"Are the boys' knees and elbows rendered sore when they first begin to learn to climb? Yes, they are, and pieces out of them.-Is that almost generally the case? It is; there is not one out of twenty who is not; and they are sure to take the scars to their grave: I have some now. Are they usually compelled to continue climbing while those sores are open? Yes; the way they use to make them hard is that way.-Might not this severity be obviated by the use of pads in learning to climb? Yes; but they consider in the business, learning a boy, that he is never thoroughly learned until the boy's knees are hard after being sore; then they consider it necessary to put a pad on, from seeing the boys have bad knees; the children generally walk stiff-kneed. Is it usual among the chimney sweepers to teach their boys to learn by means of pads? No; they learn them with nearly naked knees.-Is it done in one instance in twenty? No, nor one in fifty."-Lords' Minutes, p. 32.

According to the humanity of the master, the soot remains upon the bodies of the children, unwashed off, for any time from a week to a year.

"Are the boys generally washed regularly? No, unless they wash themselves.-Did not your master take care you were washed? No.-Not once in three months? No, not once a year.-Did not he find you soap? No; I can take my oath on the Bible that he never found me one piece of soap during the time I was apprentice."-Lords' Minutes, p. 41.

The life of these poor little wretches is so miserable that they often lie sulking in the flues, unwilling to come out.

"Did you ever see severity used to boys that were not obstinate and perverse? Yes.Very often? Yes, very often. The boys are rather obstinate; some of them are; some of them will get halfway up the chimney, and will not go any further, and then the journeyman will swear at them to come down or go on; but the boys are too frightened to come down; they halloo out, 'we cannot get up,' and they are afraid to come down; sometimes they will send for another boy and drag them down; sometimes get up to the top of the chimney, and throw down water, and drive them down; then when they get them down they will begin to drag, or beat, or kick them about the house; then when they get home, the master will beat them all round the kitchen afterwards, and give them no breakfast perhaps."-Lords' Minutes, pp. 9, 10.

When a chimney boy has done sufficient work for the master, he must work for the man; and he thus becomes for several hours after his morning's work a perquisite to the journeyman.

"It is frequently the perquisite of the journeyman when the first labour of the day on account of the master is finished, to 'call the streets,' in search of employment on their own account with the apprentices, whose labour is thus unreasonably extended, and whose limbs are weakened and distorted by the weights which they have to carry, and by the distance which they have to walk. John Lawless says, 'I have known a boy to climb from twenty to thirty chimneys for his master in the morning; he has then been sent out instantly with the journeyman, who has kept him out till three or four o'clock, till he has accumulated from six to eight bushels of soot."-Lords' Report, p. 24.

The sight of a little chinney sweeper often excites pity: and they have small presents made to them at the houses where they sweep. These bene. volent alms are disposed of in the following manner :

"Do the boys receive little presents of money from people often in your trade? Yes, it is in general the custom.- Are they allowed to keep that for their own use? Not the whole of it; the journeymen take what they think proper. The journeymen are entitled to half by the master's orders; and whatever a boy may get, if two boys and one journeyman are sent to a large house to sweep a number of chimneys, and after they have done, there should be a shilling or eighteenpence given to the boys, the journeyman has his full half, and the two boys in general have the other.-Is it usual or customary for the journeymen to play at chuckfarthing or other games with the boys? Frequently.-Do they win the money from the boys? Frequently; the children give their money to the journeymen to screen for them. What do you mean by screening? Such a thing as sifting the soot. The child is tired, and he says, "Jem, I will give you twopence if you will sift my share of the soot: there is sometimes twenty or thirty bushels to sift.-Do you think the boys retain one quarter of that given them for their own use? No."-Lords' Minutes, p. 35.

To this most horrible list of calamities is to be added the dreadful deaths by which chimney sweepers are often destroyed. Of these we once thought of giving two examples; one from London, the other from our own town of Edinburgh: but we confine ourselves to the latter.

"James Thomson, chimney sweeper.-One day in the beginning of June witness and panel (that is, the master, the party accused) had been sweeping vents together. About four o'clock in the afternoon the panel proposed to go to Albany Street, where the panel's brother was cleaning a vent, with the assistance of Fraser, whom he had borrowed from the panel for the occasion. When witness and panel got to the house in Albany Street, they found Fraser, who had gone up the vent between eleven and twelve o'clock, not yet come down. On entering the house they found a mason making a hole in the wall. Panel said, what was he doing? Ĭ suppose he has taken a lazy fit. The panel called to the boy, What are you doing? what's keeping you?' The boy answered that he could not come. The panel worked a long while, sometimes persuading him, sometimes threatening and swearing at the boy, to get him down. Panel then said, I will go to a hardware shop and get a barrel of gunpowder, and blow you and the vent to the devil, if you do not come down." Panel then began to slap at the wallwitness then went up a ladder, and spoke to the boy through a small hole in the wall previously made by the mason-but the boy did not answer. Panel's brother told witness to come down, as the boy's master knew best how to manage him. Witness then threw off his jacket, and put a handkerchief about his head, and said to the panel, 'Let me go up the chimney to see what's keeping him.' The panel made no answer, but pushed witness away from the chimney, and continued bullying the boy. At this time the panel was standing on the grate, so that witness could not go up the chimney; witness then said to panel's brother, 'There is no use for me here,' meaning, that panel would not permit him to use his services. He prevented the mason making the hole larger, saying, 'Stop, and I'll bring him down in five minutes' time.' Witness then put on his jacket, and continued an hour in the room, during all which time the panel continued bullying the boy. Panel then desired witness to go to Reid's house to get the loan of his boy Alison. Witness went to Reid's house, and asked Reid to come and speak to panel's brother. Reid asked if panel was there. Witness answered he was; Reid said he would send his boy to the panel, but not to the panel's brother. Witness and Reid went to Albany Street; and when they got into the room, panel took his head out of the chimney and asked Reid if he would lend him his boy; Reid agreed; witness then returned to Reid's house for his boy, and Reid called after him, 'Fetch down a set of ropes with you.' By this time witness had been ten minutes in the room, during which time panel was swearing, and asking What's keeping you, you scoundrel?' When witness returned with the boy and ropes, Reid took hold of the rope, and having loosed it, gave Alison one end, and directed him to go up the chimney, saying, 'Do not go farther than his feet, and when you get there fasten it to his foot.' Panel said nothing all this time. Alison went up, and having fastened the rope, Reid desired him to come down; Reid took the rope and pulled, but did not bring down the boy; the rope broke! Alison was sent up again with the other end of the rope, which was fastened to the boy's foot. When Reid was pulling the rope, panel said, 'You have not the strength of a cat;' he took the rope into his own hands, pulling as strong as he could. Having pulled about a quarter of an hour, panel and Reid fastened the rope round a crowbar, which they applied to the wall as a lever, and both pulled with all their strength for about a quarter of an hour longer, when it broke. During this time witness heard the boy cry, and say, 'My God Almighty!' Panel said, 'If I had you here, I would God Almighty you.' Witness thought the cries were in agony. The master of the house brought a new piece of rope, and the panel's brother spliced an eye on it. Reid expressed a wish to have it fastened on both thighs, to have greater purchase. Alison was sent up for this purpose, but came down, and said he could not get it fastened. Panel then began to slap at the wall. After striking a long while at the wall he got out a large stone; he then put in his head and called to Fraser, 'Do you hear, you sir?' but got no answer: he then put in his hands, and threw down deceased's breeches. He then came down from the ladder. At this time the panel was in a state of perspiration: he sat down on a stool, and the master of the house gave him a dram. Witness did not hear panel make any remarks as to the situation of the boy Fraser. Witness thinks that, from panel's appearance, he knew the boy was dead."-Commons' Report, pp. 136-138.

We have been thus particular in stating the case of the chimney sweepers, and in founding it upon the basis of facts, that we may make an answer to those profligate persons who are always ready to fling an air of ridicule upon the labours of humanity, because they are desirous that what they have not virtue to do themselves should appear to be foolish and romantic when done by others. A still higher degree of depravity than this is to want every sort of compassion for human misery when it is accompanied by filth, poverty, and ignorance,—to regulate humanity by the income tax, and to deem the bodily wretchedness and the dirty tears of the poor a fit subject for pleasantry and contempt. We should have been loth to believe that such deep-seated and disgusting immorality existed in these days; but the notice of it is forced upon us. Nor must we pass over a set of marvellously weak

gentlemen, who discover democracy and revolution in every effort to improve the condition of the lower orders, and to take off a little of the load of misery from those points where it presses the hardest. Such are the men into whose heart Mrs. Fry has struck the deepest terror,—who abhor Mr. Bentham and his penitentiary; Mr. Bennet and his hulks; Sir James Mackintosh and his bloodless assizes; Mr. Tuke and his sweeping machines,—and every other human being who is great and good enough to sacrifice his quiet to his love for his fellow creatures. Certainly we admit that humanity is sometimes the veil of ambition or of faction; but we have no doubt that there are a great many excellent persons to whom it is misery to see misery, and pleasure to lessen it; and who, by calling the public attention to the worst cases, and by giving birth to judicious legislative enactments for their improvement, have made, and are making, the world somewhat happier than they found it. Upon these principles we join hands with the friends of the chimney sweepers, and most heartily wish for the diminution of their numbers, and the limitation of their trade.

We are thoroughly convinced there are many respectable master chimney sweepers; though we suspect their numbers have been increased by the alarm which their former tyranny excited, and by the severe laws made for their coercion but even with good masters the trade is miserable,—with bad ones it is not to be endured; and the evidence already quoted shows us how many of that character are to be met with in the occupation of sweeping chimneys.

After all, we must own that it was quite right to throw out the bill for prohibiting the sweeping of chimneys by boys-because humanity is a modern invention; and there are many chimneys in old houses which cannot possibly be swept in any other manner. But the construction of chimneys should be attended to in some new building act; and the treatment of boys be watched over with the most severe jealousy of the law. Above all, those who have chimneys accessible to machinery should encourage the use of machines,* and not think it beneath their dignity to take a little trouble, in order to do a great deal of good. We should have been very glad to have seconded the views of the Climbing Society, and to have pleaded for the complete abolition of climbing boys, if we could conscientiously have done so. But such a measure, we are convinced from the evidence, could not be carried into execution without great injury to property, and great increased risk of fire. The Lords have investigated the matter with the greatest patience, humanity, and good sense; and they do not venture, in their Report, to recommend to the House the abolition of climbing boys.†

MISSION TO ASHANTEE.

(E. REVIEW, October, 1819.)

Mission from Cape Coast Castle to Ashantee, with a Statistical Account of that Kingdom, and Geographical Notices of other Parts of the Interior of Africa. By T. EDWARD BOWDICH Esq., Conductor. London: Murray. 1819.

CAPE COAST CASTLE, or Cape Corso, is a factory of Africa, on the Gold Coast. The Portuguese settled here in 1610, and built the citadel; from which, in a few years afterwards, they were dislodged by the Dutch. In

The price of a machine is fifteen shillings.

The chairman of this Committee was Lord Auckland, whose name may be always a guarantee to the public for good feelings regulated by good sense.

1661 it was demolished by the English under Admiral Holmes; and by the treaty of Breda, it was made over to our Government. The latitude of Cape Coast Castle is 5°6′ north; the longitude 1° 51′ west. The capital

of the kingdom of Ashantee is Coomassie, the latitude of which is about 6° 30′ 20′′ north, and the longitude 2° 6' 30" west. The mission quitted Cape Coast Castle on the 22nd of April, and arrived at Coomassie about the 16th of May-halting two or three days on the rout, and walking the whole distance, or carried by hammock-bearers at a foot-pace. The distance between the fort and the capital is not more than 150 miles, or about as far as from Durham to Edinburgh ;-and yet the kingdom of Ashantee was, before the mission of Mr. Bowdich, almost as much unknown to us as if it had been situated in some other planet. The country which surrounds Cape Coast Castle belongs to the Fantees; and about the year 1807 an Ashantee army reached the coast for the first time. They invaded Fantee again in 1811, and, for the third time, in 1816. To put a stop to the horrible cruelties committed by the stronger on the weaker nation; to secure their own safety, endangered by the Ashantees; and to enlarge our knowledge of Africathe Government of Cape Coast Castle persuaded the African Committee to send a deputation to the kingdom of the Ashantee: and of this embassy the publication now before us is the narrative. The embassy walked through a beautiful country, laid waste by the recent wars, and arrived, in the time we have mentioned, and without meeting with any remarkable accident, at Coomassie the capital. The account of their first reception there we shall lay before our readers.

"We entered Coomassie at two o'clock, passing under a fetish, or sacrifice of a dead sheep, wrapped up in red silk, and suspended between two lofty poles. Upwards of 5,000 people, the greater part warriors, met us with awful bursts of martial music, discordant only in its mixture: for horns, drums, rattles, and gong-gongs were all exerted with a zeal bordering on frenzy, to subdue us by the first impression. The smoke which encircled us from the incessant discharges of musketry, confined our glimpses to the foreground; and we were halted whilst the captains performed their Pyrrhic dance, in the centre of a circle formed by their warriors; where a confusion of flags, English, Dutch, and Danish, were waved and flourished in all directions; the bearers plunging and springing from side to side, with a passion of enthusiasm only equalled by the captains, who followed them, discharging their shining blunderbusses so close that the flags now and then were in a blaze; and emerging from the smoke with all the gesture and distortion of maniacs. Their followers kept up the firing around us in the rear. The dress of the captains was a war cap, with gilded ram's horns projecting in front, the sides extended beyond all proportion by immense plumes of eagles' feathers, and fastened under the chin with bands of cowries. Their vest was of red cloth, covered with fetishes and saphies in gold and silver; and embroidered cases of almost every colour, which flapped against their bodies as they moved, intermixed with small brass bells, the horns and tails of animals, shells, and knives; long leopards' tails, hung down their backs, over a small bow covered with fetishes. They wore loose cotton trowsers, with immense boots of a dull red leather, coming half way up the thigh, and fastened by small chains to their cartouch or waist belt; these were also ornamented with bells, horses' tails, strings of amulets, and innumerable shreds of leather; a small quiver of poisoned arrows hung from their right wrist, and they held a long iron chain between their teeth, with a scrap of Moorish writing affixed to the end of it. A small spear was in their left hands, covered with red cloth and silk tassels; their black countenances heightened the effect of this attire, and completed a figure scarcely human.

This exhibition continued about half an hour, when we were allowed to proceed, encircled by the warriors, whose numbers, with the crowds of people, made our movement as gradual as if it had taken place in Cheapside; the several streets branching off to the right presented long vistas crammed with people; and those on the left hand being on an acclivity, innumerable rows of heads rose one above another; the large open porches of the houses, like the fronts of stages in small theatres, were filled with the better sort of females and children, all impatient to behold white men for the first time; their exclamations were drowned in the firing and music, but their gestures were in character with the scene. When we reached the palace, about half a mile from the place where we entered, we were again halted, and an open file was made, through which the bearers were passed, to deposit the presents and baggage in the house assigned to us. Here we were gratified by observing several of the caboceers (chiefs) pass by with their trains, the novel splendour of which astonished us. The bands,

principally composed of horns and flutes, trained to play in concert, seemed to soothe our hearing into its natural tone again by their wild melodies; whilst the immense umbrellas, made to sink and rise from the jerkings of the bearers, and the large fans waving around, refreshed us with small currents of air, under a burning sun, clouds of dust, and a density of atmosphere almost suffocating. We were then squeezed, at the same funeral pace, up a long street, to an open-fronted house, where we were desired by a royal messenger to wait a further invitation from the king."-(Pp. 31-33.)

The embassy remained about four months, leaving one of their members behind as a permanent resident. Their treatment, though subjected to the fluctuating passions of barbarians, was, upon the whole, not bad; and a foundation appears to have been laid of future intercourse with the Ashantees, and a mean opened, through them, of becoming better acquainted with the interior of Africa.

The Moors, who seem (barbarians as they are) to be the civilisers of internal Africa, have penetrated to the capital of the Ashantees: they are bigoted and intolerant to Christians, but not sacrificers of human victims in their religious ceremonies ;-nor averse to commerce; and civilised in comparison to most of the idolatrous natives of Africa. From their merchants who resorted from various parts of the interior, Mr. Bowdich employed himself in procuring all the geographical details which their travels enabled them to afford. Timbuctoo they described as inferior to Houssa, and not at all comparable to Boornoo. The Moorish influence was stated to be powerful in it, but not predominant. A small river goes nearly round the town, overflowing in the rains, and obliging the people of the suburbs to move to an eminence in the centre of the town, where the king lives. The king, a Moorish negro called Billabahada, had a few double-barrelled guns, which were fired on great occasions; and gunpowder was as dear as gold. Mr. Bowdich calculates Houssa to be N. E. from the Niger 20 days' journey of 18 miles each day; and the latitude and longitude to be 18° 59′ N. and 3° 59′ E. Boornoo was spoken of as the first empire in Africa. The Mahometans of Sennaar reckon it among the four powerful empires of the world; the other three being Turkey, Persia, and Abyssinia.

The Niger is only known to the Moors by the name of the Quolla, pronounced as Quorra by the negroes, who, from whatever countries they come, all spoke of this as the largest river with which they were acquainted; and it was the grand feature in all the routes to Ashantee, whether from Houssa, Boornoo, or the intermediate countries. The Niger, after leaving the lake Dibbri, was invariably described as dividing into two large streams; the Quolla, or the greater division, pursuing its course south-eastward, till it joined the Bahr Abiad; and the other branch running northward of east, near to Timbuctoo, and dividing again soon afterwards-the smaller division running northwards by Yahoodee, a place of great trade, and the larger running directly eastward, and entering the lake Caudi, under the name of Gambaroo. "The variety of this concurrent evidence respecting the Gambaroo made an impression on my mind," says Mr. Bowdich, "almost amounting to conviction." The same author adds that he found the Moors very cautious in their accounts; declining to speak unless they were positive-and frequently referring doubtful points to others whom they knew to be better acquainted

with them.

The character of the present king is, upon the whole, respectable; but he is ambitious, has conquered a great deal, and is conquering still. He has a love of knowledge; and was always displeased when the European objects which attracted his attention were presented to him as gifts. His motives, he said, ought to be better understood, and more respect paid to his dignity and friendship. He is acute, capricious, and severe, but not devoid of