Star.
London, England, 1824-05-06 00:00:00

SLAVE TRADE.

The Slave Trade Laws Consolidation Bill was recommitted, and
the Report was ordered to be received on Friday next.
Dr. LUSIIINGTON gave notice, that on the third reading of
the Bill he should move a clause (similar to that contained in the
Bill lately introduei d) rendering the trade in Slaves piracy.
The other Ot.lers of the Dry were then disposed of, and the
Muse adjourned at Seven o'Clock.

A SHAN I'EE WAR.

EXTRACTS OF LETTERS FROM THE GOLD COAST.

" BRITISH ACCRA, JAN. 31, 1824..

"it is unnece;sary for me to communica;e to you the
seizure of one of our Serjeants by order the Ashan-
tee Despot, and other causes that have led to a war be•
tween the British and that nation, as you have alri:dy
been put in possession of these circumstances by my
friend --. Suffice it to say, your prediction (•liat
less speedy and effectual aid we!e Senr from rat2land
things would go bird tt ith us) has be:ni too soon vet tried.
The Ashante..s have long threatened us with an atiack ;
and on 01 25,11 of last moon, inteil,gence was brought
to Sir Chalk!. Nl4liti thy that they Wel e approaching the
Coast ; but, ccntrary to what is usual, their forces
were by report (liminiyhed ai to their tTal numbers;
the consequence was, that Sir Chatles divided forces
in four divisions, and marched into the interior! The
enemy, instead of dividing theirs, collected a force of ten
thonsand men, and attacked the division commanded
by Sir Charles himself (who did not muster 1000 mus-
kets), and, I regret to say, totally defeated and dispersed
it ! The whole or the Whites are either killed or mis-
sing, but Major Ricketts and Ensign Erskine, who after
marry hardships have succeeded in getting to Cape
COait. Among the killed and missing are Sir Charles
himself, Messrs. Buckle and Wetherill, from Sierra
Leone; also Robertson, Dr. Tedlie, Jones, Blandon,
J. p. Williams, and Heddle, of Cape Coast, all of
whom you have seen, and several 'others with whom
you are tot acquainted. H and I were with
the Accra division, commanded by Captain Blenkarne,
and at least a hundred and fifty miles to the east.
ward of Sir Charles, when this afflicting intelligence was
brought to us; and by the same messenger we were or-

dered to fall back on Accra, and put the town and fiat
in the best state of defence. It will now be seen that
the Ashantees are a people not to be utterly despised ! In
short, it has come to this—if Government do not instantly
send out two or three thousand troops to put down this
Power, they must withdraw the British flag from the
Coast, and leave the field to the cunnin,t Dutchmen to
reap the harvest of their intrigue ! The moment the
issue of the battle was known, the people of Elmina
commenced seizing our people; and those of Shamah
(another Dutch settlement) had the temerity to fire on
one of the boats of the Owen Glendower ! But here
they suffered from their rashness, by the total destruc-
tion of the town. It is a most fortunate circumstance

that the frigate was in the vicinity of Cape Coast at this
moment, or I know not how much more dreadful the
result would have been. The divisions commanded by
Majors Chisholm and Laing have returned to Cape
Coast and Annamaboe ; they can get 114 tidings of either
Sir Charles or the Ashantees, and it is supposed the
latter have fallen back a short distance to communicate

their great success to their King betOre,they renew the
contest. Sir Charles's orderly, who escared from the
field, affirms that Sir Charles was wounded in two places
early in the action. _ _ _

" It h but justice to say, the Danish Governor, Rich-

ieu has acted the pact of a man of honour towards us.

He has spared neither expense nor personal exertion to
assist us in putting down the Ashantees; and if the
Dutch bad acted the same pat t, matters would ere this
have been settled in our favour. To seem e the favour
and trade of the Ashantees, the Dutch have been so
mean as to instil into the minds of these people, that
our object is to bring their nation under our yoke, and
that if we are driven from the Coast, they (the Ashan-

tees) will again have opportunities of disposing of their
slaves to the Portuguese and Spanish vessels!
P.S. A report has just reached us, that S:r Cliar:es
is safe among the Dinqueras, a ceuntry sit'iate about:
sixty-five miles N.W. of Cape Coast, a;.d in onr
alli-
ance. I sincerely hope this report may be eotifirined,
but for my part I much doubt it."

" ACCRA, JAN. :A, 13'24.

" The late disastrous events have brought us into
very critical situation! On the 29th ult. Sir Charles
directed Captain Blenkarne, the Commandant eflimes'
Fort, Accra, to proceed to Akim, and there to form an
encampment. The object of this was (I have some rea-
son to think) to menace and divide the force; o'
Ashantees. We left this on the 4th instant for that pur-
pose; but in consequence of some dissatisfaction am•
those on whom we relied for aid, our forces were but
slender; and after having remained in the Aguassim
Territory three weeks our forces having refused to pro-
ceed, we were obliged to fall back on this place. In the
meantime,out good Governor,hoping by his own presence
Ito infuse confidence into the dastardly Fantees, among
whom lie had trusted hims6f, was attacked on the 21st
inst. by 10,000Ashantees, who had been near him for same
days. It was unfortunate that at this time a force under
Major Chisholm, another under Captain Lestrange, and
a third under Captain Laing, were all at distinct camps,
and knew nothing of what was going on until all was
over. We have nothing authentic, but report is busy
in making bad worse. We have every reason to be] eve
almost all the whites have been killed. Mr. Erskine,
the only officer who has returned, was wounded. Sir,
Charles is said to have been wounded in two places:
uothing to this day has been heard of him. The
took place behind Secundeee, almost ten miles inland.
Thu wounded (one hundred) made their way to that •
settlement, and afterwards to the Cape, in canoes. On
the ‘2.81.1) Major Chisholm returned to Cape Coast, but
had not heard of Sir Charles. Ile mustered all the forces

he could, and Captain Laing was sent with him to
search for Sir Charles. The amount of their forces I
cannot state, not having heard, but the blacks ate, 1
tear, panic-struck.
4, Government will see 'the necessity of now doing
what ought to have been done long ago. Unless three
or tc'ur thousand men are sent out to beat these savages
out of hand, they will keep the country agitated wail
they effect the total subjugation of the coasts. You
can scarcely imagine the panic which prevails every-
\‘ heir. 'fire defeat appeat s, by the imperfect accounts
we now have, to have been complete. The forces under
Sir Charles are supposed to have been only 500. What
was that to 10,0(X) in a wood, surrounded and out of
atumunikion ? Poor, poor Sit Charles! The treache!ous
and timorous and boasting Fantees have effected a mis-
chance which time cannot repair. If alive, what roust
your feelings be !—if no more, how horrid a death must
we suppose to have been invented for you!. Major
Chisholm is doing all he can to put this Castle in a state
to repel every aggression. The sincerity of the Dutch
is doubtful. lire enemy have not been heard of since
the action ; they ate, it is supposed, returned to their
encampment; tee are the most exposed to their attacks,
this situation being so open. The transport had sailed
only a day or two before this affair happened ; and I
am now much hurried in writing this, as the ship by
which I forward it is sailing about the offing, and 1 have
no time to lose. She goes from this to liarbadocs. No
apology will I trust be needed. This account is lam
sure as imperfect as it mu-1 be unwelcome."

self in the most retired part of the room. He listened
with astonishment to the sentiments that were there ut-
tered, and said to himself, " If this be true, then am I
a condemned sinner." He did not trust to the hearsay
statements of others, but went home to read and judge
for himself. What was his fear on fording what had
been stated to be correct ! What was his joy on seeing
the way of salvation open to him ! He had eagerly en-
deavoured to embrace it, and that individual was now,
by DIVINE PROVIDENCE, permitted to address the meet-
ing, and to bear his testimony to its beneficial effects.
(Here the Noble Earl was greatly affected, and the state-
ment was received with loud and continued cheers.)
He concluded by expressing in warm terms his zeal for
the welfare of the Society.—The motion was carried.
The Bishop of LITCIIFIELD and COVENTRY addressed
the Meeting, and expressed his satisfaction at the rapid
march of the Society. He concluded by moving the thanks
of the Meeting to the President and the Vice-President.
The motion was seconded by Lord BARHAM, who ex-
pressed his pleasure at finding that all sects were united
as if to resist the invasions of infidelity, which now made
the most dreadful assaults on the souls of their brethren.
The motion of thanks was carried unanimously.
Lord BEXLEY moved the thanks of the Society to
those Members of the Royal Family who had patronized
the Society. Ile was highly delighted at finding him-
self surrounded by the Ambassadors in the sacred cause
from every part of the world.
The Rev. Dr. MORRISON was warmly received as the
first rept esentative from China, and said that the diffi-
culties in that immense country weregreat, but not insur-
mountable. The hearts of the Chinese were not harder
than ours were. lithe Bible could affect the heart, and
convect to the until a British Nobleman, it cotdd equally
affect the hearts of the Chinese—Wear, hear, and
dieers). The !levet end Gentleman exhibited to the
Society a copy ol the S r iptuies in the Chinese lan-
guaz..;e, the completion of w hich, he said, had occupied
him 17 }eats. He ,ai.l it was already made the text-
book i:t sevei al c't the Chinese Institutions, and there
could no doubt of its progress. • Ile teturned thanks
irolt the Arig:o-Ff!mese to the Society.
The motion was carried unanimously.