"On the first of March I went to the palace, where I found a number of workmen in readiness. The king, who was seated under a shed, surrounded by a few favourites, received me this time with the most open affability; and having directed my chair to be placed in front of his own, he introduced some significant questions about England and her king; demanding to know his name, (which he endeavoured to repeat after me, and at perfection articulated Shorshi,) the kind of house he inhabited, the number of his women (wives), slaves, &c., the manner in which he made war, and a variety of other questions. He declared that he knew the English king to be king over all other white kings, and that his subjects were the most powerful and warlike of the white nations: just as he was the black king of kings, and his people the greatest black warriors.' This eulogy he concluded by saying, the great God of his fathers, whom he serves, preserve him long upon the stool (throne), and make his enemies die before him. The king of England had chained his heart to him.'

He repeated the enquiry whether I was actually from England or not, for the other white man (Mr. Bowdich) told him, he said, that he was sent by the king of England. This I conceived to be a fit opportunity for dispelling all doubts, by introducing my credentials. One of the officers, to whom I delivered my commission, read it aloud, while the linguist interpreted at each period deliberately. The king listened with attention, and when the recital was over, he bounded upon his feet, and grasping a scimiter that was handed to him, he gravely folded his clothes about his loins, eyeing me at the time with a scrutinizing glance; and as he stood in that posture, commenced an energetic speech, while his captains flocked tumultuously together, half surrounding their sovereign. At intervals the king flourished his weapon in the air, elevating or depressing the point of the blade as low as my forehead. When he had concluded, he retired backwards to his seat, and cast the weapon from his hand, making a signal at the same time to his chiet officers with one finger. The sign was understood. Adusai (a confidential minister) advanced next, and spoke with his characteristic volubility, imitating at the time, the transport before described. This officer was succeeded by Kankam (another minister), Apoko, the chief general of the army, Ado Matta (an aged officer of high military rank), and Agampong, all favourites of the king, with whom their influence was great.

"This striking novelty in court etiquette naturally excited surprise. The king perceived it, and desired Adusta to explain to my linguist that the ceremony I had witnessed was an oath of inviolable friendship and fidelity, whereby the king pledged himself to the king of England, to serve him and to fight for him, as I should direct, &c.

"At my leisure I obtained copies of the oaths, from the memory of my linguist, and the Fantees who were present. That of the king was thus construed—

"I swear a great oath, by the great God and the Fetische, and that great oath of my ancestors (the battle of Accromanti) that that book

(commission) is what I approve of; and I will remember what is just. The great king has secured my attachment; he is my master, and I will serve him truly, and do all I can to give him satisfaction. I will send my soldiers to the right and to the left whenever you say he wishes to make war on the wicked; then all these countries will know that I am a true friend, and that the white king is my king. I will do much to benefit the English in this country, and the people shall know that I love them better than the Dutch and Danes; but I like all white men. Hear this, captains; my master has sent me a great officer to take care of, and he must have whatever he wants, for he is now the same as my son, and the people must know I love him very much.' P. 89.

The oaths of the principal Captains and great Caboceers, which follow, are conceived in a similar strain. But the King was now to be exhibited under another influence; namely, that of violent indignation. He had demanded satisfaction of the town of Cape Coast in 1600 ounces of gold, and of the British governor, in a like sum. The ultimatum of Cape Coast and its Castle only offered to the monarch one hundred ounces for all compromise: an offer, it must be confessed, in no proportion with the magnitude of his requisition. In regard to the Governor, Smith, it was of course out of the question to accede to any demand upon him, as a functionary of England: but the bare justice of the case required that the Fantee satisfaction should be made to its full extent.

"I waited in suspense the whole of this forenoon for the promised audience, and at last sent the canes to the palace. The king, however, did not return me an answer so promptly as was due; and as I was then in possession of a public letter from Cape Coast Castle, specifying the amount of tribute awarded there as a peace offering to the king, I determined to urge the business. Thus resolved, I sallied forth, attended by my party, at a late hour in the afternoon. My messengers and the linguists were waiting at the outer fence. But as I approached, the palace gates were thrown open, and the king soon appeared and took his seat. I pleaded the long suspense he had kept me in; the many fruitless conferences, &c. and the great expence attending the mission: added to which, the inflexibiltty of his disposition tended to render abortive all those benevolent views which my sovereign entertained for his benefit aud that of his people. All these advantages and more, continued, he was likely to be bereft of, by his personal inflexibility, and his attachment to councils which teemed with hostility against an object comparatively below his dignity to notice; and actually so as competing with those great objects for which I had been sent to his

court.

I

"The king listened with lively attention, then instinctively rising from his seat, he said, White man, what you say is good. I like you be

cause you speak the truth, and I am sure you are my friend; but what can I do? I must listen to what the old men say.' Turning his head round to the captains, he said, Hear this talk, it is rational; and it is a strong palaver, for it belongs to the king of kings. We must look to it.' Here his majesty paused; but the answer not satisfying me, I proceeded to state that it was my intention to return to the Coast, requesting that a day might be appointed for my departure, unless he would pass his word to settle the palaver at an appointed time. The reply was, 'I am sorry to hear you say so, for all my great captains are coming to town to see you. Never mind the palaver, we will talk it over at another time.' I demanded to know, as he declined talking upon business, why he detained me, contrary to my duty; and whether or not I was to consider myself a prisoner. At the bare mention of the word the countenance of the king changed, and he evidently laboured under anxiety, as he said I had broken his heart. Do you think,' said he, I can act thus to my great master's, captain? No: were he to send me a slave, and say he did not want me for a friend, I could not do that.' At this pause I made a sort of ambiguous apology; but being resolved to gain a decided answer, I assured him that I did not doubt his word, but was instigated by a sense of duty to my sovereign's great officers, to whom I must account for the time that had been expended.

"I next introduced the dispatch I had received from Cape Coast, and read its contents to the king. A pause, of the duration of a minute or more, added to a fiery glance of the eye, convinced me of the operation of his mind; nor was the brooding tempest longer confined within its boundary, for raising his voice to its utmost elevation, and assuming a countenance of demoniacal phrenzy, he threw himself convulsively back in his chair, clenched his fists, and stretched forth his arms and legs, assuming, as it were, the rage of madness, while he bellowed out the most direful imprecations against the natives of Cape Coast, not excepting those present, or even my soldiers; nay Mr. Graves also participated in these anathemas. The foam all the while flowed down his beard in copious discharges, and the saliva spurted from his mouth on all around him. His ministers even betrayed emotion; some stood aghast, and others applied their forefingers to their heads and breasts, muttering all the while their respective charms, to avert impending evil. Occasionally the king spoke with less acrimony; his paroxysms were less violent; then again he would relapse into all his former fury, calling to his aid all the powers of his household gods, the Fetische of his country, &c. At one interval he vociferated, White men come to my country to trade-what have they to do with my slaves? They build castles and houses to live in; they stay as long as they like, then take the gold and go home again; but they never take mulattos and blacks, for they are their servants : the great God made them so; they are bad men. Smitty cheats me, and joins the Fantees to raise a laugh. The forts are mine, because I hold the books (notes), but I don't say they belong to me to keep. I

say they stand in my country to trade with the people. By that great oath (the battle of Cormantine or Accromanti), the Cape Coast people ought to die. Let me go there,' said the king to me, rising from his chair- let me have the jaw-bones of Aggry and De Graaf. want their gold: I want the blood of bad men to wash my stool. I cannot fight the whites, they are my friends.'

I don't

"The Fantees stood petrified with fear. Exhaustion alone seemed to overpower the king, and I thought it advisable to leave him time for cool reflection. My forbearance had the desired effect, for after the lapse of some minutes, he said, in his usual tone, 'Forgive me, captain; this is what the bad people do to me, therefore be not angry. Do not tell my master I am angry, because I have a good heart towards him and all white men. I have no palaver with them. But for the blacks, I am king, and I will be paid, or I will kill them. Why does the governor send a message, saying he will settle the palaver with me, and then send you a book to pay a hundred ounces of gold?' Muttering this, the royal indignation seemed to have entirely evaporated. Another pause ensued: and at length the king said, This palaver, I see, cannot be talked here; but you shall settle it for me with my nephew at Cape Coast, and what you say is right I will take.' Anxious again to gloss over the breach in his manners, he alleged that he was overcome by anger; but if I thought him a friend, such as he really was, I should forgive it." P. 143.

In conclusion, the origin and causes of our present war with Ashantee will be found in this work largely, and we are, for the present to presume, fairly elucidated.

The statements so strongly urged against the Governor and Council of Cape Coast, are of course like all others exparte, to derive their authenticity only from an examination in a higher quarter. But if we are to retain any intercourse with Africa, that examination cannot be commenced too early or too closely pursued.

Gilray's Caricatures. Parts I. and II. London.

EVERY one is familiar with the name of this clever artist, whose melancholy fate has so long left his peculiar department of art nearly void. Yet the nature of his subjects, drawn as they were from the variable and perishing topics of the day, of course influenced the permanence of his works, and Gilray was likely to be remembered only in the laughter of his contemporaries, now a decaying generation. But his happy fancy, the constant vigour and occasional grace, the powerful appli

cation, and the not unfrequently, elegant, and intellectual subtlety of his design, qualities which placed him at the head of the graphic satirists of his day, deserved something better than to be forgotten, or at best known only by remnants in the portefeuilles of collectors.

We are extremely glad to see a revival of his performances fairly commenced, and recommend this publication as almost a necessary appendix to any collection of the memoirs of the last thirty years.

It is only in a free, but yet aristocratical country, that the art of caricaturing can flourish. In despotisms it is too hazardous to jest at the expense of those who have it in their power to criticize the picture by the sharp physic of the jail; and in Democracies, the remedy of tarring and feathering, or lamppost or guillotine is too ready in the hands of the omnipotent rabble, for the mulct of the daring artist who ventures his humour on that most testy of all sovereigns, the sovereign people. Hence we are perhaps the only nation in which this art has been carried to a great extent, and committed to the charge of a peculiar school of artists. No doubt every country can produce its satirical pictures, and many their satirical medals, but in no other could a succession of pictures be produced, giving a regular chronicle of the feelings of all parties, an exposè of the subjects of laughter in their generation but in England. In Rome who dares ridicule in a regular trade of publication, the government of the Pope? In New York, who dares deride the vigorous executive of the mob?

We should be sorry to see this propensity extinguished among us. Party is a sad and gloomy thing in itself, and a laugh at its expense is always so much gained. No harm can result to any side of the question from this light and jocular species of satire, and if it has been abused, as no doubt it has been, the evil has soon corrected itself. It is an impartial agent equally deriding Whig and Tory, Ultra, or Radical, and it would be more than childish to complain of it, and more than tyrannical to oppress it.

This artist constantly exercised his pencil upon the blunders of whiggism, but time has extracted the sting. The day has so long gone by, for which his works were designed, that they should now be looked upon in no other light than as gay pieces of art-mere political extravaganzas, to be admired and laughed at-if, indeed, they are not now calculated to draw from the surviving agents of their scenes, a sigh for the memory of days gone by.

Gilray is peculiarly happy in his delineations of Fox and