C/OTvcl\tioTi oF tVie- (\ TneiricaTi c.o\ OTC." ?^p u la t ion d.r\X^ \ STATEMENT OF FACTS. — €i©^- TuE Statements in the pamphlet publislicd by this Society during the last year, had reference principally, to the establislunent and pros- perity of the Colony at Liberia. It is proposed to exhibit in the fol- lowing pages some facts relative to the present condition of the colored population in the United States, and to offer some remarks on the different measures recommended for tlieir relief. Tiie facts to be presented, have all been derived from official docu- ments, or trom special correspondence with intelligent and resiionsible gentlemen in various parts of the country, and may be relied upon as substantially correct. SLAVES. The first presentation of facts is designed to show the condition of the slaves in the United States, and will have respect to the following top- ics. (L) Their population and increase. (;2.) Their civil disabilities. (3.) Their intellectual and moral condition. I. Pojndntion and Increase of the Slaves in the United States. The following table is designed to show the population and increase of the Slaves in°the United States since 1820. The first column gives the name of the state ; the second, the census of 1830 ; the third, the census of 1830 ; the fourth, the increase of the slaves during the inter- vening ten years ; the fifth, the rate per cent, of slave increase ; and the sixth, the rate per cent, increase of the whites. Connecticut, Rhode Island, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Tennessee, Kentucky, Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, Arkansas, Michigan, Florida, D. Columbia, Amount. Census of 1820. Census of 1830 97 48 10.086 7,557 211 4,509 107,398 425,1 5:i 205,017 251,783 149,050 41,879 32,814 09,004 80.107 120,732 190 917 10,232 1,010 0,377 1,-531,430 23 14 40 2,240 380 3.3(15 102..--7S 4(i9,7'J4 24t;,4(i2 315,0(i8 217,407 117,494 05.059 109.031 142.379 105,350 740 24.9,-0 4,578 27 15,500 0,000 2,010,502 Increase from 18'.20 to 1630. Riite per Cent, of Slave In- crease. 175 44,571 41.445 (13.882 07,701 75,018 32.845 40.507 02;272 28,018 14,754 2.902 479.130 io.i 20 25 45 180 100 58| 77 30i 144 270§ RiUe piT ClmiI. of llio Whites. 15 lOi 50i 07* 21 1 58J 19J 104i 104i The above table was compiled from Niles' Register for January 26th, 1823, page 345, and for October 29th, 1831, page 176. The blanks in the fourth column sliow that instead of an increase, there was an actual diminution of slaves during the ten years comprised in the table. The diminution in Maryland was 4,520, and in the District of Columbia 313. In some others they have nearly disappeared. It appears how- ever from the table, that in the Southern States, particularly those south of Virginia, there has been an astonishing increase of slaves. In some of the States it has surpassed the increase of the whites by forty, fifty, and even an hundred and fifty per cent. In Arkansas the increase of the slave population has surpassed the white by 166 per cent. The following table shows the relative strength of the white and black population in the slave holding states, at the close of each succes- sive 10 years, to the end of the present century, supposing the rate of increase to continue as it has been during the last ten. The table is taken from calculations made during the year by the Hon. Daniel Mayes, of Kentucky. 1840, Whites, 4,523,248 Blacks, 3,041,456 1850, 5,789,737 4,136,380 1860, 7,131,863 6,625,476 1870, 9,129,770 9,010,647 1880, 11,696,110 12,434,451 1890, 14,967,420 16,910,853 1900, 18,158,297 22,898,700 From the above table it pppears that in 1900, should nothing take place to diminish the increase of blacks in the slave-holding states, tliey will exceed the whites by 4,741,166 — being an amount greater than the population of all the United States under Washington's administration. II. Civil Disabilities of the Slaves. The following statements have been taken principally from Stroud's Sketch of the Laws relative to slavery in the United States. They may be regarded as corollaries from the general Icno concerning the slaves, and also as matters of express legislation. 1. Slaves have no legal rights of property in things real or personal ; l)ut whatever they may acquire, belongs in point of law to their mas- ters. (The bearing of this on the purchase of freedom is obvious.) 2. Tlie slave, being a personal ehattel, is at all times liable to be sold absolutely, or mortgaged or leased at the will of his inaster. 3. He may also be sold by process of law, for the satisfaction of the debts of a living, or the bequests of a deceased master, at the suit of creditors or legatees. 4. A slave cannot be a party, before a judicial tribunal, in any species of action, against his master, whatever may have been the injury received from him. 5. Slaves cannot redeem themselves, nor obtain a change of masters. 6. Slaves being objects oi properti/ if injured by third persons, their owners may bring suit, and recover damages, for the injury. 7. Slaves can make no contract. 8. Slavery is hereditary and perpetual. It may also be further stated concerning tlie disabilities of the slave, 1. Tliat he cannot be a witness against a white person, either in a civil or criminal cause. "2. He cannot be a party to a civil suit. 3. Submission is required of the slave, not to the will of his master only, but to that of all other white persons. 4. The penal codes of the slave holding states bear much more severely upon the slaves than upon the white persons, — taking the life of the slave, where a slight punishment only is inflicted upon the "whites. 5. Slaves are prosecuted and tried upon criminal accusations, in many of the states, without a jury. The con<]ition of the slave, as regards emancipation, is peculiarly dis- tressing. The state of society in the slave holding states, and legislative eact- ments, have rendered it nearly impossible for any master to emancipate his slave. In Virginia and Mississippi, an emancipated slave may be taken in execution to satisfy any debt, contracted by the person emancipating him, previous to such emancipation. In Kentucky, the Act wliich authorises emancipation, contains a reservation of the rights of creditors. In Louisiana, any enfranchisement made in fraud of creditors, &c. is null and void. In South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama and Mississippi, it is only by authority of the Legislature, specially granted, that a valid emancipation can be made. In North Carolina it was enacted in 1777, that no negro or mulatto slave shall be hereafter set free, except for meritorious service to be ad- judged of and allowed by the County Court, and license first had and obtained thereupon. The laws of Kentucky, Missouri, Virginia and Maryland, afford greater facility to emancipation than the other slave holdmg .'States. In Virginia, however, there is a provision by which every emancipated negro, over twenty one years of age, who shall continue within the state more than twelve months after his right to freedom shall have accrued, may be again reduced to slavery. In order to secure the slave liolding states in the use and possession of their property in the persons of slaves, and to prevent all escape of slaves from their masters, the constitution of the United States pro- vides,. " That no person held to service or labor in one state, under the laws thereof, escaping into another, shall, in consequence of any law or regulation therein, be discharged from such service or labor, i)ut shall be delivered up, on claim of the party to whom such service or labor may be due." - III. Intellectual and Moral Condition of the Slaves. The benefits of education are withheld from the slave.. No provisions are made in any of the slave states for the education of the slaves, and in many they have absolutely prohibited instruction of any kind. 6 So long ago as 1740, South Carolina enacted, " That all, and every person and persons whatever, who shall hereafter teach, or cause any slave or slaves to be taught, to write, or shall use or employ any slave as a scribe in any manner of writing whatsoever hereafter taught, to write, every such person or persons, shall, for every such offence forfeit the sum of one hundred pounds current money." This prohibition has since been extended to all kinds of knowledge, and enforced by pains and penalties much more severe. The same is true in Georgia, Alabama and Louisiana. Virginia and North Carolina, also, have laws which amount to a prohibition of instruction. No provision is made for the moral and religious instruction of the slave. Public sentiment is generally unftivorable, although believed to be becoming more favorable to the spiritual interests of the slave. Many regard tlie slaves as incapable of religious exercises, and therefore con- sider all efforts to give them religious instruction unnecessary. Since they may not be taught to read, they cannot become acquainted with the Scriptures, except as auditors; their opportunities for hearing are so few and unfavorable, that they can never be expected to profit by them. In many of the slave states, they are forbidden to assemble by them- selves for the purpose of religious worship. In Virginia, " All meetings of slaves, &c. at any meeting house in the night, under any pretext whatsoever, are declared to be unlawful assemblies. Mississippi has adopted the law of Virginia in this respect. In Alabama they are not permitted to assemble by themselves for worship at all, nor to have a white minister preach to them unless three slave holders are present. Similar laws exist in several other states. CONDITION OF THE FREE BLACKS. The following statements have respect to the present condition of the free blacks in the United States. They are all derived from authentic sources, and may be relied upon as substantially correct. I. Population and Increase of the Free Blacks. In the following tabidar view, which is taken from the census of 1830, and that of 1820, the first column gives the name of the State ; the sec- ond, the aggregate 6f the free colored population ; and the third, the increase of the same, during the ten years which intervened between 1820 and 1830. Maine, New Hampshiro, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, ■ Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Free colored Increase Free colored Increase Top. in 1830. 1820— lt<30_ Georgia, Pop. in 1830. 1820—1830. 1,100 2C1 2,486 723 <;()4 Alabama, 1,572 1,001 8,-!l Mississippi, 510 61 7,048 308 Louisiana, 16,710 6,234 :5,r>(ii 7 Tennessee, 4,555 2,008 H,047 177 Kentucky, 4,017 1,158 '34,!-;70 15,501 Ohio, 0,563 4,745 K-^,:5():5 5,84:] Indiana, 3,720 2,390 -7,iir.o 7,S98 Illinois, 1,637 1,180 i5,sr« 2,027 Missouri, 569 222 .'')'2.!)38 i:?,2()8 Michigan Ter. 261 87 47,:M8 10,450 Arkansas Ter. 141 82 l!),r)4:? 4,0:51 Florida Territory, 844 7,021 1^207 Dist. of Columbia, 6,152 2,124 By this table it appears that tho total iiuinbcr of free l)lacks in ls30, was ;3li),'>95>. The number in 1820 was, accordinir to Niles's Regis- ter, '2!}i{,;il)S, yielding an increase during the intervening ten years, of 8G,'2(H. This last statement will be found to vary a little from the sum total of the third column above, owing to discrepancies in the j)ub- lished documents. Blanks are left in the third column opposite to New Hampshire and Vermont, as in those states the numbers, instead of increasing, actually (li/iiinis/ird. In tiie latter state they diminislied 37, and in the former, IS;^. Some tables make the diminution in New Hampshire amount to 321. It is worthy of particular inquiry to ascer- tain the causes of this rapid diminution. It will be perceived that the progress of this population in the middle and some of the southern states, is very rapid, compared w'hh its increase in New England. This is to be attributed to tho progress of emancipation. For in.stance, in New York there were more than K),()0() slaves in 1820, which num- ber was reduced in 1830 to 75. The increase of free blacks in Mary- land, and Vicginia, is to be attributed partly to the same cause. Their very small increase in the New England States, while the whites are gaining very rapidly, forcibly illustrates the misery of their condition. II. Civil Disabilities. Under this head are to be comprised all those disabilities which at- tach to free colored persons by the laws of the several states. 1. The most extensive and universal disability (by many, how- ever, considered a privilege) regards the militia The laws of the several states relating to the militia, being founded upon the militia system adopted by the United States, provide for the exemption of color- ed persons from that service. With this exception the laws of many of the states recognise no distinctions of color. 2. The right of suffrage is confined to whites in Rhode Island, Connecticut, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, South Carolina, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Kentucky, Ohio, Illinois, and Missouri. In these states express provisions of their constitutions confine the right of suffrage to the whites. In the ten remaining states no constitutional restrictions of the kind appear to have been im- posed upon free colored persons. Yet, it is believed, that the statute laws of North Carolina, Georgia and Tennessee, impose similar re- strictions. In most of the remaining states, it is probable that the right of suffrage is rarely, if ever, exercised by this class of citizens, al- though no law may %xist which disfranchises them. The burdens of taxation are, so far as known, imposed without the discrimination which prevails in regard to the right of suffrage. In Philadel])hia, and perhaps in other places in Pennsylvania, no personal tax is imj)oscd, the payment of such a tax being necessary to qualify for the riglit of suf- frage. 3. In many of the States free colored persons are excluded by law from the privilege of holding office ; and where this is not tiic case, the presumption is that in those states where they are not allowed to vote, they would not be allowed to govern. It is not known that any such person has ever been elected to office, even in those states where the right of suffrage is extended to them. 8 4. In a few of the states only, are there any laws expressly forbid- ding intermarriage between the blacks and the whites. 5. Free persons of color are, in most of the states, allowed to pur- chase and hold property, real and personal, and mixed, and are enti- tled to the same protection in its enjoyment, and the same redress for injuries to it or to their persons, as the white citizens. In some states, however, the tenure of their property is very insecure without a white guardian, as they are not allowed to testify against the whites, or in cases where a white man is party. 6. As to privileges in courts of justice, in Missouri, free colored persons can testify only in suits between free blacks, and on trials of free blacks for crime. The laws of Alabama are of similar import. In Delaware they cannot give evidence against a white person, except in criminal prosecutions, upon its appearing that no white person, competent to give testimony, was present at the commission of the act charged, or that such person, if so present, has since died, or is absent from the state so that he cannot be produced as a witness. In Maryland, they may be witnesses only for and against their own color. Such is the case in Ohio, Georgia, and probably in most of the slave-holding states. In most of the free states it is presumed that the testimony of blacks is received on an equal footing with that of the whites. In many of the states the laws expressly exclude them from being impanelled as jurors ; and, so far as known, they have never served in that capacity in any of the states. 7. In the New England and Middle States, the blacks enjoy the same rights of residence, and of emigration from one state to another, which belong to the whites. In Connecticut a law is in force which empowers the proper authorities to prevent /orf?^??c?-s, (citizens from other states or of other countries) from residing in that state, but it is not discriminating in its application to any particular color. The black is not permitted to settle in Ohio, except he give bonds, to secure the state against any expense which he may incur by becoming a pauper ; nor is any one permitted to employ such an emigrant without giving similar bonds. Laws are in force in Maryland forbidding those who shall leave the state from returning to it. Similar laws exist in South Carolina. No free blacks are allowed to go into Georgia, and none to reside in it except those who have long been resident. In Delaware, none are allowed to enter the state, but the law is very rarely enforced. They are allowed to reside in Alabama by paying a tax of five dollars. They are not permitted to go into the state from other states on any condition ; nor, having left the state, can they return. Laws of similar character are in force in Louisiana, Tennessee, and probably some other states. 8. In New England and the Middle States, (a late law in Connecti- cut excepted) there appears to be no distinction made by law, with reference to the privileges of education or religious worship, between the blacks and the whites. In all these states, and in Missouri, Mary- land, Delaware and Ohio, they are allowed by law, not only to send their children to the public schools, but to establish schools for them- selves exclusively. Many such schools are patronized by the benevo- lent friends of the race among the whites. By a late law of Ohio, they cannot receive any benefit from the public school funds. In Alabama, they may not attend schools or have instruction among themselves. A prohibitory* law, passed in Georgia, about eighteen months since, debars them from all the privileges of" school education in that state. They may however be tauglit the catechism, or such moral lessons and j)or- tions of Scripture as they can commit to memory. With respect to other states no definite information has been received, in (.'onnecti- cnt a law has recently been passed iorhidding the estal)lisliment of schools for the education of colored children from other states. III. Intcllcctitnl and Moral CuiuUtion of the Free Blacks. It is to be feared that the statements now to be made will meet with an ungracious reception among a certain portion of the community. As a powerful means of enlisting public sympatiiy in behulf of the African race, the advocates of the Society have sometimes entered into an ex- position of such facts as would luo.st accurately unfold their intellectual and moral condition. Accordingly, tho.sc who oppose tlie Society have attempted to sliow tliat it is the " disparager of the free blacks." It were, however, wholly impracticable to arouse })ublic sympathy, either where no suffering or degradation exists, or where their existence is unknown. All benevolent oj)erations must proceed upon the supjx>- sition that there is want to be alleviated, or ignorance to be enlighten- ed, or degradation to be pitied ; and the vigor with which such opera- tions are sustained by the benevolent will be proportioned, not so much to the degree of this want, ignorance and degradation, as to their thorough and perfect exposure. The Colonization Society is not sin- gular in its proceedings. In whatsoever sense this society is the " dis- parager of the free blacks," in the same sense are the Bible and Tract Societies the " disparagers" of those to whom they extend their benevo- lence. In the same sense also, and to a higher degree, is the Foreign Missionary Board the " disparager" of the Heathen. Were that socie- ty to deny or to conceal the deep degradation and licentiousness of the American Indians, and of the Pagan world generally, it is difficult to conceive with what arguments they could successfully approach the sympathies of their patrons. 1'hus, in the case under consideration, it is equally true, that all attempts to provide for the relief of the free black and slave population of the country, must prove abortive if unattended by facts and state- ments relative to their actual condition. It would not be dilficult to show that the same society, irom whose advocates the complaint in question is heard, in its statements and arguments touching the situa- tion of the slaves, is as truly t/uir disparager as is the Colonization So- ciety the " disparager of the free blacks." The statements which follow are called for by the necessity of the case. They are not made in a spirit of taunt, or reproach, or boasted superiority, but with the hope that they may serv^ to call forth that commiseration which the cause of the deeply-injured African, when tru- ly stated, challenges for itself 1. Intrllectital Condition of the Free Blackx. Notwithstanding the privileges of education are nvminally extended to them in the New- England, Middle, and some of the Southern and Western States, yet the prejudice which exists against their color serves to defeat, to a lamentable extent, the benevolent provisions of the law. In some cities and large towns, schools are maintained expressly for them. In Phila- delphia, particularly, there are many distinct schools for colored chddren, 2 10 some of which have at different times been taught by colored tutors'^ and much to their credit. " In these schools," says a gentleman of that city, " where they have been under the superintendence of quali- fied instructers, forty years' experience has proved, that they are no way inferior to the whites in the acquirement of learning." In the country towns of the states above referred to, the children of the blacks are not unfrequently found in common schools with the whites. But their situation is frequently made so uncomfortable that most of the benefits of such attendance are lost. Still more unfrequently are they to be found at Academies or high schools even in New-England — and still more rarely do they find their way into Colleges. Mr. Rus- worm, now in Liberia, is a graduate of Bowdoin College. Attempts were made some time since to establish a college exclusively for them in New-Haven, Conn. The plan, meeting with decided opposition from the inhabitants of that town, was finally abandoned. An attempt has been recently made to establish a high school for colored females ia Canterbury, Conn. Vigorous and determined opposition has been manifested towards it by the inhabitants, so that its success is still doubt- ful. In many of the slave states, free blacks are not allowed to attend school, or to learn to read or write. Many of them, however, enjoy the benefits of sabbath school instruction, and commit to memory con- siderable portions of Scripture, »fcc. Yet a great majority are no doubt lamentably and grossly ignorant. 2. Religious Privileges. Except in large cities, where they are found in sufficient numbers to compose congregations by themselves^ they attend public worship with the whites. But the unenviable dis- tinctions which prevail even there, have a powerful influence in dis- couraging their attendance. In some parts of the country they enjoy the ministrations of preachers of their own color, and large numbers are said to be in communion with various churches. 3. Moral Condition. The following is an extract of a letter from a gentleman of extensive information and philanthropy in the state of New York. " The fact, that out of 40,000 blacks in this state in 1825^ but nine hundred and thirty-one were taxed, and but two hundred and ninety-eight were qualified to vote ; and the further fact, that this pop- ulation, according to its amount, furnishes ten-fold more of the inmates of our prisons and alms-houses, than our white population does, testify conclusively to the general improvidence, indolence, and abounding viciousness and misery of this unhappy portion of our fellow-men." The following tabular views, taken from the Report of the Prison Discipline Society, for 1827, exhibit, in regard to several states, the whole population at that time, the colored population, the whole number of convicts, the number of colored convicts, proportion of colored peo- ple to the whole population, and proportion of colored convicts. White Colored Whole No. of No. of Co' Pro. of Col. Pro. of Col. Population. Population. Convicts. Convicts. .50 People. Convicts. Massachusetts .523,000 7.000 314 1 to 74 1 to 6 Connecticut 275,000 8,000 117 39 1 to34 1 to 3 New-York 1 ,372,000 30,000 (i:;7 154 1 to 35 1 to 4 New-Jersey 277,000 20,000 74 24 1 to 13 1 to3 Pennsylvania 1,049,000 30.000 474 165 1 to 34 1 to 3 11 Oy Proportion of tlio Popula- Proportion of tlio Colorc-4 Pop- ' tion sent to Prison. uialiun scut to I'riaun. In Massachusetts 1 out uf Kltl.") 1 out ol' lU) In Connecticut 1 out ol 2;r)0 1 out ofiiUo In New York 1 out of-iirvJ 1 out ofU't'S In New Jersey 1 out of 15743 1 out of H33 In l\ew York 1 out of 2191 1 out of Idl The report further states, that " the returns from several prisons show that the white convicts are remaining nearly the same, or are di- minishing, while the colored convicts are increasing ; at the same time tlie white population is increasing in the northern states, much faster than the colored population." In the eloquent language of Gerrit Smith, Esq., " having these statis- tics before us, and seeing that the policy of our laws concurs with our prejudices to debase this peoj)le, to deprive them of indis- pensable inducements to well doing, and virtually to close against them all avenues to honor and respectability, — how unphilosophical and ungejierous it is, to look away from these sufficient causes of their vile condition to fanciful and heartless speculations, about the inferiority of their natural endowments. It will be time enough for white men to accuse God of having given an inferior moral constitution to the negro^ when they shall have spent as many centuries in enlightening, as they have in debasing him — when they shall have done as much to make liim a man, as they have done to make him a brute." Having now considered, to some extent, the condition of the colored population in the United States, we come in the next place to inquire what can be done for them. The object of the Colonization Society, as expressed in its consti- tution, is " exclusively to promote and execute a plan of coJouizing, (with their own consent) the free people of color residing in our country, in Africa, or such other place as Congress shall deem expedient." It has, by profession and principle, nothing to do with the rights of slave-hold- ers. It wishes for no interference with the tenure of slaves. The soci- ety regards these things solely as matters of legislation, and to be affect- ed only in a legal way. They wish, in their organized capacity, only to remove the blacks, which are now free, and shall from time to time be made free by their masters. In doing this, and by other exertions, they hope, however, so to affect the interests and feelingsof the slave-hold- ers, that they will enlist in the enterprize, and rejoice to free themselves from all property in human flesh. That the colonization scheme is tending to this result, and, if proper- ly managed, is adequate to its accomplishment, is certain from many considerations. It cannot, indeed, accomplish the object at once. It would be unreasonable to expect that this, or any other society or sys- tem could, in the space of a few years, remove an evil which has been increasing for two centuries. But if colonization can do that in less than one half the time in which the evil has been growing to its present size, it ought not to be accounted visionary, or unworthy of confi- dence. " Now," says the Rev. John C. Young, President of Centre College, Kentucky, " the systematic and efficient operation of this society could in less than seventy years settle the whole of our colored population in Afric?. ; and this great work could be accomplished without the ne- cessity of imposing on any one a single cent of additional tax. The 12 plan of operations by which this could be effected is simple and feasible. Let the emigration be every year enlarged by one thousand persons, until the number annually exported amounts to 50,000. Continue the annual exportation of this number for twenty years longer, and the whole race will have disappeared from the land. The effect of this process, (supposing it to be actually entered upon) is not a matter of guess-work, but of calculation.' [See note in Young's Address.] It can certainly be done ; and if the operations of the society are permitted to go onward, and increase, as they have done, unobstructed by nation- al calamities, and the wildness of fanatics, it will be done. But supposing all this cannot be effected through the influence of the Colonization Society, or that it were not desirable, as many think, to be done, yet we maintain that so much can be done towards meliorat- ing the condition of the colored population, both slaves and free, as to merit the hearty co-operation of every Christian and philanthropist. The present actual tendencies of the colonization scheme, so far as abolition and the general interests of the blacks are concerned, receive a favorable character from the following considerations, which are pre- sented as briefly as possible. 1. The colonization scheme exerts, and has exerted, a happy iufluenc(^ toward abolition, by directing the minds of people of aU classes, in- cluding slave-owners, to the conditionof the blacks. Before the plan of colonization was agitated, nothing, comparatively, had been done to me- liorate the condition of this class, and no interest had been felt in their behalf But when the plan which we speak of suggested itself to a few benevolent minds, an ardent feeling began to be roused in behalf of the negro. Inquiries were instituted; discussion commenced; and the public mind was excited to the calm but earnest consideration of the momentous subject in all its bearings. But for this Institution, the 3,000 free blacks, who are now rejoicing in the land of their fathers, under a government and laws chiefly of their own, would still be endur- ing poverty and wretchedness ; and the slaves who have been emanci- pated would be still suffering in bondage. Says the Hon. Gerrit Smith, in a recent letter on this subject, " The late demonstrations, in Virginia and Maryland, of patriotic and Christian interest in our colored population, are commonly ascribed to the South- ampton insurrection. That insurrection may have been, and proba- bly was, a proximate cause of them ; but, in my judgment, Virginia and Maryland are vastly more indebted for the steps they have taken in the cause of universal freedom to the moral influence of the Ameri- can Colonization Society than to all other causes. And, may not most of those, who now rail at the Society, be likewise indebted to the same influence for their fresh and augmented interest in the welfare of the black man ? The tenacious slave-holder at the south lays all the blame of these things at the door of the Colonization Society, and this too, notwithstanding some abolitionists charge the Society with playing de- signedly into the hands of such slave-holders. And if such (he goes on to say) be the power of those moral influences now, when Li'beria has a population of 3,000, what will it be when 50,000 of our blacks shall be gathered into tliat asylum 1 Whether or not this shall be the result of colonization, remains to be seen ; but meanwhile it is certain that what- ever of influence is now exerted for the ultimate good of the blacks has been brought into exercise by the operations of our Institution. 2. The Colonization Society exerts a ln])py influence on tin; iiiterests ' of the black poj)ulation, by weakening the prejudice of the whites airainsl them. Some ol'the doctrines and measures advanced and pursued in different parts of the country are, in our opinion, calculated to strength- en this prejudice. That the Colonization Society in its operations has a contrary effect, appears from the circumstance that before this scheme commenced, lit- tle or no interest was felt for the blacks, except by a f(;w individuals. Prejudice ground tliem in the dust ; and, had their condition remained unaltered, would have continued to oppress them to the end of time. No sympatliy was felt for them in their suffering and wretchedness. In- deed, it did apparentlv no good to sympathize. It was like weeping for the souls of the lost. Men will not feel when feeling is without effect. At any rate, this was true in the case of the blacks. They were despised, not because they were degraded merely ; but because re.spect could do them no good. But wlien the plan of colonizing them presented itself, the case immediately altered — a way was open by which the black could be benefited, and the hearts of all who understood the plan prompted them to action. As soon as people saw that something could be done to ameliorate the condition of this wretched race, they were ready and willing to do it; and this feeling has gained strength witli the increase of light, and with the success of t!ie enterprize — and may we not expect that it will continue to gain strength as the colony on the coast of Africa increases in magnitude and importance, and as the prac- ticability of the scheme of benevolence in question is with every succes-. sive day made more and more certain? It must increase. But some may say, and they have said, that this interest in behalf of the blacks, so far from being an evidence that the prejudice is diminishing, results directly from prejudice ; and that if men would show respect for the blacks, or any interest in their behalf, they must treat them as they do themselves. Now this objection supposes two things. First, that the plan of coloni- zation is one of positive evil to the blacks, not only in tendency but de- sign. This assertion requires no argument. Finley, and Mills, and Ashman, did not lay down their lives to sustain an Institution, which they thourrht would either directly or indirectly prove an injury to the blacks. Christians do not now pray for the success of this Institution because they hate the blacks, and wish in this way to do them evil. Heaven forbid that any one should charge them with such a crime ! What, Christians pray and contribute for the support of the Colonization Society because they hate the blacks ! Charity that endureth all things alone can endure this. But again, the objection supposes that for us to respect our fellow, and do unto him as we would have him do unto us, we should consider his circumstances in every respect the same as our own. It supposes that our duty to the blacks requires us, in order to do him the greatest jxjssi- ble good, to treat him in all particulars, as we ourselves need to be treated — that we are not to consider age, character, color, constitution, nor any other circumstance or condition of life as making any differ- ence, but that we must regard him, without qualification, just as we are. Now this could not be true of any two white men in the country, much less of the whites and blacks, whose condition, in every re.-^pect differs most widely. Nor do the Sacred Scriptures require this. They suppose ihat we are to regard the difference of condition between our- 14 selves and others. We are to do to others as we would that tliey should do to us in like circumstances, it being remembered that the circum- stances of no two persons in the world are alike. If, therefore, we treat the negro in a manner which we suppose will promote his highest tem- poral and eternal good, we are not to be charged with acting under the influence of prejudice, because we do not treat a white man in the same manner. The circumstances of the two are so wide apart, that what would be a blessing to the one, would be ruinous to the other. We think it would be better to carry the negro to Africa and colonize him there, (with his own free will, of course) under a climate suited to his constitution, and under laws and institutions calculated to make him wise and happy, than to keep him here under the withering influences which are operating against him. Are we therefore under the influence of prejudice ? If we are, it is a prejudice which duty prompts us exercise. But we have bestowed more attention to this objection than it deserves Nothing can be plainer than that the colonization scheme has had a great influence in weakening this prejudice against the blacks, and crea- ting an mterest in their behalf, which mast, in the nature of thino-g, con- tinue to increase until the whole race shall be restored to an equality with the whites. 3. Colonization exerts a favorable influence on the interests of the blacks, by improving their character and elevating their condition, so as to remove objections from the minds of those who oppose them. Before the Society commenced operations the character of the neo-ro was degraded to a level with tlie brutes. They were even called brutes, and books were written to show that they were not human. But since the days of colonization such thoughts and feelings have been laid aside. Men have begun to recognize the negro as a man, and treat him as such ; and he himself has become conscious of his power. Says a writer in the Christian Spectator, " Not Hayti has done more to make the negro character respected by mankind and to afford the means of making the negro conscious of his manhood, than Liberia has al- ready accomplislied. The name of Lot Carey is worth more than the name of Boyer or Petion. It has done, it is doing more to rescue the African character from degradation, than could be done by a thousand volumes against prejudice." And thus the writer goes on to say, " it has done, and is doing more to accelerate the abolition of slavery than could be done by a ship-load of such pamphlets and speeches as some that we might mention. Elevate the character of the free people of color — let it be seen that they are men indeed — let the deo-radino- associations that follow them be broken up by the actual improvement of their character, as a people, and negro slavery must rapidly wither and die. 4. Colonization exerts a favorable influence on the general interest of the blacks, especially by directing the thoughts of slave-holders to the subject of emancipation, as well as actually securing, in many cases, the emancipation of slaves. Of this we have abundant evidence. Al- most every week we hear of some slave, or a number of slaves, who have been emancipated. We hear also of many persons who are wil- ling to give freedom to their slaves, providing they can be removed from the soil. There are multitudes of this description in Kentucky ; and in Missouri a large proportion of the slave-holders are willing and desirous of doing this. A letter from a gentleman in St. Louis, says, 15 " A great change has taken place here w hliin ten years on the suhjcct of shivery. The advocat(;s of perpetual bondage are very few. 'I'lu'. shives are, hi many instances, an expense to their owners ; and the Colonization Society is looked to as the only liope of ridding the land of the burden." The same may be said of nundjers in the other slave- holding states. On this subject, the writer above alluded to remarks, " This is not conjecture. The friends of colonization in their argu- ments can read oft" a catalogue of instances in which emancipation has already resulted from the progress of this work. We know that on the other hand it is said that the arguments and statements of colonization- ists prevent emancipation. But the proper proof of this asserti(Mi would be to bring forward the particular facts. Tell us of the inilividuals who have in fact been elfectually hindered from setting their slaves at large by what they have read in the African Repository, or by what they have heard from the agents of the Society. We say, then, that colonization is bringing the power of example to bear on public senti- ment at the south in regard to slavery. Each single instance of eman- cipation is indeed a small matter, when compared with the continued slavery of two millions ; but every such instance, occurring in the midst of a slave-holding connnunity, is a strong appeal to the natural senti- ments of benevolence and justice in all who witness it."' It nuist be felt, it is felt, by all who hold their fellow-men in bondaiie. 5. African colonization will exert a most happy inHucnce on the gen- eral interest of the negro, particularly in reference to the abolition of slaves, by bringing free labor into competition with that of slaves. Many people in this country begin already to feel that slave labor is un- profitable ; and if their circumstances were such that they could em- ploy free labor, they would certainly do it. Self-interest alone would prompt nearly all the slave-holders in Missoiiri and Kentucky, and mul- titudes in Virginia and Maryland, to do this if they could. And not a few in the more determined slave-states are ready to acknowledge the comparative worthlessness of slave-labor, (for self-interest must be brought to bear upon the interest of emancipation) and they will be ready to release their slaves. Slavery will cease as soon as men shall be per- suaded that it is unprofitable. Now this will be the tendency of colo- nization. It will multiply the products of tropical regions, above what can be done in slave-holding countries, and show to tlie latter, by actu- al demonstration, the unprofitableness of the system. On this subject the wrher in the Spectator says, " Wc arc confident that the most rapid and most effectual method to bring free labor into competi- tion with slave labor, and thus to drive the products of the latter out of every market, is to estaldish on the soil of Africa a free and civilized commonwealth, whose institutions shall all be fashioned after Ameri- can models, and whose population shall be pervaded and impelled by the spirit of American enterprize. This is the work which the Amer- ican Colonization Society is prosecuting with all its resources. The friends of slavery may dream that this work is to secure and perpetu- ate that miserable system ; but if any of them do thus imagine, they err as widely in that as they do in supposing that the repeal of the protect- ive tariff will relieve them of their embarrassments. The free-trade principles, for which they are now contending, are the principles which will, by and by, bring all slave-holders to the alternative of universal emancipation, or universal bankruptcy.' 16 (j. The prosecution of this work has a happy intkience on the gen- eral interests of the blacks, by introducing into the slave-holding states inquiry and discussion respecting the evils of slavery, and the possibility of its abolition. Says the above writer in the Christian Spectator, " The great body of the friends of the Colonization Society, at the South no less than at the North, regard the scheme of that institution as some- thing, which will ultimately, in some way, deliver the land of the curse of Slavery. All who oppose the Society there, oppose it on the same ground. They look upon it as beitig, in its tendency, and in the hopes of its supporters, an Anti-Slavery project. Thus, in those very regions, in which the system of Slavery sheds all its blasting influences, there is constituted a party, the members of which are recognized by their oppo- sers, and more or less distinctly themselves, as hostile to Slavery, and as looking for an opportunity to move for an abolition. In this way it was, that when an occasion presented itself, a few months ago, the legis- lature of Virginia became a scene of earnest and public discussion on this long interdicted theme, and to the astonishment of the nation it ap- peared that the party opposed to slavery was only not a majority. Had Colonization never been thought of, had the scheme of the American Colonization Society never been undertaken, who believes that projects for the abolition of slavery would have been so soon if ever discussed in the legislature of Virginia? Without that preparation of the public mind, which the Colonization Society in the calm and peaceful prose- cution of its labors has indirectly accomplished, insurrection and mas- sacre, with all the fear and horrors which they occasion, would have led only to cruelties of legislation and of practice. There is no op- pression so unrelenting and desperate as when the oppressor fears his subjects ; and the unanimous feeling of Virginia would have been (erroneous indeed, but not on that account the less irresistible and in- flexible,) a feeling like that of him who holds a wolf by the ears : it is dangerous to keep him, but more dangerous to let him loose ; and there- fore, the more furious the struggles of the prisoner, the fiercer and closer will be the despairing grasp that holds him." We entertain no doubt that the discussions, thus commenced, will gradually become more free and thorough ; will appeal more directly to the great law that acknowledges the inalienable and universal rights of man ; and will, at the same time, find its way still farther South, till it pervades and awakens every state from the Potomac to the Gulf of Mexico. This is inevitable : the discussion of such a subject, involving such hopes, and fears, and interests, when once it has been opened, can never be suppressed. Nor is this all : such a system as slavery cannot long withstand the power of free and full discussion. The hour in which the del)ate on slavery commenced in the capital at Richmond, may be considered as having sealed the death-warrant of the system, not only for Virginia, but for the nation. And now it may be said, that whatever is to be hereafter the success of the Colonization Society, in the prosecution of its own appropriate enterprize, this great result is ulti- mately sure. Not that it has nothing more to do by its indirect influ- ence in accelerating this result : certainly the greater the success of the Colonization of Africa, the greater will be the progress of public opinion towards this consummation. But let the Society be dissolved, let the pirates of the African seas wreak their cherished wrath on Libe- ria — let Montseradobe made again the mart for the slave-trade — let the 17 Sipot now adorned with Christian cluirchcs become again the scat of devil-worship; k>t tiie sniilintf \ ilhiiros on tlie St. Paul's he made desolate, and the now cultivated soil be overspread with tlu; vcirctation of the wilderness; still it will be true that the indirect inllucnce of the Amer- ican Colonization Society has secured the abolition of Slavc-rv." 7, African Colonization will have a jjowerful tendency to destroy the slave trade. Hitherto all ellbrts to stoj) the projrress of this altom- inable traflic have been unavailing. Notwithstaiidinif tlie laws ma