illiam Amo_, born in Guinea, was brought to Europe when very
young. The Princess of Brunswick, Wolfenbuttel, defrayed the expenses of
his education. He pursued his studies at Halle and at Wittenberg, and
so distinguished himself by his character and abilities, that the Rector
and Council of Wittenberg thought proper to give public testimony of
their respect in a letter of congratulation. In this letter they remark
that Terence also was an African--that many martyrs, doctors, and
fathers of the church were born in the same country, where learning once
flourished, and which by losing the christian faith, again fell back
into barbarism. Amo delivered private lectures on philosophy, which are
highly praised in the same letter. He became a doctor.

_Lislet Geoffroy_, a mulatto, was an officer of Artillery and guardian
of the Depot of Maps and Plans of the Isle of France. He was a
correspondent of the French Academy of Sciences, to whom he regularly
transmitted meteorological observations, and sometimes hydrographical
journals. His map of the Isles of France and Reunion is considered the
best map of those islands that has appeared. In the archives of the
Institute of Paris is an account of Lislet's voyage to the Bay of St.
Luce. He points out the exchangeable commodities and other resources
which it presents; and urges the importance of encouraging industry by
the hope of advantageous commerce, instead of exciting the natives to
war in order to obtain slaves. Lislet established a scientific society
at the Isle of France, to which some white men refused to belong,
because its founder had a skin more deeply colored than their own.

_James Derham_, originally a slave at Philadelphia, was sold to a
physician, who employed him in compounding drugs; he was afterward
sold to a surgeon, and finally to Doctor Robert Dove, of New-Orleans.
In 1788, at the age of twenty-one, he became the most distinguished
physician in that city, and was able to talk with French, Spanish, and
English, in their own languages. Doctor Rush says, "I conversed with
him on medicine, and found him very learned. I thought I could give
him information concerning the treatment of diseases; but I learned
from him more than he could expect from me."

_Thomas Fuller_, an African residing in Virginia, did not know how to
read or write, but had great facility in arithmetical calculations. He
was once asked, how many seconds has an individual lived when he is
seventy