{"collection":"philosophy-ethics","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_31178/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_31178","id":"gutenberg_31178","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/31178","summary":null,"tags":["African Americans -- Colonization -- Africa","American Colonization Society","Category: History - American","Category: Philosophy & Ethics","Category: Politics","Slavery -- United States"],"text":"Produced by Louise Pattison, Suzanne Shell and the Online\nDistributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nTHOUGHTS ON AFRICAN COLONIZATION\n\n\nTranscriber's Notes:\n\nThis eBook is based on a 1968 reprint by Arno Press, New York, of the\noriginal edition, published in 1832 by Garrison and Knapp, Boston. The\nTable of Contents has been added by the transcriber.\n\nInconsistent use of \"Mr.\" and \"Mr\"; use of variable numbers of asterisks\nas ellipses; irregular and archaic spelling other than noted below;\ninconsistent capitalization (especially Christian vs. christian) and\nhyphenation, are as per the original.\n\n2 blank lines between sequential block quotes indicate a new quote; 1\nblank line indicates a new paragraph in the same quote; this is similar\nto the typesetting of the original.\n\nFootnotes have been re-indexed sequentially, using letters where symbols\nwere used and numbers where numbers were used in the original, and\nmoved to the end of each section to preserve the flow of the text.\n\nMinor punctuation errors, in particular inconsistent use of quotation\nmarks, have been corrected without note. The following typographical\nerrors have been corrected:\n\n  Part I.\n    P. 25 \"... was held, at which King George, ...\" (had \"Kings\").\n    P. 36 \"... Lander, travellers in Africa, represent ...\" (had \"Afria\").\n    P. 48 \"... operations have been confined to ...\" (had \"confied\").\n    P. 88 \"... superintendence of any government ...\" (had \"goverment\").\n    P. 89 \"... such a measure, to point ...\" (had \"a a\").\n    P. 97 \"... rid ourselves of a large party ...\" (had \"lage\").\n    Footnote [P] \"... the authority which compels ...\" (had \"which which\").\n    P. 126 \"... country, of an anomalous race ...\" (had \"amomalous\").\n    P. 127 \"... transportation of the manumitted ...\" (had \"transportion\").\n    P. 148 \"... that a greater benefit may be ...\" (had \"may may\").\n\n  Part II.\n    P. 72 \"... a state far to the West ...\" (had \"far to far\").\n    P. 72 \"... calculated to impress upon ...\" (had \"calulated\").\n\n\n\n\nTable of Contents\n\n     PREFACE                                                       xix\n\n  PART I.\n\n     INTRODUCTORY REMARKS.                                           1\n\n     SECTION I.                                                     39\n\n     THE AMERICAN COLONIZATION SOCIETY IS PLEDGED NOT TO OPPOSE THE\n     SYSTEM OF SLAVERY.\n\n     SECTION II.                                                    61\n\n     THE AMERICAN COLONIZATION SOCIETY APOLOGISES FOR SLAVERY AND\n     SLAVEHOLDERS.\n\n     SECTION III.                                                   68\n\n     THE AMERICAN COLONIZATION SOCIETY RECOGNISES SLAVES AS PROPERTY.\n\n     SECTION IV.                                                    74\n\n     THE AMERICAN COLONIZATION SOCIETY INCREASES THE VALUE OF SLAVES.\n\n     SECTION V.                                                     78\n\n     THE AMERICAN COLONIZATION SOCIETY IS THE ENEMY OF IMMEDIATE\n     ABOLITION.\n\n     SECTION VI.                                                    95\n\n     THE AMERICAN COLONIZATION SOCIETY IS NOURISHED BY FEAR AND\n     SELFISHNESS.\n\n     SECTION VII.                                                  111\n\n     THE AMERICAN COLONIZATION SOCIETY AIMS AT THE UTTER EXPULSION OF\n     THE BLACKS.\n\n     SECTION VIII.                                                 124\n\n     THE AMERICAN COLONIZATION SOCIETY IS THE DISPARAGER OF THE FREE\n     BLACKS.\n\n     SECTION IX.                                                   134\n\n     THE AMERICAN COLONIZATION SOCIETY DENIES THE POSSIBILITY OF\n     ELEVATING THE BLACKS IN THIS COUNTRY.\n\n     SECTION X.                                                    151\n\n     THE AMERICAN COLONIZATION SOCIETY DECEIVES AND MISLEADS THE\n     NATION.\n\n  PART II.\n\n     SENTIMENTS OF THE PEOPLE OF COLOR.                              1\n\n\n\n\n                      THOUGHTS\n                         ON\n                AFRICAN COLONIZATION\n\n\n[Illustration: SECTION OF A SLAVE SHIP. _From Walsh's Notes of Brazil._]\n\n\n\n\nPREFACE.\n\n\nI dedicate this work to my countrymen, in whose intelligence,\nmagnanimity and humanity I place the utmost reliance. Although they have\nlong suffered themselves to be swayed by a prejudice as unmanly as it is\nwicked, and have departed widely from the golden rule of the gospel, in\ntheir treatment of the people of color, to suppose that they will always\nbe the despisers and persecutors of this unfortunate class is, in my\nopinion, to libel their character. A change in their feelings and\nsentiments is already visible--a change which promises, ere long, to\nredeem their character from the bloody stains which slavery has cast\nupon it, and to release the prisoner from his chains. May they be\nashamed to persist in a mean and thievish course of conduct, and afraid\nto quarrel with the workmanship of God! May a righteous indignation be\nkindled in their breasts against a combination which is holding them up,\nfor the scorn and contempt of other nations, as incorrigible oppressors,\nwhom neither self-respect, nor the opinions of mankind, nor the fear of\nGod, can bring to repentance! Their duty is plain, and it may easily be\ndone. Slavery must be overthrown either by their own moral strength, or\nby the physical strength of the slaves. Let them imitate the example of\nthe people of _Great Britain_, by seeking the immediate overthrow of the\nhorrid system. Let a National Anti-Slavery Society be immediately\norganized, the object of which shall be, to quicken and consolidate the\nmoral influence of the nation, so that Congress and the State\nLegislatures may be burdened with petitions for the removal of the\nevil--to scatter tracts, like rain-drops, over the land, on the subject\nof slavery--to employ active and eloquent agents to plead the cause\nincessantly, and to form auxiliary societies--to encourage planters to\ncultivate their lands by freemen, by offering large premiums; to promote\neducation and the mechanical arts among the free people of color, and to\nrecover their lost rights. Religious professors, of all denominations,\nmust bear unqualified testimony against slavery. They must not support,\nthey must not palliate it. No slaveholder ought to be embraced within\nthe pale of a christian church; consequently, the churches must be\npurified 'as by fire.' Slavery in the District of Columbia is sustained\nin our national capacity: it ought, therefore, to be prostrated at a\nblow. The clause in the Constitution should be erased, which tolerates,\ngreatly to the detriment and injustice of the non-slaveholding States, a\nslave representation in Congress. Why should property be represented at\nthe impoverished south, and not at the opulent north?\n\nTo impair the force of this exposition, the ardent advocates of the\nColonization Society will undoubtedly attempt to evade the ground of\ncontroversy, and lead uncautious minds astray in a labyrinth of\nsophistry. But the question is not, whether the climate of Africa is\nsalubrious, nor whether the mortality among the emigrants has been\nexcessive, nor whether the colony is in a prosperous condition, nor\nwhether the transportation of our whole colored population can be\neffected in thirty years or three centuries, nor whether any slaves have\nbeen emancipated on condition of banishment; but whether the doctrines\nand principles of the Society accord with the doctrines and principles\nof the gospel, whether slaveholders are the just proprietors of their\nslaves, whether it is not the sacred duty of the nation to abolish the\nsystem of slavery now, and to recognise the people of color as brethren\nand countrymen who have been unjustly treated and covered with unmerited\nshame. _This is the question--and the only question._\n\nWith such a mass of evidence before them, of the pernicious, cruel and\ndelusive character of the American Colonization Society, I leave the\npatriot, the philanthropist and the christian to judge of the fitness of\nthe following inflated and presumptuous assertions of its\nadvocates:--'The plan is of heavenly origin, against which the gates of\nhell shall never prevail'--'a circle of philanthropy, every segment of\nwhich tells and testifies to the beneficence of the whole'--'addressing\nits claims alike to the patriot, and the christian, it being\nemphatically the cause of liberty, of humanity, of religion'[A]--'so\nfull of benevolence and the hallowed impulses of Heaven's own mercy,\nthat one might, with the propriety of truth, compare its radiant\ninfluences to a rainbow, insufferably bright, spanning the sombre clouds\nof human wrong, that have accumulated on the horizon of our country's\nprosperity, and beating back, with calm and heavenly power, the\nblackening storm that always threatens, in growling thunders, a heavy\nretribution'[B]--'that citizen of the United States who lifts a finger\nto retard this institution, nay, that man who does not use his\npersevering efforts to promote its benevolent object, fails, in our\nopinion, to discharge his duty to his God and his\ncountry'[C][1]--'nothing but a distinct knowledge and a calm\nconsideration of the facts in the case, is wanting to make every man of\ncommon intelligence, common patriotism, and common humanity, the earnest\nfriend of the Colonization Society'!![D]\n\nThere is one important consideration, which, owing to the contractedness\nof my limits, I have omitted to enforce in this work. It is this: the\nserious injury which our interests must inevitably suffer by the removal\nof our colored population. Their labor is indispensably necessary and\nextremely valuable. By whom shall the plantations at the south be\ncultivated but by them? It is universally conceded that they can resist\nthe intensity of a southern sun, and endure the fatigues attendant on\nthe cultivation of rice, cotton, tobacco and sugar-cane, better than\nwhite laborers: at least, their bodies are now inured to this\nemployment. I do not believe that any equivalent would induce the\nplanters to part with their services, or white laborers to occupy their\nplaces. In the great cities, and in various parts of the southern\nStates, free persons of color constitute a laborious and useful class.\nIn a pecuniary point of view, the banishment of one-sixth of our\npopulation,--of those whom we specially need,--would be an act of\nsuicide. The veriest smatterer in political economy cannot but perceive\nthe ruinous tendency of such a measure.\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[A] African Repository.\n\n[B] Rev. Mr Maffit's 'Plea for Africa.'\n\n[C] Western Luminary.\n\n[D] Christian Spectator.\n\n[1] The clerical gentleman who presumes to utter this opinion is the\nsame who has also the hardihood to assert that 'many of the best\ncitizens of our land are holders of slaves, and hold them _in strict\naccordance with the principles of humanity and justice_'!!\n\n\n\n\nTHOUGHTS ON AFRICAN COLONIZATION.\n\n\nPART I.\n\n\n\n\nINTRODUCTORY REMARKS.\n\n\nIn attacking the system of slavery, I clearly foresaw all that has\nhappened to me. I knew, at the commencement, that my motives would be\nimpeached, my warnings ridiculed, my person persecuted, my sanity\ndoubted, my life jeoparded: but the clank of the prisoner's chains broke\nupon my ear--it entered deeply into my soul--I looked up to Heaven for\nstrength to sustain me in the perilous work of emancipation--and my\nresolution was taken.\n\nIn opposing the American Colonization Society, I have also counted the\ncost, and as clearly foreseen the formidable opposition which will be\narrayed against me. Many of the clergy are enlisted in its support:\ntheir influence is powerful. Men of wealth and elevated station are\namong its contributors: wealth and station are almost omnipotent. The\npress has been seduced into its support: the press is a potent engine.\nMoreover, the Society is artfully based upon and defended by _popular\nprejudice_: it takes advantage of wicked and preposterous opinions, and\nhence its success. These things grieve, they cannot deter me. 'Truth is\nmighty, and will prevail.' It is able to make falsehood blush, and tear\nfrom hypocrisy its mask, and annihilate prejudice, and overthrow\npersecution, and break every fetter.\n\nI am constrained to declare, with the utmost sincerity, that I look upon\nthe colonization scheme as inadequate in its design, injurious in its\noperation, and contrary to sound principle; and the more scrupulously I\nexamine its pretensions, the stronger is my conviction of its\nsinfulness. Nay, were Jehovah to speak in an audible voice from his holy\nhabitation, I am persuaded that his language would be, 'Who hath\nrequired this at your hands?'\n\nIt consoles me to believe that no man, who knows me personally or by\nreputation, will suspect the honesty of my skepticism. If I were\npolitic, and intent only on my own preferment or pecuniary interest, I\nshould swim with the strong tide of public sentiment instead of\nbreasting its powerful influence. The hazard is too great, the labor too\nburdensome, the remuneration too uncertain, the contest too unequal, to\ninduce a selfish adventurer to assail a combination so formidable.\nDisinterested opposition and sincere conviction, however, are not\nconclusive proofs of individual rectitude; for a man may very honestly\ndo mischief, and not be aware of his error. Indeed, it is in this light\nI view many of the friends of African colonization. I concede to them\nbenevolence of purpose and expansiveness of heart; but in my opinion,\nthey are laboring under the same delusion as that which swayed Saul of\nTarsus--persecuting the blacks even unto a strange country, and verily\nbelieving that they are doing God service. I blame them, nevertheless,\nfor taking this mighty scheme upon trust; for not perceiving and\nrejecting the monstrous doctrines avowed by the master spirits in the\ncrusade; and for feeling so indifferent to the moral, political and\nsocial advancement of the free people of color in this their only\nlegitimate home.\n\nIn the progress of this discussion I shall have occasion to use very\nplain, and sometimes very severe language. This would be an unpleasant\ntask, did not duty imperiously demand its application. To give offence I\nam loath, but more to hide or modify the truth. I shall deal with the\nSociety in its collective form--as one body--and not with individuals.\nWhile I shall be necessitated to marshal individual opinions in review,\nI protest, _ab origine_, against the supposition that indiscriminate\ncensure is intended, or that every friend of the Society cherishes\nsimilar views. He to whom my reprehension does not apply, will not\nreceive it. It is obviously impossible, in attacking a numerous and\nmultiform combination, to exhibit private dissimilarities, or in every\ninstance to discriminate between the various shades of opinion. It is\nsufficient that exceptions are made. My warfare is against the AMERICAN\nCOLONIZATION SOCIETY. If I shall identify its general, preponderating\nand clearly developed traits, it must stand or fall as they shall prove\nbenevolent or selfish.\n\nI bring to this momentous investigation an unbiassed mind, a lively\nsense of accountability to God, and devout aspirations for the guidance\nof the Holy Spirit. Unless He 'in whom there is no darkness at all,'\npours light upon my path, I shall go astray. I have taken Him at His\nword: 'If any man lack wisdom, let him ask of God, and it shall be given\nhim.' Confessing my own foolishness, I have sought that knowledge which\ncannot err.\n\nI would premise, that, like many others, I formerly supposed the\nColonization Society was a praiseworthy association, although I always\ndoubted its efficiency. This opinion was formed for me by others, upon\nwhom I placed implicit confidence: it certainly was not based upon any\nresearch or knowledge of my own, as I had not at that time perused a\nsingle Report of the Society, nor a page in its organ, the African\nRepository. My approval was the offspring of credulity and ignorance. I\nam explicit on this point, because my opponents have accused me of\ninconsistency--though it ought not surely to disgrace a man, that,\ndiscovering himself to be in error, he promptly turns to the embrace of\ntruth. As if opinions, once formed, must be as irrevocable as the laws\nof the Medes and Persians! If this were so, accountability would lose\nits hold on the conscience, and the light of knowledge be blown out, and\nreason degenerate into brutish instinct. Much stress has been laid upon\nthe fact, that, in 1828, I delivered an address in Park-street\nmeeting-house on the Fourth of July, on which occasion a collection was\nmade in behalf of the American Colonization Society. It is true--but\nwhereas I was then blind, now I see. My address, however, was far from\nbeing acceptable to the friends of colonization who were present, not\nonly on account of my denunciation of slaveholders, but because I\ninserted only a single sentence in favor of the Society. In all my\nwritings, I have never commended this combination in as many sentences\nas I have used in making this explanation. So much for my marvellous\napostacy!\n\nIt is only about two years since I was induced to examine the claims of\nthe Colonization Society upon the patronage and confidence of the\nnation. I went to this examination with a mind biassed by preconceived\nopinions favorable to the Society, and rather for the purpose of\ndefending it against opposition than of bringing it into disrepute.\nEvery thing, apart from its principles, was calculated to secure my\nfriendship. Nothing but its revolting features could have induced me to\nturn loathingly away from its embrace. I had some little reputation to\nsustain; many of my friends were colonizationists; I saw that eminent\nstatesmen and honorable men were enlisted in the enterprise; the great\nbody of the clergy gave their unqualified support to it; every fourth of\nJuly the charities of the nation were secured in its behalf; wherever I\nturned my eye in the free States, I saw nothing but unanimity; wherever\nmy ear caught a sound, I heard nothing but excessive panegyric. No\nindividual had ventured to blow the trumpet of alarm, or exert his\nenergies to counteract the influence of the scheme. If an assailant had\noccasionally appeared, he had either fired a random shot and retreated,\nor found in the inefficiency of the Society the only cause for\nhostility. It was at this crisis, and with such an array of motives\nbefore me to bias my judgment, that I resolved to make a close and\ncandid examination of the subject.\n\nI went, first of all, to the fountain head--to the African Repository\nand the Reports of the Society. I was not long in discovering sentiments\nwhich seemed to me as abhorrent to humanity as contrary to reason. I\nperused page after page, first with perplexity, then with astonishment,\nand finally with indignation. I found little else than sinful\npalliations, fatal concessions, vain expectations, exaggerated\nstatements, unfriendly representations, glaring contradictions, naked\nterrors, deceptive assurances, unrelenting prejudices, and unchristian\ndenunciations. I collected together the publications of auxiliary\nsocieties, in order to discern some redeeming traits; but I found them\nmarred and disfigured with the same disgusting details. I courted the\nacquaintance of eminent colonizationists, that I might learn how far\ntheir private sentiments agreed with those which were so offensive in\nprint; and I found no dissimilarity between them. I listened to\ndiscourses from the pulpit in favor of the Society; and the same moral\nobliquities were seen in minister and people.\n\nThese discoveries affected my mind so deeply that I could not rest. I\nendeavored to explain away the meaning of plain and obvious language; I\nmade liberal concessions for good motives and unsuspicious confidence; I\nresorted to many expedients to vindicate the disinterested benevolence\nof the Society; but I could not rest. The sun in its mid-day splendor\nwas not more clear and palpable to my vision, than the anti-christian\nand anti-republican character of this association. It was evident to me\nthat the great mass of its supporters at the north did not realise its\ndangerous tendency. They were told that it was designed to effect the\nultimate emancipation of the slaves--to improve the condition of the\nfree people of color--to abolish the foreign slave trade--to reclaim and\nevangelize benighted Africa--and various other marvels. Anxious to do\nsomething for the colored population--they knew not what--and having no\nother plan presented to their view, they eagerly embraced a scheme which\nwas so big with promise, and which required of them nothing but a small\ncontribution annually. Perceiving the fatality of this delusion, I was\nurged by an irresistible impulse to attempt its removal. I could not\nturn a deaf ear to the cries of the slaves, nor throw off the\nobligations which my Creator had fastened upon me. Yet in view of the\ninequalities of the contest, of the obstacles which towered like\nmountains in my path, and of my own littleness, I trembled, and\nexclaimed in the language of Jeremiah,--'Ah, Lord God! behold I cannot\nspeak: for I am a child.' But I was immediately strengthened by these\ninterrogations: 'Is any thing too hard for the Lord?' Is Error, though\nunwittingly supported by a host of good men, stronger than Truth? Are\nRight and Wrong convertible terms, dependant upon popular opinion? Oh\nno! Then I will go forward in the strength of the Lord of Hosts--in the\nname of Truth--and under the banner of Right. As it is not by might nor\nby power, but by the Spirit of God, that great moral changes are\neffected, I am encouraged to fight valiantly in this good cause,\nbelieving that I shall 'come off conqueror, and more than\nconqueror'--yet not I, but Truth and Justice. It is in such a contest\nthat one shall chase a thousand, and two put ten thousand to flight.\n'The Lord disappointeth the devices of the crafty, so that their hands\ncannot perform their enterprise. He taketh the wise in their own\ncraftiness; and the counsel of the froward is carried headlong.'\n'Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of\nGod is stronger than men.'\n\nLittle boldness is needed to assail the opinions and practices of\nnotoriously wicked men; but to rebuke great and good men for their\nconduct, and to impeach their discernment, is the highest effort of\nmoral courage. The great mass of mankind shun the labor and\nresponsibility of forming opinions for themselves. The question is\nnot--what is true? but--what is popular? Not--what does God say?\nbut--what says the public? Not--what is my opinion? but--what do others\nbelieve? If people would pin their faith upon the bible, and not upon\nthe sleeves of their neighbors, half of the heresies in the world would\ninstantly disappear. If they would use their own eyes, their own ears,\ntheir own understandings, instead of the eyes, and ears, and\nunderstandings of others, imbecility, credulity and folly would be as\nrare as they are now common in community. But, unhappily, to borrow the\nwords of Ganganelli, a large majority of mankind are 'mere abortions:'\ncalling themselves rational and intelligent beings, they act as if they\nhad neither brains nor conscience, and as if there were no God, no\naccountability, no heaven, no hell, no eternity.\n\n'My minister,' says one, 'is a most worthy man. He supports this\nSociety: therefore it is a good institution.' 'Christians of all\ndenominations are enlisted in this enterprise,' says another: 'therefore\nit cannot be wrong.' 'Do you think,' says a third, 'that honest, godly\nmen would countenance a scheme which is not really benevolent?' But it\nis unwise for beings, who are accountable only to God, to reason in this\nmanner. All the good men upon earth cannot make persecution benevolence,\nnor injustice equity; and until they become infallible, implicit\nreliance upon their judgment is criminal. Ministers and christians, a\nfew years since, were engaged in the use and sale of ardent spirits;\n_but they were all wrong_, and they now acknowledge their error. At the\npresent day, a large proportion of the professed disciples of the Prince\nof Peace maintain the lawfulness of defensive war, and the right of the\noppressed to fight and kill for liberty; but they hold this sentiment in\ndirect opposition to the precepts of their Leader--'I say unto you which\nhear, Love your enemies, do good to them which hate you, bless them that\ncurse you, and pray for them which despitefully use you.' Surely 'the\ntime is come that judgment must begin at the house of God.'\n\nI must pause, for a moment, and count the number of those with whom I am\nabout to conflict. If I had to encounter only men-stealers and\nslaveholders, victory would be easy; but it is not the south alone that\nis to be subdued. The whole nation is against me. Church after church is\nto be converted, and the powerful influence of the clergy broken. The\nfriendship of good men is to be turned into enmity, and their support\ninto opposition. It is my task to change their admiration into\nabhorrence; to convince them that their well-meant exertions have been\nmisdirected, and productive of greater evil than good; and to induce\nthem to abandon an institution to which they now fondly cling.\n\nTo those who neither fear God nor regard man--who have sworn eternal\nanimosity to their colored countrymen, and whose cry is, 'Away with\nthem, we do not want them here!'--I make no appeal. Disregarding as they\ndo that divine command, 'Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself,' it\nwould be idle for me to direct my arguments to them. I address myself\nto high-minded and honorable men, whose heads and hearts are susceptible\nto the force of sound logic. I appeal to those, who have been redeemed\nfrom the bondage of sin by the precious blood of Christ, and with whom I\nhope to unite in a better world in ascribing glory, and honor, and\npraise to the Great Deliverer for ever. If I can succeed in gaining\ntheir attention, I feel sure of convincing their understandings and\nsecuring their support.\n\nBesides the overwhelming odds which are opposed to me, I labor under\nother very serious disadvantages. My efforts in the cause of\nemancipation have been received as if they were intended to bring chaos\nback again, and to give the land up to pillage and its inhabitants to\nslaughter. My calls for an alteration in the feelings and practices of\nthe people toward the blacks have been regarded as requiring a sacrifice\nof all the rules of propriety, and as seeking an overthrow of the\nestablished laws of nature! I have been thrust into prison, and amerced\nin a heavy fine. Epithets, huge and unseemly, have been showered upon me\nwithout mercy. I have been branded as a fanatic, a madman, a disturber\nof the peace, an incendiary, a cutthroat, a monster, &c. &c. &c.\nAssassination has been threatened me in a multitude of anonymous\nletters. Private and public rewards to a very large amount, by\ncombinations of individuals and by legislative bodies at the south, have\nbeen offered to any persons who shall abduct or destroy me. 'Yea, mine\nown familiar friend, in whom I trusted, which did eat of my bread, hath\nlifted up his heel against me.' This malignity of opposition and\nproximity of danger, however, are like oil to the fire of my zeal. I am\nnot deliriously enthusiastic--I do not covet to be a martyr; but I had\nrather die a thousand deaths, than witness the horrible oppression under\nwhich more than two millions of my countrymen groan, _and be silent_. No\nreproaches, no dangers shall deter me. At the north or the south, at the\neast or the west,--wherever Providence may call me,--my voice shall be\nheard in behalf of the perishing slave, and against the claims of his\noppressor. Mine is the frank avowal of the excellent WILBERFORCE:--I can\nadmit of no compromise when the commands of equity and philanthropy are\nso imperious. I wash my hands of the blood that may be spilled. I\nprotest against the system, as the most flagrant violation of every\nprinciple of justice and humanity. I NEVER WILL DESERT THE CAUSE. In my\ntask it is impossible to tire: it fills my mind with complacency and\npeace. At night I lie down with composure, and rise to it in the morning\nwith alacrity. I NEVER WILL DESIST FROM THIS BLESSED WORK.\n\nNow that the concentrated execration of the civilized world is poured\nupon those who engage in the foreign slave trade, how mild and\ninefficient, comparatively speaking, seem to have been the rebukes of\nPitt, and Fox, and Wilberforce, and Clarkson! Yet these rebukes were\nonce deemed fanatical and outrageous by good men--yea, like flames of\nfire, threatening a universal conflagration! So the denunciations which\nI am now hurling against slavery and its abettors,--which seem to many\nso violent and unmerited,--will be considered moderate, pertinent and\njust, when this murderous, soul-destroying system shall have been\noverthrown.\n\nFanaticism has been the crime alleged against reformers in all ages.\n'These,' it was said of the apostles, 'that have turned the world upside\ndown, come hither also.' Luther was a madman in his day: what is he now\nin the estimation of the friends of civil and religious liberty? One of\n\n    'Those starry lights of virtue, that diffuse\n    Through the dark depths of time their vivid flame.'\n\nThat base and desperate men should thus stigmatize those who endure the\ncross as good soldiers, and walk as pilgrims and strangers here, is not\nwonderful; but that the professed followers of Jesus Christ should join\nin this hue-and-cry is lamentable. Singular enough, I have been almost\nas cruelly aspersed by ministers of the gospel and church members, as by\nany other class of men. Unacquainted with me, and ignorant of my\nsentiments, they have readily believed the accusations of my enemies.\nThe introduction of my name into conversation has elicited from them\ncontemptuous sneers or strong denunciations. I have a right to complain\nof this treatment, and I do strongly protest against it as unchristian,\nhurtful and ungenerous. To prejudge and condemn an individual, on vague\nand apocryphal rumors, without listening to his defence or examining\nevidence, is tyranny. Perhaps I am in error--perhaps I deserve\nunqualified condemnation; but I am at least entitled to a privilege\nwhich is granted to the vilest criminals, namely, the privilege of a\nfair trial. I ask nothing more. To accuse me of heresy, madness and\nsedition, is one thing; to substantiate the accusation, another.\n\nShould this work chance to fall into the hands of those who have thus\nignorantly reprobated my course, I appeal to their sense of rectitude\nwhether they are not bound to give it a candid and deliberate perusal;\nand if they shall find in my writings nothing contrary to the immutable\nprinciples of justice, whether they ought not to be as strenuous in my\ndefence as they have been hitherto in seeking my overthrow.\n\nTo show that I do not vacate any pledge which I have given to the\npublic, I shall here insert all the specifications, which, from time to\ntime, I have brought against the American Colonization Society. In 'The\nLiberator' of April 23, 1831, is the following serious compend:\n\n    'I am prepared to show, that those who have entered into this\n    CONSPIRACY AGAINST HUMAN RIGHTS are unanimous in abusing their\n    victims; unanimous in their mode of attack; unanimous in\n    proclaiming the absurdity, that our free blacks are natives of\n    Africa; unanimous in propagating the libel, that they cannot be\n    elevated and improved in this country; unanimous in opposing\n    their instruction; unanimous in exciting the prejudices of the\n    people against them; unanimous in apologising for the crime of\n    slavery; unanimous in conceding the right of the planters to\n    hold their slaves in a limited bondage; unanimous in their\n    hollow pretence for colonizing, namely, to evangelize Africa;\n    unanimous in their _true motive_ for the measure--a terror lest\n    the blacks should rise to avenge their accumulated wrongs. It is\n    a conspiracy to send the free people of color to Africa under a\n    benevolent pretence, but really that the slaves may be held more\n    securely in bondage. It is a conspiracy based upon fear,\n    oppression and falsehood, which draws its aliment from the\n    prejudices of the people, which is sustained by duplicity, which\n    really upholds the slave system, which fascinates while it\n    destroys, which endangers the safety and happiness of the\n    country, which no precept of the bible can justify, which is\n    implacable in its spirit, which should be annihilated at a blow.\n\n    'These are my accusations; and if I do not substantiate them, I\n    am willing to be covered with reproach.'\n\nThe following is copied from an editorial article of July 9, 1831:\n\n    'The superstructure of the Colonization Society rests upon the\n    following pillars:\n\n    '1st. _Persecution._ It declares that the whole colored\n    population must be removed to Africa; but as the free portion\n    are almost _unanimously_ opposed to a removal, it seems to be\n    the determination of the Society to make their situations so\n    uncomfortable and degraded here, as to compel them to migrate:\n    consequently it discourages their education and improvement in\n    this their native home. This is persecution.\n\n    '2d. _Falsehood._ It stigmatises our colored citizens as being\n    natives of Africa, and talks of sending them to their native\n    land; when they are no more related to Africa than we are to\n    Great Britain.\n\n    '3d. _Cowardice._ It avows as a prominent reason why colored\n    citizens ought to be removed, that their continuance among us\n    will be dangerous to us as a people! This is a libel upon their\n    character. Instead of demanding justice for this oppressed\n    class, the Society calls for their removal!\n\n    '4th. _Infidelity._ It boldly denies that there is power enough\n    in the gospel to melt down the prejudices of men, and insists,\n    that, so long as the people of color remain among us, _we must\n    be their enemies!_--Every honest man should abhor the doctrine.'\n\nIn 'The Liberator' of July 30, 1831, alluding to the present work, I\nused the following language:\n\n    'I shall be willing to stake my reputation upon it for honesty,\n    prudence, benevolence, truth and sagacity. If I do not prove the\n    Colonization Society to be a creature without heart, without\n    brains, eyeless, unnatural, hypocritical, relentless, unjust,\n    then nothing is capable of demonstration--then let me be covered\n    with confusion of face.'\n\nThe following paragraph is extracted from 'The Liberator' of November\n19, 1831:\n\n    'It is the enemy of immediate restitution to the slaves; it\n    courts and receives the approbation of notorious slave owners;\n    it deprecates any interference with slave property; it\n    discourages the improvement of the colored population, except\n    they are removed to the shores of Africa; it is lulling the\n    country into a fatal sleep, pretending to be something when it\n    is nothing; it is utterly chimerical, as well as intolerant, in\n    its design; it serves to increase the value of the slaves, and\n    to make brisk the foreign and domestic slave trade; it nourishes\n    and justifies the most cruel prejudices against color; it sneers\n    at those who advocate the bestowal of equal rights upon our\n    colored countrymen; it contends for an indefinite, dilatory,\n    far-off emancipation; it expressly declares that it is more\n    humane to keep the slaves in chains, than to give them freedom\n    in this country! In short, it is the most compendious and best\n    adapted scheme to uphold the slave system that human ingenuity\n    can invent. Moreover, it is utterly and irreconcileably opposed\n    to the wishes and sentiments of the great body of the free\n    people of color, repeatedly expressed in the most public manner,\n    but cruelly disregarded by it.'\n\nThe following passages are taken from my Address to the People of Color,\ndelivered in various places in June, 1831:\n\n    'Let me briefly examine the doctrines of colonizationists. They\n    generally agree in publishing the misstatement, that you are\n    strangers and foreigners. Surely they know better. They know,\n    that, as a body, you are no more natives of Africa, than they\n    themselves are natives of Great Britain. Yet they repeat the\n    absurd charge; and they do so, in order to cover their\n    anti-republican crusade. But suppose you were foreigners: would\n    such an accident justify this persecution and removal? And, if\n    so, then all foreigners must come under the same ban, and must\n    prepare to depart. There would be, in that case, a most alarming\n    deduction from our population. Suppose a philanthropic and\n    religious crusade were got up against the Dutch, the French, the\n    Swiss, the Irish, among us, to remove them to New Holland, to\n    enlighten and civilize her cannibals? Who would not laugh at the\n    scheme--who would not actively oppose it? Would any one blame\n    the above classes for steadfastly resisting it? Just so, then,\n    in regard to African colonization. But our colored population\n    are not aliens; they were born on our soil; they are bone of our\n    bone, and flesh of our flesh; their fathers fought bravely to\n    achieve our independence during the revolutionary war, without\n    immediate or subsequent compensation; they spilt their blood\n    freely during the last war; they are entitled, in fact, to every\n    inch of our southern, and much of our western territory, having\n    worn themselves out in its cultivation, and received nothing but\n    wounds and bruises in return. Are these the men to stigmatize as\n    foreigners?\n\n    'Colonizationists generally agree in asserting that the people\n    of color cannot be elevated in this country, nor be admitted to\n    equal privileges with the whites. Is not this a libel upon\n    humanity and justice--a libel upon republicanism--a libel upon\n    the Declaration of Independence--a libel upon christianity? \"All\n    men are born equal, and endowed by their Creator with certain\n    inalienable rights--among which are life, liberty, and the\n    pursuit of happiness.\" What is the meaning of that declaration?\n    That _all_ men possess these rights--whether they are six feet\n    five inches high, or three feet two and a half--whether they\n    weigh three hundred or one hundred pounds--whether they parade\n    in broadcloth or flutter in rags--whether their skins are jet\n    black or lily white--whether their hair is straight or woolly,\n    auburn or red, black or gray--does it not? We, who are present,\n    differ from each other in our looks, in our color, in height,\n    and in bulk; we have all shades, and aspects, and sizes. Now,\n    would it not be anti-republican and anti-christian for us to\n    quarrel about sitting on this seat or that, because this man's\n    complexion is too dark, or that man's looks are too ugly? and to\n    put others out of the house, because they happen to be ignorant,\n    or poor, or helpless? To commit this violence would be evidently\n    wrong: then to do it in a large assemblage--in a community, in a\n    state, or in a nation, it is equally unjust. But is not this\n    the colonization principle? Who are the individuals that\n    applaud, that justify, that advocate this exclusion? Who are\n    they that venture to tell the American people, that they have\n    neither honesty enough, nor patriotism enough, nor morality\n    enough, nor religion enough, to treat their colored brethren as\n    countrymen and citizens? Some of them--I am sorry to say--are\n    professedly ministers of the gospel; others are christian\n    professors; others are judges and lawyers; others are our\n    Senators and Representatives; others are editors of newspapers.\n    These ministers and christians dishonor the gospel which they\n    profess; these judges and lawyers are the men spoken of by the\n    Saviour, who bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne, and\n    lay them on men's shoulders; but they themselves will not move\n    them with one of their fingers. These Senators and\n    Representatives ought not to receive the suffrages of the\n    people. These editors are unworthy of public patronage.\n\n    'Colonizationists too generally agree in discouraging your\n    instruction and elevation at home. They pretend that ignorance\n    is bliss; and therefore 'tis folly to be wise. They pretend that\n    knowledge is a dangerous thing in the head of a colored man;\n    they pretend that you have no ambition; they pretend that you\n    have no brains; in fine, they pretend a thousand other absurd\n    things--they are a combination of pretences. What tyranny is\n    this! Shutting up the human intellect--binding with chains the\n    inward man--and perpetuating ignorance. May we not address them\n    in the language of Christ? \"Wo unto you, scribes and pharisees,\n    hypocrites! for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men:\n    for ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are\n    entering to go in! Ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin,\n    and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment,\n    mercy and faith.\"\n\n    'Colonizationists generally agree in apologising for the crime\n    of slavery. They get behind the contemptible subterfuge, that it\n    was entailed upon the planters. As if the continuance of the\n    horrid system were not criminal! as if the robberies of another\n    generation justify the robberies of the present! as if the\n    slaves had not an inalienable right to freedom! as if slavery\n    were not an individual as well as a national crime! as if the\n    tearing asunder families, limb from limb,--branding the flesh\n    with red hot irons,--mangling the body with whips and\n    knives,--feeding it on husks and clothing it with\n    rags,--crushing the intellect and destroying the soul,--as if\n    such inconceivable cruelty were not chargeable to those who\n    inflict it!\n\n    'As to the effect of colonization upon slavery, it is rather\n    favorable than injurious to the system. Now and then, indeed,\n    there is a great flourish of trumpets, and glowing accounts of\n    the willingness of planters to emancipate their slaves on\n    condition of transportation to Africa. Now and then a slave is\n    actually manumitted and removed, and the incident is dwelt upon\n    for months. Why, my friends, hundreds of worn-out slaves are\n    annually turned off to die, like old horses. No doubt their\n    masters will thank the Colonization Society, or any one else, to\n    send them out of the country; especially as they will gain much\n    glorification in the newspapers, for their _disinterested_\n    sacrifices. Let no man be deceived by these manoeuvres.\n\n    'My time is consumed--and yet I have scarcely entered upon the\n    threshold of my argument. Now, what a spectacle is presented to\n    the world!--the American people, boasting of their free and\n    equal rights--of their abhorrence of aristocratical\n    distinctions--of their republican equality; proclaiming on every\n    wind, \"that all men are born _equal_, and endowed with certain\n    inalienable _rights_,\" and that this land is an asylum for the\n    persecuted of all nations; and yet as loudly proclaiming that\n    they are determined to deprive millions of their own countrymen\n    of every political and social right, and to send them to a\n    barbarous continent, because the Creator has given them a sable\n    complexion. Where exists a more rigorous despotism? What\n    conspiracy was ever more cruel? What hypocrisy and\n    tergiversation so enormous? The story is proclaimed in our\n    pulpits, in our state and national assemblies, in courts of law,\n    in religious and secular periodicals,--among all parties, and in\n    all quarters of the country,--that there is a _moral incapacity_\n    in the people to do justly, love mercy, and to walk\n    uprightly--that they must always be the enemies and oppressors\n    of the colored people--that no love of liberty, no dictate of\n    duty, no precept of republicanism, no dread of retribution, no\n    claim of right, no injunction of the gospel, can possibly\n    persuade them to do unto their colored countrymen, as they would\n    that they should do unto them in a reversal of circumstances.\n    Now, to these promulgators of unrighteousness, with the\n    Declaration of Independence in one hand, and the Bible in the\n    other, I fearlessly give battle. Rich and mighty and numerous as\n    they are, by the help of the Lord I will put them to open shame.\n    They shall not libel me, they shall not libel my country, with\n    impunity. They shall not make our boasted republicanism a\n    by-word and a hissing among all nations, nor sink the christian\n    religion below heathen idolatry; and if they persist in\n    publishing their scandalous proclamations, they shall be\n    labelled as the enemies of their species and of the republic,\n    and treated accordingly.\n\n    'The Colonization Society, therefore, instead of being a\n    philanthropic and religious institution, is anti-republican and\n    anti-christian in its tendency. Its pretences are false, its\n    doctrines odious, its means contemptible. If we are to send away\n    the colored population because they are profligate and vicious,\n    what sort of missionaries will they make? Why not send away the\n    vicious among the whites, for the same reason and the same\n    purpose? If ignorance be a crime, where shall we begin to\n    select? How much must a man know to save him from\n    transportation? How white must he be? If we send away a mixed\n    breed, how many will be left? If foreigners only, then the\n    people of color must remain--for they are our countrymen. Would\n    foreigners submit? No--not for an instant. Why should the\n    American people make this enormous expenditure of life and\n    money? Why not use the funds of the Society to instruct and\n    elevate our colored population at home? This would be rational\n    and serviceable. Instead of removing men from a land of\n    civilization and knowledge--of schools, and seminaries, and\n    colleges--to give them instruction in a land of darkness and\n    desolation--would it not be wiser and better to reverse the\n    case, and bring the ignorant here for cultivation?'\n\nThe foregoing accusations are grave, weighty, positive--involving a\nperilous responsibility, and requiring ample and irrefragable proof.\nThey are expressed in vehement terms: but to measure the propriety of\nlanguage, we must first examine the character of the system, or the\nnature of the object, against which it is directed. If we see a person\nwilfully abusing the goods of an individual, we may reprehend him, but\nwith comparative mildness. If we see him maiming, or in any way\nmaltreating another man's cattle, we may increase the severity of our\nrebuke. But if we see him violating all the social and sacred relations\nof life,--daily defrauding a number of his fellow creatures of the\nfruits of their toil, calling them his property, selling them for money,\nlacerating their bodies, and ruining their souls,--we may use the\nstrongest terms of moral indignation. Nor is plain and vehement\ndenunciation of crime inconsistent with the most benevolent feelings\ntowards the perpetrators of it. We are sustained in these positions by\nthe example of Christ, and the apostles, and the prophets, and the\nreformers.\n\nSo, also, if there be an institution, the direct tendency of which is to\nperpetuate slavery, to encourage persecution, and to invigorate\nprejudice,--although many of its supporters may be actuated by pure\nmotives,--it ought to receive unqualified condemnation.\n\nIt is proper to call things by their right names. What does the law term\nhim who steals your pocket-book, or breaks into your dwelling, or strips\nyou on the highway? A robber! Is the charge inflammatory or unjust? or\nwill it please the villain? The abuse of language is seen only in its\nmisapplication. Those who object to the strength of my denunciation must\nprove its perversion before they accuse me of injustice.\n\nProbably I may be interrogated by individuals,--'Why do you object to a\ncolony in Africa? Are you not willing people should choose their own\nplaces of residence? And if the blacks are willing to remove, why throw\nobstacles in their path or deprecate their withdrawal? All go\n_voluntarily_: of what, then, do you complain? Is not the colony at\nLiberia in a flourishing condition, and expanding beyond the most\nsanguine expectations of its founders?'\n\nPertinent questions deserve pertinent answers. I say, then, in reply,\nthat I do not object to a colony, _in the abstract_--to use the popular\nphraseology of the day. In other words, I am entirely willing men\nshould be as free as the birds in choosing the time when, the mode how,\nand the place where they shall migrate. The power of locomotion was\ngiven to be used at will; as beings of intelligence and enterprise,\n\n    'The world is all before them, where to choose\n    Their place of rest, and Providence their guide.'\n\nThe emigration from New-England to the far West is constant and large.\nAlmost every city, town or village suffers annually by the departure of\nsome of its adventurous inhabitants. Companies have been formed to go\nand possess the Oregon territory--an enterprise hazardous and\nunpromising in the extreme. The old States are distributing their\npopulation over the whole continent, with unexampled fruitfulness and\nliberality. But why this restless, roving, unsatisfied disposition? Is\nit because those who cherish it are treated as the offscouring of all\nflesh, in the place of their birth? or because they do not possess equal\nrights and privileges with other citizens? or because they are the\nvictims of incorrigible hate and prejudice? or because they are told\nthat they must choose between exilement and perpetual degradation? or\nbecause the density of population renders it impossible for them to\nobtain preferment and competence here? or because they are estranged by\noppression and scorn? or because they cherish no attachment to their\nnative soil, to the scenes of their childhood and youth, or to the\ninstitutions of government? or because they consider themselves as\ndwellers in a strange land, and feel a burning desire, a feverish\nlonging to return home? No. They lie under no odious disabilities,\nwhether imposed by public opinion or by legislative power; to them the\npath of preferment is wide open; they sustain a solid and honorable\nreputation; they not only can rise, but have risen, and may soar still\nhigher, to responsible stations and affluent circumstances; no calamity\nafflicts, no burden depresses, no reproach excludes, no despondency\nenfeebles them; and they love the spot of their nativity almost to\nidolatry. The air of heaven is not freer or more buoyant than they.\nTheirs is a spirit of curiosity and adventurous enterprise, impelled by\nno malignant influences, but by the spontaneous promptings of the mind.\nFar different is the case of our colored population. Their _voluntary_\nbanishment is _compulsory_--they are _forced_ to turn _volunteers_, as\nwill be shown in other parts of this work.\n\nThe following proposition is self-evident: The success of an enterprise\nfurnishes no proof that it is in accordance with justice, or that it\nmeets the approbation of God, or that it ought to be prosecuted to its\nconsummation, or that it is the fruit of disinterested benevolence.\n\nI do not doubt that the Colony at Liberia, by a prodigal expenditure of\nlife and money, will ultimately flourish; but a good result would no\nmore hallow that persecution which is seeking to drag the blacks away,\nthan it would if we should burn every distillery, and shut up in prison\nevery vender of ardent spirits, in order to do good and to prevent\npeople from becoming drunkards. Because Jehovah overrules evil for good,\nshall we therefore continue to do evil?\n\nIf ten thousand white mechanics, farmers, merchants, &c. &c. were to\nemigrate to Africa, does any man doubt whether permanent good would\nresult from the enterprise--good to that benighted continent, which\nwould counterbalance all the sacrifices and sufferings attending it? And\nyet is there a single mechanic, farmer or merchant, who feels it to be\nhis duty, or would be willing to go? Suppose the people of color should\nget the power into their hands to-morrow, and should argue that the\nwhites must not be admitted to equal privileges with themselves; but\nthat, having so long plundered Africa, and oppressed her children,\njustice demanded that they should be sent to that desolate land to build\nup colonies, and carry the light of civilization and knowledge, as a\nsort of reparation--and that, having superior instruction in literature\nand science, they were peculiarly qualified for such a mission--how\nwould this doctrine relish? 'It is a poor rule that will not work both\nways,' says the proverb. Yet this logic would be more sound than is our\nown with regard to the colonization of the blacks.\n\nOn this point, deception is practised to a great extent. The advocates\nof the Colonization Society are constantly aiming to divert public\nattention from the only proper subject of inquiry, namely, 'Is it based\nupon benevolence and justice?'--to the success of the colony. Granting\nall that they assert, it proves nothing; but of this success I shall\nhave occasion, doubtless, to speak hereafter. Fine stories are trumpeted\nall over the country, of the happiness, intelligence, industry, virtue,\nenterprise and dignity of the colonists; and changes, absolutely\nmiraculous, are gravely recorded for the admiration and credulity of\ncommunity. 'The simple,' says Solomon, 'believeth every word: but the\nprudent man looketh well to his going.'\n\nThe doctrine, that the 'end sanctifies the means,' belongs, I trust,\nexclusively to the creed of the Jesuits. If I were sure that the Society\nwould accomplish the entire regeneration of Africa by its present\nmeasures, my detestation of its principles would not abate one jot, nor\nwould I bestow upon it the smallest modicum of praise. Never shall the\nfruits of the mercy and overruling providence of God,--ever bringing\ngood out of evil and light out of darkness,--be ascribed to the\nprejudice and sin of man.\n\nIt is certain that many a poor native African has been led to embrace\nthe gospel, in consequence of his transportation to our shores, who else\nhad lived and died a heathen. Is the slave trade therefore a blessing?\nSuppose one of those wretches who are engaged in this nefarious commerce\nwere brought before the Supreme Court, and being convicted, should be\nasked by the Judge, whether he had aught to say why sentence of death\nshould not be pronounced upon him? And suppose the culprit should espy\nsome of his sable victims in court, whom he knew had made a profession\nof faith, and he should boldly reply--'May it please your Honor, I\nabducted these people away from their homes, it is true; but they were\npoor, miserable, benighted idolators, and must have inevitably remained\nas such unto the hour of their death, if I had not brought them to this\nland of christianity and bibles, where they have been taught a knowledge\nof the true God, and are now rejoicing in hope of a glorious\nimmortality. I therefore offer as a conclusive reason why sentence\nshould not be pronounced, _that I have rescued souls from perdition_,\nand thus enlarged the company of the saints in light.' Would the villain\nbe acquitted, and, instead of a halter, receive the panegyric of the\nCourt for his conduct?\n\nOur pilgrim fathers, not being able to worship God according to the\ndictates of their own consciences in the mother country, were compelled\nby ecclesiastical despotism to seek a refuge in this rude and barbarous\ncontinent. Wonderful have been the fruits of their expulsion! A mighty\nrepublic established--the freest, the wisest, the most religious on\nearth!--influencing the world by its example, and exciting the emulation\nof all nations! Now suppose we should occasionally find in the pages of\nthe Edinburgh or Quarterly Review, or in the columns of the English\nnewspapers, not only a full justification of this oppressive treatment\nin view of its astonishing consequences, but a claim to approbation on\naccount of its exercise. Would not such effrontery amaze us? Would not\nan honest indignation burn within us? Should we look with a more\ncomplacent aspect upon the bigots who kindled those fires of persecution\naround the Puritans, which, but for the interposition of Heaven, had\nconsumed them to ashes?\n\nThe death of our Lord Jesus Christ was essential to the salvation of the\nworld. Suppose Judas, at the judgment day, should build upon this fact\nin extenuation of his dreadful crime. What would be the decision of the\nassembled universe? Yea, what was the condemnation passed upon him by\nthe Illustrious Sufferer? 'Wo to that man by whom the Son of man is\nbetrayed! good were it for that man if he had never been born!'\n\nLet not, then, any imaginary or real prosperity of the settlement at\nLiberia lead any individual to applaud the Colonization Society,\nreckless whether it be actuated by mistaken philanthropy, or perverted\ngenerosity, or selfish policy, or unchristian prejudice.\n\nI should oppose this Society, even were its doctrines harmless. It\nimperatively and effectually seals up the lips of a vast number of\ninfluential and pious men, who, for fear of giving offence to those\nslaveholders with whom they associate, and thereby leading to a\ndissolution of the compact, dare not expose the flagrant enormities of\nthe system of slavery, nor denounce the crime of holding human beings in\nbondage. They dare not lead to the onset against the forces of tyranny;\nand if _they_ shrink from the conflict, how shall the victory be won? I\ndo not mean to aver, that, in their sermons, or addresses, or private\nconversations, they never allude to the subject of slavery; for they do\nso frequently, or at least every Fourth of July. But my complaint is,\nthat they content themselves with representing slavery as an evil,--a\nmisfortune,--a calamity which has been entailed upon us by former\ngenerations,--_and not as an individual_ CRIME, embracing in its folds\nrobbery, cruelty, oppression and piracy. _They do not identify the\ncriminals_; they make no direct, pungent, earnest appeal to the\nconsciences of men-stealers; by consenting to walk arm-in-arm with them,\nthey virtually agree to abstain from all offensive remarks, and to aim\nentirely at the expulsion of the free people of color; their lugubrious\nexclamations, and solemn animadversions, and reproachful reflections,\nare altogether indefinite; they 'go about, and about, and all the way\nround to nothing;' they generalize, they shoot into the air, they do not\ndisturb the repose nor wound the complacency of the sinner; 'they have\nput no difference between the holy and profane, neither have they shewed\ndifference between the unclean and the clean.' Thus has free inquiry\nbeen suppressed, and a universal fear created, and the tongue of the\nboldest silenced, and the sleep of death fastened upon the nation.\n'Truth has fallen in the streets, and equity cannot enter.' The plague\nis raging with unwonted fatality; but no _cordon sanitaire_ is\nestablished--no adequate remedy sought. The tide of moral death is\nconstantly rising and widening; but no efforts are made to stay its\ndesolating career. The fire of God's indignation is kindling against us,\nand thick darkness covers the heavens, and the hour of retribution is at\nhand; but we are obstinate in our transgression, we refuse to repent, we\nimpiously throw the burden of our guilt upon our predecessors, we affect\nresignation to our _unfortunate_ lot, we descant upon the mysterious\ndispensations of Providence, we deem ourselves objects of God's\ncompassion rather than of his displeasure. 'Shall I not visit for these\nthings? saith the Lord. Shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as\nthis?'\n\nWere the American Colonization Society bending its energies directly to\nthe immediate abolition of slavery; seeking to enlighten and consolidate\npublic opinion, on this momentous subject; faithfully exposing the\nawful guilt of the owners of slaves; manfully contending for the\nbestowal of equal rights upon our free colored population in this their\nnative land; assiduously endeavoring to uproot the prejudices of\nsociety; and holding no fellowship with oppressors; my opposition to it\nwould cease. It might continue to bestow its charities upon those who\nshould desire to seek another country, and at the same time launch its\nthunders against the system of oppression. But, alas! it looks to the\nbanishment of the free people of color as the only means to abolish\nslavery, and conciliate the feelings of the planters.\n\nThe popularity of the Society is not attributable to its merits, but\nexclusively to its congeniality with those unchristian prejudices which\nhave so long been cherished against a sable complexion. It is agreeable\nto slaveholders, because it is striving to remove a class of persons who\nthey fear may stir up their slaves to rebellion; all who avow undying\nhostility to the people of color are in favor of it; all who shrink from\nacknowledging them as brethren and friends, or who make them a distinct\nand inferior caste, or who deny the possibility of elevating them in the\nscale of improvement here, most heartily embrace it. Having ample funds,\nit has been able to circulate its specious appeals in every part of the\ncountry; and to employ active and eloquent agents, who have glowingly\ndescribed to the people the immense advantages to be reaped from the\naccomplishment of its designs. With this entire preoccupancy of the\nground, and these common though unworthy dispositions in its favor, the\nwonder is, that it is not more popular.\n\nMuch cleverness is not requisite to tell a fine story; and a fine story\nis always agreeable to a credulous listener. An agent of the Society\ngoes into a place, and finds no difficulty in procuring a pulpit from\nwhich to address a congregation. The benevolent pastor, who, perhaps,\nhas had neither time nor opportunity to examine the principles of the\nSociety, readily officiates on the occasion, and, in the fulness of his\nheart, believing that he is not asking amiss, supplicates the\nbenediction of Heaven upon the object of the meeting. This co-operation\nof the pastor with the agent makes an impression decidedly favorable to\nthe latter upon the minds of the audience, and prepares them to receive\nhis statements with confidence. He first dwells upon the miserable\ncondition of Africa--desolated with civil wars--the prey of\nkidnappers--given up to idolatry--full of intellectual darkness and\nspiritual death--and bleeding at every pore. He next depicts the horrors\nof the slave trade, and shows how inefficient have been the laws enacted\nfor its suppression. He finally expatiates upon the evils and dangers of\nslavery; and is particularly minute in describing the degradation of the\nfree people of color, which he declares to be irreclaimable in this land\nof gospel light. 'Now, my christian brethren and friends,' he continues,\n'the object of the American Colonization Society is to stay the effusion\nof blood, to give light to them who sit in darkness, and to make\nreparation for the wrongs which have been inflicted upon the sable sons\nof Africa. As the people of color must evidently be a distinct and\ndegraded class while they reside in this country, and as they are\nthreatened with universal proscription, the Society benevolently\nproposes to send them back _to their native country_, by their own\n_voluntary_ consent, together with those slaves who may be emancipated\nfor this purpose, where they may enjoy equal rights and privileges, nor\nlonger retain any sense of inferiority to the whites. Every emigrant\nwill go as a missionary to reclaim the poor natives from their\nbarbarism, and to spread the tidings of salvation throughout the African\ncontinent. By forming a chain of colonies along the coast, a speedy\ncheck will be given to the accursed slave trade,--a trade which cannot\nbe destroyed in any other manner. Who does not desire to see Africa\ncivilized and evangelized? Whose heart does not leap in view of the\nsuppression of the slave trade? Who does not pray for deliverance from\nthe evils of slavery? Who does not wish to behold the free people of\ncolor,--cursed with ineffectual freedom here,--_recalled from their\nbanishment_, and placed where no obstacles will impede their march to\naffluence, preferment and honor? The Colonization Society, then,\npowerfully commends itself to the christian, the philanthropist and the\npatriot--to every section of our country and to all denominations of\nmen.'\n\nExquisite! The picture is crowded with attractions, delightful to the\neye. The story is skilfully told, and implicitly believed; but, like\nevery other story, it has two sides to it. So complete is the delusion,\nhowever, that many good people are ready to class those who denounce the\nColonization Society, among the opposers of foreign missions, bible and\ntract societies, and the other benevolent operations of the age!\n\nFar be it from me to accuse the agents of the Society of intentionally\nperverting the truth or deliberately imposing upon the credulity of the\npublic. Some--perhaps all of them, are men of sincerity and probity;\nbut, deluded themselves, they help to delude others. Their vision is\nimperfect; and 'if the blind lead the blind,' we may expect to find them\nin the same ditch together.\n\nGreat complacency has been manifested on various occasions, by the\nadvocates of the Society, on the ground that it was at first suspected\nof sinister designs, both at the north and the south, but is now\nreceiving the countenance of both. This exultation is premature. The\nopposition formerly manifested to the Society by the holders of slaves,\ngrew out of their ignorance of its purpose; but a very large majority of\nthem now perceive that it is their devoted servant, crouching down at\ntheir feet, shielding them from reproach, dragging those away whom they\ndread, allowing them to sin with impunity, and generously granting them\nand their children whole centuries in which to repent, and to surrender\nwhat they have stolen! It dissuades them from emancipating their slaves\nfaster than they can be transported to Africa; and thus regards their\npersistance in robbery and oppression as evidence of wisdom, benevolence\nand sanity! It is natural, that, discovering their mistake, they should\nnow rally in a body around the Society; and, consequently, we find that\nthe legislatures of the several slaveholding States are passing\nencomiums upon it, and in some instances appropriating sums of money to\nbe paid over to it by instalments.\n\nThe people of the north have been shamefully duped by this scheme; but,\nlike the slaveholders, they begin to discover their error. Unlike them,\nhowever, they are withdrawing their support, in obedience to the\ninjunction of the Apostle: 'Be ye not unequally yoked together with\nunbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with\nunrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? and what\nconcord hath Christ with Belial? Wherefore come out from among them, and\nbe ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I\nwill receive you.'\n\nTo Africa this country owes a debt larger than she is able to liquidate.\nMost intensely do I desire to see that ill-fated continent transformed\ninto the abode of civilization, of the arts and sciences, of evangelical\npiety, of liberty, and of all that adds to the dignity, the renown, and\nthe temporal and eternal happiness of man. Shame and confusion of face\nbelong to the Church, that she has so long disregarded the claims of\nAfrica upon her sympathies, and prayers, and liberality--claims as much\nsuperior as its wrongs to those of any other portion of the globe. It is\nindeed most strange that, like the Priest and the Levite, she should\nhave 'passed by on the other side,' and left the victim of thieves to\nbleed and sicken and die. As the Africans were the only people doomed to\nperpetual servitude, and to be the prey of kidnappers, she should have\nlong since directed almost her undivided efforts to civilize and convert\nthem,--not by establishing colonies of ignorant and selfish foreigners\namong them, who will seize every opportunity to overreach or oppress, as\ninterest or ambition shall instigate,--but by sending intelligent, pious\nmissionaries; men fearing God and eschewing evil--living evidences of\nthe excellence of christianity--having but one object, not the\npossession of wealth or the obtainment of power or the gratification of\nselfishness, but _the salvation of the soul_. Had she made this attempt,\nas she was bound to have made it by every principle of justice and every\nfeeling of humanity, a century ago, Africa would have been, at the\npresent day, 'redeemed, regenerated, and disenthralled,' and the slavery\nof her children brought to an end. No pirates would now haunt her coast\nto desolate her villages with fire and sword, in order to supply a\nchristian people with hewers of wood and drawers of water. How much has\nbeen needlessly lost to the world by this criminal neglect!\n\nThe conception of evangelizing a heathenish country by sending to it an\nilliterate, degraded and irreligious population, belongs exclusively to\nthe advocates of African colonization. For absurdity and inaptitude, it\nstands, and must forever stand, without a parallel. Of all the offspring\nof prejudice and oppression, it is the most shapeless and unnatural. But\nmore of this hereafter.\n\nHistory is full of instruction on the subject of colonization. The\nestablishment of colonies, in all ages, with scarcely an exception, has\nresulted either in their subversion by the vices or physical strength of\nthe natives, or by a fatal amalgamation with them; or else in the rapid\ndestruction of the natives by the superior knowledge and greedy avarice\nof the new settlers. It is presumption to suppose that the colony at\nLiberia, composed of the worst materials imaginable, will present an\nexample of forbearance, stability and good faith, hitherto unwitnessed\nin the world.\n\nSoon after its establishment, the colony narrowly escaped a bloody\nextirpation, and was the cause of a murderous warfare in which several\nof the colonists and a large number of the natives were slain. The\nsteady growth of the colony excited the jealousy and alarm of some of\nthe neighboring tribes; and, accordingly, a consultation was held, at\nwhich King George, Governor, and all the other head men, contended that\n'The Americans were strangers _who had forgot their attachment to the\nland of their fathers_; for if not, why had they not renounced their\nconnexion with white men altogether, and placed themselves under the\nprotection of the kings of the country? King George had already been\nunder the necessity of removing from his town, and leaving the Cape in\ntheir hands. This was but the first step of their encroachments. If left\nalone, they must, in a very few years, master the whole country. And as\nall other places were full, their own tribe must be without a home, and\ncease any longer to remain a nation.'[E] This appeal (which evinces an\nintimate acquaintance with human nature and much foresight) induced the\nattack to which allusion has been made. A single paragraph from the\nRev. Mr Ashmun's account of the battle with the natives may suffice to\ngive the reader an idea of its destructiveness:\n\n    'A few musketeers with E. Johnson at their head, by passing\n    round upon the enemy's flank, served to increase the\n    consternation which was beginning to pervade their unwieldy\n    body. In about twenty minutes after the settlers had taken their\n    stand, the front of the enemy began to recoil. But from the\n    numerous obstructions in their rear, the entire absence of\n    discipline, and the extreme difficulty of giving a reversed\n    motion to so large a body, a small part only of which was\n    directly exposed to danger, and the delay occasioned by the\n    practice of carrying off all their dead and wounded, rendered a\n    retreat for some minutes longer, impossible. The very violence\n    employed by those in the front, in their impatience to hasten\n    it, by increasing the confusion, produced an effect opposite to\n    that intended. The Americans perceiving their advantage, now\n    regained possession of the western post, and instantly brought\n    the long nine to rake the whole line of the enemy. Imagination\n    can scarcely figure to itself a throng of human beings in a more\n    capital state of exposure to the destructive power of the\n    machinery of modern warfare! Eight hundred men were here pressed\n    shoulder to shoulder, in so compact a form, that a child might\n    easily walk upon their heads from one end of the mass to the\n    other, presenting in their rear a breadth of rank equal to\n    twenty or thirty men, and all exposed to a gun of great power,\n    raised on a platform, at only thirty to sixty yards distance!\n    _Every shot literally spent its force in a solid mass of living\n    human flesh!_ Their fire suddenly terminated. A savage yell was\n    raised, which filled the dismal forest with a momentary horror.\n    It gradually died away; and the whole host disappeared. At 8\n    o'clock, the well known signal of their dispersion and return to\n    their homes was sounded, and many small parties seen at a\n    distance, directly afterwards, moving off in different\n    directions. One large canoe, employed in reconveying a party\n    across the mouth of the Montserado, venturing within the range\n    of the long gun, was struck by a shot, and several men\n    killed.'[F]\n\nThe above (which cannot be perused without a thrill of horror) is one of\nthe legitimate fruits of foreign colonization. Subsequent to this bloody\naffair, another battle took place, which resulted in the defeat of the\nnatives and the loss of many lives. It is true, the colony since that\nperiod has received little molestation, and has succeeded, moreover, in\nmaking some amicable treaties with the natives; but in proportion to its\nmeans of defence and numerical force will be its liability to encroach\nupon the rights of the Africans, and thus to provoke hostilities. If\nthis prophecy should not be fulfilled, history will have spoken in\nvain, and human nature experienced a total regeneration.\n\nNo man of refined sensibility can contemplate the fate of the aborigines\nof this country, without shuddering at the consequences of colonization;\nand if _they_ melted away at the presence of the pilgrims and their\ndescendants, like frost before the meridian blaze of the sun,--if _they_\nfell to the earth, like the leaves of the forest before the autumnal\nblast, by the settlement of men reputedly humane, wise and pious, in\ntheir vicinage,--what can be our hope for the preservation of the\nAfricans, associated with a population degraded by slavery, and, to a\nlamentable extent, destitute of religious and secular knowledge? The\nargument, that the difference of complexion between our forefathers and\nthe aborigines (which is not a distinctive feature between the settlers\nat Liberia and the natives) was the real cause of this deadly enmity, is\nmore specious than solid. _Conduct_, not _color_, secures friendship or\nexcites antipathy, as it happens to be just or unjust. The venerated\nWilliam Penn and his pacific followers furnish a case in point.\n\nI avow it--the natural tendency of the colony at Liberia excites the\nmost melancholy apprehensions in my mind. Its birth was conceived in\nblood, and its footsteps will be marked with blood down to old age--the\nblood of the poor natives--unless a special interposition of Divine\nProvidence prevent such a calamity. The emigrants will be eager in the\nacquisition of wealth, ease and power; and, having superior skill and\ndiscernment in trade, they will outwit and defraud the natives as often\nas occasion permits. This knavish treatment once detected,--as it surely\nwill be, for even an uncivilized people may soon learn that they have\nbeen cheated,--will provoke retaliation, and stir up the worst passions\nof the human breast. Bloody conflicts will ensue, in which the colonists\nwill be victorious. This success will serve to increase the enmity of\nthe natives, and to perpetuate the murderous struggle. The extirpation\nof one generation may put the colonists in undisputed possession of the\nland.\n\nThis is not a fancy sketch--it is not improbable: on the contrary, it is\nthe obvious and hitherto certain consequence of bringing hastily\ntogether large bodies of civilized men with unlettered barbarians.\n\nJealousy will be another fruitful source of contention. The population\nof Africa is divided into a vast number of tribes, governed by petty\nkings,--sometimes indeed united by an amicable league, but commonly\ndistinct and independent. Some of these tribes will form alliances with\nthe colonists, either to obtain protection from their more formidable\nrivals or from motives of fear, curiosity or selfishness. In this\nmanner, tribe will be arrayed against tribe throughout that vast\ncontinent; the tide of commotion, gathering fresh impetuosity in its\nheadlong career, will rush from the mountains down to the ocean,\ndevastating all that is beautiful, and swiftly defacing that which will\nrequire the labors of centuries to restore to its pristine excellence;\nthere will be wars and rumors of wars, succeeded by deceitful and\nunstable treaties ratified only to be broken at a favorable moment; and\nthese collisions will not cease until the colonists obtain an undisputed\nmastery over the natives.\n\nWould to Heaven these fears might prove to be but the offspring of a\ndistracted mind! May the colonists be so just in their intercourse with\nthe Africans, as never to impeach their own integrity; so pacific, as to\ndisarm retaliation and perpetuate good will; so benevolent, as to excite\ngratitude and diffuse joy wherever their names shall be known; and so\nholy, as to exalt the christian religion in the eyes of an idolatrous\nnation! But he must be grossly ignorant of human nature, or strangely\ninfatuated, who believes that they will always, or commonly, exhibit\nthis unexceptionable conduct.\n\nIt is my sober conviction, that no contrivance or enterprise could\npossibly be planned more fatally calculated to obstruct the progress of\nchristianity in a heathenish country, than the establishment of a\ncolony, or colonies, of selfish, ignorant, or even intelligent and\nhigh-minded men, on its shores. In every settlement of this kind,--no\nmatter how choice the original materials,--vice will soon preponderate\nover virtue, intemperance over sobriety, knavery over honesty,\noppression over liberty, and impiety over godliness. The natives will\nsee just enough of christianity to hate and shun it; finding that its\nfruits are generally bad--that it has no restraining influence upon the\nmass of its nominal professors,--they will not easily comprehend the\nutility of abandoning their own idolatrous worship; looking only to the\npernicious examples of the intruders, they will spurn with contempt the\nprecepts of the gospel. Their confidence will be abused--their lands\ncraftily trafficked for nought--their ignorance cheated--their\ninferiority treated oppressively; and then what must naturally follow?\nWhy--WAR--_a war of retaliation_. All the vices, and few of the virtues,\nof the instructers, will be faithfully copied; and thus barriers will be\nerected against the progress of the Christian religion, not absolutely\ninsurmountable, it is true, but sufficiently tall and strong to retard\nits noble career--barriers not only of superstition and ignorance, but\nof hatred and revenge. These reflections might be extended to the size\nof a volume; but they are probably sufficient to convince every\nunprejudiced, discerning mind, that the establishment of foreign\ncolonies in a barbarous land is the surest way to prevent its speedy\nevangelism and civilization.\n\nIn reply to this reasoning, some of the advocates of African\ncolonization may argue, that schools and houses of worship, multiplying\nwith the growth of the settlement at Liberia, will check the evil\npropensities and passions of the emigrants, and qualify them to act as\nmissionaries or instructers among the natives; and thus great good will\nbe bestowed upon Africa. This is at least a summary, if not a sure mode\nof obviating these difficulties.\n\nIn the first place, it is by no means certain--nay, it is not probable,\nespecially if the number of emigrants annually exported to Liberia swell\nfrom hundreds to thousands, (and this increase of transportation is\npositively promised by the Parent Society, and absolutely necessary to\ncause a perceptible diminution in the annual enlargement of our colored\npopulation)--I say, it is neither certain nor probable that the\nmultiplication of literary and religious privileges will keep pace with\nthe unnatural and enormous growth of the colony. Nine years after the\nfirst settlement of Liberia, it appears by the following extract of a\nletter from a highly respectable colored emigrant, (the Rev. George M.\nErskine,) there was but the 'remnant of a school' left! This letter is\ndated '_Caldwell, Liberia, April 3, 1830_.'\n\n    'Sir, the state of things, with regard to schools, is truly\n    lamentable. _The only school in the Colony at this time, is a\n    remnant of one at the Cape._ Among the present emigrants, there\n    are seventeen out of forty-eight that can read the Holy\n    Scriptures, _leaving thirty-one that cannot_. Now, Sir, suppose\n    each company of emigrants to this place bring a like proportion\n    of illiterate persons into the Colony, then what state, think\n    you, it must be in? But again, Sir: I am greatly mistaken if\n    this Colony is not, for several years yet to come, mostly to be\n    peopled with slaves sent out by their present owners, without\n    any education themselves, and without means and very little\n    desire to have their children instructed; and add to the above,\n    that this people is planted in the midst, and are daily\n    conversant with, a people that are not only heathen, but a\n    people extremely partial in favor of their grovelling\n    superstition. My dear Sir, this being the case, _whether is it\n    probable that they will come over to us, or we go down to them_?\n    To me the latter is the most likely, _as it is the very essence\n    of human nature to seek the lowest depth of degradation_. Permit\n    me to say, Sir, there must be a great revolution in this Colony\n    before it can have a salutary influence on the surrounding\n    natives; that is, before it can have a moral influence over\n    them.'[G]\n\nSubsequent accounts, I am happy to state, present a better aspect in\nrelation to the education of this outcast and persecuted people: their\nwants, however, are only partially supplied.\n\nThe annual increase of the free colored and slave population in the\nUnited States is variously estimated from sixty to seventy-five\nthousand. The American Colonization Society proposes the annual removal\nof this vast body,--and more, if it be possible,--provided the energies\nand patronage of the General Government be enlisted in this expulsive\ncrusade. Now, suppose the entire transportation effected, let any candid\nman decide how extremely difficult, not to say impracticable, it would\nbe to discipline and instruct such an overwhelming mass of ignorance, or\nany considerable portion of it--and how pernicious must be the\nconsequences to the colony and the natives, if it should not receive\nimmediate culture!\n\nSecondly. It is neither certain nor probable that, allowing all that is\nassumed by colonizationists, the influence of secular and religious\ninstruction would be sufficient to restrain the selfish desires and\nknavish propensities of those whose main object is, not to evangelize\nthe natives, but to secure, by a summary process, competence and power\nfor themselves. Indeed, their juxtaposition with the natives would be\neminently calculated to induce the fever of avarice, and to generate the\nlust of dominion. It is well known that so eager are the colonists to\nacquire a rapid accumulation of wealth, by trafficking their paltry\nbeads and poisonous rum and tobacco for ivory, camwood and gold dust, it\nis with the utmost difficulty any considerable portion of them are\npersuaded to cultivate the soil and engage in agricultural pursuits.\nThus we are presented with the disgraceful, if not singular spectacle of\na rivalry in cunning and trickishness between a colony of _soi-disant_\nmissionaries (really avaricious and unscrupulous foreigners) and the\ntribes who are to come under their pious pupilage. If equal dexterity in\ntrade is not apparent, each party is equally pleased with its successful\nattempts at deception, and both renew the fraudulent commerce with fresh\nalacrity--the one to gain a new triumph, and the other to retrieve an\nold defeat. And this is the mode of colonizationists to evangelize\nAfrica! and this their mode to suppress the slave trade! and this their\nmode to elevate the free people of color! and this their mode to\nemancipate the slaves! It combines the folly and absurdity of a farce\nwith the solemnity and murderment of a tragedy.\n\nFar be it from me to leave the impression upon the mind of the reader,\nfrom these representations, that all the colonists are actuated by the\nsame selfish motives, or that they have exhibited any new and\nextraordinary traits of character in their commerce with the Africans.\nMany of them, I believe, are men who fear God and desire the welfare of\nhis creatures: all of them have behaved as honorably, perhaps, and\ntrafficked as equitably, as any other body of men, white or yellow,\nwould have done in the same situation and under the same circumstances.\nDishonesty in trade is no prodigy, even in this country. To bring\naccusations of fraud, cupidity and cunning against human nature, is not\nlibellous. I am persuaded that robbery,--well contrived, deliberately\nexecuted robbery,--is perpetrated in every community among ourselves,\nwithout any due estimate of its moral turpitude, by reputable merchants\nand traders upon their customers, to a larger extent than all the\navowed and heinous thefts collectively, which are committed against\nsociety. It is lamentable to see how studiously conscience and fair\ndealing are excluded from the secular business of the world. If we see,\nevery day, illustrations of this dishonest conduct, given by men of\nrefinement, intelligence and good character, what should we expect from\nthose whose fetters have hardly fallen from their limbs; who have been\nsystematically degraded by slavery; who have not consequently that\nlively sense of moral obligation which accompanies intelligence; who are\nbeyond the influence of public sentiment, and surrounded by a barbarous\npeople?\n\nThe establishment of a colony of speculators, then, to evangelize\nAfrica, does not discover much wisdom or promise much success; but, on\nthe contrary, exhibits a total blindness of vision and a most\nunfavorable aspect.\n\nLet it be remembered, however, that _rum_ and _tobacco_ (two poisons\nwhich are exactly adapted to destroy both soul and body) are the\nprincipal articles given to the natives--because pertinaciously demanded\nby them--in exchange for their own. Their appetite for spirituous\nliquor, first created by the slave traders and subsequently excited by\nthe colonists, is insatiate. Even the justly lamented ASHMUN, if I do\nnot mistake, for I have not his letter now before me, was so imprudent\nin one of his epistles to the Board of Managers as to concede the fatal\nnecessity of selling rum freely to the natives, in order to maintain a\ncommercial intercourse with them. Rum they would have, or nothing; and\nrum they obtained then, and do now obtain. Any one who will take the\ntrouble to read the advertisements in the Liberia Herald will discover\nthat ardent spirits form a prominent item in the list of articles\noffered for sale. Of the sobriety of the colonists, however, common\nreport speaks in the most gratifying manner; but as their number is to\nbe increased by a redundant importation, we have reason to fear a\ndeclension of morals.\n\nThirdly. Colonizationists strenuously contend that our colored\npopulation are destined always to remain a degraded class in this\ncountry. If educated any where, they must be educated in Africa. We must\ntake them in their ignorance, and just released from bondage, and\ntranslate them to another continent on the wings of the wind. Delay\nwould be injurious to ourselves, and calamitous to them. They must go in\nlarge bodies--by thousands and tens of thousands annually--till the\nwhole be expelled from our shores. For it seems, according to the logic\nof colonizationists, every individual tainted with black blood must be\ntransported, to insure the regeneration of Africa! Neither fifty\nthousand, nor one hundred thousand, nor half a million of these\n_missionaries_ will be able to accomplish the task; but two millions of\nslaves and four hundred thousand free people of color, and all their\ndescendants in time to come, here--even little babes (pretty prattling\nreformers!) and children--the maimed, the halt, and the blind--all must\nbe sent off--else alas! alas! for poor benighted Africa! This is no\ncaricature. An ugly face is sure to quarrel with its own likeness. But\nwhat is the portrait worth, if it bear no resemblance to the living\noriginal? They who place themselves in a ridiculous attitude must not\nclaim exemption from ridicule.\n\nLet us turn to the picture once more. It is worth our while to\ncontemplate it a few moments longer.\n\nWhat do we see? More than one-sixth portion of the American\npeople--confessedly the most vicious, degraded and dangerous\nportion--crowded on the shores of Africa, by means which are hereafter\nto be considered, and at an expense which we shall not stop now to\ncalculate, for the purpose of civilizing and evangelizing Africa, and of\nimproving their own condition! Here, then, are _two_ ignorant and\ndepraved nations to be regenerated instead of _one_!--if we may call all\nthe natives that occupy that vast continent a nation--two huge and\nheterogeneous masses of contagion mingled together for the preservation\nof each! One of these nations is so incorrigibly stupid, or unfathomably\ndeep in pollution, (for such is the argument,) that, although surrounded\nby ten millions of people living under the full blaze of gospel light,\nand having every desirable facility to elevate and save it, it never can\nrise until it be removed at least three thousand miles from their\nvicinage!--and yet it is first to be evangelized in a barbarous land, by\na feeble, inadequate process, before it can be qualified to evangelize\nthe other nation! In other words, men who are intellectually and\nmorally blind are violently removed from light effulgent into thick\ndarkness, in order that they may obtain light themselves and diffuse\nlight among others! Ignorance is sent to instruct ignorance, ungodliness\nto exhort ungodliness, vice to stop the progress of vice, and depravity\nto reform depravity! All that is abhorrent to our moral sense, or\ndangerous to our quietude, or villanous in human nature, we benevolently\ndisgorge upon Africa for her temporal and eternal welfare! We propose to\nbuild upon her shores, for her glory and defence, colonies framed of\nmaterials which we discard as worthless for our own use, and which\npossess no fitness or durability! Admirable consistency! surprising\nwisdom! unexampled benevolence! As rationally might we think of\nexhausting the ocean by multiplying the number of its tributaries, or\nextinguishing a fire by piling fuel upon it.\n\nLastly. Any scheme to proselytize which requires for its protection the\nerection of forts and the use of murderous weapons, is opposed to the\ngenius of christianity and radically wrong. If the gospel cannot be\npropagated but by the aid of the sword,--if its success depend upon the\nmuscular power and military science of its apostles,--it were better to\nleave the pagan world in darkness. The first specimen of _benevolence_\nand _piety_, which the colonists gave to the natives, was the building\nof a fort, and supplying it with arms and ammunition! This was an\nearnest manifestation of that 'peace on earth, good will to man,' which\nthese expatriated _missionaries_ were sent to inculcate! How eminently\ncalculated to inspire the confidence, excite the gratitude, and\naccelerate the conversion of the Africans! Their 'dread of the great\nguns of the Islanders,' (to adopt the language of Mr Ashmun,) must from\nthe beginning have made a deep and salutary impression upon their minds;\nand when, not long afterward, 'every shot' from these guns '_spent its\nforce in a solid mass of living human flesh_'--their own flesh--they\nmust have experienced a total regeneration. Bullets and cannon balls\nargue with resistless effect, and as easily convert a barbarous as\ncivilized people. One sanguinary conflict was sufficient to spread the\nglad tidings of salvation among a thousand tribes, almost with the\nrapidity of light!--But even irony, though appropriate, is painful. I\nforbear.\n\nBut--says an objector--these reflections come too late. The colony is\nplanted, whatever may be its influence. What do you recommend? Its\nimmediate abandonment to want and ruin? Shall we not bestow upon it our\ncharities, and commend it to the protection of Heaven?\n\nI answer--Let the colony continue to receive the aid, and elicit the\nprayers of the good and benevolent. Still let it remain within the pale\nof christian sympathy. Blot it not out of existence. But let it\nhenceforth develope itself naturally. Crowd not its population. Let\ntransportation cease. Seek no longer to exile millions of our colored\ncountrymen. For, assuredly, if the Colonization Society succeed in its\nefforts to remove thousands of their number annually, it could not\ninflict a heavier curse upon Africa, or more speedily assist in the\nentire subversion of the colony.\n\nBut--the objector asks--how shall we evangelize Africa?\n\nIn the same manner as we have evangelized the Sandwich and Society\nIslands, and portions of Burmah, Hindostan, and other lands. By sending\nmissionaries of the Cross _indeed_, who shall neither build forts nor\ntrust in weapons of war; who shall be actuated by a holy zeal and\ngenuine love; who shall be qualified to instruct, admonish, enlighten,\nand proselyte; who shall not by their examples impugn the precepts, or\nsubject to suspicion the inspiration of the Word of Life; who shall not\nbe covered with pollution and shame as with a garment, or add to the\nignorance, sin and corruption of paganism; and who shall abhor\ndishonesty, violence and treachery. Such men have been found to\nvolunteer their services for the redemption of a lost world; and such\nmen may be found now to embark in the same glorious enterprise. A\nhundred evangelists like these, dispersed along the shores and in the\ninterior of Africa, would destroy more idols, make more progress in\ncivilizing the natives, suppress more wars, unite in amity more hostile\ntribes, and convert more souls to Christ, in ten years, than a colony of\ntwenty-thousand ignorant, uncultivated, selfish emigrants in a century.\nSuch a mission would be consonant with reason and common sense; nor\ncould it fail to receive the approbation of God. How simple was the\ncommand of our blessed Saviour to his disciples!--'Go ye forth into all\nthe world, and preach the gospel to every creature.' Not--'Send out from\namong yourselves those whom you despise or against whom you cherish a\nstrong antipathy; those who need to be instructed and converted\nthemselves; those who are the dregs of society, made vicious and\nhelpless by oppression and public opinion; those who are beyond the\nreach of the gospel in a Christian land; those whose complexions are not\nprecisely like yours, or who have any personal blemishes whatever that\nexcite your dislike;--send out _all_ these to evangelize the nations\nwhich sit in darkness and in the regions of the shadow of death!'\n\nDenham, Clapperton, and Lander, travellers in Africa, represent the\nnatives in a light most favorable for the introduction of christianity;\nas eager to learn and become a civilized and great people like the\nEuropeans. Excepting the followers of Mohammed, they are not tenacious\nof their forms of religious worship; and a considerable portion of them\nare totally indifferent to devotional exercises. It seems apparent, that\nthe fruits of a mission in Africa would be thrice as numerous as those\nof one in India, because the obstacles to be surmounted are far less\nformidable.\n\nBut--says the objector--the climate of Africa is fatal to white men.\n\nSo is the climate of India. But our missionaries have not counted their\nlives dear unto themselves; and, as fast as one is cut down, another\nstands ready to supply his place.\n\nI do not believe that the Creator has immoveably fixed the habitations\nof any people within a boundary narrower than the circumference of the\nglobe. I believe that rapid transitions from intensity of heat and cold,\nand cold and heat, are destructive to animal life; but I also believe\nthat the human body is easily acclimated, in any region of the world. I\nbelieve the time is swiftly approaching when empires and continents\nshall as freely commingle their population as do states and\nneighborhoods. To limit or obstruct this intercourse, is to impoverish\nand circumscribe human happiness. Civilization will remove those causes\nwhich now engender pestilence and death, and neutralize the effects of\natmospherical contagion.\n\nHence it will be seen that I do not assail the Colonization Society, as\nmany others have done, simply because the settlement at Liberia is\nunhealthy. It is true, the mortality among the emigrants has been\nexcessive; and so it was among the first settlers of New-England. But\nthe climate of New-England is no longer pestiferous; and the climate of\nAfrica will grow sweet and salubrious as her forests disappear, and the\npurifying influences of Christianity penetrate into the interior. I\nexpressly contend, however, that it is murderous, indiscriminately to\ncolonize large bodies of men, women and children, in a foreign land,\nbefore the natives are to some extent elevated by missionary effort: and\ntherefore I consider the Colonization Society as responsible for the\nlives of those who have perished prematurely at Liberia.\n\nBut the objection is fallacious. If white missionaries cannot, black\nones can survive in Africa. What, then, is our duty? Obviously to\neducate colored young men of genius, enterprise and piety, expressly to\ncarry the 'glad tidings of great joy' to her shores. Enough, I venture\nto affirm, stand ready to be sent, if they can first be qualified for\ntheir mission. If our free colored population were brought into our\nschools, and raised from their present low estate, I am confident that\nan army of christian volunteers would go out from their ranks, by a\ndivine impulse and under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, to redeem\ntheir African brethren from the bondage of idolatry and the dominion of\nspiritual death.\n\nWhatever may be the result of this great controversy, I shall have the\nconsolation of believing that no efforts were lacking, on my part, to\nuproot the prejudices of my countrymen, to persuade them to walk in the\npath of duty and shun the precipice of expediency, to unloose the heavy\nburdens and let the prisoners go free at once, to warn them of the\ndanger of expelling the people of color from their native land, and to\nconvince them of the necessity of abandoning a dangerous and chimerical,\nas well as unchristian and anti-republican association. For these\nefforts I have hitherto suffered reproach and persecution, and must\nexpect to suffer till I perish. This book will doubtless increase the\nrage of my enemies; but no torrent of invective shall successfully whelm\nit, no sophistry impair its force, no activity destroy its influence, no\nmisrepresentation defeat its usefulness.\n\nI commend it, particularly, to the candid attention of the two most\npowerful classes in this country--editors of newspapers and the clergy.\nIt is not a light matter for either of them to propagate false doctrines\nand excite delusive hopes, on the subject of politics or religion.\nAlthough the press is committed to a wide extent, I place too much\nreliance upon the good sense and liberal patriotism of its conductors to\nbelieve that the evidence which is presented in these pages of the\ninefficiency and injustice of the colonization scheme, will fail to\nconvince their understanding. I cherish still higher expectations of its\nsalutary influence upon ministers of the gospel. It may grieve them to\ndiscover that they have been misled themselves, and that they have\nunwittingly misled others. To say to their flocks--'We have erred in\nthis matter; we have solicited your charities for an institution which\nis built upon prejudice and persecution; we have hastily adopted the\nmistaken opinions of others'--such a confession may indeed require much\ngrace in the heart, but this grace, I am persuaded, they will obtain. As\napostles of the Lord Jesus Christ, sustaining high and awful\nresponsibilities, and exerting an influence which measurably decides the\neternal destiny of the souls of men, they will not shut their eyes, or\nstop their ears, or refuse to examine, or disregard the truth, in a case\ninvolving the temporal and eternal happiness of millions of their fellow\ncreatures.\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[E] Memoir of American Colonists--vide 'The African Repository,' vol. 2,\np. 174.\n\n[F] African Repository, vol. 2, p. 179.\n\n[G] African Repository, vol. 6, p. 121.\n\n\n\n\nSECTION I.\n\nTHE AMERICAN COLONIZATION SOCIETY IS PLEDGED NOT TO OPPOSE THE SYSTEM OF\nSLAVERY.\n\n\nHaving concluded my introductory remarks, I now proceed to substantiate\nmy accusations against the American Colonization Society, by marshalling\nin review the sentiments of those who first originated it, and who are\nits efficient managers and advocates. It is obvious that, with my\nlimited means, and in a book designed for a cheap circulation, I shall\nnot be able to enter into so minute a detail as the present exigency\ndemands, or make those comments which might serve more fully to\nillustrate the character of this association. It should be stated,\nmoreover, that I have not made any particular effort to procure\nmaterials for this work, being satisfied that those which have almost\naccidentally fallen into my hands, contain ample and conclusive evidence\nof the unworthiness of the Society. A vast number of the Reports of\nauxiliary bodies in various parts of the country, of orations and\nsermons and essays in favor of African colonization, are beyond my\nreach, and must remain unconsulted. If more proof be demanded, it shall\nbe given to the public. There is not a sound timber in this great Babel:\nfrom the foundation to the roof, it is rotten and defective.\n\nI shall not stop to interrogate the motives of those who planned the\nSociety. Some of them, undoubtedly, were actuated by a benevolent desire\nto promote the welfare of our colored population, and could never have\nintended to countenance oppression. But the question is not, whether\ntheir motives were good or bad. Suppose they were all good--would this\nfact prove infallibly that they could not err in judgment? Do we not\nalmost daily see men running headlong into wild and injurious\nenterprises with the very best intentions? There is a wide difference\nbetween meaning well and doing well. The slave trade originated in a\ncompassionate regard for the benighted Africans; and yet we hang those\nwho are detected in this traffic. I am willing to concede that Robert\nFinley and Elias B. Caldwell were philanthropic individuals; and that a\nlarge number of their followers are men of piety, benevolence and moral\nworth. What then? Is the American Colonization Society a beneficial\ninstitution? We shall see hereafter.\n\nThe history of this Society is familiar to the public. It was organized\nabout the commencement of the year 1817. The first public meeting to\nconsider the expediency of such an organization was held on the 21st of\nDecember, 1816, at which the Hon. Henry Clay presided; but I have never\nseen its official proceedings. It was addressed by Mr Clay, _Mr\nRandolph_, Mr Caldwell, and other gentlemen, from whose speeches\nextracts will shortly be given.\n\nIt is my purpose in this section to show, first, the original design of\nthe Society; secondly, that it is still strictly adhered to; and,\nlastly, that the Society is solemnly pledged not to interfere with the\nsystem of slavery, or in any manner to disturb the repose of the\nplanters. Upon the rigid observance of this sinful pledge depends its\nexistence; a single violation of it would be fatal. I want no better\nreason than this, to wage an uncompromising warfare against it. No man\nhas a right to form an alliance with others, which prevents him from\nrebuking sin or exposing the guilt of sinners. Every individual is bound\nto oppose the system of slavery in the most direct, strenuous,\nunfaltering manner--bound by the ties of brotherhood, by the spirit of\nChristianity, by the genius of republicanism, by the dictates of\nhumanity, by the requirements of justice, by the love of country, by\nduty to his God. He cannot suppress his voice, nor stop his ears to the\ngroans of the prisoners, and be innocent. If he hide the truth because\nit may give offence--if he strike hands in amity with a thief--if he\nleave the needy and oppressed to perish--God will visit him with\nplagues. Now the language of the non-slaveholding members of the\nColonization Society to the owners of slaves is virtually as\nfollows:--'The free people of color are a nuisance to us, and plotters\nof sedition among your slaves. If they be not speedily removed, your\n_property_ will be lost, and your lives destroyed. We therefore do\nsolemnly agree, that, if you will unite with us in expelling this\ndangerous class from our shores, we will never accuse you of robbery or\noppression, or irritate your feelings by asserting the right of the\nslaves to immediate freedom, or identify any one of you as a criminal;\nbut, on the contrary, we will boldly assert your innocence, and applaud\nyou as wise and benevolent men for holding your slaves in subjection\nuntil you can cast them out of the country.' I say, this is _virtually_\ntheir language, as I shall soon indisputably show. Thus we are presented\nwith the strange spectacle of a procession composed of the most\nheterogeneous materials. There go, arm-in-arm, a New-England divine and\na southern kidnapper; and there an ungodly slaveholder and a pious\ndeacon; each eyeing the other with distrust, and fearful of exciting a\nquarrel, both denouncing the poor, neglected, despised free black man as\na miserable, good-for-nothing creature, and both gravely complimenting\ntheir foresight and generosity in sending this worthless wretch on a\nreligious mission to Africa!\n\nI cannot exhibit the folly and wickedness of this alliance in a clearer\nlight than by inserting the following extract of a letter from Capt.\nCharles Stuart, of the English Royal Navy, one of the most indefatigable\nphilanthropists in England:\n\n    'The American Colonization Society looks abroad over its own\n    country, and it finds a mass of its brethren, whom God has been\n    pleased to clothe with a darker skin. It finds one portion of\n    these free! another enslaved! It finds a cruel prejudice, as\n    dark and false as sin can make it, reigning with a most\n    tyrannous sway against both. It finds this prejudice respecting\n    the _free_, declaring without a blush, \"We are too wicked ever\n    to love them as God commands us to do--we are so resolute in our\n    wickedness as not even to desire to do so--and we are so proud\n    in our iniquity that we will hate and revile whoever disturbs us\n    in it--We want, like the devils of old, to be let alone in our\n    sin--We are unalterably determined, and neither God nor man\n    shall move us from this resolution, that our free colored fellow\n    subjects never shall be happy in their native land.\" The\n    American Colonization Society, I say, finds this most base and\n    cruel prejudice, _and lets it alone_; nay more, it directly and\n    powerfully supports it.\n\n    'The American Colonization Society finds 2,000,000 of its fellow\n    subjects most iniquitously enslaved--and it finds a resolution\n    as proud and wicked as the very spirit of the pit can make it\n    against _obeying_ God and _letting them_ go free in their native\n    land. _It lets this perfectly infernal resolution alone_, nay\n    more, it powerfully supports it; for it in fact says, as a fond\n    and feeble father might say to some overgrown baby before whose\n    obstinate wickedness he quailed, \"Never mind, my dear, I don't\n    want to prevent your beating and abusing your brothers and\n    sisters--let that be--but here is a box of sugar plums--do pray\n    give them one or two now and then.\" The American Colonization\n    Society says practically to the slaveholders and the slave party\n    in the United States, \"We don't want to prevent your plundering\n    2,000,000 of our fellow subjects of their liberty and of the\n    fruits of their toil; although we know that by every principle\n    of law which does not utterly disgrace us by assimilating us to\n    pirates, that they have as good and as true a right to the equal\n    protection of the law as we have; and although we ourselves\n    stand prepared to die, rather than submit even to a fragment of\n    the intolerable load of oppression to which we are subjecting\n    them--yet never mind--let that be--they have grown old in\n    suffering, and we in iniquity--and we have nothing to do now but\n    to speak _peace_, _peace_ to one another in our sins. But if any\n    of their masters, whether from benevolence, an awakened\n    conscience, or political or personal fear, should emancipate\n    any, let us send them to Liberia--that is, in fact, let us give\n    a sugar plum here and there to a few, while the many are living\n    and dying unredressed--and while we are thus countenancing the\n    atrocious iniquity beneath which they are perishing.\" In this\n    aspect I find the American Colonization Society declaring itself\n    a substitute for emancipation, and it is in this aspect that I\n    contend with it, and that I proclaim it, _as far as it has this\n    character_, no farther, a bane to the colored people, whether\n    enslaved or free, and a snare and a disgrace to its country.'\n\nThe second article of the Constitution of this Society is in the\nfollowing language:\n\n    'The object to which its attention is to be _exclusively_\n    directed, is to promote and execute a plan for colonizing (with\n    their consent) the free people of color residing in our country,\n    in Africa, or such other place as Congress shall deem most\n    expedient. And the Society shall act, to effect this object, in\n    co-operation with the General Government, and such of the States\n    as may adopt regulations upon the subject.'\n\nThe following citations abundantly sustain the charge, that the Society\nhas not swerved from its original design, and does not oppose the system\nof slavery:\n\n    'Whilst he was up, he would detain the Society for a few\n    moments. It was proper again and again to repeat, that it was\n    far from the intention of the Society to affect, _in any\n    manner_, the tenure by which a certain species of property is\n    held. He was himself a slaveholder; _and he considered that kind\n    of property as inviolable as any other in the country_. He would\n    resist as soon, and with as much firmness, encroachments upon it\n    as he would encroachments upon any other property which he held.\n    Nor was he disposed even to go as far as the gentleman who had\n    just spoken, (Mr Mercer) in saying that he would emancipate his\n    slaves, if the means were provided of sending them from the\n    country.'--[Speech of Henry Clay.--First Annual Report.]\n\n\n    'It was proper and necessary distinctly to state, that he\n    understood it constituted no part of the object of this meeting,\n    to touch or agitate in the slightest degree, a delicate\n    question, connected with another portion of the colored\n    population of our country. It was not proposed to deliberate\n    upon or consider at all, any question of emancipation, or that\n    which was connected with the abolition of slavery. It was upon\n    that condition alone, he was sure, that many gentlemen from the\n    South and West, whom he saw present, had attended, or could be\n    expected to co-operate. It was upon that condition only, that he\n    himself had attended.'--[Speech of Mr Clay before the Society,\n    Jan. 1, 1818.--Second Annual Report.]\n\n\n    'It had been properly observed by the chairman, as well as by\n    the gentleman from this District (Messrs Clay and Caldwell) that\n    there was nothing in the proposition submitted to consideration\n    which in the smallest degree touched another very important and\n    delicate question, which ought to be left as much out of view as\n    possible, (Negro slavery.) * * * Mr R. concluded by saying, that\n    he had thought it necessary to make these remarks, being a\n    slaveholder himself, to shew, that, so far from being connected\n    with the abolition of slavery, _the measure proposed would prove\n    one of the greatest securities to enable the master to keep in\n    possession his own property_.'--[Speech of John Randolph at the\n    same meeting.]\n\n\n    'Your committee would not thus favorably regard the prayer of\n    the memorialists, if it sought to impair, _in the slightest\n    degree_, the rights of private property, or the yet more sacred\n    rights of personal liberty, secured to every description of\n    freemen in the United States.\n\n    'The resolution of the legislature of Virginia, the subsequent\n    acts and declarations, as well as the high character of the\n    memorialists themselves, added to the most obvious interest of\n    the states who have recently sanctioned the purpose, or\n    recognized the existence of the American Colonization Society,\n    exclude _the remotest apprehension of such injustice and\n    inhumanity_.'\n\n    --[Report of the committee of the House of Representatives of\n    the United States, on the memorial of the President and Board of\n    Managers of the Colonization Society.--Second Annual Report.]\n\n\n    'An effort for the benefit of the blacks, in which all parts of\n    the country can unite, of course _must not have the abolition of\n    slavery for its immediate object_. NOR MAY IT AIM DIRECTLY AT\n    THE INSTRUCTION OF THE BLACKS. In either case, the _prejudices_\n    and _terrors_ of the slaveholding States would be excited in a\n    moment; and with reason too, for it is a well-established point,\n    that _the public safety forbids either the emancipation or the\n    general instruction of the slaves_.' * * * 'It [African\n    Colonization] is an enterprise in which _all parts of the\n    country can unite_. The grand objection to every other effort\n    is, that it excites the _jealousies_ and _fears_ of the south.\n    But here is an effort in which the southern people are the first\n    to engage, and which numbers many of their most distinguished\n    men among its advocates and efficient supporters.'--[Review of\n    the Reports of the Society, from the Christian\n    Spectator.--Seventh Annual Report.]\n\n\n    'It will be seen at home and abroad, that the American\n    Colonization Society, while it _properly enough_ stands aloof\n    from the question of slavery, and the abolition of slavery,'\n    &c.--[Report of William McKenney.--Eighth Annual Report.]\n\n\n    'The objects of this institution are well known to the world;\n    for no concealment whatever has ever been intended. The Society\n    aims at the removal of free persons of color; _it interferes, in\n    no way whatever, with the rights of property_.'--[Speech of G.\n    W. Custis, Esq.--Ninth Annual Report.]\n\n\n    'We are reproached with doing mischief by the agitation of this\n    question. The Society goes into no household to disturb its\n    domestic tranquillity; it addresses itself to no slaves to\n    weaken their obligations of obedience. _It seeks to affect no\n    man's property._'--[Speech of Mr Clay.--Tenth Annual Report.]\n\n\n    'The Committee to whom was referred the memorial of the American\n    Colonization Society, have had the subject under consideration,\n    and now report:\n\n    'That upon due consideration of the said memorial, and from all\n    other information which your committee has obtained, touching\n    that subject, they are fully satisfied that no jealousies ought\n    to exist, on the part of this or any other slaveholding State,\n    respecting the objects of this Society, or the effects of its\n    labors.'--[Report of a committee of the Legislature of Delaware,\n    Feb. 8th, 1827.]\n\n\n    'The Society has reiterated the declaration that it has no\n    ulterior views diverse from the object avowed in the\n    constitution; and having declared that it is in nowise allied to\n    any Abolition Society in America or elsewhere, is ready whenever\n    there is need TO PASS A CENSURE UPON SUCH SOCIETIES IN\n    AMERICA.'--[Speech of Mr Harrison of Virginia.--Eleventh Annual\n    Report.]\n\n\n    'We have the same interests in this subject with our southern\n    brethren--the same opportunity of understanding it, and of\n    knowing with what _care_ and _prudence_ it should be approached.\n    What greater pledge can we give for the moderation and safety of\n    our measures than our own interests as slaveholders, and the\n    ties that bind us to the slaveholding communities to which we\n    belong?'--[Speech of Mr Key.--Same Report.]\n\n\n    'The second objection may be resolved into this; that the\n    Society, under the specious pretext of removing a vicious and\n    noxious population, is secretly undermining the rights of\n    private property. This is the objection expressed in its full\n    force, and if your memorialists could for a moment believe it to\n    be true in point of fact, they would never, _slaveholders as\n    they are_, have associated themselves together for the purpose\n    of co-operating with the Parent Society; and far less would they\n    have appeared in the character in which they now do, before the\n    legislative bodies of a slaveholding State. And, if any instance\n    could be now adduced, in which the Society has ever manifested\n    even an intention to depart from the avowed object, for the\n    promotion of which it was originally instituted, none would with\n    more willingness and readiness withdraw from it their\n    countenance and support. But, from the time of its formation,\n    down to the present period, all its operations have been\n    directed exclusively to the promotion of its one grand object,\n    namely, the colonization in Africa of the free people of color\n    of the United States. It has always protested, and through your\n    memorialists it again protests, that _it has no wish to\n    interfere_ with the delicate but important subject of slavery.\n    It has never, in a solitary instance, addressed itself to the\n    slave. It has never sought to invade the tranquillity of the\n    domestic circle, nor the peace and safety of\n    society.'--[Memorial of the Auxiliary Colonization Society of\n    Powhatan, to the Legislature of Virginia.--Twelfth Annual\n    Report.]\n\n\n    'Therefore she looked, and well might she look, to colonization\n    and to colonization alone. To abolition _she could not look_,\n    and need not look. Whatever that scheme may have done,\n    heretofore, in the States now free, it had done nothing and\n    could do nothing in the slave States for the cause of humanity.\n    This subject he rejoiced to know was now better understood, and\n    all began to see that it was _wiser_ and _safer_ to remove, by\n    colonization, a great and otherwise insuperable impediment to\n    emancipation, _than to act upon the subject of emancipation\n    itself_.'--[Speech of Mr Key.--Thirteenth Annual Report.]\n\n\n    'Our Society has nothing to do directly with the question of\n    slavery.' * * * 'Whilst the Society protests that it has no\n    designs on the rights of the master in the slave--or the\n    property in his slave, which the laws guarantee to him,'\n    &c.--[Speech of Gerrit Smith, Esq.--Fourteenth Annual Report.]\n\n\n    'Its primary object now is, and ever has been, to colonize, with\n    their own consent, free people of color on the coast of Africa,\n    or elsewhere, as Congress may deem expedient. And, Sir, I am\n    unwilling to admit, under any circumstances, and particularly in\n    this Hall, that it ever has swerved from this cardinal\n    object.'--[Speech of Mr Benham.--Fourteenth Annual Report.]\n\n\n    'Something he must yet be allowed to say, as regarded the object\n    the Society was set up to accomplish. This object, if he\n    understood it aright, _involved no intrusion on property_, NOR\n    EVEN UPON PREJUDICE.'--[Speech of Mr Archer of\n    Virginia.--Fifteenth Annual Report.]\n\n\n    'That the effort made by the Society should be such as to unite\n    all parts of the country--such as to be in any degree ultimately\n    successful, it was necessary to _disclaim all attempts for the\n    immediate abolition of slavery, or the instruction of the great\n    body of the blacks_. Such attempts would have excited alarm and\n    jealousy, would have been inconsistent with the public safety,\n    and defeated the great purposes of the Society.' * * * 'It is\n    pleasing to learn that the Friends, who at first were not\n    favorable to the Society, _having been inclined to the immediate\n    abolition of slavery_, are coming into what we deem the _more\n    wise policy_ of encouraging emancipation by\n    colonization.'--[Speech of Harmanus Bleecker, Esq. at the Second\n    Anniversary Meeting of the New-York Colonization Society, April\n    14, 1831.]\n\n\n    'The plan of colonization seems _the only one entitled to the\n    least consideration_.'--[Speech of M. C. Paterson, Esq. on the\n    same occasion.]\n\n\n    'Nor will their brethren of the North desire to interfere with\n    their constitutional rights, or rashly to disturb a system\n    interwoven with their feelings, habits, and prejudices. A golden\n    mean will be pursued, which, at the same time that it _consults\n    the wishes_, and _respects the prejudices_ of the South, will\n    provide for the claims of justice and Christianity, and avert\n    the storm of future desolation.'--[Speech of Lucius Q. C. Elmer,\n    Esq.--First Annual Report of the New-Jersey Colonization\n    Society.]\n\n\n    'Views are attributed to us, that were never entertained, and\n    our plan is tortured _into a design to emancipate the Slaves of\n    the South_. We are made to disregard this description of\n    property, and to touch without reserve the rights of our\n    neighbors. We are said to tread this almost forbidden ground\n    with firm step, and a hardihood of effort is imputed to us,\n    which, if true, might well excite the indignation of our\n    southern citizens.--But, Sir, our Society and the friends of\n    colonization wish to be distinctly understood upon this point.\n    From the beginning they have _disavowed_, and they do yet\n    _disavow_, that their object is _the emancipation of the\n    slaves_. They have no wish, _if they could_, to interfere in the\n    smallest degree with what they deem the most interesting and\n    fearful subject which can be pressed upon the American public.'\n    * * * 'There is no people that treat their slaves with so much\n    kindness and with so little cruelty. Nor can I believe that we\n    shall meet with any serious opposition from that quarter, when\n    our object is distinctly understood--when it is known that our\n    operations are confined exclusively to the free black\n    population. That this is our _sole_ object, I appeal with entire\n    confidence to the constitution of our Society and to the\n    constitution and Annual Reports of the Parent Institution.' * * *\n    'We again repeat--that our operations are confined to the free\n    black population, and that there is no ground for fear on the\n    part of our southern friends. We hold their slaves as we hold\n    their other property, SACRED. Let not then this slander be\n    repeated.'--[Speech of James S. Green, Esq. on the same\n    occasion.]\n\n\n    'Nothing has contributed more to retard the operations of the\n    Colonization Society than the mistaken notion that it interferes\n    directly with slavery. This objection is rapidly vanishing away,\n    and many of the slaveholding States are becoming efficient\n    supporters of the national society. In the Senate of Louisiana\n    during its last session, resolutions were adopted expressive of\n    the opinion that the object of this Society was deserving the\n    patronage of the general government. An enlightened community\n    now see, that this Society infringes upon no man's rights, that\n    its object is noble and benevolent--to remedy an evil which is\n    felt and acknowledged at the north and south--to give the free\n    people of color the privileges of freemen.'--[From a Tract\n    issued by the Massachusetts Colonization Society in 1831, for\n    gratuitous distribution.]\n\n\n    'This institution proposes to do good by a single specific\n    course of measures. Its direct and specific purpose _is not the\n    abolition of slavery_, or the relief of pauperism, or the\n    extension of commerce and civilization, or the enlargement of\n    science, or the conversion of the heathen. The single object\n    which its constitution prescribes, and to which all its efforts\n    are necessarily directed, is, African colonization from America.\n    It proposes only to afford facilities for the voluntary\n    emigration of free people of color from this country to the\n    country of their fathers.'--[Review on African\n    Colonization.--Christian Spectator for September, 1830.]\n\n\n    'It interferes in nowise with the right of property, and hopes\n    and labors for the gradual abolition of slavery, by the\n    voluntary and gradual manumission of slaves, when the free\n    persons of color shall have first been transferred to their\n    aboriginal climate and soil.'--[G. W. P. Custis, Esq.--African\n    Repository, vol. i. p. 39.]\n\n\n    'Does this Society wish to meddle with our slaves as our\n    rightful property? I answer _no_, I think not.'--[African\n    Repository, vol. ii. p. 13.]\n\n\n    'They have been denounced by some as fanatical and visionary\n    innovators, pursuing without regard to means or consequences, an\n    object destructive of the rights of property, and dangerous to\n    the public peace.' * * * 'The sole object of the Society, as\n    declared at its institution, and from which it can never be\n    allowed to depart, is 'to remove with their own consent, to the\n    coast of Africa, the free colored population, now existing in\n    the United States, and such as hereafter may become free.'' * * *\n    'In pursuing their object, therefore, (although such\n    consequences may result from a successful prosecution of it,)\n    the Society cannot be justly charged with aiming to disturb the\n    rights of property or the peace of society. Your memorialists\n    refer with confidence to the course they have pursued, in the\n    prosecution of their object for nine years past, to shew that it\n    is possible, without danger or alarm, to carry on such an\n    operation, notwithstanding its supposed relation to the subject\n    of slavery, and that they have not been regardless, in any of\n    their measures, of what was due to the state of society in which\n    they live. They are, themselves, chiefly slaveholders, and live,\n    with all the ties of life binding them to a slaveholding\n    community. They know when to speak and when to forbear upon\n    topics connected with this painful and difficult subject. They\n    put forth no passionate appeals before the public, seek to\n    excite no feeling, and avoid, with the most sedulous care, every\n    measure that would endanger the public tranquillity.' * * * 'The\n    managers could, with no propriety, depart from their original\n    and avowed purpose, _and make emancipation their object_. And\n    they would further say, that if they were not thus restrained by\n    the terms of their association, they would still consider any\n    attempts to promote the increase of the free colored population\n    by manumission, _unnecessary_, _premature_, and _dangerous_.'\n    * * * 'It seems now to be admitted that, whatever has any bearing\n    upon that question, must be managed with the utmost\n    consideration; that the peace and order of society must not be\n    endangered by indiscreet and ill-timed efforts to promote\n    emancipation; and that a true regard should be manifested to the\n    feelings and the fears, and even the _prejudices_ of those,\n    whose co-operation is essential.'--[Memorial of the Society to\n    the several States.--A. R. vol. ii. pp. 57, 58, 60.]\n\n\n    'To found in Africa an empire of _christians and republicans_;\n    to reconduct the blacks to their native land, without disturbing\n    the order of society, the laws of property, or the rights of\n    individuals; rapidly, but legally, _silently_, _gradually_, to\n    drain them off; these are the noble ends of the colonization\n    scheme.'--[African Repository, vol. ii. p. 375.]\n\n\n    'Nor have I ever been able to see, for my part, why the\n    patronage of Congress to a benevolent and patriotic Society,\n    which, without interfering, in the smallest degree, with that\n    _delicate interest_, only aims to remove what we all consider as\n    a great evil--our free people of color--(and which evil _does_\n    interfere with that interest,) should excite the jealousy or\n    spleen of our most watchful and determined advocates of state\n    rights.'--[Idem, p. 383.]\n\n\n    'Recognising the constitutional and legitimate existence of\n    slavery, it seeks not to interfere, either directly or\n    indirectly, with the rights which it creates. _Acknowledging the\n    necessity by which its present continuance and the rigorous\n    provisions for its maintenance are justified_, it aims only at\n    furnishing the States, in which it exists, the means of\n    immediately lessening its severities, and of ultimately\n    relieving themselves from its acknowledged evils.'--[Opimius in\n    reply to Caius Gracchus.--African Repository, vol. iii. p. 16.]\n\n\n    '_It is no abolition Society_; it addresses as yet _arguments to\n    no master_, and disavows with horror the idea of offering\n    temptations to any slave. IT DENIES THE DESIGN OF ATTEMPTING\n    EMANCIPATION, EITHER PARTIAL OR GENERAL; it denies, with us,\n    that the General Government have any power to emancipate; and\n    declares that the States have exclusively the right to regulate\n    the whole subject of slavery. The scope of the Society is large\n    enough, but it is in nowise mingled or confounded with the broad\n    sweeping views of _a few fanatics_ in America, who would urge us\n    on to the sudden and total abolition of slavery.' * * * 'The\n    first great material objection is that the Society does, in\n    fact, in spite of its denial, meditate and conspire the\n    emancipation of the slaves. To the candid, let me say that there\n    are names on the rolls of the Society too high to be rationally\n    accused of the duplicity and insidious falsehood which this\n    implies; farther, the Society and its branches are composed, in\n    by far the larger part, of _citizens of slaveholding States_,\n    who cannot gravely be charged with a design so perilous to\n    themselves. To the uncandid disputant, I say, let him put his\n    finger on one single sentiment, declaration or act of the\n    Society, or of any person, with its sanction, which shows such\n    to be their object: there is in fact no pretext for the charge.'\n    * * * 'Let me repeat, the _friends_ of the Colonization Society,\n    three-fourths of them are SLAVEHOLDERS; the legislatures of\n    Maryland, Georgia, Kentucky and Tennessee, all slaveholding\n    States, have approved it; _every member_ of this auxiliary\n    Society is, _either in himself, or his nearest relatives,\n    interested in holding slaves_.' * * * 'Once more; this Society\n    is no way connected with certain Abolition Societies in the\n    country. To these the Colonization Society would say, \"Your\n    object is unattainable, your zeal dangerous, and nothing can\n    give it the right direction or the right temperature, but your\n    surrendering your plan to ours: be convinced, that if the blacks\n    are ever to be removed from us, it will be by the free will of\n    the owners, and by means of the opportunity which our _innocent_\n    plan of an asylum for such as may be sent will afford.\"'--['The\n    Col. Society Vindicated.'--Idem, pp. 197, 200, 202, 203.]\n\n\n    'They can impress upon the southern slaveholder, by the strength\n    of facts, and by the recorded declarations of honest men, that\n    the objects of the Colonization Society are altogether pure and\n    praiseworthy, and _that it has no intention to open the door to\n    universal liberty_, but only to cut out a channel, where the\n    merciful providence of God may cause those dark waters to flow\n    off.'--[Idem, vol. iv. p. 145.]\n\n\n    'About twelve years ago, some of the wisest men of the nation,\n    (_mostly slaveholders_,) formed, in the city of Washington, the\n    present American Colonization Society. Among them were men high\n    in office, who had spent many years in studying the interests of\n    their country, and who could not, therefore, be suspected of\n    short-sighted enthusiasm, or any secret design of disturbing the\n    rights or the safety of our southern citizens.' * * * 'You will\n    observe, first, that _there is to be no intermeddling with\n    property in slaves_. THE RIGHTS OF MASTERS ARE TO REMAIN SACRED\n    IN THE EYES OF THE SOCIETY. The tendency of the scheme, and one\n    of its objects, is to _secure slaveholders, and the whole\n    southern country_, against certain evil consequences, growing\n    out of the three-fold mixture of our population.'--[Address of\n    the Rockbridge Col. Society.--Idem, p. 274.]\n\n\n    'It is true, their operations have been confined to the single\n    object, colonization.--They do nothing directly to effect the\n    manumission of slaves.--They think nothing can be advantageously\n    done in favor of emancipation, but by means of colonization, of\n    which emancipation will be a certain consequence that may be\n    safely and quietly awaited.'--[Mr Key's Address.--Idem, p. 303.]\n\n\n    'The Colonization Society, as such, have renounced wholly the\n    name and the characteristics of abolitionists. On this point\n    they have been unjustly and injuriously slandered. They need no\n    such barrier to restrict them, as the sentiment of Mr Harrison,\n    for their operations are entirely in a different department.\n    INTO THEIR ACCOUNTS THE SUBJECT OF EMANCIPATION DOES NOT ENTER\n    AT ALL.'--['N. E.'--Idem, p. 306.]\n\n\n    'Being, chiefly, slaveholders ourselves, we well know how it\n    becomes us to approach such a subject as this in a slaveholding\n    state, and in every other. If there were room for a reasonable\n    jealousy, we among the first should feel it; being as much\n    interested in the welfare of the community, and having as much\n    at heart, as any men can have, the security of ourselves, our\n    property and our families.' * * * 'Our object is, not to prevail\n    upon the master to part with his slave, for that we leave to his\n    own reflection and CONVENIENCE; but to afford to those masters\n    who have determined, or may determine, to manumit their slaves;\n    provided they can be removed from this country, the means of\n    removing them to a place where they may be really free,\n    virtuous, respectable and happy.--Nothing can be more innocent\n    and less alarming.'--[Review of Mr Tazewell's Report.--Idem, p.\n    341.]\n\n\n    'The American Colonization Society has, at all times, solemnly\n    disavowed any purpose of interference with the institutions or\n    rights of our Southern communities.'--[Idem, vol. v. p. 307.]\n\n\n    'From its origin, and throughout the whole period of its\n    existence, it has constantly disclaimed all intention whatever\n    of interfering, in the smallest degree, with the rights of\n    property, or the object of emancipation, gradual or immediate.\n    _It is not only without inclination_, but it is without power,\n    to make any such interference. It is not even a chartered or\n    incorporated company; and it has no other foundation than that\n    of Bible Societies, or any other christian or charitable\n    unincorporated companies in our country. It knows that the\n    subject of emancipation belongs exclusively to the several\n    States in which slavery is tolerated, and to individual\n    proprietors of slaves in those States, under and according to\n    their laws.' * * * 'The Society presents to the American public\n    _no project of emancipation_.' * * * 'Its exertions have been\n    confined exclusively to the free colored people of the United\n    States, and to those of them who are willing to go. It has\n    neither _purpose_ nor power to extend them to the larger portion\n    of that race held in bondage. Throughout the whole period of its\n    existence, this disclaimer has been made, and incontestible\n    facts establish its truth and sincerity. It is now repeated, in\n    its behalf, that the spirit of misrepresentation may have no\n    pretext for abusing the public ear.'--[Mr Clay's Speech.--African\n    Repository, vol. vi. pp. 13, 17, 19.]\n\n\n    'The Society, from considerations like these, whilst it\n    disclaims the remotest idea of ever disturbing the right of\n    property in slaves, conceives it to be possible that the time\n    may arrive, when, with the approbation of their owners, they\n    shall all be at liberty; and, with those already free, be\n    removed, with their own consent, to the land of their\n    ancestors.'--[African Repository, vol. vi. p. 69.]\n\n\n    '_It is not the object of this Society to liberate slaves, or\n    touch the rights of property_. TO SET THEM LOOSE AMONG US WOULD\n    BE AN EVIL MORE INTOLERABLE THAN SLAVERY ITSELF. It would make\n    our situation insecure and dangerous.'--[Report of the Kentucky\n    Col. Soc.--Idem, p. 81.]\n\n\n    'It contemplates no purpose of abolition: it touches no slave\n    until his fetters have been voluntarily stricken off by the hand\n    of his own master.'--[Speech of John A. Dix, Esq.--Idem, p.\n    165.]\n\n\n    'What has awakened that spirit of suspicion and enmity which is\n    now manifested by these men in every form of open and active\n    hostility? Can it be attributed to any departure of the Society\n    from its avowed original design and principles? We maintain that\n    it cannot; we maintain that the character of the Society has\n    from the commencement been uniformly the same, and that its\n    proceedings have been consistent with its character. Were or are\n    the design and principles of the Society hostile to the rights\n    and interest of the Southern States? We maintain that they were\n    and are not; but on the contrary, are worthy to be cherished by\n    the citizens of these States, and to be sustained with all their\n    energies as means of their political and moral strength.' * * *\n    'The _free_ people of color alone are to be colonized by the\n    Society, and whether the benefits of its scheme are ever to be\n    extended to _others_, is a question referred to those to whom it\n    pertains as a matter of right and duty to decide.' * * * 'The\n    Colonization Society would be the last Institution in the world\n    to disturb the domestic tranquillity of the South.'--[Defence of\n    the Society.--Idem, pp. 197, 207, 209.]\n\n\n    'This Society, here in the outset, most explicitly disclaims all\n    intention to interfere in the smallest degree with the slave\n    population. It is with the free colored population alone, and\n    that too, with their own consent, that this Society proposes to\n    act.'--[Address of the Maryland State Colonization Society to\n    the People of Maryland.]\n\n\n    'To the slaveholder, who had charged upon them the wicked design\n    of interfering with the rights of property under the specious\n    pretexts of removing a vicious and dangerous free population,\n    they address themselves in a tone of conciliation and sympathy.\n    We know your rights, say they, and we respect them--we know your\n    difficulties, and we appreciate them. _Being mostly slaveholders\n    ourselves_, having a common interest with you in this subject,\n    an equal opportunity of understanding it, and the same motives\n    to prudent action, what better guarantee can be afforded for the\n    just discrimination, and the safe operation of our measures? And\n    what ground for apprehension that we, who are bound to you by\n    the strongest ties of interest and of sympathy, should intrude\n    upon the repose of the domestic circle, or invade the peace and\n    security of society? Have not the thirteen years' peaceful, yet\n    efficient, operations of our Society attested the _moderation of\n    our views_ and the safety of our plans? We have protested from\n    the commencement, and during our whole progress, and we do now\n    protest, that we have never entertained the purpose of\n    intermeddling with the private property of individuals. We know\n    that we have not the power, even if we had the inclination, to\n    do so. Your rights, as guarantied by the Constitution, are held\n    sacred in our eyes; and we should be among the foremost to\n    resist, as a flagrant usurpation, any encroachment upon those\n    rights. Our only object, as at all times avowed, is to provide\n    for the removal to the coast of Africa, with their own consent,\n    of such persons of color as are already free, and of such others\n    as the humanity of individuals, or the laws of the different\n    states, may hereafter liberate. Is there any thing, say they, in\n    this proposition at war with your interest, your safety, your\n    honor, or your happiness? Do we not all regard this mixed and\n    intermediate population of free blacks, made up of slaves or\n    their immediate descendants, as a mighty and a growing evil,\n    exerting a dangerous and baneful influence on all around\n    them?'--[Address of Cyrus Edwards, Esq. of Illinois.--African\n    Repository, vol. vii. p. 100.]\n\n\n    'It was never the intention of the Society to interfere with the\n    rights of the proprietors of slaves; nor has it at any time done\n    so.'--[Address of R. J. Breckenridge of Kentucky.--Idem p. 176.]\n\n\n    'The specific object to which the entire funds of the\n    Institution are devoted, is simple and plainly unexceptionable\n    in this respect, that it interferes with no rights of\n    individuals, and with no law of the land.' * * * 'It embraces in\n    its provisions only the free. It does not interfere--it desires\n    not to interfere, in any way, with the rights or the interests\n    of the proprietors of slaves. _It condemns no man because he is\n    a slaveholder_; it seeks to quiet all unkind feelings between\n    the sober and virtuous men of the North and of the South on the\n    subject of slavery; it sends abroad no influence to disturb the\n    peace, and endanger the security and prosperity of any portion\n    of the country.'--[Character and Influence of the Colonization\n    Society.--African Repository, vol. vii. pp. 194, 200.]\n\n\n    'Can it be a ruthless scheme of political speculation, which\n    would trample, with rude and unhallowed step, upon the rights of\n    property, to gratify the visionary and fanatical projects of its\n    authors? No: this is impossible. Yet such is the language of\n    intemperate opposition, with which this Society has been\n    assailed by its enemies.' * * * 'Equally absurd and false is the\n    objection, that this Society seeks indirectly to disturb the\n    rights of property, and to interfere with the well-established\n    relation subsisting between master and slave. The man who avows\n    such monstrous purposes as these, and seeks to shelter himself\n    under the sanction and authority of the American Colonization\n    Society, is a base traitor to the cause which it seeks to\n    advance--AN ENEMY OF THE WORST AND MOST DANGEROUS STAMP, because\n    he assumes the specious garb of a friend and coadjutor. Let him\n    stand, or let him fall, by the verdict of an insulted and\n    outraged community--but do not make liable for his acts a great\n    Institution, whose real friends will be the first to reject and\n    discountenance him, and to mark upon his forehead in indelible\n    characters, \"This is a traitor to the cause of his country and\n    the cause of humanity.\"--It is true that the friends of the\n    American Colonization Society have permitted themselves to\n    entertain the high and exalted hope, that, by its influences,\n    ultimate and remote, the burdens which are incident to slavery\n    may be greatly mitigated, and possibly the evil itself at some\n    future day be entirely removed. But mark, Mr President, and mark\n    well, ye hearers, the grounds upon which this hope is founded.\n    It could not be sustained by any effort, direct or indirect, to\n    invade the rights of the slaveholding community, for the plain\n    and palpable reason, that the effort itself would furnish the\n    most certain means of defeating the object in view, even\n    supposing the friends of the Society reckless enough to\n    entertain it. It would denote on the part of those who made it,\n    an extremity of madness and folly, wholly unprecedented in the\n    history of the world, and if persevered in, would dissolve the\n    government into its original elements, even though the principle\n    of union which holds it together were a thousand-fold stronger\n    than it is.' * * * 'Surely the friends of the Colonization\n    Society have done nought either to alarm the honest fears of the\n    patriot, or excite the morbid sensibilities of the\n    slaveholder.'--[Address delivered before the Lynchburg Auxiliary\n    Colonization Society, August 18, 1831.]\n\n\n    'While, therefore, _they determined to avoid the question of\n    slavery_, they proposed the formation of a colony on the coast\n    of Africa, as an asylum for free people of color.' * * * 'The\n    emancipation of slaves or the amelioration of their condition,\n    with the moral, intellectual, and political improvement of\n    people of color within the United States, _are subjects foreign\n    to the powers of this Society_.'--[Address of the Board of\n    Managers of the American Colonization Society to its Auxiliary\n    Societies.--African Repository, vol. vii. pp. 290, 291.]\n\n\n    'The American Colonization Society was formed with special\n    reference to the _free_ blacks of our country. With the\n    _delicate subject_ of slavery it presumes not to interfere. And\n    yet doubtless from the first it has cherished the hope of being\n    in some way or other a medium of relief to the entire colored\n    population of the land. Such a hope is certainly both innocent\n    and benevolent. And so long as the Society adheres to the object\n    announced in its constitution, as it hitherto has done, the\n    master can surely find no reasonable cause of anxiety. And it is\n    a gratifying circumstance that the Society has from the first\n    _obtained its most decided and efficient support from the\n    slaveholding States_.'--[Sermon, delivered at Springfield,\n    Mass., July 4th, 1829, before the Auxiliary Colonization Society\n    of Hampden County, by Rev. B. Dickinson.]\n\n\n    'The American Colonization Society in no way directly meddles\n    with slavery. It disclaims all such\n    interference.'--[Correspondent of the Southern Religious\n    Telegraph.]\n\n\n    'This system is sanctioned by the laws of independent and\n    sovereign states. Congress cannot constitutionally pass laws\n    which shall tend directly to abolish it. If it ever be abolished\n    by legislative enactments, it must be done by the respective\n    legislatures of the States in which it exists. It never designed\n    to interfere with what the laws consider as the rights of\n    masters--it has made no appeals to them to release their slaves\n    for colonization, nor to their slaves to abandon their masters.\n    With this delicate subject, the Society has avowedly nothing to\n    do. Its ostensible object is necessarily the removal of our free\n    colored population.'--[Middletown (Connecticut) Gazette.]\n\n\n    'With slaves, however, the American Colonization Society has _no\n    concern_ whatever, except to transport to Africa such as their\n    owners may liberate for that purpose.'--[Oration delivered at\n    Newark, N. J., July 4th, 1831, by Gabriel P. Disosway, Esq.]\n\n\n    'It disclaims, and always has disclaimed, all intention\n    whatever, of interfering in the smallest degree, direct or\n    indirect, with the rights of slaveholders, the right of\n    property, _or the object of emancipation, gradual or immediate.\n    It knows that the owners of slaves are the owners, and no one\n    else--it does not, in the most remote degree, touch that\n    delicate subject_. Every slaveholder may, therefore, remain at\n    ease concerning it or its progress or objects.'--[An advocate of\n    the Society in the New-Orleans Argus.]\n\nIt were needless to multiply these extracts. So precisely do they\nresemble each other, that they seem rather as the offspring of a single\nmind, than of many minds. A large majority of them come in the most\nofficial and authoritative shape, and their language is explicit beyond\ncavil.\n\nHere, then, is a combination, embracing able and influential men in all\nparts of the country, pledging itself not only to respect the system of\nslavery, but to frown indignantly upon those who shall dare to assail\nit. And what is this system which is to be held in so much reverence,\nand avoided with so much care? It is a system which has in itself no\nredeeming feature, but is full of blood--the blood of innocent men,\nwomen and children; full of adultery and concupiscence; full of\ndarkness, blasphemy and wo; full of rebellion against God and treason\nagainst the universe; full of wrath--impurity--ignorance--brutality--and\nawful impiety; full of wounds and bruises and putrefying sores; full of\ntemporal suffering and eternal damnation. It is, says Pitt, a mass, a\nsystem of enormities, which incontrovertibly bid defiance to every\nregulation which ingenuity can devise, or power effect, but a total\nextinction; a system of incurable injustice, the complication of every\nspecies of iniquity, the greatest practical evil that ever has afflicted\nthe human race, and the severest and most extensive calamity recorded in\nthe history of the world. Fox calls it a most unjust and horrible\npersecution of our fellow creatures. The Rev. Dr. Thomson declares it is\na system hostile to the original and essential rights of\nhumanity--contrary to the inflexible and paramount demands of moral\njustice--at eternal variance with the spirit and maxims of revealed\nreligion--inimical to all that is merciful in the heart, and holy in the\nconduct--and on these accounts, necessarily exposed and subject to the\ncurse of Almighty God. It is, says Rowland Hill, made up of every crime\nthat treachery, cruelty and murder can invent. Wilberforce says, it is\nthe full measure of pure, unmixed, unsophisticated wickedness; and\nscorning all competition or comparison, it stands without a rival in the\nsecure, undisputed possession of its detestable pre-eminence. In this\ncountry, slavery is a system which leaves the chastity of one million\nfemales without any protection! which condemns more than two millions of\nhuman beings to remediless bondage! which authorises their sale at\npublic vendue in company with horses, sheep and hogs, or in a private\nmanner, at the pleasure of their owners! which, under penalty of\nimprisonment, and even death, forbids their being taught the lowest\nrudiments of knowledge! which, by the exclusion of their testimony in\ncourts, subjects them to worse than brutal treatment! which recognizes\nno connubial obligations, ruthlessly severs the holiest relations of\nlife, tears the scarcely weaned babe from the arms of its mother, wives\nfrom their husbands, and parents from their children! But who is\nadequate to the task of delineating its horrors, or recording its\natrocities, in full? Who can number the stripes which it inflicts, the\ngroans and tears and imprecations which it extorts, the cruel murders\nwhich it perpetrates? or who measure the innocent blood which it\nspills, or the degradation which it imposes, or the guilt which it\naccumulates? or who reveal the waste of property, the perversion of\nintellect, the loss of happiness, the burial of mind, to which it is\naccessary? or who trace its poisonous influence and soul-destroying\ntendency back for two hundred years down to the end of time? None--none\nbut God himself! It is corrupt as death--black as perdition--cruel and\ninsatiate as the grave. To adopt the nervous language of another:--The\nthing I say is true. I speak the truth, though it is most lamentable. I\ndare not hide it, I dare not palliate it; else the horror with which it\ncovereth me would make me do so. Wo unto such a system! wo unto the men\nof this land who have been brought under its operation! It is not felt\nto be evil, it is not acknowledged to be evil, it is not preached\nagainst as evil; and, therefore, it is only the more inveterate and\nfearful an evil.[H] _It hath become constitutional._ IT IS FED FROM THE\nSTREAM OF OUR LIFE, and it will grow more and more excessive, until it\ncan no longer be endured by God, nor borne with by man.\n\nAnd this is the system, with which, as the reader has seen, the American\nColonization Society is resolved not to interfere; and with the\nupholders of which, ministers of the gospel and professors of religion\nof all denominations have made a treaty of peace! Tell it not\nabroad--publish it not in the capitals of Europe--lest the despots of\nthe old world take courage, and infidelity strengthen its stakes!\n\nIf men who are reputedly wise and good--if religious teachers and\npolitical leaders, those whose opinions are almost implicitly adopted,\nand whose examples are readily followed by the mass of the people--if\nsuch men suppress their voices on this momentous subject, and turn their\neyes from its contemplation, and give the right hand of fellowship to\nthe buyers and sellers of human flesh, is there not cause for\nlamentation and alarm? The pulpit is false to its trust, and a moral\nparalysis has seized the vitals of the church. The sanctity of religion\nis thrown, like a mantle, over the horrid system. Under its auspices,\nrobbery and oppression have become popular and flourishing. The press,\ntoo, by its profound silence, or selfish neutrality, or equivocal\ncourse, or active partizanship, is enlisted in the cause of tyranny--the\nmighty press, which has power, if exerted aright, to break every fetter,\nand emancipate the land. If this state of things be not speedily\nreversed, 'we be all dead men.' Unless the pulpit lift up the voice of\nwarning, supplication and wo, with a fidelity which no emolument can\nbribe, and no threat intimidate; unless the church organise and plan for\nthe redemption of the benighted slaves, and directly assault the strong\nholds of despotism; unless the press awake to its duty, or desist from\nits bloody co-operation; as sure as Jehovah lives and is unchangeable,\nhe will pour out his indignation upon us, and consume us with the fire\nof his wrath, and our own way recompense upon our heads. 'Ah, sinful\nnation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evil doers, children\nthat are corrupters! When ye spread forth your hands, I will hide mine\neyes from you; yea, when ye make many prayers, I will not hear: _your\nhands are full of blood_. Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of\nyour doings from before mine eyes; cease to do evil; learn to do well;\n_seek judgment, relieve the oppressed_, judge the fatherless, plead for\nthe widow. If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the\nland: but if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured with the sword:\n_for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it_.'\n\nI know the covert behind which colonizationists take refuge. They\nprofess to be--and, doubtless, in many instances are--aiming at the\nultimate emancipation of the slaves; but they are all for _gradual_\nabolition--all too courteous to give offence--too sober to be\nmadmen--too discreet to adopt _rash_ measures. But I shall show, in the\nprogress of this work, that they not only shield the holders of slaves\nfrom reproach, (and thus, by assuring them of their innocence, destroy\nall motives for repentance,) but earnestly dissuade them from\nemancipating their slaves without an immediate expulsion. Fine\nconceptions of justice! Enemies of slavery, with a vengeance!\n\nSuppose a similar course had been pursued by the friends of\nTemperance--when would have commenced that mighty reformation which has\ntaken place before our eyes--unparalleled in extent, completeness and\nrapidity? Suppose, instead of exposing the guilt of trafficking in\nardent spirits, and demanding instant and entire abstinence, they had\nassociated themselves together for the exclusive purpose of colonizing\nall the drunkards in the land, as a class dangerous to our safety and\nirremediably degraded, on a spot where they could not obtain the\npoisonous alcohol, but could rise to respect and affluence--how would\nsuch an enterprise have been received? Suppose they had pledged\nthemselves not to 'meddle' with the business of the traders in\nspirituous liquors, or to injure the 'property' of distillers, and had\ndwelt upon the folly and danger of 'immediate' abstinence, and had\ndenounced the advocates of this doctrine as madmen and fanatics, and had\nendeavored, moreover, to suppress inquiry into the lawfulness of\nrum-selling--how many importers, makers and venders of the liquid poison\nwould have abandoned their occupation, or how many of the four hundred\nthousand individuals, who are now enrolled under the banner of entire\nabstinence, would have been united in this great enterprise? Suppose,\nfurther, that, in a lapse of fifteen years, this association had\ntransported two thousand drunkards, and the tide of intemperance had\ncontinued to rise higher and higher, and some faithful watchmen had\ngiven the alarm and showed the fatal delusion which rested upon the\nland, and the Society should have defended itself by pointing to the two\nthousand sots who had been saved by its instrumentality--would the\npublic attention have been successfully diverted from the _immense evil_\nto the _partial good_? Suppose, once more, that this Society, composed\nindiscriminately of rum-sellers and sober, pious men, on being charged\nwith perpetuating the evils of intemperance, with removing only some of\nthe fruits thereof instead of the tree itself, should have indignantly\nrepelled the charge, and said--'We are as much opposed to drunkenness,\nand as heartily deprecate its existence, as any of our violent,\nfanatical opposers; but the holders of ardent spirit have invested their\ncapital in it, and to destroy its sale would invade the right of\n_property_; policy at least, bids us not to assail their conduct, as\notherwise we might exasperate them, and so lose their aid in colonizing\nthe tipplers.' What would have been accomplished? But no such logic was\nused: the duty of immediate reform was constantly pressed upon the\npeople, and a mighty reform took place.\n\nColonizationists boast inordinately of having emancipated three or four\nhundred slaves by their scheme, and contemptuously inquire of\nabolitionists, 'What have _you_ effected?' Many persons have been\ndeceived by this _show_ of success, and deem it conclusive evidence of\nthe usefulness of the Colonization Society. But, in the first place, it\nis very certain that none of these slaves were liberated in consequence\nof the faithful appeals of the Society to the consciences of the\nmasters; for it has never troubled their consciences by any such\nappeals. Secondly, it is obvious that these manumissions are the fruits\nof the uncompromising doctrines of abolitionists; for they are\ncalculated to bring slaveholders to repentance, and they will yet\nliberate other slaves to be caught up and claimed by the Society as\ntrophies of its success. Thirdly, it has been shown that while this\nSociety (allowing it the utmost that it claims) is effecting very little\nand very doubtful good, it is inflicting upon the nation great and\npositive evil, by refusing to arraign the oppressors at the bar of\neternal justice, and by obstructing the formation of abolition\nsocieties. It rivets a thousand fetters where it breaks one. It annually\nremoves, on an average, two hundred of our colored population, whereas\nthe annual increase is about seventy thousand. It releases some scores\nof slaves, and says to the owners of more than two millions--'Hold on!\ndon't emancipate too fast!'\n\nWhat have the abolitionists _done_? They have done more, during the past\nyear, to overthrow the system of slavery, than has been accomplished by\nthe gradualists in half a century. They have succeeded in fastening the\nattention of the nation upon its enormities, and in piercing the callous\nconsciences of the planters. They are reforming and consolidating public\nopinion, dispelling the mists of error, inspiring the hearts of the\ntimid, enlightening the eyes of the blind, and disturbing the slumbers\nof the guilty. Colonizationists gather a few leaves which the tree has\ncast off, and vaunt of the deed: abolitionists 'lay the axe at once to\nits roots, and put their united nerve into the steel'--nor shall their\nstrokes be in vain--for soon shall 'this great poison-tree of lust and\nblood, and of all abominable and heartless iniquity, fall before them;\nand law and love, and God and man, shout victory over its ruin.'\n\nHas the reader duly considered the fatal admissions of the advocates of\nthe colonization scheme, presented in the preceding pages? Some of them\nit may be serviceable to the cause of truth and justice to recapitulate.\n\n1. _The Society does not aim directly at the instruction of the blacks:\ntheir moral, intellectual and political improvement within the United\nStates, is foreign to its powers._\n\n2. _The public safety forbids either the emancipation or the general\ninstruction of the slaves._\n\n3. _The Society properly enough stands aloof from the question of\nslavery._\n\n4. _It is ready to pass censure upon abolition societies._\n\n5. _It involves no intrusion on property, nor even upon prejudice._\n\n6. _It has no wish, if it could, to interfere in the smallest degree\nwith the system of slavery._\n\n7. _It acknowledges the necessity by which the present continuance of\nthe system and the rigorous provisions for its maintenance are\njustified._\n\n8. _It denies the design of attempting emancipation either partial or\ngeneral: into its accounts the subject of emancipation does not enter at\nall: it has no intention to open the door to universal liberty._\n\n9. _The rights of masters are to remain sacred in the eyes of the\nSociety._\n\n10. _It condemns no man because he is a slaveholder._\n\nEach of these particulars deserves a volume of comments, but I am\ncompelled to dismiss them in rotation with a single remark.\n\n1. One reason assigned by the Society for refusing to promote the\neducation of our colored population, is, a dread of exciting 'the\n_prejudices_ and _terrors_ of the slaveholding States'! Is it credible?\nAs far, then, as this Society extends its influence, more than two\nmillions of ignorant, degraded beings in this boasted land of liberty\nand light have nothing to hope: their moral, intellectual and political\nimprovement is foreign to its powers! Cruel neglect! barbarous\ncoalition! A sinful fear of rousing the prejudices of oppressors\noutweighs the claims of the contemned blacks, the requirements of the\ngospel, the dictates of humanity, and the convictions of duty. Will this\nplea avail aught at the bar of God? Millions of our countrymen purposely\nkept in darkness, although we are able to pour daylight upon their\nvision, merely to gratify and protect their buyers and sellers!\n\n2. There never was a more abominable or more absurd heresy propagated,\nthan the assumption that the public safety would be jeoparded by an\nimmediate compliance with the demands of justice: yet it has obtained\namong all orders of society. Even ministers of the gospel, who are bound\nto cry aloud, and spare not,--to lift up their voices like a trumpet,\nand show this guilty nation its sins,--to say to the holders of slaves,\n'Loose the bands of wickedness, undo the heavy burdens, let the\noppressed go free, _and break every yoke_,'--even they fly to this\nsubterfuge, and deprecate a general emancipation. On this subject, 'they\nknow not what they do;' they reason like madmen or atheists; they\nadvance sentiments which unhinge the moral government of the universe,\nand directly encourage the commission of the most heinous crimes. How\nlong would any one of their number retain his situation, if he were to\npreach in explicit terms to his congregation as follows?--'My dear\nhearers, if any among you are daily oppressing the weak, or defrauding\nthe poor, do not cease from your robbery and cruelty at once, as you\nvalue your own happiness and the welfare of society! Relax your\ntyrannous grasp gradually from the throat of your neighbor, and steal\nnot quite so much from him this year as you did the last!'--But they\nemphatically hold this language whenever they advise slaveholders not to\nrepent _en masse_, or too hastily. The public safety, they say, forbids\nemancipation! or, in other words, the public safety depends upon your\npersistance in cheating, whipping, starving, debasing your slaves! Nay,\nmore--many of them, horrible to tell, are traffickers in human flesh!\n'For this thing which it cannot bear, the earth is disquieted. The\ngospel of peace and mercy preached by him who steals, buys and sells the\npurchase of Messiah's blood!--rulers of the church making merchandize of\ntheir brethren's souls!--and Christians trading the persons of men!'[I]\n\n3. The system of slavery is full of danger, outrage, desolation and\ndeath--'a volcano in full operation'--a monster that is annually\nsupplied with sixty thousand new victims, devoured as soon as born--and\nyet the Colonization Society 'properly enough stands aloof' from it!! It\nutters no lamentations--makes no supplications--gives no\nrebukes--presents no motives for repentance!\n\n4. The Society is not only ready to pass, but it is constantly bestowing\nits censure upon abolition societies. It represents their members as\nguided by a visionary, wild and fanatical spirit, as invaders of rights\nwhich are sacred, incendiaries, disturbers of the peace of society, and\nenemies to the safety and happiness of the planters. Determining itself\nto avoid the question of emancipation--to leave millions of human beings\nto pine in bondage without exposing the guilt of the oppressors--it\nendeavors to prevent any other association agitating the subject. Hence\nbetween colonization and abolition societies there is no affinity of\nfeeling or action; and hence arises the cause, inexplicable to many,\nwhy they cannot pursue their objects amicably together.\n\n5. The attempt of the Society to conciliate the holders of slaves must\nresult either in disappointment, or in an abandonment of the path of\nduty. If they are guilty of robbery and oppression, they must be\narraigned as criminals, or they never will reform: for why should\nhonest, benevolent men change their conduct? If, through a false\ndelicacy of feeling or cringing policy, their wickedness be covered up,\nalas for the slaves, and alas for the regeneration of the south! all\nhope is lost.\n\n6. The Society has no wish, _if it could_, to interfere with the system\nof slavery! Monstrous indifference, or barbarous cruelty! And yet it\npresumes to occupy the whole ground of the controversy, and to direct\nthe actions of the friends of the blacks throughout the land! By the\nphrase '_interfere_,' is meant no desire to contest the claims of the\nplanters to their bondmen, or to kindle the indignation of the people\nagainst their atrocious practices.\n\n7. It appears that all those terrible enactments which have been made\nfor the government of the slaves--such, for example, as forbid their\nlearning to read under the penalty of stripes, and even death--are\nacknowledged by the Society to be necessary for the maintenance of\norder! What a concession!\n\n8. Sometimes we are told that the Society is aiming at the liberation of\nall the slaves, and then that it has no design of attempting either\npartial or general emancipation: so contradictory are its assurances! It\nis manifest that it does not mean to touch the question of slavery; and\nhence the imperious necessity of forming abolition societies.\n\n9. The rights of masters are to remain sacred in the eyes of the\nSociety! What rights? Those by which the intelligent creatures of God\nare bought and sold and used like cattle? those which are founded upon\npiracy, cruelty and outrage?[J] Yes! This, then, is an abandonment of\nthe ground of right and justice, and ends the controversy between truth\nand error.\n\n10. It condemns no man because he is a slaveholder! Certainly, then, it\nallows that slaveholders are upright men--not guilty of fraud--not\noppressors--not extortioners! and that the slaves are truly and justly\ntheir property--not entitled to freedom--not better than cattle--not\nconscious of evil treatment--not worthy of remuneration for their\ntoil--not rational and accountable beings!\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[H] The term evil is used here in a criminal sense. I know that\ncolonizationists regard slavery as an evil; but an evil which has been\n_entailed_ upon this land, for the existence of which we are no more to\nblame than for the prevalence of plague or famine.\n\n[I] 'If the most guilty and daring transgressor be sought, he is a\nGospel Minister, who solemnly avows his belief of the Presbyterian\nConfession of Faith, or the Methodist Discipline, and notwithstanding\nhimself is a Negro Pedler, who steals, buys, sells, and keeps his\nbrethren in slavery, or supports by his taciturnity, or his smooth\nprophesying, or his direct defence, the Christian professor who unites\nin the kidnapping trade. Truth forces the declaration, that every church\nofficer, or member, who is a slaveholder, records himself, by his own\ncreed, a hypocrite!' * * 'To pray and kidnap! to commune and rob men's\nall! to preach justice, and steal the laborer with his recompense! to\nrecommend mercy to others, and exhibit cruelty in our own conduct! to\nexplain religious duties, and ever impede the performance of them! to\npropound the example of Christ and his Apostles, and declare that a\nslaveholder imitates them! to enjoin an observance of the Lord's day,\nand drive the slaves from the temple of God! to inculcate every social\naffection, and instantly exterminate them! to expatiate upon bliss\neternal, and preclude sinners from obtaining it! to unfold the woes of\nTophet, and not drag men from its fire! are the most preposterous\ndelusion, and the most consummate mockery.' * * * 'The Church of God\ngroans. It is the utmost Satanic delusion to talk of religion and\nslavery. Be not deceived: to affirm that a slaveholder is a genuine\ndisciple of Jesus Christ, is most intelligible contradiction. A brother\nof Him who went about doing good, and steal, enslave, torment, starve\nand scourge a man because his skin is of a different tinge! Such\nChristianity is the Devil's manufacture to delude souls to the regions\nof wo.'--REV. GEORGE BOURNE.\n\n[J] 'We are told not to meddle with vested rights: I have a sacred\nfeeling about vested rights; but when vested rights become vested\nwrongs, I am less scrupulous about them.'--_Speech of Rev. Mr. Burnett,\nof England._\n\n\n\n\nSECTION II.\n\nTHE AMERICAN COLONIZATION SOCIETY APOLOGISES FOR SLAVERY AND\nSLAVEHOLDERS.\n\n\nMy charges against the American Colonization Society acquire breadth and\nsolemnity as I progress in my task. I have fairly and abundantly\nsustained my first,--_that the Society is not the enemy of the\nslave-system_; and I now proceed to prove my second,--_that it\napologises for slavery and slaveholders_.\n\n    'There is a golden mean, which all who would pursue the solid\n    interest and reputation of their country may discern at the very\n    heart of their confederation, and will both advocate and\n    enforce--a principle, of justice, conciliation and humanity--a\n    principle, sir, which is not inconsistent with itself, and yet\n    can sigh over the degradation of the slave, _defend the wisdom\n    and prudence of the South against the charge of studied and\n    pertinacious cruelty_,' &c.--[Address of Robert F. Stockton,\n    Esq. at the Eighth Annual Meeting of the Parent Society.]\n\n\n    'It is a fact, given us on the most unquestionable authority,\n    that there are now in the southern States of our union,\n    hundreds, and even thousands of proprietors, who would gladly\n    give liberty to their slaves, but are deterred by the\n    apprehension of doing injury to their country, and perhaps to\n    the slaves themselves.'--[Discourse by the Rev. Dr.\n    Dana.--African Repository, vol. i. p. 145.]\n\n\n    'Guarding that system, the existence of which, though\n    _unfortunate_, THEY DEEM NECESSARY.'--[African Repository, vol.\n    i. p. 227.]\n\n\n    'We all know from a variety of considerations which it is\n    unnecessary to name, and in consequence of the policy which is\n    obliged to be pursued in the southern States, that it is\n    extremely difficult to free a slave, and hence the enactment of\n    those laws _which a fatal necessity seems to demand_.'--[African\n    Repository, vol. ii. p. 12.]\n\n\n    'They are convinced, that there are now hundreds of masters who\n    are so only from _necessity_.'--[Memorial of the Society to the\n    several States.--A. R. vol. ii. p. 60.]\n\n\n    '_I do not condemn_, let me be understood, _their detention in\n    bondage_ under the circumstances which are yet existing.'--['The\n    Colonization Society Vindicated.'--Idem, vol. iii. p. 201.]\n\n\n    'A third point in which the first promoters of this object were\n    united, is, that few individual slaveholders can, in the present\n    state of things, emancipate their slaves if they would. There is\n    a certain relation between the proprietor of slaves and the\n    beings thus thrown upon him, which is far more complicated, and\n    far less easily dissolved, than a mind unacquainted with the\n    subject is ready to imagine. The relation is one which, where it\n    exists, grows out of the very structure of society, and for the\n    existence of which, the master is ordinarily as little\n    accountable as the slave.'\n\n    'He [the planter] looks around him and sees that the condition\n    of the great mass of emancipated Africans is one _in comparison\n    with which the condition of his slaves is enviable_;--and he is\n    convinced that if he withdraws from his slaves his authority,\n    his support, his protection, and leaves them to shift for\n    themselves, he turns them out to be vagabonds, and paupers, and\n    felons, and to find in the work-house and the penitentiary, the\n    home which they ought to have retained on his paternal\n    acres.--Hundreds of humane and Christian slaveholders retain\n    their fellow-men in bondage, because _they are convinced that\n    they can do no better_.'--[Address of the Managers of the\n    Colonization Society of Connecticut.--Af. Rep. vol. iv. pp. 119,\n    120.]\n\n\n    'I AM NOT COMPLAINING OF THE OWNERS OF SLAVES; they cannot get\n    rid of them.--_I do not doubt that masters treat their slaves\n    with kindness_, nor that the slaves are happier than they could\n    be if set free in this country.'--[Address delivered before the\n    Hampden Col. Soc., July 4th, 1828, by Wm. B. O. Peabody, Esq.]\n\n\n    '_Policy_, and even _the voice of humanity_ forbade the progress\n    of manumission; and the _salutary hand of law_ came forward to\n    co-operate with our convictions, and to arrest the flow of our\n    feelings, and the ardor of our desires.'--[Review of the Report\n    of the Committee of Foreign Relations.--Af. Rep. vol. iv. p.\n    268.]\n\n\n    'When an owner of slaves tells me that he will freely relinquish\n    his slaves, or even that he will relinquish one-half of their\n    value, _on condition that he be compensated for the other half_,\n    and provision be made for their transportation, I feel that he\n    has made a generous proposal, and _I cannot charge him with all\n    the guilt of slavery_, though he may continue to be a\n    slaveholder.'--[Af. Rep. vol. v. p. 63.]\n\n\n    'Even slavery must be viewed as a great national calamity; a\n    public evil entailed upon us by untoward circumstances, _and\n    perpetuated for the want of appropriate remedies_.'--[Idem, vol.\n    v. p. 89.]\n\n\n    'Slavery is an evil which is entailed upon the present\n    generation of slaveholders, which they must suffer, _whether\n    they will or not_.'--[Idem, p. 179.]\n\n\n    'Our brethren of the South, have the same sympathies, the same\n    moral sentiments, the same love of liberty as ourselves. By them\n    as by us, slavery is felt to be an evil, a hindrance to our\n    prosperity, and a blot upon our character. But it was in being\n    when they were born, and has been forced upon them by a previous\n    generation.'--[Address of Rev. Dr. Nott.--Idem, p. 277.]\n\n\n    'With a writer in the Southern Review we say, \"the situation of\n    the people of these States was not of their choosing. When they\n    came to the inheritance, it was subject to this mighty\n    incumbrance, and it would be criminal in them to rain or waste\n    the estate, to get rid of the burden at once.\" With this writer\n    we add also, in the language of Captain Hall, that the\n    \"slaveholders ought not (immediately) to disentangle themselves\n    from the obligations which have devolved upon them, as the\n    masters of slaves.\" We believe that a master _may_ sustain his\n    relation to the slave, with as little criminality as the slave\n    sustains his relation to the master.' * * * 'Slavery, in its\n    mildest form, is an evil of the darkest character. Cruel and\n    unnatural in its origin, no plea can be urged in justification\n    of its continuance but the plea of _necessity_.'--[Af. Rep. vol.\n    v. pp. 329, 334.]\n\n\n    'How much more consistent and powerful would be our example, but\n    for that population within our limits, whose condition\n    (_necessary_ condition, I will not deny) is so much at war with\n    our institutions, and with that memorable national\n    Declaration--\"that all men are created equal.\"'--[Fourteenth\n    Ann. Report.]\n\n\n    '_It_ [the Society] _condemns no man because he is a\n    slaveholder._' * * * 'They [abolitionists] confound the\n    _misfortunes_ of one generation with the crimes of another, and\n    would sacrifice both individual and public good to an\n    _unsubstantial theory of the rights of man_.'--[A. R. vol. vii.\n    pp. 200, 202.]\n\n\n    'Many thousand individuals in our native State, you well know,\n    Mr President, are restrained, said Mr Mercer, from manumitting\n    their slaves, as you and I are, by the melancholy conviction,\n    that they cannot yield to the suggestions of humanity, without\n    manifest injury to their country.' * * * 'The laws of Virginia\n    now discourage, and very wisely, perhaps, the emancipation of\n    slaves.'--[Speech of Mr Mercer.--First Annual Report.]\n\n\n    'We are ready even to grant, for our present purpose, that, so\n    far as mere animal existence is concerned, the slaves have no\n    reason to complain, and the friends of humanity have no reason\n    to complain for them.' * * * 'There are men in the southern\n    states, who long to do something effectual for the benefit of\n    their slaves, and would gladly emancipate them, did not\n    _prudence_ and _compassion_ alike forbid such a\n    measure.'--[Review of the Reports of the Society, from the\n    Christian Spectator.--Seventh Annual Report.]\n\n\n    'Such unhappily is the case; but there is a _necessity_ for it,\n    [for oppressive laws,] and so long as they remain amongst us\n    will that necessity continue.'--[Ninth Annual Report.]\n\n\n    'I MAY BE PERMITTED TO DECLARE THAT I WOULD BE A SLAVEHOLDER\n    TO-DAY WITHOUT SCRUPLE.'--[Fourteenth Annual Report.]\n\n\n    'For the existence of slavery in the United States, those, and\n    those only, are accountable who bore a part in originating such\n    a constitution of society. The bible contains no explicit\n    prohibition of slavery. There is neither chapter nor verse of\n    holy writ, which lends any countenance to the fulminating spirit\n    of universal emancipation, of which some exhibitions may be seen\n    in some of the newspapers.' * * * 'The embarrassment which many\n    a philanthropic proprietor has felt in relation to his slaves,\n    has been but little known at the north, and has had but little\n    sympathy. He finds himself the lord of perhaps a hundred human\n    beings; and is anxious to do them all the good in his power. He\n    would emancipate them; but if he does, their prospect of\n    happiness can hardly be said to be improved by the change. Some\n    half a dozen, perhaps, in the hundred, become industrious and\n    useful members of society; and the rest are mere vagabonds,\n    idle, wicked, and miserable.'\n\n    --[Review on African Colonization.--Vide the Christian Spectator\n    for September, 1830, in which the reader will find an elaborate\n    apology for the system of slavery, and this, too, by a\n    clergyman!]\n\n\n    'The existence of slavery among us, though not at all to be\n    objected to our southern brethren as a _fault_, is yet a blot on\n    our national character, and a mighty drawback from our national\n    strength.'--[Second Annual Report of the N. Y. State Col. Soc.]\n\n\n    'Entertaining these views of this fearful subject, why should\n    our opponents endeavor to prejudice our cause with our southern\n    friends? And we are the more anxious on this point, for we\n    sincerely entertain exalted notions of their sense of right, of\n    their manliness and independence of feeling--of their dignity of\n    deportment--of their honorable and chivalric turn of thought,\n    which spurns a mean act as death. And if I was allowed to\n    indulge a personal feeling, I would say that there is something\n    to my mind in the candor, hospitality and intelligence of the\n    South, which charms and captives, which wins its way to the\n    heart and gives assurance of all that is upright, honorable, and\n    humane. There is no people that treat their slaves with so\n    little cruelty and with so much kindness. There is nothing in\n    the condition of slavery more congenial with the feelings of the\n    South than with the feelings of the North. Philanthropy and\n    benevolence flourish with as much vigor with them as with\n    us--their hearts are as warm as ours--they feel for the\n    distresses of others with as much acuteness as we do--their ears\n    are as open to the calls of charity as ours--they as deeply\n    regret as we do the existence of slavery--and oh! how their\n    hearts would thrill with delight, if the mighty incubus could be\n    removed without injury or destruction to every thing around\n    them.'--[Speech of James S. Green, Esq. on the same occasion.]\n\n\n    'Many of the best citizens of our land are holders of slaves,\n    and hold them IN STRICT ACCORDANCE WITH THE PRINCIPLES OF\n    HUMANITY AND JUSTICE.'--[Rev. Thomas T. Skillman, editor of the\n    Western Luminary, an ardent supporter of the Col. Soc.]\n\n\n    'It is a very common impression that a principal evil of the\n    condition of the southern blacks, is the severity of their\n    treatment. THIS IS AN ERROR. It is almost every where\n    disreputable to treat slaves with severity; and though there are\n    indeed exceptions, yet in most cases in the South, even tyranny\n    itself could not long withstand the reproaches of public\n    opinion. A STILL GREATER AND MORE DANGEROUS EVIL, IS THE VERY\n    REVERSE. It is _indulgence_; not only in such things as are\n    proper and innocent, but in indolent habits and vicious\n    propensities.'\n\n    --[From an address prepared for the use of those who advocate\n    the cause of the African Education Society at Washington--a\n    Society which educates none but those who consent to remove to\n    Liberia.]\n\n\n    'How should a benevolent Virginian, in view of the fact, that\n    out of thirty-seven thousand free people of color in his State,\n    only two hundred were proprietors of land, how should he be in\n    favor of general emancipation? But, show him, that if he will\n    emancipate his slaves, there is a way in which he can without\n    doubt improve their condition, while he rids himself of a\n    grievous burden, and he will promptly obey the demands of\n    justice--he will then feel that his generous wishes can with\n    certainty be fulfilled. While he knows that scarcely any thing\n    is done to meliorate the condition of those now free, and\n    reflects on the many obstacles in the way of doing it in this\n    land, he feels bound by a regard to what he owes himself--his\n    children--his country, and even his slaves themselves, not to\n    emancipate them. For he is sure, that, by emancipation, he will\n    only add to the wretchedness of the one, and at the same time\n    put at imminent hazard the dearest interests of the other. Thus\n    he is forced to refrain from manumission, and not only so, but\n    against all his benevolent inclinations, he is forced to\n    co-operate with his fellow-citizens in sustaining the present\n    system of slavery. He would most cheerfully follow the impulse\n    of his noblest feelings--he would remove the curse which the\n    short-sighted policy of his fathers entailed upon him; but he\n    cannot disregard the first law of nature; especially not, when,\n    were he to do it, he would render the _curse_ still more\n    calamitous in its consequences.'--[An advocate of the\n    Colonization Society in the Middletown (Connecticut) Gazette.]\n\n\n    'Slavery is indeed a curse; and bitter is the lot of him who is\n    born with slaves on his hands. And now, instead of denouncing as\n    inhuman and unmerciful monsters and tyrants, those who are thus\n    _unfortunate_, I say, let the commiseration and pity of every\n    good citizen and christian in the land be excited, and let\n    fervent prayers be offered in their behalf, and that God would\n    direct the whole American mind to the adoption of the most\n    effectual measures for the accomplishment of the total abolition\n    of slavery.'--[New-Haven Religious Intelligencer for July 16,\n    1831.]\n\n\n    'Special reference will also be had to the condition and wishes\n    of the slave States. In most of them it is a prevailing\n    sentiment, that it is not safe to furnish slaves with the means\n    of instruction. Much as we lament the reasons for this\n    sentiment, and the _apparent necessity_ of keeping a single\n    fellow creature in ignorance, we willingly leave to others the\n    consideration and the remedy of this evil, in view of the\n    overwhelming magnitude of the remaining objects before\n    us.'--[Address of the Board of Managers of the African Education\n    Society of the United States.]\n\n\n    'And when we [of New-England] did emancipate our slaves, we were\n    driven to the measure by the force of example; and we did not do\n    it until it was found quite convenient; and then what provision\n    was made for the poor blacks? Let our State Prison records\n    answer the question. Our Southern brethren have been _more\n    kind_: they will not emancipate them until they send them where\n    they can enjoy _liberty_, more than in name. As a Northern man I\n    feel it my duty, and I take pleasure in giving the _meed of\n    praise_ to my Southern brethren.'--[Speech of Rev. Mr Gallaudet,\n    at a colonization meeting in New-York city.]\n\n\n    'The slave works for his master, who feeds and clothes him,\n    defends him from harm, and takes care of him when he is sick.\n    The free colored man works for himself, and has nobody to take\n    care of him but himself.'\n\n    --[From a little colonization work, published in Baltimore in\n    1828, 'for the use of the African Schools in the United\n    States'!! entitled 'A Voice from Africa.']\n\n\n    'The slaveholder will tell you, that he did not take liberty\n    from the African--he was a slave when he found him, and he is no\n    more than a slave yet. The man who owns one hundred acres of\n    land more than he can cultivate himself, is as much a\n    slaveholder as he who owns a slave.'--[An advocate of\n    colonization in the Richmond (Indiana) Palladium for Oct. 1,\n    1831.]\n\n\n    'I DO NOT MEAN TO SPEAK OF SLAVERY AS A SYSTEM OF CRUELTY AND OF\n    SUFFERING. On this point I am free to say, from personal\n    observation and occasional residences for some years at the\n    South, there has been much misapprehension among our\n    fellow-citizens of the North. And I rejoice to add, that _the\n    condition of the slaves generally is such as the friends of\n    humanity have no reason to complain of_.'--[Oration delivered at\n    Newark, N. J. July 4th, 1831, by Gabriel P. Disosway, Esq.]\n\n\n    'Slavery, it is true, is an evil--a national evil. Every\n    laudable effort to exterminate it should be encouraged. And we\n    presume that nine-tenths of the slaveholders themselves, would\n    rejoice at the event, could it be accomplished, of the entire\n    freedom from the country of every person of color, and would\n    willingly relinquish every slave in their possession. But the\n    slaves _are_ in their possession--they are entailed upon them by\n    their ancestors. And can they set them free, and still suffer\n    them to remain in the country? Would this be policy? Would it be\n    safe? No. When they can be transported to the soil from whence\n    they were derived--by the aid of the Colonization Society, by\n    Government, by individuals, or by any other means--then let them\n    be emancipated, and not before.'--[Lowell (Mass.) Telegraph.]\n\nIt is a self-evident proposition, that just so far as you alleviate the\npressure of guilt upon the consciences of evil doers, you weaken the\npower of motive to repent, and encourage them to sin with impunity. To\ndescant upon the wrongs of the slave-system, and yet exonerate the\nsupporters of it from reprehension, is to deal in absurdities: we might\npreach in this manner until the crack of doom, and never gain a convert.\nParadoxes may amuse, but they never convince the mind.\n\nNow, I defy the most ingenious advocates of perpetual slavery to produce\nstronger arguments in its favor than are given in the foregoing\nextracts. What better plea could they make? what higher justification\ncould they need? Nay, these apologies of colonizationists represent\noppression not merely as innocent, but even commendable--as a system of\nbenevolence, upheld by philanthropists and sages!\n\n'I do not condemn the detention of the slaves in bondage under the\ncircumstances which are yet existing,' says an advocate; by which\nconsolatory avowal we are taught that the criminality of man-stealing\ndepends upon _circumstances_, and not upon the fact that it is a daring\nviolation of the rights of man and the laws of God.\n\n'The planter sees that the condition of the great mass of emancipated\nAfricans is one, in comparison with which the condition of his slaves is\n_enviable_,' assert the Board of Managers!--a concession which\ntransforms robbery into generosity, cruelty into mercy, and leads the\nslaveholder to believe that, instead of deserving censure, his conduct\nis really meritorious!--a concession which is at war with common sense,\nand contrary to truth.\n\n'I am not complaining of the owners of slaves--I do not doubt that the\nslaves are happier than they could be if set free in this country,'\ndeclares an apologist, even in Massachusetts! Stripes and servitude\nwould doubtless soon alter his opinion. With him, to sell human beings\nat public auction, and to separate husbands and wives, and children and\nparents, is not a subject of complaint! and to be a slave, to be fed\nupon a peck of corn per week, unable to possess property, liable to be\ntorn from the partner of his bosom and children at a moment's warning\nmal-treated worse than a brute, &c. &c. &c. is more desirable than to be\na free man, able to acquire wealth, unrestricted in his movements, from\nwhom none may wrest his wife or children, and who can find redress for\nany outrage upon his person or property!\n\n'Policy, and even _humanity_,' cries another, 'forbid the progress of\nmanumission'! Indeed! But is it right to hold our fellow creatures as\nchattels, and to perpetuate their ignorance and servitude? O no! this is\n_wrong_, but it would be a greater wrong to emancipate them! Is this\nfolly or villany? To oppress our brother is wrong, but to cease from\noppressing him would not be right!\n\n'I would be a slaveholder to-day without scruple,' says another\nadvocate.\n\n'Many owners of slaves,' another declares, 'hold them in strict\naccordance with the principles of humanity and justice'!!! Yes, to\ndeprive men of their inalienable rights is to do unto them as we would\nhave them do unto us!\n\nFinally, another boldly declares that the slaves are treated _too\nindulgently_!--The laws which regard them as beasts, but punish them for\nthe commission of crime as severely as if they possessed the knowledge\nof angels, he must suppose are too lenient. Their allowance of corn is\ntoo liberal; they ought not to wear any raiment; to sleep in their\nwretched huts is calculated to make them effeminate--the open field is a\nmore suitable place for cattle; no religious instruction should be\ngranted even orally to them! The slaves, as a body, too kindly treated!\nThe Lord have compassion upon any of their number who shall come under\nthe control of him who holds this opinion!\n\nSentiments, like these, act upon the consciences of slave owners like\nopiates upon the body, lulling them into a slumber as profound and fatal\nas death. It were almost as hopeless a task to attempt to arouse, alarm\nand animate them, so long as they repose under the stupefying effects of\nthis poison, as to raise the dead. This must not be. Slaveholders are\nthe enemies of God and man; their garments are red with the blood of\nsouls; their guilt is aggravated beyond the power of language to\ndescribe; and they must be made to see and realise their awful\ncondition. Truth must send its arrows into their consciences, and Terror\nrouse them to exertion, and Conviction bring them upon their knees, and\nRepentance propitiate the anger of Heaven, or they perish by the sword.\nThe slaves must be free; and He who is no respecter of person is now\nholding out to us this alternative--either to wait until they burst\ntheir chains and wade through a river of blood to freedom, or to\nliberate them willingly ourselves. Can we hesitate in our choice? Be\nthis our only reply to those who apologise for the oppressors, and fix\nthe standard of policy higher than that of duty: 'Wo unto them that call\nevil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for\ndarkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter! Wo unto them\nthat are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight! which\njustify the wicked for reward, and take away the righteousness of the\nrighteous from him!'\n\n\n\n\nSECTION III.\n\nTHE AMERICAN COLONIZATION SOCIETY RECOGNISES SLAVES AS PROPERTY.\n\n\nThe heresies of this combination are flagrant and numerous. A larger\nvolume than this is needed to define and illustrate them all. Much\nimportant evidence, and many pertinent reflections, I am compelled to\nsuppress.\n\nMy next allegation against it is, _that it recognises slaves as\nproperty_. This recognition is not merely technical, or strictly\nconfined to a statutable interpretation. I presume the advocates of the\nSociety will attempt to evade this point, by saying that it never meant\nto concede the moral right of the masters to possess human beings; but\nthe evidence against them is full and explicit. The Society, if language\nmean any thing, does unequivocally acknowledge property in slaves to be\nas legitimate and sacred as any other property, of which to deprive the\nowners either by force or by legislation, without making restitution,\nwould be unjust and tyrannical. Here is the proof:\n\n    'It interferes in no wise with the _rights of property_.' * *\n    'It is utterly opposed to any measures which might infringe upon\n    the _rights of property_.' * * 'We hold their slaves _as we hold\n    their other property_, SACRED.'--[African Repository, vol. i.\n    pp. 39, 225, 283.]\n\n\n    'Does this Society wish to meddle with our slaves as our\n    _rightful property_? I answer _no_, I think not.' * * 'The\n    Society cannot be justly charged with aiming to disturb the\n    _rights of property_ or the peace of society.' * * 'It seeks to\n    affect no man's _property_.' * * 'To found in Africa, an empire\n    of _christians and republicans_; to reconduct the blacks to\n    their native land, without disturbing the order of society, the\n    _laws of property_, or the rights of individuals,' &c.--[African\n    Repository, vol. ii. pp. 13, 58, 334, 375.]\n\n\n    'They are also convinced, that the Society have conducted their\n    operations with so much prudence, as to give no cause of alarm\n    to the holders of slaves, for the security of _this\n    property_.'--[African Repository, volume iii. p. 341.]\n\n\n    'The rights of masters are to remain sacred in the eyes of the\n    Society.'--[African Repository, vol. iv. p. 274.]\n\n    'The Society has never interfered, and has no disposition to\n    interfere with the rights of private property.' * * 'The alarm\n    for the rights of property appears to have subsided, and the\n    Society is no longer charged with any sinister or insidious\n    design. It has constantly disclaimed any intention of disturbing\n    the rights of others; and its conduct entitles its declaration\n    to credit.' * * 'The American Colonization Society has, at all\n    times, solemnly disavowed any purpose of interference with the\n    institutions or rights of our Southern communities.' * * 'Our\n    friends, who are cursed with this greatest of human evils\n    (slavery) deserve our kindest attention and consideration. Their\n    _property_ and safety are both involved.'--[African Repository,\n    vol. v. pp. 215, 241, 307, 334.]\n\n\n    'It has constantly disclaimed all intention whatever of\n    interfering, in the smallest degree, with the rights of\n    property.' * * 'The Society, from considerations like these,\n    whilst it disclaims the remotest idea of ever disturbing the\n    _right of property_ in slaves,' &c. * * 'It is not the object of\n    this Society to liberate slaves, or touch the rights of\n    _property_.' * * 'Honorable instances might be adduced of\n    _disinterested benevolence_ on the part of the owners of slaves,\n    and of their _sacrificing property_ to a large amount, in their\n    enfranchisement and restoration to the land of their ancestors.'\n    * * 'The American Society has disclaimed from the first moment\n    of its institution, all intention of interfering with _rights of\n    property_.' * * 'The federal government has no control over this\n    subject: it concerns rights of property secured by the federal\n    compact, upon which our civil liberties mainly depend; it is a\n    part of the same collection of political rights; and _any\n    invasion of it would impair the tenure by which every other is\n    held_.' * * 'It is equally plain and undeniable, that the\n    Society in the prosecution of this work, has never interfered or\n    evinced even a disposition to interfere in any way with the\n    _rights of proprietors of slaves_.' * * 'The slaveholder, so far\n    from having just cause to complain of the Colonization Society,\n    has reason to congratulate himself, that in this Institution a\n    channel is opened up, in which the public feeling and public\n    action can flow on, without doing violence to his\n    _rights_.'--[African Repository, vol. vi. pp. 13, 69, 81, 153,\n    165, 169, 205, 363.]\n\n\n    'It was proper again and again to repeat, that it was far from\n    the intention of the Society to affect, in any manner, the\n    tenure by which a _certain species of property_ is held. He was\n    himself a slaveholder; _and he considered that kind of property\n    as inviolable as any other in the country_.'--[Speech of Henry\n    Clay.--First Annual Report.]\n\n\n    'Your committee would not thus favorably regard the prayer of\n    the memorialists, if it sought to impair, _in the slightest\n    degree, the rights of private property_.'--[Report of the\n    committee of the House of Representatives of the United States,\n    on the memorial of the President and Board of Managers of the\n    Colonization Society.--Second Annual Report.]\n\n\n    'The Society has at all times recognised the constitutional and\n    LEGITIMATE existence of slavery.'--[Tenth Annual Report.]\n\n\n    'The Society protests that it has no designs on the rights of\n    the master in the slave--or the property in his slave, which the\n    laws guarantee to him.'--[Fourteenth Annual Report.]\n\n\n    'Something he must yet be allowed to say, as regarded the object\n    the Society was set up to accomplish. This object, if he\n    understood it aright, _involved no intrusion on property_, NOR\n    EVEN UPON PREJUDICE.'--[Fifteenth Annual Report.]\n\n\n    'To the slaveholder, who had charged upon them the wicked design\n    of interfering with the RIGHTS OF PROPERTY under the specious\n    pretext of removing a vicious and dangerous free population,\n    they address themselves in a tone of conciliation and sympathy.\n    We know your rights, say they, and _we respect them_.' * *\n    'Equally absurd and false is the objection, that this Society\n    seeks indirectly to disturb the rights of property, and to\n    interfere with the well established relation subsisting between\n    master and slave.'--[African Repository, vol. vii. pp. 100,\n    228.]\n\n\n    'I repeat, that though not a slaveholder, yet I think that every\n    man ought to be protected in his property, and as the laws of\n    our country have decreed that negroes are property, every person\n    that holds a slave, according to these laws, ought to be\n    protected.'--['A new and interesting View of Slavery.' By\n    Humanitas, a colonization advocate. Baltimore, 1820.]\n\n\n    'We are made to disregard this description of _property_, and to\n    touch without reserve the _rights_ of our\n    neighbors.'--[Proceedings of the First Annual Meeting of the\n    New-Jersey Colonization Society.]\n\nThus the American Colonization Society shamelessly surrenders the claims\nof justice, and leaves the enemies of oppression weaponless! Hence it\nrejects the proposition, that _man cannot hold property in man_; and we\nare called upon to prove that which is self-evident. No accidental\ndifferences of condition or complexion--no vicissitudes of fortune--no\nreprisal or purchase or inheritance, can justly make one individual the\nslave of another. When God created man, he gave him dominion over the\nfowls of the air and the beasts of the field; but not over his fellow\nman. 'All men are born free and equal,' and are 'made of one blood.'\nShall we look to wealth as giving one a title to the labor and freedom\nof another? Wealth is the creature of circumstances, and not an\narbitrary law of nature. It takes to itself wings, and flies away; and\nhe who is an opulent tyrant to-day, may on this principle be an\nimpoverished slave to-morrow. Does physical strength make valid this\nclaim? This, too, is evanescent: sickness and age would ultimately\ndegrade the most muscular tyrants to servitude; and mankind would be\ncomposed of but two parties--the strong and the weak. Can high birth\nannul the rights of the lower classes? There is no difference at their\nbirth, between the children of the beggar and those of the king. 'We\nbrought nothing into this world,' says an inspired apostle, 'and it is\ncertain we can carry nothing out.'\n\nMan is created a rational being; and therefore he is a subject of moral\ngovernment, and accountable. Being rational and accountable, he is bound\nto improve his mind and intellect. With this design, his Creator has\noutstretched the heavens, and set the sun in his course, and hung out\nthe burning jewels of the sky, and spread abroad the green earth, and\npoured out the seas, that he might steadily progress in knowledge.\n\nThe slaves are men; they were born, then, as free as their masters; they\ncannot be property; and he who denies them an opportunity to improve\ntheir faculties, comes into collision with Jehovah, and incurs a fearful\nresponsibility. But we know that they are not treated like rational\nbeings, and that oppression almost entirely obliterates their sense of\nmoral obligation to God or man.\n\nI fully coincide in opinion with the authoress of a work entitled,\n'IMMEDIATE, NOT GRADUAL ABOLITION,' that the holder of a slave, whether\nhe obtained him by purchase or by inheritance, is as guilty as the\noriginal thief.[K] The wretch who stole him could by no possible means\nacquire or transmit the right to make a slave of him, or to keep him in\nslavery. _He has a right to his liberty:_--through whatever number of\ntransfers the usurpation of it may have passed, the right is\nundiminished.\n\nNo man, says Algernon Sidney, can have a right over others, unless it be\nby them granted to him: That which is not just, is not law; and that\nwhich is not law, ought not to be in force: Whosoever grounds his\npretensions of right upon usurpation and tyranny, declares himself to be\nan usurper and a tyrant--that is, an enemy to God and man--and to have\nno right at all: _That which was unjust in its beginning, can of itself\nnever change its nature:_ HE WHO PERSISTS IN DOING INJUSTICE, AGGRAVATES\nIT, AND TAKES UPON HIMSELF ALL THE GUILT OF HIS PREDECESSORS: The right\nto be free is a truth planted in the hearts of men, and acknowledged so\nto be by all who have hearkened to the voice of nature, and disproved by\nnone but such as through wickedness, stupidity, or baseness of spirit,\nseem to have degenerated into the worst of beasts, and to have retained\nnothing of men but the outward shape, or the ability of doing those\nmischiefs which they have learnt from their master the devil.\n\nThe following is the indignant, emphatic, eloquent language of HENRY\nBROUGHAM, on the subject of slave property:\n\n    '_Tell me not of rights--talk not of the property of the planter\n    in his slaves._ I DENY THE RIGHT--I ACKNOWLEDGE NOT THE\n    PROPERTY. The principles, the feelings of our common nature,\n    rise in rebellion against it. Be the appeal made to the\n    understanding or to the heart, the sentence is the same that\n    rejects it. In vain you tell me of the laws that sanction such a\n    claim! There is a law above all the enactments of human\n    codes--the same throughout the world, the same in all\n    times--such as it was before the daring genius of Columbus\n    pierced the night of ages, and opened to one world the sources\n    of power, wealth and knowledge; to another, all unutterable\n    woes;--such it is at this day: it is the law written by the\n    finger of God on the heart of man; and by that law, unchangeable\n    and eternal, while men despise fraud, and loathe rapine, and\n    abhor blood, they shall reject with indignation the wild and\n    guilty fantasy, that man can hold property in man! In vain you\n    appeal to treaties, to covenants between nations. The covenants\n    of the Almighty, whether the old or the new, denounce such\n    unholy pretensions. To those laws did they of old refer, who\n    maintained the African trade. Such treaties did they cite, and\n    not untruly; for by one shameful compact, you bartered the\n    glories of Blenheim for the traffic in blood. Yet, in despite of\n    law and of treaties, that infernal traffic is now destroyed, and\n    its votaries put to death like other pirates. How came this\n    change to pass? Not assuredly by parliament leading the way; but\n    the country at length awoke; the indignation of the people was\n    kindled; it descended in thunder, and smote the traffic, and\n    scattered its guilty profits to the winds. Now, then, let the\n    planters beware--let their assemblies beware--let the government\n    at home beware--let the parliament beware! the same country is\n    once more awake,--awake to the condition of negro slavery; the\n    same indignation kindles in the bosom of the same people; the\n    same cloud is gathering that annihilated the slave trade; and,\n    if it shall descend again, they, on whom its crash shall fall,\n    will not be destroyed before I have warned them; but I pray that\n    their destruction may turn away from us the more terrible\n    judgments of God!'\n\nIs this the language of fanaticism? Is Henry Brougham a madman?\n\nThe following extracts must close the evidence in support of my third\nallegation, that the Colonization Society disregards the fundamental\nprinciple of human liberty and equality, that man cannot hold _property_\nin man:\n\n    'Let me ask, who can wish under existing circumstances that the\n    constitution should be altered, when it must bring with it a\n    _violation of property_--and when that violation of private\n    property must engender such hostility of feelings, and elicit\n    such bitter vituperation? The whole Union would feel a\n    concussion, and no one can count the costs of the contest.'\n    * * * 'By means of our colony, they may remove their slaves and\n    restore them to freedom--and at the same time no way jeopardize\n    the safety of themselves or their _property_.'--[Proceedings of\n    the First Annual Meeting of the New-Jersey Colonization\n    Society.]\n\n\n    'The establishment of our colony will afford facilities to\n    proprietors for completing in Africa the exercise of the _right\n    which can only be partially exercised in this country, of\n    disposing of our property, in our own way, without injury to the\n    community_.'--[Fourteenth Annual Report.]\n\nWhat audacity do those advocates of the Society exhibit, who use, in\nreference to beings made a little lower than the angels, language like\nthis--'disposing of _our property_ in _our own way_'--'we hold their\n_slaves_, as we hold their other _property_, SACRED'!![L] If they really\nmean and believe what they say, it is something more heinous than\nimpertinence to urge the planters to dispossess themselves of their\nproperty by colonization; and if the slaves belong _of right_ to\nthem,--are on a par with goods and chattels,--how idle, how supremely\nridiculous it is to mourn over their _wretched condition_, to sigh for\ntheir emancipation, to declaim against the evil and wickedness of\nslavery, or even to denounce the slave trade! But the unfortunate blacks\nare not now, and never can be, the property of the planters;\nconsequently the claims of their pretended owners are no better than\nthose of the pirate or highway robber.\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[K] The owners of slaves are licensed robbers, and not the just\nproprietors of what they claim: freeing them is not depriving them of\nproperty, but restoring it to the right owner; it is suffering the\nunlawful captive to escape. It is not wronging the master, but doing\njustice to the slave, restoring him to himself. Emancipation would only\ntake away property that is its own property, and not ours; property that\nhas the same right to possess us, as we have to possess it; property\nthat has the same right to convert our children into dogs and calves and\ncolts, as we have to convert theirs into these beasts; property that may\ntransfer our children to strangers, by the same right that we transfer\ntheirs.--_Rice._\n\n[L] 'Is there no difference between a vested interest in a house or a\ntenement, and a vested interest in a human being? No difference between\na right to bricks and mortar, and a right to the flesh of man--a right\nto torture his body and to degrade his mind at your good will and\npleasure? There is this difference,--the right to the house originates\nin law, and is reconcilable to justice; the claim (for I will not call\nit a right) to the man, originated in robbery, and is an outrage upon\nevery principle of justice, and every tenet of religion.'--_Speech of\nFowell Buxton in the British Parliament._\n\n\n\n\nSECTION IV.\n\nTHE AMERICAN COLONIZATION SOCIETY INCREASES THE VALUE OF SLAVES.\n\n\nI come now to my fourth charge,--which, although not more serious or\nconsequential than any of the foregoing, may possibly create more\nsurprise,--namely, that the Society _increases the value of slaves, and\nadds strength and security to the system of slavery_. It is the\ndiscovery of this fact that is so wonderfully, and to many superficial\nobservers so inexplicably, increasing the popularity of the Society at\nthe south. It would require more pages of this work than its necessarily\ncontracted limits permit, to sum up minutely the evidence on this point,\nand to give those illustrations which might serve more clearly to\nestablish its validity. The most common, as it is the most potent,\nargument used by colonization agents among slave owners, to secure their\npatronage, is,--'The successful prosecution of our scheme will remove\nthe chief source of danger to yourselves, and enable you to hold your\nproperty in greater security: the presence of free persons of color\namong your slaves is eminently calculated to make them insubordinate,\nand to procure their violent emancipation.' This argument, I say, is\nintroduced into every conversation, and every public address, and every\nessay; and whoever carefully consults the numbers of the African\nRepository, through seven volumes, will find it repeated in almost every\nappeal to the south.\n\nI choose to consider the testimony of southern men, in regard to the\ninvigorating effects of the colonization enterprise upon the system of\nslavery, conclusive. Here is a very small portion of it: more may be\nfound under the sixth section of this work.\n\n    'The object of the Colonization Society commends itself to every\n    class of society. The landed proprietor may ENHANCE THE VALUE OF\n    HIS PROPERTY by assisting the enterprise.'--[African Repository,\n    vol. i. p. 67.]\n\n\n    'But is it not certain, that should the people of the Southern\n    States refuse to adopt the opinions of the Colonization Society,\n    [relative to the gradual abolition of slavery,] and continue to\n    consider it both just and politic to leave, untouched, a system,\n    for the termination of which, we think the whole wisdom and\n    energy of the States should be put in requisition, that they\n    will CONTRIBUTE MORE EFFECTUALLY TO THE CONTINUANCE AND STRENGTH\n    OF THIS SYSTEM, by removing those now free, than by any or all\n    other methods which can possibly be devised? Such has been the\n    opinion expressed by Southern gentlemen of the first talents and\n    distinction. Eminent individuals have, we doubt not, lent their\n    aid to this cause, in expectation of at once accomplishing a\n    generous and noble work for the objects of their patronage and\n    for Africa, and GUARDING THAT SYSTEM, the existence of which,\n    though _unfortunate_, they deem _necessary_, by separating from\n    it those, whose disturbing force augments its inherent vices,\n    and darkens all the repulsive attributes of its character. In\n    the decision of these individuals, as to the effects of the\n    Colonization Society, _we perceive no error of judgment_: OUR\n    BELIEF IS THE SAME AS THEIRS.'--[Idem, p. 227.]\n\n\n    'THE EXECUTION OF ITS SCHEME WOULD AUGMENT INSTEAD OF\n    DIMINISHING THE VALUE OF THE PROPERTY LEFT BEHIND.'--[Idem, vol.\n    ii. p. 344.]\n\n\n    'The removal of every single free black in America, would be\n    productive of nothing but safety to the slaveholder, nor would\n    the emancipation of as many as the benevolence of individual\n    masters would send off, as far as I can see, be productive of\n    disaffection among the remainder, more than the example of such\n    as are every day set free, and sent to the Ohio or elsewhere;\n    and if so large a part should ever be set free as to create\n    discontent among the remainder, (and nothing but the\n    emancipation of a great majority can do this,) yet that\n    remainder must then, from the terms of the proposition, be so\n    much diminished, as to be easily kept down by superior\n    numbers.'--[Idem, vol. iii. p. 202.]\n\n\n    'The tendency of the scheme, and one of its objects, is to\n    _secure slaveholders and the whole Southern country_, against\n    certain evil consequences, growing out of the present threefold\n    mixture of our population.'--[Idem, vol. iv. p. 274.]\n\n\n    'We all know the effects produced on our slaves by the\n    fascinating, but delusive appearance of happiness, exhibited in\n    persons of their own complexion, roaming in idleness and vice\n    among them. By removing the most fruitful source of discontent\n    from among our slaves, we should render them more industrious\n    and attentive to our commands; and by rendering them more\n    industrious and obedient, we should naturally secure their\n    better treatment--we should ameliorate their condition. Our\n    enemies have admitted that good would result from the removal of\n    this class. Caius Gracchus declares, that if the Society could\n    attain \"this single object in good faith, (the removal of the\n    free people of color) he should, perhaps, be among the last\n    citizens in the commonwealth--who would raise his voice against\n    it,\" and the author of the Crisis (who is doubtless regarded as\n    authority in South Carolina) acknowledges, \"that there is no\n    doubt but that if we in the South, were relieved of this\n    population, it would be better for our southern cities, where\n    they principally reside.\" Nothing can be more plain then, than\n    that the Colonization Society, in its efforts to remove the free\n    people of color, is accomplishing a work to which the citizens\n    of the South, whether friends or foes to the Society, have given\n    their decided approbation.'--[Idem, vol. vi. p. 205.]\n\n\n    'If, as is most confidently believed, the colonization of the\n    free people of color will render the slave who remains in\n    America more obedient, more faithful, more honest, and,\n    consequently, _more useful to his master_,' &c.--[Second Annual\n    Report.]\n\n\n    'There was but one way, [to avert danger,] but that might be\n    made effectual, fortunately! It was to PROVIDE AND KEEP OPEN A\n    DRAIN FOR THE EXCESS BEYOND THE OCCASIONS OF PROFITABLE\n    EMPLOYMENT. Mr Archer had been stating the case in the\n    supposition, that after the present class of free blacks had\n    been exhausted, by the operation of the plan he was\n    recommending, others would be supplied for its action, in the\n    proportion of the excess of colored population it would be\n    necessary to throw off, by the process of voluntary manumission\n    or sale. This effect must result inevitably from the\n    depreciating value of the slaves ensuing their disproportionate\n    multiplication. _The depreciation would be relieved and retarded\n    at the same time, by the process._ The two operations would aid\n    reciprocally, and sustain each other, and both be in the highest\n    degree beneficial. It was on the ground of interest, therefore,\n    the most indisputable _pecuniary interest_, that he addressed\n    himself to the people and Legislatures of the slaveholding\n    States.'--[Speech of Mr Archer.--Fifteenth Annual Report.]\n\n\n    'Every motive which operates on the minds of slaveholders,\n    tending to make the colonization of the free blacks an object of\n    _interest_ to them, should operate in an equal degree to secure\n    the hearty co-operation of the government of every slaveholding\n    State.'--[African Repository, vol. vii. p. 176.]\n\n\n    'None are obliged to follow our example; AND THOSE WHO DO NOT,\n    WILL FIND THE VALUE OF THEIR NEGROES INCREASED BY THE DEPARTURE\n    OF OURS.'--[An advocate of colonization in the Western (Ky.)\n    Luminary.]\n\n\n    'So far from its having a dangerous tendency, when properly\n    considered, it will be viewed as AN ADDITIONAL GUARD TO OUR\n    PECULIAR SPECIES OF PROPERTY.'--[An advocate of the Society in\n    the New-Orleans Argus.]\n\n\n    'The slaveholder, who is in danger of having his slaves\n    contaminated by their free friends of color, will not only be\n    relieved from this danger, but THE VALUE OF HIS SLAVE WILL BE\n    ENHANCED.'--[A new and interesting View of Slavery. By\n    Humanitas, a colonization advocate. Baltimore, 1820.]\n\nIt is perfectly obvious, that whatever tends to weaken and depress the\npresent system, must render the holding of slaves less desirable, and\nthe prospect of emancipation more auspicious. Cherishing this\nconviction, thousands of individuals in this country, and tens of\nthousands in Great Britain, are led by conscientious motives to abstain\nfrom the use of productions raised by slave labor, and to prefer those\nonly which are the fruits of the toil of freemen. They believe in the\nsoundness of the axiom, that 'the receiver is as bad as the thief;' and\nknowing that the slaves are held in bondage not on the ground of\nbenevolence, or because their liberation would endanger the public\nsafety, but _because they are profitable to their owners_, they also\nbelieve that the consumers of slave goods contribute to a fund for\nsupporting slavery with all its abominations; that they are the Alpha\nand the Omega of the business; that the slave-trader, the slave-owner,\nand the slave-driver, are virtually the agents of the consumer, for by\nholding out the temptation, he is the original cause, the first mover in\nthe horrid process; that we are imperiously called upon to refuse those\narticles of luxury, which are obtained at an absolute and lavish waste\nof the blood of our fellow men; that a merchant, who loads his vessel\nwith the proceeds of slavery, does nearly as much in helping forward the\nslave trade, as he who loads his vessel in Africa with slaves--they are\nboth twisting the same rope at different ends; that our patronage is\nputting an immense bribe into the hands of the slaveholders to kidnap,\nrob and oppress; that, were it not for this, they would be compelled by\nsheer necessity to liberate their slaves--for as soon as slave labor\nbecomes unprofitable, the horrid system cannot be upheld.\n\nNone of these scruples, to my knowledge, are entertained by\ncolonizationists: their only aim and anxiety seem to be, 'to prune and\nnourish the system,'--not to overthrow it; to increase the avarice of the\nplanters by rendering the labor of their bondmen more productive,--not\nto abridge and starve it; to remove the cause of those apprehensions\nwhich might lead them to break the fetters of their victims,--not to\nperpetuate it; 'to provide (I quote the confession of the last\ndistinguished proselyte to the Society, Mr Archer of Virginia) and to\nkeep open a drain for the _excess of increase beyond the occasions of_\nPROFITABLE EMPLOYMENT,'--not to make slave labor ruinous to the\nplanters.\n\nBy removing whatever number of slaves it be, from this country, the\nnumber which remains must be diminished--and the more the number which\nremains is diminished, the more helpless will they become, the less will\nbe the hope of their ever recovering their own liberty, and the more and\nthe longer they will be trampled upon.\n\nThe greater the number of slaves transported, _the greater will be the\nvalue of the labor of those who remain_; the more valuable their labor\nis, _the greater will be the temptation to over-labor them, and the\nmore, of course, they will be oppressed_.[M]\n\nThe increase of the free colored population disturbs the security of the\nplanters, and forces many to manumit their slaves through sheer terror.\nThe expatriation of this class, therefore, manifestly tends to quiet the\napprehensions of the oppressors, to rivet more firmly the chains of the\nslaves, to make their services in higher demand, and to render even\ntheir gradual emancipation impracticable.\n\nThus the American Colonization Society is the _apologist_, the _friend_,\nand the _patron_ of SLAVEHOLDERS and SLAVERY!\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[M] Stuart's Circular.\n\n\n\n\nSECTION V.\n\nTHE AMERICAN COLONIZATION SOCIETY IS THE ENEMY OF IMMEDIATE ABOLITION.\n\n\nIt follows, as a necessary consequence, that a Society which is not\nhostile to slavery, which apologises for the system and for\nslaveholders, which recognises slaves as rightful property,[N] and which\nconfessedly increases their value, is _the enemy of immediate\nabolition_. This, I am aware, in the present corrupt state of public\nsentiment, will not generally be deemed an objectionable feature; but I\nregard it with inexpressible abhorrence and dismay.\n\nSince the deception practised upon our first parents by the old serpent,\nthere has not been a more fatal delusion in the minds of men than that\nof the gradual abolition of slavery. _Gradual_ abolition! do its\nsupporters really know what they talk about? Gradually abstaining from\nwhat? From sins the most flagrant, from conduct the most cruel, from\nacts the most oppressive! Do colonizationists mean, that slave-dealers\nshall purchase or sell a few victims less this year than they did the\nlast? that slave-owners shall liberate one, two or three out of every\nhundred slaves during the same period? that slave-drivers shall apply\nthe lash to the scarred and bleeding backs of their victims somewhat\nless frequently? Surely not--I respect their intelligence too much to\nbelieve that they mean any such thing. But if any of the slaves should\nbe exempted from sale or purchase, why not all? if justice require the\nliberation of the few, why not of the many? if it be right for a driver\nto inflict a number of lashes, how many shall be given? Do\ncolonizationists mean that the practice of separating the husband from\nthe wife, the wife from the husband, or children from their parents,\nshall come to an end by an almost imperceptible process? or that the\nslaves shall be defrauded of their just remuneration, less and less\nevery month or every year? or that they shall be under the absolute,\nirresponsible control of their masters? Oh no! I place a higher value\nupon their good sense, humanity and morality than this! Well, then, they\nwould immediately break up the slave traffic--they would put aside the\nwhip--they would have the marriage relations preserved inviolate--they\nwould not separate families--they would not steal the wages of the\nslaves, nor deprive them of personal liberty! This is\nabolition--_immediate abolition_. It is simply declaring that slave\nowners are bound to fulfil--now, without any reluctance or delays--the\ngolden rule, namely, to do as they would be done by; and that, as the\nright to be free is inherent and inalienable in the slaves, there ought\nnow to be a disposition on the part of the people to break their\nfetters. All the horrid spectres which are conjured up, on this subject,\narise from a confusion of the brain, as much as from a corruption of the\nheart.\n\nI utterly reject, as delusive and dangerous in the extreme, every plea\nwhich justifies a procrastinated and an indefinite emancipation, or\nwhich concedes to a slave owner the right to hold his slaves as\n_property_ for any limited period, or which contends for the gradual\npreparation of the slaves for freedom; believing all such pretexts to be\na fatal departure from the high road of justice into the bogs of\nexpediency, a surrender of the great principles of equity, an\nindefensible prolongation of the curse of slavery, a concession which\nplaces the guilt upon any but those who incur it, and directly\ncalculated to perpetuate the thraldom of our species.\n\nImmediate abolition does not mean that the slaves shall immediately\nexercise the right of suffrage, or be eligible to any office, or be\nemancipated from law, or be free from the benevolent restraints of\nguardianship. We contend for the immediate personal freedom of the\nslaves, for their exemption from punishment except where law has been\nviolated, for their employment and reward as free laborers, for their\nexclusive right to their own bodies and those of their own children, for\ntheir instruction and subsequent admission to all the trusts, offices,\nhonors and emoluments of intelligent freemen. Emancipation will increase\nand not destroy the value of their labor; it will also increase the\ndemand for it. Holding out the stimulus of good treatment and an\nadequate reward, it will induce the slaves to toil with a hundred fold\nmore assiduity and faithfulness. Who is so blind as not to perceive the\npeaceful and beneficial results of such a change? The slaves, if freed,\nwill come under the watchful cognizance of law; they will not be idle,\nbut _avariciously_ industrious; they will not rush through the country,\nfiring dwellings and murdering the inhabitants; for freedom is all they\nask--all they desire--the obtainment of which will transform them from\nenemies into friends, from nuisances into blessings, from a corrupt,\nsuffering and degraded, into a comparatively virtuous, happy and\nelevated population.\n\nNor does immediate abolition mean that any compulsory power, other than\nmoral, should be used in breaking the fetters of slavery. It calls for\nno bloodshed, or physical interference; it jealously regards the welfare\nof the planters; it simply demands an entire revolution in public\nsentiment, which will lead to better conduct, to contrition for past\ncrimes, to a love instead of a fear of justice, to a reparation of\nwrongs, to a healing of breaches, to a suppression of revengeful\nfeelings, to a quiet, improving, prosperous state of society!\n\nNow see with what earnestness and inveteracy the friends of the\nColonization Society oppose immediate abolition!\n\n    'It appears, indeed, to be the only feasible mode by which we\n    can remove that stigma as well as _danger_ from among us. Their\n    sudden and entire freedom would be a fearful, and perhaps\n    dreadful experiment, destructive of all the ends of liberty, for\n    which their condition would unfit them, and which they would\n    doubtless greatly abuse. Even their release, at apparently\n    proper intervals, but uncontrolled as to their future habits and\n    location, would be a very hazardous charity. Their gradual\n    emancipation, therefore, under the advantages of a free\n    government, formed, in their native land, by their own hands,\n    offering all the rewards usual to industry and economy, and\n    affording the means of enjoying, in comfort, a reputable and\n    free existence, is the only rational scheme of relieving them\n    from the bondage of their present condition.' * * * 'To\n    eradicate or remove the evil _immediately_, is impossible; nor\n    can any law of conscience govern necessity.'--[Af. Rep. vol. i.\n    pp. 89, 258.]\n\n\n    'Vaunt not over us, dear brethren of the north, we inherited the\n    evil from our forefathers, and we really do not think you do\n    your brethren any good, or that you serve the interests of the\n    people of color, when you recommend and enforce premature\n    schemes of emancipation.' * * * 'The operation, we were aware,\n    must be--and, for the interests of our country, ought to be\n    gradual.' * * * 'According to one, (that rash class which,\n    without a due estimate of the fatal consequence, would forthwith\n    issue a decree of general, immediate, and indiscriminate\n    emancipation,) it was a scheme of the slaveholder to perpetuate\n    slavery.'--[Idem, vol. ii. pp. 12, 254, 336.]\n\n\n    'Slavery, in its mildest form, is an evil of the darkest\n    character. Cruel and unnatural in its origin, no plea can be\n    urged in justification of its continuance, but the plea of\n    necessity--not that necessity which arises from our habits, our\n    prejudices, or our wants; but the necessity which requires us to\n    submit to existing evils, rather than substitute, by their\n    removal, others of a more serious and destructive character. It\n    was this which produced the recognition of slavery in the\n    constitution of our country; it is this which has justified its\n    continuance to the present day; and it is in this only that we\n    can find a palliation for the rigors of our laws, which might\n    otherwise be considered as the cruel enactments of a dark and\n    dismal despotism. There have not, I am aware, been found wanting\n    individuals to deny both the existence and the obligations of\n    such a necessity. There are men, actuated in some instances, by\n    a blind and mistaken enthusiasm, and in others, by a spirit of\n    mischievous intent, loudly calling on us, in the names of\n    justice and humanity, for the immediate and unqualified\n    emancipation of our slaves. To men of this description, it is in\n    vain to point out the inevitable effects of such a course, as\n    well on the objects of their real or pretended solicitude, as on\n    the community in which they exist. It is in vain to assure them,\n    that while the preservation of the latter would require a policy\n    even more rigorous than pertains to slavery itself, the\n    short-lived and nominal freedom of the former must end in their\n    ultimate and utter extinction. All this is of no consequence.\n    Provided slavery be abolished in name, it matters not what\n    horrors may be substituted in its room.' * * * 'The scope of the\n    Society is large enough, but it is in no wise mingled or\n    confounded with the broad sweeping views of _a few fanatics_ in\n    America, who would urge us on to the sudden and total abolition\n    of slavery.'--[Af. Rep. vol. iii. pp. 15, 197.]\n\n\n    'What is to be done? Immediate and universal emancipation will\n    find few, if any advocates, among judicious and reflecting men.'\n    * * * 'There is a portion of our brethren, who have been\n    laboring for many years, with the most benevolent intentions,\n    but, as I conceive, with erroneous views, in the cause of\n    abolition.' * * * 'The Colonization Society, as such, have\n    renounced wholly the name and the characteristics of\n    abolitionists.' * * * 'INTO THEIR ACCOUNTS THE SUBJECT OF\n    EMANCIPATION DOES NOT ENTER AT ALL.' * * * 'Here, that race is\n    in every form a curse, and if the system, so long contended for\n    by the uncompromising abolitionist, could prevail, its effect\n    would be to spread discord and devastation from one end of the\n    Union to the other.'--[Idem, vol. iv. pp. 202, 303, 306, 363.]\n\n\n    'With a writer in the Southern Review we say, \"the situation of\n    the people of these States was not of their own choosing. When\n    they came to the inheritance, it was subject to this mighty\n    incumbrance, and it would be criminal in them to ruin or waste\n    the estate, to get rid of the burden at once.\" With this writer\n    we add also, in the language of Capt. Hall, that the\n    \"slaveholders ought not (immediately) to disentangle themselves\n    from the obligations which have devolved upon them, as the\n    masters of slaves.\" We believe that a master _may_ sustain his\n    relation to the slave, with as little criminality as the slave\n    sustains his relation to the master. But we feel little sympathy\n    for those who, in the language of Mr Harrison of Virginia,\n    \"still look upon their slaves in the light in which most men\n    regarded them when the slave trade was legitimate. Of those,\n    wherever they are, who hold their slaves with that same\n    sentiment which impelled the kidnapper when he forcibly bore\n    them off, I know not how morality can distinguish them from the\n    original wrong-doers, pirates by nature, and pirates by\n    civilized law.\" That the system of slavery must exist\n    temporarily in this country, we as firmly believe, as that for\n    its existence a single moment, there can be offered justly no\n    plea but necessity. Were the very spirit of angelic charity to\n    pervade and fill the hearts of all the slaveholders in our land,\n    it would by no means require that all the slaves should be\n    instantaneously liberated.'--[Af. Rep. vol. v. p. 329.]\n\n\n    'The long established habits of the South, the attachments which\n    are frequently found subsisting between the proprietor and his\n    servants, together with the difficulty of substituting at once\n    white for slave labor, and the derangement which would ensue in\n    the domestic concerns of life, would not merely make general\n    emancipation at once inexpedient, but the attempt would denote\n    the extremity of madness and folly, and convulse this government\n    to its centre.'--[Idem, vol. vi. p. 291.]\n\n\n    'The Society, meeting the objections of the _abolition\n    enthusiast_, in a like spirit of mildness and forbearance,\n    assures him of their equal devotion to the pure principles of\n    liberty and the powerful claims of humanity. We know, say they,\n    and we deplore the evil of slavery as the deadliest curse to our\n    common country. We see, and we lament its demoralizing effects\n    upon the children of our affections, from the budding innocence\n    of infancy, to the full maturity of manhood. But, we have not,\n    we do not, and _we will not_ interfere with this delicate, this\n    important subject. There are rights to be respected, prejudices\n    to be conciliated, fears to be quelled, and safety to be\n    observed in all our operations. And we protest, _most solemnly\n    protest_, against the adoption of your views, as alike\n    destructive of the ends of justice, of policy, and of humanity.\n    No wild dream of the wildest enthusiast was ever more\n    extravagant than that of turning loose upon society two millions\n    of blacks, idle and therefore worthless, vicious and therefore\n    dangerous, ignorant and therefore incapable of appreciating and\n    enjoying the blessings of freedom. Could _your_ wishes be\n    realized, your gratulation would be quickly changed into\n    mourning, your joy into grief, and your labor of love into\n    visits of mercy to our jails and our penitentiaries, to the\n    abodes of vice and the haunts of poverty. Come, ye\n    abolitionists, away with your _wild enthusiasm_, your _misguided\n    philanthropy_.'--[African Repository, vol. vii. p. 101.]\n\n\n    'The Colonization Society is removing the greatest obstacles in\n    the way of emancipation; but none, we think, who is acquainted\n    with the circumstances and condition of our southern States,\n    _and who has any conscience or humanity_, would deem it\n    expedient or christian to dissolve instantaneously all the ties\n    which unite masters and slaves.'--[Idem, vol. vii. p. 186.]\n\n\n    'It is not right that men should be free, when their freedom\n    will prove injurious to themselves and others.' * * 'He has\n    encountered determined opposition from several individuals, who\n    are so reckless and fanatical as to require the instantaneous\n    remedying of an acknowledged evil, which may be remedied\n    gradually, with safety, but which cannot be remedied immediately\n    without jeopardizing all the interests of all parties\n    concerned.'--[Idem, p. 202, 280.]\n\n\n    'He was quite sure that in the Northern States, there was no\n    opinion generally prevailing, that immediate, absolute, and\n    universal emancipation was desirable. There might be, said Mr\n    Storrs, some who are actuated by pure motives and benevolent\n    views, who considered it practicable; but he might say with\n    confidence, that very few, if any, believed that it would be\n    truly humane or expedient to turn loose upon the community more\n    than a million of persons, totally destitute of the means of\n    subsistence, and altogether unprepared in every moral point of\n    view, to enjoy or estimate their new privileges. Such a\n    cotemporaneous emancipation of the colored population of the\n    Southern States could only bring a common calamity on all the\n    States, and the most severe misery on those who were to be thus\n    thrown upon society, under the most abject, helpless and\n    deplorable circumstances.'--[Speech of Hon. Mr Storrs.--Twelfth\n    Annual Report.]\n\n\n    'The condition of a slave suddenly emancipated, and thrown upon\n    his own resources, is very far from being improved; and, however\n    laudable the feeling which leads to such emancipation, its\n    policy and propriety are at least questionable.'--[Report of the\n    Pennsylvania Colonization Society.]\n\n\n    'We may, therefore, fairly conclude the object of immediate\n    universal emancipation wholly unattainable, or, if attainable,\n    at too high a price.'--[Mathew Carey's Essays.]\n\n\n    'Observation has fully convinced them that emancipation has\n    often proved injurious to both: consequently laws have been\n    enacted in several of the States to discourage, if not to\n    prevent it. The public safety and interest, as well as\n    individual happiness, seemed to require of legislatures the\n    adoption of such a measure. For, it appeared highly probable\n    that the manumitted would not only be poor and wretched, but\n    likewise a public nuisance; and perhaps at some future day, form\n    the nucleus of rebellion among those unhappy persons still in\n    slavery.'--[A colonization advocate in the Middletown\n    (Connecticut) Gazette.]\n\n\n    'To our mind, it is clearly the doctrine of the Bible, that\n    there may be circumstances, in which the immediate and universal\n    emancipation of slaves is not a duty. Demanding instantaneous\n    and universal emancipation, and denouncing every instance of\n    _holding_ slaves as a crime, is not the way to bring it to pass.\n    If such a course proceeds from a right spirit, it is from a\n    right spirit misinformed.'--[Vermont Chronicle.]\n\n\n    'When the writer visited England from the colonies, he was\n    constantly astonished to find the Wilberforceans, or saints, as\n    they were called, influenced by the _wildest enthusiasm_ upon\n    the sublime theory of liberty; urging _immediate emancipation_\n    of the slave, and yet totally uninformed as to its destructive\n    consequences to their future welfare, in their present\n    uneducated condition, without some provision being made to so\n    enlighten them that they may be enabled to estimate religions\n    obligations and distinguish between right and wrong; otherwise\n    it would be indispensable to have strong military posts and\n    constant martial law to preserve order, and prevent a murderous\n    anarchy and lawless confusion. It is not anticipated that this\n    state of things could ever be consummated in the United States;\n    but it may afford a very salutary lesson in guiding our\n    consideration of similar occurrences that may take place.'\n\n    --[From a colonization pamphlet, entitled 'Remarks upon a plan\n    for the total abolition of slavery in the United States. By a\n    Citizen of New-York.']\n\n\n    'We do not wish to be understood, as sanctioning the measures\n    now pursued with respect to the subject of slavery, by some\n    misguided enthusiasts in the northern and eastern sections of\n    the United States. Were the measures they advocate with so much\n    heat, to be adopted, a heavier curse could hardly fall upon our\n    country. Their operation, we feel fully satisfied, would work\n    the ruin of those, whom these imprudent advocates of instant and\n    total emancipation, wish primarily to benefit. We have always\n    regarded these advocates for the instantaneous abolition of\n    slavery, in all cases, as doing more injury to our colored\n    population than any other class of men in the community. The\n    slaves of this country cannot be at once emancipated. It is\n    folly, it is madness to talk of it. From the very nature of the\n    case, in justice to that deeply injured class, in justice to\n    ourselves, the work must be gradual.' * * * 'We cannot doubt the\n    ultimate success of the American Colonization Society. And\n    however much some of the clamorous advocates of instant,\n    immediate abolition may vent their rage against this noble\n    institution, it will prosper, it will flourish. Our intelligent\n    community are beginning to see that the American Colonization\n    Society presents _the only door of hope_ to the\n    republic.'--[Western Luminary.]\n\n\n    'But _what_ shall be done? Some--and their motives and\n    philanthropic zeal are worthy of all honor--plead for immediate\n    emancipation. But Mr Ladd had seen enough to know that _that_\n    would be a curse to all parties. He acknowledged a difficulty\n    here; _but it is a difficulty that often occurs in morals_. When\n    we have gone far in a wrong road, it often happens that we\n    cannot in a moment put ourselves in the right one. One penalty\n    of such a sin is, that it clings to us, and cannot be shaken off\n    at once with all its bitter consequences by a mere\n    volition.'--[Speech of William Ladd, Esq.]\n\n\n    'The warmest friend to the abolition of slavery, while he\n    deplores the existence of the evil, must admit the necessity of\n    cautious and gradual measures to remove it. The inhabitants of\n    the South cannot, and ought not, suddenly to emancipate their\n    slaves, to remain among them free. Such a measure would be no\n    blessing to the slaves, but the very madness of self-destruction\n    to the whites. In the South, the horrid scenes that would too\n    certainly follow the liberation of their slaves, are present to\n    every imagination, to stifle the calls of justice and humanity.\n    A fell spirit of avarice is thus invigorated and almost\n    justified, by the plea of necessity.'--[First Annual Report of\n    the New Jersey Col. Soc.]\n\n\n    'The impropriety and impolicy of manumitting slaves, _in any\n    case_, in our country, one would suppose, must be apparent to\n    all. It is not a little astonishing that individuals acquainted\n    with the facts, and the evils brought upon society by the free\n    black population, should persist in declaring that duty and\n    humanity call upon us to give the slaves their freedom. It\n    really appears to me that there is entirely too much \"namby\n    pamby sentimentality\" and affected feeling exhibited respecting\n    the condition of slaves. Do these individuals believe that\n    benevolence and humanity command us to turn loose upon society a\n    set of persons who confessedly only serve to swell the amount of\n    crime, while they add nothing to the industry, to the wealth, or\n    the strength of the country? Because abstractedly considered,\n    man has no right to hold his fellow man in bondage, shall we\n    give up our liberty, and the peace of society, in order that\n    this principle may not be violated? The fact is, _the negroes\n    are happier when kept in bondage_. In their master they find a\n    willing and efficient protector, to guard them from injury and\n    insult, to attend to them when sick and in distress, and to\n    provide for their comfort and support, when old age overtakes\n    them. When in health, they are well fed and clothed, and by no\n    means, in common cases, are they hardly worked.'--[A warm\n    advocate of African Colonization in the Alexandria Gazette.]\n\n\n    'But there are other difficulties in the way of immediate\n    emancipation. We believe that no one, who has taken charge of an\n    infant, and made a cripple of him, either in his feet, his\n    hands, or his mind, so that when he is of mature age, he is\n    unable to take care of himself, has a right to turn him out of\n    doors, to perish or destroy himself, and call it, giving him his\n    liberty. After having reduced him to this condition, he is bound\n    to afford him the support and protection, which he has rendered\n    necessary.\n\n    'This appears to us to be the true relation of the southern\n    planters to their slaves. Not that the southern planters have\n    generally been guilty of personal cruelty; but such has been the\n    general result of the system acted upon, and such the relation\n    growing out of it. The slaves have grown up, under the eye of\n    their masters, unable to take care of themselves; and their\n    masters, for whose comfort and convenience this has been done,\n    are bound to provide for them.\n\n    'Nor do we think that the exhortation, to \"do right and trust\n    Providence,\" applies at all to this case; for the very question\n    is, \"what is right?\" Would it be right for the slave merchant,\n    in the midst of the Atlantic, to knock the manacles from his\n    prisoners and throw them overboard, and call this, giving them\n    their liberty and trusting Providence with the result? But how\n    else could he reduce the doctrine of immediate and complete\n    emancipation to practice?'--[Vermont Chronicle.]\n\nThe miserable sophistry contained in the foregoing extracts scarcely\nneeds a serious refutation. 'To say that immediate emancipation will\nonly increase the wretchedness of the slaves, and that we must pursue a\nsystem of _gradual_ abolition, is to present to us the double paradox,\nthat we must continue to do evil, in order to cure the evil which we are\ndoing; and that we must continue to be unjust, and to do evil, that good\nmay come.' The fatal error of _gradualists_ lies here: They talk as if\nthe friends of abolition contended only for the emancipation of the\nslaves, without specifying or caring what should be done with or for\nthem! as if the planters were invoked to cease from one kind of villany,\nonly to practise another! as if the manumitted slaves must necessarily\nbe driven out from society into the wilderness, like wild beasts! This\nis talking nonsense: it is a gross perversion of reason and common\nsense. Abolitionists have never said, that mere manumission would be\ndoing justice to the slaves: they insist upon a remuneration for years\nof unrequited toil, upon their employment as free laborers, upon their\nimmediate and coefficient instruction, and upon the exercise of a\nbenevolent supervision over them on the part of their employers. They\ndeclare, in the first place, that to break the fetters of the slaves,\nand turn them loose upon the country, without the preservative\nrestraints of law, and destitute of occupation, would leave the work of\njustice only half done; and, secondly, that it is absurd to suppose that\nthe planters would be wholly independent of the labor of the blacks--for\nthey could no more dispense with it next week, were emancipation to take\nplace, than they can to-day. The very ground which they assume for their\nopposition to slavery,--that it necessarily prevents the improvement of\nits victims,--shows that they contemplate the establishment of schools\nfor the education of the slaves, and the furnishing of productive\nemployment, immediately upon their liberation. If this were done, none\nof the horrors which are now so feelingly depicted, as the attendants of\na sudden abolition, would ensue.\n\nBut we are gravely told that education must _precede_ emancipation. The\nlogic of this plea is, that intellectual superiority justly gives one\nman an oppressive control over another! Where would such a detestable\nprinciple lead but to practices the most atrocious, and results the most\ndisastrous, if carried out among ourselves? Tell us, ye hair-splitting\nsophists, the exact quantum of knowledge which is necessary to\nconstitute a freeman. If every dunce should be a slave, your servitude\nis inevitable; and richly do you deserve the lash for your obtuseness.\nOur white population, too, would furnish blockheads enough to satisfy\nall the classical kidnappers in the land.\n\nThe reason why the slaves are so ignorant, is because they are held in\nbondage; and the reason why they are held in bondage, is because they\nare so ignorant! They ought not to be freed until they are educated; and\nthey ought not be educated, because on the acquisition of knowledge they\nwould burst their fetters! Fine logic, indeed! How men, who make any\npretensions to honesty or common sense, can advance a paradox like this,\nis truly inexplicable. 'I never met with a man yet,' says an able writer\nin Kentucky, 'who impliedly admits the enslaving of human beings as\nconsistent with the exercise of christian duties, who could talk or\nwrite ten minutes on the subject, without expressing nonsense, or\ncontradicting himself, or advancing heresy which would expose him to\ncensure on any other subject.' In this connexion, I make the following\nextract from the Report of the _Dublin Negro's Friend Society_, of which\nWILBERFORCE is President, and CLARKSON Vice President:\n\n    'They do not recognize the false principle, that education, as a\n    preparation for freedom, must precede emancipation; or that an\n    amelioration of the slaves' condition should be a substitute for\n    it: on the contrary, THEY INSIST UPON UNPROCRASTINATED\n    EMANCIPATION, as a right which is unrighteously withheld, and\n    the restoration of which is, in their opinion, the first and\n    most indispensable step to all improvement, and absolutely\n    essential to the application of the only remedy for that moral\n    debasement, in which slavery has sunk its victims.'\n\nI cannot portray the absurdity of the doctrine of gradual abolition, and\nthe danger and folly of attempting to mitigate the system of slavery,\nmore strikingly, than by presenting the following eloquent extracts from\na speech of the Rev. Dr. Thomson of Edinburgh, one of the most learned\nand able divines in Great Britain, whose sudden death was recorded in\nthe newspapers a few months since:\n\n    'The word _immediate_ may no doubt be considered as a strong\n    word; but you will observe that it is used as contrasted with\n    the word _gradual_. And were I to criticise the term _gradual_\n    as certain opponents have treated the term _immediate_, I could\n    easily, by the help of a little quibbling, bring you to the\n    conclusion, that as hitherto employed it means that the\n    abolition is never to take place, and that, by putting it into\n    their petition, they are to be understood as deprecating rather\n    than asking the emancipation of the slaves. \"_Immediate_,\" they\n    argue, \"evanishes as soon as you utter it; it is gone before\n    your petition reaches parliament.\" How absurd! If I should say\n    to my servant while engaged in work, \"You must go to the south\n    side of the town with a message for me _immediately_,\" is it\n    indeed implied in the order I have given him, that he could not\n    fulfil it, unless he set off without his hat, without his coat,\n    without his shoes, without those habiliments which are requisite\n    for his appearing decently in the streets of Edinburgh, and\n    executing the task that I had assigned him? The meaning of the\n    word as used by us is perfectly clear, and cannot be\n    misapprehended by any one: it is not to be made a subject of\n    metaphysical animadversion: it is to be considered and\n    understood under the direction of common sense, and especially\n    as modified and expounded by those statements with which it is\n    associated both in our resolutions and in the petition; and\n    viewed in that light, _immediate abolition_ is not merely an\n    intelligible phrase, but one that does not warrant a particle of\n    the alarm which some have affected to take at it, and is not\n    liable to any one of those objections which some have been\n    pleased to make to it.\n\n    'To say that we will come out of the sin by degrees--that we\n    will only forsake it slowly, and step by step--that we will\n    pause and hesitate and look well about us before we consent to\n    abandon its gains and its pleasures--that we will allow another\n    age to pass by ere we throw off the load of iniquity that is\n    lying so heavy upon us, lest certain secularities should be\n    injuriously affected--and that we will postpone the duty of\n    \"doing justly and loving mercy,\" till we have removed every\n    petty difficulty out of the way, and got all the conflicting\n    interests that are involved in the measure reconciled and\n    satisfied;--to say this, is to trample on the demands of moral\n    obligation, and to disregard the voice which speaks to as from\n    heaven. The path of duty is plain before us; and we have nothing\n    to do but to enter it at once, and to walk in it without turning\n    to the right hand or to the left. Our concern is not with the\n    result that may follow our obedience to the divine will. Our\n    great and primary concern is to obey that will. God reigns over\n    his universe in the exercise of infinite perfection: he commands\n    us to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke; and\n    submitting, without procrastination, and without any attempts at\n    compromise, to that command, we may be assured that he will take\n    care of all the effects that can be produced by compliance with\n    his authority, and give demonstration to the truth that\n    obedience to his behests is our grand and only security for a\n    prosperous lot.\n\n    'We are by no means indifferent to the expediency of the case.\n    On the contrary, we think ourselves prepared to prove, by fair\n    reasoning and by ascertained fact, that the expediency of the\n    thing is all on our side; that immediate abolition is the only\n    secure and proper way of attaining the object which we all\n    profess to have in view; that to defer the measure to a distant\n    period, and to admit the propriety of getting at it by a course\n    of mitigation, is the surest mode of frustrating every hope we\n    might otherwise entertain, and giving over the slaves to\n    interminable bondage.' * * *\n\n    'I do not deny, Sir, that the evils of practical slavery may be\n    lessened. By parliamentary enactments, by colonial arrangements,\n    by appeals to the judgment and feelings of planters, and by\n    various other means, a certain degree of melioration _may_ be\n    secured. But I say, in the first place, that, with all that you\n    can accomplish, or reasonably expect, of mitigation, you cannot\n    alter the nature of slavery itself. With every improvement you\n    have superinduced upon it, you have not made it less debasing,\n    less cruel, less destructive, in its essential character. The\n    black man is still the _property_ of the white man. And that one\n    circumstance not only implies in it the transgression of\n    inalienable right and everlasting justice, but is the fruitful\n    and necessary source of numberless mischiefs, the very thought\n    of which harrows up the soul, and the infliction of which no\n    superintendence of any government can either prevent or control.\n    Mitigate and keep down the evil as much as you can, still it is\n    there in all its native virulence, and still it will do its\n    malignant work in spite of you. The improvements you have made\n    are merely superficial. You have not reached the seat and vital\n    spring of the mischief. You have only concealed in some measure,\n    and for a time, its inherent enormity. Its essence remains\n    unchanged and untouched, and is ready to unfold itself whenever\n    a convenient season arrives, notwithstanding all your\n    precaution, and all you vigilance, in those manifold acts of\n    injustice and inhumanity, which are its genuine and its\n    invariable fruits. You may white-wash the sepulchre,--you may\n    put upon it every adornment that fancy can suggest,--you may\n    cover it over with all the flowers and evergreens that the\n    garden or the fields can furnish, so that it will appear\n    beautiful outwardly unto men. But it is a sepulchre still,--full\n    of dead men's bones and of all uncleanness. Disguise slavery as\n    you will,--put into the cup all the pleasing and palatable\n    ingredients which you can discover in the wide range of nature\n    and of art,--still it is a bitter, bitter draught, from which\n    the understanding and the heart of every man, in whom nature\n    works unsophisticated and unbiassed, recoils with unutterable\n    aversion and abhorrence. Why, Sir, slavery is the very Upas tree\n    of the moral world, beneath whose pestiferous shade all\n    intellect languishes, and all virtue dies. And if you would get\n    quit of the evil, you must go more thoroughly and effectually to\n    work than you can ever do by any or by all of those palliatives,\n    which are included under the term \"mitigation.\" The foul\n    sepulchre must be taken away. The cup of oppression must be\n    dashed to pieces on the ground. The pestiferous tree must be cut\n    down and eradicated; it must be, root and branch of it, cast\n    into the consuming fire, and its ashes scattered to the four\n    winds of heaven. It is thus you must deal with slavery. You must\n    annihilate it,--annihilate it now,--and annihilate it for ever.\n\n    'Get your mitigation. I say in the second place, that you are\n    thereby, in all probability farther away than ever from your\n    object. It is not to the Government or the Parliament at home\n    that you are to look--neither is it to the legislatures and\n    planters abroad that you are to look--for accomplishing the\n    abolition of negro slavery. Sad experience shows that, if left\n    to themselves, they will do nothing efficient in this great\n    cause. It is to the sentiments of the people at large that you\n    are to look, to the spread of intellectual light, to the\n    prevalence of moral feeling, to the progress, in short, of\n    public opinion, which, when resting on right principles and\n    moving in a right direction, must in this free and Christian\n    country prove irresistible. But observe, Sir, the public mind\n    will not be sufficiently affected by the statement of abstract\n    truths, however just, or by reasonings on the tendencies of a\n    system, however accurate. It must be more or less influenced by\n    what is visible, or by what is easily known and understood of\n    the actual atrocities which accompany slavery, wherever it is\n    left to its own proper operation. Let it be seen in its native\n    vileness and cruelty, as exhibited when not interfered with by\n    the hand of authority, and it excites universal and unqualified\n    detestation. But let its harsher asperities be rubbed off; take\n    away the more prominent parts of its iniquity; see that it look\n    somewhat smoother and milder than it did before; make such\n    regulations as ought, if faithfully executed, to check its\n    grosser acts of injustice and oppression; give it the appearance\n    of its being put under the humanizing sway of religious\n    education and instruction; do all this, and you produce one\n    effect at least,--you modify the indignation of a great number\n    of the community; you render slavery much less obnoxious; you\n    enable its advocates and supporters to say in reply to your\n    denunciations of its wickedness, \"O, the slaves are now\n    comfortable and happy; they do not suffer what they did; they\n    are protected and well treated,\" and in proof of all this, they\n    point to what are called \"mitigations.\" But mark me, Sir; under\n    these mitigations, slavery still exists, ready at every\n    convenient season to break forth in all its countless forms of\n    inhumanity; meanwhile the public feeling in a great measure\n    subsides; and when the public feeling--such an important and\n    indispensable element in our attempts to procure abolition--is\n    allowed to subside, tell me, Sir, when, and where, and by what\n    means it is again to be roused into activity. I must say, for\n    one, that though I sympathize with my sable brethren, when I\n    hear of them being spared even one lash of the cart-whip; yet\n    when I take a more enlarged view of their condition--when I\n    consider the nature of that system under which they are placed,\n    and when I look forward to their deliverance, and the means by\n    which alone it is to be effected, I am tempted, and almost if\n    not altogether persuaded, to deprecate that insidious thing\n    termed \"mitigation,\" because it directly tends to perpetuate the\n    mighty evil, which will by and by throw off the improvements by\n    which it is glossed over as quite unnatural to it, will\n    ultimately grow up again into all its former dreadfulness, and\n    continue to wither and crush beneath it, all that is excellent\n    and glorious in man.\n\n    'But if our rulers and legislators will undertake to emancipate\n    the slaves, and do it as it ought to be done, immediately, I beg\n    those who set themselves against such a measure, to point out\n    the danger, and to prove it. The _onus_ lies upon _them_. And\n    what evidence do they give us? Where is it to be found? In what\n    circumstance shall we discover it? From what principles and\n    probabilities shall we infer it? We must not have mere\n    hypothesis--mere allegations--mere fancied horrors, dressed up\n    in frightful language. We must have proof to substantiate, in\n    some good measure, their theory of rebellion, warfare, and\n    blood. If any such thing exists, let them produce it' * * * 'But\n    if you push me, and still urge the argument of insurrection and\n    bloodshed, for which you are far more indebted to fancy than to\n    fact, as I have shown you, then I say, be it so. I repeat that\n    maxim, taken from a heathen book, but pervading the whole Book\n    of God, _Fiat justitia_--_ruat caelum_. Righteousness, Sir, is\n    the pillar of the universe. Break down that pillar, and the\n    universe falls into ruin and desolation. But preserve it, and\n    though the fair fabric may sustain partial dilapidations, it may\n    be rebuilt and repaired--it _will_ be rebuilt, and repaired, and\n    restored to all its pristine strength, and magnificence, and\n    beauty. If there must be violence, let it even come, for it will\n    soon pass away--let it come and rage its little hour, since it\n    is to be succeeded by lasting freedom, and prosperity and\n    happiness. Give me the hurricane rather than the pestilence.\n    Give me the hurricane, with its thunder, and its lightning, and\n    its tempest;--give me the hurricane, with its partial and\n    temporary devastations, awful though they be;--give me the\n    hurricane, with its purifying, healthful, salutary\n    effects;--give me that hurricane, infinitely rather than the\n    noisome pestilence, whose path is never crossed, whose silence\n    is never disturbed, whose progress is never arrested, by one\n    sweeping blast from the heavens; which walks peacefully and\n    sullenly through the length and breadth of the land, breathing\n    poison into every heart, and carrying havoc into every home,\n    enervating all that is strong, defacing all that is beautiful,\n    and casting its blight over the fairest and happiest scenes of\n    human life--and which, from day to day, and from year to year,\n    with intolerant and interminable malignity, sends its thousands\n    and its tens of thousands of hapless victims into the\n    ever-yawning and never-satisfied grave!'\n\nIt is said, by way of extenuation, that the present owners of slaves are\nnot responsible for the origin of this system. I do not arraign them for\nthe crimes _of their ancestors_, but for the constant perpetration and\nextension of similar crimes. The plea that the evil of slavery was\nentailed upon them, shall avail them nothing: in its length and breadth\nit means that the robberies of one generation justify the robberies of\nanother! that the inheritance of stolen property converts it into an\nhonest acquisition! that the atrocious conduct of their fathers\nexonerates them from all accountability, thus presenting the strange\nanomaly of a race of men incapable of incurring guilt, though daily\npractising the vilest deeds! Scarcely any one denies that blame attaches\nsomewhere: the present generation throws it upon the past--the past,\nupon its predecessor--and thus it is cast, like a ball, from one to\nanother, down to the first importers of the Africans! 'Can that be\n_innocence_ in the temperate zone, which is the _acme of all guilt_ near\nthe equator? Can that be _honesty_ in one meridian of longitude, which,\nat one hundred degrees east, is the _climax of injustice_?' Sixty\nthousand infants, the offspring of slave-parents, are annually born in\nthis country, and doomed to remediless bondage. Is it not as atrocious a\ncrime to kidnap these, as to kidnap a similar number on the coast of\nAfrica?\n\nIt is said, moreover, that we ought to legislate prospectively, on this\nsubject; that the fetters of the present generation of slaves cannot be\nbroken; and that our single aim should be, to obtain the freedom of\ntheir offspring, by fixing a definite period after which none shall be\nborn slaves. But this is inconsistent, inhuman and unjust. The following\nextracts from the speech of the Rev. Dr. Thomson are conclusive on this\npoint:\n\n\n    'In the first place, it amounts to an indirect sanction of the\n    continued slavery of all who are now alive, and of all who may\n    be born before the period fixed upon. This is a renunciation of\n    the great moral principles upon which the demand for abolition\n    proceeds. It consigns more than 800,000 human beings to bondage\n    and oppression, while their title to freedom is both\n    indisputable and acknowledged. And it is not merely an\n    inconsistency on the part of the petitioners, and a violation of\n    the duty which they owe to such a multitude of their fellow-men,\n    but it weakens or surrenders the great argument by which they\n    enforce their application for the extinction of colonial\n    slavery.\n\n    'Besides, it is vain to expect that the planters will acquiesce\n    in such a prospective measure, any more than in the liberation\n    of the existing slaves, for the progeny of the existing slaves\n    must be considered by them as much a part of their property as\n    these slaves themselves. And they would regard it equally unjust\n    to deprive them of what is hereafter to be produced from their\n    own slave stock, as it would be to deprive a farmer, by an\n    anticipating law of all the foals and of all the calves that\n    might be produced in his stable and in his cow-house, after a\n    given specified date.\n\n    'We must be true to our own maxims, which are taken from the\n    word of God; and ask for all that we are entitled to have on the\n    ground of justice and humanity, and be contented with nothing\n    less.\n\n    'In the second place, the plan objected to is not merely an\n    acquiescence in the continuance of crime, it is a violation of\n    the best feelings of our nature. For, let any man but reflect on\n    the circumstance of children being born to slavery, merely\n    because they came into the world the last hour of December 1830,\n    instead of the first hour of January 1, 1831--and of children in\n    the same family, brothers and sisters--some of them destined to\n    bondage for life, and others gifted with freedom, for no other\n    reason than that the former were born before, and the latter\n    after, a particular day of a particular year--and of parents\n    being unjustly and inhumanly flogged in the very sight of their\n    offspring arbitrarily made free, while they are as arbitrarily\n    kept slaves--let any man but reflect on those things, and unless\n    the sensibilities of his heart be paralysed even to deadness, he\n    must surely revolt at such a cruel and cold blooded allotment in\n    the fortune of those little ones, and be satisfied with nothing\n    short of the emancipation of the whole community, without a\n    single exception.\n\n    'In the third place, supposing all children born after January\n    1, 1831, were declared free, how are they to be educated? That\n    they may be prepared for the enjoyment of that liberty with\n    which you have invested them, they must undergo a particular and\n    appropriate training. So say the _gradualists_. Very well; under\n    whom are they to get this training? Are they to be separated\n    from their parents? Is that dearest of natural ties to be broken\n    asunder? Is this necessary for your plan? And are not you thus\n    endeavoring to cure one species of wickedness by the\n    instrumentality of another? But if they are to be left with\n    their parents and brought up under their care, then either they\n    will be imbued with the faults and degeneracies that are\n    characteristic of slavery, and consequently be as unfit for\n    freedom as those who have not been disenthralled: or they will\n    be well nurtured and well instructed by their parents, and this\n    implies a confession that their parents themselves are\n    sufficiently prepared for liberty, and that there is no good\n    reason for withholding from them, the boon that is bestowed upon\n    their children.\n\n    'Whatever view, in short, we take of the question, the\n    prospective plan is full of difficulty or contradictions, and we\n    are made more sensible than ever that there is nothing left for\n    us, but to take the consistent, honest, uncompromising course of\n    demanding the abolition of slavery with respect to the present,\n    as well as to every future generation of the negroes in our\n    colonies.'\n\nWe are told that 'it is not right that men should be free, when their\nfreedom will prove injurious to themselves and others.' This has been\nthe plea of tyrants in all ages. If the immediate emancipation of the\nslaves would prove a curse, it follows that slavery is a blessing; and\nthat it cannot be unjust, but benevolent, to defraud the laborer of his\nhire, to rank him as a beast, and to deprive him of his liberty. But\nthis, every one must see, is at war with common sense, and avowedly\ndoing evil that good may come. This plea must mean, either that a state\nof slavery is more favorable to the growth of virtue and the\ndispensation of knowledge than a state of freedom--(a glaring\nabsurdity)--or that an immediate compliance with the demands of justice\nwould be most unjust--(a gross contradiction.)\n\nIt is boldly asserted by some colonizationists, that '_the negroes are\nhappier when kept in bondage_,' and that 'the condition of the great\nmass of emancipated Africans is one in comparison with which the\ncondition of the slaves is _enviable_.' What is the inference? Why,\neither that slavery is not oppression--(another paradox)--or that real\nbenevolence demands the return of the free people of color to their\nformer state of servitude. Every kidnapper, therefore, is a true\nphilanthropist! Our legislature should immediately offer a bounty for\nthe body of every free colored person! The colored population of\nMassachusetts, at $200 for each man, woman and child, would bring at\nleast _one million three hundred thousand dollars_. This sum would\nseasonably replenish our exhausted treasury. The whole free colored\npopulation of the United States, at the same price, (which is a low\nestimate,) would be worth _sixty-five millions of dollars_!! Think how\nmany churches this would build, schools and colleges establish,\nbeneficiaries educate, missionaries support, bibles and tracts\ncirculate, railroads and canals complete, &c. &c. &c.!!!\n\nThe Secretary of the Colonization Society assures us, (vide the African\nRepository, vol. v. p. 330,) that '_were the very spirit of angelic\ncharity to pervade and fill the hearts of all the slaveholders in our\nland, it would by no means require that all the slaves should be\ninstantaneously liberated_'!!--i. e. should the slaveholders become\ninstantaneously metamorphosed into angels, they would still hold the\nrational creatures of God as their _property_, and yet commit no sin!\nThink, for one moment, of an angel in the capacity of a\nman-stealer--feeding his victims upon a peck of corn per week, or three\nbushels of corn and a few herrings every 'quarter-day,' as a\ncompensation for their severe labor--flourishing a cowskin over their\nheads, and applying it frequently to their naked bodies! Think of him\nselling parents from children, and children from parents, at private\nsale or public auction!\n\nMany slaveholders are giving up their slaves from conscientious motives;\nthey cannot, they dare not longer keep them in servitude; they believe\nthat the law of God has a higher claim upon their obedience than the\nlaws of their native State. Now suppose all the owners of slaves in our\nland should be suddenly and simultaneously convicted of sin, and moved\nto repentance in a similar manner, and should say to their slaves, 'God\nforbid that we should longer call you our property, or place you on a\nlevel with our cattle, or defraud you of your just dues, or sell you or\nyour wives or children to others, or deny you the means of instruction,\nor lacerate your bodies! henceforth you are free--but you want\nemployment, and we need laborers--go and work as freemen, and be paid as\nfreemen!'--suppose, I say, a case like this should happen, and a troop\nof _gradualists_ should surround these penitent oppressors, and cry,\n'Were the very spirit of angelic charity to pervade and fill your\nhearts, it would by no means require that all your slaves should be\ninstantaneously liberated--your throats will be cut, your houses\npillaged, and desolation will stalk through the land, if you carry your\nmad purpose into effect--emancipate by a slow, imperceptible\nprocess!'--how would this advice sound? What should be their reply?\nClearly this: 'Whether it be right in the sight of God to hearken unto\nmen more than unto God, judge ye.' Here would be presented a strange\nspectacle indeed--one party confessing and resolving to forsake their\nsins, and another urging them to disregard the admonitions of\nconscience, and to leave off sinning by degrees! To be sure, a few, a\nvery few, would be _generously_ allowed to reform _instanter_!\n\nThose who prophesy evil, and only evil, concerning immediate abolition,\nabsolutely disregard the nature and constitution of man, as also his\ninalienable rights, and annihilate or reverse the causes and effects of\nhuman action. They are continually fearful lest the slaves, in\nconsequence of their grievous wrongs and intolerable sufferings, should\nattempt to gain their freedom by revolution; and yet they affect to be\nequally fearful lest a general emancipation should produce the same\ndisastrous consequences. How absurd! They _know_ that oppression must\ncause rebellion; and yet they pretend that a removal of the cause will\nproduce a bloody effect! This is to suppose an effect without a cause,\nand, of course, is a contradiction in terms. Bestow upon the slaves\npersonal freedom, and all motives for insurrection are destroyed. Treat\nthem like rational beings, and you may surely expect rational treatment\nin return: treat them like beasts, and they will behave in a beastly\nmanner.\n\nBesides, precedent and experience make the ground of abolitionists\ninvulnerable. In no single instance where their principles have been\nadopted, has the result been disastrous or violent, but beneficial and\npeaceful even beyond their most sanguine expectations. The immediate\nabolition of slavery in Mexico, in Colombia, and in St. Domingo,[O] was\neminently preservative and useful in its effects. The manumitted slaves\n(numbering more than two thousand,) who were settled in Nova Scotia, at\nthe close of our revolutionary war, by the British government, 'led a\nharmless life,' says Clarkson, 'and gained the character of an\nindustrious and honest people from their white neighbors.' A large\nnumber who were located at Trinidad, as free laborers, at the close of\nour last war, 'are now,' according to the same authority, 'earning their\nown livelihood, and with so much industry and good conduct, that the\ncalumnies originally spread against them have entirely died away.'\nAccording to the Anti-Slavery Reporter for January, 1832, three thousand\nprize negroes at the Cape of Good Hope had received their freedom--four\nhundred in one day; 'but not the least difficulty or disorder occurred:\nservants found masters, masters hired servants--all gained homes, and at\nnight scarcely an idler was to be seen.'\n\nThese and many other similar facts show conclusively the safety of\nimmediate abolition. Gradualists can present, in abatement of them,\nnothing but groundless apprehensions and criminal distrust. The argument\nis irresistible.\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[N] The slaves, they say, are their _property_. Once admit this, and all\nyour arguments for interference are vain, and all your plans for\namelioration are fruitless. The whole question may be said to hang upon\nthis point. If the slaves are not property, then slavery is at an end.\nThe slaveholders see this most clearly; they see that while you allow\nthese slaves to be their _property_, you act inconsistently and\noppressively in intermeddling, as you propose to do, with what is theirs\nas much as any other of their goods and chattels: you must proceed,\ntherefore, in your measures for amelioration, as you call it, with\n'hesitating steps and slow;' and there is nothing you can do for\nrestraining punishment, for regulating labor, for enforcing manumission,\nfor introducing education and Christianity, which will not be met with\nthe remonstrance, undeniably just by your own concessions, that you are\nencroaching on the sacred rights of property,--the slaveholders see all\nthis, and they can employ it to paralyse and defeat all your efforts to\nget at emancipation, and to prepare for it. It is on this account, that\nI wish it settled in your minds, as a fixed and immutable principle,\nthat there is and can be no property of man in man. Adopt this\nprinciple, and give it that ascendency over your minds to which it is\nentitled;--and slavery is swept away.--_Speech of Rev. Dr Thomson of\nEdinburgh._\n\n[O] The history of the Revolution in St Domingo is not generally\nunderstood in this country. The result of the instantaneous emancipation\nof the slaves, in that island, by an act of the Conventional Assembly of\nFrance in the month of February, 1794, settles the controversy between\nthe _immediatists_ and _gradualists_. 'After this public act of\nemancipation,' says Colonel Malenfant, who was resident in the island at\nthe time, 'the negroes _remained quiet_ both in the South and in the\nWest, and _they continued to work upon all the plantations_.' 'Upon\nthose estates which were abandoned, _they continued their labors_, where\nthere were any, even inferior agents, to guide them; and on those\nestates, where no white men were left to direct them, they betook\nthemselves to the planting of provisions; but upon _all the plantations_\nwhere the whites resided, the blacks _continued to labor as quietly as\nbefore_.' 'On the Plantation Gourad, consisting of more than four\nhundred and fifty laborers, _not a single negro refused to work_; and\nyet this plantation was thought to be under the worst discipline and the\nslaves the most idle of any in the plain.' General Lacroix, who\npublished his 'Memoirs for a History of St Domingo,' at Paris, in 1819,\nuses these remarkable words: 'The colony marched, _as by enchantment_,\ntowards its ancient splendor; _cultivation prospered_; every day\nproduced perceptible proofs of its progress. The city of the Cape and\nthe plantations of the North rose up again visibly to the eye.' General\nVincent, who was a general of a brigade of artillery in St Domingo, and\na proprietor of estates in that island, at the same period, declared to\nthe Directory of France, that 'every thing was _going on well in St\nDomingo_. The proprietors were in peaceable possession of their estates;\ncultivation was making rapid progress; _the blacks were industrious, and\nbeyond example happy_.' So much for the horrible concomitants of a\ngeneral emancipation! So much for the predicted indolence of the\nliberated slaves! Let confusion of face cover all abolition alarmists in\nview of these historical facts! This peaceful and prosperous state of\naffairs continued from 1794, to the invasion of the island by Leclerc in\n1802. The attempt of Bonaparte to reduce the island to its original\nservitude was the sole cause of that sanguinary conflict which ended in\nthe total extirpation of the French from its soil.--[Vide Clarkson's\n'Thoughts on the Necessity of Improving the Condition of the Slaves in\nthe British Colonies,' &c.]\n\n\n\n\nSECTION VI.\n\nTHE AMERICAN COLONIZATION SOCIETY IS NOURISHED BY FEAR AND SELFISHNESS.\n\n\nThe reader will find on the fifth page of my introductory remarks, the\nphrase 'naked terrors;' by which I mean, that, throughout all the\nspeeches, addresses and reports in behalf of the Society, it is\nconfessed, in language strong and explicit, that an irrepressible and\nagonizing fear of the influence of the free people of color over the\nslave population is the primary, essential and prevalent motive for\ncolonizing them on the coast of Africa--and not, as we are frequently\nurged to believe, a desire simply to meliorate their condition and\ncivilize that continent. On this point, the evidence is abundant.\n\n    'In reflecting on the utility of a plan for colonizing the free\n    people of color, with whom our country abounds, it is natural\n    that we should be first struck by its tendency to confer a\n    benefit on ourselves, by ridding us of a population for the most\n    part idle and useless, and too often vicious and mischievous.'\n    * * * 'Such a class must evidently be a burden and a nuisance to\n    the community; and every scheme which affords a prospect of\n    removing so great an evil must deserve to be most favorably\n    considered.\n\n    'But it is not in themselves merely that the free people of\n    color are a nuisance and burthen. They contribute greatly to the\n    corruption of the slaves, and to aggravate the evils of their\n    condition, by rendering them idle, discontented and disobedient.\n    This also arises from the necessity under which the free blacks\n    are, of remaining incorporated with the slaves, of associating\n    habitually with them, and forming part of the same class in\n    society. The slave seeing his free companion live in idleness,\n    or subsist however scantily or precariously by occasional and\n    desultory employment, is apt to grow discontented with his own\n    condition, and to regard as tyranny and injustice the authority\n    which compels him to labor.[P]\n\n    'Great, however, as the benefits are, which we may thus promise\n    ourselves, from the colonization of the free people of color, by\n    its tendency to prevent the discontent and corruption of our\n    slaves,' &c. * * 'The considerations stated in the first part of\n    this letter, have long since produced a thorough conviction in\n    my mind, that the existence of a class of free people of color\n    in this country is highly injurious to the whites, the slaves\n    and the free people of color themselves: consequently that all\n    emancipation, to however small an extent, which permits the\n    persons emancipated to remain in this country, is an evil, which\n    must increase with the increase of the operation, and would\n    become altogether intolerable, if extended to the whole, or even\n    to a very large part of the black population. I am therefore\n    strongly opposed to emancipation, in every shape and degree,\n    unless accompanied by colonization.'--[General Harper's\n    Letter--First Annual Report, pp. 29, 31, 32, 33, 36.]\n\n\n    'The slaves would be greatly benefitted by the removal of the\n    free blacks, who now corrupt them and render them\n    discontented.'--[Second An. Rep.]\n\n\n    'What are these objects? They are in the first place to aid\n    ourselves, by relieving us from a species of population pregnant\n    with future danger and present inconvenience.'--[Seventh\n    Report.]\n\n\n    'They are dangerous to the community, and this danger ought to\n    be removed. Their wretchedness arises not only from their\n    bondage, but from their political and moral degradation. The\n    danger is not so much that we have a million and a half of\n    slaves, as that we have in our borders nearly two millions of\n    men who are necessarily any thing rather than loyal\n    citizens--nearly two millions of ignorant and miserable beings\n    who are banded together by the very same circumstances, by which\n    they are so widely separated in character and in interest from\n    all the citizens of our great republic.'--[Seventh Annual\n    Report.]\n\n\n    'It may be safely assumed, that there is not an individual in\n    the community, who has given to the subject a moment's\n    consideration, who does not regard the existence of the free\n    people of color in the bosom of the country, as an evil of\n    immense magnitude, and of a dangerous and alarming tendency.\n    Their abject and miserable condition is too obvious to be\n    pointed out. All must perceive it, and perceiving it, cannot but\n    lament it. But their deplorable condition is not more obvious to\n    the most superficial observer, than is (what is far worse, and\n    still more to be dreaded,) the powerful and resistless influence\n    which they exert over the slave population. While their\n    character remains what it now is, (and the laws and structure of\n    the country in which they reside, prevent its permanent\n    improvement,) this influence must of necessity be baneful and\n    contaminating. Corrupt themselves, like the deadly Upas, they\n    impart corruption to all around them. Their numbers too, are\n    constantly and rapidly augmenting. Their annual increase is\n    truly astonishing, certainly unexampled. The dangerous\n    ascendency which they have already acquired over the slaves, is\n    consequently increasing with every addition to their numbers;\n    and every addition to their numbers is a subtraction from the\n    wealth and strength, and character, and happiness, and safety of\n    the country. And if this be true, as it unquestionably is, the\n    converse is also true; the danger of their undue influence will\n    lessen with every diminution of their numbers; and every\n    diminution of their numbers must add, and add greatly, to the\n    prosperity of the country.'--[Twelfth Annual Report.]\n\n\n    'Another reason is, the pressing and vital importance of\n    relieving ourselves, as soon as practicable, from this most\n    dangerous element in our population.' * * 'We all know the\n    effects produced on our slaves by the fascinating, but delusive\n    appearance of happiness, exhibited in some persons of their own\n    complexion, roaming in idleness and vice among them. By removing\n    the most fruitful source of discontent from among our slaves, we\n    should render them more industrious and attentive to our\n    commands.'--[Fourteenth Annual Report.]\n\n\n    'What is the free black to the slave? A standing perpetual\n    incitement to discontent. Though the condition of the slave be a\n    thousand times the best--supplied, protected, instead of\n    destitute and desolate--yet, the folly of the condition, held to\n    involuntary labor, finds, always, allurement, in the spectacle\n    of exemption from it, without consideration of the adjuncts of\n    destitution and misery. The slave would have then, little\n    excitement to discontent but for the free black.'--[Fifteenth\n    Annual Report.]\n\n\n    'The evils which arise from the communication of the free people\n    of color with our slaves, must be obvious to every reflecting\n    mind; and the consequences which may result from this\n    communication at some future day, when circumstances are more\n    favorable to their views, are of a more alarming character. Sir,\n    circumstances must have brought us to the conclusion, if our\n    observation had not enabled us to make the remark, that it is\n    natural for our slaves, so closely allied to the free black\n    population by national peculiarities, and by relationship, to\n    make a comparison between their respective conditions, and to\n    repine at the difference which exists between them. This is a\n    serious evil, and can only be removed _by preventing the\n    possibility of a comparison_.\n\n    'By removing these people, we rid ourselves of a large party who\n    will always be ready to assist our slaves in any mischievous\n    design which they may conceive; and who are better able, by\n    their intelligence, and the facilities of their communication,\n    to bring those designs to a successful termination.'--[African\n    Repository, vol. i. p. 176.]\n\n\n    'The labors of the Colonization Society appear to us highly\n    deserving of praise. The blacks, whom they carry from the\n    country, belong to a class far more noxious than the slaves\n    themselves. They are free without any sense of character to\n    restrain them, or regular means of obtaining an honest\n    livelihood. Most of the criminal offences committed in the\n    southern States are chargeable to them, and their influence over\n    the slaves is pernicious and alarming.' * * * 'What is the true\n    nature of the evil of the existence of a portion of the African\n    race in our population? It is not that there are some, but that\n    there are so many among us of a different caste, of a different\n    physical, if not moral, constitution, who never can amalgamate\n    with the great body of our population. In every country, persons\n    are to be found varying in their color, origin and character,\n    from the native mass. But this anomaly creates no inquietude or\n    apprehension, because the exotics, from the smallness of their\n    number, are known to be utterly incapable of disturbing the\n    general tranquillity. Here, on the contrary, the African part of\n    our population bears so large a proportion to the residue of\n    European origin, as to create the most lively apprehension,\n    especially in some quarters of the Union. Any project,\n    therefore, by which, in a material degree, the dangerous element\n    in the general mass, can be diminished or rendered stationary,\n    deserves deliberate consideration.'--[African Repository, vol.\n    ii. pp. 27, 338.]\n\n\n    'Made up, for the most part, either of slaves or of their\n    immediate descendants; elevated above the class from which it\n    has sprung, only by its exemption from domestic restraint; and\n    effectually debarred by the law, from every prospect of equality\n    with the actual freemen of the country; it is a source of\n    perpetual uneasiness to the master, and of envy and corruption\n    to the slave.' * * 'To remove these persons from among us, will\n    increase the _usefulness_, and improve the moral character of\n    those who remain in servitude, and _with whose labors the\n    country is unable to dispense_. That instances are to be found\n    of colored free persons, upright and industrious, is not to be\n    denied. But the greater portion, as is well known, are a source\n    of malignant depravity to the slaves on the one hand, and of\n    corrupt habits to many of our white population on the other. The\n    arts of subsistence with many of them, are incompatible with the\n    security of property.' * * * 'I am a Virginian--I dread for her\n    the corroding evil of this numerous caste, and I tremble for the\n    danger of a disaffection spreading through their seductions,\n    among our servants.' * * * 'Are they vipers, who are sucking our\n    blood? we will hurl them from us. It is not sympathy alone,--not\n    sickly sympathy, no, nor manly sympathy either,--which is to act\n    on us; but vital policy, self-interest, are also enlisting\n    themselves on the humane side in our breasts.'--[African\n    Repository, vol. iii. pp. 10, 67, 197, 201.]\n\n\n    'All must concur in regarding the present condition of the free\n    colored race in America as inconsistent with its future social\n    and political advancement, and, where slavery exists at all, as\n    calculated to aggravate its evils without any atoning good.\n    Among those evils, the most obvious is the restraint imposed\n    upon emancipation by the laws of so many of the slaveholding\n    States: laws, deriving their recent origin from the obvious\n    manifestation which the increase of the free colored population\n    has furnished, of the inconvenience and danger of multiplying\n    their number where slavery exists at all.' * * * 'By the success\n    of this scheme, our country will be enriched. The free blacks\n    constitute a material spoke in that wheel which is crushing down\n    the wealth of our land. The moment we carry this plan into\n    vigorous prosecution, we shall call many of our countrymen to a\n    state of comparative wealth. The removal of the annual increase\n    of our colored population, would give to our mariners a\n    considerable scope of employment, whilst the trade of the Colony\n    would be a source of profit.' * * 'It places the attainment of\n    the grand object in view, that is, to withdraw from the United\n    States annually, so many of the colored population, and provide\n    them a comfortable home and all the advantages of civilization\n    in Africa, _as will make the number here remain stationary_.'\n    * * * 'Let us recur to the principle abovementioned--that every\n    black family occupies the room of a white family. On this\n    principle we are lost, if we suffer the colored population to\n    multiply, unchecked, upon our hands; because they will increase\n    faster than the whites, and will crowd them out of all the\n    Southern country. But on the same principle we are saved, if by\n    any means of colonization, we can retard the increase of the\n    blacks, and gain ground on them in the South. That we can do\n    with ease, if our people will unite in prosecuting the scheme.\n    Every family taken from the blacks, will add also a family to\n    the whites, and make an actual difference of two families in our\n    favor. This exchange will leave fewer blacks to remove, while\n    it will increase our ability to remove them. Self-interest and\n    self-preservation furnish motives enough to excite our\n    exertions.' * * 'By thus repressing the rapid increase of\n    blacks, the white population would be enabled to reach and soon\n    overtop them. The consequence would be security.'--[African\n    Repository, vol. iv. pp. 53, 141, 271, 276, 344.]\n\n\n    'The existence of a class of men in the bosom of the community,\n    who occupy a middle rank between the citizen and the slave--who\n    encountering every positive evil incident to each condition,\n    share none of the benefits peculiar to either, has been long\n    clearly seen and deeply deplored by every man of observation.\n    The master feels it in the unhappy influence which the free\n    blacks have upon the slave population. The slave feels it in the\n    restless, discontented spirit which his association with the\n    free black engenders.' * * * * 'But, there is yet a more\n    important and alarming view, in which this subject necessarily\n    presents itself to the mind of every Virginian. A community of\n    the character that has been described, with this additional\n    peculiarity, that it differs from the class from which it has\n    sprung, only in its exemption from _the wholesome restraints of\n    domestic authority_, is found in the midst of a numerous and\n    rapidly increasing slave population; and while its partial\n    freedom, trammelled, as it is, by the necessary rigors of the\n    law, is nevertheless sufficiently attractive, to be a source of\n    uneasiness and dissatisfaction to those who have not attained to\n    its questionable privileges, its exemption from the prompt and\n    efficient inquisition appertaining to slavery, makes it an\n    important instrument in the corruption and seduction of those,\n    who yet remain the property of their masters.' * * * 'Who would\n    not rejoice to see our country liberated from her black\n    population? Who would not participate in any efforts to restore\n    those children of misfortune to their native shores, and kindle\n    the lights of science and civilization through Africa? Who that\n    has reflection, does not tremble for the political and moral\n    well-being of a country, that has within its bosom, a growing\n    population, bound to its institutions by no common sympathies,\n    and ready to fall in with any faction that may threaten its\n    liberties?' * * * 'The existence of this race among us; a race\n    that can neither share our blessings nor incorporate in our\n    society, is already felt to be a curse; and though the only\n    curse entailed on us, if left to take its course, it will become\n    the greatest that could befal the nation.\n\n    'Shall we then cling to it, and by refusing the timely expedient\n    now offered for deliverance, retain and foster the _alien\n    enemies_, till they have multiplied into such greater numbers,\n    and risen into such mightier consequence as will for ever bar\n    the possibility of their departure, and by barring it, bar also\n    the possibility of fulfilling our own high destiny?' * * 'The\n    object of this Society is two-fold; for while it immediately and\n    ostensibly directs its energies to the amelioration of the\n    condition of the free people of color, it relieves our country\n    from an unprofitable burden, and which, if much longer submitted\n    to, may record upon our history the dreadful cries of vengeance\n    that but a few years since were registered in characters of\n    blood at St. Domingo.' * * 'It is the removal of the _free_\n    blacks from among us, that is to save us, sooner or later, from\n    those dreadful events foreboded by Mr Jefferson, or from the\n    horrors of St. Domingo. The present number of this unfortunate,\n    degraded, and anomalous class of inhabitants cannot be much\n    short of half a million; and the number is fast increasing. They\n    are emphatically a mildew upon our fields, a scourge to our\n    backs, and a stain upon our escutcheon. To remove them is mercy\n    to ourselves, and justice to them.'--[African Repository, vol.\n    v. pp. 28, 51, 88, 278, 304, 348.]\n\n\n    'All admit the utility of the separation of the free people of\n    color from the residue of the population of the United States,\n    if it be practicable. It is desirable for them, _for the slaves\n    of the United States_, and for the white race. The vices of this\n    class do not spring from any inherent depravity in their natural\n    constitution, but from their unfortunate situation. Social\n    intercourse is a want which we are prompted to gratify by all\n    the properties of our nature. And as they cannot obtain it in\n    the better circles of society, nor always among themselves,\n    they resort to slaves and to the most debased and worthless of\n    the whites. Corruption, and all the train of petty offences, are\n    the consequences. Proprietors of slaves in whose neighborhood\n    any free colored family is situated, know how infectious and\n    pernicious this intercourse is.' * * * 'Who, if this promiscuous\n    residence of whites and blacks, of freemen and slaves, is for\n    ever to continue, can imagine the servile wars, the carnage and\n    the crimes which will be its probable consequences, without\n    shuddering with horror?' * * 'It were madness to shut our eyes\n    to these facts and conclusions. This rapid increase of the\n    blacks is as certain as the progress of time. The fatal\n    consequences of that increase, if it be not checked, are equally\n    so. Something must be done. The American Colonization Society\n    proposes a remedy--the removal to Africa of the blacks who are\n    free, or shall hereafter become so, with their consent.' * *\n    'The colored population is considered by the people of Tennessee\n    and Alabama in general, as an immense evil to the country--but\n    the free part of it, by all, as the greatest of all evils....\n    They feel severely the effects of the deleterious influence\n    which the free negroes exert upon the slaves--and they look,\n    moreover, into futurity, and there they behold an appalling\n    scene--in less than one hundred years, (a short time, we should\n    hope, in the life of this republic,) 16,000,000 of blacks.'\n    * * * * 'Since the recent revolution in the island of St. Domingo,\n    which has placed it in the hands of the African race, it was\n    thought by some that there an asylum might be found for this\n    part of our population. But to that place there were also\n    serious objections, which would prevent its adoption to any\n    considerable extent. The nearness of that Island to our southern\n    borders, and the evil consequences that might result from\n    embodying the free persons of color in the vicinity of those\n    parts of the United States, where slaves are so numerous,\n    forbade the friends of humanity to provide a home for them in\n    that Island.'--[African Repository, vol. vi. pp. 17, 23, 68, 77,\n    226.]\n\n\n    'The existence, within the very bosom of our country, of an\n    anomalous race of beings, the most debased upon earth, who\n    neither enjoy the blessings of freedom, nor are yet in the bonds\n    of slavery, is a great national evil, which every friend of his\n    country most deeply deplores. They constitute a large mass of\n    human beings, who hang as a vile excrescence upon society--the\n    objects of a low debasing envy to our slaves, and to ourselves\n    of universal suspicion and distrust.' * * 'If this process were\n    continued a second term of duplication, it would produce the\n    extraordinary result of forty white men to one black in the\n    country--a state of things in which we should not only cease to\n    feel the burdens which now hang so heavily upon us, but actually\n    regard the poor African as an object of curiosity, and not\n    uneasiness.' * * 'Enough, under favorable circumstances, might\n    be removed for a few successive years--if young _females_ were\n    encouraged to go--to keep the whole colored population in\n    check.'--[African Repository, vol. vii. pp. 230, 232, 246.]\n\n\n    'The existence of such a population among us is a most manifest\n    evil. And every year adds to its threatening aspect. They are\n    more than a sixth of our population! Their ratio of increase\n    exceeds that of the whites. They have all the lofty and immortal\n    powers of man. And the time must arrive, when they will\n    fearlessly claim the prerogatives of man. They may do it in the\n    spirit of revenge. They may do it in the spirit of desperation.\n    And the result of such a mustering of their energies--who can\n    look at it even in distant prospect without horror? Almost as\n    numerous are they now, as our whole population when this nation\n    stood forth for freedom in a contest with the mightiest power of\n    the civilized world. And if nothing is done to _arrest their\n    increase_, we shall have in twenty years four millions of\n    slaves; in forty years eight millions; in sixty years sixteen\n    millions, and a million of free blacks;--seventeen millions of\n    people; seven millions more than our present white\n    population;--enough for a powerful empire! And how can they be\n    governed? Who can foretel those scenes of carnage and terror\n    which our own children may witness, unless a seasonable remedy\n    be applied? The remedy is now within our reach. _We can stop\n    their increase_; we can diminish their number.'--[Rev. Baxter\n    Dickinson's Sermon delivered at Springfield, Mass. in 1829.]\n\n\n    'We have a numerous people, who, though they are among us, are\n    not of us; who are aliens and outcasts in the land of their\n    birth. A people whose condition is degraded and miserable; who,\n    so far from adding to our national strength, are an element of\n    weakness, and detract from the amount of human effort. A people,\n    whose condition, while it excites our commiseration, must awaken\n    our fears.' * * 'Those persons of color who have been\n    emancipated, are only nominally free; and the whole race, so\n    long as they remain among us, and whether they be slaves or\n    free, must _necessarily_ be kept in a condition full of\n    wretchedness to them and full of danger to the whites. This view\n    of the subject is rendered the more alarming by the rapid\n    increase of this portion of our population.'--[Second Annual\n    Report of the New-York State Colonization Society, pp. 4, 34.]\n\n\n    'We would ask, whence have the troubles, which have taken place\n    among the slaves of Louisiana, originated? Trace the causes, and\n    we will invariably find them to have proceeded from the\n    suggestions and officious interferences of the free blacks.\n    Their very existence in our limits, enjoying supposed\n    independence, excites the envy and dissatisfaction of the\n    slaves. The latter naturally inquire, why is it, that persons of\n    the same color, are permitted to possess more privileges than\n    they do?... We know the danger to which we are exposed from such\n    a class of beings living in the very heart of our population,\n    and increasing greatly every year.'--[An advocate of the Society\n    in the New-Orleans Argus.]\n\n\n    'Among us the free negroes are multiplying rapidly; both\n    conscience and religion, as well as propagation, increase them,\n    and, unless instant and decisive steps are taken to prevent\n    their increase, you will soon have 50,000 _determined and\n    vengeful enemies_ in the heart of your country, protected there\n    by the constitution, forsooth, by which it seems we are\n    forbidden to expel the free negroes, or to prevent farther\n    importations of this deadly pest in the persons of\n    slaves.'--[Louisville Focus.]\n\n\n    'Will not the people of the United States be induced to do\n    something to remove their colored population? I refer to their\n    condition, whether bond or free. They are wretched and\n    dangerous, and should be removed. And the danger arises, not\n    because we have thousands of slaves within our borders, but\n    because there are nearly two millions of colored men, who are by\n    necessity any thing rather than loyal citizens.'--[Address by\n    Gabriel P. Disosway, Esq.]\n\n\n    'It is not now a novel or a debateable proposition, that slavery\n    is a great moral and political curse. It is equally clear that\n    its multitudinous evils are greatly increased by the existence\n    among us of a mongrel population, who, freed from the shackles\n    of bondage, yet bear about them the badge of inferiority,\n    stamped upon them indelibly by the hand of nature, and are\n    therefore deprived of those rights of citizenship, without which\n    they must necessarily be a degraded caste--depraved in morals\n    and vicious in conduct, and _exercising a mischievous and\n    dangerous influence over those to whom they are nominally\n    superior_. Their mere existence among the slaves is sufficient,\n    of itself, to excite in the bosoms of the latter a feeling of\n    dissatisfaction with their own condition, apparently worse,\n    because of the coercion to labor which it imposes; but\n    essentially better, because of the comforts which that labor\n    procures, and of which the idle and dissolute habits of the free\n    negro almost invariably deprive him. The slave, however, is not\n    capable of reasoning correctly, if he reasons at all, on these\n    truths. He envies the free negro his idleness, and his freedom\n    from restraint, with all its attendant disadvantages of poverty\n    and disease, crime and punishment--and hence, he will sometimes\n    indulge the delusive dream of effecting his own emancipation by\n    the murder of those who hold him in bondage. Take away from him\n    this cause of dissatisfaction, and this incentive to\n    insurrection, and then these \"impracticable hopes,\" which now\n    sometimes flit before his imagination, will no longer embitter\n    his hours of labor, and urge him to the commission of those\n    horrid deeds of massacre, which, though they may glut a\n    momentary revenge, must result disastrously, not only to the\n    slaves engaged immediately in their perpetration, but to all\n    that unfortunate race. Our true interests require that they\n    shall remove from among us--and no longer be a source of\n    disquietude to the whites, _of envy to the slaves_, and of\n    degradation to themselves.'--[Lynchburg (Va.) Virginian.]\n\n\n    'For the most conclusive reasons this removal should be to\n    Africa. If it be to the West Indies, to Texas, to Canada, then,\n    how strong and various the objections to building up, in the\n    vicinity of our own nation, a mighty empire, from a race of men,\n    _so unlike ourselves_? But, if the removal be to Africa, then it\n    is to a _happy distance_ from us and to their father land....\n    Then let it aid in removing that population, which, under its\n    peculiar relation to the whites, and under its degrading social\n    and civil disabilities, is a most fruitful source of national\n    dishonor, demoralization, weakness and _horrid\n    danger_.'--[Memorial of the New-York State Colonization\n    Society.]\n\n\n    'The males removed should be persons between 16 and 17 years of\n    age; the females between 13 and 14. Now as a number would be\n    annually removed equal to the whole increase, and as that number\n    would be composed of individuals, of such ages that their\n    removal would affect the future increase of the race in the\n    greatest possible degree, I believe that their numbers would not\n    only not increase, but would diminish. And the number removed\n    might be increased as the proportion of white persons in the\n    State became greater, until the removal reached a point at which\n    all the males who attained the age of sixteen, and all the\n    females who attained the age of fourteen, in any given year,\n    would during that year be removed.'--[Petersburg (Va.) Times.]\n\n\n    'They are well calculated to render the slaves sullen,\n    discontented, unhappy and refractory--and the masters\n    suspicious, fearful of consequences, and disposed to enhance the\n    rigor of the condition of their slaves, in order to avert the\n    dangers that appear to impend over them from the promulgation of\n    the anti-slavery doctrines; thus, in this case, as in so many\n    others, the imprudent zeal of friends is likely to produce as\n    much substantial injury as the animosity of decided enemies\n    could accomplish.'--[Mathew Carey's Essays.]\n\n\n    'Hatred to the whites is, with the exception in some cases of an\n    attachment to the person and family of the master, nearly\n    universal among the black population. We have then a foe,\n    cherished in our very bosoms--a foe willing to draw our\n    life-blood whenever the opportunity is offered, and, in the mean\n    time, intent upon doing us all the mischief in his\n    power.'--[Southern Religious Telegraph.]\n\nDoes the reader wish for any additional proof that the governing motive\nof the American Colonization Society is fear--undisguised, _excessive_\nFEAR? Language is altogether inadequate to express my indignation and\ncontempt, in view of such a heartless and cowardly exhibition of\nsentiment. There is a deep sense of guilt, an awful dread of\nretribution, manifested in the foregoing extracts; but we perceive no\nevidence of contrition for past or present injustice, on the part of\nthose terror-stricken plotters. Instead of returning to those, whom\nthey have so deeply injured, 'with repenting and undissembling love;'\ninstead of seeking to conciliate and remunerate the victims of their\nprejudice and oppression; instead of resolving to break the yoke of\nservitude and let the oppressed go free; it seems to be their only\nanxiety and aim to outwit the vengeance of Heaven, and strengthen the\nbulwarks of tyranny, by expelling the free people of color from our\nshores, and effecting such a diminution of the number of slaves as shall\ngive the white population a triumphant and irresistible superiority!\n'_Check the increase!_' is their cry--'let us retain in everlasting\nbondage as many as we can, _safely_; but the proportion must be at least\nten millions of ourselves to two millions of our vassals, else we shall\nlive in jeopardy! To do justly is not our intention; we only mean to\nremove the surplus of our present stock; we think we shall be able, by\nthis prudent device, to oppress and rob with impunity. Our present\nwailing is not for our heinous crimes, but only because our avarice and\ncruelty have carried us beyond our ability to protect ourselves: we\nlament, not because we hold so large a number in fetters of iron, but\nbecause we cannot safely hold more!'\n\nYe crafty calculators! ye hard-hearted, incorrigible sinners! ye greedy\nand relentless robbers! ye contemners of justice and mercy! ye\ntrembling, pitiful, pale-faced usurpers! my soul spurns you with\nunspeakable disgust. Know ye not that the reward of your hands shall be\ngiven you? 'Wo unto them that decree unrighteous decrees, and that write\ngrievousness which they have prescribed; to turn aside the needy from\njudgment, and to take away the right from the poor, that widows may be\ntheir prey, and that they may rob the fatherless! And what will ye do in\nthe day of visitation, and in the desolation which shall come from far?\nto whom will ye flee for help? and where will ye leave your\nglory?'--'What mean ye that ye beat my people to pieces, and grind the\nface of the poor? saith the Lord God of hosts.'--'Behold, the hire of\nthe laborers which have reaped down your fields, which is of you kept\nback by fraud, crieth; and the cries of them which have reaped are\nentered into the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth.' Repent! repent! _now_,\nin sackcloth and ashes. Think not to succeed in your expulsive crusade;\nyou cannot hide your motives from the Great Searcher of hearts; and if a\nsinful worm of the dust, like myself, is fired with indignation at your\ndastardly behaviour and mean conspiracy to evade repentance and\npunishment, how must the anger of Him, whose holiness and justice are\ninfinite, burn against you? Is it not a fearful thing to fall into the\nhands of the living God? You may plot by day and by night; you may heap\ntogether the treasures of the land, and multiply and enlarge your\ncombinations, to extricate yourselves from peril; but _you cannot\nsucceed_. Your only alternative is, either to redress the wrongs of the\noppressed _now_, and humble yourselves before God, or prepare for the\nchastisements of Heaven. I repeat it--REPENTANCE or PUNISHMENT must be\nyours.\n\nThere are several points upon which I wish to fasten the attention of\nthe reader:\n\n1. The inhumanity and craftiness of these propositions for the removal\nof the free people of color.\n\nIt will be seen that the conspirators have taxed their ingenuity to the\nutmost, to ascertain the exact number of emigrants which must be\ntransported annually, the amount of money that must be raised, the\npersons that must be selected, the number of vessels that must be\nemployed, &c. &c. It is their determination, if the necessary means can\nbe obtained, to transport the annual increase of our colored population;\nbut in this calculation we find no allowance made for unwillingness or\nresistance on the part of those who are the objects of their\nsupervision. It is taken for granted that all will be induced to go into\nexile, or must be made willing compulsorily. Nothing else is\ncontemplated but their entire expulsion. In order to insure a reduction\nof this 'alarming increase,' and effectually to check the fruitfulness\nof generation, even the unmanly and scandalous proposition is made to\nremove principally those of both sexes who are just come to the age of\npuberty! The system of _espionage_, established by Napoleon to prevent\nthe possibility of a successful conspiracy, was not more detestable and\nobservant than is this violent and unnatural project. 'If young\n_females_ were encouraged to go'!--why, then they could not propagate\nhere! Infamous calculation!\n\n2. The principal object avowed for the removal of the free people of\ncolor, is, their corruptive and dangerous influence over the slave\npopulation.\n\nIt is demonstrated, then, beyond disputation, that this removal will\ninfuse new strength into the tottering system of slavery, tighten the\ngrasp of the masters upon the throats of the slaves, lull them into a\nprofound and quiet sleep, postpone the hour of emancipation, and enhance\nthe security and value of slave property. The terror of mind which calls\nfor this separation cannot be benevolence, and the combination which\nseeks to effect it cannot merit support. It were folly to hope that the\nowners of slaves will ultimately emancipate them, from conscientious\nmotives. In the first place, they affect to be innocent in holding their\nvictims in servitude; secondly, they are assured by their colonization\nbrethren that they are not guilty of oppression, but, on the contrary,\nare watchful guardians; and lastly, they are obstinate in shutting their\neyes upon the light, and kindle into a rage on being arraigned for their\ntyrannous conduct. Our only ground of hope, then, is in increasing the\ndifficulty of holding their slaves, in multiplying the causes of their\napprehensions, in destroying the value of slave labor, and in making\ntheir situation full of disquietude and distress. Such a course is not\ninconsistent with benevolence--such a course we are obligated to pursue,\nas we value the present and everlasting welfare of the oppressor and the\noppressed, and desire to have a conscience void of offence toward God\nand toward man. It may--it _must_ be effected by a scrupulous abstinence\nfrom the productions of slavery; by encouraging planters to cultivate\ntheir lands by the hands of free laborers; by educating our free colored\npopulation, and placing them on an equality with ourselves; and by\nconstantly exhibiting the criminality of holding rational and immortal\nbeings in servile bondage. Thus, and thus only, shall we be able to\nliberate our enslaved countrymen.\n\n3. Consider the inevitable consequence of these reiterated and malignant\nstatements, with regard to the habits and designs of the free people of\ncolor.\n\nFirst, it deters a large number of masters from liberating their slaves,\nand hence directly perpetuates the evils of slavery: it deters them for\ntwo reasons--an unwillingness to augment the wretchedness of those who\nare in servitude by turning them loose upon the country, and a dread of\nincreasing the number of their enemies. It creates and nourishes the\nbitterest animosity against the free blacks. It has spread an alarm\namong all classes of society, in all parts of the country; and, acting\nunder this fearful impulse, they begin to persecute, believing\nself-preservation imperiously calls for this severe treatment. The\nlegislative enactment of Ohio, which not long since drove many of the\ncolored inhabitants of that State into Upper Canada, was the legitimate\nfruit of the anathemas of the Colonization Society. A bill has been\nreported in the same legislature for preventing free people of color\nfrom participating in the benefit of the common school fund, in order to\nhasten their expulsion from the State! Other States are multiplying\nsimilar disabilities, and hanging heavier weights upon their free\ncolored population. The Legislature of Louisiana has enacted that\nwhosoever shall make use of language, in any public discourse, from the\nbar, the bench, the pulpit, the stage, or in any other place whatsoever\nshall make use of language, in any private discourses, or shall make use\nof signs or actions having a tendency to produce discontent among the\ncolored population, shall suffer imprisonment at hard labor, not less\nthan three years, nor more than twenty-one years, or DEATH, at the\ndiscretion of the court!! It has also prohibited the instruction of the\nblacks in Sabbath Schools--$500 penalty for the first offence--DEATH for\nthe second!! The Legislature of Virginia has passed a bill which\nsubjects all free negroes who shall be convicted of remaining in the\ncommonwealth contrary to law, to the liability of _being sold by the\nsheriff_. All meetings of free negroes, at any school-house or\nmeeting-house, for teaching them reading or writing, are declared an\nunlawful assembly; and it is made the duty of any justice of the peace\nto issue his warrant to enter the house where such unlawful assemblage\nis held, for the purpose of apprehending or dispersing such free\nnegroes. A fine is to be imposed on every white person who instructs at\nsuch meetings. All emancipated slaves, who shall remain more than twelve\nmonths, contrary to law, shall revert to the executors as assets. Laws\nhave been passed in Georgia and North Carolina, imposing a heavy tax or\nimprisonment on every free person of color who shall come into their\nports in the capacity of stewards, cooks, or seamen of any vessels\nbelonging to the non-slaveholding States. The Legislature of Tennessee\nhas passed an act forbidding free blacks from coming into the State to\nremain more than twenty days. The penalty is a fine of from ten to fifty\ndollars, and confinement in the penitentiary from one to two years.\nDouble the highest penalty is to be inflicted after the first offence.\nThe act also prohibits manumission, without an immediate removal from\nthe State. The last Legislature of Maryland passed a bill, by which no\nfree negro or mulatto is allowed to emigrate to, or settle in the State,\nunder the penalty of fifty dollars for every week's residence therein;\nand if he refuse or neglect to pay such fine, he shall be committed to\njail and sold by the sheriff at public sale; and no person shall employ\nor harbor him, under the penalty of twenty dollars for every day he\nshall be so employed, hired or harbored! It is not lawful for any free\nblacks to attend any meetings for religious purposes, unless conducted\nby a _white_ licensed or ordained preacher, or some respectable white\nperson duly authorised! All free colored persons residing in the State,\nare compelled to register their names, ages, &c. &c.; and if any negro\nor mulatto shall remove from the State, and remain without the limits\nthereof for a space longer than thirty consecutive days, unless before\nleaving the State he deposits with the clerk of the county in which he\nresides, _a written statement of his object in doing so_, and his\nintention of returning again, or unless he shall have been detained by\nsickness or coercion, _of which he shall bring a certificate_, he shall\nbe regarded as a resident of another State, and be subject, if he\nreturn, to the penalties imposed by the foregoing provisions upon free\nnegroes and mulattoes of another State, migrating to Maryland! It is not\nlawful for any person or persons to purchase of any free negro or\nmulatto any articles, unless he produce a certificate from a justice of\nthe peace, or three respectable persons residing in his neighborhood,\nthat he or they have reason to believe, and do believe, that such free\nnegro or mulatto came honestly and bona fide into possession of any\nsuch articles so offered for sale! A bill has been reported to the\nLegislature of Pennsylvania, which enacts, that from and after a\nspecified time, no negro or mulatto shall be permitted to emigrate into\nand settle in that State, without entering into bond in the penal sum of\n_five hundred dollars_, conditioned for his good behavior. If he neglect\nor refuse to comply with this requisition, such punishment shall be\ninflicted upon him as is now directed in the case of vagrants. Free\ncolored residents are not to be allowed to migrate from one township or\ncounty to another, without producing a certificate from the Clerk of the\nCourt of Quarter Sessions, or a Justice of the Peace, or an Alderman!\nThe passage of a similar law has been urged even upon the Legislature of\nMassachusetts by a writer in the Salem Gazette!\n\nAll these proscriptive measures, and others less conspicuous but equally\noppressive,--which are not only flagrant violations of the Constitution\nof the United States, but in the highest degree disgraceful and\ninhuman,--are resorted to, (to borrow the language of the Secretary in\nhis Fifteenth Annual Report,) 'for the more complete accomplishment of\nthe great objects of the American Colonization Society'!!\n\nI appeal to the candor and common sense of the reader, if this grievous\npersecution be not justly chargeable to the Society? It is constantly\nthundering in the ears of the slave States--'Your free blacks\ncontaminate your slaves, excite their deadliest hate, and are a source\nof _horrid danger_ to yourselves! They must be removed, or your\ndestruction is inevitable!' What is their response? Precisely such as\nmight be expected--'We know it; we dread the presence of this class;\ntheir influence over our slaves weakens our power, and endangers our\nsafety; they must, _they shall_ be expatriated, or be crushed to the\nearth if they remain!' It says to the free States--'Your colored\npopulation can never be rendered serviceable, intelligent or loyal; they\nwill only, and always, serve to increase your taxes, crowd your\npoor-houses and penitentiaries, and corrupt and impoverish society!'\nAgain, what is the natural response?--'It is even so; they are offensive\nto the eye, and a pest in community; theirs is now, and must inevitably\nbe, without a reversal of the laws of nature, the lot of vagabonds; it\nwere useless to attempt their intellectual and moral improvement among\nourselves; and therefore be this their alternative--either to emigrate\nto Liberia, or remain for ever a despicable caste in this country!'\n\nHence the enactment of those sanguinary laws, to which reference has\nbeen made: hence, too, the increasing disposition which is every where\nseen to render the situation of the free blacks intolerable. Never was\nit so pitiable and distressing--so full of peril and anxiety--so\nburdened with misery, despondency and scorn; never were the prejudices\nof society so virulent and implacable against them; never were their\nprospects so dark, and dreary, and hopeless; never was the hand of power\nso heavily laid upon their limbs; never were they so restricted in\nregard to locomotion and the advantages of education, as at the present\ntime. Athwart their sky scarcely darts a single ray of light--above and\naround them darkness reigns, and an angry tempest is mustering its\nfearful strength, and 'thunders are uttering their voices.' Treachery is\nseeking to decoy, and violence to expel them. For all this, and more\nthan this, and more that is to come, the American Colonization Society\nis responsible. And no better evidence is needed than this: THEIR\nPERSECUTION, TRADUCEMENT AND WRETCHEDNESS INCREASE IN EXACT RATIO WITH\nTHE INFLUENCE, POPULARITY AND EXTENSION OF THIS SOCIETY! The fact is\nundeniable, and it is conclusive. For it is absurd to suppose, that as\nthe disposition and ability of an association to alleviate misery\nincrease, so will the degradation and suffering of the objects of its\ncharities.\n\nThe assertion that the free blacks corrupt the morals of the slaves, is\ntoo ludicrous to need a serious refutation. Corrupt the morals of those\nwho are recognized and treated as brutes, and who know as little of the\nlaws of God as of the laws of the land! Immaculate creatures! The system\nof slavery is constantly developing new excellencies: it is, we now\nperceive, the protector of virtue, the enemy of vice, and a purifier of\nthe soul!\n\nBut something more indiscreet and preposterous than this, is advanced\nfor our admiration. We are gravely assured, first, by a New-England\nclergyman, that, generally, the condition of the free man of color 'is\none in comparison with which the condition of the slave is _enviable_;'\nand, secondly, by the last distinguished convert to the Colonization\nSociety--the Hon. Mr. Archer of Virginia--'the condition of the slave is\n_a thousand times_ the best, [the disparity is wonderful!]--_supplied_,\n_protected_, instead of _destitute_ and _desolate_'![Q] Let us draw a\nbrief comparison. The limbs of the free black are fetterless; he is\ncontrolled by no brutal driver; he bleeds not under the lash; he is his\nown master; his wife and children cannot be torn from his arms; he\nenjoys the fruits of his own labor; he can improve his own mind, make\nhis own bargains, manage his own business, go from place to place, and\nassert his own rights. The situation and privileges of the slave are\nexactly the reverse. Reader, are they 'enviable'--'a thousand times the\nbest'--in comparison with those of the former? I do not mean to say that\nthere are no instances in which the slave fares as well as the free man\nof color; but the argument of these apologists implies that a state of\nslavery is superior to a state of freedom, or it is worthless.\n\n4. It appears, from the quotations that have been given, that the only\nreason why the free blacks are not colonized in the 'far West,' or in\nCanada, or Hayti, or Mexico, is, because their proximity to the slave\nStates might prove detrimental. If they could be sent to any or to all\nthese places, without any danger to ourselves, why then all objections\nwould cease. This confession places the hypocrisy of this Society in\nbold relief. It pretends to be anxious to evangelize benighted Africa,\nand stop the slave trade; but only assure it that the blacks may be\nsafely colonized nearer home, and Africa might still continue to grope\nin darkness, and the slave trade to increase in enormity, and its bowels\nof compassion would speedily cease to yearn!--Hence it is that the rapid\nenlargement of the Wilberforce Settlement in Upper Canada so disturbs\nthe repose of the advocates of African colonization; and many of them\nwould rejoice at its overthrow.\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[P] How very strange that the slave should 'regard as tyranny and\ninjustice the authority which compels him to labor' without\nrecompense!!!\n\n[Q] Paupers and criminals are supplied and _protected_. How invidious to\ntreat them so generously, and leave honest, hard-working men exposed to\ndestitution and abandonment! They ought to be sent to the poor-house or\npenitentiary forthwith.\n\n\n\n\nSECTION VII.\n\nTHE AMERICAN COLONIZATION SOCIETY AIMS AT THE UTTER EXPULSION OF THE\nBLACKS.\n\n\nThe implacable spirit of this Society is most apparent in its\ndetermination not to cease from its labors, until our whole colored\npopulation be expelled from the country. The following is the evidence\nin confirmation of this charge:\n\n    'How came we by this population? By the prevalence for a century\n    of a guilty commerce. And will not the prevalence for a century\n    of a restoring commerce, place them on their own shores? Yes,\n    surely!'--[African Repository, vol. i. p. 347.]\n\n\n    'For several years the subject of abolition of slavery has been\n    brought before you. I am decidedly opposed to the project\n    recommended. NO SCHEME OF ABOLITION WILL MEET MY SUPPORT, THAT\n    LEAVES THE EMANCIPATED BLACKS AMONG US. Experience has proved,\n    that they become a corrupt and degraded class, as burthensome to\n    themselves as they are hurtful to the rest of society. To permit\n    the blacks to remain amongst us, after their emancipation, would\n    be to aggravate and not to cure the evil.'--[Idem, vol. ii. pp.\n    188, 189.]\n\n\n    'We would say, LIBERATE THEM ONLY ON CONDITION OF THEIR GOING TO\n    AFRICA OR TO HAYTI.'--[Idem, vol. iii. p. 26.]\n\n\n    '_I am not complaining of the owners of slaves_; IT WOULD BE AS\n    HUMANE TO THROW THEM FROM THE DECKS IN THE MIDDLE PASSAGE, AS TO\n    SET THEM FREE IN OUR COUNTRY.' * * * 'The Colonization Society,\n    I undertake to show, presents such a scheme. Slaveholders have\n    given it their approbation; they will approve it, and they can\n    approve of no other. _Any scheme of emancipation without\n    colonization_, they know and see and feel to be productive of\n    nothing but evil; evil to all whom it affects: to the white\n    population, to the slaves, to the _manumitted themselves_.' * *\n    'Throughout the slaveholding States there is a strong objection,\n    even among the warmest friends of the African race, to slaves\n    being liberated and allowed to remain among us; and some States\n    have enacted laws against it. _The objection is, in our\n    individual opinion, well founded._'--[Idem, vol. iv. pp. 226,\n    300, 340.]\n\n\n    'In connexion with this subject, your memorialists beg leave to\n    mention, that by an act of the Virginia Legislature, passed in\n    1805, emancipated slaves forfeit their freedom by remaining for\n    a longer period than twelve months, within the limits of the\n    Commonwealth. This law, odious and unjust as it may at first\n    view appear, and hard as it may seem to bear upon the liberated\n    negro, was doubtless dictated by sound policy, and _its repeal\n    would be regarded by none with more unfeigned regret, than by\n    the friends of African Colonization_. It has restrained many\n    masters from giving freedom to their slaves, and has thereby\n    contributed to check the growth of an evil _already too great\n    and formidable_.' * * 'Under the influence of a policy, already\n    referred to, _and justified by the necessity from which it\n    sprung_, the laws of Virginia have prohibited emancipation\n    within the limits of the State, but on condition of the early\n    removal of the individual emancipated.' * * 'While hundreds,\n    perhaps we might say thousands, of the free colored people, are\n    seeking a passage to Liberia; hundreds who hold slaves, would\n    willingly set them at liberty, were the means of their removal\n    provided. And till those means are provided, the liberation of\n    the slave would neither be a blessing to himself, nor the\n    public. His liberty under any circumstances may be a debt due,\n    in the abstract, to the claims of human nature; but when applied\n    to him individually, it would be a calamity. We cannot conceive\n    of a more deplorable state of society, than what our\n    slaveholding states would present, with their black population\n    afloat, without a home, without the means of subsistence, and\n    without those self-relying habits, which might lead them to\n    obtain an independent livelihood. _It is not therefore incumbent\n    upon those who hold slaves, to set them at liberty, till some\n    means are provided for their removal, or at least for their\n    subsistence._ They owe it neither to themselves, to their\n    country, nor the unfortunate beings around them.' * * * 'Those\n    slaves still in my possession, I cannot conscientiously\n    emancipate, unless they shall be removed by the Society to\n    Liberia.'--[Idem, vol. v. pp. 20, 53, 89, 177.]\n\n\n    'If the question were submitted, whether there should be either\n    immediate or gradual emancipation of all the slaves in the\n    United States, _without their removal or colonization_, painful\n    as it is to express the opinion, I HAVE NO DOUBT THAT IT WOULD\n    BE UNWISE TO EMANCIPATE THEM.' * * 'Is our posterity doomed to\n    endure forever not only all the ills flowing from the state of\n    slavery, but all which arise from incongruous elements of\n    population, separated from each other by invincible prejudices,\n    and by natural causes? Whatever may be the character of the\n    remedy proposed, we may confidently pronounce it inadequate,\n    unless it provides efficaciously for the _total_ and _absolute_\n    separation, by an extensive space of water or of land, at least,\n    of the white portion of our population from that, which is free,\n    of the colored.' * * 'Who, if this promiscuous residence of\n    whites and blacks, of freemen and slaves, is forever to\n    continue, can imagine the servile wars, the carnage and the\n    crimes which will be its probable consequences, without\n    shuddering with horror?' * * 'Gentlemen of the highest\n    respectability from the South, assure us, that there is among\n    the owners of slaves a very extensive and increasing desire to\n    emancipate them. Their patriotism, their humanity, nay their\n    self-interest, prompt to this; but it is not expedient, it is\n    not safe to do it, _without being able to remove them_.' * *\n    'How important it is, as it respects our character abroad, that\n    we hasten to _clear our land of our black population_!'\n\n    'Some benevolent minds in the overflowings of their\n    philanthropy, advocate amalgamation of the two classes, saying,\n    let the colored class be freed, and remain among us as denizens\n    of the Empire; surely all classes of mankind are alike descended\n    from the primitive parentage of Eden, then why not intermingle\n    in one common society as friends and brothers. _No, Sir, no._ I\n    hope to prove at no very distant day, that a Southron can make\n    sacrifices for the cause of Colonization beyond seas; but for a\n    Home Department in those matters, I repeat, _no, Sir, no_. What\n    right, I demand, have the children of Africa to an homestead in\n    the white man's country?'[R]\n\n    'Let the regenerated African rise to Empire; nay, let Genius\n    flourish, and Philosophy shed its mild beams to enlighten and\n    instruct the posterity of Ham, returning \"redeemed and\n    disenthralled,\" from their long captivity in the New World. But,\n    Sir, be all these benefits enjoyed by the African race under the\n    shade of their native palms. _Let the Atlantic billow heave its\n    high and everlasting barrier between their country and ours._\n    Let this fair land, which the white man won by his chivalry,\n    which he has adorned by the arts and elegancies of polished\n    life, be kept sacred for his descendants, untarnished by the\n    footprint of him who hath ever been a slave.'--[Idem, vol. vi.\n    pp. 5, 12, 23, 110, 364, 371, 372.]\n\n\n    'The idea of emancipating our slaves, and _permitting them to\n    remain within the limits of the U. S._ whether as a measure of\n    humanity or of policy, is most decisively reprobated by\n    universal public sentiment.... Does any man in his senses desire\n    this population to remain among us? If the whole community could\n    reply, IT WOULD RESPOND IN ONE UNIVERSAL NEGATIVE.'--[Idem, vol.\n    vii. pp. 230, 231.]\n\n\n    'In reflecting on the utility of a plan for colonizing the free\n    people of color, with whom our country abounds, it is natural\n    that we should be first struck by its tendency to confer a\n    benefit on ourselves, _by ridding us of a population_ for the\n    most part idle and useless, and too often vicious and\n    mischievous.... All emancipation, to however small an extent,\n    _which permits the persons emancipated to remain in this\n    country_, is an evil, which must increase with the increase of\n    the operation, and would become altogether intolerable, if\n    extended to the whole, or even to a very large part, of the\n    black population. I am therefore strongly opposed to\n    emancipation, in every shape and degree, _unless accompanied by\n    colonization_.'--[First Annual Report.]\n\n\n    'They will annex the condition that the emancipated SHALL LEAVE\n    THE COUNTRY.'--[Second Annual Report.]\n\n\n    'They require that the _whole mass_ of free persons of color,\n    and those who may become such with the consent of their owners,\n    _should be progressively removed_ from among us, as fast as\n    their own consent can be obtained, and as the means can be found\n    for their removal and for their proper establishment in Africa.\n    Nothing short of this progressive but complete removal can\n    accomplish the great objects of this measure, in relation to the\n    security, prosperity, and happiness of the United\n    States.'--[Seventh Annual Report.]\n\n\n    'Is it either safe or prudent to retain amongst us a large\n    population, on whom we can place no reliance, but from the\n    control which the laws exercise over it? Can this class be\n    animated by any feelings of patriotism towards a country by\n    which they feel themselves oppressed?'--[Ninth Annual Report.]\n\n\n    'Colonization, to be correct, must be beyond seas.--Emancipation,\n    _with the liberty to remain on this side of the Atlantic_, IS\n    BUT AN ACT OF DREAMY MADNESS!'--[Thirteenth Annual Report.]\n\n\n    'Has our country the resources demanded for the accomplishment\n    of an object of such magnitude? The transportation of more than\n    two millions of souls to a remote country is indeed an object of\n    formidable aspect. It obviously cannot be accomplished at once.\n    But that the number can be gradually diminished, _till utterly\n    extinguished_, may be made to appear, it is believed, from a\n    little arithmetical calculation....' 'It has been said that the\n    entire shipping of the country, both public and private, would\n    hardly be competent for an object of this magnitude. But careful\n    calculation has proved, that one eighteenth of the mercantile\n    shipping alone, entirely devoted to the enterprise, is competent\n    to carry it into complete consummation. And why might not our\n    brilliant and growing _navy_ aid to some extent the humane and\n    patriotic cause? If necessary, why might not _the marine of\n    other lands_ be chartered? Strange indeed it is if shipping\n    enough could be found half a century ago to reduce hundreds of\n    thousands of this race in a single year to a wretched vassalage,\n    and in this age of augmented light, and wealth, and improvement\n    in every art, enough cannot be found for the single benevolent\n    object before us!'--[Rev. Baxter Dickinson's Sermon delivered in\n    Springfield in 1829.]\n\n\n    'How much soever we may regret that so little is done for the\n    intellectual and moral improvement of the free colored\n    population, as the surest preventive against crime, still we\n    must acknowledge it is in vain to attempt raising their\n    character to a level with that of the other inhabitants. They\n    must find an asylum beyond the influence of the white\n    population, or the majority of them will _ever be found unworthy\n    of the boon of freedom_. There must be that asylum for them, or\n    we despair of ever being able to improve materially their\n    condition, or to eradicate slavery from our soil, and thus\n    prevent the awful catastrophe which threatens our republic. They\n    must be furnished with facilities to leave this country and\n    establish themselves in a community of their own.'--'I have\n    alluded to the difficulties which are presented to the minds of\n    benevolent and conscientious slaveholders, wishing to manumit\n    their slaves. From what has been said, it is evident that unless\n    some drain is opened to convey out of the country the\n    emancipated, the laws which relate to emancipation, must\n    continue in force with all their rigor. Without this drain, we\n    can hope for no repeal, or relaxation of those laws where the\n    slaves are very numerous. The mass of slaveholders can never let\n    go their hold on their slaves, and suffer them, ignorant,\n    vicious and treacherous, to roam at large. If no drain is\n    opened, necessity will compel them, as their slaves increase,\n    and consequently the danger, to add statute to statute in regard\n    to their slaves, until it be found necessary to arm one part of\n    the population to control the other. I may add, that as bitter\n    an enemy as I am to slavery, I cannot greatly desire that these\n    laws should be relaxed--that slavery should be abolished,\n    _unless its unfortunate and degraded subjects can be removed\n    from the country_. If this is not effected, whatever may be our\n    views and wishes on this subject, I am confident that\n    slaveholders will justify themselves in resorting to almost any\n    measures to keep their slaves in entire subjection.'--[An\n    advocate of the Society in the Middletown (Ct.) Gazette.]\n\n\n    'To talk of emancipating the slave population of these States\n    without providing them with an asylum, is truly idle. The free\n    blacks already scattered through the country, are a dangerously\n    burthensome order of people. They cannot amalgamate with the\n    population--the ordinances of nature are against it. They must,\n    in the main, be a degraded order, hanging loosely upon\n    society.'--[Idem.]\n\n\n    'The slaves _are_ in their possession--they are entailed upon\n    them by their ancestors. And can they set them free, _and still\n    suffer them to remain in the country_? Would this be\n    policy?--Would it be safe? NO. When they can be transported to\n    the soil from whence they were derived--by the aid of the\n    Colonization Society, by government, by individuals, or by any\n    other means--then let them be emancipated, and not\n    before.'--[Lowell (Mass.) Telegraph.]\n\n\n    'Avarice and iniquity have torn from that injured continent,\n    within thirty years, no less than 1,500,000 slaves; and cannot\n    humanity, religion, and justice, restore an equal number in the\n    same time? If we desire to accomplish this work, it is plain\n    that we can do it, and that too with a sum contemptible when\n    compared with the magnitude of the evil.'--[Address of Gabriel\n    P. Disosway.]\n\n\n    'We thank God that the ultimate accomplishment of the great\n    scheme of colonization is now placed beyond a doubt, in\n    Maryland; and that the day is not even distant when _the whole\n    of our colored population_ will have transferred themselves, by\n    our assistance, from slavery or degradation here, to peace, and\n    plenty, and power, and prosperity, and liberty, and\n    independence, in a land which Providence originally gave\n    them.'--[Baltimore Gazette.]\n\n\n    'It tends, and may powerfully tend, to rid us gradually and\n    entirely, in the United States, of slaves and slavery: a great\n    moral and political evil, of increasing virulence and extent,\n    from which much mischief is now felt, and very great calamity in\n    future is justly apprehended.'--[First Annual Report.]\n\n\n    'What can be done to mitigate or prevent the existing and\n    apprehended evils, resulting from our black population?\n    EMANCIPATION, WITHOUT REMOVAL FROM THE COUNTRY, IS OUT OF THE\n    QUESTION.' * * 'As long as our present feelings and prejudices\n    exist, the abolition of slavery cannot be accomplished without\n    the removal of the blacks--THEY CANNOT BE EMANCIPATED AS A\n    PEOPLE, AND REMAIN AMONG US.'--[Second Annual Report of the\n    New-York State Col. Soc.]\n\n\n    'It would gladly, however, grasp at a still grander object--that\n    of restoring to the land of their fathers the whole colored race\n    within our borders. Nor probably will it be satisfied to rest\n    from its labors, till this object, in all its magnitude, is\n    accomplished.'--[Rev. Baxter Dickinson's Sermon.]\n\n\n    'It must appear evident to all, that every endeavor to divert\n    the attention of the community, or even a portion of the means,\n    which the present crisis to imperatively calls for, from the\n    Colonization Society, to measures calculated to bind the colored\n    population to this country and seeking to raise them (_an\n    impossibility_) to a level with the whites, whether by founding\n    colleges or in any other way, tends directly in the proportion\n    that it succeeds, to counteract and thwart the whole plan of\n    colonization. Although none would rejoice more than myself to\n    see this unhappy race elevated to the highest scale of human\n    being, it has always seemed to me that this country was not the\n    theatre for such a change. Far happier they, far happier we, had\n    they never touched our soil, or breathed our air. As it is, to\n    attain solid happiness and permanent respectability, they should\n    now remove to a more congenial clime.'--[New Haven Religious\n    Intelligencer for July, 1831.]\n\n\n    'The recent murderous movements of the people of color in some\n    of the southern States, evinces the dreadful consequences of\n    slavery, and the absolute necessity of colonizing all free\n    blacks immediately, and of manumitting and colonizing slaves as\n    fast as circumstances will justify the measure. We believe, and\n    have for many years, that this is the only course, which will\n    ensure prosperity and safety to our southern\n    brethren.'--[New-Hampshire Observer.]\n\n\n    'The removal annually of one hundred thousand, it may be safely\n    calculated, would sink the parent stock forty thousand in each\n    year, and this in thirty years would reduce the blacks of the\n    Union to a very small number--perhaps not one would\n    remain.'--[National (Ohio) Historian.]\n\n\n    'We will demonstrate, that the conveyance of the present annual\n    increase would, in less than thirty years, remove the whole to\n    Africa. Let all, for instance, born in any single year, say of\n    the age of twenty, be removed to Africa; and in each succeeding\n    year, let all of that age be removed in the same manner.--Then,\n    admitting, what is far too much to admit, that a generation\n    lasts fifty years, on an average, the generation on the stage\n    when the process commenced, would have become extinct at the end\n    of thirty years, and all their increase or offspring would have\n    been removed to Africa. Thirty years would, even in this way,\n    clear them entirely from this country.--But there are two\n    circumstances which would, in fact, make the time much shorter.\n\n    '1. It is known that a generation lasts but a little more than\n    thirty years. The generation, then, on the stage at the\n    commencement of the process, would virtually be extinct in a\n    little more than ten years. 2. By the removal of the most\n    prolific part, the annual increase would itself be diminished\n    more than a thirtieth part, in each successive year; that is, it\n    would be diminished in an arithmetical ratio, so that it would\n    be reduced to nothing before the arrival of the thirtieth\n    year.'--[American Spectator.]\n\n\n    'It is \"a consummation devoutly to be wished,\" that we should\n    get clear of the free people of color now, and as they are\n    successively liberated, as well on their own account as ours;\n    and I trust and hope, we shall both have the pleasure to see a\n    moral certainty of the removal of all these poor people back to\n    the same country from which their ancestors were\n    taken.'--[African Repository, vol. iii. p. 311.]\n\n\n    'Neither do we consider liberty worth their acceptance, _unless\n    they can be sent out of the country_. There is no doubt that a\n    large proportion of the slaves enjoy life quite as well as those\n    who are free.'--[Oxford (Me.) Observer.]\n\n\n    'It is estimated that there are 2,350,680 blacks in the United\n    States, 339,360 of whom are free denizens of this republic. The\n    object of this Society is THE REMOVAL OF THESE TO\n    AFRICA.'--[New-York Standard.]\n\n\n    'We hope to make it for the interest of the owners, in some way,\n    to part with their slaves;--not to be let loose among our white\n    population, but to be carried back to the land of their\n    fathers.'--[N. Y. Journal of Commerce.]\n\n\n    'If they are to be placed above their present degraded\n    condition, they must be removed to a country where they can rise\n    as high as any man--be eligible to any office--then you will see\n    them rise with the rapidity of the tide.'--[Southern Religious\n    Telegraph.]\n\n\n    'God has put a mark upon the black man.' ... 'The God of Nature\n    intended they should be a _distinct_, free and independent\n    community.'--[New-Haven Palladium.]\n\n\n    'We do not ask that the provisions of our Constitution and\n    statute book should be so modified as to relieve and exalt the\n    condition of the colored people, _whilst they remain with us_.\n    LET THESE PROVISIONS STAND IN ALL THEIR RIGOR, to work out the\n    ultimate and unbounded good of this people. Persuaded that their\n    condition here is not susceptible of a radical and permanent\n    improvement, WE WOULD DEPRECATE ANY LEGISLATION THAT SHOULD\n    ENCOURAGE THE VAIN AND INJURIOUS HOPE OF IT.'--[Memorial of the\n    New-York State Colonization Society.]\n\n\n    'Let the wise and good among us unite in removing the blacks\n    from the country. Would it not be expedient for the properly\n    constituted authorities to prevent the manumission of slaves in\n    every case, unless provision is made, at the same time, to\n    secure their removal from the country?'--[Alexandria Gazette.]\n\n\n    'We should be in favor of the abolition of slavery, if its\n    abolishment could be effected with safety, and the colored\n    population sent back to Africa; but merely to have them obtain\n    freedom and let loose upon society, would be the greatest curse\n    that could befal _them_ or _community_.'--[Essex Chronicle and\n    County Republican.]\n\n\n    'THE ABOLITION OF SLAVERY WAS NO OBJECT OF DESIRE TO HIM, UNLESS\n    ACCOMPANIED BY COLONIZATION. So far was he from desiring it,\n    unaccompanied by this condition, that HE WOULD NOT LIVE IN A\n    COUNTRY WHERE THE ONE TOOK PLACE WITHOUT THE OTHER'!!!--[Mr\n    Mercer's Speech in Congress.]\n\nIn order to wipe off the reproach due to this violent expulsion, it was\nnecessary, on the part of the Society, to find some pretext that would\nnot only seem to justify but confer credit on the measure. Accordingly,\nit agreed to represent the colored inhabitants of the United States as\naliens and foreigners, who, cast upon our shores by a cruel fatality,\nwere sighing to return to their native land. 'Poor unfortunate\nexiles!'--how touching the appeal, how powerful the motive to assist,\nhow likely to excite the compassion of the nation! Ah! what an air of\ndisinterested benevolence, of generous compassion, of national\nattachment, must such an enterprise wear in the eyes of the world! Who\nthat loved his own country, and deprecated an eternal absence from it,\ncould refuse to help in restoring the unfortunate Africans to their\nlong-estranged home? Such was, and is, and is likely to be, the artifice\nresorted to, in order to cover a base conspiracy, and give popularity to\none of the wildest and most disgraceful crusades the world has ever\nwitnessed. Let the following evidence suffice:\n\n    'At no very distant period, we should see all the free colored\n    people in our land transferred to _their own country_.' * * 'Let\n    us send them back to _their native land_.' * * 'By returning\n    them to _their own ancient land_ of Africa, improved in\n    knowledge and in civilization, we repay the debt which has so\n    long been due them.'--[African Repository, vol. i. pp. 65, 146,\n    176.]\n\n\n    'And though we may not live to see the day when the sons of\n    Africa shall have returned to _their native soil_,' &c. * * 'To\n    found in Africa an empire of christians and republicans; to\n    reconduct the blacks to _their native land_,' &c.--[Idem, pp.\n    13, 375.]\n\n\n    'Who would not rejoice to see our country liberated from her\n    black population? Who would not participate in any efforts to\n    restore those children of misfortune to _their native shores_?'\n    * * 'The colored population of this country can never rise to\n    respectability here; in _their native soil_ they can.' * * 'The\n    only remedy afforded is, to colonize them in _their mother\n    country_.' * * 'They would go to that _home_ from which they\n    have been long absent.' * * 'Shall we ... retain and foster the\n    _alien enemies_?'--[Idem, 88, 179, 185, 237.]\n\n\n    'Be all these benefits enjoyed by the African race under the\n    shade of their native palms.'--[Idem, vol. vi. p. 372.]\n\n\n    'We have a numerous people, who, though they are among us, _are\n    not of us_.'--[Second Annual Report of the N. Y. State Col.\n    Soc.]\n\n\n    'Among us is a growing population of _strangers_.' * * 'It will\n    furnish the means of granting to _every African exile_ among us\n    a happy home in the land of his fathers.'--[Rev. Baxter\n    Dickinson's Sermon.]\n\n\n    'Africa is indeed inviting her long exiled children to return to\n    her bosom.'--[Circular of Rev. Mr Gurley.]\n\nNothing could be more invidious or absurd than the foregoing\nrepresentation. The great mass of our colored population were born in\nthis country. This is their native soil; here they first saw the light\nof heaven, and inhaled the breath of life; here they have grown from\ninfancy to manhood and old age; from these shores they have never\nwandered; they are the descendants of those who were forcibly torn from\nAfrica two centuries ago; their fathers assisted in breaking the yoke of\nBritish oppression, and achieving that liberty which we prize above all\nprice; and they cherish the strongest attachment to the land of their\nbirth. Now, as they could not have been born in two countries, and as\nthey were certainly born here, it follows that Africa is not their\nnative home, and, consequently, that the Society has dealt in romance,\nor something more culpable, in representing them as strangers and\naliens. It might as rationally charge them with being natives of Asia or\nEurope, or with having descended from the regions of the moon. To see\nourselves gravely represented in a British periodical as natives of\nGreat Britain, I doubt not would create great merriment; and a scheme\nfor our transportation would add vastly to our sport.\n\n'But,' we are told, 'God has put a mark upon the black man.' True; and\nhe has also put a mark upon every man, woman and child, in the world; so\nthat every one differs in appearance from another--is easily\nidentified--and, to make the objection valid, should occupy a _distinct_\nportion of territory, be himself a nation, enact his own laws, and live\nin perpetual solitude! The difference between a black and a white skin\nis not greater than that between a white and a black one. In either\ncase, the mark is distinctive; and the blacks may as reasonably expel\nthe whites, as the whites the blacks. To make such a separation we have\nno authority; to attempt it, would end only in disappointment; and, if\nit were carried into effect, those who are clamorous for the measure\nwould be among the first to be cast out. The all-wise Creator, having\n'made of _one blood_ all nations of men to dwell on all the face of the\nearth,' it is proper for them to associate freely together; and he is a\nproud worm of the dust who is ashamed to acknowledge this common\nrelationship.\n\nAgain we are told: 'The God of Nature intended the blacks should be a\n_distinct_ community.' But has he been frustrated in his intentions?\nWhere is the proof of such purpose? Let us have something more than the\n_ipse dixit_ of the Society. Yes, we are seriously assured that Nature\nhas played falsely! Colored persons were born by mistake in this\ncountry: they should have been born in Africa! We must therefore rectify\nthe error, with all despatch, by transporting them to their _native\nsoil_! Truly, a most formidable enterprise! There occur at least sixty\nthousand of such _mistakes_, annually; while the Society has corrected\nonly about two thousand in fourteen years! But--courage! men engaged in\na laudable enterprise should never despair!\n\nThere are some difficulties, however, in the accomplishment of this\nmighty task, which cannot be easily overcome. Granting the position\nassumed by colonizationists, that the _blacks_ and the _whites_ should\noccupy different countries, how do they intend to dispose of that\nnumerous and rapidly increasing class who are neither white nor black,\ncalled mulattoes? We have not been informed to what country they belong;\nbut the point ought to be settled before any classification be made.\nColonizationists must define, moreover, the exact shade of color which\nis to retain or banish individuals; for every candid mind will admit,\nthat it would be as unnatural to send _white_ blood to Africa, as to\nkeep _black_ blood in America. 'If the color of the skin is to give\nconstruction to our constitution and laws, let us, at once, begin the\nwork of excision. Let us raise an army of pure whites, if such an army\ncan be found; and let us drive out and transport to foreign climes, men,\nwomen and children, who cannot bring the most satisfactory vouchers,\nthat their veins are flowing with the purest English blood. Indeed, let\nus shut up our ports against our own mariners, who are returning from an\nIndia voyage, and whose cheeks and muscles could not wholly withstand\nthe influence of the breezes and tropics to which they were exposed. Let\nus make every shade of complexion, every difference of stature, and\nevery contraction of a muscle, a Shibboleth, to detect and cut off a\nbrother Ephraimite, at the fords of Jordan. Though such a crusade would\nturn every man's sword against his fellow; yet, it might establish the\nright of precedence to different features, statures and colors, and\noblige some friends of colonization to test the feasibility and equity\nof their own scheme.'\n\nIf I must become a colonizationist, I insist upon being consistent:\nthere must be no disagreement between my creed and practice. I must be\nable to give a reason why all our tall citizens should not conspire to\nremove their more diminutive brethren, and all the corpulent to remove\nthe lean and lank, and all the strong to remove the weak, and all the\neducated to remove the ignorant, and all the rich to remove the poor, as\nreadily as for the removal of those whose skin is 'not colored like my\nown;' for Nature has sinned as culpably in diversifying the size as the\ncomplexion of her progeny, and Fortune in the distribution of her gifts\nhas been equally fickle. I cannot perceive that I am more excusable in\ndesiring the banishment of my neighbor because his skin is darker than\nmine, than I should be in desiring his banishment because he is a\nsmaller or feebler man than myself. Surely it would be sinful for a\nblack man to repine and murmur, and impeach the wisdom and goodness of\nGod, because he was made with a sable complexion; and dare I be guilty\nof such an impeachment, by persecuting him on account of his color? I\ndare not: I would as soon deny the existence of my Creator, as quarrel\nwith the workmanship of his hands. I rejoice that he has made one star\nto differ from another star in glory; that he has not given to the sun\nthe softness and gentleness of the moon, nor to the moon the intensity\nand magnificence of the sun; that he presents to the eye every\nconceivable shape, and aspect, and color, in the gorgeous and\nmultifarious productions of Nature; and I do not rejoice less, but\nadmire and exalt him more, that, notwithstanding he has made of one\nblood the whole family of man, he has made the whole family of man to\ndiffer in personal appearance, habits and pursuits.\n\nI protest against sending any to Africa, in whose blood there is any\nmixture of our own; for, I repeat it, white blood in Africa would be as\nrepugnant to Nature, as black blood is in this country. Now; most\nunfortunately for colonizationists, the spirit of amalgamation has been\nso active for a long series of years,--especially in the slave\nStates,--that there are comparatively few, besides those who are\nannually smuggled into the south from Africa, whose blood is not tainted\nwith a foreign ingredient. Here, then, is a difficulty! What shall be\ndone? All black blood _must_ be sent to Africa; but how to collect it is\nthe question. What shall be done! Why, we must resort to _phlebotomy_!\n\n    'Therefore, prepare thee to cut off the flesh.\n    ---------------- nor cut thou less nor more,\n    But just a pound of flesh: if thou tak'st more,\n    Or less, than just a pound,--be it but so much\n    As makes it light, or heavy, in the substance,\n    Or the division of the twentieth part\n    Of one poor scruple; nay, if the scale do turn\n    But in the estimation of a hair,\n    Thou diest, and all thy goods are confiscate!'\n\nThe colonization crusade cannot now fail of being popular. Phlebotomy\nbeing agreed to as a _dernier resort_, I shall briefly enumerate some of\nthe various professions and classes which may expect to derive no\ninconsiderable gain from its execution; for as our government, in\nconjunction with benevolent associations, is to appropriate millions of\ndollars to accomplish this object, the pay will be sure and liberal.\n\nIn the first place, there will be more than a million patients, for\nwhose accommodation hospitals must be erected. These hospitals will\nemploy brick-makers, masons, carpenters, painters, glaziers, &c. &c.\n&c.; of course, the approval of a large body of mechanics is readily\nsecured.\n\nPhysicians will next obtain an extensive practice. Their patients, in\nconsequence of a free application of the lancet, must necessarily be\ndebilitated, and can be kept 'quite low' until a long score of charges\nbe run up against the government.\n\nAmong so many patients and so much unavoidable sickness, druggists and\napothecaries will obtain a profitable sale for their medicines. Nurses\nwill be next in demand, who may expect high wages. Even the lowly\nwashers of soiled clothes will find the life-blood of the victims\n'coined into drachms' for their reward. It is highly probable that many\nof the patients may die under the expurgatory process, and hence sextons\nand coffin-makers may calculate upon good times. With death come\nmourning and lamentation, and 'weeds of wo.' Dealers in crape will\ndoubtless secure a handsome patronage. Lawyers may hope to profit by the\ndemise of those who possess property. Indeed, almost every class in\ncommunity must, to a greater or less extent, feel the beneficial effects\nof this philanthropic but novel experiment. The blood, taken from the\nveins of the blacks, may be transfused into our own, and the general\npulse acquire new vigor.\n\nSupposing a majority of the patients should recover, three other classes\nwill thrive by their expulsion--namely, ship-builders, merchants and\nseamen. As our vessels are all occupied in profitable pursuits, new ones\nmust be built--freights will rise--and the wages of seamen be\nproportionably enhanced.--But a truce to irony.\n\nThe American Colonization Society, in making the banishment of the\nslaves the condition of their emancipation, inflicts upon them an\naggravated wrong, perpetuates their thraldom, and disregards the claims\nof everlasting and immutable justice. The language of its most\ndistinguished supporters is, 'Emancipation, with the liberty to remain\non this side of the Atlantic, is but an act of dreamy\nmadness'--'Emancipation, without removal from the country, is out of the\nquestion'--'All emancipation, to however small an extent, which permits\nthe person emancipated to remain in this country, is an evil'--'They\ncannot be emancipated as a people, and remain among us.' Thus the\nrestoration of an inalienable right, and an abandonment of robbery and\noppression, are made to depend upon the practicability of transporting\nmore than one sixth portion of our whole population to a far distant and\nbarbarous land! It is impossible to imagine a more cruel, heaven-daring\nand God-dishonoring scheme. It exhibits a deliberate and perverse\ndisregard of every moral obligation, and bids defiance to the\nrequisitions of the gospel.\n\nListen to the avowal of Mr Mercer of Virginia, one of the main pillars\nand most highly extolled supporters of the Society: 'The abolition of\nslavery was no object of desire to him, unless accompanied by\ncolonization. So far was he from desiring it, unaccompanied by this\ncondition, that _he would not live in a country where the one took place\nwithout the other_'! This language may be correctly rendered thus: 'I\ndesire to see two millions of human beings plundered of their rights,\nand subjected to every species of wrong and outrage, _ad infinitum_, if\nthey cannot be driven out of the country. I am perfectly willing to live\nwith them while they are treated worse than cattle,--ignorant, vicious,\nand wretched,--and while they are held under laws which forbid their\ninstruction; and not only am I willing thus to live, but I am determined\nto practise the same oppression. But, if they should be emancipated with\nliberty to remain here, and placed in a situation favorable to their\nmoral and intellectual improvement--a situation in which they could be\nno longer bought and sold, lacerated and manacled, defrauded and\noppressed--I would abandon my native land, and never return to her\nshores.' And this is the language of a _philanthropist_! and this the\nmoral principle of the boasted champion of the American Colonization\nSociety! Whose indignation does not kindle, whose astonishment is not\nprofound, whose disgust is not excited, in view of these sentiments?\n\nBut this is not the acme of colonization insanity. The assertion is made\nby a highly respectable partisan, and endorsed by the organ of the\nSociety, that '_it would be as humane to throw the slaves from the decks\nin the middle passage_, [i. e. into the ocean,] _as to set them free in\nour country_'!!! And even Henry Clay, who is an oracle in the cause, has\nhad the boldness to declare, that the slaves should be held in\neverlasting servitude if they cannot be colonized in Africa!! And this\nsentiment is echoed by another, who says, 'Liberate them only on\ncondition of their going to Africa or Hayti'!\n\nI will not even seem to undervalue the good sense and quick perception\nof the candid and intelligent reader, by any farther endeavors to\nillustrate the sacrifice of principle and inhumanity of purpose which\nare contained in the extracts under the present section. With so strong\nan array of evidence before him, no one, who is not mentally blind or\ngoverned by prejudice, can fail to rise from its perusal with amazement\nand abhorrence, and a determination to assist in overthrowing a\ncombination which is based upon the rotten foundation of expediency and\nviolence.\n\nThe Colonization Society expressly denies the right of the slaves to\nenjoy freedom and happiness in this country; and this denial\nincontestibly tends to rivet their fetters more firmly, or make them the\nvictims of a relentless persecution.\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[R] What right have we to an homestead in the red man's country? Let us\nreturn to the land of our fathers, and leave this soil untarnished by\nthe footprint of him who hath a white skin! What right have the hosts of\nforeign emigrants, who are flocking to our shores, to an homestead among\nourselves?\n\n\n\n\nSECTION VIII.\n\nTHE AMERICAN COLONIZATION SOCIETY IS THE DISPARAGER OF THE FREE BLACKS.\n\n\nThe leaders in the African colonization crusade seem to dwell with a\nmalignant satisfaction upon the poverty and degradation of the free\npeople of color, and are careful never to let an opportunity pass\nwithout heaping their abuse and contempt upon them. It is a common\ndevice of theirs to contrast the condition of the slaves with that of\nthis class, and invariably to strike the balance heavily in favor of the\nformer! In this manner, thousands are led to look upon slavery as a\nbenevolent system, and to deprecate the manumission of its victims.\nNothing but a love of falsehood, or an utter disregard of facts, could\nembolden these calumniators to deal so extensively in fiction. What! the\nslaves more happy, more moral, more industrious, more orderly, more\ncomfortable, more exalted, than the free blacks! A more enormous\nexaggeration, a more heinous libel, a wider departure from truth, was\nnever fabricated, or uttered, or known. The slaves, as a body, are in\nthe lowest state of degradation; they possess no property; they cannot\nread; they are as ignorant, as their masters are reckless, of moral\nobligation; they have no motive for exertion; they are thieves from\nnecessity and usage; their bodies are cruelly lacerated by the\ncart-whip; and they are disposable property. And yet these poor\nmiserable, perishing, mutilated creatures are placed above our free\ncolored population in dignity, in enjoyment, in privilege, in\nusefulness, in respectability!!\n\n    'There is a class, however, more numerous than all these,\n    introduced amongst us by violence, notoriously ignorant,\n    degraded and miserable, mentally diseased, broken-spirited,\n    _acted upon by no motives to honorable exertions_, SCARCELY\n    REACHED IN THEIR DEBASEMENT BY THE HEAVENLY LIGHT; yet where is\n    the sympathy and effort which a view of their condition ought to\n    excite? They wander unsettled and unbefriended through our land,\n    or sit indolent, abject and sorrowful, by the \"streams which\n    witness their captivity.\" Their freedom is _licentiousness_, and\n    to many RESTRAINT WOULD PROVE A BLESSING. To this remark there\n    are exceptions; exceptions proving that to change their state\n    would be to elevate their character; that virtue and enterprise\n    are absent, only, because absent are the causes which create the\n    one, and the motives which produce the other.'--[African\n    Repository, vol. i. p. 68.]\n\n\n    'Free blacks are a greater nuisance than even slaves\n    themselves.' * * * 'They knew that where slavery had been\n    abolished it had operated to the advantage of the masters, not\n    of the slaves: they saw this fact most strikingly illustrated in\n    the case of the free negroes of Boston. If, on the anniversary\n    celebrated by the free people of color, of the day on which\n    slavery was abolished, they looked abroad, what did they see?\n    Not freemen, in the enjoyment of every attribute of freedom,\n    with the stamp of liberty upon their brows! No, Sir; they saw a\n    ragged set, crying out liberty! for whom liberty had nothing to\n    bestow, and whose enjoyment of it was but in name. He spoke of\n    the great body of the blacks; there were some few honorable\n    exceptions, he knew, which only proved what might be done for\n    all.'--[African Repository, vol. ii. p. 328.]\n\n\n    'Although there are individual exceptions distinguished by high\n    moral and intellectual worth, yet the free blacks in our country\n    are, as a body, more vicious and degraded than any other which\n    our population embraces.' * * * 'If, then, they are a useless\n    and dangerous species of population, we would ask, is it\n    generous in our southern friends to burthen us with them?\n    Knowing themselves the evils of slavery, can they wish to impose\n    upon us an evil scarcely less tolerable? We think it a mistaken\n    philanthropy, which would liberate the slave, unfitted by\n    education and habit for freedom, and cast him upon a merciless\n    and despising world, where his only fortune must be poverty, his\n    only distinction degradation, and his only comfort\n    insensibility.' * * * 'I will look no farther when I seek for\n    the _most degraded, the most abandoned race on the earth_, but\n    rest my eyes on this people. What but sorrow can we feel at the\n    _misguided piety_ which has set free so many of them by\n    death-bed devise or sudden conviction of injustice? Better, far\n    better, for us, had they been kept in bondage, where the\n    opportunity, the inducements, the necessity of vice would not\n    have been so great. Deplorable necessity, indeed, to one borne\n    down with the consciousness of the violence we have done. Yet I\n    am clear that, whether we consider it with reference to the\n    welfare of the State, or the happiness of the blacks, it were\n    better to have left them in chains, than to have liberated them\n    to receive such freedom as they enjoy, and greater freedom _we\n    cannot, must not_ allow them.' * * 'There is not a State in the\n    Union not at this moment groaning under the evil of this class\n    of persons, a curse and a contagion whereever they reside.' * *\n    'The increase of a free black population among us has been\n    regarded as a greater evil than the increase of\n    slaves.'--[African Repository, vol. iii. pp. 24, 25, 197, 203,\n    374.]\n\n\n    'Mr. Mercer adverted to the situation of his native State, and\n    the condition of the free black population existing there, whom\n    he described as a horde of miserable people--the objects of\n    universal suspicion; _subsisting by plunder_.'--[Idem, vol. iv.\n    p. 363.]\n\n\n    'They leave a country in which though born and reared, they are\n    strangers and aliens; where _severe necessity_ places them in a\n    class of degraded beings; where they are free without the\n    blessings and privileges of liberty; where in ceasing to be\n    slaves of one, they have become subservient to many; where,\n    neither freemen nor slaves, but placed in an anomalous grade\n    which they do not understand and others disregard; where no kind\n    instructer, no hope of preferment, no honorable emulation\n    prompts them to virtue or deters from vice; their industry\n    waste, not accumulation; their regular vocation, any thing or\n    nothing as it may happen; their greater security, sufferance;\n    their highest reward, forgiveness; vicious themselves and the\n    cause of vice in others; discontented and exciting discontent;\n    scorned by one class and _foolishly envied by another_; thus,\n    and WORSE CIRCUMSTANCED, they, cannot but choose to\n    move.'--[Idem, vol. v. p. 238.]\n\n\n    'Of all the descriptions of our population, _and of either\n    portion of the African race_, the free people of color are, by\n    far, as a class, the MOST CORRUPT, DEPRAVED, AND ABANDONED. The\n    laws, it is true, proclaim them free; but prejudices, more\n    powerful than any laws, deny them the privileges of freemen.\n    They occupy a middle station between the free white population\n    and the slaves of the United States, and the tendency of their\n    habits is to corrupt both.' * * * 'That the free colored\n    population of our country is a great and constantly increasing\n    evil must be readily acknowledged. Averse to labor, with no\n    incentives to industry or motives to self-respect, they maintain\n    a precarious existence by petty thefts and plunder, themselves,\n    or by inciting our domestics, not free, to rob their owners to\n    supply their wants.' * * * 'If there is in the whole world, a\n    more wretched class of human beings than the free people of\n    color in this country, I do not know where they are to be found.\n    They have no home, no country, no kindred, no friends. They are\n    lazy and indolent, because they have no motives to prompt them\n    to be industrious. They are in general destitute of principle,\n    because they have nothing to stimulate them to honorable and\n    praise-worthy conduct. Let them be maltreated ever so much, the\n    law gives them no redress unless some white person happens to be\n    present, to be a witness in the case. If they acquire property,\n    they hold it by the courtesy of every vagabond in the country;\n    and sooner or later, are sure to have it filched from\n    them.'--[Idem, vol. vi. pp. 12, 135, 228.]\n\n\n    'The existence, within the very bosom of our country, of an\n    anomalous race of beings, THE MOST DEBASED UPON EARTH, who\n    neither enjoy the blessings of freedom, nor are yet in the bonds\n    of slavery, is a great national evil, which every friend of his\n    country most deeply deplores.... Tax your utmost powers of\n    imagination, and you cannot conceive one motive to honorable\n    effort, which can animate the bosom, or give impulse to the\n    conduct of a free black in this country. Let him toil from youth\n    to age in the honorable pursuit of wisdom--let him store his\n    mind with the most valuable researches of science and\n    literature--and let him add to a highly gifted and cultivated\n    intellect, a piety pure, undefiled, and \"unspotted from the\n    world\"--it is all nothing: he would not be received into the\n    very lowest walks of society. If we were constrained to admire\n    so uncommon a being, our very admiration would mingle with\n    disgust, because, in the physical organization of his frame, we\n    meet an insurmountable barrier, even to an approach to social\n    intercourse, and in the Egyptian color, which nature has stamped\n    upon his features, a principle of repulsion so strong as to\n    forbid the idea of a communion either of interest or of feeling,\n    as utterly abhorrent. Whether these feelings are founded in\n    reason or not, we will not now inquire--perhaps they are not.\n    But education and habit, and prejudice have so firmly riveted\n    them upon us, that they have become as strong as nature\n    itself--and to expect their removal, or even their slightest\n    modification, would be as idle and preposterous as to expect\n    that we could reach forth our hands, and remove the mountains\n    from their foundations into the vallies, which are beneath\n    them.'--[African Repository, vol. vii. pp. 230, 331.]\n\n\n    'We have been charged with wishing only to remove our free\n    blacks, that we may the more effectually rivet the chains of the\n    slave. But the class we first seek to remove, are neither\n    freemen nor slaves; _but between both_, AND MORE MISERABLE THAN\n    EITHER.' * * * 'Who is there, that does not know something of\n    the condition of the blacks in the northern and middle States?\n    They may be seen in our cities and larger towns, wandering like\n    foreigners and outcasts, in the land which gave them birth. They\n    may be seen in our penitentiaries, and jails, and poor-houses.\n    They may be found inhabiting the abodes of poverty, and the\n    haunts of vice. But if we look for them in the society of the\n    honest and respectable--if we visit the schools in which it is\n    our boast that the meanest citizen can enjoy the benefits of\n    instruction--we might also add, if we visit the sanctuaries\n    which are open for all to worship,[S] and to hear the word of\n    God; we shall not find them there.' * * 'Leaving slavery and its\n    subjects for the moment entirely out of view, there are in the\n    United States 238,000 blacks denominated free, but whose freedom\n    confers on them, we might say, no privilege but the _privilege\n    of being more vicious and miserable than slaves can\n    be_.'--[Seventh Annual Report, pp. 12, 87, 99.]\n\n\n    'Placed midway between freedom and slavery, they know neither\n    the incentives of the one, nor the restraints of the other; but\n    are alike injurious by their conduct and example, to all other\n    classes of society.'--[Eight Annual Report.]\n\n\n    'Of all classes of our population, the most vicious is that of\n    the free colored. It is the inevitable result of their moral,\n    political, and civil degradation. Contaminated themselves, they\n    extend their vices to all around them, to the slaves and to the\n    whites.'--[Tenth Annual Report.]\n\n\n    'The question arises, where shall these outcasts go? Ohio, and\n    the free States of the West, which formerly invited them into\n    their bosom, no longer offer them a welcome home. Disgusted with\n    their laziness and vice, the inevitable concomitants of the\n    anomalous relation in which they stand to society, the\n    authorities of those States are seeking to get rid of what they\n    find, too late, to be a curse to any settlement of whites--a\n    thriftless race of vagabonds, whose footsteps are the sure\n    precursors of indigence and crime. One of the most intelligent\n    gentlemen of Ohio, (Mr Charles Hammond,) in a recent notice of\n    this subject, says, \"This dangerous class of population has\n    increased considerably within a few years past, and the slaves\n    States cannot too soon adopt efficient measures to get rid of\n    it. Emigrations to Liberia ought to be provided for, and\n    insisted upon, and the legislatures should pass laws to prevent\n    emancipation, without adequate provision for the transportation\n    of the manumitted.\"'--[Lynchburg Virginian.]\n\n\n    'As it is now, they are for the most part in a debased and\n    wretched condition. They have the vices of our community without\n    its virtues. And what is worse, I speak of the majority, they\n    have no desire to rise from their state of abject depression--no\n    wish to gain a respectable elevation of character. Consequently\n    it is difficult, if not impossible, to present them motives\n    Which shall incite them to enter on a course of industry and\n    virtue.' * * * 'Bound by no political ties to the community in\n    which they dwell, and excluded for the most part from exercising\n    the rights and privileges of freemen, on the ground of their\n    alleged inferiority and worthlessness, they have no inducements\n    to abandon lives of indolence, sensuality and recklessness, or\n    to support the laws and institutions of the government placed\n    over them. Nothing but the fear of suffering the penalty of\n    violated law, can prevent them from preying on those among whom\n    they live.'--[Middletown (Ct.) Gazette.]\n\n\n    'They have taken the free black that, as a class, dwells among\n    us a living nuisance, nominally free, but bowed to the ground by\n    public opinion--IN ONE PART OF THE COUNTRY DULL AS A BRUTISH\n    BEAST, IN ANOTHER THE WILD STIRRER UP OF SEDITION AND\n    INSURRECTION--they have shewn him to be capable of quiet and\n    judicious self-government.-- ... We cannot shut our eyes any\n    longer upon the disadvantages of our black population, whether\n    in slavery or freedom. It is a sword perpetually suspended over\n    our heads by a single hair; it is the fountain of bitter waters\n    that poisons all our enjoyments.'--[Speeches of J. R. Townsend,\n    Esq. and W. W. Campbell, Esq. New-York city.]\n\n\n    'The fact was most glaring, without an inquiry, that the same\n    shackles which bound them, fastened them also to the resources\n    of the soil, and the interests of the community; and when these\n    were broken, and the incentives of authority removed, the weight\n    of ignorance, the want of better incentives, and the fatal and\n    untried power of grateful but ruinous idleness, sunk them to a\n    state, which, however elevated in theory, was in fact more\n    degraded and more miserable than that of bondage. In addition to\n    all this, pauperism, with the numerous evils of corrupt and\n    corrupting indolence, threatened to impose its sluggish weight\n    upon a groaning community. Hence, the progress of emancipation\n    was, for the time, most righteously arrested.'--[Address of the\n    Board of Managers of the African Education Society.]\n\n\n    'Who are the free people of color in the United States? In what\n    circumstances does philanthropy find them! There are indeed\n    individuals and families, who are sober, industrious, pious. But\n    what are the remainder, the mass? Every one knows that their\n    condition is deep and wretched degradation; but, only a few have\n    ever formed any accurate conception of the reality. The fact is,\n    that as a class they are branded. They have no home, no country,\n    no such personal interest in the welfare of the community, as\n    gives a certain degree of manliness to almost every white\n    man.... Three hundred thousand freemen in this country, are\n    freemen only in name, forming only little else than a mass of\n    pauperism and crime.... Here the black man is paralysed and\n    crushed by the constant sense of inferiority. He has no\n    effectual incentives to manly enterprise. He stands in a\n    degraded class of society; and out of that class he never dreams\n    of rising.'--[Christian Spectator.]\n\n\n    'This is the true condition of the free colored population of\n    our land. They are placed mid way between freedom and slavery;\n    they feel neither the moral stimulants of the one, nor the\n    restraints of the other, and are alike injurious to every other\n    class of the community.'--[Southern Religious Telegraph.]\n\nI repel these charges against the free people of color, as unmerited,\nwanton and untrue. It would be absurd to pretend, that, as a class,\nthey maintain a high character: it would be equally foolish to deny,\nthat intemperance, indolence and crime prevail among them to a mournful\nextent. But I do not hesitate to assert, from an intimate acquaintance\nwith their condition, that they are more temperate and more industrious\nthan that class of whites who are in as indigent circumstances, but who\nhave certainly far greater incentives to labor and excel; that they are\nsuperior in their habits to the hosts of foreign emigrants who are\ncrowding to our shores, and poisoning our moral atmosphere; and that\ntheir advancement in intelligence, in wealth, and in morality,\nconsidering the numberless and almost insurmountable difficulties under\nwhich they have labored, has been remarkable. I am informed that\ntwenty-five or thirty years ago, the colored inhabitants of Philadelphia\nscarcely owned a dollar's worth of real estate, whereas they now own\nenough to amount to hundreds of thousands of dollars. This fact speaks\nvolumes in praise of their industry and economy; for, be it remembered,\nthey have had to accumulate this property in small sums, by shaving the\nbeards, cleaning the boots and clothes, and being the servants of their\nwhite contemners, and in other menial employments. In Baltimore,\nPhiladelphia, New-York, and other places, there are several colored\npersons whose individual property is worth from ten thousand to one\nhundred thousand dollars;[T] and in all those cities, there are primary\nand high schools for the education of the colored\npopulation--flourishing churches of various denominations--and numerous\nsocieties for mutual assistance and improvement, &c. In Philadelphia\nalone, I believe, there are nearly fifty colored associations for\nbenevolent, literary, scientific and moral purposes.[U] Yet these are\nthe people of whom it is said, 'they are acted upon by no motives to\nhonorable exertions;' that they are 'scarcely reached in their\ndebasement by the heavenly light' (almost a denial of the power of the\nHoly Ghost); that 'their freedom is licentiousness;' that 'they are a\ngreater nuisance than even the slaves themselves;' that they are 'the\nmost degraded, the most abandoned race on the earth;' that they are\n'worse circumstanced than the slave population;' that they have 'no\nprivilege but the privilege of being more vicious and miserable than\nslaves can be;' and that they are 'a thriftless race of vagabonds, whose\nfootsteps are the sure precursors of indigence and crime.' And these\nfalse and infamous charges are brought against them by a Society which\nprofesses to cherish for them the highest regard, and to be anxious to\ngive them respectability in the eyes of the world!\n\nThe truth is, the traducers of the free blacks have no adequate\nconception of the amount of good sense, sterling piety, moral honesty,\nvirtuous pride of character, and domestic enjoyment, which exists among\nthis class. The spirited remarks of the colored citizens of New-York, in\ntheir address to the public, (_vide_ PART II. p. 16,) in reference to\ntheir calumniators, are exceedingly apposite: 'Their patrician\nprinciples prevent an intercourse with men in the middle walks of life,\namong whom a large portion of our people may be classed. We ask them to\nvisit the dwellings of the respectable part of our people, and we are\nsatisfied that they will discover more civilization and refinement, than\nwill be found among the same number of white families of an equal\nstanding.' A personal examination enables me to say that this challenge\nis neither presumptuous nor boastful. I confess, I have been most\nagreeably, nay, wonderfully disappointed, in my intercourse with them,\nwhich is daily elevating them in my estimation. Many of their number I\nproudly rank among my most familiar friends and correspondents.\n\nWith regard to the 'ragged set in Boston, crying out liberty!' every\ncandid resident will testify that this is a libellous representation;\nthat our free blacks are a quiet, orderly, well-dressed, and (as far as\nthey can obtain employment) industrious class of citizens; and that\ntheir improvement is rapid and constant. Every curious observer who\nvisits their houses of worship, will be surprised at the general\nneatness of attire and propriety of manners of the worshippers. 'A\nragged set,' forsooth! The slander may be uttered in the city of\nWashington, at an anniversary of the American Colonization Society; but\nno man, who regards his character for veracity and intelligence, _dare_\npublish it in Boston.\n\nThe effects of this reiterated abuse are eminently mischievous. It\nserves to kindle the fires of persecution, to strengthen prejudice, to\ndrive its victims to despair, and to increase the desire for their\nbanishment. 'Tax your utmost powers of imagination,' says one of the\ncolonization advocates, 'and you cannot conceive _one motive_ to\nhonorable effort, which can animate the bosom, or give impulse to the\nconduct of the free black in this country'! Is this language calculated\nto allay animosity, or beget confidence, or suppress contempt, or heal\ndivision, or excite sympathy? Far otherwise. Are there not thousands of\nliving witnesses to prove the falsity of this assertion; thousands who\nadorn the doctrine of God their Saviour, and whose 'motives to honorable\neffort' are higher than heaven and vast as eternity; thousands, who,\nthough their enemies spare no efforts to crush them in the dust, and in\ndespite of mountains of difficulties, rise up with a giant's strength to\nrespectability and usefulness? 'No motive to honorable effort'! Perish\nthe calumny!\n\nAgain, they are stigmatized as the 'wild stirrers up of sedition and\ninsurrection.' This charge is even more malignant than the other, and\nutterly groundless. Its propagation, however, tends directly to excite a\npersecution which may drive the accused to sedition, in self-defence.\nThere is no evidence that any free man of color was enlisted in the late\nbloody struggle in Virginia, or in any manner accessary thereto. On the\ncontrary, it was deprecated by our colored citizens generally, not only\non account of its sanguinary acts, but because they knew it would\noperate to their own disadvantage by being placed to their account. The\nfollowing honorable expression of feeling was made at a public meeting\nof the people of color in Wilmington, Delaware, about that period:\n\n    'The subscribers, having a knowledge of the alarm which prevails\n    in the minds of some of the citizens of this place, on account\n    of various reports which some mischievous person or persons have\n    circulated, in regard to the colored population, beg leave to\n    represent, on behalf of themselves and brethren, that having\n    made inquiry into the subject, they have found said reports to\n    be without the least foundation; and they owe it to themselves\n    further to declare, that, so far from any disposition on the\n    part of the colored people to disturb the peace and good order\n    of the community, they are, on the contrary, fully aware that it\n    consists not less with their interests than their duty to\n    refrain from every art that would excite commotion or disorder,\n    in which the colored people would have every thing to lose and\n    nothing to gain. We have been treated by the citizens of\n    Wilmington and its vicinity with kindness, for which we ought to\n    be grateful, and it is our solemn purpose to pursue such a\n    course of conduct as may merit a continuance of their favor and\n    confidence. Should any among us be found so wicked and blinded\n    as to enter into plots and contrivances, inimical to the present\n    harmony, we thus solemnly pledge ourselves to our white friends\n    and neighbors, that we will be among the first to sound the\n    alarm, and unite in effecting their apprehension and\n    suppression.'\n\nThe free colored citizens of Baltimore, Maryland, also came out unitedly\nin the following pacific and truly exemplary spirit:\n\n    'Whereas, there has prevailed in this city, during the past\n    week, a very unpleasant excitement, originating from suspicions\n    and reports totally without foundation, and highly derogatory to\n    our good sense; and whereas this excitement, though\n    unnecessarily created, may, in its ultimate tendency, prove\n    prejudicial to the interests of the free colored population of\n    this State. Therefore,\n\n    'Resolved, That we challenge the most rigid investigation as to\n    the truth of those evil reports, which have recently been so\n    industriously propagated in this city by the credulous, and\n    those who are totally unacquainted with the character of colored\n    Baltimoreans.\n\n    'Resolved, That we are not so reckless of our true interest, so\n    blind to utter helplessness--not to say so devoid of humanity,\n    as to entertain the hostile designs, or to cherish the fiendish\n    passions, which it seems have been, by the unthinking, so\n    unjustly attributed to us.\n\n    'Resolved, That we have been too long in the land of bibles, and\n    temples, and ministers, to look upon blood and carnage with\n    complacency--that we have been too long in this enlightened\n    metropolis, to think of the amelioration of our condition, in\n    any other way than that sanctioned by the Gospel of Peace.\n\n    'Resolved, That we rely upon a peaceable and upright conduct, for\n    a continuance of that favor and protection which we have\n    hitherto enjoyed, and which, the liberal, the wise, and the\n    good, are ever ready to accord.'\n\nHow impolitic, then, as well as unjust, to brand this meek and\nmagnanimous class as 'the wild stirrers up of sedition and\ninsurrection'!\n\nThis treatment, I repeat, is impolitic--nay, suicidal. To abuse,\nproscribe and exasperate them, to trample them under our feet, to goad\nthem on the right hand and on the left, is not the way to secure their\nloyalty, but rather to make them revengeful, desperate and seditious.\nOur true policy is, to meliorate their condition, invigorate their\nhopes, instruct their ignorant minds, admit them to an equality of\nprivileges with ourselves, nourish and patronise their genius, and, by\ngiving them mechanical trades and mercantile advantages, open to them\nthe avenue to competence and wealth. We shall thus make them contented\nand happy, and place them in a situation which will lead them still more\nheartily to deprecate any insurrectionary movements among our slave\npopulation. The following is the conciliatory and generous language of\na man, who has been denounced as a blood-hound and a monster. It will be\nwell for us if we profit by it.\n\n    'Americans! notwithstanding you have and do continue to treat us\n    more cruel than any heathen nation ever did a people it had\n    subjected to the same condition that you have us, let us reason.\n    Had you not better take our body, while you have it in your\n    power, and while we are yet ignorant and wretched, not knowing\n    but little, give us education, and teach us the pure religion of\n    our Lord and Master, which is calculated to make the lion lie\n    down in peace with the lamb, and which millions of you have\n    beaten us nearly to death for trying to obtain since we have\n    been among you, and thus at once gain our affection while we are\n    ignorant? Throw away your fears and prejudices then, and\n    enlighten us and treat us like men, and we will like you more\n    than we do now hate you. And tell us now no more about\n    colonization; for America is as much our country as it is yours.\n    Treat us like men, and there is no danger but we will all live\n    in peace and happiness together; for we are not, like you,\n    hard-hearted, unmerciful, and unforgiving. What a happy country\n    this will be, if the whites will listen! What nation under\n    heaven, will be able to do any thing with us, unless God gives\n    us up into its hand? But, Americans, I declare to you, while you\n    keep us and our children in bondage, and treat us like brutes,\n    to make us support you and your families, we cannot be your\n    friends. You do not look for it, do you? Treat us then like men,\n    and we will be your friends. And there is not a doubt in my\n    mind, but that the whole of the past will be sunk into oblivion,\n    and we yet, under God, will become a united and happy\n    people.'[V]\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[S] A cruel taunt. The wonder is not that colored persons do not more\ngenerally visit our sanctuaries, but that they _ever_ should attend. If\nthey go, they are thrust into obscure, remote and unseemly pens or\nboxes, as if they were not embraced in the offers of redeeming love, and\nwere indeed a part of the brute creation. It is an awful commentary upon\nthe pride of human nature. I never can look up to these scandalous\nretreats for my colored brethren, without having my soul overwhelmed\nwith emotions of shame, indignation and sorrow. No black man, however\nvirtuous, respectable or pious he may be, can own or occupy a pew in a\ncentral part of any of our houses of worship. And yet it is\nreproachfully alleged--by a clergyman, too!--that 'if we visit the\nsanctuaries which are _open to all_ (!) to worship, and to hear the word\nof God, we shall not find them there'! No--I hope they will respect\nthemselves and the religion of Jesus more, than to occupy the places\nalluded to.\n\n[T] Francis Devany, the colored sheriff of Liberia, is reputed by\ncolonizationists to be worth property to the value of twenty-five\nthousand dollars; and they have trumpeted the fact all over the country,\nand so repeatedly as almost to lead one to imagine that he is the\ngreatest and wealthiest man in all the world! James Forten, the\nreputable colored sail-maker of Philadelphia,--a gentleman of highly\npolished manners and superior intelligence,--with whom Devany worked as\na journeyman, can _buy him out_ three or four times over. Joseph Cassey,\nanother estimable and intelligent man of color, or the widow of Bishop\nAllen, both of Philadelphia, can purchase him. I mention their names,\nnot to extol them, but simply to show, that what begets fame in Liberia\nis unproductive here.\n\n[U] The following statement, recently published in the Philadelphia\n'Friend and Advocate of Truth,' is very creditable to the colored\ninhabitants of that city:\n\n    'Many erroneous opinions have prevailed, with regard to the true\n    character and condition of the free colored people of\n    Pennsylvania. They have been represented as an idle and\n    worthless class, furnishing inmates for our poor-houses and\n    penitentiaries. A few plain facts are sufficient to refute these\n    gratuitous allegations. In the city and suburbs of Philadelphia,\n    by the census of 1830, they constituted about eleven per cent.,\n    or one ninth of the whole population. From the account of the\n    guardians of the poor, printed by order of the board, it appears\n    that of the out-door poor receiving regular weekly supplies, in\n    the first month, 1830, the time of the greatest need, the people\n    of color were about one to twenty-three whites; or not quite\n    four per cent., a disproportion of whites to colored, of more\n    than two to one in favor of the latter. When it is considered\n    that they perform the lowest offices in the community--that the\n    avenues to what are esteemed the most honorable and profitable\n    professions in society, are in a great measure, if not wholly\n    closed against them, these facts are the more creditable to\n    them. One cause of this disproportion, which we presume is but\n    little known, but which is worthy of special notice, will be\n    found in the numerous societies among themselves for mutual aid.\n    These societies expended, in one year, about six thousand\n    dollars for the relief of the sick and the indigent of their own\n    color, from funds raised among themselves. Besides, the taxes\n    paid by the colored people of Philadelphia, exceed in amount the\n    sums expended out of the funds of the city for the relief of\n    their poor.'\n\nIt is also a fact that the proportion of whites in the alms-house in\nNew-York is greater than that of the blacks. I am aware that other\nevidence, of a different kind, may be adduced in other places; but it is\nin the highest degree unfair to measure the whole body of blacks by the\nwhole body of whites--for the privileges and advantages of the whites\nare as ten thousand to one: they monopolise almost every branch of\nbusiness and every pursuit of life--they have all the means necessary to\nmake men virtuous, intelligent, active, and opulent. Far different is\nthe situation of the free blacks. How slender are their means! how mean\nand limited their occupations! how inferior their advantages! Almost\nevery avenue to wealth, preferment and usefulness, is closed against\nthem. How are they persecuted! how avoided in the streets! how excluded\nfrom the benefits of society! To point at them the finger of scorn, to\ntaunt them for their inferiority or helplessness, is like putting out\nthe eyes and clipping the wings of the eagle, and then reproaching him\nbecause he can neither see nor fly. To boast of our superior refinement,\nintelligence and virtue, is the extreme of vainglory, and adding insult\nto injury. Shame! shame!\n\n\n\n\nSECTION IX.\n\nTHE AMERICAN COLONIZATION SOCIETY DENIES THE POSSIBILITY OF ELEVATING\nTHE BLACKS IN THIS COUNTRY.\n\n\nThe detestation of feeling, the fire of moral indignation, and the agony\nof soul which I have felt kindling and swelling within me, in the\nprogress of this review, under this section reach the acme of intensity.\nIt is impossible for the mind to conceive, or the tongue to utter, or\nthe pen to record, sentiments more derogatory to the character of a\nrepublican and Christian people than the following:\n\n    'Introduced as this class has been, in a way which cannot be\n    justified, injurious in its influence to the community, degraded\n    in character and miserable in condition, _forever excluded_, by\n    public sentiment, by law and by a physical distinction, from the\n    most powerful motives to exertion,' &c. * * 'In addition to all\n    the causes which tend to pollute, to degrade and render them\n    miserable, there are principles of _repulsion_ between them and\n    us, which can _never_ be overcome.' * * 'Their bodies are free,\n    their minds enslaved. They can neither bless their brethren in\n    servitude, nor rise from their own obscurity, nor add to the\n    purity of our morals, nor to our wealth, nor to our political\n    strength.' * * 'Let us recollect that our fathers have placed\n    them here; and that our prejudices, prejudices _too deep to be\n    eradicated_ while they remain among us, have produced the\n    standard of their morals.' * * 'Nor will it be questioned that\n    their establishment on the African coast ... will confer on them\n    invaluable blessings which _in this country_ they can _never_\n    enjoy.' * * 'They _must be_ hewers of wood and drawers of water.\n    Do what they will, there is but this one prospect before\n    them.'--[African Repository, vol. 1, pp. 34, 144, 162, 176, 226,\n    317.]\n\n\n    'Shut out from the privileges of citizens, separated from us by\n    the _insurmountable_ barrier of color, they can _never_\n    amalgamate with us, but must remain _for ever_ a distinct and\n    inferior race, repugnant to our republican feelings, and\n    dangerous to our republican institutions.' * * * 'It is not that\n    there are some, but that there are so many among us of a\n    different physical, if not moral, constitution, who _never_ can\n    amalgamate with the great body of our population.'--[African\n    Repository, vol. ii. pp. 188, 189, 338.]\n\n\n    'In consequence of his own inveterate habits, and the no less\n    inveterate prejudices of the whites, it is a sadly demonstrated\n    truth, that the negro _cannot, in this country_, become an\n    enlightened and useful citizen. Driven to the lowest stratum of\n    society, and enthralled there for melancholy ages, his mind\n    becomes proportionably grovelling, and to gratify his animal\n    desires is his most exalted aspiration.' * * 'The negro, _while\n    in this country_, will be treated as an inferior being.' * *\n    'Our slavery is such, as that no device of our philanthropy for\n    elevating the wretched subjects of its debasement to the\n    ordinary privileges of men, can descry one cheering glimpse of\n    hope that our object can _ever_ be accomplished. The very\n    commencing act of freedom to the slave, is to place him in a\n    condition still worse, if possible, both for his moral habits,\n    his outward provision, and for the community that embosoms him,\n    than even that, deplorable as it was, from which he has been\n    removed. He is now a freeman; but his complexion, his features,\n    every peculiarity of his person, pronounce to him another\n    doom,--that every wish he may conceive, every effort he can\n    make, shall be _little better than vain_. Even to every talent\n    and virtuous impulse which he may feel working in his bosom,\n    obstacles stand in impracticable array; not from a defect of\n    essential title to success, but from _a positive external law,\n    unreasoning and irreversible_.' * * 'The elevation of a degraded\n    class of beings to the privileges of freemen, which, though\n    free, they can _never_ enjoy, and to the prospects of a happy\n    immortality.' * * 'They again most solemnly repeat to the free\n    colored people of Virginia their belief, that _in Africa alone_\n    can they enjoy that complete emancipation from a degrading\n    inequality, which in a greater or less degree pervades the\n    United States, if not in the laws, in the whole frame and\n    structure of society, and which in its effects on their moral\n    and social state is scarcely less degrading than slavery\n    itself.'--[African Repository, vol. iii. pp. 25, 26, 66, 68,\n    345.]\n\n\n    'But there is one large class among the inhabitants of this\n    country--degraded and miserable--whom none of the efforts in\n    which you are accustomed to engage, can materially benefit.\n    Among the twelve millions who make up our census, two millions\n    are Africans--separated from the possessors of the soil by\n    birth, _by the brand of indelible ignominy_, by prejudices,\n    mutual, deep, _incurable_, by an _irreconcileable diversity of\n    interests_. They are aliens and outcasts;--they are, as a body,\n    degraded beneath the influence of nearly all the motives which\n    prompt other men to enterprise, and almost below the sphere of\n    virtuous affections. Whatever may be attempted for the general\n    improvement of society, their wants are untouched.--Whatever may\n    be effected for elevating the mass of the nation in the scale of\n    happiness or of intellectual and moral character, their\n    degradation is the same--dark, and deep, and _hopeless_.\n    Benevolence seems to overlook them, or struggles for their\n    benefit in vain. Patriotism forgets them, or remembers them only\n    with shame for what has been, and with dire forebodings, of what\n    is yet to come.' * * 'It is taken _for granted_ that in present\n    circumstances, any effort to produce a general and thorough\n    amelioration in the character and condition of the free people\n    of color must be to a great extent fruitless. In every part of\n    the United States there is a broad and _impassible_ line of\n    demarcation between every man who has _one drop_ of African\n    blood in his veins and every other class in the community. The\n    habits, the feelings, all the prejudices of society--prejudices\n    which neither _refinement_, nor _argument_, nor _education_, nor\n    _religion_ itself can subdue--mark the people of color, whether\n    bond or free, as the subjects of a degradation _inevitable_ and\n    _incurable_. The African in this country belongs by birth to the\n    very lowest station in society; and from that station _he can\n    never rise_, BE HIS TALENTS, HIS ENTERPRISE, HIS VIRTUES WHAT\n    THEY MAY.... They constitute a class by themselves--a class out\n    of which _no individual can be elevated_, and below which, none\n    can be depressed. And this is the difficulty, the invariable and\n    insuperable difficulty in the way of every scheme for their\n    benefit. Much can be done for them--much has been done; but\n    still they are, and, _in this country_, ALWAYS MUST BE a\n    depressed and abject race.'--[African Repository, vol. iv. pp.\n    117, 118, 119.]\n\n\n    'The distinctive complexion by which it is marked, _necessarily_\n    debars it from all familiar intercourse with the more favored\n    society that surrounds it, and of course denies to it _all hope_\n    of either social or political elevation, by means of individual\n    merit, however great, or individual exertions, however\n    unremitted.' * * 'It is deemed unnecessary to repeat what has\n    already been said, of the character of the population in\n    question, of its _hopeless degradation_, and its baneful\n    influence, in the situation in which it is now placed.' * * *\n    'The colored population of this country can _never_ rise to\n    respectability and happiness here.' * * 'It was at an early\n    period seen and acknowledged, that neither the objects of\n    benevolence nor the interests of the nation could be materially\n    benefitted by any plan or measures that permitted them to remain\n    within the United States.' * * 'They leave a country in which\n    though born and reared, they are strangers and aliens; where\n    severe necessity places them in a class of degraded beings.' * *\n    'With us they have been degraded by slavery, and STILL FURTHER\n    DEGRADED _by the mockery of nominal freedom_. We have\n    endeavored, but endeavored in vain, to restore them either to\n    self-respect, or to the respect of others. _It is not our fault\n    that we have failed_; it is not theirs. It has resulted from a\n    cause over which neither they, nor we, can ever have control.\n    _Here_, therefore, they must be _for ever debased_: more than\n    this, they must be _for ever useless_; more even than this, they\n    must be FOR EVER A NUISANCE, from which it were a blessing for\n    society to be rid. And yet they, and they only, are qualified\n    for colonizing Africa.' * * * 'Whether bond or free, their\n    presence will be _for ever a calamity_. Why then, in the name of\n    God, should we hesitate to encourage their departure? The\n    existence of this race among us; a race that can neither share\n    our blessings nor incorporate in our Society, is already felt to\n    be a curse.'--[African Repository, vol. v. pp. 51, 53, 179, 234,\n    238, 276, 278.]\n\n\n    'Is our posterity doomed to endure for ever not only all the\n    ills flowing from the state of slavery, but all which arise from\n    incongruous elements of population, separated from each other by\n    _invincible prejudices_, and by natural causes?' * * 'Here\n    _invincible prejudices_ exclude them from the enjoyment of the\n    society of the whites, and deny them all the advantages of\n    freemen. The bar, the pulpit, and our legislative halls are shut\n    to them by the irresistible force of public sentiment. No\n    talents however great, no piety however pure and devoted, no\n    patriotism however ardent, can secure their admission. They\n    constantly hear the accents, and behold the triumphs, of a\n    liberty _which here they can never enjoy_.' * * 'It is against\n    this increase of colored persons, who take but a nominal freedom\n    here, and _cannot rise_ from their degraded condition, that this\n    Society attempts to provide.' * * 'They may be emancipated; but\n    emancipation _cannot elevate their condition_ or augment their\n    capacity for self-preservation.--Want and suffering will\n    gradually diminish their numbers, and they will disappear, as\n    the inferior has always disappeared, before the superior race.'\n    * * 'Our great and good men purposed it primarily as a system of\n    relief for two millions of fellow men in our own county--a\n    population dangerous to ourselves and _necessarily degraded\n    here_.' * * 'The free blacks, by the moral necessity of their\n    civil disabilities, are and _must for ever be a\n    nuisance_--equally, and more to the owner of slaves, than to\n    other members of the community.'--[African Repository, vol. vi.\n    pp. 12, 17, 82, 168, 295, 368.]\n\n\n    'Incorporated into our country as freemen, yet separated from it\n    by odious and degrading distinctions, they feel themselves\n    condemned to a hopeless and debasing inferiority. They know that\n    their very complexion will _for ever_ exclude them from the\n    rank, the privileges, the honors, of freemen. No matter how\n    great their industry, or how abundant their wealth--no matter\n    what their attainments in literature, science or the arts--no\n    matter how correct their deportment or what respect their\n    characters may inspire, they can never, NO, NEVER be raised to a\n    footing of equality, not even to a familiar intercourse with the\n    surrounding society.' * * 'To us it seems evident that the man\n    of color may as soon _change his complexion_, as rise above all\n    sense of past inferiority and debasement in a community, from\n    the social intercourse of which, he must expect to be in a great\n    measure excluded, not only until prejudice shall have no\n    existence therein, but until the freedom of man in regulating\n    his social relations is proved to be abridged by some law of\n    morality or the gospel.... Is it not _wise_, then, for the free\n    people of color and their friends to _admit_, what cannot\n    reasonably be doubted, that the people of color must, in this\n    country, remain for ages, _probably for ever_, a separate and\n    inferior caste, weighed down by causes, powerful, universal,\n    inevitable; _which neither legislation nor christianity can\n    remove?_'\n\n    'Let the free black in this country toil from youth to age in\n    the honorable pursuit of wisdom--let him store his mind with the\n    most valuable researches of science and literature--and let him\n    add to a highly gifted and cultivated intellect, a piety pure,\n    undefiled, and \"unspotted from the world\"--it is all nothing: he\n    would not be received into the very lowest walks of society. If\n    we were constrained to admire so uncommon a being, our very\n    admiration would mingle with disgust, because, in the physical\n    organization of his frame, we meet an insurmountable barrier,\n    even to an approach to social intercourse, and in the Egyptian\n    color, which nature has stamped upon his features, a principle\n    of repulsion so strong as to forbid the idea of a communion\n    either of interest or of feeling, as utterly abhorrent. Whether\n    these feelings are founded in reason or not, we will not now\n    inquire--perhaps they are not. But education and habit and\n    prejudice have so firmly riveted them upon us, that they have\n    become as strong as nature itself--and to expect their removal,\n    or even their slightest modification, would be as idle and\n    preposterous as to expect that we could reach forth our hands,\n    and remove the mountains from their foundations into the\n    vallies, which are beneath them.'--[African Repository, vol.\n    vii. pp. 100, 195, 196, 231.]\n\n\n    'And can we not find some spot on this large globe which will\n    receive them kindly, and where they may escape those prejudices\n    which, in this country, must _ever_ keep them _inferior_ and\n    _degraded_ members of society?'--[Third Annual Report.]\n\n\n    'A population which, even if it were not literally enslaved,\n    _must for ever remain_ in a state of degradation no better than\n    bondage.' * * 'Here the thing is impossible; a slave cannot be\n    really emancipated. You may call him free, you may enact a\n    statute book of laws to make him free, but you cannot bleach him\n    into the enjoyment of freedom.' * * 'The Soodra is not farther\n    separated from the Brahmin in regard to all his privileges,\n    civil, intellectual, and moral, than the negro is from the white\n    man by the prejudices which result from the difference made\n    between them by the God of nature. A barrier more difficult to\n    be surmounted than the institution of the caste, cuts off, and\n    while the present state of society continues _must always_ cut\n    off, the negro from all that is valuable in\n    citizenship.'--[Seventh Annual Report.]\n\n\n    'Let the arm of our government be stretched out for the defence\n    of our African colony, and this objection will no longer exist.\n    There, _and there alone_, the colored man can enjoy the motives\n    for honorable exertion.'--[Ninth Annual Report.]\n\n\n    'In the distinctive and indelible marks of their color, and the\n    prejudices of the people, an _insuperable_ obstacle has been\n    placed to the execution of any plan for elevating their\n    character, and placing them on a footing with their brethren of\n    the same common family.'--[Tenth Annual Report.]\n\n\n    'Far from shuddering at the thought of leaving the comfortable\n    fireside among us, for a distant and unknown shore yet covered\n    by the wilderness, they have preferred real liberty there, to a\n    mockery of freedom here, and have turned their eyes to Africa,\n    as the only resting place and refuge of the colored man, in the\n    deluge of oppression that surrounds him.'--[Eleventh Annual\n    Report.]\n\n\n    'The race in question were known, as a class, to be destitute,\n    depraved--the victims of all forms of social misery. The\n    peculiarity of their fate was, that this was not their condition\n    by accident or transiently, but _inevitably_ and _immutably_,\n    whilst they remained in their present place, by a law as\n    infallible in its operation, as any of physical nature.' * *\n    'Their residence amongst us is attended by evil consequences to\n    society--causes _beyond the control of the human will_ must\n    prevent their _ever_ rising to equality with the whites.' * *\n    'The Managers consider it clear that causes exist, and are\n    operating to prevent their improvement and elevation to any\n    considerable extent as a class, in this country, which are\n    fixed, not only beyond the control of the friends of humanity,\n    BUT OF ANY HUMAN POWER. _Christianity cannot do for them here,\n    what it will do for them in Africa._ This is not the fault of\n    the colored man, _nor of the white man, nor of Christianity; but\n    an ordination of Providence, and no more to be changed than the\n    laws of nature_. Yet, were it otherwise, did no cause exist but\n    prejudice, to prevent the elevation, in this country, of our\n    free colored population, still, were this prejudice so strong\n    (which is indeed the fact) as to forbid the hope of any great\n    favorable change in their condition, what folly for them to\n    reject blessings in another land, because it is prejudice which\n    debars them from such blessings in this! But in truth no\n    legislation, no humanity, no benevolence can make them\n    insensible to their past condition, can unfetter their minds,\n    can relieve them from the disadvantages resulting from inferior\n    means and attainments, can abridge the right of freemen to\n    regulate their social intercourse and relations, which will\n    leave them _for ever a separate and depressed class_ in the\n    community; in fine, nothing can in any way do much here to raise\n    them from their miseries to respectability, honor and\n    usefulness.'--[Fifteenth Annual Report.]\n\n\n    'That no adequate means of attaining this great end existed,\n    short of the segregation of the black population from the\n    white--that an IMPASSIBLE BARRIER existed in the state of\n    society in this country, between these classes--that whatever\n    might be the liberal sentiments of some good men among us, the\n    blacks were marked with an _indelible note of inferiority_--they\n    saw placed high before them a station which here they _could\n    never reach_, and by a natural reaction they fell back into a\n    position where self-respect lent them no stimulus, and virtuous\n    principles and actions lost more than half their motive--that in\n    fact they were a branded and degraded caste--the Pariahs of the\n    United States, and destined _as long as they remained with us_\n    to be hewers of wood and drawers of water--that the increase of\n    this population in a greater ratio than the whites, was\n    calculated to excite just apprehension--that no one could say\n    that when a few more millions should be added to their numbers,\n    the example of Hayti might not rouse them to an effort to break\n    their chains; and he would ask what man could contemplate,\n    without shuddering, all the complicated atrocity and bloody\n    revenge of such a revolt?' * * 'Those persons of color who have\n    been emancipated, are only nominally free, and the whole race,\n    so long as they remain among us, and whether they be slaves or\n    free, must _necessarily_ be kept in a condition full of\n    wretchedness to them and full of danger to the whites.'--[Second\n    Annual Report of New-York State Colonization Society.]\n\n\n    'Many of those citizens who ardently wish for the removal of\n    such of the free colored population, as are willing to go, to\n    any place where they could enjoy, _what they can never enjoy\n    here_, that is, all the advantages of society,' &c. * * 'That\n    the free colored population in this country labor under the most\n    oppressive disadvantages, which their freedom can by no means\n    counterbalance, is too obvious to admit of doubt. I waive all\n    inquiry whether this is right or wrong. I speak of things as\n    they are--not as they might, or as they ought to be. They are\n    cut off from the most remote chance of amalgamation with the\n    white population, by feelings or prejudices, call them what you\n    will, that are ineradicable. Their situation is more unfavorable\n    than that of many slaves. \"With all the burdens, cares and\n    responsibilities of freedom, they have few or none of its\n    substantial benefits. Their associations are, and must be,\n    chiefly with slaves. Their right of suffrage gives them little,\n    if any, political influence, and they are practically, if not\n    theoretically excluded from representation and weight in our\n    public councils.\" _No merit, no services, no talents can elevate\n    them to a level with the whites._ Occasionally, an exception may\n    arise. A colored individual, of great talents, merits, and\n    wealth, may emerge from the crowd. Cases of this kind are to the\n    last degree rare. The colored people are subject to legal\n    disabilities, more or less galling and severe, in almost every\n    state of the Union. Who has not deeply regretted their late\n    harsh expulsion from the State of Ohio, and their being forced\n    to abandon the country of their birth, which had profited by\n    their labors, and to take refuge in a foreign land? Severe\n    regulations have been recently passed in Louisiana, to prevent\n    the introduction of free people of color into the State.\n    Whenever they appear, they are to be banished in sixty days. The\n    strong opposition to a negro college in New-Haven, speaks in a\n    language not to be mistaken, the jealousy with which they are\n    regarded. And there is no reason to expect, that the lapse of\n    centuries will make any change in this respect. THEY WILL ALWAYS\n    UNHAPPILY BE REGARDED AS AN INFERIOR RACE.'--[Mathew Carey's\n    'Reflections.']\n\n\n    'Instances of emancipation have not essentially benefitted the\n    African, and _probably never will_, while he remains among us.\n    In this country, public opinion does, _and will_, consign him to\n    an inferiority, _above which he can never rise_. Emancipation\n    can NEVER make the African, while he remains in this country, a\n    real free man. Degradation MUST and WILL press him to the earth;\n    no cheering, stimulating influence will he here feel, _in any of\n    the walks of life_.'--[Circular of the Massachusetts\n    Colonization Society for 1832.]\n\n\n    'With us color is the bar. Nature has raised up barriers between\n    the races, _which no man with a proper sense of the dignity of\n    his species desires to see surmounted_.' * * 'What effects does\n    emancipation produce without removal? A discontented and useless\n    population; having no sympathies with the rest of the community,\n    _doomed by immoveable barriers to eternal degradation_. I know\n    that there are among us, those of warm and generous hearts, who\n    believe that we may retain the black man here, and raise him up\n    to the full and perfect stature of human nature. That degree of\n    improvement can never take place except the races be\n    amalgamated; and amalgamation is a day-dream. It may seem\n    strong, but it is true that \"a skin not colored like our own\"\n    will separate them from us, _as long as our feelings continue a\n    part of our nature_.'--[Speeches delivered at the formation of\n    the Young Men's Auxiliary Colonization Society in New-York\n    city.]\n\n\n    'These [subsistence, political and social considerations] they\n    can _never_ enjoy here.' * * 'You may manumit the slave, but you\n    cannot make him a white man. He still remains a negro or a\n    mulatto. The mark and the recollection of his origin and former\n    state still adhere to him; the feelings produced by that\n    condition, in his own mind and in the minds of the whites, still\n    exist; he is associated by his color, and by these recollections\n    and feelings, with the class of slaves; and a barrier is thus\n    raised between him and the whites, that is between him and the\n    free class, which he can never hope to transcend.' * * 'A vast\n    majority of the free blacks, as we have seen, are and _must be_,\n    an idle, worthless and thievish race.'--[First Annual Report.]\n\n\n    'Here they are condemned to a state of _hopeless_ inferiority,\n    and consequent degradation. As they _cannot_ emerge from this\n    state, they lose, by degrees, the hope, at last the desire of\n    emerging.'--[Second Annual Report.]\n\n\n    'The existence in any community of a people forming a distinct\n    and degraded caste, _who are forever excluded by the fiat of\n    society and the laws of the land_, from all hopes of equality in\n    social intercourse and political privileges, must, from the\n    nature of things, be fraught with unmixed evil. Did this\n    committee believe it possible, by any acts of legislation, to\n    remove this blotch upon the body politic, by so elevating the\n    social and moral condition of the blacks in Ohio, that they\n    would be received into society on terms of equality, and would\n    by common consent be admitted to a participation of political\n    privileges--WERE SUCH A THING POSSIBLE, even after a lapse of\n    time and by pecuniary sacrifice, most gladly would they\n    recommend such measures as would subserve the cause of humanity,\n    by producing such a result. For the purposes of legislation, it\n    is sufficient to know, that the blacks in Ohio _must always\n    exist as a separate and degraded race_, that when the leopard\n    shall change his spots and the Ethiopian his skin, then, BUT NOT\n    TILL THEN, may we expect that the descendants of Africans will\n    be admitted into society, on terms of social and political\n    equality.'--[Report of a Select Committee of the Legislature of\n    Ohio.]\n\n\n    'No possible contingency can ever break down or weaken the\n    impassable barrier which at present separates the whites from\n    social communion with the blacks. Neither education, nor wealth,\n    nor any other means of distinction known to our communities, can\n    elevate blacks to a level with whites, in the United\n    States.'--[American Spectator.]\n\n\n    'However unjust may be the prejudices which exist in the whites\n    against the blacks, and which operate so injuriously to the\n    latter--_they are probably too deep to be obliterated_; and true\n    philanthropy would dictate the separation of two races of men,\n    so different, WHOM NATURE HERSELF HAS FORBIDDEN TO MINGLE INTO\n    ONE; but of whom, while they remain associated, _one or the\n    other must of necessity have the superiority_. For the future\n    welfare of both, we trust that the project of colonizing the\n    Africans, as they shall gradually be emancipated, although a\n    work of time, may not be altogether hopeless.'--[Brandon (Vt.)\n    Telegraph.]\n\n\n    'The character and circumstances of this portion of the\n    community fall under every man's notice, and the least\n    observation shows that they _cannot_ be useful or happy among\n    us.'--[Oration by Gabriel P. Disosway, Esq.]\n\n\n    'It is of vast importance to these people, as a class, that\n    their hopes and expectations of temporal prosperity _should be\n    turned to Africa_, and that they should not regard our country\n    as their permanent residence, or as that country in which they\n    will _ever_, as a people, enjoy equal privileges and blessings\n    with the whites.'--[Rev. Mr Gurley's Letter to the Rev. S. S.\n    Jocelyn.]\n\n\n    'To attain solid happiness and permanent respectability, they\n    should now remove to a more congenial clime.... To raise them to\n    a level with the whites is AN IMPOSSIBILITY.'--[New-Haven\n    Religious Intelligencer.]\n\n\n    'In Liberia--the land of their forefathers, they will be\n    restored to real freedom, which they have never yet enjoyed, and\n    which it is folly for them to expect they can ever enjoy among\n    the whites.'--[Norfolk Herald.]\n\n'My bowels, my bowels! I am pained at my very heart; my heart maketh a\nnoise in me.' Are we pagans, are we savages, are we devils? Can pagans,\nor savages, or devils, exhibit a more implacable spirit, than is seen in\nthe foregoing extracts? It is enough to cause the very stones to cry\nout, and the beasts of the field to rebuke us.\n\nOf this I am sure: no man, who is truly willing to admit the people of\ncolor to an equality with himself, can see any insuperable difficulty in\neffecting their elevation. When, therefore, I hear an\nindividual--especially a professor of Christianity--strenuously\ncontending that there can be no fellowship with them, I cannot help\nsuspecting the sincerity of his own republicanism or piety, or thinking\nthat the beam is in his own eye. My bible assures me that the day is\ncoming when even the 'wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard\nshall lie down with the kid, and the wolf and the young lion and the\nfatling together;' and, if this be possible, I see no cause why those of\nthe same species--God's rational creatures--fellow countrymen, in truth,\ncannot dwell in harmony together.\n\nHow abominably hypocritical, how consummately despicable, how\nincorrigibly tyrannical must this whole nation appear in the eyes of the\npeople of Europe!--professing to be the _friends_ of the free blacks,\nactuated by the purest motives of benevolence toward them, desirous to\nmake atonement for past wrongs, challenging the admiration of the world\nfor their patriotism, philanthropy and piety--and yet (hear, O heaven!\nand be astonished, O earth!) shamelessly proclaiming, with a voice\nlouder than thunder, and an aspect malignant as sin, that while their\ncolored countrymen remain among them, they must be trampled beneath\ntheir feet, treated as inferior beings, deprived of all the invaluable\nprivileges of freemen, separated by the brand of indelible ignominy, and\ndebased to a level with the beasts that perish! Yea, that they may as\nsoon change their complexion as rise from their degradation! that no\ndevice of philanthropy can benefit them here! that they constitute a\nclass out of which _no individual can be elevated_, and below which,\n_none can be depressed_! that no talents however great, no piety however\npure and devoted, no patriotism however ardent, no industry however\ngreat, no wealth however abundant, can raise them to a footing of\nequality with the whites! that 'let them toil from youth to old age in\nthe honorable pursuit of wisdom--let them store their minds with the\nmost valuable researches of science and literature--and let them add to\na highly gifted and cultivated intellect, a piety pure, undefiled, and\nunspotted from the world, _it is all nothing_--they would not be\nreceived into the _very lowest walks of society_--admiration of such\nuncommon beings would mingle with _disgust_!' Yea, that 'there is a\nbroad and impassible line of demarcation between every man who has _one\ndrop_ of African blood in his veins and every other class in the\ncommunity'! Yea, that 'the habits, the feelings, all the prejudices of\nsociety--prejudices which neither _refinement_, nor _argument_, nor\n_education_, nor RELIGION itself can subdue--mark the people of color,\nwhether bond or free, as the subjects of a degradation _inevitable_ and\n_incurable_'! Yea, that '_Christianity_ cannot do for them here, what it\nwill do for them in Africa'! Yea, that 'this is not the fault of the\ncolored man, NOR OF THE WHITE MAN, nor of Christianity; but AN\nORDINATION OF PROVIDENCE, _and no more to be changed than the_ LAWS OF\nNATURE'!!!\n\nAgain I ask, are we pagans, are we savages, are we devils? Search the\nrecords of heathenism, and sentiments more hostile to the spirit of the\ngospel, or of a more black and blasphemous complexion than these, cannot\nbe found. I believe that they are libels upon the character of my\ncountrymen, which time will wipe off. I call upon the spirits of the\njust made perfect in heaven, upon all who have experienced the love of\nGod in their souls here below, upon the christian converts in India and\nthe islands of the sea, to sustain me in the assertion that there _is_\npower enough in the religion of Jesus Christ to melt down the most\nstubborn prejudices, to overthrow the highest walls of partition, to\nbreak the strongest caste, to improve and elevate the most degraded, to\nunite in fellowship the most hostile, and to equalize and bless all its\nrecipients. Make me _sure_ that there is not, and I will give it up, now\nand for ever. 'In Christ Jesus, all are one: there is neither Jew nor\nGreek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor\nfemale.'\n\nThese sentiments were not uttered by infidels, nor by worthless\nwretches, but in many instances by professors of religion and _ministers\nof the gospel_! and in almost every instance by reputedly the most\nenlightened, patriotic and benevolent men in the land! Tell it not\nabroad! publish it not in the streets of Calcutta! Even the eminent\nPresident of Union College, (Rev. Dr. Nott,) could so far depart,\nunguardedly I hope, from christian love and integrity, as to utter this\nlanguage in an address in behalf of the Colonization Society:--'With us\nthey [the free people of color] have been degraded by slavery, and\n_still further degraded by the mockery of nominal freedom_.' Were this\ntrue, it would imply that we of the free States are more barbarous and\nneglectful than even the traffickers in souls and men-stealers at the\nsouth. We have not, it is certain, treated our colored brethren as the\nlaw of kindness and the ties of brotherhood demand; but have we outdone\nslaveholders in cruelty? Were it true, to forge new fetters for the\nlimbs of these degraded beings would be an act of benevolence. But their\ncondition is as much superior to that of the slaves, as happiness is to\nmisery. The second portion of this work, containing their proceedings in\na collective capacity, shows whether they have made any progress in\nintelligence, in virtue, in piety, and in happiness, since their\nliberation. Again he says: '_We have endeavored_, but endeavored in\nvain, _to restore them either to self-respect, or to the respect of\nothers_.' It is painful to contradict so worthy an individual; but\nnothing is more certain than that this statement is altogether\nerroneous. We have derided, we have shunned, we have neglected them, in\nevery possible manner. They have had to rise not only under the\nmountainous weight of their own ignorance and vice, but with the\nadditional and constant pressure of our contempt and injustice. In\ndespite of us, they have done well. Again: '_It is not our fault that we\nhave failed_; it is not theirs.' We _are_ wholly and exclusively in\nfault. What have we done to raise them up from the earth? What have we\n_not_ done to keep them down? Once more: 'It has resulted from a cause\nover which neither they, nor we, can ever have control.' In other words,\nthey have been made with skins not colored like our own,' and\n_therefore_ we cannot recognise them as fellow-countrymen, or treat them\nlike rational beings! One sixth of our whole population _must_, FOR\nEVER, in this land, remain a wretched, ignorant and degraded race,--and\nyet nobody be culpable--_none but the Creator_ who has made us\n_incapable_ of doing unto others as we would have them do unto us!\nHorrible--horrible! If this be not an impeachment of Infinite\nGoodness,--I do not say intentionally but _really_,--I cannot define it.\nThe same sentiment is reiterated by a writer in the Southern Religious\nTelegraph, who says--'The exclusion of the free black from the civil and\nliterary privileges of our country, depends on another circumstance than\nthat of character--a circumstance, which, as it was entirely beyond his\ncontrol, so it is unchangeable, and will for ever operate. This\ncircumstance is--_he is a black man_'!! And the Board of Managers of the\nParent Society, in their Fifteenth Annual Report, declare that '_an\nordination of Providence_' prevents the general improvement of the\npeople of color in this land! How are God and our country dishonored,\nand the requirements of the gospel contemned, by this ungodly plea!\nHaving satisfied himself that the Creator is alone blameable for the\npast and present degradation of the free blacks, Dr. Nott draws the\nnatural and unavoidable inference that 'here, therefore, they must be\n_for ever debased, for ever useless, for ever a nuisance, for ever a\ncalamity_,' and then gravely declares (mark the climax!) 'and yet THEY,\n[these ignorant, helpless, miserable creatures!] AND THEY ONLY, are\nqualified for colonizing Africa'!! 'Why then,' he asks, '_in the name of\nGod_,'--(the abrupt appeal, in this connexion, seems almost\nprofane,)--'should we hesitate to encourage their departure?'\n\nNature, we are positively assured, has raised up impassable barriers\nbetween the races. I understand by this expression, that the blacks are\nof a different species from ourselves, so that all attempts to generate\noffspring between us and them must prove as abortive, as between a man\nand a beast. It is a law of Nature that the lion shall not beget the\nlamb, or the leopard the bear. Now the planters at the south have\nclearly demonstrated, that an amalgamation with their slaves is not only\npossible, but a matter of course, and eminently productive. It neither\nends in abortion nor produces monsters. In truth, it is often so\ndifficult in the slave States to distinguish between the fruits of this\nintercourse and the children of white parents, that witnesses are\nsummoned at court to solve the problem! Talk of the barriers of Nature,\nwhen the land swarms with living refutations of the statement! Happy\nindeed would it be for many a female slave, if such a barrier could\nexist during the period of her servitude to protect her from the lust of\nher master!\n\nIn France,[W] England,[X] Spain, and other countries, persons of color\nmaintain as high a rank and are treated as honorably as any other class\nof the inhabitants, in despite of the 'impassable barriers of Nature.'\nYet it is proclaimed to the world by the Colonization Society, that the\nAmerican people can never be as republican in their feelings and\npractices as Frenchmen, Spaniards or Englishmen! Nay, that _religion_\nitself cannot subdue their malignant prejudices, or induce them to treat\ntheir dark-skinned brethren in accordance with their professions of\nrepublicanism! My countrymen! is it so? Are you willing thus to be held\nup as tyrants and hypocrites for ever? as less magnanimous and just than\nthe populace of Europe? No--no! I cannot give you up as incorrigibly\nwicked, nor my country as sealed over to destruction. My confidence\nremains, like the oak--like the Alps--unshaken, storm-proof. I am not\ndiscouraged--I am not distrustful. I still place an unwavering reliance\nupon the omnipotence of truth. I still believe that the demands of\njustice will be satisfied; that the voice of bleeding humanity will melt\nthe most obdurate hearts; and that the land will be redeemed and\nregenerated by an enlightened and energetic public opinion. As long as\nthere remains among us a single copy of the Declaration of Independence,\nor of the New Testament, I will not despair of the social and political\nelevation of my sable countrymen. Already a rallying-cry is heard from\nthe East and the West, from the North and the South; towns and cities\nand states are in commotion; volunteers are trooping to the field; the\nspirit of freedom and the fiend of oppression are in mortal conflict,\nand all neutrality is at an end. Already the line of division is drawn:\non one side are the friends of truth and liberty, with their banner\nfloating high in the air, on which are inscribed in letters of light,\n'IMMEDIATE ABOLITION'--'NO COMPROMISE WITH OPPRESSORS'--'EQUAL\nRIGHTS'--'NO EXPATRIATION'--'DUTY, AND NOT CONSEQUENCES'--'LET JUSTICE\nBE DONE, THOUGH THE HEAVENS SHOULD FALL!'--On the opposite side stand\nthe supporters and apologists of slavery in mighty array, with a black\nflag on which are seen in bloody characters, 'AFRICAN\nCOLONIZATION'--'GRADUAL ABOLITION'--'RIGHTS OF PROPERTY'--'POLITICAL\nEXPEDIENCY'--'NO EQUALITY'--'NO REPENTANCE'--'EXPULSION OF THE\nBLACKS'--'PROTECTION TO TYRANTS!'--Who can doubt the issue of this\ncontroversy, or which side has the approbation of the Lord of Hosts?\n\nIn the African Repository for September, 1831, there is an elaborate\ndefence of the Colonization Society, in which occurs the following\npassage:--'It has been said that the Society is unfriendly to the\nimprovement of the free people of color while they remain in the United\nStates. _The charge is not true._' I reiterate the charge; and the\nevidence of its correctness is before the reader. The Society prevents\nthe education of this class in the most insidious and effectual manner,\nby constantly asserting that they must always be a degraded people in\nthis country, and that the cultivation of their minds will avail them\nnothing. Who does not readily perceive that the prevalence of this\nopinion must at once paralyze every effort for their improvement? For it\nwould be a waste of time and means, and unpardonable folly, for us to\nattempt the accomplishment of an impossible work--of that which we know\nwill result in disappointment. Every discriminating and candid mind must\nsee and acknowledge, that, to perpetuate their ignorance, it is only\nnecessary to make the belief prevalent that they 'must be for ever\ndebased, for ever useless, for ever an inferior race,' and their\nthraldom is sure.\n\nI am aware that a school has been established for the education of\ncolored youth, under the auspices of the Society; but it is sufficient\nto state that none but those who consent to emigrate to Liberia are\nembraced in its provisions.\n\nIn the Appendix to the Seventh Annual Report, p. 94, the position is\nassumed that 'it is a well established point, that the public safety\nforbids either the emancipation or _general instruction_ of the slaves.'\nThe recent enactment of laws in some of the slave States, prohibiting\nthe instruction of free colored persons as well as slaves, has received\nsomething more than a tacit approval from the organ of the Society. A\nprominent advocate of the Society, (G. P. Disosway, Esq.,) in an oration\non the fourth of July, 1831, alluding to these laws, says,--'The public\nsafety of our brethren at the South requires them [the slaves] to be\nkept ignorant and uninstructed.' The Editor of the Southern Religious\nTelegraph, who is a clergyman and a warm friend of the colonization\nscheme, remarking upon the instruction of the colored population of\nVirginia, says:\n\n    'Teaching a servant to read, is not teaching him the religion of\n    Christ. The great majority of the white people of our country\n    are taught to read; but probably not one in five, of those who\n    have the Bible, is _a christian_, in the legitimate sense of the\n    term. If black people are as depraved and as averse to true\n    religion as the white people are--and we know of no difference\n    between them in this respect--teaching them to read the Bible\n    will make christians of _very_ few of them. [What a plea!] ...\n    If christian masters were to teach their servants to read, we\n    apprehend that they would not feel the obligation as they ought\n    to feel it, of giving them oral instruction, and often\n    impressing divine truth on their minds. [!!] ... If the free\n    colored people were generally taught to read, _it might be an\n    inducement to them to remain in this country_. WE WOULD OFFER\n    THEM NO SUCH INDUCEMENT. [!!] ... A knowledge of letters and of\n    all the arts and sciences, cannot counteract the influences\n    under which the character of the negro _must_ be formed in this\n    country.... It appears to us that a greater benefit may be\n    conferred on the free colored people, by planting good schools\n    for them in Africa, and encouraging them to remove there, than\n    by giving them the knowledge of letters to make them contented\n    in their present condition.'--[Telegraph of Feb. 19, 1831.]\n\nJesuitism was never more subtle--Papal domination never more exclusive.\nThe gospel of peace and mercy preached by him who holds that ignorance\nis the mother of devotion! who would sequestrate the bible from the eyes\nof his fellow men! who contends that knowledge is the enemy of religion!\nwho denies the efficacy of education in elevating a degraded population!\nwho would make men brutes in order to make them better christians! who\ndesires to make the clergy infallible guides to heaven! Now what folly\nand impiety is all this! Besides, is it not mockery to preach\nrepentance, and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, to the benighted blacks,\nand at the same time deny them the right and ability to 'search the\nscriptures' for themselves?\n\nThe proposition which was made last year to erect a College for the\neducation of colored youth in New-Haven, it is well known, created an\nextraordinary and most disgraceful tumult in that place, (the hot-bed of\nAfrican colonization,) and was generally scouted by the friends of the\nSociety in other places. The American Spectator at Washington, (next to\nthe African Repository, the mouth-piece of the Society,) used the\nfollowing language, in relation to the violent proceedings of the\ncitizens of New-Haven: 'We not only _approve the course_, which they\nhave pursued, but we _admire the moral courage_, which induced them,\n_for the love of right_, (!) to incur the censure of both sections of\nthe country.'\n\nAs a farther illustration of the complacency with which colonizationists\nregard the laws prohibiting the instruction of the blacks, I extract the\nfollowing paragraph from the 'Proceedings of the New-York State\nColonization Society, on its second anniversary:'\n\n    'It is the business of the free--_their safety requires it_--to\n    keep the slaves in ignorance. Their education is utterly\n    prohibited. Educate them, and they break their fetters. Suppose\n    the slaves of the south to have the knowledge of freemen, they\n    would be free, or be exterminated by the whites. This renders it\n    necessary to prevent their instruction--to keep them from Sunday\n    Schools, and other means of gaining knowledge. But a few days\n    ago, a proposition was made in the legislature of Georgia, to\n    allow them so much instruction as to enable them to read the\n    bible; which was promptly rejected by a large majority. I do not\n    mention this for the purpose of _condemning the policy_ of the\n    slaveholding States, but to lament its _necessity_.'\n\nElias B. Caldwell, one of the founders, and the first Secretary of the\nParent Society, in a speech delivered at its formation, advanced the\nfollowing monstrous sentiments:\n\n    'The more you improve the condition of these people, the more\n    you cultivate their minds, the more _miserable_ you make them in\n    their present state. You give them a higher relish for those\n    privileges _which they can never attain_, and turn what you\n    intend for a blessing into a curse. No, if they must remain in\n    their present situation, _keep them in the lowest state of\n    ignorance and degradation_. The nearer you bring them to the\n    condition of _brutes_, the better chance do you give them of\n    possessing their apathy.'\n\nSo, then, the American Colonization Society advocates, and to a great\nextent perpetuates the ignorance and degradation of the colored\npopulation of the United States!\n\nIn a critical examination of the pages of the African Repository, and of\nthe reports and addresses of the Parent Society and its auxiliaries, I\ncannot find in a single instance any impeachment of the conduct and\nfeelings of society toward the people of color, or any hint that the\nprejudice which is so prevalent against them is unmanly and sinful, or\nany evidence of contrition for past injustice, or any remonstrance or\nentreaty with a view to a change of public sentiment, or any symptoms of\nmoral indignation at such unchristian and anti-republican treatment. On\nthe contrary, I find the doctrine every where inculcated that this\nhatred and contempt, this abuse and proscription, are not only\nexcusable, but the natural, inevitable and incurable effects of\nconstitutional dissimilitude, growing out of an ordination of\nProvidence, for which there is no remedy but a separation between the\ntwo races. If the free blacks, then, have been 'still further degraded\nby the mockery of nominal freedom,' if they 'must always be a separate\nand degraded race,' if 'degradation must and will press them to the\nearth,' if from their present station 'they can never rise, be their\ntalents, their enterprise, their virtues what they may,' if 'in Africa\nalone, they can enjoy the motives for honorable ambition,' the American\nColonization Society is responsible for their debasement and misery; for\nas it numbers among its supporters the most influential men in our\ncountry, and boasts of having the approbation of an overwhelming\nmajority of the wise and good whose examples are laws, it is able, were\nit willing, to effect a radical change in public sentiment--nay, it is\nat the present time public sentiment itself. But though it has done\nmuch, and may do more, (all that it can it will do,) to depress,\nimpoverish and dispirit the free people of color, and to strengthen and\ninfluence mutual antipathies, it is the purpose of God, I am fully\npersuaded, to humble the pride of the American people by rendering the\nexpulsion of our colored countrymen utterly impracticable, and the\nnecessity for their admission to equal rights imperative. As neither\nmountains of prejudice, nor the massy shackles of law and of public\nopinion, have been able to keep them down to a level with slaves, I\nconfidently anticipate their exaltation among ourselves. Through the\nvista of time,--a short distance only,--I see them here, not in Africa,\nnot bowed to the earth, or derided and persecuted as at present, not\nwith a downcast air or an irresolute step, but standing erect as men\ndestined heavenward, unembarrassed, untrammelled, with none to molest or\nmake them afraid.\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[V] Walker's Appeal.\n\n[W] Why is it that the free people of color are now, in almost every\npart of our country, threatened with banishment from State to State, and\nwith hunting from city to city, until there shall be no place for the\nsoles of their feet in this their native land? Is it because they are in\nreality, as slaveholders tell us, an inferior race of beings? No, my\nfriends: their consistent conduct, their polished manners, and their\ngreat respectability, wherever they have enjoyed the advantages of\nequality of education and equality of motives, proclaim the contrary.\nThe true cause of this almost universal prescription is to be found in\nthe melancholy fact that we have been guilty of the most atrocious\ninjustice to their forefathers and to themselves. We would therefore now\nbanish the evidence of our guilt from before our eyes: for whom a man\nhas injured, he is almost sure to hate. Some of the finest men I met\nwith, during a residence of three years in London and Paris, were the\noffspring of African mothers. There no distinction is made in any grade\nof society, on account of color. I have repeatedly seen black gentlemen\nsitting on the sofas, conversing with the ladies, at the hospitable\nmansion of that universal philanthropist, LAFAYETTE; and there were no\npersons present who appeared more respectable, or who were more\nrespected.--[Address of Arnold Buffum, President of the New-England\nAnti-Slavery Society, delivered in Boston, Feb. 16, 1832.]\n\n[X] In England, it is common to see respectable and genteel people open\ntheir pews when a black stranger enters the church; and at hotels,\nnobody thinks it a degradation to have a colored traveller sit at the\nsame table. We have heard a well authenticated anecdote, which\nillustrates the different state of feeling in the two countries on this\nsubject. A wealthy American citizen was residing at London for a season,\nwhich time the famous Mr Prince Saunders was there. The London breakfast\nhour is very late; and Prince Saunders happened to call upon the\nAmerican while his family were taking their morning repast. Politeness\nand native good feelings prompted the lady to ask her guest to take a\ncup of coffee--but then the _prejudices of society_--how could she\novercome _them_? True, he was a gentleman in character, manners and\ndress; but he had a black skin; and how could white skins sit at the\nsame table with him? If his _character_ had been as black as perdition,\nthe difficulty might have been overcome, however reluctantly; but his\n_skin_ being black, it was altogether out of the question. So the lady\nsipped her coffee, and Prince Saunders sat at the window, occasionally\nspeaking in reply to conversation addressed to him. At last all retired\nfrom the breakfast table--and then the lady, with an air of sudden\nrecollection, said, 'I forgot to ask if you had breakfasted, Mr\nSaunders! Won't you let me give you a cup of coffee?' 'I thank you,\nmadam,' he replied, with a dignified bow, 'I am engaged to breakfast\nwith the PRINCE REGENT this morning!'\n\nWe laugh at the narrow bigotry of the Mahometan, who feels contaminated\nif a Christian shares his dinner, and who will not give his vile carcass\nburial, for fear of pollution. Is our prejudice against persons of color\nmore rational or more just? The plain fact is, our prejudice has the\nsame foundation as that of the Mahometan--both are grounded in pride and\nselfishness. A law has lately passed in Turkey, imposing a fine upon\nwhoever shall call a Christian a dog. _Let us try to keep pace with the\nTurks in candor and benevolence._--[Massachusetts Journal and Tribune.]\n\n\n\n\nSECTION X.\n\nTHE AMERICAN COLONIZATION SOCIETY DECEIVES AND MISLEADS THE NATION.\n\n\nIt is now about fifteen years since the American Colonization Society\nsprang into existence--a space of time amply sufficient to test its\nability. In its behalf the pulpit and the press (two formidable engines)\nhave been exerted to an extraordinary degree; statesmen, and orators,\nand judges, and lawyers, and philanthropists, have eloquently advocated\nits claims to public patronage. During this protracted period, and with\nsuch powerful auxiliaries, a careless observer might naturally suppose\nthat much must have been accomplished towards abolishing slavery. But\nwhat is the fact? Less than one hundred and fifty souls have been\nremoved annually to Africa--in all, about two thousand souls in fifteen\nyears!!--a drop from the Atlantic ocean--a grain of earth from the\nAmerican continent! In the mean time, the increase of the slaves has\namounted to upwards of _half a million_! and every week more than _one\nthousand_ new-born victims are added to their number. Before a vessel,\nwith one hundred and fifty passengers, can go to and return from Africa,\nmore than ten thousand slave infants will have been added to our\npopulation: while she is preparing to depart, or waiting for a fair\nwind, the increase will freight her many times.\n\nThe following eloquent and comprehensive Circular (published last year\nin London by Capt. Charles Stuart, in consequence of the visit of\nElliott Cresson, an agent who was sent out to dupe the philanthropists\nof England) exhibits the inefficiency and criminality of the Society in\na striking light:\n\n    'AMERICAN COLONIZATION SOCIETY. LIBERIA.--This Society was\n    formed in the United States, in 1817.\n\n    Its Thirteenth Annual Report has just reached this country.\n\n    Its object, as expressed by itself, (see the Thirteenth Report,\n    page 41, app. 9, art. 2,) \"Is to promote and execute a plan for\n    colonizing the free people of color, residing in 'the United\n    States' in Africa, or such other place as Congress shall deem\n    most expedient.\"\n\n    The facts of the case are these:\n\n      1. That the United States have about 2,000,000 enslaved blacks.\n      2. That they have about 500,000 free blacks.\n      3. That both these classes are rapidly increasing.\n      4. That both are exceedingly depressed and degraded.\n\n    The duty of the United States to them, is the same exactly as we\n    owe to our colored fellow-subjects in our slave colonies, viz.\n    to obey God, by letting them go free, by placing them beneath\n    wise and equitable laws, and by loving them all, and treating\n    them like brethren; that is to say, the unquestionable duty of\n    the people of the United States is to emancipate their 2,000,000\n    slaves, and to raise the 500,000 free colored people to that\n    estimation in their native country which is due to them.\n\n    But the American Colonization Society deliberately rejects both\n    of these first great duties, and confines itself to the\n    colonization in Africa of the free colored people. They say, in\n    page 5, of their Thirteenth Report, \"To abolition she could not\n    look--and need not look.\" It \"could do nothing in the slave\n    States for the cause of humanity;\" and in page 8, \"Emancipation,\n    with the liberty to remain on this side of the Atlantic, is but\n    an act of dreamy madness.\"\n\n    Now in thus deliberately letting the great crime of negro\n    slavery alone; and in thus substituting a little restricted act\n    of very dubious benevolence to a few, for the great and sacred\n    duty of right which they owe to all,--they hurt the great cause\n    of everlasting truth and love, in the following particulars:\n\n    1. By offering to the nation a hope, at which many of their best\n    men seem eagerly grasping, of getting rid of the colored people\n    abroad--they conduce more and more, as this hope prevails, to\n    keep out of mind the superior, unalterable, and immediate duty\n    of righting them at home.\n\n    2. By removing whatever number it be, from their native country,\n    the number which remains must be diminished,--and the more the\n    number which remains is diminished, the more helpless will they\n    become--the less will be the hope of their ever recovering their\n    own liberty--and the more and longer will they be trampled upon.\n\n    3. The more the people of the United States (and this is equally\n    true of Great Britain) substitute a _half-way_ duty, difficult,\n    expensive, and partial as it must be, and criminal as it\n    unquestionably is--for the _whole_ duty which they owe their\n    negro fellow-subjects, of putting them, before the law, upon a\n    par with themselves--the less will they be likely to feel their\n    sin in continuing to wrong them; and the less they feel their\n    sin, the less likely will they be to repent of it, and to do\n    their duty.\n\n    4. The greater the number of slaves transported, the greater\n    will be the value of the labor of those who remain; the more\n    valuable their labor is, the greater will be the temptation to\n    over-labor them, and the more, of course, they will be\n    oppressed.\n\n    5. The American Colonization Society directly supports the false\n    and cruel idea that the native country of the colored people of\n    the United States, is not their native country, and that they\n    never can be happy until they either exile themselves, or are\n    exiled; and thus powerfully conduces to extinguish in them all\n    those delightful hopes, and to prevent all that glorious\n    exertion, which would make them a blessing to their country. In\n    this particular, the American Colonization Society takes up a\n    falsehood, as cruel to the colored people, as it is disgraceful\n    to themselves; dwells upon it, as if it were an irrefragable\n    truth; urges it, as such, upon others; and thus endeavors with\n    all its force, to make _that practically true_, which is one of\n    the greatest stains in the American character; which is one of\n    the greatest scourges that could possibly afflict the free\n    colored people; and which, in itself, is essentially and\n    unalterably false. For be the pertinacity of prejudice what it\n    may, in asserting that the blacks of America never can be\n    amalgamated in all respects, in equal brotherhood with the\n    whites, it will not the less remain an everlasting truth, that\n    the wickedness which produced and perpetuates the assertion, is\n    the only ground of the difficulty, and that all that is\n    requisite to remove the whole evil, is the relenting in love of\n    the proud and cruel spirit which produced it. Could the American\n    Colonization Society succeed in establishing their views on this\n    subject, as being really true of the people of the United\n    States, it would only prove that the people of the United States\n    were past repentance; that they were given over, through their\n    obstinacy in sin, finally to believe a lie; to harden\n    themselves, and to perish in their iniquity. But they have not\n    succeeded in establishing this fearful fact against themselves;\n    and as long as they continue capable of repentance, it _never_\n    can be true, that the proud and baneful prejudices which now so\n    cruelly alienate them from their colored brethren, may not, will\n    not, must not, yield to the sword of the Spirit, to the Word of\n    God, to the blessed weapons of truth and love.\n\n    The American Colonization Society is beautiful and beneficial as\n    far as it supports the cause commenced at Sierra Leone, by\n    introducing into Africa, civilization, commerce, and genuine\n    Christianity--by checking the African slave trade--and by\n    serving in love the emigrants who choose to pass to Liberia.\n\n    But it powerfully tends to veil the existing and outrageous\n    atrocity of negro slavery; and it corroborates against the\n    people of color, whether enslaved or free, one of the most base,\n    groundless, and cruel prejudices, that has ever disgraced the\n    powerful, or afflicted the weak.\n\n    The following calculations may throw further light upon the\n    subject.\n\n    The United States have about 2,000,000 slaves, and about 500,000\n    free colored people.\n\n    The American Colonization Society has existed for thirteen\n    years, and has exported yearly, upon an average, about 150\n    persons.\n\n    Meanwhile the natural yearly increase has been 56,000 souls; and\n    nearly a million have died in slavery!!\n\n    But it may be said, this is only the beginning--more may be\n    expected hereafter.--Let us see.\n\n    The average price of transporting each individual is calculated\n    at 30 dollars: suppose it to be reduced to 20, and then, as\n    56,000 must be exported yearly, in order merely to prevent\n    increase, 1,120,000 dollars would be yearly requisite simply for\n    transportation. Where is this vast sum to come from? Or suppose\n    it supplied, still, in the mass of crime and wretchedness, as it\n    now exists, there would be _no decrease_! Two millions of human\n    beings every 30 years would still be _born_ and _die_ in\n    slavery!!\n\n    But perhaps you wish to extinguish the crime in thirty years.\n\n    Then you must begin by transporting at least 100,000 yearly. In\n    order to do this, you must have an annual income of upwards of\n    2,000,000 dollars; and if you have not only to transport, but\n    also to purchase, you would probably want yearly, _twenty\n    millions_ more!!\n\n    Where are you to get this?--\n\n    Or suppose it got, and still one generation would perish in\n    their wretchedness; 2,000,000 of immortal souls--plundered by\n    you of the most sacred rights of human nature; of rights _always\n    the same_, and everlastingly _inalienable_, however\n    plundered--would have perished _unredressed_, and gone to\n    confront you at the bar of God.\n\n    And will He not make inquisition for blood? And what will it\n    avail you to say, \"Oh, we satisfied ourselves, and traversed\n    land and sea, and spent thousands to satisfy others, that if we\n    transported a few hundreds or thousands of our oppressed\n    fellow-subjects to a distant country, yearly, with care, we\n    might guiltlessly leave the remaining hundreds of thousands, or\n    the millions, in slavery, and harmlessly indulge the invincible\n    repugnance which we felt to a colored skin. We really thought it\n    better, to exile our colored brethren from their native country,\n    or to render their lives in it, intolerable by scorn, should\n    they obstinately persist in remaining in it;--we really thought\n    this better, than humbling ourselves before our brother and our\n    God, and returning to both with repenting and undissembling\n    love.\"\n\n    Is not such language similar to the swearer's prayer!!\n\n    Great Britain and the United States, the two most favored, and\n    the two most guilty nations upon earth, both need rebuke. They\n    ought to be brethren, mutually dear and honorable to each other,\n    in all that is true and kind. But never, never, let them support\n    one another in guilt.\n\n    People of Great Britain, it is your business--it is _your\n    duty_,--to give to negro slavery no rest, but to put it\n    down--not by letting the trunk alone, while you idly busy\n    yourselves in lopping off, or in aiding others to lop off, a few\n    of the straggling branches--but by laying the axe at once to\n    its roots, and by putting your united nerve into the steel, till\n    this great poison-tree of lust and blood, and of all abominable\n    and heartless iniquity, fall before you; and law, and love, and\n    God and man, shout victory over its ruin.\n\n    Hearken--thus saith the Lord, \"Rob not the poor, because he is\n    poor; neither oppress the afflicted in the gate. For the Lord\n    will plead their cause, and spoil the soul of those that spoiled\n    them.\" Prov. xxii. 22, 23.\n\n    LONDON, July 15, 1831. C. STUART.'[Y]\n\nSometimes the Society professes to be able to remove the whole colored\npopulation in less than thirty years! and the belief is prevalent that\nthe project is feasible. Again it tells us--\n\n    'Admitting that the colonization scheme contemplates the\n    ultimate abolition of slavery, yet that result could only be\n    produced _by the gradual and slow operation of_ CENTURIES.' * *\n    'How came we by this population? By the prevalence for a century\n    of a guilty commerce. And will not the prevalence _for a\n    century_ of a restoring commerce, place them on their own\n    shores? Yes, surely!' * * 'There are those, Sir, who ask--and\n    could not a quarter century cease and determine the two great\n    evils? You and I, my dear Sir, on whom the frost of time has\n    fallen rather perceptibly, would say a century. And now, let me\n    ask, could ever a century, in the whole course of human affairs,\n    be better employed?'--[African Repository, vol. i. pp. 217, 347;\n    vol. v. p. 366.]\n\n\n    'It is not the work of a day nor a year, it is not a work of one\n    time, nor of two, nor of three, but it is one which will now\n    commence, _and may continue for ages_.'--[A new and interesting\n    View of Slavery. By Humanitas, a colonization advocate.\n    Baltimore, 1820.]\n\nWild enthusiasts in the cause may respond--'The Society never expected\nto accomplish much single-handed: it is about to enlist the energies of\nthe General Government--and doubtless Congress will appropriate several\nmillions of dollars annually for the purchase and colonization of the\nslaves.'\n\nBut are they sure, or is it probable, that Congress will make this\nappropriation? And if it should, what can they do without the consent of\nthe people of color to remove? That consent can never be obtained. Is\nit, then, proposed to buy the slaves of their masters, as if the claim\nof property were valid? It were better that the money should rust at the\nbottom of the deep!--better to buy bank-notes, and convert them to\nashes! To purchase slaves would only serve to make brisk the\nslave-market. Their value would immediately rise in all the slave\nStates; especially in Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, Kentucky, and North\nCarolina, where they are now comparatively worthless--_and there would\nbe an end to voluntary emancipation_: for who would sacrifice his\n'property,' when he might obtain an equivalent for it? Slave traders and\nslave owners would be zealous to prevent any lack of miserable objects\nfor the bounty offered by government: if the natural increase were not\nsufficient, they would be careful to make the importation from Africa\nexceed the exportation to that ill-fated continent. Such a purchase\nwould be directly patronising the slave trade, at home and abroad, and\nbribing masters to keep their slaves for the highest bidder. Besides, it\nwould be a gross violation of the great fundamental principle, that 'man\ncannot hold property in man.'\n\nI know it is easy to make calculations. I know it is an old maxim, that\n'figures cannot lie:' and I very well know, too, that our philanthropic\narithmeticians are prodigiously fond of FIGURING, but of doing nothing\nelse. Give them a slate and pencil, and in fifteen minutes they will\nclear the continent of every black skin; and, if desired, throw in the\nIndians to boot. While they depopulate America, they find not the least\ndifficulty in providing for the wants of the emigrating myriads to the\ncoast of Africa: we have ships enough, and, notwithstanding the hardness\nof the times, money enough. O, the surpassing utility of the arithmetic!\nit is more potent than the stone of the philosopher, which, _when\ndiscovered_, is to transmute, at a touch, base metal into pure gold!\n\nIn one breath, colonization orators tell us that the free blacks are\npests in the community; that they are an intemperate, ignorant, lazy,\nthievish class; that their condition is worse than that of the slaves;\nand that no efforts to improve them in this country can be successful,\nowing to the prejudices of society. In the next breath we are told what\nmighty works these miserable outcasts are to achieve--that they are the\nmissionaries of salvation,[Z] who are to illumine all Africa--that they\nwill build up a second American republic--and that our conceptions\ncannot grasp the result of their labors. Now I, for one, have no faith\nin this instantaneous metamorphosis.[AA] I believe that neither a sea\nvoyage nor an African climate has any miraculous influence upon the\nbrain. I believe that ignorant and depraved black men, who are\ntransported across the ocean, will be ignorant and depraved black men on\nreaching the coast of Africa. I believe, also, that they who are capable\nof doing well, surrounded by barbarians, may do better among a civilized\nand christian people.\n\nIt is stated in a Circular put forth by the Society last year, that\n'from the _actual experience_ of the Society, it has been found that\n$20, _or less_, will defray the whole expense of transporting an\nindividual to the Colony.' This is a very deceptive statement. The\nreceipts of the Society from 1820 to 1830, amounted to $112,841 89; the\nexpenses during the same period were $106,457 72; balance on hand,\n$6,384 17. Nineteen expeditions had been fitted out, and 1,857\nemigrants,[AB] _including re-captured Africans_, landing on the shores\nof Africa--averaging annually, for the ten years, about 186 persons, or\nsince the organization of the Society, about 124 persons. 'The\nemigrants,' the Board of Managers inform us, in a recent address to\nAuxiliary Societies, 'for the last three years, average about 227, while\nthe expenses, _exclusive of transportation, and temporary subsistence of\nthe new colonists_, exceed TEN THOUSAND DOLLARS'!! In the very last\nnumber of the African Repository, (for April, 1832,) the Vice-Agent at\nLiberia, A. D. Williams, writes to the Rev. R. R. Gurley as follows:--'I\nthink the price, say $35, fixed by the Board for the transportation of\neach emigrant, _is entirely too low_: it should be at least $40, if not\n$45.' Why, then, does the Society attempt to impose upon public\ncredulity, by stating that only $20 are requisite for every individual\ntransportation, when the actual cost has been more than thrice, and is\nlikely to be more than double that amount?[AC]\n\nThe Society has succeeded in making the people believe that the\nestablishment of a colony or colonies on the coast of Africa is the only\nway to abolish the foreign slave trade: on this account it has secured\nan extensive patronage. Here is another fatal delusion. I shall show not\nonly that it has not injured this trade in the least, but that the trade\n_continues to increase in activity and cruelty_. Let us look at its own\nadmissions.\n\n    'We regret to say, that the slave trade appears to be carried on\n    to a great extent, and with circumstances of the most revolting\n    cruelty.' * * * 'The French slave trade, notwithstanding the\n    efforts of the government, appears to be undiminished. The\n    number of Spanish vessels employed in the trade is immense, and\n    as the treaty between England and Spain only permits the seizure\n    of vessels having slaves actually on board, many of these watch\n    their opportunity on the coast, run in, and receive all their\n    slaves on board in a single day.' * * 'By an official document\n    from Rio de Janeiro, it appears that the following importations\n    of slaves were made into that port in 1826 and 1827.\n\n      '1826, landed alive, 35,966 ... died on the passage 1,905\n      '1827, landed alive, 41,384 ... died on the passage 1,643\n\n    'Thus it would seem, (says the Boston Gazette,) that to only one\n    port in the Brazils, and in the course of two years,\n    _seventy-seven thousand three hundred and fifty_ human beings\n    were transported from their own country, and placed in a state\n    of slavery.'--[African Repository, vol. i. v. pp. 179, 181.]\n\n\n    'It is not by legal arguments, or penal statutes, or armed\n    ships, that the slave trade can be prevented. Almost every power\n    in Christendom has denounced it. It has been declared felony--it\n    has been declared piracy; and the fleets of Britain and America\n    have been commissioned to drive it from the ocean. Still, in\n    defiance of all this array of legislation and of armament, slave\n    ships ride triumphant on the ocean; and in these floating\n    caverns, less terrible only than the caverns which demons\n    occupy, from sixty to eighty thousand wretches, received\n    pinioned from the coast of Africa, are borne annually away to\n    slavery or death. Of these wretches a frightful number are, with\n    an audacity that amazes, landed and disposed of within the\n    jurisdiction of this republic.'--[Idem, vol. v. 274.]\n\n\n    'Notwithstanding all the efforts that have been made to suppress\n    the slave trade, by means of solemn treaties and laws declaring\n    it to be piracy; and notwithstanding the attempts to\n    exterminate it by the naval forces of the United States and\n    Great Britain, the inhuman traffic is still pursued to as great\n    an extent as at any former period, and with greater cruelty than\n    ever.'--[African Repository, vol. vi. p. 345.]\n\n\n    'The slave trade, which many suppose has been every where\n    abolished for years, there is reason to believe is still carried\n    on to almost as great an extent as ever. It has been recently\n    stated in the papers, that an association of merchants at Nantz,\n    in France, had undertaken to supply the island of Cuba with\n    thirty thousand fresh negro slaves annually! And in Brazil, it\n    is well known, that for several years past, the importations\n    have even exceeded this number.'--[Idem, vol. vii. p. 248.]\n\n\n    'Africa, for three long centuries, has been ravaged by the slave\n    trade. Notwithstanding all that has been done to suppress that\n    traffic, notwithstanding its formal abolition by all civilized\n    nations, it is carried on at the present hour, _with all its\n    atrocities unmitigated_. The flags of France, Portugal, Brazil,\n    and Spain, with the connivance of those governments, afford to\n    the slave trader, in spite of laws and treaties and armed\n    cruisers, a partial protection, of which he avails himself to\n    the utmost. And with what cruelty he carries on his war against\n    human nature, every year affords us illustrations sufficiently\n    horrible.'--[Christian Spectator for September, 1830.]\n\n\n    'This horrible traffic, notwithstanding its abolition by every\n    civilized nation in the world, except Portugal and Brazil, and\n    notwithstanding the decided measures of the British and American\n    governments, is still carried on to almost as great an extent as\n    ever. Not less than 60,000 slaves, according to the most\n    moderate computation, are carried from Africa annually. This\n    trade is carried on by Americans to the American states. And the\n    cruelties of this trade, which always surpassed the powers of\n    the human mind to conceive, _are greater now than they ever were\n    before_. We might, but we will not, refer to stories, recent\n    stories, of which the very recital would be torment.'--[Seventh\n    Annual Report.]\n\n\n    'Notwithstanding the vigilance of the powers now engaged to\n    suppress the slave trade, I have received information, that in a\n    single year, in the single island of Cuba, slaves equal in\n    amount to one half of the above number of fifty-two thousand\n    have been illicitly introduced.' * * 'Mr Mercer submitted the\n    following preamble and resolutions:--Whereas, to the affliction\n    of the Christian world, the African slave trade, notwithstanding\n    all the efforts, past and present, for its suppression, still\n    exists and is conducted _with aggravated cruelty_, by the\n    resources of one continent, to the dishonor of another, and to\n    an extent little short of the desolation of a third,'\n    &c.--[Tenth Annual Report.]\n\n\n    'It is painful to state, that the Managers have reason to\n    believe that the slave trade is still prosecuted, to a great\n    extent, and with circumstances of undiminished atrocity. The\n    fact, that much was done by Mr Ashmun to banish it from the\n    territory, under the colonial jurisdiction, is unquestionable;\n    but, _it now exists, even on this territory_; and a little to\n    the north and south of Liberia, it is seen in its true\n    characters--of fraud, rapine, and blood! In the opinion of the\n    late Agent, the present efforts to suppress this trade must\n    prove abortive.'--[Thirteenth Annual Report.]\n\n\n    'Some appalling facts in regard to the slave trade have come to\n    the knowledge of the Board of Managers during the last year.\n    _With undiminished atrocity and activity_ is this odious traffic\n    now carried on _all along the African coast_. Slave factories\n    are established _in the immediate vicinity of the Colony_, and\n    at the Gallinas (between Liberia and Sierra Leone) not less than\n    nine hundred slaves were shipped during the last summer, in the\n    space of three weeks.'--[Fourteenth Annual Report, 1831.]\n\n\n    'In defiance of all laws enacted, it is estimated that no less\n    than _fifty thousand_ Africans were, during the last year,\n    (1831,) carried into foreign slavery. During the months of\n    February and March of the same year, two thousand were landed\n    on the island of Cuba.'--[Circular published by the\n    Massachusetts Colonization Society for 1832.]\n\nHere, then, is the acknowledgment of the Society, that it has\naccomplished _nothing_ toward the suppression of the slave trade in\nfifteen years! Nor has the settlement at Sierra Leone effected aught in\nthirty years! Nor have the untiring labors of Wilberforce and Clarkson,\nfor a longer period, produced any visible effect! The accursed traffic\nstill continues to increase--and why? Simply _because the market for\nslaves is not destroyed_. Break up this market, and you annihilate the\nslave trade. Keep it open, and you may line the shores of Africa and\nAmerica with naval ships and armed troops, and the trade will continue.\nNo proposition in Euclid is plainer. So long as there is a brisk market\nfor goods, that market will be supplied. The assertion has been made in\nCongress by Mr Mercer of Virginia, (one of the Vice-Presidents of the\nSociety,) that these horrible cargoes are smuggled into our southern\nstates to a deplorable extent. In 1819, Mr Middleton, of South Carolina,\ndeclared it to be his belief 'that 13,000 Africans were annually\nsmuggled into our southern states.' Mr Wright of Virginia estimated the\nnumber at 15,000!!!--[_Vide_ Seventh Annual Report--app.]--This number\nis seven times as great as that which the Colonization Society has\ntransported in fifteen years![AD] By letting the system of slavery\nalone, then, and striving to protect it, the Society is encouraging and\nperpetuating the foreign slave trade!\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[Y] 'We think the annual increase, as computed by Capt. Stuart, too low\nby 10 or 15,000. The estimate also of the expense of transportation is\nmuch below the actual cost. Besides, there is no provision made for the\nsupport of these helpless beings after their arrival in Africa, until\nthey could provide for their own wants. Double the cost of\ntransportation would be required for their subsistence till they could\nmaintain themselves, without making any provision for implements of\nhusbandry, mechanics' tools, &c. &c. without which they would all\nperish, even without the help of a pestiferous climate. But yet the\ntable shows at one view the utter futility of the whole scheme of\nAfrican Colonization. Slavery can no more be removed by these means than\nthe waters of the Mississippi can be exhausted by steam engines. And the\nremoval of slavery is the great consummation to which all benevolent\nefforts for benefitting the African race in this country, should\nultimately tend. All schemes that do not promote this end will prove\nfutile, and will end in disappointment. The axe must be laid to the root\nof the corrupt tree. It is a system that admits of no palliation, no\ncompromise.'--['Herald of Truth,' Philadelphia.]\n\n[Z] 'Every emigrant to Africa is a _missionary_ carrying with him\ncredentials in the holy cause of civilization, religion, and free\ninstitutions'!!--[Speech of H. Clay--Tenth Annual Report.]--Why does not\nMr Clay increase this band of _missionaries_, by sending out some of his\nown slaves? Is he consistent?\n\n[AA] 'As to the morals of the colonists, I consider them _much better\nthan those of the people of the United States_. That is, you may take an\nequal number of inhabitants from any section of the Union, and you will\nfind more drunkards, more profane swearers and Sabbath breakers, &c.,\nthan in Liberia. Indeed I know of no country where things are conducted\nmore quietly and orderly than in this colony; you rarely hear an oath,\nand as to riots or breaches of the peace, I recollect of but one\ninstance, and that of a trifling nature, that has come under my notice\nsince I assumed the government of the colony. The Sabbath is more\nstrictly observed than I ever saw it in the United States.'--[Letter\nfrom J. Mechlin, Jr. Governor of the Colony of Liberia.]\n\n'I saw no intemperance, nor did I hear a profane word uttered by any\none.' [Letter of Capt. William Abels.]\n\nIf these statements be a true representation of the moral condition of\nthe colonists; if 'their morals are much better than those of the people\nof the United States;' let us immediately bring back these expatriated\n_missionaries_ to civilize and reform ourselves; for, according to our\nown confession, we need their instruction and example as much as any\nheathen nation. If these 'missionaries,' who, in this country, could\n'scarcely be reached in their debasement by the heavenly light;' if\nthese 'most degraded, most abandoned beings on the earth,' have actually\nrisen up to this exalted height of intelligence and purity, in so brief\na period after a separation from ourselves, how desperately wicked and\ncorrupt does the fact make our own conduct appear!\n\n[AB] Of this number, nearly three-fourths were free persons of color. If\nthe Society is anxious to emancipate the slaves, why does it not confine\nits efforts exclusively to their transportation, seeing so many are\noffered for that purpose? Doubtless the reply will be--'O, it is\nimportant, in the incipient state of the colony, to send free persons of\ncolor, because they are more intelligent and virtuous.' Ah! is it so?\nWhat! give the preference to those whom it elsewhere brands as 'more\ncorrupt, depraved and abandoned than the slaves can be,' and who\n'contribute greatly to the _corruption of the slaves_?' 'O!' it may\nreply, 'a careful selection is made between the virtuous and\nvicious--none are sent whose character is not reputable.' But what is to\nbecome of this choice selection, when it is able (as it hopes to be) to\nsend off even as many as seventy thousand annually?\n\n[AC] 'The expense of transporting such persons from the United States to\nthe coast of Africa, has been variously estimated. By those who compute\nit at the lowest rate, the mere expense of this transportation has been\nestimated at $20 per head. In this estimate, however, is not\ncomprehended the expense of transporting the persons destined for\nAfrica, to the port of their departure from the United States, or the\nnecessary expense of sustaining them, either there or in Africa, for a\nreasonable time after their first arrival. All these expenses combined,\nthe Committee think they estimate very low, when they compute the amount\nat $100 per head. It has been estimated by some at double this amount;\nand if past experience may be relied upon as proving any thing, the\nofficial documents formerly furnished to the Senate by the Department of\nthe Navy, show that the expenses attending the transportation of the few\ncaptured slaves who have been returned to Africa by the United States,\nat the expense of this government, _far exceeds even the largest\nestimate_. But taking the expense to be only what the Committee have\nestimated it: Then the sum requisite to transport the whole number of\nthe free colored population of the United States, would exceed\ntwenty-eight millions of dollars; and the expense of transporting a\nnumber, equal only to the mere annual increase of this population, would\nexceed seven hundred thousand dollars per annum. Sums which would impose\nupon the people of this country, an additional burthen of taxation,\ngreater than this Committee believe they could easily bear; and much\ngreater than ought to be imposed upon them for any such purpose.' * *\n'The annual increase of the slave population, at present, is at least\n57,000. Now allow the same sum per head for the transportation of these\npersons, that has been estimated for the transportation in the other\nsimilar case; and the sum requisite to defray the expense of the\ntransportation of all the slaves in the United States, would be one\nhundred and ninety millions of dollars; and that requisite to defray the\nexpense of the transportation of a number only equal to their mere\nannual increase, would be five millions seven hundred thousand dollars\nper annum. But to either of these sums must be added the reasonable\nequivalent, or necessary aid, to be paid by the United States to humane\nindividuals, in order to induce them voluntarily to part with their\nproperty. The Committee have no 'data' by which they can measure what\nthis might be. But any sum, however small, will make so great an\naugmentation of the amount, as almost to baffle calculation, and to\nexhibit this project at once, as one exceeding, very far, indeed, any\nrevenue which the United States could ever draw from their citizens,\neven if the object was to increase and multiply, instead of reducing the\nnumbers of the class of productive labor.'--[Mr Tazewell's Report--U. S.\nSenate, 1828.]\n\n[AD] The following amusing anecdote is a capital illustration of the\nfolly of those colonizationists, who are endeavoring to suppress the\nrising tide of our colored population by extracting a few drops annually\nwith their 'mop and pattens.' Dame Partington is clearly outdone by\nthem, in regard to pertinacity of purpose and feebleness of execution.\nRev. Sidney Smith, in his speech at the Taunton meeting, (England,)\nsaid:\n\n'The attempt of the House of Lords to stop the progress of Reform,\nreminded him of the conduct of the excellent Mrs. Partington, during the\ngreat storm at Sidmouth, in 1824. The tide rose to an incredible height;\nthe waves rushed in upon the houses, and every thing was threatened with\ndestruction. In the midst of the fearful commotion of the elements, Dame\nPartington, who lived upon the sea beach, was seen at the door of her\nhouse, with mop and pattens, trundling her mop and sweeping out the sea\nwater, and vigorously pushing back the Atlantic. The Atlantic was\nroused, and so was Mrs. Partington; but the contest was unequal. The\nAtlantic beat Mrs. Partington. She was excellent at a slop or a puddle,\nbut she could do nothing with a tempest.'\n\n\nEND OF PART I.\n\n\n\n\nTHOUGHTS ON AFRICAN COLONIZATION.\n\nPART II.\n\n\n\n\nSENTIMENTS OF THE PEOPLE OF COLOR.\n\n\nIf the American Colonization Society were indeed actuated by the purest\nmotives and the best feelings toward the objects of its supervision; if\nit were not based upon injustice, fraud, persecution and incorrigible\nprejudice; still if its purposes be contrary to the wishes and injurious\nto the interests of the free people of color, it ought not to receive\nthe countenance of the public. Even the trees of the forest are keenly\nsusceptible to every touch of violence, and seem to deprecate\ntransplantation to a foreign soil. Even birds and animals pine in exile\nfrom their native haunts; their local attachments are wonderful; they\nmigrate only to return again at the earliest opportunity. Perhaps there\nis not a living thing, from the hugest animal down to the minutest\nanimalcule, whose pleasant associations are not circumscribed, or that\nhas not some favorite retreats. This universal preference, this love of\n_home_, seems to be the element of being,--a constitutional attribute\ngiven by the all-wise Creator to bind each separate tribe or community\nwithin intelligent and well-defined limits: for, in its absence, order\nwould be banished from the world, collision between the countless\norders of creation would be perpetual, and violence would depopulate the\nworld with more than pestilential rapidity.\n\nShall it be said that beings endowed with high intellectual powers,\nsustaining the most important relations, created for social enjoyments,\nand made but a little lower than the angels--shall it be said that their\nlocal attachments are less tenacious than those of trees, and birds, and\nbeasts, and insects? I know that the blacks are classed, by some, who\nscarcely give any evidence of their own humanity but their shape, among\nthe brute creation: but are they _below_ the brutes? or are they more\ninsensible to rude assaults than forest-trees?\n\n'Men,' says an erratic but powerful writer[AE]--'men are like trees:\nthey delight in a rude [and native] soil--they strike their roots\ndownward with a perpetual effort, and heave their proud branches upward\nin perpetual strife. Are they to be removed?--you must tear up the very\nearth with their roots, rock and ore and impurity, or they perish. They\ncannot be translated with safety. Something of their home--a little of\ntheir native soil, must cling to them forever, or they die.'\n\nThis love of home, of neighborhood, of country, is inherent in the human\nbreast. It accompanies the child from its earliest reminiscence up to\nold age: it is written upon every tangible and permanent object within\nthe habitual cognizance of the eye--upon stone, and tree, and\nrivulet--upon the green hill, and the verdant plain, and the opulent\nvalley--upon house, and garden, and steeple-spire--upon the soil,\nwhether it be rough or smooth, sandy or hard, barren or luxuriant.\n\n    'Like ivy, where it grows, 'tis seen\n    To wear an everlasting green.'\n\nThe man who does not cherish it is regarded as destitute of sensibility;\nand to him is applied by common consent the burning rebuke of Sir Walter\nScott:\n\n    'Breathes there the man, with soul so dead,\n    Who never to himself hath said,\n      This is my own, my native land!\n    Whose heart hath ne'er within him burned,\n    As home his footsteps he hath turned,\n      From wandering on a foreign strand!\n    If such there breathe, go, mark him well;\n    For him no Minstrel raptures swell;\n    High though his titles, proud his name,\n    Boundless his wealth as wish can claim;\n    Despite those titles, power, and pelf,\n    The wretch, concentred all in self,\n    Living, shall forfeit fair renown,\n    And, doubly dying, shall go down\n    To the vile dust, from whence he sprung,\n    Unwept, unhonored, and unsung.'\n\nWhose bosom does not thrill with pleasurable emotion whenever he listens\nto that truest, sweetest, tenderest effusion,--'Home, sweet home?'\n\n    ''Mid pleasures and palaces though we may roam,\n    Be it ever so humble, there's no place like home;\n    A charm from the skies seems to hallow us there,\n    Which, seek thro' the world, is ne'er met with elsewhere.\n                  Home--home!\n                  Sweet, sweet home!\n            _There's no place like home!_\n\n    'An exile from home, splendor dazzles in vain--\n    O give me my lowly thatched cottage again;\n    The birds singing gaily that came at my call--\n    Give me them, with the peace of mind dearer than all!\n                  Home--home!\n                  Sweet, sweet home!\n            _There's no place like home!_'\n\nNo one will understand me to maintain that population should never be\nthinned by foreign emigration; but only that such an emigration is\nunnatural. The great mass of a neighborhood or country must necessarily\nbe stable: only fractions are cast off and float away on the tide of\nadventure. Individual enterprise or estrangement is one thing: the\ntranslation of an entire people to an unknown clime, another. The former\nmay be moved by a single impulse--by a love of novelty, or a desire of\ngain, or a hope of preferment: he leaves no perceptible void in\nsociety. The latter can never be expatriated but by some extraordinary\ncalamity, or by the application of intolerable restraints. They must\nfirst be rendered broken-hearted or loaded with chains--hope must not\nmerely sicken but die--cord after cord must be sundered--ere they will\nseek another home. Our pilgrim-fathers were driven out from the mother\ncountry by ecclesiastical domination: to worship God according to the\ndictates of their own consciences, was the only cause of their exile.\nHad they been permitted to enjoy this sacred right,--no matter how great\nwere their temporal privations, or their hopes of physical\nenjoyments,--they would not have perilled their lives on the stormy\ndeep, to obtain an asylum in this western hemisphere.\n\nIt may be said, in reply to the foregoing remarks upon the love of home\nand of country, that the people of color cannot cherish this abhorrence\nof migration, because here they have no 'continuing city,' and are not\nrecognised as fellow-countrymen. In PART I., I have shown, by copious\nextracts, that colonizationists artfully represent them as aliens and\nforeigners, wanderers from Africa--destitute of that _amor patriae_,\nwhich is the bond of union--seditious--without\nalliances--irresponsible--unambitious--cherishing no attachment to the\nsoil--feeling no interest in our national prosperity--ready for any\nadventure--eager to absent themselves from the land--malignant in their\nfeelings towards society--incapable of local preference--content to\nremain in ignorance and degradation--&c. &c. &c.\n\nEvery such representation is a libel, as I shall show in subsequent\npages. The language of the people of color is,--'This is our country:\nhere were we born--here will we live and die--we know of no other place\nthat we can call our true and appropriate home--here are our earliest\nand most pleasant associations--we are freemen, we are brethren, we are\ncountrymen and fellow-citizens--we are not for insurrection, but for\npeace and equality.' This is not the language of sedition or alienated\naffection. Their _amor patriae_ is robust and deathless: like the oak,\ntempests do but strengthen its roots and confer victory upon it. Even\nthe soil on which the unhappy slave toils and bleeds, is to him\nconsecrated earth.\n\nAfrican colonization is directly and irreconcileably opposed to the\nwishes of our colored population as a body. Their desires ought to be\ntenderly regarded. In all my intercourse with them in various towns and\ncities, I have never seen one of their number who was friendly to this\nscheme--and I have not been backward in canvassing their opinions on\nthis subject. They are as unanimously opposed to a removal to Africa, as\nthe Cherokees from the council-fires and graves of their fathers. It is\nremarkable, too, that they are as united in their respect and esteem for\nthe republic of Hayti. But _this is their country_--they are resolute\nagainst every migratory plot, and willing to rely on the justice of the\nnation for an ultimate restoration to all their lost rights and\nprivileges. What is the fact? Through the instrumentality of BENJAMIN\nLUNDY,[AF] the distinguished and veteran champion of emancipation, a\ngreat highway has been opened to the Haytien republic, over which our\ncolored population may travel _toll free_, and at the end of their brief\njourney be the free occupants of the soil, and meet such a reception as\nwas never yet given to any sojourners in any country, since the\ndeparture of Israel into Egypt. One would think, that, with such\ninducements and under such circumstances, this broad thoroughfare would\npresent a most animating spectacle; that the bustle and roar of a\njourneying multitude would fall upon the ear like the strife of the\nocean, or the distant thunder of the retiring storm; and that the song\nof the oppressor and the oppressed, a song of deliverance to each, would\ngo up to heaven, till its echoes were seemingly the responses of angels\nand justified spirits. But it is not so. Only here and there a traveller\nis seen to enter upon the road--there is no noise of preparation or\ndeparture; but a silence, deeper than the breathlessness of midnight,\nrests upon our land--not a shout of joy is heard throughout our\nborders!\n\nHow shall we account for this amazing apathy but on the ground that our\ncolored population are unwilling to leave their native homes, no matter\nhow strong soever are the inducements held out to them abroad?\n\nIf it be said that they are not compelled to emigrate against their\nwishes--I answer, it is true that direct _physical force_ is not\napplied; but why are they induced to remove? Is it because they\ninstinctively prefer Africa to their native country? Do they actually\n_court_ the perils of the sea,--the hostilities of a savage tribe,--the\nsickening influences of an African climate? Or are they not peremptorily\nassured that they never can, _and never shall_, enjoy their rights and\nprivileges at home--and thus absolutely compelled to leave all that is\ndear behind, and to seek a shelter in a strange land--a land of darkness\nand cruelty, of barbarism and wo?\n\nThe free people of color, and even the slaves, have on numerous\noccasions given ocular demonstration of their attachment to this\ncountry. Large numbers of them were distinguished for their patient\nendurance, their ardent devotion, and their valorous conduct during our\nrevolutionary struggle. In the last war, they signalized themselves in a\nmanner which extorted the applause even of their calumniators--of many\nwho are doubtless at the present day representing them as seditious and\ninimical to the prosperity of the country. I have before me a\nProclamation in the French language, issued by General Andrew Jackson,\nof which the following is a translation:\n\n    'PROCLAMATION TO THE FREE PEOPLE OF COLOR.\n\n    'Soldiers!--When on the banks of the Mobile, I called you to\n    take up arms, inviting you to partake the perils and glory of\n    your white fellow citizens, _I expected much from you_; for I\n    was not ignorant that you possessed qualities most formidable to\n    an invading enemy. I knew with what fortitude you could endure\n    hunger and thirst, and all the fatigues of a campaign. _I knew\n    well how you loved your_ NATIVE _country_, and that you had, as\n    well as ourselves, to defend what man holds most dear--his\n    parents, relations, wife, children and property. YOU HAVE DONE\n    MORE THAN I EXPECTED. In addition to the previous qualities I\n    before knew you to possess, I found, moreover, among you _a\n    noble enthusiasm_ which leads to the performance of great\n    things.\n\n    'Soldiers!--The President of the United States shall hear how\n    praiseworthy was your conduct in the hour of danger, and the\n    Representatives of the American people will, I doubt not, give\n    you the praise your exploits entitle you to. _Your General\n    anticipates them in applauding your noble ardor._\n\n    'The enemy approaches; his vessels cover our lakes; our brave\n    citizens are united, and all contention has ceased among them.\n    Their only dispute is, who shall win the prize of valor, or who\n    the most glory, its noblest reward.\n\n    'By order.\n\n                 'THOMAS BUTLER, _Aid de Camp_.'\n\nIn commenting upon the above Proclamation, an intelligent writer in the\nNew-Orleans 'LIBERALIST' of March 15, 1830, very expressively\nremarks:--'Those who served in the memorable campaign of 1814 will know\nif the hero of the west was guilty of exaggeration. Just as fatal as was\nevery glance of his keen eye to the English lines, so is every word of\nthis Proclamation a killing thunderbolt to the detractors of this\nportion of our fellow beings, now so inhumanly persecuted.' Yes--when\nperil rears its crest, and invasion threatens our shores, then prejudice\nis forgotten and the tongue of detraction is still--then the people of\ncolor are no longer brutes or a race between men and monkeys, no longer\nturbulent or useless, no longer aliens and wanderers from Africa--but\nthey are complimented as intelligent, patriotic citizens from whom much\nis expected, and who have property, home and country at stake! Ay, and\nrichly do they merit this compliment.\n\nA respectable colored gentleman in the city of New-York, referring to\nthis famous Proclamation, makes the following brief comment: 'When we\ncould be of any use to the army, we possessed all the cardinal virtues;\nbut now that time has passed, we forsooth are the most miserable,\nworthless beings the Lord in his wise judgment ever sent to curse the\nrulers of this troublesome world! I feel an anathema rising from my\nheart, but I have suppressed it.'\n\nHow black is the ingratitude, how pitiful the hypocrisy, manifested in\nour conduct as a people, toward our colored population! Every cheek\nshould wear the blush of shame--every head be bowed in self-abasement!\n\nFrom the organization of the American Colonization Society, down to the\npresent time, the free people of color have publicly and repeatedly\nexpressed their opposition to it. They indignantly reject every overture\nfor their expatriation. It has been industriously circulated by the\nadvocates of colonization, that I have caused this hostility to the\nAfrican scheme in the bosoms of the blacks; and that, until the\nLiberator was established, they were friendly to it. This story is\nfounded upon sheer ignorance. It is my solemn conviction that I have not\nproselyted a dozen individuals; for the very conclusive reason that no\nconversions were necessary. Their sentiments were familiar to me long\nbefore they knew my own. My opponents abundantly overrate my influence,\nin acknowledging that I have overthrown, in a single year, the\nconcentrated energies of the mightiest men in the land, and the\nperpetual labors of fifteen years. They shall not make me vain. Such a\nconcession affords substantial evidence of perverted strength and\nmisapplied exertion.\n\nIf the people of color were instantly to signify their willingness to\nemigrate, my hostility to the American Colonization Society would\nscarcely abate one jot: for their assent could never justify the\nprinciples and doctrines propagated by the Society. Those principles and\ndoctrines have been shown, I trust, to be corrupt, selfish,\nproscriptive, opposed to the genius of republicanism and to the spirit\nof christianity.\n\nThe first public demonstration of hostility to the colonization scheme\nwas made in 1817, by the free colored inhabitants of Richmond, Virginia.\nThe proceedings of their meeting, copies of which were printed for\ndistribution, I have accidentally mislaid. To the sentiments of the\npeople of color, as expressed in the following pages, I cannot too\nearnestly solicit the serious attention of every good man and true\nphilanthropist. After such an exhibition, persistance in expelling this\nportion of our population from our shores must be productive of\naggravated guilt and the most dreadful collisions.\n\n\nA VOICE PROM PHILADELPHIA.\n\n                        PHILADELPHIA, January, 1817.\n\nAt a numerous meeting of the people of color, convened at Bethel church,\nto take into consideration the propriety of remonstrating against the\ncontemplated measure, that is to exile us from the land of our nativity;\nJames Forten was called to the chair, and Russell Parrott appointed\nsecretary. The intent of the meeting having been stated by the chairman,\nthe following resolutions were adopted, without one dissenting voice.\n\nWhereas our ancestors (not of choice) were the first successful\ncultivators of the wilds of America, we their descendants feel ourselves\nentitled to participate in the blessings of her luxuriant soil, which\ntheir blood and sweat manured; and that any measure or system of\nmeasures, having a tendency to banish us from her bosom, would not only\nbe cruel, but in direct violation of those principles, which have been\nthe boast of this republic.\n\nResolved, That we view with deep abhorrence the unmerited stigma\nattempted to be cast upon the reputation of the free people of color, by\nthe promoters of this measure, 'that they are a dangerous and useless\npart of the community,' when in the state of disfranchisement in which\nthey live, in the hour of danger they ceased to remember their wrongs,\nand rallied around the standard of their country.\n\nResolved, That we never will separate ourselves voluntarily from the\nslave population in this country; they are our brethren by the ties of\nconsanguinity, of suffering, and of wrong; and we feel that there is\nmore virtue in suffering privations with them, than fancied advantages\nfor a season.\n\nResolved, That without arts, without science, without a proper knowledge\nof government, to cast into the savage wilds of Africa the free people\nof color, seems to us the circuitous route through which they must\nreturn to perpetual bondage.\n\nResolved, That having the strongest confidence in the justice of God,\nand philanthropy of the free states, we cheerfully submit our destinies\nto the guidance of Him who suffers not a sparrow to fall, without his\nspecial providence.\n\nResolved, That a committee of eleven persons be appointed to open a\ncorrespondence with the honorable Joseph Hopkinson, member of Congress\nfrom this city, and likewise to inform him of the sentiments of this\nmeeting, and that the following named persons constitute the committee,\nand that they have power to call a general meeting, when they in their\njudgment may deem it proper.\n\nRev. Absalom Jones, Rev. Richard Allen, James Forten, Robert Douglass,\nFrancis Perkins, Rev. John Gloucester, Robert Gorden, James Johnson,\nQuamoney Clarkson, John Summersett, Randall Shepherd.\n\n                        JAMES FORTEN, Chairman.\n\nRUSSELL PARROTT, Secretary.\n\n\nAt a numerous meeting of the free people of color of the city and county\nof Philadelphia, held in pursuance of public notice, at the school house\nin Green's court, on the evening of August 10th, for the purpose of\ntaking into consideration the plan of colonizing the free people of\ncolor of the United States, on the coast of Africa, James Forten was\nappointed chairman, and Russell Parrott, secretary.\n\nResolved unanimously, That the following address, signed on behalf of\nthe meeting, by the Chairman and Secretary, be published and circulated.\n\n    _To the humane and benevolent Inhabitants of the city and county\n                            of Philadelphia._\n\nThe free people of color, assembled together, under circumstances of\ndeep interest to their happiness and welfare, humbly and respectfully\nlay before you this expression of their feelings and apprehensions.\n\nRelieved from the miseries of slavery, many of us by your aid,\npossessing the benefits which industry and integrity in this prosperous\ncountry assure to all its inhabitants, enjoying the rich blessings of\nreligion, by opportunities of worshipping the only true God, under the\nlight of Christianity, each of us according to his understanding; and\nhaving afforded to us and to our children the means of education and\nimprovement; we have no wish to separate from our present homes, for any\npurpose whatever. Contented with our present situation and condition, we\nare not desirous of increasing their prosperity but by honest efforts,\nand by the use of those opportunities for their improvement, which the\nconstitution and laws allow to all. It is therefore with painful\nsolicitude, and sorrowing regret, we have seen a plan for colonizing the\nfree people of color of the United States on the coast of Africa,\nbrought forward under the auspices and sanction of gentlemen whose names\ngive value to all they recommend, and who certainly are among the\nwisest, the best, and the most benevolent of men, in this great nation.\n\nIf the plan of colonizing is intended for our benefit; and those who now\npromote it, will never seek our injury; we humbly and respectfully urge,\nthat it is not asked for by us; nor will it be required by any\ncircumstances, in our present or future condition; as long as we shall\nbe permitted to share the protection of the excellent laws and just\ngovernment which we now enjoy, in common with every individual of the\ncommunity.\n\nWe, therefore, a portion of those who are the objects of this plan, and\namong those whose happiness, with that of others of our color, it is\nintended to promote; with humble and grateful acknowledgments to those\nwho have devised it, renounce and disclaim every connexion with it; and\nrespectfully but firmly declare our determination not to participate in\nany part of it.\n\nIf this plan of colonization now proposed, is intended to provide a\nrefuge and a dwelling for a portion of our brethren, who are now held in\nslavery in the south, we have other and stronger objections to it, and\nwe entreat your consideration of them.\n\nThe ultimate and final abolition of slavery in the United States, by the\noperation of various causes, is, under the guidance and protection of a\njust God, progressing. Every year witnesses the release of numbers of\nthe victims of oppression, and affords new and safe assurances that the\nfreedom of all will be in the end accomplished. As they are thus by\ndegrees relieved from bondage, our brothers have opportunities for\ninstruction and improvement; and thus they become in some measure fitted\nfor their liberty. Every year, many of us have restored to us by the\ngradual, but certain march of the cause of abolition--parents, from whom\nwe have been long separated--wives and children whom we had left in\nservitude--and brothers, in blood as well as in early sufferings, from\nwhom we had been long parted.\n\nBut if the emancipation of our kindred shall, when the plan of\ncolonization shall go into effect, be attended with transportation to a\ndistant land, and shall be granted on no other condition; the\nconsolation for our past sufferings and of those of our color who are in\nslavery, which have hitherto been, and under the present situation of\nthings would continue to be, afforded to us and to them, will cease for\never. The cords, which now connect them with us, will be stretched by\nthe distance to which their ends will be carried, until they break; and\nall the sources of happiness, which affection and connexion and blood\nbestow, will be ours and theirs no more.\n\nNor do we view the colonization of those who may become emancipated by\nits operation among our southern brethren, as capable of producing their\nhappiness. Unprepared by education, and a knowledge of the truths of our\nblessed religion, for their new situation, those who will thus become\ncolonists will themselves be surrounded by every suffering which can\nafflict the members of the human family.\n\nWithout arts, without habits of industry, and unaccustomed to provide by\ntheir own exertions and foresight for their wants, the colony will soon\nbecome the abode of every vice, and the home of every misery. Soon will\nthe light of Christianity, which now dawns among that portion of our\nspecies, be shut out by the clouds of ignorance, and their day of life\nbe closed, without the illuminations of the gospel.\n\nTo those of our brothers, who shall be left behind, there will be\nassured perpetual slavery and augmented sufferings. Diminished in\nnumbers, the slave population of the southern states, which by its\nmagnitude alarms its proprietors, will be easily secured. Those among\ntheir bondmen, who feel that they should be free, by rights which all\nmankind have from God and from nature, and who thus may become dangerous\nto the quiet of their masters, will be sent to the colony; and the tame\nand submissive will be retained, and subjected to increased rigor. Year\nafter year will witness these means to assure safety and submission\namong their slaves, and the southern masters will colonize only those\nwhom it may be dangerous to keep among them. The bondage of a large\nportion of our brothers will thus be rendered perpetual.\n\nShould the anticipations of misery and want among the colonists, which\nwith great deference we have submitted to your better judgment, be\nrealized; to emancipate and transport to Africa will be held forth by\nslaveholders as the worst and heaviest of punishments; and they will be\nthreatened and successfully used to enforce increased submission to\ntheir wishes, and subjection to their commands.\n\nNor ought the sufferings and sorrows, which must be produced by an\nexercise of the right to transport and colonize such only of their\nslaves as may be selected by the slaveholders, escape the attention and\nconsideration of those whom with all humility we now address. Parents\nwill be torn from their children--husbands from their wives--brothers\nfrom brothers--and all the heart-rending agonies which were endured by\nour forefathers when they were dragged into bondage from Africa, will be\nagain renewed, and with increased anguish. The shores of America will,\nlike the sands of Africa, be watered by the tears of those who will be\nleft behind. Those who shall be carried away will roam childless,\nwidowed, and alone, over the burning plains of Guinea.\n\nDisclaiming, as we emphatically do, a wish or desire to interpose our\nopinions and feelings between all plans of colonization, and the\njudgment of those whose wisdom as far exceeds ours as their situations\nare exalted above ours; _we humbly_, respectfully, and fervently\nintreat and beseech your disapprobation of the plan of colonization now\noffered by 'the American Society for colonizing the free people of color\nof the United States.'--Here, in the city of Philadelphia, where the\nvoice of the suffering sons of Africa was first heard; where was first\ncommenced the work of abolition, on which heaven has smiled, for it\ncould have had success only from the Great Maker; let not a purpose be\nassisted which will stay the cause of the entire abolition of slavery in\nthe United States, and which may defeat it altogether; which proffers to\nthose who do not ask for them what it calls benefits, but which they\nconsider injuries; and which must insure to the multitudes whose prayers\ncan only reach you through us, MISERY, _sufferings, and perpetual\nslavery_.\n\n                        JAMES FORTEN, Chairman.\n\nRUSSELL PARROTT, Secretary.\n\n\nA VOICE FROM NEW-YORK.\n\n                        NEW-YORK, January, 1831.\n\nAt a public meeting of the colored citizens of New-York, held at Boyer\nLodge Room, on Tuesday evening, the 25th ult. Mr Samuel Ennals was\ncalled to the chair, and Mr Philip Bell appointed secretary. The\nchairman stated that the object of the meeting was to take into\nconsideration the proceedings of an association, under the title of the\n'New-York Colonization Society.' An address to the 'Citizens of\nNew-York' relative to that Society, was read from the Commercial\nAdvertiser of the 8th ult.; whereupon the following resolutions were\nunanimously adopted.\n\nWhereas a number of gentlemen in this city, of mistaken views with\nrespect to the wishes and welfare of the people of this state, on the\nsubject of African colonization, and in pursuance of such mistaken views\nare using every exertion to form 'African Colonization Societies;' and\nwhereas a public document, purporting to be an address to the people of\nthe 'city of New-York' on this subject, contains opinions and assertions\nregarding the people of color as unfounded as they are unjust and\nderogatory to them--Therefore\n\nResolved, That this meeting do most solemnly protest against the said\naddress, as containing sentiments with respect to the people of color,\nunjust, illiberal and unfounded; tending to excite the prejudice of the\ncommunity.\n\nResolved, That in our opinion the sentiments put forth in the\nresolution at the formation of the 'Colonization Society of the city of\nNew-York,' are such as to impress this community with the belief that\nthe colored population are a growing evil, immoral, and destitute of\nreligious principles.\n\nResolved, That we view the resolution calling on the worshippers of\nChrist to assist in the unholy crusade against the colored population of\nthis country, as totally at variance with true Christian principles.\n\nResolved, That we claim _this country, the place of our birth, and not\nAfrica_, as our mother country, and all attempts to send us to Africa we\nconsider as gratuitous and uncalled for.\n\nResolved, That a committee of three persons be appointed to draft an\naddress to the people of New-York, and to be published, together with\nthese resolutions, and the same be signed by the Chairman and Secretary.\n\n                        SAMUEL ENNALS, Chairman.\n\nPHILIP BELL, Secretary.\n\n\n_An Address to the Citizens of New-York._\n\nIn protesting against the sentiments and declarations to our prejudice\nwith which the above noticed 'address' and 'resolutions' abound, we are\nwell aware of the power and influence we have attempted to resist. The\ngentlemen named as officers of the 'Colonization Society' are men of\nhigh standing, their dictum is law in morals with our community; but we\nwho feel the effect of their proscription, indulge the hope of an\nimpartial hearing.\n\nWe believe many of those gentlemen are our friends, and we hope they all\nmean well; we care not how many Colonization Societies they form to send\nslaves from the south to a place where they may enjoy freedom; and if\nthey can 'drain the ocean with a bucket,' may send '_with their own\nconsent_,' the increasing free colored population: but we solemnly\nprotest against that Christian philanthropy which in acknowledging our\nwrongs commits a greater by vilifying us. The conscientious man would\nnot kill the animal, but cried 'mad dog,' and the rabble despatched him.\nThese gentlemen acknowledge the anomaly of those political ethics which\nmake a distinction between man and man, when their foundation is, 'that\nall men are born equal,' and possess in common 'unalienable rights;' and\nto justify the withholding of these 'rights' would proclaim to\nforeigners that we are 'a distinct and inferior race,' without religion\nor morals, and implying that our condition cannot be improved here\nbecause there exists an unconquerable prejudice in the whites towards\nus. We absolutely deny these positions, and we call upon the learned\nauthor of the 'address' for the indications of distinction between us\nand other men. There are different _colors_ among all species of\nanimated creation. A difference of color is not a difference of species.\nOur structure and organization are the same, and not distinct from other\nmen; and in what respects are we inferior? Our political condition we\nadmit renders us less respectable, but does it prove us an inferior part\nof the human family? Inferior indeed we are as to the means which we\npossess of becoming wealthy and learned men; and it would argue well for\nthe cause of justice, humanity and true religion, if the reverend\ngentlemen whose names are found at the bottom of President Duer's\naddress, instead of showing their benevolence by laboring to move us\nsome four thousand miles off, were to engage actively in the furtherance\nof plans for the improvement of our moral and political condition in the\ncountry of our birth. It is too late now to brand with inferiority any\none of the races of mankind. We ask for proof. Time was when it was\nthought impossible to civilize the red man. Yet our own country presents\na practical refutation of the vain assertion in the flourishing\ncondition of the Cherokees, among whom intelligence and refinement are\nseen in somewhat fairer proportions than are exhibited by some of their\nwhite neighbors. In the language of a writer of expanded views and truly\nnoble sentiments, 'the blacks must be regarded as the real authors of\nmost of the arts and sciences which give the whites at present the\nadvantage over them. While Greece and Rome were yet barbarous, we find\nthe light of learning and improvement emanating from this, by\nsupposition, degraded and accursed continent of Africa, out of the midst\nof this very woolly-haired, flat-nosed, thick lipped, and coal black\nrace, which some persons are tempted to station at a pretty low\nintermediate point between men and monkeys.'[AG] It is needless to dwell\non this topic; and we say with the same writer, the blacks had a long\nand glorious day: and after what they have been and done, it argues not\nso much a mistaken theory, as sheer ignorance of the most notorious\nhistorical facts, to pretend that they are naturally inferior to the\nwhites.\n\nWe earnestly desire that this address may not be misunderstood. We have\nno objection in the abstract to the Colonization Society; but we do\nprotest against the means which that Society uses to effect its\npurposes. It is evident, to any impartial observer, that the natural\ntendency of all their speeches, reports, sermons, &c. is to widen the\nbreach between us and the whites, and give to prejudice a tenfold\nvigor. It has produced a mistaken sentiment toward us. Africa is\nconsidered the home of those who have never seen its shores. The poor\nignorant slave, who, in all probability, has never heard the name of\nChrist, by the colonization process is suddenly transformed into a\n'missionary,' to instruct in the principles of Christianity and the arts\nof civilized life. The Friends have been the last to aid the system\npursued by the Society's advocates. And we say (for we feel it) that in\nproportion as they become colonizationists, they become less active and\nless friendly to our welfare as citizens of the United States.\n\nThere does exist in the United States a prejudice against us; but is it\nunconquerable? Is it not in the power of these gentlemen to subdue it?\nIf their object is to benefit us, why not better our condition here?\nWhat keeps us down but the want of wealth? Why do we not accumulate\nwealth? Simply because we are not encouraged. If we wish to give our\nboys a classical education, they are refused admission into your\ncolleges. If we consume our means in giving them a mercantile education,\nyou will not employ them as clerks; if they are taught navigation, you\nwill not employ them as captains. If we make them mechanics, you will\nnot encourage them, nor will white mechanics work in the same shop with\nthem. And with all these disabilities, like a mill-stone about us,\nbecause we cannot point to our statesmen, bankers and lawyers, we are\ncalled an inferior race. Look at the glaring injustice towards us. (A\nforeigner, before he knows one of our streets from another, mounts a\ncart under the license of another man, or is a public porter, a\nlamp-lighter, a watchman, &c.)\n\nThese gentlemen know but little of a large portion of the colored\npopulation of this city. Their opinions are formed from the unfortunate\nportion of our people whose characters are scrutinized by them as judges\nof courts. Their patrician principles prevent an intercourse with men in\nthe middle walks of life, among whom a large portion of our people may\nbe classed. We ask them to visit the dwellings of the respectable part\nof our people, and we are satisfied that they will discover more\ncivilization and refinement than will be found among the same number of\nwhite families of an equal standing.\n\nFinally, we hope that those who have so eloquently pleaded the cause of\nthe Indian, will at least endeavor to preserve consistency in their\nconduct. They put no faith in Georgia, although she declares that the\nIndians shall not be removed but '_with their own consent_.' Can they\nblame us if we attach the same credit to the declaration that they mean\nto colonize us 'only with our consent?' They cannot indeed use force;\nthat is out of the question. But they harp so much on 'inferiority,'\n'prejudice,' 'distinction,' and what not, that there will no alternative\nbe left us but to fall in with their plans. We are content to abide\nwhere we are. We do not believe that things will always continue the\nsame. The time must come when the declaration of independence will be\nfelt in the heart as well as uttered from the mouth, and when the rights\nof all shall be properly acknowledged and appreciated. God hasten that\ntime. This is our home, and this our country. Beneath its sod lie the\nbones of our fathers: for it some of them fought, bled, and died. Here\nwe were born, and here we will die.\n\n\nA VOICE FROM BOSTON.\n\n                        BOSTON, March 12, 1831.\n\nPursuant to public notice, a meeting was held by the colored citizens of\nBoston, February 15th, at their school-house, for the purpose of\nexpressing their sentiments in a remonstrance against the doings of the\nState Colonization Society, Feb. 10th. It was called to order by Mr J.\nG. Barbadoes. Mr Robert Roberts was elected chairman, and Mr James G.\nBarbadoes secretary. A prayer was then offered up to the throne of\ngrace, by the Rev. Mr Snowden. The chairman having explained the object\nof the meeting, sundry resolutions were offered by Mr Barbadoes, and\nfairly discussed. On motion, a committee of five was chosen to amend the\nresolutions, and to draft an address to certain white citizens who had\nformed a State Society auxiliary to the American Colonization Society,\nand to the enlightened public. John T. Hilton, James G. Barbadoes, Rev.\nHosea Easton, Thomas Dalton and Thomas Cole were placed on the\ncommittee.\n\n\nThe committee, to whom was referred the subject of an attempt, by\ncertain white citizens, to establish in this State a Society auxiliary\nto the American Colonization Society, whose supposed object was the\nremoval of the free colored population to western Africa, have with\ndiligence sought for and obtained every fact within their reach,\nrelative to what was enjoined upon them by the respectable body by whom\nthey were delegated; and now respectfully\n\nREPORT:\n\nThat they have attended to the duty with which they were charged, with\nall the wisdom, prudence and fidelity which they possessed, and which\nthe merits of the case required. They therefore submit to the\nconsideration of the meeting their several conclusions on the subject.\n\nThe duty of your committee seemed to be divided into three general\ninquiries:--1st. To ascertain whether the Society above named was truly\nestablished in this metropolis. 2d. By whom it was established, and for\nwhat purpose. 3d. If established for the purpose entertained by the free\ncolored population, what method should be adopted in regard to\nexpressing their disapprobation thereto.\n\nAs to the first inquiry, your committee can state, that every doubt is\nnow removed respecting the formation of such a Society, the proceedings\nof the meeting being published, together with the names of the officers.\n\nOn the second inquiry, your committee refer you to the 2d Article of the\nConstitution of said Society, (published in the Boston Courier of Feb.\n16, 1831,) which reads thus:\n\n    'The object to which this Society shall be exclusively devoted,\n    shall be to aid the parent institution at Washington, in the\n    colonization of the free people of color of the United States on\n    the coast of Africa; and to do this not only by the contribution\n    of money, but by the exertion of its influence to promote the\n    formation of other societies.'\n\nWe deem any explanation here unnecessary.\n\nIn regard to the third and most essential inquiry, your committee\nreport, that they know of no better way of expressing their\ndisapprobation of such measures, than to use every exertion to persuade\ntheir brethren not to leave the United States upon any consideration\nwhatever; but if there are or should be any exasperated in consequence\nof abuse from their white countrymen, and who are determined to leave\nthe country, we think it desirable to recommend them to Hayti or Upper\nCanada, where they will find the laws equal. Your committee deem it\nexpedient also to urge this duty upon the several ministers of color\nthroughout the United States, and all other persons of color whose\ninfluence may have any bearing in preventing their brethren from\nyielding to a request so unjust and cruel.\n\nAnd if your respectable body should not think your committee were going\nbeyond the bounds of their duty, they would recommend the clerical order\nthroughout the United States, who have had or who are having any thing\nto do with the deceptive scheme above alluded to, to read the 13th\nchapter of Ezekiel. Read it--read it--and understand it. Your committee\nwould recommend those clergymen, who have not defiled their garment with\nthe blood of the innocent, to read the 1st, 2nd, 11th and 12th verses of\nthe 24th chapter of Proverbs.\n\nIn support of the sentiments thus expressed, it becomes necessary that\nour reasons should accompany them, why we object to the plan of dragging\nus to Africa--a country to us unknown, except by geography. In the first\nplace, we are told that Africa is our native country; consequently the\nclimate will be more congenial to our health. We readily deny the\nassertion. How can a man be born in two countries at the same time? Is\nnot the position superficial to suppose that American born citizens are\nAfricans? In regard to the climate, what better proof do we want of its\nsalubrity, than to know that of the numerous bodies who have embarked, a\nlarge portion of them have immediately fallen victims, on their arrival,\nto the pestilence usual to that place?\n\nIt is again said, that the establishment of a colony on the coast of\nAfrica will prevent the slave trade. We might as well argue, that a\nwatchman in the city of Boston would prevent thievery in New-York, or\nany other place; or that the custom-house officers there would prevent\ngoods being smuggled into any other port of the United States.\n\nWe are aware, that such an unnecessary expense devoted to the\napplication of a remedy so far from the disease, is absolutely contrary\nto common sense. We are sensible that the moral disease, _slavery_, is\nin America, and not in Africa. If there was no market for the vending of\nslaves, there would be no inducement for the thief to steal them. The\nremedy for this evil, we humbly conceive, consists of three general\nprescriptions, viz. 1st. Let him who stealeth obey the word of God, and\nsteal no more. 2d. Let him who hath encouraged the thief by purchase,\n(and consequently is a partaker with him,) do so no more. 3rd. Let the\nclerical physicians, who have encouraged, and are encouraging, both the\nthief and the receiver, by urging their influence to the removal of the\nmeans of their detection, desist therefrom, and with their mighty weight\nof influence step into the scale of justice: then will be done away this\nhorrible traffic in blood.\n\nFrom the above considerations, we sincerely recommend to our white\ncountrymen honor and humanity, which will render useless the\ntransportation of the colored population to the coast of Africa, it\nbeing altogether gratuitous and uncalled for.\n\nWe proceed to offer several objections to the operation alluded to--one\nis, the circumstance of the project originating with those who were\ndeeply interested in slavery, and who hold slaves as their property. We\nconsider the fact no evidence of the innocence of its design. We further\nobject, because its members admit slavery to be an evil, and use no\nmeans to destroy it; but are exerting all their influence to urge every\nfree person of color to Africa, (whose right to this soil holds good\nwith any other citizen,) thereby rivetting the chains of slavery\nstronger than ever upon their oppressed brethren.\n\nAgain we object, because the whole spring of action seems to originate\nin the fear lest the free colored people may whisper liberty in the ears\nof the oppressed. We would suggest, however, that they who are fond of\nliberty should not be annoyed at its sound, from whatever source it may\ncome.\n\nAgain we object, on the ground of there being sufficient land in the\nUnited States, on which a colony might be established that would better\nmeet the wishes of the colored people, and at a much cheaper rate than\ncould possibly be done by sending them to a howling wilderness far away,\nand to them unknown.\n\nOne of the leaders of the newly formed Society argued that in case a\ncolony was formed for the blacks in the United States, they would in a\nshort time be removed, as has been the case with the poor Indians. To\nobviate this objection, we here inform him that Hayti will hold all the\nslaves he will send her; and as for the free people, we expect they can\ngo where they please, either to Africa, Hayti or Upper Canada, or remain\nat home, without asking the consent of a slaveholding party. Nor can we\nconceive why free citizens, acting this liberty, should interfere with\nthem, if they are--as they have represented themselves to be--honest and\nbenevolent men. We conceive that the question in view stands in two\ndistinct points--the removal of the free colored population from this\ncountry, or the acknowledgment of them as citizens. The former position\nmust be acknowledged, on all sides, a means of perpetuating slavery in\nour land; the latter, of abolishing it; consequently it may be seen who\nare for the well-being of their country.\n\nWe regret that our interest has thus drawn us before the public, on\naccount of the regard we entertain towards many of our warmest friends\nwho have been deceived by a cloak of philanthropy, smooth words, and a\nsanctified appearance. We remind them, however, that the blood of Abel\nis beginning to be heard by many who are willing to acknowledge that\nthey hear it.\n\nWe cannot close our duty without gratefully acknowledging the respect we\nentertain for those who have defended our cause with more than Spartan\ncourage. It is the opinion of your committee, that they are to be\nrespected as our countrymen, our brethren, and our fellow citizens--not\nto say they are to be applauded as men, whose great acts are based upon\nthe acclamation of their fellow men; but rather let us hold up their\nhands, and let their works praise them. We shall only add an expression\nof our hopes, that the Spirit of Liberty, recently awakened in the old\nworld, may redouble its thundering voice, until every tyrant is seized\nwith a Belshazzar tremble at the hand-writing upon the wall of his\ncorrupt palace.\n\nIn addition to the above, your committee submit the following\nresolutions for your acceptance.\n\nResolved, That this meeting contemplate, with lively interest, the rapid\nprogress of the sentiments of liberty among our degraded brethren, and\nthat we will legally oppose every operation that may have a tendency to\nperpetuate our present political condition.\n\nResolved, That this meeting look upon the American Colonization Society\nas a clamorous, abusive and peace-disturbing combination.\n\nResolved, That this meeting look upon the conduct of those clergymen,\nwho have filled the ears of their respective congregations with the\nabsurd idea of the necessity of removing the free colored people from\nthe United States, as highly deserving the just reprehension directed to\nthe false prophets and priests, by Jeremiah the true prophet, as\nrecorded in the 23d chapter of his prophecy.\n\nResolved, That this meeting appeal to a generous and enlightened public\nfor an impartial hearing relative to the subject of our present\npolitical condition.\n\nResolved, That the gratitude of this meeting, which is so sensibly felt,\nbe fully expressed to those editors whose independence of mind and\ncorrect views of the rights of man have led them so fearlessly to speak\nin favor of our cause; that we rejoice to behold in them such a strong\ndesire to extend towards us the inestimable blessing in the gift of a\nwise Providence which is demanded by all nature, and for which their\nveteran fathers struggled in the revolution.\n\n                        ROBERT ROBERTS, Chairman.\n\nJAMES G. BARBADOES, Secretary.\n\n\nA VOICE FROM BALTIMORE.\n\n                        BALTIMORE, March 21, 1831.\n\nAt a respectable meeting of persons of color, convened, pursuant to\npublic notice, for the purpose of expressing their sentiments in regard\nto the pretensions of the American Colonization Society, William\nDouglass was called to the chair, and William Watkins appointed\nsecretary. The object of the call having been explicitly stated, the\nmeeting immediately proceeded to the consideration of the following\nresolutions, which were unanimously adopted:--On motion,\n\nResolved, That it is the belief of this meeting, that the American\nColonization Society is founded more in a selfish policy, than in the\ntrue principles of benevolence;--and, therefore, so far as it regards\nthe life-giving spring of its operations, is not entitled to our\nconfidence, but should be viewed by us with all that caution and\ndistrust which our happiness demands.\n\nResolved, That we are not insensible to the means usually employed by\nthat Society, and its auxiliaries, to effectuate our removal--that we\nsincerely deprecate their gratuitous and illiberal attacks upon, and\ntheir too frequently exaggerated statements of our moral standing in the\ncommunity--that such means are unworthy of a magnanimous people, and of\na virtuous and noble cause.\n\nResolved, That we consider the land in which we were born, and in which\nwe have been bred, our only '_true and appropriate home_,'--and that\nwhen _we_ desire to remove, we will apprise the public of the same, in\ndue season.\n\nResolved, That we are deeply sensible that many of our warm and sincere\nfriends have espoused the colonization system, from the purest\nmotives,--and that we sincerely regret their efforts to ameliorate our\ncondition are not more in accordance with our wishes.\n\nResolved, That the proceedings of this meeting be published in the daily\npapers of this city, signed by the Chairman and Secretary.\n\n                        WILLIAM DOUGLASS, Chairman.\n\nWILLIAM WATKINS, Secretary.\n\n\nA VOICE FROM WASHINGTON.\n\n                        WASHINGTON, May 4, 1831.\n\nPursuant to previous notice, a large and very respectable meeting of the\ncolored citizens of Washington, D. C., convened at the African Methodist\nEpiscopal church on Wednesday evening last, for the purpose of\nexpressing their views upon the subject of African colonization. Mr John\nW. Prout was called to the chair, and Arthur Waring was appointed\nsecretary.\n\nThe chairman briefly explained the object of the meeting, in a short\nspeech well adapted to the occasion, which was followed by several neat\nand very appropriate addresses delivered by sundry gentlemen present.\n\nThe following preamble and resolutions were offered and adopted, nearly\nunanimously.\n\nWhereas we consider that the period has arrived for the colored citizens\nof this place to express their opinion upon the subject of colonization\nin Liberia; a subject of great importance to themselves, as well as to\nthe colored citizens of the United States generally; and whereas our\nbrethren at a distance are desirous of obtaining information relative to\nthe object and policy pursued by the American Colonization Society:\nTherefore, be it\n\nResolved, That this meeting view with distrust the efforts made by the\nColonization Society to cause the free people of color of these United\nStates to emigrate to Liberia on the coast of Africa, or elsewhere.\n\nResolved, That it is the declared opinion of the members of this\nmeeting, that the soil which gave them birth is their only _true and\nveritable home_, and that it would be impolitic, unwise and improper for\nthem to leave their home without the benefits of education.\n\nResolved, That this meeting conceive that among the advocates of the\ncolonization system, they have many true and sincere friends; and do\nregret that their actions, although prompted no doubt by the purest\nmotives, do not meet our approbation.\n\nResolved, That we believe the PRESS to be the most efficient means of\ndisseminating light and knowledge among our brethren; and that this\nmeeting do acknowledge with gratitude the efforts made in our behalf, by\nthe editors of the Genius of Universal Emancipation, and the\nLiberator;--and do most earnestly recommend their respective papers to\nour brethren generally, for their approval and support.\n\nResolved, That the foregoing resolutions be signed by the Chairman and\nSecretary, and published.\n\n                        JOHN W. PROUT, Chairman.\n\nARTHUR WARING, Secretary.\n\n\nA VOICE FROM BROOKLYN.\n\n                        BROOKLYN, (N. Y.) June 3, 1831.\n\nAt a numerous and respectable meeting of the colored inhabitants of the\nvillage and township of Brooklyn, convened in the African Hall,\nNassau-street, for the purpose of taking into consideration our views in\nrelation to the Colonization Society--\n\nThe throne of grace was addressed by the Rev. Mr Hogarth, after which\nHenry C. Thompson was called to the chair, and George Hogarth appointed\nsecretary.\n\nAppropriate addresses were delivered by Messrs George Hogarth, James\nPennington, and George Woods. The following resolutions were then\nadopted:--\n\nResolved, unanimously, That the call of this meeting be approved of; and\nthat the colored citizens of this village have, with friendly feelings,\ntaken into consideration the objects of the American Colonization\nSociety, together with all its auxiliary movements, preparatory for our\nremoval to the coast of Africa; and we view them as wholly gratuitous,\nnot called for by us, and not essential to the real welfare of our race:\nThat we know of no other country in which we can justly claim or demand\nour rights as citizens, whether civil or political, but in these United\nStates of America, our native soil: And, that we shall be active in our\nendeavors to convince the members of the Colonization Society, and the\npublic generally, that we are _men_, that we are _brethren_, that we are\n_countrymen_ and _fellow-citizens_, and demand an equal share of\nprotection from our federal government with any other class of citizens\nin the community.\n\nIt was also Resolved, That the following persons, viz.: James\nPennington, Henry C. Thompson, and George Woods, be appointed a\ncommittee to draft an address to the public, expressing our views more\nfully in relation to the Colonization Society; and that a delegate be\nappointed to proceed to the city of Philadelphia, to represent us in the\nensuing convention, (which will commence its sitting the 6th inst.) to\nco-operate with the measures that may then be adopted for the general\nwelfare of our race.\n\n                        HENRY C. THOMPSON, Chairman.\n\nGEORGE HOGARTH, Secretary.\n\n\n_Address to the Colored Citizens of Brooklyn, (N. Y.) and its Vicinity._\n\nRespected brethren, and fellow-citizens:--As men and as christians,\nwhose secular and eternal interests are the same, we are seriously\ncalled upon by truth and reason, and every thing of which human action\nis composed, to take into consideration the objects of the American\nColonization Society; which aims to remove us, the free people of color,\nfrom this, our beloved and native land, to the coast of Africa; a\ncountry unknown to us in every respect.\n\nAs they propose to remove us with our own free will and consent, we do\nnot contradict the assertion, that their objects, in the abstract, are\nsalutary and benevolent; but when we hear those influential gentlemen,\nwho are advocating this cause, generalize by language directly\ncalculated to increase that prejudice, which is already one grand reason\nof our wretchedness, we are moved by a spirit of reliance upon justice\nand humanity, to lift our positive and decided voice against their\nproceedings; and consider them as a stigma upon our morals as a people,\nas natives and citizens of this country, to whom equal rights are\nguaranteed by the Declaration of Independence.\n\nWhen we consider that by abridging men in their moral liberty, we touch\ntheir responsibility to the highest authority in the universe, we should\nshudder at the thought of retaining such feelings as would lead to any\nirreligious or impolitic acts; nor should we be willing to yield one\nparticle of ours to others, unless it be on the ground of expediency,\nand in some way conducive to the glory of God.\n\nWe are sorry to say that those gentlemen have injured their cause, and\nperhaps caused much good to be evil spoken of, by making use of improper\nlanguage, in their discussions upon our character and condition in this\ncountry; without using one effort to improve or prepare us for the posts\nof honor and distinction which they hold forth to us, whenever we set\nfoot on this much talked of, and long expected promised land. We would\nask the Colonization Society, what are they doing at home to improve our\ncondition? It is a true proverb, that 'charity begins at home.' How can\nthey extend their charities with christian sympathies and feeling some\nthousand miles across the Atlantic ocean, when they are not willing,\nwith a few exceptions, to give us even a christian instruction while\namong them? To prove the assertion, we would inquire, how many of our\nsable brethren have been elevated to any post of distinction in this\ncountry? Even in states, where our numbers have almost doubled, have we\nseen one statesman, one officer, or one juror? No! in our village and\nits vicinity, how many of us have been educated in colleges, and\nadvanced into different branches of business; or taken into mercantile\nhouses, manufacturing establishments, &c.? Are we not even prohibited\nfrom some of the common labor and drudgery of the streets, such as\ncartmen, porters, &c.? It is a strange theory to us, how these gentlemen\ncan promise to honor and respect us in Africa, when they are using every\neffort to exclude us from all rights and privileges at home.\n\nThey say, 'that those of our friends, who look for the day when we shall\nhave equal rights in this country, are mistaken.' May we not accept it\nas an assurance, that they will do all they can to prevent us from\narriving to any degree of respectability at home, in our own land? Away\nthen with such false sympathies and friendships! they are as foreign to\nus as the coast of Africa!\n\nWe truly believe, that many gentlemen who are engaged in the\nColonization Society are our sincere friends and well-wishers; they\nwish to do something for us, consequently they have subscribed largely\nto it, because there was no other plan on foot. Some of them have been\ndeluded into its schemes, with a view of thoroughly civilizing and\nchristianizing Africa, by our free people of color and emancipated\nslaves, who may, from time to time, be colonized on its coasts, with\ntheir consent. We conceive that such measures are fraught with\ninconsistency, and in no way calculated to have such an effect. To send\na parcel of uninstructed, uncivilized, and unchristianized people, to\nthe western coast of Africa, with bibles in their hands to teach the\nnatives the truths of the gospel, social happiness, and moral virtue, is\nmockery and ridicule in the extreme.\n\nMissionary families should be well instructed in the rudiments of our\nholy religion, that their example may shine forth as lights in that much\nneglected and benighted land. We are much in favor of christianizing\nAfrica; but not according to the plans of the Colonization Society, to\npurchase their lands of them, with a few paltry guns, beads, &c., and\nthen establish forts and garrisons, to protect traders and traffickers,\nwithout, perhaps, once naming the religion of Jesus to them. We well\nknow that the examples of traders and traffickers are in no way\ncalculated to induce heathens to embrace our religion. For example, we\nwill refer to the early settlements of our American colonies, and\ninquire what religious impressions did the settlers make (who were wise\nand learned from Europe) upon the aborigines of our country? We believe\nthat a few men, well instructed and possessing a true missionary spirit,\nare calculated to do more good in that country, than a thousand on the\ncolonization plan.\n\nMany wish us to go to Africa, because they say that our constitutions\nare better adapted to that climate than this. If so, we would ask why so\nmany of our hearty, hale and healthy brethren, on arriving in that\ncountry, fall victims to the malignant fevers and disorders, prevalent\nin those regions? We would observe, that none are exempt from being\ntouched with the contagion. It operates more severely upon those from\nthe higher latitudes.\n\nSome of our brethren have come to the conclusion to leave this country,\nwith all its prejudices, and seek an asylum in foreign climes. We would\nrecommend to your serious consideration, the location in Upper Canada; a\nplace far better adapted to our constitutions, our habits, and our\nmorals; where prejudice has not such an unlimited sway; where you will\nbe surrounded by Christians, and have an opportunity to become civilized\nand christianized.\n\nBrethren, it is time for us to awake to our interests; for the\nColonization Society is straining every nerve for the accomplishment of\nits objects. By their last publications we see, that they have invoked\nall Christian assemblies and churches throughout the Union, to exert\ntheir influence, by raising subscriptions to send us (the strangers\nwithin their gates, as they call us) to the coast of Africa. They have\ngot the consent of eleven states, who have instructed their senators to\ndo something in the next Congress for our removal. Maryland calls\nimperatively on the general government to send us away, or else they\nwill colonize their own free blacks. They have, by their influence,\nstopped the emancipation of slaves in a measure, except for colonization\npurposes.\n\nWe owe a tribute of respect to the state of New-York, for her not having\nentered into the confederacy. Though she is the last in proclaiming\ngeneral emancipation to the slave, yet we find her slow in adopting any\nsuch unchristian measures. We may well say, she is deliberate in her\ncouncils, and determinate in her resolutions.\n\nFinally, brethren, we are not strangers; neither do we come under the\nalien law. Our constitution does not call upon us to become naturalized;\nwe are already American citizens; our fathers were among the first that\npeopled this country; their sweat and their tears have been the means,\nin a measure, of raising our country to its present standing. Many of\nthem fought, and bled, and died for the gaining of her liberties; and\nshall we forsake their tombs, and flee to an unknown land? No! let us\nremain over them and weep, until the day arrive when Ethiopia shall\nstretch forth her hands to God. We were born and nurtured in this\nChristian land; and are surrounded by christians, whose sacred creed is,\nto do unto all men as ye would they should do unto you--to love our\nneighbors as ourselves; and which expressly declares, if we have respect\nto persons, we commit sin. Let us, brethren, invoke the christian's God,\nin our behalf, to do away the prejudices of our brethren, that they may\nadopt the solemn truths of the gospel, and acknowledge that God is no\nrespecter of persons--that he has made of one blood all the nations that\ndwell on the face of the earth--that they may no longer bring their\nreasonings in contact with the omniscience of Deity; and insinuate to\nthe public, that our intellect and faculties are measurably inferior to\nthose of our fairer brethren. Because adversity has thrown a veil over\nus, and we, whom God has created to worship, admire and adore his divine\nattributes, shall we be held in a state of wretchedness and degradation,\nwith monkeys, baboons, slaves, and cattle, because we possess a darker\nhue?\n\nWe feel it our duty ever to remain true to the constitution of our\ncountry, and to protect it, as we have always done, from foreign\naggressions. Although more than three hundred thousand of us are\nvirtually deprived of the rights and immunities of citizens, and more\nthan two millions held in abject slavery, yet we know that God is just,\nand ever true to his purpose. Before him the whole world stands in awe,\nand at his command nations must obey. HE who has lately pleaded the\nIndian's cause in our land, and who has brought about many signal\nevents, to the astonishment of our generation, we believe is in the\nwhirlwind, and will soon bring about the time when the sable sons of\nAmerica will join with their fairer brethren, and re-echo liberty and\nequal rights in all parts of Columbia's soil.\n\nWe pray the Lord to hasten the day, when prejudice, inferiority,\ndegradation and oppression shall be done away, and the kingdoms of this\nworld become the kingdoms of our God and his Christ.\n\nSigned in behalf of a public meeting in Brooklyn.\n\n                        H. C. THOMPSON, Chairman.\n\nGEORGE HOGARTH, Secretary.\n\n\nA VOICE FROM HARTFORD.\n\n                        HARTFORD, Ct., July 14, 1831.\n\nAt a large and respectable meeting of the colored inhabitants of the\ncity of Hartford and its vicinity, convened at the vestry room of the\nAfrican church, on the 13th inst. for the purpose of expressing their\nviews in relation to the American Colonization Society, Mr Henry Foster\nwas called to the chair, and Mr Paul Drayton appointed secretary. The\nobject of the meeting was then stated in a brief and pertinent manner,\nafter which extracts from several speeches delivered by the founders of\nthe colonization scheme, together with the general sentiments of\ncolonizationists extracted from the African Repository, were laid before\nthe meeting, and the following resolutions were unanimously adopted:\n\nResolved, That it is the opinion of this meeting, that the American\nColonization Society is actuated by the same motives which influenced\nthe mind of Pharaoh, when he ordered the male children of the Israelites\nto be destroyed.\n\nResolved, That it is the belief of this meeting, that the Society is the\ngreatest foe to the free colored and slave population with whom liberty\nand equality have to contend.\n\nResolved, That we look upon the man of color that would be influenced by\nthe Society to emigrate to Liberia, as an enemy to the cause and a\ntraitor to his brethren.\n\nResolved, That it is the opinion of this meeting, that many of those who\nare engaged in this unjust scheme would be willing, if it were, in their\npower, to place us before the point of the bayonet, and drive us out of\nexistence--so that they may get rid of that dark cloud, as we are\ntermed, which hangs over these United States.\n\nResolved, That, in our belief, we have committed no crime worthy of\nbanishment, and that we will resist all the attempts of the Colonization\nSociety to banish us from this our native land.\n\nResolved, That we consider ourselves the legitimate sons of these United\nStates, from whence we will never consent to be transported.\n\nResolved, That we will resist, even unto death, all the attempts of this\nSociety to transport us to the pestilential shores of Liberia.\n\nResolved, That we will not countenance the doctrine of any pretended\nminister of the gospel, who is in league with those conspirators against\nour rights. We would, therefore, warn them to beware of following the\nfootsteps of Balaam, who taught Balak to cast a stumbling block in the\nway of the children of Israel; for we verily believe, that if God\nalmighty have to deliver his people by his mighty arm of power, they\nwill share the fate of that false prophet.\n\nResolved, That, though we be last in calling a meeting, we feel no less\nthe pernicious influence of this Society than the rest of our brethren;\nand that we consider all their pretexts, whether under the cloak of\nreligion or philanthropy, gratuitous and uncalled for. We would,\ntherefore, advise the Society, that as we have learned that there are\none hundred and fifty thousand dollars in its funds, it had better\nappropriate this sum in meliorating the condition of our brethren the\nslaves, in this their native land, and raising them from that\ndegradation into which they are plunged.\n\nResolved, That the thanks of the meeting be returned to Messrs William\nLloyd Garrison, Isaac Knapp, and every friend of emancipation, for their\nbenevolent exertions in our behalf.\n\nResolved, That the proceedings of this meeting be signed by the Chairman\nand Secretary, and sent to the Liberator for publication.\n\n                        HENRY FOSTER, Chairman.\n\nPAUL DRAYTON, Secretary.\n\nA VOICE FROM MIDDLETOWN.\n\n                        MIDDLETOWN, Ct., July 15, 1831.\n\nAt a meeting of the colored citizens of Middletown, pursuant to public\nnotice, held in the Lecture Room in the African church--Mr Joseph\nGilbert was called to the chair, and Amos L. Beman appointed secretary.\nThe meeting being thus opened, it was warmly and freely addressed by\nMessrs Jeffrey, Condoll and Gilbert, when, on motion, it was\n\nResolved, That the proceedings of our brethren in Brooklyn, N. Y., meet\nour entire approbation: they breathe our sentiments in full, and may our\nvoices cheerfully accord with them in protesting against leaving this\nour native soil. Why should we leave this land, so dearly bought by the\nblood, groans and tears of our fathers? Truly this is our home: here let\nus live, and here let us die. What! emigrate to Liberia, a land so\ndetrimental to our health! We have now before us a letter written by a\nfriend who emigrated from this place to the burning shores of Africa, in\nhopes of splendor, wealth and ease; and he says that 'sickness and\ndistress prevail to a great extent--and it is a clear case that those\nwho come from the United States must undergo a long and protracted\nsickness with this country's fever, and I would not advise my friends to\nemigrate.'\n\n                        JOSEPH GILBERT, Chairman.\n\nAMOS G. BEMAN, Secretary\n\n\nA VOICE FROM NEW-HAVEN.\n\n                        NEW-HAVEN, August 8, 1831.\n\nAt a meeting of the Peace and Benevolent Society of Afric-Americans,\nheld on the 7th inst., Mr Henry Berrian was called to the chair, and Mr\nHenry N. Merriman was appointed secretary. The following resolutions\nwere then unanimously adopted.\n\nResolved, That we consider those christians and philanthropists, who are\nboasting of their liberty and equality, saying, that all men are born\nfree and equal, and yet are endeavoring to remove us from our native\nland, to be inhuman in their proceedings, defective in their principles,\nand unworthy of our confidence.\n\nResolved, That we consider those colonizationists and ministers of the\ngospel, who are advocating our transportation to an unknown clime,\nbecause our skin is a little darker than theirs, (notwithstanding God\nhas made of one blood all nations of men, and has no respect of\npersons,) as violaters of the commandments of God and the laws of the\nbible, and as trying to blind our eyes by their vain movements--their\nmouths being smooth as oil, and their words sharper than any two-edged\nsword.\n\nResolved, That, while we have no doubt of the sinister motives of the\ngreat body of colonizationists, we believe some of them are our friends\nand well-wishers, who have not looked deeply into the subject; but when\nthey make a careful examination, we think they will find themselves in\nerror.\n\nResolved, That it is our earnest desire that Africa may speedily become\ncivilized, and receive religious instruction; but not by the absurd and\ninvidious plan of the Colonization Society--namely, to send a nation of\nignorant men to teach a nation of ignorant men. We think it most wise\nfor them to send missionaries.\n\nResolved, That we will resist all attempts made for our removal to the\ntorrid shores of Africa, and will sooner suffer every drop of blood to\nbe taken from our veins than submit to such unrighteous treatment.\n\nResolved, That we know of no other place that we can call our true and\nappropriate home, excepting these United States, into which our fathers\nwere brought, who enriched the country by their toils, and fought, bled\nand died in its defence, and left us in its possession--and here we will\nlive and die.\n\nResolved, That we consider the American Colonization Society founded on\nprinciples that no Afric-American, unless very weak in mind, will\nfollow; and any man who will be persuaded to leave his own country and\ngo to Africa, as an enemy to his country and a traitor to his brethren.\n\nResolved, That we have heard with pleasure of the proceedings of our\nbrethren in neighboring cities; and that a number of this Society will\nwillingly become auxiliary to the parent Society of Philadelphia, for\nthe mutual benefit of the Afric-Americans throughout the United States.\n\nResolved, That the proceedings of this meeting be signed by the Chairman\nand Secretary, and sent to the Liberator for publication.\n\n                        HENRY BERRIAN, Chairman.\n\nHENRY N. MERRIMAN, Secretary.\n\n\nA VOICE FROM COLUMBIA.\n\n                        COLUMBIA, Pa., August 5, 1831.\n\nAt a respectable meeting of Afric-Americans convened pursuant to public\nnotice, at their school-house, with a view of taking into consideration\nthe novel scheme of the American Colonization Society, Mr Stephen Smith\nwas called to the chair, and Mr James Richards appointed secretary. A\nprayer was then offered to the throne of grace, by Mr Smith. The\nchairman called the house to order, and explained the object of the\nmeeting in a few preliminary remarks; after which, the meeting proceeded\nto business, and adopted the subsequent resolutions.\n\nResolved, That we view the country in which we live as our only true and\nappropriate home; and let colonizationists pour contempt upon our race,\nand slaveholders look on our brethren as a nuisance to the country, yet\nhere will we live, here were we born, this is the country for which some\nof our ancestors fought and bled and conquered, nor shall a conspiring\nworld be able to drive us hence.\n\nResolved, That it is our firm belief, that the Colonization Society is\nreplete with infinite mischief, and that we view all the arguments of\nits advocates as mere sophistry, not worthy our notice as freemen. Being\ncitizens of these United States, we could call upon our brethren to\nawake from their slumber of ignorance, break the chain of prejudice that\nhas so long bound them, and in the strength of the omnipotent Spirit\ngive their hearts to God.\n\nResolved, That we will resist all attempts to send us to the burning\nshores of Africa. Beware of Alexander, the coppersmith, for he hath\ndone us much harm. May the Lord reward him! We verily believe that if by\nan extraordinary perversion of nature, every man and woman, in one\nnight, should become white, the Colonization Society would fall like\nlightning to the earth.\n\nResolved, That we will not be duped out of our rights as freemen, by\ncolonizationists, nor by any other combination of men. All the encomiums\npronounced upon Liberia can never form the least temptation to induce us\nto leave our native soil, to emigrate to a strange land.\n\nResolved, That we readily coalesce with our brethren in the different\ntowns and cities, and take the liberty to say, that we as a little flock\nfeel a fixed resolution to maintain our ground, till the great Author of\nour being shall say to those who deprive us of our rights,--Thus saith\nthe Lord, because ye have not hearkened to me in proclaiming liberty,\nevery one to his brother, and every man to his neighbor, behold I will\nproclaim liberty for you, saith the Lord, to the sword, to the\npestilence, and to the famine.\n\nResolved, That it is the decided opinion of this meeting, that African\ncolonization is a scheme of southern policy, a wicked device of\nslaveholders who are desirous of riveting more firmly, and perpetuating\nmore certainly, the fetters of slavery; who are only anxious to rid\nthemselves of a population whose presence, influence and example have a\ntendency (as they suppose) to produce discontent among the slaves, and\nto furnish them with incitements to rebellion.\n\nResolved, That this meeting will not encourage a scheme, which has for\nits basis prejudice and hatred. Though there may be some good wheat, yet\nit is to be feared the enemy has sown tares among it.\n\nResolved, That we will support the colony at Canada, the climate being\nhealthier, better adapted to our constitutions, and far more consonant\nwith our views than that of Africa.\n\nResolved, That we unanimously agree to patronize the Liberator, and use\nour best endeavors to get subscribers for the same; and that we are\nunder renewed obligations to God, that he ever raised up such honest\nhearted men as Messrs Garrison and Knapp.\n\nResolved, That this meeting cause its proceedings to be sent to the\nLiberator for publication; praying that the Lord will succeed all the\nlawful efforts of its conductor to meliorate the condition of our\nbrethren in these United States, trusting his weapons are not carnal,\nbut mighty through God to pull down the strong holds of the devil.\n\nSigned by the Chairman and Secretary.\n\n                        STEPHEN SMITH, Chairman.\n\nJAMES RICHARDS, Secretary.\n\n\nA VOICE FROM NANTUCKET.\n\n                        NANTUCKET, August 5, 1831.\n\nAt a respectable meeting of the colored inhabitants of the town of\nNantucket, convened for the purpose of taking into consideration our\nviews in relation to the American Colonization Society, Mr Arthur Cooper\nwas called to the chair, and Edward J. Pompey appointed secretary.\n\nAddresses were delivered by Messrs William Harris and Edward J. Pompey,\nin which they took a general view of the Colonization Society, of its\nleading members, and some of the speeches and remarks made by gentlemen\nat the meetings of said Society. The following resolves were then\nadopted:\n\nResolved, That the call of this meeting be approved of, and that the\ncolored citizens of this town have with friendly feelings taken into\nconsideration the objects of the Colonization Society, together with its\nmovements preparatory for our removal to the coast of Africa; and we\nview them as wholly gratuitous, not called for by us, and in no way\nessential to the welfare of our race; and we believe that our condition\ncan be best improved in this our own country and native soil, the United\nStates of America.\n\nResolved, That we hold this truth to be self-evident, that all men are\nborn free and equal; and we are men, and therefore ought to share as\nmuch protection and enjoy as many privileges under our federal\ngovernment as any other class of the community.\n\nResolved, That we will be zealous in doing all that lies in our power to\nimprove the condition of ourselves and brethren in this our native land.\n\nResolved, That there is no philanthropy towards the people of color in\nthe colonization plan, but that it is got up to delude us away from our\ncountry and home into a country of sickness and death.\n\nResolved, That the thanks of this meeting be returned to every friend\nwho vindicates our rights and interests.\n\nResolved, That the proceedings of this meeting be signed by the Chairman\nand Secretary, and sent to Boston, to be published in the Liberator.\n\n                        ARTHUR COOPER, Chairman.\n\nEDWARD J. POMPEY, Secretary.\n\n\nA VOICE FROM PITTSBURGH.\n\n                        PITTSBURGH, (Pa.,) Sept. 1, 1831.\n\nAt a large and respectable meeting of the colored citizens of\nPittsburgh, convened at the African Methodist Episcopal church, for the\npurpose of expressing their views in relation to the American\nColonization Society, Mr J. B. Vashon was called to the chair, and Mr R.\nBryan appointed secretary. The object of the meeting was then stated at\nconsiderable length, and in an appropriate manner, by the chairman. The\nfollowing resolutions were then unanimously adopted:\n\nResolved, That 'we hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men\nare created equal, and endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable\nrights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of\nhappiness'--Liberty and Equality now, Liberty and Equality forever!\n\nResolved, That it is the decided opinion of this meeting, that African\ncolonization is a scheme to drain the better informed part of the\ncolored people out of these United States, so that the chain of slavery\nmay be rivetted more tightly; but we are determined not to be cheated\nout of our rights by the colonization men, or any other set of\nintriguers. We believe there is no philanthropy in the colonization plan\ntowards the people of color, but that it is got up to delude us away\nfrom our country and home to the burning shores of Africa.\n\nResolved, That we, the colored people of Pittsburgh and citizens of\nthese United States, view the country in which we live as our only true\nand proper home. We are just as much natives here as the members of the\nColonization Society. Here we were born--here bred--here are our\nearliest and most pleasant associations--here is all that binds man to\nearth, and makes life valuable. And we do consider every colored man who\nallows himself to be colonized in Africa, or elsewhere, a traitor to our\ncause.\n\nResolved, That we are freemen, that we are brethren, that we are\ncountrymen and fellow-citizens, and as fully entitled to the free\nexercise of the elective franchise as any men who breathe; and that we\ndemand an equal share of protection from our federal government with any\nclass of citizens in the community. We now inform the Colonization\nSociety, that should our reason forsake us, then we may desire to\nremove. We will apprise them of this change in due season.\n\nResolved, That we, as citizens of these United States, and for the\nsupport of these resolutions, with a firm reliance on the protection of\ndivine providence, do mutually pledge to each other our lives, our\nfortunes, and our sacred honor, not to support a colony in Africa nor in\nUpper Canada, not yet emigrate to Hayti. Here we were born--here will we\nlive by the help of the Almighty--and here we will die, and let our\nbones lie with our fathers.\n\nResolved, That we return our grateful thanks to Messrs Garrison and\nKnapp, publishers of the Liberator, and Mr Lundy, editor of the Genius\nof Universal Emancipation, for their untiring exertions in the cause of\nphilanthropy.\n\nResolved, That the proceedings of this meeting be signed by the Chairman\nand Secretary, and published in the Liberator.\n\n                        J. B. VASHON, Chairman.\n\nR. BRYAN, Secretary.\n\nA VOICE FROM WILMINGTON.\n\n                        WILMINGTON, July 12, 1831.\n\nAt a large and respectable meeting of the people of color of the borough\nof Wilmington, convened in the African Union Church, July 12th, 1831,\nfor the purpose of considering the subject of colonization on the coast\nof Africa:\n\nOn motion, the Rev. Peter Spencer was called to the chair, and Thomas\nDorsey appointed secretary.\n\nThe meeting was addressed by Abraham D. Shad, Junius C. Morell, Benjamin\nPascal and John P. Thompson, after which the following resolutions were\nunanimously adopted.\n\nResolved, That this meeting view with deep regret the attempt now making\nto colonize the free people of color on the western coast of Africa;\nbelieving as we do that it is inimical to the best interests of the\npeople of color, and at variance with the principles of civil and\nreligious liberty, and wholly incompatible with the spirit of the\nConstitution and Declaration of Independence of these United States.\n\nResolved, That we disclaim all connexion with Africa; and although the\ndescendants of that much afflicted country, we cannot consent to remove\nto any tropical climate, and thus aid in a design having for its object\nthe total extirpation of our race from this country, professions to the\ncontrary notwithstanding.\n\nResolved, That a committee of three persons be appointed to prepare as\nsoon as practicable an address to the public, setting forth more fully\nour views on the subject of colonization. The following persons were\nappointed: Abraham D. Shad, Rev. Peter Spencer and W. S. Thomas.\n\nSigned on behalf of the meeting.\n\n                        PETER SPENCER, Chairman.\n\nTHOMAS DORSEY, Secretary.\n\n\n_Address of the Free People of Color of the Borough of Wilmington,\nDelaware._\n\nWe the undersigned, in conformity to the wishes of our brethren, beg\nleave to present to the public in a calm and unprejudiced manner, our\ndecided and unequivocal disapprobation of the American Colonization\nSociety, and its auxiliaries, in relation to the free people of color in\nthe United States. Convinced as we are, that the operations of this\nSociety have been unchristian and anti-republican in principle, and at\nvariance with our best interests as a people, we had reason to believe\nthat the precepts of religion, the dictates of justice and humanity,\nwould have prevented any considerable portion of the community from\nlending their aid to a plan which we fear was designed to deprive us of\nrights that the Declaration of Independence declares are the\n'unalienable rights' of all men. We were content to remain silent,\nbelieving that the justice and patriotism of a magnanimous people would\nprevent the annals of our native and beloved country from receiving so\ndeep a stain. But observing the growing strength and influence of that\ninstitution, and being well aware that the generality of the public are\nunacquainted with our views on this important subject, we feel it a duty\nwe owe to ourselves, our children and posterity, to enter our protest\nagainst a device so fraught with evil to us. That many sincere friends\nto our race are engaged in what they conceive to be a philanthropic and\nbenevolent enterprise, we do not hesitate to admit; but that they are\ndeceived, and are acting in a manner calculated most seriously to injure\nthe free people of color, we are equally sensible.\n\nWe are natives of the United States; our ancestors were brought to this\ncountry by means over which they had no control; we have our attachments\nto the soil, and we feel that we have rights in common with other\nAmericans; and although deprived through prejudice from entering into\nthe full enjoyment of those rights, we anticipate a period, when in\ndespite of the more than ordinary prejudice which has been the result of\nthis unchristian scheme, 'Ethiopia shall stretch forth her hands to\nGod.' But that this formidable Society has become a barrier to our\nimprovement, must be apparent to every individual who will but reflect\non the course to be pursued by the emissaries of this unhallowed\nproject, many of whom, under the name of ministers of the gospel, use\ntheir influence to turn public sentiment to our disadvantage by\nstigmatizing our morals, misrepresenting our characters, and endeavoring\nto show what they are pleased to call the sound policy of perpetuating\nour civil and political disabilities for the avowed purpose of\nindirectly forcing us to emigrate to the western coast of Africa. That\nAfrica is neither our nation nor home, a due respect to the good sense\nof the community forbids us to attempt to prove; that our language,\nhabits, manners, morals and religion are all different from those of\nAfricans, is a fact too notorious to admit of controversy. Why then are\nwe called upon to go and settle in a country where we must necessarily\nbe and remain a distinct people, having no common interest with the\nnumerous inhabitants of that vast and extensive country? Experience has\nproved beyond a doubt, that the climate is such as not to suit the\nconstitutions of the inhabitants of this country; the fevers and\nvarious diseases incident to that tropical clime, are such as in most\ncases to bid defiance to the force of medicine.\n\nThe very numerous instances of mortality amongst the emigrants who have\nbeen induced to leave this their native, for their adopted country,\nclearly demonstrate the fallacy of those statements so frequently made\nby the advocates of colonization in regard to the healthiness of\nLiberia.\n\nWith the deepest regret we have witnessed such an immense sacrifice of\nlife, in advancing a cause which cannot promise the least advantage to\nthe free people of color, who, it was said, were the primary objects to\nbe benefitted by this 'heaven-born enterprise.' But we beg leave most\nrespectfully to ask the friends of African colonization, whether their\nchristian benevolence cannot in this country be equally as\nadvantageously applied, if they are actuated by that disinterested\nspirit of love and friendship for us, which they profess? Have not they\nin the United States a field sufficiently extensive to show it in? There\nis embosomed within this republic, rising one million free people of\ncolor, the greater part of whom are unable to read even the sacred\nscriptures. Is not their ignorant and degraded situation worthy of the\nconsideration of those enlightened and christian individuals, whose zeal\nfor the cause of the African race has induced them to attempt the\nestablishment of a republican form of government amid the burning sands\nof Liberia, and the evangelizing of the millions of the Mahometans and\npagans that inhabit the interior of that extensive country?\n\nWe are constrained to believe that the welfare of the people of color,\nto say the least, is but a secondary consideration with those engaged in\nthe colonization project. Or why should we be requested to move to\nAfrica, and thus separated from all we hold dear in a moral point of\nview, before their christian benevolence can be exercised in our behalf?\nSurely there is no country of which we have any knowledge, that offers\ngreater facilities for the improvement of the unlearned; or where\nbenevolent and philanthropic individuals can find a people, whose\nsituation has greater claims on their christian sympathies, than the\npeople of color. But whilst we behold a settled determination on the\npart of the American Colonization Society to remove us to Liberia,\nwithout using any means to better our condition at home, we are\ncompelled to look with fearful diffidence on every measure of that\ninstitution. At a meeting held on the 7th inst. in this borough, the\npeople of color were politely invited to attend, the object of which was\nto induce the most respectable part of them to emigrate. The meeting was\naddressed by several reverend gentlemen, and very flattering accounts\ngiven on the authority of letters and statements said to have been\nreceived from individuals of unquestionable veracity. But we beg leave\nto say, that those statements differ so widely from letters that we have\nseen of recent date from the colony, in regard to the condition and\ncircumstances of the colonists, that we are compelled in truth to say\nthat we cannot reconcile such contradictory statements, and are\ntherefore inclined to doubt the former, as they appear to have been\nprepared to present to the public, for the purpose of enlisting the\nfeelings of our white friends into the measure, and of inducing the\nenterprising part of the colored community to emigrate at their own\nexpense. That we are in this country a degraded people, we are truly\nsensible; that our forlorn situation is not attributable to ourselves is\nadmitted by the most ardent friends of colonization; and that our\ncondition cannot be bettered by removing the most exemplary individuals\nof color from amongst us, we are well convinced, from the consideration\nthat in the same ratio that the industrious part would emigrate, in the\nsame proportion those who would remain would become more degraded,\nwretched and miserable, and consequently less capable of appreciating\nthe many opportunities which are now offering for the moral and\nintellectual improvement of our brethren. We, therefore, a portion of\nthose who are the objects of this plan, and amongst those whose\nhappiness, with that of others of our color, it is intended to promote,\nrespectfully but firmly disclaim every connexion with it, and declare\nour settled determination not to participate in any part of it.\n\nBut if this plan is intended to facilitate the emancipation of those who\nare held in slavery in the South, and the melioration of their\ncondition, by sending them to Liberia; we question very much whether it\nis calculated to do either. That the emancipation of slaves has been\nmeasurably impeded through its influence, except where they have been\ngiven up to the Board of Managers, to be colonized in Africa, to us is\nmanifest. And when we contemplate their uneducated and vitiated state,\ndestitute of the arts and unaccustomed to provide even for themselves,\nwe are inevitably led to the conclusion that their situation in that\npestilential country will be miserable in the extreme.\n\nThe present period is one of deep and increasing interest to the free\npeople of color, relieved from the miseries of slavery and its\nconcomitant evils, with the vast and (to us) unexplored field of\nliterature and science before us, surrounded by many friends whose\nsympathies and charities need not the Atlantic between us and them,\nbefore they can consent to assist in elevating our brethren to the\nstanding of men. We therefore particularly invite their attention to\nthe subject of education and improvement; sensible that it is much\nbetter calculated to remove prejudice, and exalt our moral character,\nthan any system of colonization that has been or can be introduced; and\nin which we believe we shall have the co-operation of the wisest and\nmost philanthropic individuals of which the nation can boast. The\nutility of learning and its salutary effects on the minds and morals of\na people, cannot have escaped the notice of any rational individual\nsituated in a country like this, where in order successfully to\nprosecute any mechanical or other business, education is indispensable.\nOur highest moral ambition, at present, should be to acquire for our\nchildren a liberal education, give them mechanical trades, and thus fit\nand prepare them for useful and respectable citizens; and leave the\nevangelizing of Africa, and the establishing of a republic at Liberia,\nto those who conceive themselves able to demonstrate the practicability\nof its accomplishment by means of a people, numbers of whom are more\nignorant than even the natives of that country themselves.\n\nIn conclusion, we feel it a pleasing duty ever to cherish a grateful\nrespect for those benevolent and truly philanthropic individuals, who\nhave advocated, and still are advocating our rights in our native\ncountry. Their indefatigable zeal in the cause of the oppressed will\nnever be forgotten by us, and unborn millions will bless their names in\nthe day when the all-wise Creator, in whom we trust, shall have bidden\noppression to cease.\n\n      ABRAHAM D. SHAD, }\n      PETER SPENCER,   }  Committee to prepare\n      WM. S. THOMAS,   }  an Address.\n\n\nA VOICE FROM HARRISBURG.\n\n                        HARRISBURG, Pa., October, 1831.\n\nAt a large, well informed and respectable meeting of the citizens of\nHarrisburg, convened at the African Wesleyan Methodist church, for the\npurpose of expressing their sentiments in a remonstrance against the\nproceedings of the American Colonization Society, Rev. Jacob D.\nRichardson was called to the chair, and Jacob G. Williams appointed\nsecretary. After singing and prayer, Rev. Mr Richardson in some concise\nremarks,--equalled by few, and exceeded by none,--expressed the object\nof the meeting. The chairman called the house to order, and the\nfollowing resolutions were unanimously acceded to:\n\nResolved, That we hold these truths to be self-evident, (and it is the\nboasted declaration of our independence) that all men (black and white,\npoor and rich) are born free and equal; that they are endowed by their\nCreator with certain inalienable rights; that among these are life,\nliberty, and the pursuit of happiness. This is the language of America,\nof reason, and of eternal truth.\n\nResolved, That we feel it to be our duty to be true to the constitution\nof our country, and are satisfied with the form of government under\nwhich we now live; and, moreover, that we are bound in duty and reason\nto protect it against foreign invasion. We always have done so, and will\ndo so still.\n\nResolved, That we view the efforts of the Colonization Society as\nofficious and uncalled for by us. We have never done any thing worthy of\nbanishment from our friends and home: but this we would say--if the\nColonization Society will use their best endeavors to get our slave\nbrethren transported to Liberia, when we as a free body of people wish\nto go, we will give the colonizationists timely notice.\n\nResolved, That it is the firm and decided opinion of this meeting, that\nwere there no free people of color among us, or if those who are free\nhad remained in the degraded character of slaves, (or, as they sometimes\ncall us, monkeys, apes and baboons,) they would never have got up the\nchimerical scheme for our transportation to the burning shores of\nAfrica, with the fancied vision of elevating us, as they say, to dignity\nand affluence.\n\nResolved, That we cannot remain inactive while colonizationists are\nstraining every nerve and racking their inventions to find out arguments\nto persuade our free colored brethren to migrate to an unknown land,\nwhich we can no more lay claim to than our white brethren can to England\nor any other foreign country.\n\nResolved, That we reject the inhuman and unchristian measures taken by\nthe Colonization Society, for the illumination of the colored citizens\nof the United States, their appropriate home, in a land of sickness,\naffliction and death, when they are not willing, with few exceptions, to\ngive us a christian education while among them. We would wish to know of\nthe colonizationists, how, in the name of common sense and reason, do\nthey expect to do any thing for us thousands of miles across the\nAtlantic, when they oppose almost every measure taken by our white\nfriends and brethren to improve our condition here?\n\nResolved, That it is the united opinion of this meeting, that the\nenemies of our race, who are members of the Colonization Society, see\nthat the great Author of universal existence, who 'is no respecter of\npersons,' who taught Balaam's ass to speak, and taught Solomon wisdom,\nis now enlightening the sable sons of America: hence their object to\ndrain the country of the most enlightened part of our colored brethren,\nso that they may be more able to hold their slaves in bondage and\nignorance.\n\nResolved, That we object to leaving the land of our birth, as there is\nsufficient land in these United States, on which a colony can be\nestablished that would be far more consonant to the wishes of the\ncolored population generally, and would be more adapted to their\nconstitution: neither would it involve the country in such expense as\nwould be incurred by sending them to a howling wilderness, far away from\nthe graves of their forefathers, unknown to us in every respect, unless\nby geography, which few of us understand.\n\nResolved, That this meeting look upon the Colonization Society as a\nvicious, nefarious and peace-disturbing combination, and that its\nleaders might as well essay to cure a wound with an argument, or set a\ndislocated bone by a lecture on logic, as to tell us their object is to\nbetter our condition; because its members acknowledge slavery to be a\nnational evil, and use no means to annihilate it, but are exerting all\ntheir energies and influence to persuade the free people of color to\nremove to Africa, whose rights to Columbia's happy soil holds good with\nany other citizen in America.\n\nResolved, That we look upon the conduct of those clergymen who have\nmisled their respective congregations with the preposterous idea of the\nnecessity of transporting the free people of color to Africa, as highly\ndeserving the just reprehension directed to the false priests and\nprophets by the true prophets of the Most High; yet we gratefully\nacknowledge the respect we entertain for those who have defended our\ncause--we mean our white friends.\n\nResolved, That this meeting appoint Mr George Chester of Harrisburg, as\nagent for the Liberator, and will use our utmost endeavors to get\nsubscribers for the same.\n\nResolved, That we will support the Colony in Canada, the climate being\nhealthy and the rights of our brethren secured.\n\nResolved, That the gratitude of this meeting, which is so sensibly felt,\nbe fully expressed to the Editors of the Liberator and Genius of\nUniversal Emancipation, Messrs Garrison and Lundy, whose independence of\nmind and correct views of the rights of man have led them so intrepidly\nto speak in favor of our cause.\n\nResolved, That the proceedings of this meeting be signed by the Chairman\nand Secretary, and sent to the Liberator for publication.\n\n                        JACOB D. RICHARDSON, Chairman.\n\nJACOB G. WILLIAMS, Secretary.\n\n\nA VOICE FROM ROCHESTER.\n\n                        ROCHESTER, N. Y., October, 1831.\n\nA large number of the colored citizens of Rochester having convened\nthemselves together, for the important object of taking into\nconsideration the anti-republican principles of the American\nColonization Society, the Rev. Mr Johnson was called to the chair, and\nMr A. Lawrence was appointed secretary.\n\nThe meeting was then briefly addressed by the secretary as follows:\n\nCountrymen and Brothers--When viewing the inhumanity and anti-christian\nprinciples of the American Colonization Society, in plotting our removal\nto Africa, (which is unknown to us as our native country,) it seems as\nthough we were called upon publicly to express our feelings on the\nsubject. We do not consider Africa to be our home, any more than the\npresent whites do England, Scotland, or Ireland. This is the land our\nfathers have tilled before us; this is the land that gave us our\nbirthright.--The meeting then\n\nResolved, That we never will remove to Africa; but should any of our\nbrethren wish to emigrate, we would recommend Canada as a country far\nmore congenial to our constitutions;--that we give our most sincere\nthanks to our friendly advocates Messrs Garrison and Knapp, and Mr\nBenjamin Lundy, who are crying unto their fellow men, night and day, to\nlet their countrymen go free: they will be called blessed by many\ngenerations yet to come. The Colonization Society say that they cannot\ntreat us as men while we are with them; but if we will go out of their\nreach, they will begin their charity. What should we think of such\nreligion as this? Because our skin is a little darker than theirs, they\nsay they cannot think of treating us as men. The scripture says, 'Beware\nof wolves in sheep's clothing'--and such they seem to be. We earnestly\nbelieve, with our generous friend Garrison, that it would not be a hard\nmatter to exceed them in doing right. Our blessed Lord said, that we\nshould do to all men as we would have them do to us. Now what would they\nthink, if we should tell them that they would be better off in New\nHolland or in Tartary?\n\nResolved, That we will do all in our power to support the Liberator,\nprinted by Mr Garrison, and all other works in our behalf.\n\nResolved, That the foregoing proceedings be published in the Liberator.\n\n                        HENRY JOHNSON, Chairman.\n\nA. LAWRENCE, Secretary.\n\n\nA VOICE FROM PROVIDENCE.\n\n                        PROVIDENCE, November 1, 1831.\n\nAt a respectable meeting of the colored people of Providence, R. I.,\nduly appointed and publicly holden at the African church, on the 31st of\nOctober, 1831, to take into consideration the objects and motives of the\nAmerican Colonization Society, Mr George C. Willis was called to the\nchair, and Mr Alfred Niger appointed secretary. The meeting was then\naddressed at some length by the chairman, stating their object in\nassembling together, and exposing the injustice and prejudice by which\nhe believed the friends of African colonization were actuated. The\nfollowing preamble and resolutions were read by the secretary, and\nunanimously adopted:\n\nWhereas our brethren, in different parts of the United States, have\nthought proper to call meetings to express their disapprobation of the\nAmerican Colonization Society; we, concurring fully with them in\nopinion, have assembled ourselves together for the purpose of uniting\nwith them, in declaring that we believe the operations of the Society\nhave been unchristian and anti-republican, and at variance with our best\ninterests as a people. Therefore,\n\nResolved, That we will use every fair and honorable means in our power,\nto oppose the operations of the above mentioned Society.\n\nResolved, That we are truly sensible that we are in this country a\ndegraded and ignorant people; but that our ignorance and degradation are\nnot to be attributed to the inferiority of our natural abilities, but to\nthe oppressive treatment we have experienced from the whites in general,\nand to the prejudice excited against us by the members of the\nColonization Society, their aiders and abettors.\n\nResolved, That we view, with unfeigned astonishment, the anti-christian\nand inconsistent conduct of those who so strenuously advocate our\nremoval from this our native country to the burning shores of Liberia,\nand who with the same breath contend against the cruelty and injustice\nof Georgia in her attempt to remove the Cherokee Indians west of the\nMississippi.\n\nResolved, That we firmly believe, from the recent measures adopted by\nthe freemen of the city of New Haven, in regard to the establishment of\na College for our education in that place, that the principal object of\nthe friends of African colonization is to oppose our education and\nconsequent elevation here, as it will deprive them of one of their\nprincipal arguments for our removal.\n\nResolved, That as our fathers participated with the whites in their\nstruggle for liberty and independence, and believing with the\nDeclaration of that Independence, 'that all men are created free and\nequal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable\nrights, among which are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness;'\nand as we have committed no crime worthy of banishment--Therefore\n\nResolved, That we will not leave our homes, nor the graves of our\nfathers, and this boasted land of liberty and christian philanthropy.\n\nResolved, That, our unfeigned and sincere thanks be tendered to Messrs\nGarrison and Knapp, and to every true friend to our cause, for their\nunwearied and truly benevolent exertions in our behalf.\n\nResolved, That we will earnestly recommend the Liberator, published in\nBoston by the above mentioned gentlemen, to the patronage of our friends\nthroughout the country.\n\nResolved, That the proceedings of this meeting be signed by the Chairman\nand Secretary, and sent to Boston, with the request that they may be\npublished in the Liberator.\n\n                        GEORGE C. WILLIS, Chairman.\n\nALFRED NIGER, Secretary.\n\n\nA VOICE FROM TRENTON.\n\n                        TRENTON, November 30, 1831.\n\nAt a respectable meeting of the free people of color in Trenton,\nconvened in the Mount Zion church, November 30, 1831, for the purpose of\nconsidering the subject of colonization on the coast of Africa--On\nmotion, the Rev. Lewis Cork was called to the chair, and Abner H.\nFrancis appointed secretary. The meeting was addressed by Messrs\nGardener and Thompson; after which, the following resolutions were\nunanimously adopted.\n\nResolved, Inasmuch as we, free people of color, have done all that is in\nour power to convince the white inhabitants of these United States, that\nit is our wish to live peaceably with all men; and inasmuch as our\ngeneral demeanor has been that of industry and sobriety, notwithstanding\nthere are some among us to the contrary, as well as among the whites;\ntherefore we do most solemnly declare, that the statements made to the\ncontrary by the Rev. Mr Crosby, in his late addresses in this city, and\nall statements by petitioners to legislative bodies, and by the\nColonization Society, or any thing of the same nature, are a positive\nlibel on our general character.\n\nResolved, Whereas we have lived peaceably and quietly in these United\nStates, of which we are natives, and have never been the cause of any\ninsurrectionary or tumultuous movements as a body, that we do view every\nmeasure taken by any associated bodies to remove us to other climes,\nanti-christian and hostile to our peace, and a violation of the laws of\nhumanity.\n\nResolved, That if, in the opinion of government, our stay or liberty can\nno longer be granted in the States in which we live, we see nothing\ncontrary to the constitution of these United States, or to christianity,\njustice, reason or humanity, in granting us a portion of the Western\nterritory, as a state, with the same franchise as that of Pennsylvania,\nNew Jersey, or any other free State; for we challenge the Union to prove\nthat, as free men, we have ever given the least ground for the\nuncharitable censures that have been cast upon us.\n\nResolved, That we view the American Colonization Society as the most\ninveterate foe both to the free and slave man of color; forasmuch as the\nagents thereof, and its members who have petitioned the several\nlegislatures, have unequivocally declared its object, to wit, the\nextermination of the free people of color from the Union; and to effect\nthis they have not failed to slander our character, by representing us\nas a vagrant race; and we do therefore disclaim all union with the said\nSociety, and, once for all, declare that we never will remove under\ntheir patronage; neither do we consider it expedient to emigrate any\nwhere, but to remain in the land and see the salvation of God.\nNevertheless, if any of our brethren should be compelled or see proper\nto emigrate, we would recommend to them Upper Canada or Mexico.\n\nResolved, That we view with the highest emotion of gratitude, the\nbenevolence of Great Britain and that of the Canada Company, in\naffording an asylum in the Wilberforce settlement, in Upper Canada, for\nour oppressed brethren of the South, who have been or may be forced, by\nunconstitutional laws, to leave their rightful home and place of\nnativity, without any cause except that of having a dark skin.\n\nResolved, That this meeting approve the establishment of a college, as\nrecommended by the Annual Convention held in Philadelphia last June, and\nthat we give all possible aid to that institution.\n\nResolved, That we view the Liberator, edited by William Lloyd Garrison,\nas a great herald in the cause of liberty, and that we recommend to the\ncolored citizens of Trenton the utility of subscribing to the above\nnamed paper.\n\nResolved, That there be a committee of three appointed to draft an\naddress more expressive of our views on the above subject.\n\nResolved, That the following persons compose that committee--Sampson\nPeters, Robert Thomas, George Cole.\n\n                        LEWIS CORK, Chairman.\n\nABNER H. FRANCIS, Secretary.\n\n\nADDRESS.\n\nWe, the undersigned, in conformity to the above appointment, beg leave\nto present to the public, in a calm, unprejudiced manner, our decided\ndisapprobation of the American Colonization Society and its auxiliaries,\nin relation to the people of color in the United States. We are well\nconvinced, from the mass that has been written on the above subject by\nthose who have preceded us, that it will be difficult to avoid\nrepetition; nevertheless; we hope to touch some points which have not\nbeen fairly understood by that Society. They have supposed that our\nobjections are to civilizing and evangelizing Africa; but we beg leave\nto say, that it is an error. We are well aware, that there is no surer\nway to effect this great object than to plant among the heathen,\ncolonies of Christian missionaries. We wish, therefore, to be\nunderstood, that we highly approve of the evangelizing of Africa, but\ndisapprove of the present measures of the American Colonization Society,\nif their motives have not been misrepresented by their agents and\nothers, in some previous addresses in this city and elsewhere. But\nviewing them as we now do, we must say that, in our opinion, their false\nrepresentations of our general character--their recommending our removal\nfrom our native land--their opposition to our having a part of the West\nappointed to us--their objections to our proposed college, and of our\nmarch to science--their false statements in relation to the health of\nthe colony at Liberia, with a variety of other subjects of the same\nnature--all lead to a conclusion, that it is our greatest foe.\n\nWe would here ask the public a few questions. First--Is the gospel of\nJesus Christ calculated to lead to insurrectionary measures? If so, why\nthen send it to the heathen? Second--What gentleman, who has set his\nslaves free, has been murdered by them for so doing? Third--What have\nthose States, who have washed their hands clean of the cursed stain of\nslavery, lost by it? Fourth--What neighborhood, where education and\ngeneral information have been disseminated among the people of color, is\nthe worse for it?\n\nIn closing our remarks, we would say, that we do think that the subjects\nlooked to by the Colonization Society, to civilize Africa, are\nincompetent; for we do suppose that men selected for such an important\nenterprise, should be men of deed and sound piety--men of regular and\nindustrious habits, of scientific knowledge and general experience: that\nsuch men can be obtained, we have no doubt; and if there cannot, let us\nfirst prepare some in this country.\n\n      SAMPSON PETERS, }\n      ROBERT THOMAS,  } Committee.\n      GEORGE COLE,    }\n\n\nA VOICE FROM LYME.\n\n                        LYME, Ct., January 9, 1832.\n\nAt a respectable meeting of the colored citizens of this place, held\npursuant to public notice--Mr Luther Wright was called to the chair, and\nMr Daniel R. Condol appointed secretary.\n\nAfter some animated remarks by Messrs Wright and Condol, it was\n\nResolved, That it is the sincere opinion of this meeting, that the\nAmerican Colonization Society is one of the wildest projects ever\npatronised by a body of enlightened men; and further, that many of those\nwho support it would be willing, if it were in their power, to drive us\nout of existence.\n\nResolved, That though we be last in calling a meeting, we feel no less\nthe pernicious influence of this Society than the rest of our brethren;\nand that we will resist every attempt to banish us from this our native\nland.\n\nResolved, That we place unshaken reliance upon the promises of Jehovah,\nand believe that he will take our reproach away, and give freedom to\nthose who are held in captivity.\n\nResolved, That we are not for insurrection, but for peace, freedom and\nequality.\n\nResolved, That the thanks of this meeting be rendered to Messrs Garrison\nand Knapp, for their benevolent exertions in behalf of the oppressed\ndescendants of Africa; and that they be requested to insert these\nproceedings in the Liberator.\n\n                        LUTHER WRIGHT, Chairman.\n\nDANIEL R. CONDOL, Secretary.\n\n\nA VOICE PROM LEWISTOWN.\n\n                        LEWISTOWN, Pa., January 9, 1832.\n\nAt a numerous meeting held by the free people of color of the borough of\nLewistown, in the African Methodist Episcopal church, Samuel Johnston\nwas called to the chair, and Martin Johnston appointed secretary. The\nfollowing resolutions were then read, and unanimously adopted:\n\nResolved, That we will not leave these United States, the land of our\nbirth, for a home in Africa.\n\nResolved, That we will strenuously oppose the colonizing of the free\npeople of color in Liberia.\n\nResolved, That we are willing to emigrate to any part of the United\nStates which may be granted to us.\n\nResolved, That we will support the Liberator, a paper published in\nBoston, edited by William Lloyd Garrison; and also the colony in Upper\nCanada as an asylum for our oppressed brethren.\n\nResolved, That a committee be appointed to prepare an address to be\npublished in the Liberator.\n\nResolved, That the proceedings of this meeting be signed by the Chairman\nand Secretary, and forwarded to the editor of the Liberator for\npublication.\n\n                        SAMUEL JOHNSTON, Chairman.\n\nMARTIN JOHNSTON, Secretary.\n\n\nADDRESS.\n\nWe, the undersigned, in conformity to the above appointment, beg leave\nto present to the public, in a calm and unprejudiced manner, our reasons\nfor opposing the scheme of African colonization. This is the land of our\nbirth. The Declaration of Independence declares, that 'all men are born\nfree and equal:' it does not say that the _white_ man or the _black_ man\nis free,--but all, without respect to color, tongues, or nation. We\ntherefore consider all laws to enslave or degrade the people of color as\ncontrary to the letter and spirit of this Declaration; and that\naccording to it we are freemen, and have as indisputable a right to\nenjoy our liberty as any white man. To deny it to us, because we differ\nin color, is oppression. To say that Africa is our native country is\nuntrue. Here we were born, and here we mean to die; for all men are born\nfree.\n\nWe wish to return our grateful thanks to our friends, and to the friends\nof the abolition of slavery. We consider slavery a national sin, which,\nif not speedily overthrown, will cause this nation to mourn and weep;\nfor God has declared that Ethiopia shall stretch forth her hands unto\nhim, and he will hear her cry.\n\nWe would say to colonizationists that we consider them our foes instead\nof our friends. It is vain for them to say that we would do better in\nLiberia; for we do not believe it. There is room enough in this country\nfor us; and if they be our friends, let them meliorate our condition\nhere. Let them join in the work of immediate abolition of slavery. Let\nthem wash out the stains which disfigure the national character. And\nthen let them tell us about Liberia.\n\nOne reason why we are opposed to leaving these United States is this:\nyou have so long denied us the enjoyment and protection of the laws of\nGod and man in this country, that you wish now to oppress us still more.\nBut thanks be to Him who holds all things in his hand, we believe He\nwill plead our cause. Your skirts are already dyed with the blood of\nmillions of souls. 'Vengeance is mine--I will repay,' saith the Lord.\n\nAwake, ye wolves in sheep's clothing. Your cup is now full. You are\ndaily causing innocent blood to be shed. How long, ye slavites, ye\nkidnappers, ye that traffic in human flesh, will you sleep? When will\nyou awake to your best interests? For remember that you will not always\nbe able to hold your victims in servile chains.\n\n      J. G. SMITH, }\n      M. WALKER,   } Committee.\n      M. JOHNSTON, }\n\n\nA VOICE FROM NEW-BEDFORD.\n\n                        NEW-BEDFORD, January 23, 1832.\n\nAt a meeting of the people of color in New-Bedford, January 23d, for the\npurpose of considering and giving their opinion of the American\nColonization Society, and the actual evil or benefit of that Society to\nthe objects of its supervision, the free people of color, Mr Richard\nJohnson was called to the chair, and Richard G. Overing appointed\nsecretary. After an address from the chair, it was moved that\nresolutions expressive of the views of the meeting, respecting the\nColonization Society, be drawn up, and published in some newspaper not\nadverse to the rights and well being of all men, be their color what it\nmay. The following are the resolves of the meeting:\n\nResolved, That in whatever light we view the Colonization Society, we\ndiscover nothing in it but terror, prejudice and oppression; that the\nwarm and beneficent hand of philanthropy is not apparent in the system,\nbut the influence of the Society on public opinion is more prejudicial\nto the interest and welfare of the people of color in the United States,\nthan slavery itself.\n\nResolved, That the Society, to effect its purpose, the removal of the\nfree people of color, (not the slaves) through its agents, teaches the\npublic to believe that it is patriotic and benevolent to withhold from\nus knowledge and the means of acquiring subsistence, and to look upon us\nas unnatural and illegal residents in this country; and thus by force of\nprejudice, if not by law, endeavor to compel us to embark for Africa,\nand that too, apparently, by our own free will and consent.\n\nResolved, That as great a nuisance as we may be in the estimation of\nthat Society, we yet have a hope in Him who has seen fit to continue our\nexistence through days worse than which we do not fear, and which\nemboldens us as peaceable citizens, to resolve to abide the issue of\ncoming days in our native land, in which we ask no more than the age in\nwhich we live demands, and which this nation, as republicans and\nchristians, should not refuse to grant.\n\nSigned in behalf of the meeting.\n\n                        RICHARD JOHNSON, Chairman.\n\nR. G. OVERING, Secretary.\n\n\nThe foregoing resolutions and addresses are given in plain, it may be\noccasionally in severe language; and display an intensity of feeling, a\ndepth of abhorrence, and a firmness of purpose, honorable to men who\nappreciate their rights and love their country. Before I proceed,\nhowever, to comment upon these important proceedings, I shall make some\nquotations from the essays and addresses of colored writers, in order to\nsustain my assertion that the American Colonization Society is directly\nopposed to the wishes of our free colored population.\n\n'A COLORED BALTIMOREAN'[AH] records his sentiments in the following\nstyle:\n\n    'We believe, sirs, that the people of color in the United States\n    will never be prevailed over to abandon the land of their birth,\n    and every thing vernacular with them--to forego many advantages\n    which they now possess, and many more which they have in\n    prospect, for the imaginary, or if real, the fleeting and\n    short-lived honors held out to them by our \"Americo-African\n    empire.\" Why should we exchange a temperate and salubrious\n    climate, adapted to our constitutions as Americans, for one, to\n    us, fraught with disease and death? Why should we leave a land\n    in which the arts and sciences are flourishing, and which is\n    beginning to yield to our research, for one, where the\n    irradiating beams of the sun of science have yet to be announced\n    by the bright star of hope? Why should we leave a land\n    illuminated with the blaze of gospel light, for one enshrouded\n    in pagan gloom? Why should we, who are in tolerable\n    circumstances in America, who enjoy many of the comforts of\n    life, and are evidently on the advanced march of mind, cast away\n    these certain, real, and growing advantages, for those which are\n    precarious and chimerical? Why should we abandon our firesides,\n    and every thing associated with the dear name of _home_--undergo\n    the fatigues of a perilous voyage, and expose ourselves, our\n    wives, and our little ones, to the deleterious influences of an\n    uncongenial sun, for the enjoyment of a liberty divested of its\n    usual accompaniments, surrounded with circumstances which\n    diminish its intrinsic value, and render it indeed \"a dear\n    earned morsel\"? * * * * * *\n\n    'But \"it is the hope of accomplishing the entire subversion of\n    the slave trade and Mahometan superstition, and all their\n    subsidiary concomitants, that has actuated the Christian and\n    stimulated the philanthropist.\" Noble objects indeed! And who\n    are those christians and philanthropists? Our friend tells us,\n    without distinction, that they are \"those noble and heroic men\n    who have enlisted under the banner of colonization.\" But how\n    happens it that some of the most distinguished of these\n    _christians_ and _philanthropists_ are themselves slaveholders,\n    and so far abettors of the _slave trade_ as to be actually\n    guilty of selling into a cruel and interminable vassalage the\n    hapless victims of their tender mercies? Again, how is it that\n    none but the free people of color have been chosen to evangelize\n    Africa? Is it because they are under an exclusive moral\n    obligation to dispel the \"gloom of Mahometan superstition?\" Is\n    it because they are pre-eminently qualified in point of morals\n    and information for the missionary enterprise? None will say\n    this. Perhaps we shall be told, that the identity of their color\n    gives them a decided advantage over every other people. But how\n    is it that those wicked white men, who are in the habit of\n    resorting thither for the most nefarious purposes, have access\n    to these people? And we have not forgotten that during the visit\n    of the Rev. G. R. McGill, in Baltimore, he informed us that\n    colored men from the United States, being thought by the natives\n    to be men of information, are received and treated as white men,\n    and denominated by the same epithet. Since then it does not\n    appear that we are pre-eminently qualified for this work, why\n    should it be pressed upon us? * * * *\n\n    'Tell us not that the Sovereign Ruler of the universe, who is\n    not a respecter of persons, whose \"tender mercies are over all\n    his works,\" will _never_ elevate us to the dignity of men and\n    christians, unless we emigrate to Africa. Tell us not that in\n    this _christian_ country, this \"land of the free and home of the\n    brave,\" we must _for ever_ remain a degraded and proscribed\n    race--that we must _for ever_ be treated as the outcasts of\n    creation. We are aware that this doctrine has been asserted with\n    all the confidence of inspiration by _some_ of our gospel\n    ministers. We have heard them proclaim it in a tone calculated\n    to strengthen the prejudices existing against us. They seem to\n    forget that there is a superintending providence--that He, who\n    \"sits upon the whirlwind and directs the storm,\" has ever\n    manifested himself a friend to the oppressed of every clime.\n    They seem to forget that the religion of Jesus, wherever it\n    reigns with unrestrained sway, demolishes every partition wall,\n    and exterminates out of the heart all those bitter prejudices\n    which impede the march of the Messiah's kingdom. We should like\n    to have these prophets give us their ideas in relation to the\n    millennial reign of Christ. We should like to have them inform\n    us whether or not the general prejudices and their inseparable\n    accompaniments, which now lie upon, and operate against us, on\n    account of our color, will be consistent with this glorious\n    reign of _peace_, and _love_, and _joy_. Let these ministers\n    consider that much of our degradation is chargeable to the\n    indifference (to say the least) that they manifest in regard to\n    our situation--that if they as patterns of piety hold us at a\n    distance, it is but natural for the inconsiderate to follow\n    their example. Let them recollect that while they are making\n    powerful and irresistible appeals to the humanity of the\n    American people in behalf of the oppressed of other climes, they\n    have a people among them whose claims upon their liberality are\n    paramount to those of any other. Let these ministers tell us how\n    often they make it their business to visit those portions of\n    their flocks whose crime is, their color. Nay, one of them said\n    not long since, to be familiar with the people of color would\n    destroy his _usefulness_ among the whites. But whether they do\n    their duty in relation to us or not, we indulge in no fears in\n    regard to our future condition. We are not distrustful of the\n    goodness and power of Him who has overruled the evil designs of\n    those men that first tore our ancestors from their native\n    shores, who is still overruling, and who will continue to\n    overrule the designs of all who would treat us as the\n    offscouring of the earth, because our Creator has not given us a\n    color as white as their own. If ever there was a people who\n    could look up to Heaven with unshaken confidence for protection,\n    it is that people whose sufferings are not the consequences of\n    their crimes; it is that people whose misfortunes work in them\n    the graces of faith, patience and hope. And why should we not\n    cherish these invaluable graces? We are told by high authority,\n    that \"_all things_ shall work together _for good_ to them that\n    love God\"--that \"He will give grace and glory, and _no good\n    thing_ will He _withhold_ from them that walk uprightly.\" You\n    see, sirs, we have one straight forward course to pursue--one\n    marked out by the hand of unerring wisdom. This course we intend\n    to pursue, without giving ourselves any uneasiness as to the\n    issue; this we leave to Him who has the administration of the\n    universe in his hands, and who has declared for our\n    encouragement, \"even the very hairs of your head are all\n    numbered.\" Tell us not of the wisdom, and power, and number of\n    our enemies; He who has given us a hope, which at least makes\n    our condition tolerable, will say to them, as He did to the\n    tempestuous billows, \"Hitherto shalt thou come, but no further;\n    and here shall thy proud waves be stayed.\"'\n\n    * * * * * * * * *\n\n    'What effect have the evils of slavery in this _happy_ land upon\n    the mind of the liberal, the unprejudiced, and philanthropic\n    Lafayette?\n\n    'Hear him, he will speak for himself: \"When I am indulging in my\n    views of American prospects and American liberty, it is\n    mortifying to be told that in that very country a large portion\n    of the people are slaves. It is a dark spot on the face of the\n    nation. _Such a state of things cannot always exist._\" It was a\n    sight of the evils alluded to, and their inseparable\n    concomitants, that extorted from the pen of Mr Jefferson that\n    comprehensive and soul-thrilling sentence--\"I tremble for my\n    country when I reflect that God is just, and that his justice\n    cannot sleep for ever.\" But may we not indulge the hope that\n    the evils spoken of will yet awaken the sympathies of the\n    American people--soften their cruel prejudices--arouse their\n    slumbering energies--and produce in them an unconquerable\n    determination to wash from their \"stars and stripes\" one of the\n    blackest spots that ever cursed the globe, or stained the\n    historic page? Shall we be told that _invincible_ prejudices\n    render this great desideratum impracticable? And what is this\n    but a libel upon the American people? What is it but to say,\n    there is in them a moral incapacity to do justice, love mercy,\n    and walk uprightly? Colonization orators, designing politicians,\n    ministers of Jesus, tell me, how can you thus libel your\n    countrymen? Surely, there is a regenerating, a redeeming spirit\n    in the land--a spirit transforming misanthropes into\n    philanthropists--bondmen into freemen--abettors of slavery into\n    champions of liberty--a spirit that will yet drive from America\n    the demon of slavery, and render it indeed \"the land of the free\n    and the home of the brave.\"'[AI]\n\n    * * * * * * * *\n\n    'I have just found time to notice a few very exceptionable\n    features of a communication over the signature of \"A\n    Marylander,\" published, a few days ago, in the American of our\n    city. The writer is unquestionably entitled to the credit of\n    being a thorough-going colonizationist. He writes in the _true\n    spirit_ of the cause. He seems to be under an excitement\n    produced by the publication of our anti-colonization\n    resolutions. This being the case, it is not to be expected that\n    he would, throughout his communication, avail himself of the\n    guarded, accommodating, and conciliating language usual with\n    colonization writers and declaimers. After being convinced that\n    the people of color are not to be persuaded to leave the land of\n    their birth, and every thing vernacular with them, for \"regions\"\n    which he tells us are \"now dark as the valley of the shadow of\n    death,\" he says, \"I would propose then that Maryland should\n    colonize her own free blacks.\" He does not add the usual\n    qualification, \"_with their own consent_:\" he knows this will\n    never be obtained. He therefore says: \"I earnestly _hope_ that\n    the time _is now_ come when our state will wake up to all the\n    importance of this subject, and will instantly commence _a\n    system of measures_ imperatively demanded by the _sternest_\n    principles [colonization principles?] of _sound_ policy.\" We\n    would tell this precocious statesman that we are not to be\n    intimidated into colonization \"_measures_\" by the angry\n    effusions of his illiberal soul; that we had rather die in\n    Maryland under the pressure of unrighteous and cruel laws than\n    be driven, like cattle, to the pestilential clime of Liberia,\n    where grievous privation, inevitable disease, and premature\n    death, await us in all their horrors. We are emboldened thus to\n    speak, not from a reliance on the mere arm of flesh; no--it is\n    the righteousness of our cause, a knowledge of the attributes of\n    Deity, combined with a consciousness of innocence under\n    suffering, that have inspired us with a moral courage which no\n    oppression shall shake, no fulminations overawe. Our limits will\n    not permit us to expatiate, at this time, on the import of the\n    terms, \"_a system of measures--the sternest principles_,\" &c. We\n    would barely remark that the climax of injustice and cruelty,\n    here suggested, nay, recommended, is the legitimate fruit of the\n    operations of the American colonization societies relative to\n    the free people of color. We have always believed that the\n    \"_system of measures_\" here recommended, would be the dernier\n    resort of these _christian_ associations. The unmerited abuse,\n    that has been so unsparingly heaped upon us by colonizationists\n    for expressing our opinions of their project as connected with\n    our happiness, their manifest determination to effectuate their\n    object regardless of our consent, abundantly corroborate the\n    opinion we have long since entertained. We turn, however, from\n    the contemplation of the persecution and oppression, which, it\n    seems, are in reserve for us, to notice, briefly, the moving\n    cause of this virulent and relentless attack upon our rights and\n    happiness. \"The _census just taken_,\" says A Marylander,\n    \"_admonishes_ us in the strongest manner, of the necessity of\n    prompt and efficient measures to drain off this description of\n    our population.\" Here then is the _patriotic_, the _benevolent_,\n    the _christian_ principle, by which the colonization societies,\n    throughout our land, are actuated. This is the selfish policy of\n    which we complain, and which should be execrated by all _true_\n    patriots, philanthropists, and christians. Our increase is\n    represented as an \"_alarming evil--an evil_,\" said one of our\n    colonization orators in the pulpit, not long since, \"which\n    _threatens_ our very _existence_.\" Now, if all this be true, how\n    can they, on their own principles, say we can _never_ be a\n    people in this country? Surely, they are taking effectual steps\n    to convince us, that the enjoyment of our rights in this, our\n    native land, is not only possible, but highly probable. This we\n    have always believed. And we hope and pray, that it may be\n    accomplished in a way sanctioned by the gospel of peace:\n    \"without confused noise, or garments rolled in blood.\" But this\n    glorious victory over pride and prejudice, by gospel weapons,\n    will never be accomplished by colonization principles. Nor will\n    those ministers of the gospel have any part or lot in this\n    matter, who solemnly declare, in the face of heaven and earth,\n    that we can _never enjoy, in this country_, those inalienable\n    rights of man, whose inviolable preservation promotes the\n    welfare of the whole human family. Such ministers virtually\n    declare that they do not believe the doctrines they are bound to\n    preach; that He, from whom they profess to have received their\n    commission, is, indeed, \"a hard man, reaping where he has not\n    sown, and gathering where he has not strawed;\" that He requires\n    of them and their flocks, that which they are morally incapable\n    of performing; that they _cannot_ love their neighbor as\n    themselves, or do unto others what they wish done unto\n    themselves, because their Lord, in his wisdom, has given some of\n    their fellow creatures a different color from their own. These\n    temporising, retrograde reformers are doing a serious injury to\n    the people of color. They heed not the warning of Heaven: \"Do my\n    people no harm.\" They are doing more to strengthen the cruel and\n    unchristian prejudices, already too powerful against us, than\n    all the slaveholders in the Union. They hesitate not to declare,\n    that, in America, we are out of the reach of humanity. They seem\n    to think that the religion of the benevolent Saviour which\n    enjoins, \"_honor all men_,\" and which explicitly says, \"if ye\n    have _respect to persons_, ye _commit sin_,\" is nothing more\n    than a dead letter, or must _for ever_ remain powerless, in the\n    United States of America. And have these men the face to contend\n    with the infidels of our land? Why, one infidel, with the bible\n    in his hands, would \"chase a thousand, and two put ten thousand\n    to flight.\" But notwithstanding these discouraging\n    circumstances, our cause will yet triumph. He who is for us, is\n    stronger than all that are against us. \"The rulers\" of the land\n    may \"take counsel together,\" and some of the professed ministers\n    of Jesus may \"come into their secret,\" but \"He that sitteth in\n    the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision.\"\n    Fear not then, my colored countrymen, but press forward, with a\n    laudable ambition, for all that heaven has intended for you and\n    your children, remembering that the path of duty is the path of\n    safety, and that \"righteousness\" alone \"exalteth a nation.\"'\n\n\nIf excellence of style, a dignified carriage, sound logic, a high and\nabiding faith, and fervent piety, confer credit upon a writer, few have\never better illustrated these traits than 'A COLORED BALTIMOREAN,' or\ndeserved a nobler tribute of praise. He who would be ashamed to\nacknowledge such a man as his countryman and brother, has yet to learn\nhis own insignificance and what constitutes the majesty of human nature.\n\nThe following is an extract of a letter from a colored gentleman of\nwealth and respectability in Philadelphia, whose friendship is courted\nby honorable men, and whose usefulness is scarcely exceeded by any other\ncitizen:\n\n    'Is it not preposterous to one, like myself, whose family has\n    resided in the state of Pennsylvania ever since the great\n    lawgiver, William Penn, came last to this state from England;\n    and who fought for the independence of my country, whose\n    Declaration asserts, that all men are born with free and equal\n    rights--is it not preposterous to be told that this is not my\n    country? I was seven months on board of the old Jersey Prison\n    ship in the year 1780, \"the times that tried men's souls;\" and\n    am I now to be told that Africa is my country, by some of those\n    whose birth-place is unknown? Is it not a contradiction to say\n    that a man is an alien to the country in which he was born? To\n    separate the blacks from the whites is as impossible, as to bale\n    out the Delaware with a bucket. I have always been decidedly of\n    opinion, that if the Colonization Society would take but half\n    the pains to improve the children of color in their own country,\n    and expend but half the money that they are devoting to\n    accomplish their visionary scheme of christianizing Africa, by\n    offering premiums to master mechanics to take them as\n    apprentices, they would do more to destroy prejudice than any\n    thing else. When I look at this globe, containing eight or nine\n    hundred millions of inhabitants, and see that they differ in\n    color from the frozen to the temperate and torrid zones, and\n    that every thing is variegated, I am astonished that any man\n    should be so prejudiced against his fellow-man; but we pray for\n    the aid of the Almighty to take the scales from their eyes; and\n    that the Liberator may be one of the instruments in commencing\n    the work.'[AJ]\n\n\n    'I would ask some of our pretended white friends, and the\n    members of the American Colonization Society, why they are so\n    interested in our behalf as to want us to go to Africa? They\n    tell us that it is our home; that they desire to make a people\n    of us, which we can never be here; that they want Africa\n    civilized; and that we are the very persons to do it, as it is\n    almost impossible for any white person to exist there. I deny\n    it. Will some of those guardian angels of the people of color\n    tell me how it is that we, who were born in the same city or\n    state with themselves, can live any longer in Africa than they?\n    I consider it the most absurd assertion that any man of common\n    sense could make, unless it is supposed, as some have already\n    said, that we are void of understanding. If we had been born on\n    that continent, the transportation would be another matter; but\n    as the fact is the reverse, we consider the United States our\n    home, and not Africa as they wish to make us believe;--and if we\n    do emigrate, it will be to a place of our own choice.\n\n    'I would also mention to the supporters of the Colonization\n    Society, that if they would spend half the time and money that\n    they do, in educating the colored population and giving them\n    lands to cultivate here, and secure to them all the rights and\n    immunities of freemen, instead of sending them to Africa, it\n    would be found, in a short time, that they made as good citizens\n    as the whites. Their traducers would hear of fewer murders,\n    highway robberies, forgeries, &c. &c. being committed, than they\n    do at present among some of the white inhabitants of this\n    country.'[AK]\n\n\n    'Colonization principles, abstractly considered, are\n    unobjectionable; but the means employed for their propagation,\n    we think, are altogether objectionable. We are deprived of our\n    birthright, and pointed by the colonization partisans to another\n    country as a home. They speak of the prejudices which exist\n    against us, as an insuperable hindrance to the improvement of\n    our situation here. We are sickened by the constant reiteration\n    of \"_extraneous mass_,\" \"_African inferiority_,\" &c. which tends\n    immediately to justify the slaveholder in his crime, and\n    increase already existing prejudice. The Colonization Society\n    never will effect the removal of slavery. The God of justice\n    will never, in my opinion, let this nation off so easily. It is\n    in vain to hold back. The eyes of all will ultimately be opened\n    to see that nothing but universal emancipation can possibly\n    avert impending wrath.'[AL]\n\n\n    'How long, oh! ye boasters of freedom, will ye endeavor to\n    persuade us, your derided, degraded fellow countrymen, to the\n    belief that our interest and happiness are prized in high\n    estimation among you? Be it known, that we are not all such\n    misguided, deluded mortals as to be duped by your plans; that we\n    will not suffer ourselves to become so infatuated as to \"hurl\n    reason from her throne,\" and succumb to your glittering, showy,\n    _dissimulating_ path to eminence. We spurn with contempt your\n    unrighteous schemes, and point the finger of derision at your\n    fruitless attempts. You have commenced them in a day, when\n    liberty, justice and equality are claimed by almost all, as\n    nature's rights; for behold! a beam of science, lucid as the\n    sun, has divinely fallen upon the lightless intellects of a\n    portion of that ignoble part of your fellow creatures, who have\n    been so long the victims of your fell injustice and inhumanity.\n    Would to God that conscience might subdue your malignant\n    prejudices. Tell us not that our condition can never be bettered\n    in the land of our birth: you know it not. Make but the attempt\n    in consecrating a portion of your time, talents and money upon\n    us here, and you would soon find the cause of Afric's injured\n    race vindicated by her descendants; and the day which now dawns\n    would be speedily ushered into blazing light, declaring in its\n    effulgence the joyful sound of Liberty--Justice--Equality, to\n    all mankind.'[AM]\n\n\n    'There is much to be surprised at, little to admire, and nothing\n    worthy of imitation, in the \"bubbles\" of our friends, the\n    colonizationists. They have enlisted the prejudices and the\n    support of the wealthy and influential in their favor; they have\n    succeeded in sending some two or three thousand to Liberia; and\n    they are flattered with their partial success, and no doubt look\n    forward to the time when they will behold the whole of the\n    colored inhabitants of America, in the far distant land of\n    Africa. But let them not anticipate too much; they have yet one\n    obstacle to overcome which threatens to overthrow their\n    \"baseless fabric;\" or at any rate impede their progress. Their\n    proceedings have not obtained the approbation of those, whose\n    approbation is most needed, _the colored people themselves_.\n    They are most strangely mistaken if they suppose that it is an\n    easy matter to win them, either by _sophistry_ or _force_. The\n    press has begun its revolutionizing work, overturning in its\n    progress every thing calculated to suppress inquiry or to blind\n    the understanding. Already have the intrigues of the designing\n    been exposed, and already have the colored people set their\n    faces against oppression.\n\n    'The Colonization Society has erred in matters of _policy_; for\n    instead of exerting themselves to gain the confidence of the\n    colored people, and thus by persuasion to have rid the country\n    of them, they have acted in a manner calculated to disgust every\n    humane mind, and have rendered it an utter _impossibility_ to\n    remove them; and it is most fortunate for the unfortunate, that\n    they have detected those intriguing spirits in their _humane_\n    and _charitable_ undertaking.\n\n    'How many hours of anguish, how much incalculable misery has been\n    prevented; in short, how many human beings have been saved from\n    an untimely grave, by the timely interposition of the PRESS! It\n    has said, let it be so, and it _was_ so; its thunders have been\n    heard, and the oppressor trembles like the earthquake: it has\n    overthrown, yea, totally demolished the sharp-edged sword of\n    the Colonization Society.\n\n    'Support the PRESS then, ye people of color, and the result will\n    be a total overthrow of all the darling schemes of the aforesaid\n    darling Society; it has accomplished wonders, yea, wonders\n    already; much more can, nay, will be done; again I say, support\n    the PRESS.'[AN]\n\n\n    'The African Colonization Society declares that we the people of\n    color shall have no part nor lot in the free institutions of\n    this country. Why? Because the Creator of all--the sovereign\n    Ruler of the universe, who holds in his hands the destiny of\n    nations, thought fit and proper, in his infinite wisdom, to\n    tincture us with a darker hue than the paler part of community!\n    or, if I may say, because the lot of our predecessors happened\n    to be cast in the torrid zone, beneath the scorching beams of a\n    vertical sun! These are the objections the African Colonization\n    Society offer to this community to our remaining in this\n    country--in the land of freemen! These are the considerations\n    that prompt them to tell us that we the descendants of Africa\n    can never be men unless we abandon the land of our birth, our\n    homes and people, and submit to that uncongenial clime, the\n    barbarous regions of Africa, amidst unyielding contagion and\n    mortality! O, that man would remember, that knowledge and\n    virtue, not complexion, are the emblems that constitute the\n    value of human dignity! With these, we are worthy--without them,\n    we are unworthy. By the acts and operations of wicked men,\n    shielded under a cloak of religion, we the people of color are\n    doomed to all the miseries that the human body is able to\n    sustain--deprived of light, knowledge and social intercourse, by\n    the colonization gentlemen. With all their pretended zeal and\n    love of liberty, manifested towards the African race, I count\n    them as enemies, not friends. I do not solicit their love, nor\n    regard their friendship. I speak for one: I never did, and never\n    will court an enemy as a friend, knowingly, let him be whom he\n    may--let him belong to church or state, I feel the weight of\n    their predominant power, and the finishing blow they are about\n    to strike. Thus we move by them, poor and pennyless, despised\n    and forsaken by all; creeping through your streets, submissively\n    bowed down to every foot whose skin is tinctured with a lighter\n    hue than ours--thus we sojourn in solitude, not for our crimes\n    but color.\n\n    'I came here for the purpose of showing to this community, that\n    the people of color of the United States disapprove of the\n    African Colonization plan. They do not wish to emigrate to\n    Africa. These six hundred or more, that the gentleman tells you\n    are now waiting for a passage to Liberia, are not the free\n    people of color of the United States; they are, if any, the\n    poor, old, worn-out southern slaves, freed on the condition to\n    go to Africa, or die in the tracks of slavery, no more fit for\n    their cotton and rice fields--for the laws of those states\n    forbid the master, let him be possessed of all the fine feelings\n    that the human mind is able to contain; unless he banishes them\n    to some distant region, across that \"mighty ocean\" they speak\n    of, they cannot be free. According to the laws of those states,\n    and the basis on which the Society is built, the emancipated\n    slaves are not free until they stand upon the shores of Liberia.\n    Thus the Northern and Middle States are called upon for\n    donations to enable the monarch of the south to bury his slaves\n    in the sands of Africa; thus far, northern capital is\n    instrumental in parting asunder parents and children--no more to\n    meet, until Jehovah will stand upon the four corners of the\n    earth, and proclaim deliverance to the captive!--when the arm of\n    tyrants shall cease to sway the rod of tyranny over the heads of\n    their helpless children--until all creation shall vanish and\n    crumble into nothing.\n\n    'About the time of the formation of this Society, the people of\n    color, in different sections of the Union, took the alarm--they\n    thought there was something wrong in the views of that combined\n    body. So, the free people of color of Richmond, convened\n    themselves together in the state of Virginia, where the\n    gentleman says the African Colonization Society first\n    originated. They assembled themselves together for the purpose\n    of ascertaining each other's feelings with regard to that\n    combined body, and after mature reflection, they petitioned\n    Congress--I will give you the words of their memorial, which are\n    sufficient evidence to substantiate in the mind of every\n    rational person, that the people of color wish to remain in this\n    country.\n\n\n    '\"At a meeting of a respectable portion of the free people of\n    color of the city of Richmond, on Friday, January 24, 1817,\n    William Bowler was appointed chairman, and Lentey Craw,\n    secretary. The following preamble and resolution were read,\n    unanimously adopted, and ordered to be printed.\n\n    '\"Whereas a Society has been formed at the seat of government,\n    for the purpose of colonizing, with their own consent, the free\n    people of color of the United States; therefore we, the free\n    people of color of the city of Richmond, have thought it\n    advisable to assemble together under the sanction of authority,\n    for the purpose of making a public expression of our sentiments\n    on a question in which we are so deeply interested. We perfectly\n    agree with the Society, that it is not only proper, but would\n    ultimately tend to the benefit and advantage of a great portion\n    of our suffering fellow creatures, to be colonized; but while we\n    thus express our approbation of a measure laudable in its\n    purposes, and beneficial in its designs, it may not be improper\n    in us to say, that we prefer being colonized in the most remote\n    corner of the land of our nativity, to being exiled to a foreign\n    country--and whereas the president and board of managers of the\n    said Society have been pleased to leave it to the entire\n    discretion of Congress to provide a suitable place for carrying\n    these laudable intentions into effect--Be it therefore\n\n    '\"Resolved, That we respectfully submit to the wisdom of\n    Congress whether it would not be an act of charity to grant us a\n    small portion of their territory, either on the Missouri river,\n    or any place that may seem to them most conducive to the public\n    good and our future welfare, subject, however, to such rules and\n    regulations as the government of the United States may think\n    proper to adopt.\"\n\n                        'WM. BOWLER, Chairman.\n\n    'LENTEY CRAW, Secretary.'[AO]\n\n\n    'The _colonization craft_ is a diabolical pursuit, which a great\n    part of our christian community are engaged in. Now, brethren, I\n    need not enlarge on this point. You that have been observing,\n    have already seen the trap under the bait; and although some of\n    our population have been foolish enough to sell their birthright\n    for a mess of pottage, yet I doubt whether the Colonization\n    Society will entrap many more. It is too bare-faced, and\n    contrary to all reason, to suppose, that there is any good\n    design in this project. If they are willing to restore\n    four-fold for what they have taken by false accusation, they\n    can do it to better advantage in the bosom of our country, than\n    at several thousand miles off. How would you do, brethren, if\n    your object was really to benefit the poor? Would you send them\n    into a neighboring forest, and there deal out that food which\n    they were famishing for? Now we stand different from beggars.\n    Our ancestors were stolen property, and property which belonged\n    to God. This is well known by our religious community; and they\n    find that the owner is about to detect them. Now if they can\n    slip away the stolen goods, by smuggling all those out of the\n    country, which God would be likely to make an instrument of, in\n    bringing them to justice, and keep the rest in ignorance; by\n    such means, things would go on well with them, and they would\n    appease their consciences by telling what great things they are\n    doing for the colored population and God's cause. But we\n    understand better how it is. The deception is not so well\n    practised, but that we can discover the mark of the beast. They\n    will steal the sons of Africa, bring them to America, keep them\n    and their posterity in bondage for centuries, letting them have\n    what education they can pick up of themselves; then transport\n    them back to Africa; by which means America gets all her\n    drudgery done at little expense, and endeavors to flatter the\n    Deity, by making him a sacrifice of good works of this kind. But\n    to the awful disappointment of all such blasphemers, they will\n    meet the justice of God, which will be to them a devouring\n    sword.'[AP]\n\n\n    'Though delivered from the fetters of slavery, we are oppressed\n    by an unreasonable, unrighteous, and cruel prejudice, which aims\n    at nothing less, than the forcing away of all the free colored\n    population of the United States to the distant shores of Africa.\n    Far be it from me to impeach the motives of every member of the\n    American Colonization Society. The civilizing and christianizing\n    of that vast continent, and the extirpation of the abominable\n    traffic in slaves, (which, notwithstanding all the laws passed\n    for its suppression, is still carried on in all its horrors,)\n    are no doubt the principal motives, which induce many to give it\n    their support.\n\n    'But there are those, and those who are most active and\n    influential in this cause, who hesitate not to say, that they\n    wish to rid the country of the free colored population; and\n    there is sufficient reason to believe that with many, this is\n    the principal motive for supporting that Society; and that\n    whether Africa is civilized or not, and whether the slave-trade\n    be suppressed or not, they would wish to see the free colored\n    people removed from this country to Africa.\n\n    'Africa could certainly be brought into a state of civil and\n    religious improvement, without sending all the free people of\n    color in the United States there.\n\n    'A few well-qualified missionaries, properly fitted out and\n    supported, would do more for the instruction and improvement of\n    the natives of that country, than a host of colonists, the\n    greater part of whom would need to be instructed themselves, and\n    all of whom for a long period would find enough to do to provide\n    for themselves, instead of instructing the natives.\n\n    'How inconsistent are those who say, that Africa will be\n    benefitted by the removal of the free people of color of the\n    United States there, while they say, they are the _most vile and\n    degraded_ people in the world!--If we are as vile and degraded\n    as they represent us, and they wish the Africans to be rendered\n    a virtuous, enlightened and happy people, they should not\n    _think_ of sending _us_ among them, lest we should make them\n    worse instead of better.\n\n    'The colonies planted by white men on the shores of America, so\n    far from benefitting the aborigines, corrupted their morals, and\n    caused their ruin; and yet those who say _we_ are the most vile\n    people in the world, would send us to Africa, to improve the\n    character and condition of the natives! Such arguments would not\n    be listened to for a moment, were not the minds of the community\n    strangely warped by prejudice.\n\n    'Those who wish that that vast continent should be _compensated_\n    for the injuries done it, by sending thither the light of the\n    gospel and the arts of civilized life, should aid in sending and\n    supporting well qualified missionaries, who should be wholly\n    devoted to the work of instruction, instead of sending\n    colonists, who would be apt to turn the ignorance of the natives\n    to their own advantage, and do them more harm than good.\n\n    'Much has also been said by colonizationists, about improving\n    the character and condition of the people of color of this\n    country, by sending them to Africa. This is more inconsistent\n    still. We are to be improved by being sent far from civilized\n    society. This is a novel mode of improvement. What is there in\n    the burning sun, the arid plains, and barbarous customs of\n    Africa, that is so peculiarly favorable to our improvement? What\n    hinders our improving here, where schools and colleges abound,\n    where the gospel is preached at every corner, and where all the\n    arts and sciences are verging fast to perfection? Nothing,\n    nothing but prejudice. It requires no large expenditures, no\n    hazardous enterprises, to raise the people of color in the\n    United States to as highly improved a state, as any class of the\n    community. All that is necessary is, that those who profess to\n    be anxious for it, should lay aside their prejudices, and act\n    towards them as they do by others.\n\n    'We are NATIVES of this country; we ask only to be treated as\n    well as FOREIGNERS. Not a few of our fathers suffered and bled\n    to purchase its independence; we ask only to be treated as well\n    as those who fought against it. We have toiled to cultivate it,\n    and to raise it to its present prosperous condition; we ask only\n    to share equal privileges with those who come from distant lands\n    to enjoy the fruits of our labor. Let these moderate requests be\n    granted, and we need not go to Africa nor any where else, to be\n    improved and happy. We cannot but doubt the purity of the\n    motives of those persons who deny us these requests, and would\n    send us to Africa, to gain what they might give us at home.\n\n    'But they say, the prejudices of the country against us are\n    invincible; and as they cannot be conquered, it is better that\n    we should be removed beyond their influence. This plea should\n    never proceed from the lips of any man, who professes to believe\n    that a just God rules in the heavens.\n\n    'The American Colonization Society is a numerous and influential\n    body. Would they lay aside their _own_ prejudices, much of the\n    burden would be at once removed; and their example (especially\n    if they were as anxious to have _justice done us here_, as to\n    send us to Africa,) would have such an influence upon the\n    community at large, as would soon cause prejudice to hide its\n    deformed head.\n\n    'But alas! the course which they have pursued, has an opposite\n    tendency. By the _scandalous misrepresentations_, which they are\n    continually giving of our character and conduct, we have\n    sustained much injury, and have reason to apprehend much more.\n\n    'Without any charge of crime, we have been denied all access to\n    places, to which we formerly had the most free intercourse; the\n    colored citizens of other places, on leaving their homes, have\n    been denied the privilege of returning; and others have been\n    absolutely driven out.\n\n    'Has the Colonization Society had no effect in producing these\n    barbarous measures?\n\n    'They profess to have no other object in view, than the\n    colonizing of the free people of color on the coast of Africa,\n    with their _own consent_; but if our homes are made so\n    uncomfortable that we cannot continue in them; or if, like our\n    brethren of Ohio and New Orleans, we are driven from them, and\n    no other door is open to receive us but Africa, our removal\n    there will be any thing but voluntary.\n\n    'It is very certain, that very few free people of color _wish_\n    to go to that _land_. The Colonization Society _know_ this, and\n    yet they do certainly calculate, that in time they will have us\n    all removed there.\n\n    'How can this be effected, but by making our situation worse\n    here, and closing every other door against us?'[AQ]\n\n\n    'My attention was forcibly attracted by a communication in Mr\n    Poulson's Daily Advertiser of the 16th inst. which states, that\n    Mrs Stansbury of Trenton, N. J. has presented _one thousand\n    dollars_ to the Colonization Society. Now I think it is greatly\n    to be regretted, that this highly generous and benevolent lady\n    has been induced to make this donation for the purpose of\n    conveying some of the superannuated slaves to Africa, when\n    objects of much greater importance could be attained by offering\n    a premium to master mechanics to take colored children as\n    apprentices, so that they would become useful to themselves and\n    others. It is an inquiry becoming of the utmost importance, what\n    is to become of those children who are arriving at the age of\n    manhood?\n\n    'I am greatly astonished that the ministers of the gospel should\n    take so active a part, in endeavoring to convey the freemen of\n    color to Africa. Even in Boston and New-York, they have taken\n    the lead in support of this object. They cannot be aware of the\n    great injury they will be the means of inflicting on us: instead\n    of doing this, they should endeavor to remove prejudice, to\n    ameliorate and improve the condition of the colored people by\n    education, and by having their children placed in a situation to\n    learn a trade. I hope, through the assistance of Divine\n    Providence, that the Liberator may be the means (especially in\n    Boston, the Cradle of Liberty and Independence) of guiding the\n    people of this country in the path, which equal justice and the\n    public good so evidently indicate.\n\n    'I have never conversed with an intelligent man of color, (not\n    swayed by interested and sinister motives,) who was not\n    decidedly opposed to leaving his home for the fatal clime of\n    Africa. I am well acquainted with all the masters of vessels,\n    belonging to this port, who have been to the coast of Africa;\n    and they all agree in representing it as one of the most\n    unhealthy countries in the latitude of 40. In the months of June\n    and July, the thermometer is at from 88 to 90 degrees. What must\n    it be, then, in the latitude of 6 or 7, under a vertical sun,\n    and where, after the rainy season, the effluvium which arises\n    from the putrefaction of vegetables is productive of the most\n    fatal effects? Sir James L. Yeo agrees with their account, in\n    his statement laid before the Admiralty of Great Britain.\n\n    'Has any one, in either of our southern States, given any thing\n    like a thousand dollars to promote emigration to Africa? Not one\n    has shown so much compassion for the oppressed slave. General\n    Mercer,--who is, I believe, the President of the Colonization\n    Society,--promised to emancipate his slaves, and to sell his\n    large possessions in Virginia, and to remove with them to\n    Africa--(my friends inform me, and I believe him to be one of\n    the most humane and best of masters.) Mr Key, the great\n    advocate, and the late Judge Washington, promised to liberate\n    their slaves: I believe that neither of them has performed his\n    promise.\n\n    'According to a statement made by Mr Key, they have removed in\n    fourteen years about as many hundred emigrants. I will venture\n    to say, that at least a half million have been born during the\n    same period. We ask not their compassion and aid, in assisting\n    us to emigrate to Africa: we are contented in the land that gave\n    us birth, and for which many of our fathers fought and died,\n    during the war which established our independence. I well\n    remember that when the New England regiment marched through this\n    city on their way to attack the English army under the command\n    of Lord Cornwallis, there were several companies of colored\n    people, as brave men as ever fought; and I saw those brave\n    soldiers who fought at the battle of Red Bank, under Col. Green,\n    where Count Donop the commander was killed, and the Hessians\n    defeated. All this appears to be forgotten now; and the\n    descendants of these men, to whom we are indebted for the part\n    they took in the struggle for independence, are intended to be\n    removed to a distant and inhospitable country, while the\n    emigrants from every other country are permitted to seek an\n    asylum here from oppression, and to enjoy the blessings of both\n    civil and religious liberty, equally with those who are entitled\n    to it by birthright.\n\n    'I think the ministers of the gospel might do much towards\n    destroying the domestic slave trade, which breaks asunder the\n    sacred ties of husband, wife and children. Not a voice is\n    raised by them against this most cruel injustice. In the British\n    colonies, this is not permitted; yet it exists in the only true\n    republic on earth.'[AR]\n\n\n    '_My Friends and Countrymen_:--I trust, by this time, you have\n    known well my sentiments in relation to the American\n    Colonization Society; and the great objects, which have been set\n    forth, of a general union of interest, in funds and education,\n    for the permanent establishment and furtherance of our\n    prosperity, in this our native country.\n\n    'In addition to what has been already said on the subject, I\n    shall briefly set forth some of the leading causes of our\n    wretchedness and misery; and the prominent motives of the\n    Colonization Society in sending us away. Much theory has been\n    used, in the discussions upon our civil and political situation,\n    in this country. We have been branded, in many instances,--may I\n    not say, in the highest courts of the nation, courts of justice\n    and equity, in public and family circles?--as being an inferior\n    race of beings, not possessing like intellect and faculty with\n    the whites. We are represented as being incapable of acting for\n    ourselves; consequently not educated and qualified to be\n    admitted into public places, to vindicate the integrity of our\n    race, and the qualifications we are capable of acquiring. Many\n    of our noble statesmen, orators and lawyers, have made our\n    capital ring with the empty sound of\n    inferiority,--degradation,--the impossibility of tolerating\n    equality with the blacks. Sacred writ has been carefully\n    examined by these gentlemen of science, and construed to suit\n    their narrow consciences. Prophets have arisen among them, who\n    hold forth to the people the continuation of our political\n    thraldom, unless there be a general removal of all the free\n    among us to the coast of Africa. Others argue, that, although\n    they have good feelings towards us, and would do any thing for\n    us, if we were out of their sight and out of the hearing of\n    their slaves, yet to admit us into their circles would be to\n    pervert the present order of society, and the happiness of the\n    good white citizens of the country. These are generally bible\n    men, such as hold forth the true oracles of God; yet deny him,\n    in their actions and words, the supreme control over all his\n    creatures. There is hardly ever an action performed, whether\n    good or bad, but there is generally a reason given for so doing;\n    and he is a wicked, daring character, who cannot find a cloak,\n    at any time, to cover his hideous crimes. The men who have been\n    foremost, in withholding from us our dearest and most sacred\n    rights, have always held out false colors to the community at\n    large, (such as, inferiority, degradation, nuisance, pest,\n    slaves, species of monkey, apes, &c.) to justify their inhuman\n    and unchristian acts towards us, and to deaden the severe pangs\n    of conscience that harass them. They would wish to appear\n    innocent before the world; as doing unto all men as they would\n    they should do unto them. Do they base their objects, in full,\n    upon such frivolous excuses as these? No. The truth is, actions\n    speak louder than words. It is my candid opinion, there would\n    have been no Colonization Society formed for our transportation\n    to the western coast of Africa, had there been no free colored\n    people, and did not our numbers increase daily. If we, as a free\n    body of people, had remained in the same character with slaves,\n    monkeys and baboons, there would not have been so much\n    excitement in the community about us; but as they see by our\n    improvement, (a great improvement, indeed, within forty years,)\n    that the period is hastening on, 'when there will be no other\n    alternative but we must rank among them in civilization, science\n    and politics, they have got up this colonization scheme to\n    persuade us to leave our slave brethren, and flee to the\n    pestilential shores of Africa, where we shall be in danger of\n    being forced to hang our harps upon the willows, and our song of\n    liberty and civilization will be hushed by the impelling force\n    of barbarian despots.'[AS]\n\n\n    'And in pursuit of this great object [the elevation of the\n    people of color] various ways and means have been resorted to;\n    among others, the American Colonization Society is the most\n    prominent. Not doubting the sincerity of many friends who are\n    engaged in that cause; yet we beg leave to say, that it does not\n    meet with our approbation. However great the debt which these\n    United States may owe to injured Africa, and however unjustly\n    her sons have been made to bleed, and her daughters to drink of\n    the cup of affliction, still we who have been born and nurtured\n    on this soil, we, whose habits, manners and customs are the same\n    in common with other Americans, can never consent to take our\n    lives in our hands, and be the bearers of the redress offered by\n    that Society to that much afflicted country.\n\n    'Tell it not to barbarians, lest they refuse to be civilized,\n    and eject our Christian missionaries from among them, that in\n    the nineteenth century of the christian era, laws have been\n    enacted in some of the States of this great republic, to compel\n    an unprotected and harmless portion of our brethren to leave\n    their homes and seek an asylum in foreign climes: and in taking\n    a view of the unhappy situation of many of these, whom the\n    oppressive laws alluded to, continually crowd into the Atlantic\n    cities, dependent for their support upon their daily labor, and\n    who often suffer for want of employment, we have had to lament\n    that no means have yet been devised for their relief.'[AT]\n\n\n    'The Convention has not been unmindful of the operations of the\n    American Colonization Society; and it would respectfully suggest\n    to that august body of learning, talent and worth, that, in our\n    humble opinion, strengthened, too, by the opinions of eminent\n    men in this country, as well as in Europe, that they are\n    pursuing the direct road to perpetuate slavery, with all its\n    unchristianlike concomitants, in this boasted land of freedom;\n    and, as citizens and men whose best blood is sapped to gain\n    popularity for that Institution, we would, in the most feeling\n    manner, beg of them to desist: or, if we must be sacrificed to\n    their philanthropy, we would rather die at home. Many of our\n    fathers, and some of us, have fought and bled for the liberty,\n    independence and peace which you now enjoy; and, surely, it\n    would be ungenerous and unfeeling in you to deny us a humble and\n    quiet grave in that country which gave us birth!'[AU]\n\n\n    'Sir, upon the whole, my view of the operations of the\n    Colonization Society, in relieving the slave States of the evil\n    which weighs them down more than a hundred tariffs, is\n    illustrated by an old fable, in which it is stated, that a man\n    was seen at the foot of a mountain, scraping away the dust with\n    his foot. One passing by, asked him what he was doing? I wish to\n    remove this mountain, said he. You fool, replied the other, you\n    can never do it in that way. Well, said he, I can raise a dust,\n    can't I?\n\n    'Sir, I do not wish to censure the motives of this Society, but\n    surely they are visionary. Its supporters are bewildered in\n    their own dust, which is well calculated to injure the vision of\n    good men. The Commercial Advertiser says they do indeed wish to\n    wipe away from the national records the stain of slavery, \"but\n    hope it may be accomplished (as the Virginia Enquirer has it)\n    surely but quietly.\" Yes, Sir, and quietly enough!\n\n    'Our ambition leads not to superiority, but to our _freedom_ and\n    _political rights_. _Grant this!_ we ask no more! If the places\n    in which we dwell are too straight for us and the white\n    population, place us in a state far to the West--take us\n    into the Union--give us our _rights_ as _freemen_. Let the\n    southern states make all born after a date not two years\n    distant, free! and let the Colonization Society turn its\n    attention and energies to the removing of liberated slaves\n    there: the free people will go without their aid. But if the\n    Government is fearful of retaliation, it may allay its fears by\n    a consideration of the fact of there not being one freeman\n    engaged in the late insurrections--of freemen informing against\n    slaves--the peaceable manner in which we live in the\n    neighborhoods of the south, and throughout the whole Union. The\n    meetings that have lately been held, and resolutions passed\n    expressive of our disapprobation of such measures, may all show\n    that such fears are groundless. I repeat again--_Give us our\n    rights--we ask no more!_\n\n    'Yes, Sir, if I possessed the Indies, I would pledge the whole\n    that if such measures were taken, and such grants made, no\n    retaliation would be made by us as a body for former evils.'[AV]\n\n\n    'In no age of our existence have there been more pains taken by\n    priests and people, in public and private, in church and state,\n    to give them currency, than at present. The whole theme of that\n    wicked, persecuting combination--the Colonization Society--is\n    calculated to impress upon the mind of the public these\n    atrocious maxims which every day strengthen a prejudice not only\n    cherished by the whites against the blacks, but by the blacks\n    against the whites. That foul fiend of hell, that destroying\n    angel who hath power to take peace from the earth, and to kill\n    with the sword, is gaining a commanding influence very fast over\n    both parties. And who, but the advocates of the Colonization\n    Society, receive him as a welcome guest? Who but they have built\n    him a temple, and cried, \"Long live Prejudice against free born\n    Americans of sable hue!\" Who but they are continually crying,\n    \"The free blacks are dangerous! the free blacks are dangerous!\n    Away with them--away with them to Africa!\" Who but they are the\n    apologists for murder, theft, and all the horrid concomitants of\n    slavery? Who but they have defiled our temples of worship\n    dedicated to God for his service, making merchandise of the\n    souls of men by transferring them over to the keeping of\n    prejudice?'[AW]\n\n\nOther extracts might be recorded, but these must suffice. I have given\nthe sentiments of the people of color as expressed individually, in\npublic orations, in conventions of delegates, and in popular assemblies.\nTheir proceedings evince a keen discrimination between true and false\nphilanthropy, and an intellectual ability successfully to defend their\ncause. Their instincts are more than a match for the specious sophistry\nand learned sense of colonizationists: they meet them on every point,\nand on every point achieve a victory. Conscious of the fact that in\ntheir complexion is found the only motive for their banishment, they\nclearly illustrate the hypocrisy and injustice of the African crusade.\nTheir union of purpose is such as cannot be broken. How intense is their\nlove of country! how remarkable their patient endurance of wrongs! how\nstrong their abhorrence of expatriation! how auspicious the talents\nwhich they display!\n\nEvery humane and honorable man will assent to the proposition, that no\nscheme for the removal of a numerous people from one continent to\nanother, ought to be prosecuted contrary to their desires. A scheme\ncannot be benevolent which thrives upon persecution. Benevolent\noppression is a solecism.\n\nAnother self-evident truth is, that no such removal can be effected\nmerely by the presentation of selfish inducements, or without resorting\nto coercive measures. To show that coercion is openly advocated by some\nof the prominent supporters of the Colonization Society, I make the\nfollowing extracts from the speeches of Messrs Broadnax and Fisher,\ndelivered during the 'Great Debate' in the Virginia House of Delegates a\nshort time since. Mr Broadnax said:\n\n    'IT IS IDLE TO TALK ABOUT NOT RESORTING TO FORCE. Every body\n    must look to the introduction of force of some kind or\n    other--and it is in truth a question of expediency; of moral\n    justice; of political good faith--whether we shall fairly\n    delineate our whole system on the face of the bill, or leave the\n    acquisition of extorted consent to other processes. The real\n    question--the only question of magnitude to be settled, is the\n    great preliminary question--Do you intend to send the free\n    persons of color out of Virginia, or not?'\n\n    'If the free negroes are willing to go, they will go--if not\n    willing, they must be compelled to go. Some gentlemen think it\n    politic not now to insert this feature in the bill, though they\n    proclaim their readiness to resort to it when it becomes\n    necessary; they think that for a year or two a sufficient number\n    will consent to go, and then the rest can be compelled. For my\n    part, I deem it better to approach the question and settle it at\n    once, and avow it openly. The intelligent portion of the free\n    negroes know very well what is going on.--Will they not see your\n    debates? _Will they not see that coercion is ultimately to be\n    resorted to?_ They will perceive that the edict has gone forth,\n    and that it must fall, if not now, in a short time upon them.'\n\n    'I have already expressed it as my opinion that few, very few,\n    will _voluntarily_ consent to emigrate, if no COMPULSORY MEASURE\n    be adopted.--With it--many, in anticipation of its sure and\n    certain arrival, will, in the mean time, go away--they will be\n    sensible that the time would come when they would be forced to\n    leave the State. Without it--you will still, no doubt, have\n    applicants for removal equal to your means. Yes, Sir, people who\n    will not only consent, but beg you to deport them. But what sort\n    of _consent_--a consent extorted by a series of oppression\n    calculated to render their situation among us insupportable.\n    Many of those who have already been sent off, went with _their\n    avowed consent_, but under the influence of a more decided\n    compulsion than any which this bill holds out. I will not\n    express, in its full extent, the idea I entertain of what has\n    been done, or what enormities will be perpetrated to induce this\n    class of persons to leave the State. Who does not know that when\n    a free negro, by crime or otherwise, has rendered himself\n    obnoxious to a neighborhood, how easy it is for a party to visit\n    him one night, take him from his bed and family, and apply to\n    him the gentle admonition of a severe flagellation, to induce\n    him to _consent_ to go away? In a few nights the dose can be\n    repeated, perhaps increased, until, in the language of the\n    physicians, _quantum suff._ has been administered to produce the\n    desired operation; and the fellow then becomes _perfectly\n    willing_ to move away. I have certainly heard, if incorrectly,\n    the gentleman from Southampton will put me right, that of the\n    large cargo of emigrants lately transported from that country to\n    Liberia, all of whom _professed_ to be _willing_ to go, were\n    rendered so by some such severe ministrations as those I have\n    described. A lynch club--a committee of vigilance--could easily\n    exercise a kind of inquisitorial _surveillance_ over any\n    neighborhood, and convert any desired number, I have no doubt,\n    at any time, into a willingness to be removed. But who really\n    prefers such means as these to the course proposed in this bill?\n    And one or the other is inevitable. For no matter how you change\n    this bill--sooner or later the free negroes will be _forced_ to\n    leave the State. Indeed, Sir, ALL OF US LOOK TO FORCE of some\n    kind or other, direct or indirect, moral or physical, legal or\n    illegal. Many who are opposed, they say, to any compulsory\n    feature in the bill, desire to introduce such severe regulations\n    into our police laws--such restrictions of their existing\n    privileges--such inability to hold property--obtain\n    employment--rent residences, &c., as to make it impossible for\n    them to remain amongst us. _Is not this force?_'\n\nMr Fisher said:\n\n    'If we wait until the free negroes consent to leave the State,\n    we shall wait until \"time is no more.\" _They never will give\n    their consent_; and if the House amend the bill as proposed,\n    their consent is in a manner pointed out by the gentleman from\n    Dinwiddie--and it is a great question whether we shall force the\n    people to extort their consent from them in this way.--He\n    believed if the compulsory principle were stricken out, this\n    class of people would be forced to leave by the harsh treatment\n    of the whites. The people in those parts of the State where they\n    most abound, were determined,--as far as they could learn\n    through the newspapers and other sources,--to get rid of the\n    blacks.'\n\nWhat a revelation, what a confession, is here! The free blacks taken\nfrom their beds, and severely flagellated, to make them willing to\nemigrate! And legislative compulsion openly advocated to accomplish this\nnefarious project! Yes, the gentlemen say truly, 'few, very few will\n_voluntarily_ consent to emigrate'--'they never will give their\nconsent'--and therefore they must be expelled by force! It is true, the\nbill proposed by Mr Broadnax was rejected by a small majority; but it\nserves to illustrate the spirit of the colonization leaders.\n\nThe editor of the Lynchburg Virginian, an advocate of the Society, uses\nthe following language:\n\n    'But, if they will not consider for themselves, WE _must\n    consider for them_. The safety of the people is the supreme law;\n    and to that law all minor considerations must bend. If the free\n    negroes will not emigrate, _they must be contented to endure\n    those privations which the public interest and safety call\n    for_.--In the last Richmond Enquirer we notice an advertisement,\n    setting forth, that \"a petition will be presented to the next\n    legislature of Virginia, from the county of Westmoreland,\n    praying the passage of some law to _compel_ the free negroes in\n    this commonwealth to emigrate therefrom, under a penalty which\n    will effectually promote this object.\" So, too, at a meeting of\n    the citizens of Prince George county, in Maryland, it was\n    resolved to \"petition the next legislature to remove all the\n    free negroes out of that State, and to prohibit all persons from\n    manumitting slaves without making provision for their removal.\"'\n\nI close this work with a specimen of the sophistry which is used to give\n_eclat_ to the American Colonization Society.\n\nIn the month of June, 1830, I happened to peruse a number of the\nSouthern Religious Telegraph, in which I found an essay, enforcing the\nduty of clergymen to take up collections in aid of the funds of the\nColonization Society on the then approaching fourth of July. After an\nappropriate introductory paragraph, the writer proceeds in the following\nremarkable strain:\n\n    'But--we have a plea like a peace offering to man and to God. We\n    answer poor blinded Africa in her complaint--that we have her\n    children, and that they have served on our plantations. And we\n    tell her, look at their returning! We took them barbarous,\n    though measurably free,--untaught--rude--without\n    science--without the true religion--without philosophy--and\n    strangers to the best civil governments. And now we return them\n    to her bosom, _with the mechanical arts_ ... _with science_ ...\n    _with philosophy_ ... with civilization ... with republican\n    feelings ... and above all, with the true knowledge of the true\n    God, and the way of salvation through the Redeemer.'\n\n'The mechanical arts!'--with whom did they serve an apprenticeship?\n'With philosophy!'--in what colleges were they taught? It is strange\nthat we should be so anxious to get rid of these scientific men of\ncolor--these philosophers--these republicans--these christians, and that\nwe should shun their company as if they were afflicted with the\nhydrophobia, or carried a deadly pestilence in their train! Certainly,\nthey _must_ have singular notions of the christian religion which\ntolerates--or, rather, which is so perverted as to tolerate--the\noppression of God's rational creatures by its professors! They must feel\na peculiar kind of brotherly love for those _good men_ who banded\ntogether to remove them to Africa, because they were too proud to\nassociate familiarly with men of a sable complexion! But the writer\nproceeds:\n\n    'We tell her, look at the little colony on her shores. We tell\n    her, look to the consequences that must flow to all her borders\n    from religion, and science, and knowledge, and civilization, and\n    republican government! And then we ask her--_is not one ship\n    load of emigrants returning with these multiplied blessings,\n    worth more to her than a million of her barbarous sons?_'\n\nSo! every ship load of ignorant and helpless emigrants is to more than\ncompensate Africa for every million of her children who have been\nkidnapped, buried in the ocean and on the land, tortured with savage\ncruelty, and held in perpetual servitude! Truly, this is a compendious\nmethod of balancing accounts. In the sight of God, of Africa, and of the\nworld, we are consequently blameless--and rather praiseworthy--for our\npast transgressions. It is such sophistry as is contained in the\nforegoing extract, that kindles my indignation into a blaze. I abhor\ncant--I abhor hypocrisy--and if some of the advocates of the\nColonization Society do not deal largely in both, I am unable to\ncomprehend the meaning of these terms.\n\nOf the whole number of individuals constituting the officers of the\nSociety, nearly three-fourths, I believe, _are the owners of slaves_, or\ninterested in slave property; not one of whom, to my knowledge, has\nemancipated any of his slaves to be sent to Liberia!! The President of\nthe Society, (CHARLES CARROLL,) owns, I have understood, nearly _one\nthousand slaves_! And yet he is lauded, beyond measure, as a patriot, a\nphilanthropist, and a christian! The former President, (Judge BUSHROD\nWASHINGTON,) so far from breaking the fetters of his slaves, actually\nwhile holding his office offered a large reward for a runaway female\nslave, to any person who would secure her by putting her into any jail\nwithin the United States! What a mockery it is for such persons to\nprofess to deplore the existence of slavery, or to denounce the foreign\nslave trade! for they neither cease from their own oppressive acts, nor\nact much more honestly than the slave dealers--the latter stealing those\nwho are born on the coast of Africa, and the former those who are born\nin this country!\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n[AE] John Neal.\n\n[AF] _Vide_ the Fourth Volume of the Genius of Universal Emancipation\nfor 1829.\n\n[AG] Alexander H. Everett, Esq. vide his work entitled 'America, or a\nGeneral Survey,' &c. &c. pp. 212, 225.\n\n[AH] Genius of Universal Emancipation for November 27, 1829.\n\n[AI] Genius of Universal Emancipation, January 29, 1830.\n\n[AJ] 'The Liberator' for January 22, 1832.\n\n[AK] 'A Colored Philadelphian'--vide 'The Liberator' for Feb. 12, 1831.\n\n[AL] Correspondent of 'The Liberator,' Feb. 26, 1831.\n\n[AM] Correspondent of 'The Liberator,' March 12, 1831.\n\n[AN] 'African Sentinel,' Oct. 8, 1831, printed at Albany.\n\n[AO] Extracts from 'An Address to the Gentlemen and Ladies of the County\nof Otsego, N. Y., delivered on the 30th September, 1830, by Hayden\nWaters, a man of color.' The proceedings of the colored inhabitants of\nVirginia, incorporated into this Address, are those referred to on page\n8 as having been accidentally mislaid.\n\n[AP] 'Address delivered before the colored population of Providence, R.\nI., November 27, 1828, by Rev. Hosea Easton.'\n\n[AQ] 'A Discourse delivered in St. Philip's Church, for the benefit of\nthe colored community of Wilberforce, in Upper Canada, on the Fourth of\nJuly, 1830. By Rev. Peter Williams, Rector of St. Philip's Church,\nNew-York.' Mr Williams is a clergyman of superior talents and great\nmoral worth, and beloved by an extensive circle of acquaintance.\n\n[AR] From the pen of the Colored Gentleman in Philadelphia, referred to\non page 58--vide 'The Liberator,' March 12, 1831.\n\n[AS] 'Address delivered before a Colored Association in Brooklyn, N. Y.,\nAugust 5, 1831,' by George Hogarth. Vide 'The Liberator' for August 27,\n1831.\n\n[AT] Conventional Address of the People of Color in Philadelphia, in\n1830.\n\n[AU] 'Minutes and Proceedings of the First Annual Convention of the\nPeople of Color, held by adjournment in the city of Philadelphia, in\nJune, 1831.'\n\n[AV] 'Philadelphia Evangelist'--vide 'The Liberator' for November 26,\n1831.\n\n[AW] Correspondent of 'The Liberator,' December 17, 1831.\n\n\nEND OF PART II.","title":"Thoughts on African Colonization","tradition":"philosophy-ethics","translated_text":null,"word_count":111914}