The Weekly Perrysburg journal. [volume] (Perrysburg, O. [Ohio]) 1861-1???, 1867-06-07

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from old PAUL or bAHNEN KEBBY he OF.
tanned great amount OF most interesting
! Information. That venerable old maa was
liberated in the year 1895, after being
about forty years a slave in South Carolina
Alabama and other Southern States, aud
spent about year in New York, under the
caro- OF the Colonization Society, while
waiting tor vessel to take him to his ua.
two country. The writer tabovo mention.
ed) held numerous and prolonged inter.
views with him aud found him deeply in.
terested III making his communications con.
cerning his native country and people as
well as his own history for the purpose of
having them published for the information
OF Americans. lie often said there arc
good men in America. hut all are very ig.
norant of Africa. Write down what | tell
you exactly as say il and DO careful TO dis.
tinguish between what | have seen and
what have only heard other people speak
of; they may have made some mistakes, but
It you put down exactly what say, by and
10y when good men go to Africa they will
say Paul. told the truth. The observations
OF recent explorers confirm every word of
PAUL,
Mr.. SEYMOUR, a mulatto Of education aud
enterprise originally from Hartford, went
on foot from Monrovia, about eight years
ago, to near the southern confines of
Footah. aud found varied, rich and pop.
ulous country, with numerous towns and
villages, Immense fields of cotton, rice,
corn, vegetables, &C.. the people indus.
trious and hospitable manufacturing their
clothes and iron, with regular fairs for
the purchase and sale of numerous ar.
t cles If domestic and foreign produo.
tiOn. As one evidence OF the erroneous
Impressions common in the world respect
ing the habits of the Africans, ii may
be mentioned that in that region, as in Yo-
ruba IA country fifteen hundred or thou.
sand milos distant from it), the women not
only sweep their houses frequently but
carry the dust outside of the gates of the
towns.
Old PAUL was bonn in the southern part
of Footah and in his early childhood used
to bring water in calabash to his mother
from the Cabah, one of the head streams of
the Jalihah. lie afterward lived in the
cities of kebbe or kibby and Bunda,
where he spent many years studying under
different masters. On several occasions he
accompanied caravans and armies on mer-
camille and military expeditions into ada
cent and distant countries, and his account
of these abouuds in novelty and great in.
terest. The same may be said OF his com.
munications on the history, customs, arts re-
lglons, learning, languages, books, schools,
teachers, travellers, productions, trade, etc.
The mixed people among whom he lived
IN respect to its varied population, his
country resembles the unexplored regions
before mentioned, lying between it aud the
sea coast But as Footah is Mohammedan
country, the religion of the false pr ophet
affords land of union strong enough TO
hold the Heterogeneous multitude under
one government, and generally in the
peaceful enjoyment of the laws. arts, and
learning, which belong to Mohammedan
C immunity being provided for by the Koran
and claimed by its believers. When we
bear in mind that the chief attributes of
God and some of the principles of morality
were copied into that book from the He
brew Scriptures, we may realize something
of the difference between Mohammedan
and pagan countries in Africa.
One great advantage of the former con-
sists in the use of letters. Arabic is taught
in schools wherever the priests can find
pupils, and such is their humane desire TO
dilfusc the faith in which they conscien.
tiously believe, that they are sometimes
seen in Liberia, Sierra Leon, and other
places far from their homes. teaching chill.
dren to write the Arabic characters in the
sand.
PAUL was q schoolmaster in Footah, after
a lcng course of preparatory
studies, and said that he had an amt who
was much more learned thau himself, and
eminent for her superior requirements and
Tor her skill in teaching. Schools, lie said,
were generally established through the
country, provisions being made by law for
children of all classes, the poor
being taught gratutously. All the details
of the system he was ready to give in an.
swer to inquiries, including the methods,
rules, books, etc. He gave a catalogue of
about thirty books in his own mother
tongue, with some account of their nature
aid contents.
About five years ago, THEODORE DWIGHT
received from President Benson, of Liberia,
aud Ex-President RoBERTs, several manu-
scripts of considerable length, written with
neatness, uniformity and elegance, which
excite admiration. The compositions are
original, having been written at Monrovia,
1t the request of those distinguished gen
lemen by accomplished negro Mohamme-
Ian travellers, on visits there from the in
eriOr.
They have been translated by the Rev.
DR.. BIRD, of Hartford, and contain evidence
If sincere religious zeal in the writers
who address their solemn appeals to the
stranger who had requested a written com
from them, presuming, as it
appears, that he was not Moslvm, and
vas therefore ignorant of his Maker, his
obligations to him, and the importance Of
moving and serving him. Some passages
n those documents would be perfectly ap
'ropriate to a sermon, even in an American
pulpit, except that the idea of Savior is
lot expressed.
In my next | will give some passages
rom the Arabic manuscripts above referred |
o, which cannot fail to interest the reader, |
pho is desirous TO learn the truth respect !
Dg a country and people whose history |
Drms part of the Holy Bible; from whose
aughters the meek Moses took his wife
people that furnished commercial laws !
Or the nations, furnished the greatest
rchitects that ever lived and the greatest
No college can dispense
nth Euclid. No library is complete with
ut Ksops Fables. ID. II. z.
SToHY RIDGE, May, 1867.
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Oicanic Eruption AT Sea--A Remark able
Natural Phenomenon - Earth thrown
nm ThrOuph the Gaa nj "a Hiohf of T.vO