boy again into slavery. After the death of his friends, he went into the service of the Duchess of Montague, who at her death left him an annuity of thirty pounds; beside which he had saved seventy pounds out of his earnings.
Something of dissipation mixed with his love of reading, and sullied the better part of his character.—He spent his last shilling at Drury Lane, to see Garrick, who was extremely friendly to him. At one time he thought of performing African characters on the stage, but was prevented by a bad articulation.
He afterward became very regular in his habits, and married a worthy West Indian girl. After his death, two volumes of his letters were printed, of which a second edition was soon published, with a portrait of the author, designed by Gainsborough, and engraved by Bartolozzi.
Sterne formed an acquaintance with Ignatius Sancho; and in the third volume of his letters, there is an epistle addressed to this African, in which he tells him that varieties in nature do not sunder the bands of brotherhood; and expresses his indignation that certain men wish to class their equals among the brutes, in order to treat them as such with impunity. Jefferson criticises Sancho with some severity, for yielding too much to an eccentric imagination; but he acknowledges that he has an easy style, and a happy choice of expressions.
The letters of Sancho are thought to bear some resemblance to those of Sterne, both in their beauties and defects.
Francis Williams, a negro, was born in Jamaica.—The Duke of Montaigne, governor of the island, thinking him an unusually bright boy, sent him to England to school. He afterward entered the University of Cambridge, and became quite a proficient in mathematics.—During his stay in Europe, he published a song which became quite popular, beginning, "Welcome, welcome, brother debtor." After his return to Jamaica, the Duke tried to obtain a place for him in the council of the government, but did not succeed. He then became a teacher of Latin and mathematics. He wrote a good deal of
