The National Register.
London, England, 1821-04-02 00:00:00

FiIICIN INJ V faliN.

At two o'clock on Wednesday the atonal meetiniz of
(inventors and Directors sit the Anicaii I unituliall
WAS held at the Freetitasou'smoverti ; tits Royal Ilighitass
the Dake of Gloucester, in the chair, supptir.ed by Earl
Crompton, Lord GJinitier, Sir Alexander Juitinsteme,
and a • 1111 l liter of other distinguished pe votiag.'s
Mr. Harrison, the secretary, read toe rei.oirt of the
Directors for ilic last year, whien was of a to:nattily
itatereottig nature, from the alarming exaoopks nit co
it disclosed of the rxt, ni to which tit • slave utile is I.ow
earned out North of the Etpeamr, under the French Wig
now entitled to the hue distinction of flying nit the
coral, Sltaiu, hasitta by treaty abandoned her right since
the Ist of Ma, 1820. Tue report sated, that cantotto•
mumeattotis were now carrying on by Lord Castkreagh
with the governments of France and Sprott upon the
sohjec.—witts respect to the latter, to trader penal, ou
Ilia part of her subjects, arty Moreno:l of the treaty,
and to induce the former lo adopt a vigilance towards
her colonial subj eta, which it is tinpossthle Can now he
exercised, or else the horrors of the slave trade under
the French 1146 could otter be conducted as the report
states it.las be. From the hest inform atoll which the
Directors had, it appeared that the African coast swarmed
last year witit French fl,gs carrying on this detestable
Wide for Fientdt, Spanish, Porto:mese, and A itieriCall
ailttootlit cots rary to Inc Erlich municipal law.
TM: instances detai,en iu time revolt of vessels cattgol.

the itlCl were terrible, and one instance In partwmar
came to the knowledge of the Directors from a French
periodical rnrdreil work, wit-re it was noticed, °salty
to an Ixrraurdnrary medical fact connected whit it. It
It appeared Chit early last year a French vessel sailed
from Moore de Grace lor Attica. (id ilie slave trade.—
hoe mere tool( w 230 slaves. Worn conveying them
homewards, as they approached the give, an (111112.11.11
swollen appearance was ouserved about the eyes of the
poor negro, s heaped together in the hold, and the surgeon
On boad soon discovered that the opthalinia raged
among them. It soon spread throug3 tile crew ol• the
situp, Alla at length every person out board, slaves 3t1.1
crew, except one titan, lor some time lost their s.ght ;
Ultimately many recovered their sight; lint several re-
mained permatteinly blind, mid others loci only one eye.
The ono who escaped iistection stet:n;(l the ship to her
destinati )))) ; but before the disorder got aniong the
crew, several of the unfortuitate IIt'.:JOYS WllOlll It hall
deprived of sight, were thrown overtmard, heilig unsale-
aloe, because blind. In another ship, the white crew,
awl living cargo, because blind by the opthalfifia,
of iginating hunt the stench of the hold, and the vessel
having &seen heard of for several months at terwards,
was supposed to have been Inst, there not being ode
on board capable front the disorder of steering tier.—
In both of these ships it appeared, according to ac-
counts front vessels which boarded them, that when the
natives, after the disorder broke out, were brought on
deck to see if fresh air would relieee them, they clasped
each other to their antis and jdmped into the sea, ex-
ulting its that opportunity of eseapi tig from their remorse-
less persecutors. Another instance (among many
itsdred) was stated, where one of our criozyrs out the
look-out for slave dealers, lately stop,.ed a French ship
no the Aincan coast. She admitted she had slaves od
board, but said they hail beets forcibly carried oft some
days benne by a Spaisish pirate. Ott examining closely,
however, two negro girls, one about 12, awl I. e miter
about 13 years ot use, were found hastened down tii a
water-cook, and nearly suffocated ; a poor itegro was
a'sf) batte•ied down under some logs of wood in the hold,
and toe British officer remembered with horror, that
that during the chace of this vessel, which, trout her
being, like all the other slave snips, finely made, well
manned, and a last sailer, lasted for several hours, he
observed a number of casks floating oil tile sea, which
gave rise to a conjecture that they contained other un-
fortunate victims of this atrocious trade, who had been
stowed away for conc•eahtirnt in case ot tieing suddenly
boarded, and winch were %outwit o.er tit tit's wanner,
lest tile vessel should be overtaken and captured.
The report contained a 111111111 e Illsitny of statements,
dreadful and degramtig to hitillan Ildl tire, wider any 101111
of civilized gove tttttt rut. It also contained a variety of
interesting matter connected wnit the different relations
of the states of Europe on the subject of the slave trade,
and alluded to hairier poispective parliainettiary arrange.
meets ti,mon the subject.
-I•itr report was ordered to be printed.
Earl Gump Oil, Lord C;aitibier, dud several of the
outer distingtusited perteina4es present, addressed the
nieemig neon toe contents of ins report, and toe ne-
cessuy of their 1101 relaxlll,4 in pursuing the total aboli-
tion of this detestable anti atrocious rr.iflic; and all con•
curred sit winking that nothing short (A making it piracy
by tne law ot &nouns would effectualty abate sit Horrible
an evil. It was a remarkable tact, tout a Britisn officer
lately sailing in one alaCCa sea, took tile opportunity,
aniong some Arabs, as' it ..VJS toofigiit as•nsued some
of the foreign colonies in the transmission in slave., in
etigasing them in a treaty to discontinue itie practice,
and record it as piracy This Is she first instance of die
slave trade b.•ina called piracy iii a treaty, and the ex-
ample is singularly go set to Brosnan states by a
tribe of Arabs!!
lii Royal kliatiness the Doke of GLOUCESTER
pledged hifitsell to 'wake every emu In his power if)
assist in giving eflevt if: tile tuderposition of the British
government to 'wince all file Stairs oh tile maul to aban-
don this ofhotis and int9IIIIMIS trade.
The meeting oss tog courtly to the slate of the weathei
was but thinly mittinted. Several parliamentary ehaiac•
tees were absent in alit nutlet UllOll 1:01111111tieeS CM pub-
lic business.

The Lords of the Trea..ury have issued instn:c-
tions for the discont ituaice of the practice of per-
mitting wines and otlier articles, the property of
private individuals, to be sent home in tr.usports
from foreign stations.

THE NATIONAL liEGISTER

BRITISH ANJ FOIEWN AUXILIARY BIBLE
SW/F7l.

The annual meeting of the British and Foreign
Bible Soeiety for the parishes of Bloum.liury, Pan-
cras, and the Western District of the Metropo:is,
was held on Tuesday at the Great Hall of the
Freemasons' Tavern, which was filed by a most
numerous assemblage, the majority of whom were
respectable tem.iles.
CIIARLES GRANT. ESQ. IN' THE CHAIR.
A report was read by the Secretary, which re-
presented the Institution as highly prosperous, and
that the benefits of the circulation of the Huly
Saipturcs had already begun to be apparent.
The Rev. Dr. Steinktff represented the great
progress of the Bible Societies at Paris, wnere up-
wards of fifty thousand copies had been distributed
during the last year, and the demand for them had
been so great, that the Society had been unable to
supply it. In Spain, Italy, and Switzerland, and
even in Turkey, the Scriptures had been circulated
by the agents of the Institution. In Germany the
circulation of bibles had gone on with great spirit,
and at one university alone there were fonrteen
presses constantly at work printing bibles, 69,000
of which bad been circulated front this place in one
year. In Russia the same good work was going ou
us well as could be expected.
The Right I-lon. Charles Grant, Secretary of
State for Ireland, made a long and powerfel address
to the Meeting, as did also the Rev. and Honorable
Gerard Noel, the Rev. Dr. Owen, Dr Wilson, Dr.
Jefferies, and several other Divines and Gentlemen
resident in the District, and Officers for the ensuing
year were appointed, and a large collection made ;
after which the Meeting adjourned.

FROM SATURDAY Avc;nrs GAZETTR.
y.ORD.CRANIIIEIII,AIN'S_OFFICE.. MARCH 30.

Notice is hereby given, that Ins Majesty will hold a Levee at
Carlton Howe, on Wednesday the 2d of May, at two o'clock.
Notice is hereby given, that in consequence of Sr. George's
Day occurring on Easter Monday, the Drawing Room intended
to be held at Buckingham Palace, in celebration of his Majesty's
Birth Day, is postponed to Thursday, the Sd of May next, at
two o'clock.