Page:Trials of the Slave Traders Samo, Peters and Tufft (1813).pdf/33

The Conclusion of the Trial of Samo, in a Letter from a Gentleman at Sierra Leone to an Advocate for the Abolition in London.

Sierra Leone, July 21, 1812.

Dear Sir,
I will now give you the sequel of this important trial. On the 11th of June, Samuel Samo was brought up for judgment. The merciful suggestion contained in the address of the honourable Chief Justice to the prisoner when he was remanded, was improved by the friends of Samo, who, from his long residence in the Soosoo nation, his wealth, and extensive business and connection, was an object of consequence. Though Samo had never been beloved, (and, indeed, what slave trader could be?) he was respected; and it would be no presumption in him to expect that his friends, whether Europeans or natives, would make great exertions to save him from enduring the penalty he had so justly incurred. Some time previously to the day appointed for receiving his dreadful and ignominious sentence, several petitions were humbly tendered to his Excellency Governor Maxwell, praying for the pardon of the prisoner. Three of these petitions were written in Arabic, one from the King of the Mandingo nation; one from the King at the Isles de Loss, and one from Mungo Catty, King of the Soosoo nation. The remaining two petitions were in English; one from the European settlers in the Soosoo nation, and the other from the British settlers at the Isle de Loss. A future occasion will be taken to make the whole of these interesting documents public. The Arabic petitions, abound with tenderness and originality. For the present, it will suffice to remark, that they were all written in the