One of her pieces is an address to a young painter of her own colour. On seeing his works, she vented her grief for the sorrows of her countrymen, in a pathetic strain. After the publication of her volume, and about the twenty-first year of her age, Phillis was liberated; but she continued in her master's family, where she was much respected for her good conduct. Many of the most respectable inhabitants of Boston and its vicinity, visiting at the house, were pleased with an opportunity of conversing with her, and of observing her modest deportment, and the cultivation of her mind. The constitution of Phillis being naturally delicate, her health became such as to alarm her friends. A sea voyage was recommended by her physicians, and it was arranged that she should take a voyage to England in company with a son of Mrs. Wheatley, who was proceeding thither on commercial business. The amiable Negro girl had hitherto never been parted from the side of her benefactress since the hour of her adoption into the family; and though the necessity of the separation was acknowledged, it was equally painful to both. She recorded her feelings upon this occasion in the following lines : A FAREWELL TO AMERICA; ADDRESSED TO MRS. WHEATLEY. Adieu, New England's smiling meads, I leave thine opening charms, O spring, In vain for me the flowerets rise, While here beneath the northern skies Celestial maid of rosy hue, G Susannah mourns, nor can I bear To see the chrystal shower, Not unregarding can I see Her soul with grief opprest, While for Britannia's distant shore Lo! Health appears, celestial dame, With Hebe's mantle o'er her frame, For thee, Britannia, I resign New England's smiling fields; What joy the prospect yields. Phillis was received and admired in the first circles of English society; and it was here that her poems were first given to the world, with a portrait of the authoress attached to them. From this portrait, her countenance appears to have been pleasing, and the form of her head highly intellectual. On the engraving being transmitted to Mrs. Wheatley in America, that lady placed it in a conspicuous part of her room, and called the attention of her visitors to it. But the health of this good and humane lady declined rapidly, and she soon found that the beloved original of the portrait was necessary to her comfort and happiness. On the first notice of her benefactress's desire to see her once more, Phillis, whose modest humility was unshaken by the severe trial of flattery and attention from the great, re-embarked immediately for the land of her true home. Within a short time after her arrival, she discharged the melancholy duty of closing the eyes of her mistress, mother, and friend, whose husband and daughter soon sunk also into the grave. The son had married and settled in England, and Phillis Wheatley found herself alone in the world. The happiness of the African poetess now became clouded. Little is known of the latter years of her life, except what is of a melancholy character. Shortly after the death of her friends, she received an offer of marriage from a respectable Coloured man of the name of Peters. In her desolate condition, it would have been hard to have blamed Phillis for accepting any offer of protection of an honourable kind. At the time it took place, Peters not only bore a good character, but was every way a remarkable specimen of his race; being a fluent writer, a ready speaker, and altogether an intelligent and well-educated man. He was a grocer by trade, but having obtained considerable learning, also officiated as a lawyer, under the title of Doctor Peters; pleading the cause of his brethren the Africans, before the tribunals of the state. Phillis was, at the time of her marriage with Peters, about twenty-three years of age. The reputation he enjoyed, with his industry, procured him a fortune, though it appears he was subsequently unsuccessful in business. The connexion did not prove a happy one, and Phillis, being possessed of a susceptible mind and delicate constitution, fell into a decline, and died in 1780, about the twenty-sixth year of her age, much lamented by those who knew her worth. Thus perished a woman who, by a fortunate accident, was rescued from the degraded condition to which those of her race who are brought to the Slave-market are too often condemned, as if for the purpose of showing to the world what care and education could effect in elevating the character of the benighted African. Such an example ought to impress us with the conviction, that, out of the countless millions to whom no similar opportunities have ever been presented, many might be found fitted by the endowments of nature, and wanting only the blessings of education, to be made ornaments, like Phillis Wheatley, not only to their race, but to humanity. JOHN KIZELL Was a native of a country some leagues inland from the Sherbro river. His father was a Chief of some consequence, and so was his uncle. They resided at different towns, and when Kizell was a boy, he was sent by his father on a visit to his uncle. On the very night of his arrival the town was attacked a bloody battle ensued, in which his uncle and many of his people were killed. Some escaped the rest were taken prisoners, amongst whom was Kizell. His father, as soon as he heard of his son's disaster, made every effort to release him, but in vain. He was taken to the Gallinas, put on board a ship, and carried, as one of a cargo of Slaves, to Charlestown. On the passage, one of the women pining away with grief on account of her situation, was tied up to the mast and flogged to death, as a warning to others not to indulge their melancholy to the detriment of their health, and thereby injure their value to their Christian owners. John Kizell arrived in Charlestown a few years before it was taken by Sir H. Clinton; and in consequence of that general's proclamation, with many others, he joined the royal standard. After the war he was removed to Nova Scotia, and from thence to Sierra Leone. He was an intelligent man, always preserved an excellent character, and had the welfare of his native country sincerely at heart. The government of Sierra Leone often employed him in their negociations with the native chiefs; and he always discharged his duty with integrity and address. In 1810, John Kizell was sent by governor Columbine, with a letter to some of the chiefs on the Sherbro river, recommending them to discontinue the Slave Trade, and to turn their attention to the cultivation of the earth. While on this mission, he wrote many letters to the governor, from which the following are extracts :— : "I went to Sumarro with the head-man, and gave him the things you sent for him he was glad, and all his people. I then showed them your letter. The young people were thankful for the word they heard, but there were some that did not like it. I then asked them: From the time that your fathers began to sell Slaves, to this day, what have you got by it? Can any of you show me how much money you have-how much gold-how many Slaves, and vessels, and cattle-how many people you have?' They said, 'None!' "I went to take a walk with one of my boys, and was surprised to see so many coffee-trees: some places being entirely covered with them. I was concerned to think that there was no man to be found who had the welfare of this country and people at heart, to observe what is in it, and what it will produce, instead of taking the natives, and carrying them to European islands to raise coffee, which is the natural plant of Africa. But I thank Almighty God for his over-ruling power: He does all things in their season; and this is the time he has appointed, in which to rouse the great men of England, and to put it in their hearts to consider the human race. May Almighty God incline them to persevere ! for these men of sin desire to keep the Black people in Slavery, and their minds in darkness; so that they may enjoy neither the good of this world, nor the happiness of the world to come. "This country wants nothing but people to bring them to order; to let them see that by working they will get money, and not by the Slave Trade; for that destroys their happiness. Of all people I have ever seen, they are the kindest. They will let none want food; they will lend and not look for it again. If strangers come to them, they will |