To the same effect is the testimony of the following "Extract of a Letter from Nathaniel Shaler, Commander of the private-armed Schooner Gov. Tompkins, to his Agent in New York, dated "AT SEA, Jan. 1, 1813. "Before I could get our light sails in, and almost before I could turn round, I was under the guns, not of a transport, but of a large frigate! and not more than a quarter of a mile from her. Her first broadside killed My offi two men, and wounded six others. cers conducted themselves in a way that would have done honor to a more permanent service. The name of one of my poor fellows who was killed ought to be registered in the book of fame, and remembered with reverence as long as bravery is considered a virtue. He was a black man, by the name of John Johnson. A twenty-four-pound shot struck him in the hip, and took away all the lower part of his body. In this state, the poor brave fellow lay on the deck, and several times exclaimed to his shipmates, 'Fire away, my boy: no haul a color down.' The other was also a black man, by the name of John Davis, and was struck in much the same way. He fell near me, and several times requested to be thrown overboard, saying he was only in the way of others. "When America has such tars, she has little to fear from the tyrants of the ocean.” — Niles's Weekly Register, Saturday, Feb. 26, 1814. (B.) At the August meeting of the Massachusetts Historical Society, an interesting memorial of the last century was displayed. It was a silk flag, bearing the device of a Pine-tree and a Buck, with the initials THEOL DIC 4 1903 LIBRARY: "J. H." and "G. W." over a scroll, on which appear the words, "The Bucks of America." This relic had been carefully preserved as the flag presented by Governor Hancock to a company of colored soldiers bearing that name. It now belongs to Mr. William C. Nell, of Boston. Mr. Nell is the author of a volume entitled "The Colored Patriots of the American Revolution, with Sketches of several Distinguished Colored Persons;" a book that contains a great number of interesting anecdotes on the subject. It was published in 1855, and is now out of print; but a new edition, considerably enlarged, is, I am happy to hear, soon to be issued. (C.) NEGRO REGIMENTS IN THE STATE OF NEW YORK. That the services of negroes, as soldiers, were solicited and welcomed by the civil and military authorities in various parts of the United States, during the war of 1812 with Great Britain, is too well known to need any illustration. It may not, however, be out of place here to reprint an act of the Legislature of the State of New York. "An Act to authorize the raising of Two Regiments of Men of Color ; passed Oct. 24, 1814. "SECT. 1. Be it enacted by the people of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, That the Governor of the State be, and he is hereby, authorized to raise, by voluntary enlistment, two regiments of free men of color, for the defence of the State for three years, unless sooner discharged. "SECT. 2. And be it further enacted, That each of the said regiments shall consist of one thousand and eighty able-bodied men; and the said regiments shall be formed into a brigade, or be organized in such manner, and shall be employed in such service, as the Governor of the State of New York shall deem best adapted to defend the said State. "SECT. 3. And be it further enacted, That all the commissioned officers of the said regiments and brigade shall be white men; and the Governor of the State of New York shall be, and he is hereby, authorized to commission, by brevet, all the officers of the said regiments and brigade, who shall hold their respective commissions until the council of appointment shall have appointed the officers of the said regiments and brigade, in pursuance of the Constitution and laws of the said State. "SECT. 4. And be it further enacted, That the commissioned officers of the said regiments and brigade shall receive the same pay, rations, forage, and allowances, as officers of the same grade in the army of the United States; and the non-commissioned officers, musicians, and privates of the said regiments shall receive the same pay, rations, clothing, and allowances, as the non-commissioned officers, musicians, and privates of the army of the United States; and the sum of twenty-five dollars shall be paid to each of the said non-commissioned officers, musicians, and privates, at the time of enlistment, in lieu of all other bounty. "SECT. 5. And be it further enacted, That the troops to be raised as aforesaid may be transferred into the service of the United States, if the Government of the United States shall agree to pay and subsist them, and to refund to this State the moneys expended by this State in clothing and arming them; and, until such transfer shall be made, may be ordered into the service of the United States in lieu of an equal number of militia, whenever the militia of the State of New York shall be ordered into the service. of the United States. "SECT. 6. And be it further enacted, That it shall be lawful for any able-bodied slave, with the written assent of his master or mistress, to enlist into the said corps; and the master or mistress of such slave shall be entitled to the pay and bounty allowed him for his service: and, further, that the said slave, at the time of receiving his discharge, shall be deemed and adjudged to have been legally manumitted from that time, and his said master or mistress shall not thenceforward be liable for his maintenance. "SECT. 7. And be it further enacted, that every such enrolled person, who shall have become free by manumission or otherwise, if he shall thereafter become indigent, shall be deemed to be settled in the town in which the person who manumitted him was settled at the time of such manumission, or in such other town where he shall have gained a settlement subsequent to his discharge from the said service; and the former owner or owners of such manumitted person, and his legal representatives, shall be exonerated from his maintenance, any law to the contrary hereof notwithstanding. "SECT. 8. And be it further enacted, That, when the troops to be raised as aforesaid shall be in the service of the United States, they shall be subject to the rules and articles which have been or may be hereafter established by the By-laws of the United States for the government of the army of the United States; that, when the said troops shall be in the service of the State of New York, they shall be subject to the same rules and regulations: And the Governor of the said State shall be, and he is hereby, authorized and directed to exercise all the power and au thority which, by the said rules and articles, are required to be exercised by the President of the United States."Laws of the State of New York, passed at the Thirty-eighth Session of the Legislature, chap. xviii. (D.) GENERAL JACKSON'S PROCLAMATION TO THE NEGROES. HEADQUARTERS, SEVENTH MILITARY DISTRICT, To the Free Colored Inhabitants of Louisiana. Through a mistaken policy, you have heretofore been deprived of a participation in the glorious struggle for national rights in which our country is engaged. This no longer shall exist. As sons of freedom, you are now called upon to defend our most inestimable blessing. As Americans, your country looks with confidence to her adopted children for a valorous support, as a faithful return for the advantages enjoyed under her mild and equitable government. As fathers, husbands, and brothers, you are summoned to rally around the standard of the Eagle, to defend all which is dear in existence. Your country, although calling for your exertions, does not wish you to engage in her cause without amply remunerating you for the services rendered. Your intelligent minds are not to be led away by false representations. Your love of honor would cause you to despise the man who should attempt to deceive you. In the sincerity of a soldier and the language of truth I address you. To every noble-hearted, generous freeman of color volunteering to serve during the present contest with Great Britain, and no longer, there will be paid the same bounty, |