MATHISON (Gilbert).
A Short Review of the Reports of the African Institution, and of the Controversy with Dr. Thorpe, with Some Reasons against the Registry of Slaves in the British Colonies.
THE THORPE CONTROVERSY CONTINUES
Another instalment on the controversy over Robert Thorpe’s accusations against Zachary Macaulay’s role in the African Institution and Sierra Leone Company and the wider implications of a slave registry. He agrees with Thorpe and charges that funds collected by the Institution were used improperly and moreover, that “[i]nstead of civilizing the Africans, the Institution was attacking Caribbean planters” (Ragatz).
Mathison was born in Kingston, Jamaica, in 1767 and inherited Wemyss Castle sugar Estate in 1774. He lived in London from 1795-1808, and in 1811 published Notices Respecting Jamaica 1808, 1809, & 1810.
Provenance: ink inscription on half title page reads - Holland House, which was the foremost Whig salon in the period. Ragatz, p.526; Sabin, 46857.