The Sun.
London, England, 1817-08-26 00:00:00

The EXECUTION of CAFFIN, the BLACK.

There were some uncorntrion circumstances at-
tending the fate of the wretched man who was
executed yesterday.. He had been found guilty of
a rape upon wchild aged 10 years and 6 months,
Hand was. ordered for execution "on Wednesday last,
but svm respited in-consequence of a representa-
tion made by the surgeons who attended the girl,
and the prisoner, alleging. that the crime had• not
been committed ; that it was impossible that it
could have been committed. It was a source of
much wonder amongst those who resided in the
neighbourhood where the crime was sworn to have
been committed, and those upon whom the con.
slant declaration of the Black as to his innocence
,had made an impression, that the medical men had
not previously sent in their depositions to the Se-
cretary of State. The surpris• was not diminished
when they heard one of the surgeons account for
his tardiness, by. saying he did not know that any
application to the Secretary of State would have
been availing after the delivery of the verdict. Lord
SinmnuTn, upon receiving such extraordinary Intel.
ligence as the denial of the only two persons who
were supposed capable of deciding. upon so import-
ant a point, that the crime had been committed, said
the most attentive consideration should heg,:iven to
what was laid before him, and respited the prisoner
till Monday. •

Jo the mean thne, a black man waited upon the Rev. Air.
Cotton, and asked bin), whether there was not a man of co-
lour condemned to die. Having heard the fact from the
authority for which the stranger had shown the utmost re-
spect, he begged to be allowed to visit the malefactor.
The Ordinary.--" Certainly you shall see him. I suppose
you are his relation ?"

The Black.—" No, Sir, I am an African ; he is, I hear, an
American. I never saw him.; our conditions were never
alike. I was a slave ; he.was never a slave, except to his pas-.
sions, which have treated him worse even .than my toasters
ever treated me.

Ile then pulled aside the Bair that bung about his face, and
showed several scars,-every one of which, he said, had a dif,
ferent master.

The Ordinary.—" Whtit is your object in visiting this wan.
if you do not know him ?",
The Black.—“ God has been good to me; I know the
cos-
pel scheou: of salvation, and conic to speak a word.of co.iso-
lation to the afflicted."

The Ordinary took him in: they found Callia at prayer on
his tare and hands. The stranger shed tears upon seeing
this testimony of a penitent heart, and pointed to the station
of that Power which shed its pure religion over him, and
played upon the proselyte with a beans that never sets, and a.
hope that never forsakes him. Coffin rose at the call of the
Ordinary, who though unwilling to interrupt the praYer, was
anxious that an interview should take place, which would
crease the interest of the scene, by an exhibition of gratithdc,
repentance, resignation, and charity. The African and the
American knelt together, and continued in prayer. The con-
vict had made all the necessary preparations for leaving this
world. Fie bad acknowledged the guilt of his intention, and
felt that exquisite elfcct of his penitence, which proves the
sufficiency of atuue-iiient. He wished to die. The Africati
remained as long at the laws of the prison allowed, and visit-
ed his brother as he called him, anti' the moment of their
eternal separation. They were together in prayer the whole
of the night preceding the execution, and walked hand in
hand to the place where the irons arc struck off, full of that
religion which leaves no terror upon the heart.
Catlin fell in the midst of prayer. The Ordinary, upon
quitting the melancholy scene, declared that he never saw
stronger symptoms of the energy of religion than in the mind
of this poor uneducated almost friendless man.

The Aheriffs had delayed the execution upwards of a quarter
of an hour beyond the.appointed time, in the expectation of
an order for a farther respite, and all those who knew the cir-
cumstances, and observed the conduct of the unfortunate fo-
rtigner, showed an anxiety the most indescribable.
The African black excited the utin'st interest. He told the
Sheriff and the Ordinary, that he had experienced such kind-
ness and improvement here, as to wish fur an opportunity of
going once more amongst his countrymen, to render them all
the services to he derived from his experience in England.
An application is to be made to some of the principal mem-
bers of the African societies upon the ..tuoject. So rafted
was every body who witnessed his cooductitliat a subsvriptioo
was made for Win upon the spot,

The Bible and Cominon Prayer Book Society
of Upper Canada, in soliciring assistance and
countenance of the friends of Christianity, begs
leave to•remind them of the unhappy situation of
the inhabitants of this province in regard to reli-
gious instruction. The a hole regular establish-
ment of o Christian Protestant Clergy amounts
only to nine. In many places the great igno-
rance of the people, and their total disregard of all
religious observances, are rapidly increasing; and
even those who come to this country influenced
with a reverence for religion, feel their devout
impressions gradually wearing away. Christian
duties are neglected where no Christian ordinances
are observed, nor can we look for any favourable
change, much less the revival of vital Christiani-
ty, unless vigorous exertions are made by the
friends of the Gospel to diffuse its lights and point
out its benefits.
The steady performance of the duties which our
religion prescribes, unites-in Christian countries
latnilies tstnl neighbottrhoOds together, for there
can he no thain of connection, or bond of union,
dest:rving of confidence, except they rest upon our
reverence of doctrines and our practice of precept,
ri Welt tend so powerfully to produce rectitude of
conduct .and purity of heart; and which, by raising
the soul above temporal things, prepare it for the
enjoyment of those that are eternal;
Mille two pillars of Christianity, a regular Mi-
nistry and a knowledge of the sacred Scriptures,
the first may be said to be almost wanting in this
country, and the second entirely so. TO increase
the Ministry of the word, requires time, and is ';
not immediately in our power ; but the dissemi-
nation of the Scriptures is within the compass of
bur exertions, and will be productive of the greatest
Advantages. The means of acquiring a know-
ledge of the essentials of our 10,1 y religion are
common to most men. A sound intellect, a sin-
cere affection for the; truth, a humble and teach,
able disposition, a mind unfettered by prejudice,
a spirit free from irregular and furious passions,
and a serious endeatour to fo;low the truth wht:o
known, These qualities are more general than is
commonly supposed, and render us tar more com-
petent for studying the doctrines of Salvation, than
the greatest learning Without them. By furnish-
ing Bibles to ptrsons endued with such qualities,
%silo do not possess them, and have not the bene-
fit of religious' instruction, we shall enable them
to imitate' the noble l"ereans in searching the
Scriptures, and worshipping God in spirit and in
truth. The gift of a Bible may he of infinitely
more importance than the greatest temporal be-
nefit, it may awaken in the soul a true sense of
religion, and gradually remove that indifference
which at present so generally prevails. ThOu-
Lands know nothing of the Bible, for the little
education they receive has seldom any referenee
to religion,—many are not baptised, and live as
heathens in 'a Cl4:-istian land, consequently their
minds are exposed at all times without resistance
to the worst impressions.
The greater portion of our inhabitants being in
this deplorable situation, and totally incapable,
after ree,iving the Scriptures, of introducing into
their families a form of devotion by which they
may be edified and unproved, it may conduce still
more to the furtherance of true religion-to join
the Prayer Book with the Bible, as 'Ms will sup-
ply, the serious and devout with a form of wor-
shili upon the sacred volume, and resting
upon principles of which Jesus Christ is the cor-
ner stone. Not that we would press our excel-
lent liturgy upon those who have attached them-
selres to a different persuasion ; but situated as
this country is, we may consider. the greater
number to be of no particular denomination' of
Christians, it cannot therefore be wrong to give
the superstructure with the rock on which it is
founded.

Flow many persons furnished With a Bible and
Prayer Book would collect-their children• around
them on the. Sabbath, and read the service de-
voutly over, who might have spent that day in
idleneSS and sloth ? There is no sacrifice that
tve.Ca.n offee to God more acceptable than that
of disseminating the religion of his blessed
Son.--T-The establishment ,of a Society calculated
_ to Produce such inestimable benefits, both tem-
poral and eternal, seems peculiarly seasonable
at the present time ; just recovering from a war
In which we have been singularly favoured by
Divine Providence, an offering of gratitude and
thanksgiving is required at our hands, and
what more precious than that of extending to
our benighted brethren the consolations of that
.blessed religion which we have the happiness to
enjoy. The history of Christianity proves that
the times of calamity are the harvests of religion.
The blessed reformation was preceded by cruel
wars, and attended with such convulsions as ap-
peared for a time to threaten the total extinction
of Christianity itself ; but the clouds dispersed,
the Sun of Righteousness appeared, the infallible
oracles of Divine Revelation were disseminated,
the saving doctrines of the gospel taught, and a
much purer and rational worship introduced than
had been in use since the apostolic age.
In En-gland, soon after the glorious revolution
of 1688, which rescued the nation from temporal I
and spiritual bondage, several societies were esta
blisbed for the support and propagation of our
holy Protestant reformed religion. Of these, the
Society for Propagating the Gospel in Foreign
Parts, and the Society for Promoting Christian
KnOwledge.„ have been eminently distinguished..
'rime discreet zeal Avhich has directed the exertions
of those two societies, and has led them, hand in
hand, to promote the glorious object of -4heir in-•
stitution, has' rendered the benefits which they
conferred more extensively useful. By their en-
deavours the Christian religion bath beamed on
countries which had hitherto been darkened by su-
p:lsoo,m and ignorauce. Through their labours