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 SERMON, 
 
 FOR THE 
 
 BENEFIT OF THE 
 
 fwrtrian eolomj.ition 
 Sorirts* 
 
 DELIVERED IN THE 
 
 SECOND PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, NEWARK, 
 July 24 , 1825 . 
 
 Rs the Rev. WILLIAM T. HAMILTON, 
 
 PASTOR OF THE FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH IN NEWARK. 
 
 NEWARK: 
 
 PRINTED BY W. TUTTLE & CO, 
 
 1825 , 
 

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Newark, July 25, 1825, 
 
 Rev. and respected Sir , 
 
 The subscribers, members of the two Congregations to 
 whom your Sermon on the subject of the American Coloni- 
 zation Society was yesterday addressed, are deeply impress- 
 ed with the importance of the objects adverted to and con- 
 nected with this Society : They cannot but believe that these 
 great objects will be essentially promoted by a more general 
 ditfusion of the excellent sentiments contained in that Dis- 
 course — and they therefore take the liberty respectfully to re- 
 quest of you a copy for publication. They hope, Sir, that 
 When it is considered how seldom a plea for injured Africa has 
 been heard, you will favour them with yours. 
 
 With great esteem, 
 
 We are your obedient servants. 
 
 [Signed by a number of the members of 
 the 1st and 2d Congregations.] 
 
 Rev. JVm. T. Hamilton. 
 
 TO THE MEMBERS OF THE 
 1^ and 2d Presbyterian Congregations, Newark, N. J. 
 
 Prudence might perhaps require the Preacher to decline 
 publishing this discourse ; but an application from members 
 of both the churches before whom it was delivered, so nu- 
 merous and so respectable, ought to have weight. That it 
 ■was hastily written, the numerous engagements of the prece- 
 ding week may testify : that it has many defects all may dis- 
 cover : but that notwithstanding all this, it may be of some 
 use in extending throughout our parishes a knowledge of the 
 important subjects on which it dwells, your request seems to 
 import ; and in the humble hope that it may, it is now pre- 
 sented to you. That I have spoken temperately I hope, — - 
 that I have dealt faithfully I also hope, — and that I have spo- 
 ken candidly, I am sure. That it may answer the end for 
 which you have requested its publication, and effect some 
 little good on behalf of our brother African, may God grant : 
 a richer return could not be desired by you, or the preacher. 
 
 Wm. T, Hamilton , 
 
 Newark , July 26, 1825. 
 

 
 
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SERMON. 
 
 »♦< 
 
 ISAIAH, ix. 2. 
 
 YIIE PEOPLE THAT WALKED IN DARKNESS HAVE SEEN A GREAT LIGHT. 
 
 To discover the more immediate fulfilment of 
 this prophecy we can be at no loss ; for the spirit 
 of inspiration that dictated it has pointed out its ac- 
 complishment. It was when, on a rumour of his fore- 
 runner’s incarceration by Herod, the lowly Jesus 
 left Nazareth, and came and dwelt in Capernaum, 
 a city upon the coast of the sea of Tiberias, in the 
 borders of Zabulon and Napthalim. This was 
 done, adds the Evangelist, “ that it might be ful- 
 filled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, say- 
 ing, The land of Zabulon, and the land of Naptha- 
 lim, by the Avay of the sea, beyond Jordan, Galilee 
 of the Gentiles ; the people which sat in darkness 
 saw great light.” This territory was, in fact, a part 
 of Galilee ; and was denominated Galilee of the 
 Gentiles, because immediately bordering on the 
 seat of the Gentiles and long occupied by them. 
 It had partaken largely in their idolatry, and drunk 
 deep of all their abominations. Lying on the sea 
 of Tiberias, and in the vicinity of the Syrians, it 
 was the first that suffered from their ravages, and 
 it shared largely also in the calamities inflicted by 
 the Chaldeans. Foremost in crime and first in 
 
6 
 
 suffering, it was first also in the participation of 
 Immanuel’s favours. More deeply shrouded in 
 darkness, on it the Sun of Righteousness first shed 
 his cheering light. 
 
 In addressing you from these words, I shall 
 
 I. Endeavour to ascertain by a brief examina- 
 tion, the import of the striking figures employed 
 in the text — to walk in darkness — to see light. 
 
 II. Advert to some few instances of the accom- 
 plishment of this prophecy — and thus gradually ap- 
 proximate the subject, which, constrained alike by 
 duty and inclination, I would submit to your seri- 
 ous attention. 
 
 I. Light and darkness are terms of frequent oc- 
 currence in the sacred scriptures, and are applied 
 in a figurative sense to the moral world, as, when 
 employed literally, to the natural. Thus darkness 
 is used to denote ignorance. Paul speaking of the 
 Heathen destitute of revelation, says, “ their fool- 
 ish heart was darkened “ having the understand- 
 ing darkened.” 
 
 Ignorance, and especialty ignorance of God, is 
 ever attended by depravity. Hence darkness is 
 also used to express wickedness. “ Have no fel- 
 lowship with the works of darkness” says the A- 
 postle. “He that hateth his brother is in dark- 
 uess and walketh in darkness, and knoweth not 
 whither he goeth, because that darkness hath 
 blinded his eyes.” And the spotless purity of God 
 is intended, when it is said “ In him is no dark- 
 ness at all.” Now as ignorance and wickedness 
 necessarily entail misery, the same may be appli- 
 ed to wretchedness and perplexity, as in the last 
 verse of the preceding chapter : “ They shall look 
 unto the earth and behold trouble and darkness, 
 dimness of anguish j and they shall be driven to. 
 
f 
 
 darkness.” Thus Joel describes the distress con- 
 sequent on God’s visiting for sin : “ The day of the 
 Lord cometh, a day of darkness and of gloominess, 
 a day of clouds and of thick darkness,” which is a- 
 greeable to the explanation the Psalmist gives of 
 the same term, “ Such as sit in darkness and in the 
 shadow of death, being bound in affliction and in 
 iron.” And the wretchedness of the damned is ex- 
 pressed under the same image, “ Cast ye the un- 
 profitable servant into outer darkness, there shall 
 be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” The three 
 ideas then of ignorance , depravity and wretched- 
 ness , are combined in the term darkness ; and 
 in this sense does Isaiah appear to use it, when, 
 to depict the condition of mankind destitute of rev-^ 
 elation, and referring to the same event as in the 
 text, he cries, “ Behold darkness shall cover the 
 earth, and gross darkness the people.” To walk in 
 darkness therefore, is to be living and acting un- 
 der the combined influence of ignorance of God, 
 and its sure attendants wickedness and wretched- 
 ness. 
 
 Light, as we might suppose, is used to express 
 the contrary of all this, and conveys the idea of true 
 knowledge, the knowledge of God. So Isaiah : 
 “ To the law, and to the testimony ; if they speak 
 not according to this word, it is because there is 
 no light in them.” Paul speaks of the light of the 
 glorious gospel of Christ, and says, “ God, who 
 commanded light to shine out of darkness, hath 
 shined into our hearts, to give the light of the 
 knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus 
 Christ.” It frequently designates holiness or pu- 
 rity, as when it is said, “ God is light” — and of 
 Christians, “ ye are the children of the light 
 and Satan said “ to transform himself into an an* 
 
8 
 
 gel of light,” while it imports happiness or en- 
 joyment also. “ Light is sown for the righteous and 
 joy for the upright in heart.” And again, “ the 
 Lord is my light and my salvation.” Hence, be- 
 cause in the gospel alone we obtain the true 
 knowledge of God ; by it alone we are taught to 
 love and practice holiness ; and by it the glori- 
 ous hopes of immortal blessedness are present- 
 ed before us, — the gospel is called light — glorious 
 light, and its recipients are styled children of 
 light. And because the Lord Jesus Christ is 
 the great author of salvation, the sum and sub- 
 stance of the gospel, who purchased its blessings 
 with his blood, first promulgated the knowledge 
 of them in his personal ministry when on earth, 
 still does it by his ministers, and by his spirit which 
 he sends forth, enlightens men’s consciences to feel 
 their need of these blessings, and disposes their 
 hearts cordially to receive them, he is emphati- 
 cally styled, “ the light of the world” — “ the sun of 
 righteousness arising with healing in his wings.” 
 So the prophet announces his advent by saying to 
 a world in darkness, and to a people enveloped in 
 gross darkness, “ Arise, shine, for thy light is 
 come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon 
 thee.” And aged Simeon, on receiving the infant 
 Messiah into his arms, calls him “ a light to light- 
 en the Gentiles, and the glory of his people Is- 
 rael.” And Zacharias, in immediate anticipation 
 of it exclaims, “ Through the tender mercy of ouf 
 God the day spring from on high hath visited us, 
 to give light to them that sit in darkness and in the 
 shadow of death — to guide our feet into the way 
 of peace.” To see light, therefore, as used in the 
 text, is to have the privileges of the gospel, of which 
 Christ is the author and the subject, and by means 
 
<5f which, he imparts true knowledge, inward holi- 
 ness, and present peace, to issue in eternal bless- 
 edness. Well, therefore, does the prophet de- 
 pict the advantages consequent on the introduction 
 of the gospel, by saying, “ The people which sat 
 in darkness have seen a great light.” I proceed as 
 proposed, 
 
 II. To advert to some instances of the fulfilment 
 of this prophecy. 
 
 Its first and most obvious accomplishment is that- 
 pointed out by the Evangelist, when Jesus Christ, 
 the light of men, appeared in person, and first pub- 
 lished among the borderers on the sea of Tiberias 
 the glad tidings of the gospel by preaching repent- 
 ance. This was indeed a great light, appearing to 
 a people that walked in darkness. They were, it 
 is true, connected with the Jewish Church, and 
 the light of the law was there ; but this light was 
 totally obscured by the miserable expositions and 
 absurd traditions that had usurped its place. We 
 may form some idea of their knowledge of the Mo- 
 saic law by which they professed to be governed, 
 from the fact, that the Gadarenes, natives of one 
 of their towns, actually maintained large herds of 
 swine, in direct violation of the law. With their 
 wickedness and obstinacy, Christ himself upbraids 
 them ; while they were also sunk in wretchedness 
 and debasement. They had been long harassed by 
 their heathen neighbours ; at that very time, they 
 were groaning in subjection to a foreign power, and 
 were despised wherever they were known ; so that 
 a Galilean , was every where a term of contempt ; 
 — nay, they were held in derision even by the rest 
 of the Jews, insomuch that Nathaniel, a grave and 
 guileless Israelite, asked in astonishment, “ Can 
 any good thing come out of Galilee ?” Yet among 
 
10 
 
 this degraded people was the great light first seen r 
 and it continued to shine and diffuse its gladdening 
 rays over the country of Galilee and Judea, and 
 even in Samaria, for the space of three years, 
 until it seemed to be extinguished on Calvary’s 
 top,— when all again was darkness, and the pow- 
 ers of darkness triumphed. 
 
 But not many days after, when a little band 
 who had walked in this light, and who found some 
 feeble glimmerings of it yet left among them, 
 were sitting solitary and retired, devoutly cal- 
 ling on the God of Israel, — the house was sha- 
 ken, and the very foundations of the city rock- 
 ed. For with the sound as of a rushing mighty wind, 
 the spirit of light descended. — He sat in flaming 
 fire on their heads — he breathed through their souls 
 — he took possession of their hearts — they were fir- 
 ed with zeal, and enlightened in the truth. To the 
 wondering multitudes fast thickening around them, 
 they exhibited the glories of Christ, the light of 
 the world, and called to repentance through him. 
 The word was terrible as the rolling thunder, re- 
 sistless as the rapid lightning’s stroke ; three thou- 
 sand sunk at once beneath its power, merged in 
 the horrors of conscious guilt. 'They felt they had 
 been ever involved in darkness, and were still 
 groping in it. But the day spring from on high 
 had visited them — their darkness was dissipated — 
 their vision was strengthened — they could steadily 
 contemplate, and richly enjoy the blessings of the 
 glorious light of the gospel ; they henceforth walk- 
 ed in thfe light and rejoiced in it. For the Sun of 
 righteousness had now arisen ; he showed his orb 
 full and resplendent on the verge of the horizon, 
 lovely and cheering to the sons of light, but ter- 
 rible to the sight and withering to the strength of 
 
II 
 
 the children of darkness. His career was begun, 
 and what could arrest it ? He shed his light upon 
 Jerusalem and Judea — it beamed upon Samaria 
 too, and she awoke as from the sleep of death, and 
 put away from her the abominations of witchcraft 
 and sorcery. He scattered his bright rays abroad 
 throughout the cities and hamlets of Asia Minor, 
 discovering the horrors of cruel darkness, and 
 checking its vile works. Macedonia, Greece, and 
 Italy, with its proud capital, the mistress of the 
 world, felt its sacred beams darting through every 
 part of their borders. The idols tottered and fell ; 
 their stupid worshippers were confounded ; a- 
 shamed of their obscene rites, they deserted the 
 temples. 
 
 But the prince of darkness, though invad- 
 ed and alarmed, was not idle. He summoned 
 his legions, and they darkened the moral atmos- 
 phere with clouds of prejudice ; they poisoned it 
 with venomous passions, and sealed men’s eyes in 
 tenfold ignorance. But all in vain. The light of 
 truth shot through these clouds, dissipated these 
 pestilential vapours, and the eyes of thousands 
 were opened. Philosophers hailed this light ; and 
 senators and orators welcomed it to their families 
 and their bosoms. In vain was the sword wielded ; 
 the rack and the gibbet were plied in vain. Terror 
 could not dissipate — rivers of streaming blood 
 could not extinguish the light of the gospel. The 
 fiercest torrents of persecution poured down a- 
 gainst it, could not suppress it — they served but as 
 oil thrown into the fire, to feed and strengthen its 
 flame, make it extend wider and farther, and shine 
 more resplendent and clear. Its progress ceased 
 not— till it had enlightened every province and ev- 
 ery hamlet : till the Roman Eagle, spreading his 
 
12 
 
 golden wings above the pretorian camp, stooped 
 from his height to gaze upon its emblems glowing 
 on the banners waving beneath him. It stayed not 
 — till it had received the homage of the Caesars in 
 their palace, — and shed a richer lustre on the im- 
 perial diadem. 
 
 For awhile the light shone clear and bright, with 
 all the splendour of the opening day, throughout the 
 Roman world. But mists began gradually to arise 
 and overspread the earth. Every revolving age 
 but deepened the increasing gloom, which every 
 where brooded in unbroken darkness ; save where 
 at distant intervals a transient meteor of glowing 
 piety shot its dubious light amid surrounding hor- 
 ror. But these partial interruptions soon ceased, 
 and the light seemed utterly lost ; for behold, again 
 “ darkness covered the earth, and gross darkness 
 the people.” The night was long and gloomy ; but 
 at length morn was approaching ; the dawn was 
 at hand. Some faint glimmerings were discerned 
 amid the valleys of Piedmont — they were hailed in 
 the bosom of France. British Wickliffe saw and 
 dared to proclaim it. Hungary heard the sound, 
 and sent forth her Huss and her Jerome to point to 
 the kindling beams that streaked the dim horizon. 
 They fell, — but they sunk not to oblivion. Their 
 martyral fire blazed through the regions of dark- 
 ness, and startled its slumbering inmates : ’twas 
 the light of the morning star, — lost but in opening 
 day. Their expiring voice sounded loud and 
 clear, like the carols of the lark soaring on high, 
 to welcome the first beams of the rising sun. 
 For scarce was the fire extinguished, scarce was 
 their voice lost, when the full tide of morning light 
 played on the lofty towers of Wittenburg, — roused 
 its drowsy watchmen — and Luther arose in his 
 
13 
 
 might, the champion of truth, the messenger of 
 light. It was appalling to see the horrors of that 
 “ darkness” which then covered “ the whole earth, 
 and gross darkness the people.” But he advan- 
 ced undismayed in the face of it, and with unfal- 
 tering voice he called on Europe, “Arise and shine, 
 for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is 
 risen upon thee.” Step after step did he advance 
 on the regions of darkness. He pointed to the 
 Sun of Righteousness — he showed his glory beam- 
 ing from the cross — he unveiled the beauties of 
 the word of God, and sent it abroad among the 
 people. The man of sin waged desperate warfare ; 
 but truth prevailed, and light spread fast. The 
 empire of darkness was shaken to its centre, and 
 its monarch trembled on his tottering throne, when 
 he saw his efforts foiled, — when he beheld the light 
 of truth blazing, and its banners floating, on every 
 town throughout the fairest parts of Germany, of 
 Denmark, Sweden, France, Switzerland, and Bri- 
 tain. Oh ! when the gospel in its simplicity was 
 heard, where late the mumbling priest had vented 
 his legendary dreams, — when the pang of convic- 
 tion thrilled the bosom, and the secret earnest 
 cry, “ God be merciful to me a sinner,” burst 
 from the trembling lips of him who late deem- 
 ed confession to the priest an ample satisfac- 
 tion for his crimes, — when the cheerful praises 
 of Jesus resounded from the tongues of thou- 
 sands, in those splendid buildings where late 
 the solemn mockery of mass and lawless invo- 
 cations to the saints were witnessed, though an- 
 gels rejoiced at the sound and tuned their harps 
 to higher notes and sweeter symphonies — it gra- 
 ted harsh upon the ears of hell’s dark inmates, 
 ^and chilled them with agonizing horror. For then 
 
it was undeniable, “ The people which walked in 
 darkness had seen a great light, — they that dwelt in 
 the land of the shadow of death, upon them had 
 the light shined a light at which every fiend 
 of darkness sickened, and before whicli he fled in 
 dismay. This light, thus scattered abroad over 
 Europe, lived and flourished. It spread in Bri- 
 tain’s isle, though tyranny opposed and bigotry 
 scowled : slowly yet surely it advanced ; retarded, 
 not stopped, by prejudice, persecution, and error. 
 Yet during the painful struggle there, some pure 
 sparks of gospel light shot across the Atlantic 
 deep, and twinkled through surrounding darkness 
 amid the forests of these western shores. They 
 died not away, but fanned by the gentle airs of 
 heaven, they lived and glowed, and spread along 
 the coast, till a goodly chain of stations was formed, 
 blessed with the pure light of heaven, and gleaming 
 like so many watch-fires on the borders of an inva- 
 ded realm. The native tribes of Indians that then 
 roamed through the forests, were “ a people that 
 walked in darkness.” They discerned indeed the 
 light, but it was j T et afar off ; it beamed neither 
 clearly nor steadily ; and they seemed rather 
 to have regarded it as the ignis fatuas to lure 
 them to ruin, than a ray from Heaven to light 
 the abodes of darkness, and shine on the path 
 that leads to God. But the time was approach- 
 ing when they too, thick as was the darkness in 
 which they walked, should see and gladly hail 
 this great light. In 1646, John Elliot, an English 
 emigrant, who was settled as pastor of the flock at 
 Roxbury, in Massachusetts, (a man of God and a 
 man of prayer, whose heart burned towards these 
 sons of the forest with whom he was surrounded,) 
 after having with patient application acquired the 
 
15 
 
 language of these Indians, began to unite with his 
 stated pastoral duties the benevolent work of la- 
 bouring for their conversion to Christ. With a- 
 postolic zeal he toiled, and the Lord smiled up- 
 on his efforts ; for the first Indian church es- 
 tablished in North America Avas formed of his 
 converts, forty-five in number, in 1660, at Na- 
 tick, about eighteen miles south west of Boston, 
 where they had erected a house of Avorship. By 
 him, and other Christian ministers roused by 
 his example, numerous other Indian churches 
 were formed ; and before his death he Avas per- 
 mitted to see tAventy-four native Indian preachers 
 labouring for the conversion of their red brethren. 
 Such Avas his indefatigable zeal, that he translated 
 and published the Avhole of the scriptures in their 
 language, besides several smaller works. Deserv- 
 edly then, is John Elliot styled the apostle of the 
 Indians. Through his instrumentality it was that 
 these tribes, Avhich Avalked in darkness, saAV the 
 great light of Christ and his gospel. Nor has this 
 light ever been totally lost among them. I need not 
 tell you of the self denying and successful labours 
 of Sergeant, and EdAvards, and West, at Stock- 
 bridge ; and of Sergeant the son, Avho yet labours 
 among the same tribe at NeAV-Stockbridge, Avhither 
 they recently removed. I need not remind you of 
 Brainard, Avho was ordained in this toAvn, and in the 
 church I serve, June 12, 1744, and Avho, during one 
 of the first of those blessed visitations ever vouch- 
 safed to our American churches, called revivals, 
 gathered in one year 77 Indian converts to Christ : 
 nor of the persevering labours of the Moravian 
 Brethren : — nor of the redoubled efforts of the 
 present day to enlighten the sons of the forest. 
 What then is the result of all this 1 ? It is, my Brethren, 
 
1 G 
 
 of the most encouraging character. For, while our 
 population has spread from the Atlantic to the vast 
 plains watered by the Missouri and its various 
 tributaries, and from the borders of the grand chain 
 of northern lakes to the shores of the Mexican 
 gulph, carrying with them the bible, and erecting 
 sanctuaries, and establishing the ordinances of 
 Christ’s house, — among the aboriginal tribes, who 
 for this purpose have been aided, and are still 
 aided, by the contributions of the American church- 
 es and the labours of American missionaries, — we- 
 behold nations settled, organized, and civilized — 
 numerous flourishing schools maintained, where 
 the bible and religious books are employed, and 
 several Indian churches formed for Christ : nay, 
 even native Indians preaching the gospel, and that 
 too, in some instances, after having received a 
 regular education. Surely, may we say, this peo- 
 ple that sat in darkness has seen a great light, and 
 over this whole land, lately in darkness and the 
 shadow of death, hath the light shined ! And after 
 this rapid glance we might exclaim, — not a . hill 
 throughout these confederate States and their bor- 
 ders, on which the olive branch casteth not its 
 shade : — not a vale in which the rose of Sharon 
 blossoms not : — over this whole land does the Sun, 
 of Righteousness look abroad in unclouded splen- 
 dour — and every habitation is enlightened with his 
 cheering rays. 
 
 But no ! — alas no ! — Our favoured country 
 is not throughout, the undisputed region of 
 light. A cloud has long been hovering over 
 us : but now it gathers thicker, and spreads wi- 
 der, and broods in darkness hourly deepening 
 over many a fair portion of our land. I allude- 
 not to the extensive regions of the west, where 
 
V7 
 
 the fast increasing population alarmingly out- 
 strips the means of religious instruction,— - 
 where the churches, once planted and watered, are 
 now destitute of labourers, and though feeble and 
 declining, still cling to each other, and send forth 
 to these Atlantic states the earnest cry for the wa- 
 ter of life, but cry in vain, — where infidelity and 
 vice leagued hand in hand stalk abroad unmask- 
 ed, — where the godly are few and fast diminish- 
 ing, — -while the young are growing up in heathen- 
 ism, and the feeble spark of piety yet found there, 
 is just ready to expire and leave behind unmingled 
 darkness ! Gloomy as is this prospect, I refer not 
 to it. It is a nearer point I look at : it is a more 
 painful scene arrests my view : it is thousands, nay 
 almost millions in our midst, who, though light 
 shines all around them, are yet sitting in darkness, 
 and “in the shadow of death:” It is a whole people, 
 entirely distinct from us, yet effectually intermin- 
 gled among us, who have no bible, no hope : an 
 entire people, who, though dwelling in the cradle 
 of liberty, are shackled in the cruel bonds of sla- 
 very. This is darkness — horrible darkness, in the 
 midst of light ! It discovers a heavy cloud wide 
 spread, and darkly lowering over us — in view of 
 which the stoutest heart may tremble ! Oh, ’tis a 
 scene that carries us back irresistibly to a period 
 gone by — a period of horrible crime. 
 
 With two millions of our species in the midst 
 of us, of whom nearly all are degraded to the 
 condition, and almost the character of brutes, 
 — who are avowedly kept in the grossest igno- 
 rance from policy, because it is deemed unsafe 
 to instruct them, — from whom the bible is with- 
 held, and who are scarcely ever permitted to 
 sit under the gospel sound, — whose continuance 
 
18 
 
 among us as they now are is allowed by all un- 
 safe, and by many deemed impossible, — while 
 yet every project of alteration seems dangerous 
 if not futile — how, we cannot but ask, how was 
 this scourge of our land introduced here ? Hu- 
 manity blushes, and the heart sickens, as truth un- 
 folds the horrid tale, and points to the dark slave- 
 ship hovering afar across the eastern waves on 
 Afric’s injured shore, — and tells us how the rullian 
 tu-ew, with no right but power, no law but that of 
 shameless violence, was wont boldly to seize upon 
 their hapless victims, regardless of their bitter cries 
 of anguish and despair, — immure them in the loath- 
 some dungeons of the vessel, — and then, spreading 
 wide their canvass, waft across tke stormy deep 
 their human cargo to the mart of blood ! There 
 greeted by kindred souls, they landed their 
 wretched captives, sickening at the light of day, 
 and destined to endure aggravated misery. There 
 man bought and sold his brother man ; there all 
 the sacred ties of nature were rudely rent asun- 
 der ; the husband parted from his wife ; the 
 wretched mother was severed from her darling 
 children ; and all these miserable victims of wan- 
 ton power, whose life had been a scene of quiet- 
 ness and ease under a genial sky and on a fertile 
 soil, were compelled thenceforth to drudge, and 
 toil, and labour for the ease of some luxurious 
 lord, — themselves denied the common charities of 
 nature, and almost the name of man ! — And thus 
 was slavery — the dread of this generation, and a- 
 las ! but too probably, the scourge of another, in- 
 troduced by our forefathers, and entailed on us their 
 children. 
 
 True it is, that much has been done, (and we 
 rejoice to say her full share has by this coun- 
 
19 
 
 try been done,) to stop this mighty evil, and to 
 efface this loathsome stain upon the name of man. 
 But, strange as it may seem, it is also true, that 
 notwithstanding all the horrors and the dangers 
 which experience shows are its consequents, 
 this impious traffic in human blood is checked on- 
 ly, not suppressed. The mart still is held ; the 
 cargo is still landed ; the lash still sounds, and still 
 the cry of anguish rises at the ruthless stroke, — 
 while luxury crowns the planter’s board — pleasure 
 dances in his halls — he lives in splendour, and he 
 dies in peace. But the hour, the awful hour of 
 retribution is approaching : “ Vengeance is mine, 
 
 I will repay, saith the Lord !” And how amply he 
 does so, let St. Domingo testify. 
 
 Brethren, I am not indulging in mere declama- 
 tion ; nor am I desirous to rouse feelings of indig- ’ 
 nation against our brethren of the South. The guilt 
 of this continued traffic, I sincerely believe, scarce- 
 ly rests at all on this country ; and many of those 
 who live amid the horrors of slavery, feel its evils 
 more sensibty than we can, and deplore them as 
 truly. They are the sufferers — and they deserve 
 our compassion and our sympathy, rather than our 
 indignation. They found the evil existing ; ’twas 
 entailed upon them by their predecessors. They 
 feel its horrors — but how are they to remove them ? 
 They see the danger ; but how is it to be averted ? 
 The wisdom, and the united energies of the whole 
 nation must be put under requisition, if any thing is 
 to be effected. Slavery, to an alarming extent, ex- 
 ists among us as a nation ; the guilt is a national 
 one — the danger is national — and the effort for its 
 complete removal must be national, or it will be 
 vain. Hence it is of the utmost importance that 
 the eyes of all be opened. The injustice of slave- 
 
20 
 
 ry— its attendant evils — and its awful dangers, 
 must be plainly and candidly exhibited, that each 
 individual may see it is his duty to put forth his best 
 effort to clear himself of guilt, and to avert the 
 threatening danger. Now, though it be true, per- 
 haps, that you and I individually are clear from all 
 guilt attendant on a participation in slavery, yet, 
 if it is a national sin, if it threatens a national ca- 
 lamity, and demands a national effort to remove it, 
 then should you and I, or any of us, fail to ascer- 
 tain what should be done, and fail to employ our 
 utmost exertions to accomplish it, w’e contract per- 
 sonal guilt, and must expect, in one way or another, 
 to suffer personal chastisement, either here or 
 hereafter. 
 
 It was with a conviction of these truths, accompa- 
 nied by clear views of the magnitude of the object, 
 and the importance of immediate exertion, that 
 the American Colonization Society was organized 
 at Washington, with distinguished patronage, in 
 January 1817 ; chiefly through the exertions of the 
 late Rev, Robert Finley of Baskenridge, in this 
 State. “ To colonize in Africa, with their own con- 
 sent, the free people of colour residing in the Uni- 
 ted States,” is the exclusive object of this Society ; 
 nnd it numbers forty-three auxiliaries, of the most 
 respectable character, in different parts of the Un- 
 ion. This Society, notwithstanding the most for- 
 midable difficulties which long opposed its success, 
 has already effected much. In 1820, a company of 
 coloured emigrants, accompanied by three Agents 
 of the Society, selected a place for settlement on 
 the coast of Africa, which proved unhealthy ; so 
 that another tract of land, including Cape Mont- 
 serado, on the western coast of Africa, having 
 been procured for this purpose in 1821, by the a- 
 
•21 
 
 gency of Dr. Ayres, the colony was removed thither 
 in 1822. It is situated on Cape Montserado, and is 
 named Liberia. It contains a population of nearly 
 400 coloured emigrants ; and since the visit of the 
 Society’s agent in August last, “ it has enjoyed a 
 degree of prosperity,” (says the report of the Soci- 
 ety,) “ and been marked by a rapidity of improve- 
 ment, which has rarely been exceeded in the histo- 
 ry of any infant colony.” It is planted on the 
 shores of Africa, a vast continent almost univer- 
 sally enveloped in the deepest shades of idolatry, 
 superstition and wretchedness : a wretchedness 
 greatly aggravated by their long intercourse with 
 the unprincipled slave-dealer. On the very bor- 
 ders of these benighted heathen, is planted the 
 American colony of Liberia for coloured emigrants. 
 “On Cape Montserado, (continues the report,) 
 now stands in lonely beauty, a Christian village, 
 on which God has graciously smiled. There flour- 
 ish the virtues of the gospel, defended by the Al- 
 mighty from the influences of surrounding pagan- 
 ism, — cherished and refreshed by the dews of his 
 grace For, my brethren, it is animating to learn 
 that this infant colony was blessed, in September 
 last, with a revival of religion ; which, if we con- 
 sider its population, was one of unusual power. 
 Out of less than four hundred souls, “ thirty, of all 
 ages and characters indiscriminately, have public- 
 ly professed their faidi in Christ, and have thus far 
 continued to walk as the truly regenerate children 
 of God.” “ There is throughout the colony a pre- 
 vailing increasing spirit of obedience, industry, 
 enterprise and piety. Schools are established, 
 ehurches are building, government is respected, 
 agriculture receives general attention, and the wil- 
 derness is retiring before the face of civilized man.” 
 
26 
 
 For in their schools many children of the natives 
 from the surrounding country are received and in* 
 structed : — one native adult at least has been con- 
 verted* ; and even the king of a neighbouring na- 
 tion, in conversation with a colonist who visited 
 him, gave unequivocal tokens of awakening, and 
 earnestly implored for himself and his people, in- 
 struction in the gospel. Surely in Africa also,— 
 ** the people that walked in darkness have seen a 
 great light.” 
 
 The Colonization Society have shown what 
 may be done. None can now deny the per- 
 fect practicability of colonizing our coloured pop- 
 ulation on the coast of Africa, to any extent the 
 resources of this Society will reach. The de- 
 sign is a grand one ; it is a highly benevolent 
 one ; but it can never be realized in all its 
 greatness, until the nation shall put forth its 
 strength : and then it may — and then it will be ac- 
 complished. Yet suppose this cannot be effected, 
 and that the project of clearing this country of its 
 coloured population through this channel, should 
 prove abortive : still a most important object is 
 hereby secured : a missionary station is established 
 at Liberia, which is already blessed of God, and 
 which promises fair to become the means of evan- 
 gelizing Africa ; for this, if ever done, must be 
 effected by coloured missionaries, — of the same 
 race with the people they woyld convert : to them 
 the climate is congenial, — to whites it is destruct- 
 ive. That light has already been shed on the bor- 
 ders of Africa, which, we trust, is destined to con- 
 tinue, and to spread, until it shall ultimately enlight- 
 en the whole of that vast continent, as yet, “ a 
 land of darkness and of the shadow of death.” — 
 But this light to which we are looking for results go 
 
 ""See American Sunday School Magazine for July 18->— Page 217. 
 
important, is yet but a feeble spark ; — it needs, 
 Christians, your fervent prayers, to keep it from 
 dying, and to fan it to a flame ; — it needs your char- 
 ities, your liberal contributions, to supply it with 
 fresh fuel, that it may increase and acquire perma* 
 nent stability. — Need I say more ? 
 
 I might appeal to your justice, and remind you 
 of the long catalogue of miseries inflicted for ages 
 on Africa and her children, by your fathers and 
 mine : and then ask you, when it is so easy to 
 make a return so rich as is the boon of the gospel, 
 — do you see no obligation resting on you to con- 
 tribute towards effecting it ? The voyage to Libe- 
 ria, is comparatively short : the cost to the emi- 
 grant passenger does not exceed twenty dollars. 
 
 This sum,” (observes an auxiliary society in a pe- 
 tition to the legislature of Virginia on the sub- 
 ject,) “ is, to the coloured emigrant, the price of 
 political liberty, — of social happiness, — of moral 
 and religious improvement from all which, even 
 the free negro , while among us, is in a great meas- 
 ure debarred, by the mere force of invincible pre- 
 judice. Is it not an act of justice to the few de- 
 scendants of this oppressed people who among us 
 have struggled into a nominal freedom, to assist 
 them on these easy terms to return to Africa, the 
 land of their forefathers ; where a country perfect- 
 ly salubrious to them is provided for their recep- 
 tion, where they may enjoy the full blessing of 
 competence and freedom — participate in the privi- 
 leges of the gospel, — and become themselves,* 
 peradventure, useful missionaries among their hea- 
 then brethren ? Is it not absolutely unjust to hold 
 our fellow men in bondage ? And is it not then an act 
 of justice, and of justice only, to adopt any safe and 
 practicable measure, that may tend, sooner or later. 
 
24 * 
 
 to promote their emancipation, and remove the 
 awful curses consequent on slavery, from our coun- 
 try and from our children ? 
 
 I might appeal to your wisdom in support of this 
 cause ; and remind you that you are not called upon 
 to aid in making some doubtful experiment : The 
 experiment has been made — it is crowned with 
 success : — and in contributing to the funds of this 
 Society, you are assisting to give stability to a 
 cause, which presents the most rational prospect 
 of removing an evil that is daily gathering strength, 
 and assuming a more alarming aspect ; a cause, 
 which I, at least, for one, am convinced requires 
 but the national support to ensure it complete suc- 
 cess, — in draining off gradually, but surely, our 
 slave population. I might remind you that every 
 hour is precious. The increase of the black popula- 
 tion, more especially in the south, vastly exceeds 
 that of the whites : the disparity of number is dai- 
 ly becoming less — and by and by, things continu- 
 ing unchanged, the blacks will be immensely the 
 majority. Something must be done, and done im- 
 mediately. 
 
 Do you want further motives ? Look towards 
 heaven ! You see a God seated on the throne, 
 who retains vengeance in his own hands, and 
 declares he will visit the sins of the fathers up- 
 on the children unto the third and fourth gene- 
 ration. Do you still hesitate ? Look to the far 
 famed Hispaniola ! You there witness the genuine 
 'fruits of slavery ! Oh ! it chills the heart to think 
 of such scenes being acted over again in our own 
 borders, among our countrymen, our brethren in 
 the south ! Are you yet incredulous ? Turn but 
 to the annals of the last few years : nay, of the last 
 few weeks. .You. hear of. insurrection, and mur*- 
 
25 
 
 de r , and flight, and of bloody retribution ! Here 
 you may see a cloud arising — small indeed at pres- 
 ent, but who can say how speedily or how widely 
 it may spread, and how darkly it may lower, — or 
 how soon it may burst in sudden overwhelming 
 fury on the unsuspecting guilty ! Does wisdom, 
 in anticipation of such awful visitation on our 
 borders, prompt no timely effort to avert it ? 
 
 But waving these motives, I lay my appeal to 
 your benevolence. You are men, and swayed by 
 the common feelings of humanity. A Society now 
 urges its claims upon you whose object is of the 
 most benevolent character, and the most important 
 tendency. Their object is no less than to lead the 
 way for the accomplishment of one of the grand- 
 est schemes of mercy that ever entered the mind 
 of man. It is not for a few solitary sufferers, decli- 
 ning under the weight of years, and sinking under 
 the power of disease, that they plead; — it is for 
 thousands, for millions, suffering under the crudest 
 scourge that ever afflicted man ! It is not for some 
 obscure hamlet destitute of the gospel, — it is not 
 for some insignificant heathen tribe, for whose con- 
 version they are labouring : it is for the enlight- 
 ening, and converting of an immensely numerous 
 people among ourselves. It is for the enlighten- 
 ing of a whole continent, swarming with millions 
 of inhabitants, whose conversion appears practica- 
 ble in this way and in no other. This Society has 
 already expended twenty thousand dollars, — and 
 some of the brightest ornaments of humanity as 
 Mills, and Andrews, and Winn, and Bacon have 
 cheerfully sacrificed their invaluable lives in this 
 benevolent cause ; — but they have amply effected 
 their object. They have secured a safe, a fertile, 
 and a salubrious retreat for the coloured man in the* 
 
 ft 
 
land of his fathers, — where he may enjoy the 
 blessings of rational freedom and equal rights, — 
 with all the comforts of social life, — and the high 
 privileges of religion. God has smiled upon their 
 efforts,— he has sent down his Spirit on this 
 colony — and from it he has gathered sheep into his 
 fold : — he is already touching the hearts of some 
 of the natives, and opening their eyes* 
 
 This Colony is yet feeble, it is true, and needs 
 your fostering care ; but it affords ample encour- 
 agement to hope that if fostered, it will prove a 
 blessed asylum for a wretched people : — and it is al- 
 ready beginning to appear among the African tribes 
 like a city set upon a hill which cannot be hid — 
 yea a light to lighten them that sit in darkness.” Ha- 
 ving thus successfully entered upon the plan, the 
 Colonization Society turn to you, — andask you shall 
 this colony perish ? — And perish it must without 
 further assistance. They turn to the Christian 
 public, and ask them to engage in this great work, 
 and carry it forward to its completion. Do you 
 deplore the evils of slavery ? Here is a plan 
 perfectly practicable, for gradually diminishing and 
 ultimately eradicating them. Do you look with 
 horror at the gloomy prospect opening in futurity 
 for jrnur children, if not for yourselves ? Make an 
 effort then to avert the impending danger, and save 
 your country, your children, and all you love, 
 from the horrors of indiscriminate carnage, or at 
 least of a desperate and awful struggle — a strug- 
 gle of life and of death ! Above all, do you revere 
 the God of heaven ? The dark stain of national 
 crime rests upon us. Seek to efface it, -“Seek to 
 arrest the threatening stroke ! Do you love the 
 Redeemer ? Do you prize the hopes of salvation 
 through him ? — Cast your eye on two millions of 
 
27 
 
 
 your fellow-men within your borders,-— yet almost 
 utterly destitute of a knowledge of him, whose 
 blood flowed fr r them as freely as for you ! — Do you 
 feel the worth of your own souls ? As precious — 
 as enduring — and as capable of endless suffering 
 and of endless enjoyment as your souls, is the soul 
 of every coloured man in this country, and that of 
 every one of the countless millions of Africa ! — For 
 their salvation no other name is provided but the 
 name of Jesus! Of this name they are ignorant, — 
 and in this ignorance thousands are daily perishing. 
 Aid this Society to attempt some reparation for the 
 countless wrongs our fathers have inflicted on de- 
 graded Africa, by returning her children to her 
 bosom, civilized — and taking along with them the 
 blessings of the gospel of peace. 
 
 My brethren, the shafts of death are flying 
 thick among us ; the bell tolls almost incessantly 
 to summon us to inter young and old, who have 
 been suddenly removed. Your summons and mine 
 will soon come, and may be close at hand. In the 
 awful moment of death, which of us will regret the 
 most liberal contribution to aid in checking the mis- 
 eries of slavery, and re-transporting the degraded 
 African to the land of his origin, that he may car- 
 ry along with him the blessings of the gospel to the 
 benighted tribes of his own colour. And when we 
 meet these Ethiopians at the bar of God, and see 
 some of them mingling with the redeemed, who 
 of us will not recollect with pleasure — ’twas in part 
 by my aid, that “ this people which walked in dark- 
 ness have seen a great light” 
 

 
 
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