L.1000 to be forfeited by the party failing. There was likewife a claufe in that contract, that if, in eight months after trial, my project fhould not prove advantageous, because of the oppofition it might likely meet with from the printers, in fuch event the contract was to be void and null. I implemented my part, being at London within the time limited, where I found Mr Fenner had nothing agreed on provided, and I believe was as little capable. But being a stranger to his circumstances, he made me be greed Sreed to, Mr Thomas Gib, overfeer Prayer-books; which motion took. of the printing-houfe, was appointed judge of the performance. Next day, about dinner time, each of us had a page fent us. I immediately after fell to work, and by five o'th'clock that fame afternoon I had finished three plates from that page, and caufed to take impreffions from them on paper, which I and partners carried directly to the king's printing. houfe, and howed them to faid Mr Gib, who, would not believe but thefe impreffions were taken from the type; whereupon I produced one of the plates, which, he faid, was the types foldered together, and fawed thorough. To convince him of his miftake, I took that plate from him, and broke it before his face, then fhowed him another, which made him cry out. He was furprifed at my performance, and then called us to a bottle of wine; when he purpofed I fhould take eleven pages more, to make up a form, that he would fee how it might anfwer the fheet-way. My too expeditious performance here proved rather a detriment than advantage to me, as I came afterwards to understand from the king's printers themfelves; who having acquainted Mr Caflon with what had happened, he declined keeping the appointment in perfon, but fent a fou of Mr Baf ket's to tell," That he could not perform the thing himself, neither "could he get one of the hundred he "fpoke of to undertake it.” So John James, the abore architect, and my partner Fenner, went down to Cambridge, where their propofals were readily agreed to. But, before this time, I fufpe&ted much the fufficiency of my partner's circumstances, which made me tell, that I inclined to leave them at the term of the eight months; which John James hearing, being a man of fubftance, made an overture, to divide in four shares, and that he would make the fourth partner; that he would lay me down 100l. that I fhould have yearly 100l. paid me for the ufe of my family, befides thirty fhillings weekly for my own fubfiftence; that I fhould be præfes of the company; and that any one of the other three partners, who joined voice with me, fhould determine the queftion; and that, laftly, he would use his intereft with the university of Cambridge, that I fhould have their privilege for printing the before mentioned books in my plate-way; which conditions I went in to, and had the faid 1ool. laid me down. We had feveral meetings at making up this contract; which being agreed to in the terms above, was put into the hands of Counsellor Hamilton, to be extended at large. Meanwhile the king's printers, having heard our defign, applied to the university, and made an offer of gool. more than what they had agreed to take from us. Afterwards Thomas James, our letterfounder, fell to intriguing with the king's printers (who understanding the countenance a we were likely to obtain from the univerfity of Cambridge, which was equal to their own as to the privilege of printing Bibles and Prayer-books; and the more fraid, of having a man of fuch fubftance as John James his brother partner with us) in order to withdraw his brother, which afterwards appeared he had undertaken to do. The argument they made use of to spirit hins up (we having complained of the infuficiency infufficiency of his types) was, to make him believe that the fault lay in my plates only, and not in his types, tho' they had been formerly rejected by themselves: wherefore, to convince his brother of ignorance or malice, I made impreffions from both type and plate, in the manner following; viz. Having at that time five or fix fheet of an octavo Prayer-book in plates made from the fame types, I caufed to make up a fheet where pages of plate were intermixed with pages of type; and having twenty fuch fheets to caft off, I afked him, before his brother, to diftinguish which was plate, and which type. To do which, he divided the one half of thefe fheets from the other, faying, the one was plate, and the other half type, whereas each of thefe fheets bore a mixture of pages, half one, half other. I made a fecond trial, on Thomas James's bringing two paragraphs of a different fize of letter, compofed in Latin, which he defired to be cast off with care, being to be sent to the country for a fpecimen. Obferving this to be a better type than what he had furnifhed us, I caufed to make up as much of our letter as would make a a folio page, joined with thefe two fpecimens, from which I made a plate, and caufed to throw off a parcel of sheets from both; which being brought to him, he mistook the one for the other,but carried one of each home with him,and next day he difcovered a small open in the tail of one fingle letter, whereby he was afterwards capable to diftinguish that plate from the type: for which reafon I made another plate from the fame compofed page, and caufed caft off an equal number from the laft plate as from the former; and the impreffions being mixt and laid before him, he discovered his ignorance, by affirming that all the impreffions of my last plate were taken from the types (not finding that chafm or open in a letter of the for mer plate,) till I convinced him of his error, by fhowing him the other plate. Not long after this, Mr Samuel Palmer (the mot knowing printer in London,) who had frequently fee my performance in the plate-way, affured me, that the types I was ufing were altogether unfit for my purpofe; and further, he and another gentle man told us, they heard our letterfounder fay, That as long as he was our letter-founder, we should never hurt the trade; and it was for that reafon he had joined us in company. Having wrought about 18 months at London on feveral books with thefe imperfect types, which proved naught, and the leafe never yet obtained, tha the univerfity fent letters every two or three weeks to John James our partner at Greenwich, directed to the care of his brother the letter-founder at London, who, being in ufe of breaking open these letters, kept up a material one, wherein the univerfity defired us to take council, and talk with their agent at London, to whom they had fent their papers and powers. Next meeting, inftead of communicating the contents of this letter to the concerned, he told them he had feen a gentleman, who faid the gentlemen of the univerfity were furprised we had fo long delayed coming down to Cambridge to take out our leafe, which they were fo willing to grant us, and proposed to his brother and Mr Feaner to go down in the name of the company, which they had agreed to before I came. When they told me what had paffed, I knowing the man's fincerity, which I had oblerved for fome time before, thought it not convenient without I went along with him; and then told them, I could endeavour to procure the recommendation of my Lord Iflay and others of my countrymen: and accordingly I obtained my Lord Iflay's letter to Mr Smith, profeffor of the opticks in Trinity College, who happened to be præfes at that meet ing, called Syndicks. This letter I delivered by my felf, when this gentleman afked me what advice I had from counsel about their privileges; which was the first time I had heard any thing of the contents of the abovementioned letter from the univerfity. This being a farther confirmation of this man's treachery, I let Mr Smith know my former jealoufies of him ;and, fince he was præfes, I begged of him to call a meeting before I left this place, that I might know their opinions; and accordingly being met, they granted our requeft for paying into the university L.100 yearly, and five pounds per annum to one Jonathan Plinder, an old decayed printer in that place. I told Thomas James, I was informed fuch a letter was fent by the univerfity to his brother, to take advice of counfel as it directed, and was much furprifed he had concealed the contents from the company; when he anfwered, he did not know the ufe of it. I defired him to go along with me to thank the gentlemen of the univerfity, which he refufing, I told him I would go alone then; but feeing me pofitive, he went in company; when he, with no little affurance, afked them, That if my project should mifgive, were we obliged to pay them an hundred guineas yearly? and farther, he doubted of the validity of their leafe. To both which they anfwered, We had to do with gentlemen; and then we got their decree figned unanimoufly. When we came to London, I acquainted my other partners with my fuccefs at Cambridge, and Thomas James's behaviour and concealment of the forementioned letter. His brother took him heartily to task; who told me how he had chaftifed him, and got his promife of better behaviour for the future. Then we refolved to go altogether to Cambridge, to attend two other courts, called Caput and Convocation, to get the finifhing roke to their leafe. We appointed a day to fet cut; but Thomas James thought fit to inform the King's printers (our antagonists) of our refolutions, who had been at Cambridge two days before we arrived, and had renewed their former offer of L. 500 to the university, befides an yearly premium; and the more to ingratiate themselves, carried along with them fpecimens of Caflon's types, to fhew the imperfection of Thomas James's, as were exhibited before himself, when he was obliged to own there was no comparison: but, having an impreffion of that plate with me I had formerly made from Mr Caflon's types, made it plain my work must be always anfwerable; which the gentlemen being convinced of, our leafe paffed the other two courts next day. The university being confined to make that grant only in the name of one fingle perfon, we were asked which of us fhould be nominated; when Fenner and Thomas James ftood candi. dates, and by the power given me of the cafting vote, I gave it in favour of Fenner, who promised, as foon as he came to London, to make a transference to the whole concerned; but no fooner we returned thither, than there was a propofal made to fend Thomas James to Holland to purchafe proper types, which was accordingly done, when in two months ftay there, he brought upon us a charge of L.160, and only one fet of types home with him, though in greater quantity than he had either orders or we ufe for. Having heard me frequently fay, that the best plates I could make would be from types before they were used or inked, he caused to set up four pages of a Bible, to make a plate from them before any impreffion had been taken from them. The impreflions were made, when there ap peared like two hundred blots in each page, which he was fo fond of, that he carried them directly to his brother. Being furprised, I cauf. ed take impreffions likewife from the types, when the fame number of blots appeared there too: and when the compositors |