West Coast
of Africa."

"Mr. J. H. Gurney said he had received from Mr. Thomas Clegg, of
Manchester, a few figures, from which it appeared that while in 1852
only 1800 lbs. of cotton had been brought into Great Britain from
Africa, in the first five months of the present year it was 94,400 lbs.

"Mr. Buxton said: 'There was no question now, that any required amount
of cotton, equal to that of New Orleans in quality, might be obtained. A
very short time ago Mr. Clegg, of Manchester, aided by the Rev. H. Venn,
and a few other gentlemen, trained and sent out two or three young
negroes as agents to Abbeokuta. These young men taught the natives to
collect and clean their cotton, and sent it home to England. The result
was, that the natives had actually purchased 250 cotton-gins for
cleaning their cotton. Mr. Clegg stated that he was in correspondence
with seventy-six natives and other African traders, twenty-two of them
being chiefs. With one of them Mr. Clegg had a transaction, by which he
(the African) received L3500. And the amount of cotton received at
Manchester had risen, hand over hand, till it came last year to nearly
100,000 lbs.' Well might Mr. Clegg say, that this was 'a rare instance
of the rapid development of a particular trade, and the more so because
every ounce of cotton had been collected, all labor performed, and the
responsibility borne by native Africans alone.' The fact was, that the
West African natives were not mere savages. In trade no men could show
more energy and quickness. And a considerable degree of social
organization existed. He could give a thousand proofs of this, but he
would only quote a word or two from Lieutenant May's despatch to Lord
Clarendon, dated the 24th of November, 1857. Lieutenant May crossed
overland from the Niger to Lagos, and he says:

"A very pleasing and hopeful part of my report lies in the fact, that
certainly three-quarters of the country was under cultivation. Nor was
this the only evidence of the industry and peace of the country; in
every hut is cotton spinning; in every town is weaving, dyeing; often
iron smelting, pottery works, and other useful employments are to be
witnessed; while from town to town, for many miles, the entire road
presents a continuous file of men, women, and children carrying these
articles of their production for sale. I entertain feelings of much
increased respect for the industry and intellect of these people, and
admiration for their l