^*'\ V-^' '^<9^ '*- <.^'\ ^.^^ ' • -^ A^ *v NT .*^% '^<. A^ *v • ■ • * ^ -A . 1. ' « )^.*':^* ^ • « •• • aP <^ ' • " ' i-^-nK ^c-. V.^' .v-^pi'- "-_.*■' A* . * • • ♦ ^ o^ * • • • * ^ O > ^'-^^ . ^o. ^^^^"^ ^ o*"** -^C p-^i .. v^^\/ \'^^\^' V^^\/ * w^ REPORT MADE AT AN ADJOURNED MESfTINO OF THE FRIENDS OF THE AMERICAN COLONIZATION SOCIETY, IN WORCESTER COUNTY, HELD IN WORCESTER, DEC. 8, 1830, ,:^Y A COMMITTEE APPOINTED FOR THAT PURPOSE. WITH THE PROCEEDINGS OF THE MEETING, S^c. ' o/ HISTOTR-TCAr. \ COLLECTION. / ■'..r'T^rRy>/' WORCESTER . , JJIUNTED BY S. H. COLTON AND CO. 1S31. t^ a1 x4\ itT'ThE first meeting of the Friends of the American Cotol^iZATioir SoclE- TT in Worcester County, -was held at the Court House io Worcester, pursuant to public notice, on the evening of October 6, 1830. At that meeting Geo. A. Tufts, Esq., Charles Allen, Esq., Daniel Henshaw, Esq. Rev. J. S. C. Abbott and Dr. J. S. Butler were appointed to prepare Resolutions and a Report, to be made at an adjourned meeting. On Wednesday evening, December 8, the meeting again assembled pursuant to adjournment, at the Court House, when the follow- ing Report was preBented by Geo. A. Tufts, Chairman of the Committee. REPORT. It is now only fourteen years since a small number of gentle- men met together, in the city of Washington, and formed them- selves into a Society, under the denomination of " The Ameri- can Society for colonizing in Africa the free people of color of these United States." Among its first founders, whose memories alone remain to testify their worth, may be named the late Judge Washington, Gen. Hooper, and Mr. Fitzhugh, of Virginia, Rev. Mr. Findley of New Jersey, and Mr. Caldwell of the Di'trict of Columbia. Among those who still live to foster the Institution and advocate its claims, might be named, some of the most distin- guished men of our country.* The plan of colonizing the free people of color, in some place beyond the United Slates, was first conceived at the south. It originated in the Legislature of Virginia, more than twenty years ago. Several resolutions were passed by that body, favorable to the project ; but an attempt to procure, through the agency of our General Government, territory of the Portuguese in South Ameri- ca, and all attempts of a like kind, proved abortive. As ho suita- * It may be interesting to the public, to know some of the distinguished names of those who assisted in organizing the Society. The following is extracted from the proceedings of their first meeting. ,_ Wednesday, January I, ISn. The American Society for colonizing the free people of color of the United States, met this day, agreeably to the directions of the Constitution. The Hon. Henry Clay, Chairman, Thomas I>ougherty, Secretary. The fcociety proceeded to the election of officers : The Hon. Rush rod Washington was unanimously elected Presideat. Vice- Presidents — Hon. William H. Crawford of Georgia ; Hon. Henry Clay of Ken- tucky; Hon. William Phillips of Massachusetts j Col. Henry Rutgers of New York; Hon. John E. Howard, Hon. Samuel Smith, Hon. John C. Herbert, of Ma- ryland; John Taylor, Esq., of Virginia; Gen. Andrew Jackson of Tennessee; Robert Ralston. Esq., Richard Rush, Esq., of Penngylvania ; Gen. John Mason oj' the District of Columbia ; Rev. Robert Finley of J>few Jersey. We place, therefore, offevcd, to which this population might be removed, no further active measures were resorted to, till the sub- ject was revived by the formation of the American Colonization Society. The scheme, however, was ever cherished, with inter- est, by the most eminent men of Virginia. Mr. Jefferson and Mr. Monroe expressed, in repeated terms, their warmest appro- bation of the plan, as the most desirable measure, which could be adopted for gradually drawing off this part of our population. The object of the American Colonization Society, as declared in one of its articles of association, was, exclusively. " to promote and execute a plan for colonizing, (with theit own consent) the free people of color, residing in our own country, in Africa, or such other place, as Congress should deem expedient: and, to effect this object, to act in co-operation with the General Government, and such of the States, as may adopt regulations upon the subject." This project, though laudable in its design, was, it must be con- fessed, a bold, and apparently a hopeless enterprise, to be accom- plished by the efforts of a private association, without any other means to sustain it, beyond the benevolence of the public, and the free-will offerings of charity. It had failed in Virginia, it would seem, under auspices far more favorable to its success. The plan was, therefore, by a vast majority of the public, received, not only as chimerical, but absolutely impracticable, and those who embarked in it, were ridiculed as misguided enthusiasts. But those, who conceived so noble a design, were men of emi- nent talents — men who had sustained high trusts in the nation, and who had long studied the interests of their country. Such men, it might well be supposed, were not to be deterred by the doubts of the timid, or the sneers of the ignorant. The progress of the Society, after its organization, was in a short period, such as to excite the attention of the public, so far as to make its object and character a subject of inquiry. This scheme not only originated with the citizens oT slave-holding States, but numbered, among its first projectors, those who were slave-holders themselves. It was therefore viewed with distrust and suspicion, by the opponents of slavery, at the North, and it was believed by many, to be but a wicked contrivance of slave-holders, themselves, to rivet the chains of slavery more firmly than ever. It was supposed that their object was seconded by no purer or higher motive, than interest of the most sordid and selfish charac- ter : that, in their wish to remove the free people of color, they were simply actuated by a desire to remove the only example of liberty existing with this popolation, and thus obliterate, in the minds of their slaves, the last hope of freedom. In fine, the whole plan was denounced as a base conspiracy against the cause of emancipation. The vote given by its friends, on the Missouri question, soon after the organization of the Society, did much to confirm these impressions, and to retard its progress. But the Society had hardly begun to recover from unfavorable impressions, thus entertained of ii at the Nonh, when i» was des- tined to experience a more virulent arid unexpected attack from the South. In 1820, the Society was favorably regarded in Geor- gia and South Carolina. Doct. Meade, then the agent of the So- ciety, who visited these States, gave a flattering account, both of his own reception, and of the promising hopes of countenance and support to the Society. The city of Charleston soon remitted to the Society the sum of $500; and, among its most liberal pat- rons, it numbered the most eminent and distinguished men of th:u. city. But, within a few years past, some of its early friends in that region, fancying they saw in the scheme a disguised attack upon the rights of the slave-holding States, abandoned the Socie- ty, nnd turned their eloquence against it.* In that quarter, it has, therefore, been denounced as an insidious attack on the do- mestic tranquillity of the South, and an unhallowed attempt ot Northern abolitionists, to sow, in that region, " the seeds of anxie- ty, inquietude, and trouble." It might be natural to suppose, that hostility to the Society, thus founded on different and conflicting principles, would have soon defeated itself, and that the voice of opposition would have been lost and unheard amid the discord of its opposers. But, as yet, all prejudice has not been subdued, nor all jealousy overcome. Notwithstanding the uniform disclaimer of the Society and its friends, of any interference with the relation which subsists be- tween master and slave, the objects of the Society in Georgia, and South Carolina in particular, are still condemned and the motives of those who support it, are still arraigned. With these excep- tions, the Southern portion of our fellow citizens, we believe, have generally hailed the institution as a blessing, which promised ad- vantages vitally interesting to them. Although the Society suffered from the misrepresentations of its enemies, it still continued to add to the number of its friends, and to augment its resources. In the period of four or five years after its formation, the Society, by treaty and by purchase, pro- cured a considerable extent of territory on the Western coast of Africa, to which, as expressive oi its character, they gave the name of Liberia. The country thus selected, is very fertile, and rich in valuable products. Rice, Indian corn, millet, coffee, cotton, sugar, drucrs, and dye stuffs, are produced here, ar.d most of the tropical fruits and vegetables are abundant. The climate at Monrovia, the principal settlement, is mild and uniform, the thermometer being seldom lower than 68^, or higher than 88*-*. The harbors and streams are represented as affording the most favorable means *■ Charles Cotesworth Pinckney is one of its former friends who in a late ad- dress to the citizens of Charleston, has pronounced the scheme both rruel and absurd. tor comrnerciaL industry and enterprise. Here was the country, chosen to be the promised land of the free people of color of these United States. Here, the Society proposed to plant the Colony, which was to restore the broken hearted African to the land of his fathers, — heal his wounds, inflicted by a Christian and civiliz- ed world, — and, it was to be hoped, one day, redeem him from his present degraded and debased condition. It is, now, no more than eight years since this territory was first occupied, and a Colony commenced ; and the whole population is now nearly 2000. The first settlement was made at Monrovia, now the capital of the Colony. The whole number of settlements are five : — Mon- rovia, Caldwell, Millsburg, Bushrod Island, and one on the left Bank of Stockton Creek. The Society now exercise actual jurisdiction from Cape Mount to Trade Town, comprising about 150 miles along the Coast, and extending inland from 20 to 30 miles, and sometimes further ; and they have a right of pre-emption to a further extent, from the Gallinas River to the Kroo-Letira, embracing, in the whole, a maritime frontier of 280 miles. Monrovia is situated just above the mouth of the Mesurado or Jrlontserado River, and near the point of Cape Mesurado. When we consider that Cape Montserado was a deep and al- most impenetrable forest, at the time of its first occupation ; that it was in a remote country, surrounded by numerous, and barba- rous tribes of Natives, who had for centuries been engaged in en- slaving one another, and whose hearts had thus become insensi- ble to the dictates either of justice or mercy, we must be surpris- ed at the success of this infant settlement. Monrovia now pre- sents a town of ninety dwelling houses and stores, three churches, one of the Baptist, one of the Methodist, and one of the Presbyte- rian order, a Court House, a number of School Houses, and other public buildings. Many of the houses are built of stone, and ex- hibit the character of neatness and convenience. The town is elevated about 70 feet above the level of the sea, and the forest is cleared up to the distance of one mile around it. It contains at present 700 inhabitants. This place is destined to become the principal Commercial town in the Settlement. About seven miles from Monrovia, on the River St. Paul, is Caldwell, containing a population of five or six hundred inhabit- ants. This is an agricultural settlement. The soil of this place is represented as fertile, and the appearance of the town, like that of an American village, neat and highly cultivated. Millsburg was first settled about two years ago, and now con- tains about two hundred inhabitants. It is situated twenty-five miles above Monrovio, at the head of tide waters on the St. Paul's river. The soil is here luxuriant, and numerous never-failing streams afford a great number of mill-sites, where the valuable timber of the neighboring forest may be easily converted into a profitable article of Commerce. The St. Paul's is represented as a considerable river, extending 250 or 300 miles into the interior. After passing the falls at Millsburg, the river remains unobstruct- ed for 100 miles, and is navigable to within about 25 miles of King Boatswain's town, which contains 1000 houses, and which offers to the Colonists a prospect of considerable trade. This river is described by the late Doct. Randall, as interesting and beautiful in the highest degree. " Its clear waters, revealing its bottom from the depth of thirty feet ; its high broken banks covered with the richest and most variegated verdure ; the native villages, their thatched huts, intermingled with the broad plantain ; the recent foot prints of the elephant ; the artificial prairie, once the seat of a populous settlement, (made desoiate by the slave trade,) and now only adorned by a few palm trees, lifting their majestic trunks to the height of nearly one hundred feet," excited his astonish- ment and admiration. Bushrod Island is seven miles in length, and three in breadth, and is situ-ifed between the Montserado and the St. Paul's river, and near their mouths, about five miles from Monrovia, This Island is fertile, and contains a settlement of thirty families, chief- ly from the Carolinas. On the left bank of Stockton creek, and near Bushrod Island, are located the re-captured Africans, 250 of whom were sent out by the United States Government, and 150 were rescued through the energy of the late Mr. Ashmun, the Colonial Agent, from a slave factory at Trade-town. The land on Stockton creek is described as a rich alluvion soil, equal to the best lands on the Southern rivers of the United States. These re-captured Africans are rep- resented as useful agriculturists, and happy and contented in their present situation. The supreme government of the Colony is vested in the Socie- ty, and IS administered by their Colonial Agent, in the character of Governor of Liberia. A Vice-Agent and two counsellors, chosen annually by the Colonists themselves, constitute a council. The Government is in every respect as republican, as its present situation demands. The common law, as modified and in force in the United States, so far as the same is applicable to their situa- tion, is in force in the Colony. The Colonial Agent and two jus- tices of the peace, who are colonists, form a court who set every month at Monrovia, and try all causes before them, by the inter- vention of a jury. The freft people of color constitute the whole and entire com- munity : No white man is permitted to reside among them, except the agent, physician, teachers, and missionaries. Thus situated, the sentiments and suffrages of every Colonist must possess all the weight and influence that belongs to a free and independent com- munity. They have hitherto exhibited the character of peaceful and good citizens, and evinced a spirit of patriotism in the affairs of the Government, and in the administration of the laws, worthy the character of freemen. 'i'lie Colony has a well organized militia, consisting wholly ot Vo!untt;er Corps, chartered by the Executive Government of the Colony. The Society's Agent is the Commander in Chief, and the officers are all commissioned by him. There are at pres-^nt six ot these Volunteer Companies, well armed, and trained for du- ty, containing in all five hundred effective men. The Government has twnnty pieces of ordnance, and arms for one thousand men : a respectable fort has been built on the Cape, which has proved sufficient to protect an English vessel from the pursuit of a pirate. The means of defence, now possessed by the Colonists, are sup- posed to be fully ade([uate to protect them from the incursions of the natives. They were enabled to withstand four or five thousand natives, when they could muster only thirty effective men for de- fence, and when the town was closely environed by the dense and lofty forest. The resources of the Colony are already great for the short pe- riod of its existence. A very active trade is carried on at Monro- via, which, as appears from the Society's last Report, is increasing both in capital and the number of vessels employed on the coast. They have, beside six or eight smaller decked vessels, two large schooners, the one above thirty, and the other above forty tons, employed in the coasting trade. Their exports are estimated to amount to sixty or seventy thousand dollars annually ; and, in ad- dition to this, the Colony has afforded facilities to American mer- chants, trading on the coast, to three times that amount. A trad- ing Company has lately been formed by the Colonists, with a cap- ital of §4000, and an agreement entered into, to withhold all divi- dends, till the capital increases to $20,000. From an examina- tion before a committee of Congress, in May last, of one Mr. De- vany, who was once a slave to Langdon Cheves, Esq., of South Carolina, and who emigrated to Liberia only about seven years since, it appeared, that one of the Colonists, by the name of War- ring, sold on his own account, and on commission, goods to the amopnt of §70,000 in one year, and he computed his own prop- erty to be worth §20,000. He stated that he owned a vessel, which cost §600, and that another Colonist owned one which cost §1000, both of which would be engaged ifi commerce to this country but for the want of a National flag. Their foreign trade is therefore exclusively confined to foreign vessels. They export dye-woods of various kinds, hides, ivory, gold, palm oil, and rice. These things are mostly ])urchased of the natives in exchange for tobacco, rum, cotton cloth, p6wder and arms, and various other ar- ticles of American produce and manufacture. Coffee has not yet become an article of much commerce ; but they raise it in suffi- cient quantities for their own consumption, and it will soon, un- doubtedly, become a staple commodity of the Colony. (See Note A.) Trade and intercourse with the native tribes are continually extending, and will eventually open a large field for commercial enterprise. King Boatswain, whose town is situated 150 miles in the interior, and up the course of the river St. Paul, has already solicited the establishment of a trading Factory there, and offers his friendly aid and assistance for that purpose. The means of living are cheap and abundant. They have all the luxuries of this continent as well as their own. Their gar- dens and fields abound with a great variety of vegetables and na- tive fruits. Sweet potatoes, yams, cassada, peas, beans, and cu- cumbers, oranges, lemons, limes, tamarinds, and pine apples, are all common, or easily cultivated. Although the Colony has suffer- ed for the want of competent teachers, yet Schools are numerous, and every child in the Colony enjoys the benefit of instruction. Two Sabbath Schools have been established there for the exclu- sive advantage of the native children. Not only are the means of moral and religious instruction provided by the Society, but a deep- felt and lively interest upon the subject of education, excites the bosoms of the Colonists themselves. Mr. Russwurm, a graduate of Brunswick College in Maine, has recently established a news- paper at Monrovia, entitled the Liberia Herald, which is already patronized by two or three hundred subscribers. The editorial article of one of the numbers, discovers a lively sensibility upon the subject of intellectual improvement. The style and senti- ments of the following extract would do honor to any journal on this side of the Atlantic. " A more general dissemination of knowledge, is certainly a subject deserving the serious consideration of every man of reflec- tion. The road to the temple of science, is an old and beaten path ; but is a good one, nevertheless. Man may invent machin- ery to diminish human labor — he may propel vessels, at an almost incredible rate, by the agency of steam — but no man has ever dis- covered a new road up the steep hill, upon whose eminence Sci- ence has erected her proud temple. Emperors and Kings, emu- lous of ascending her heights, have been compelled, like others, to descend to the simple A, B, C, and having gained a footing, they have crawled gradually, until they reached their various sum- mits ; and are we unwilling to do as they have done 1" " We shall ever feel a deep interest on the subject of Educa- tion ; as, from it flows every comfort and blessing which Society enjoys. Without it, no government can long exist in a state of freedom : It is the link which binds man to his fellow man, and teaches hjm his duty to his kindred, his country, and his God. The perfection to which the different systems of education have advanced in Europe and America, invites the friends of the cause, in this Colony, to make an united effort in its favor. We rejoice at what has been done ; our desire is to see something further ; fer it is our candid belief that no subject, so interesting in all its bearings, can come before any community. We are pilgrims in search of Liberty, and it is our duty to profit by the wisdom of those who have gone before us. I refer particularly to the pilgrim fathers of New England. Education was ever in their thoughts. 2 10 No sooner had they ereclctl their lonely dwellings, than the schoof house was the next object of consideration ; and their thoughts were united with action. From the first settlement of the coun- try, schools were put into operation, and every encouragement was held out to literary men, to emigrate from the mother country. The sciiools which they established have been continued to the present day, and their descendants are now distinguished for their intelligence and learning. It follows, then, if we wish for like results; if we wish for the blessing of posterity; if we wish for our names in after ages to be pronounced with reverence, we must take like steps ; we must make like exertions." From a land, where the cries of the oppressed, and the groans of the captive, have almie been heard for ages, — a land, which blood and rapine have wasted and made desolate, — this is an ani- mating voice. It is the voice of intelligence, like the voice of di- vinity, proclaiming, " in the wilderness, prepare ye the way" to a people who have long sat in woeful darkness, and drunk, to the very dregs, the bitterest cup of affliciion. It is impossible to trace the rapid rise and progress of this in- fant Colony, without once glancing at the past history of Africa, or indulging a single thought of her future destinies. It has been truly said, that " the time was, when the torch of Religion, and the lamp of Science, mingled their rays over the people of Africa." A portion of this ill-fated country was once the cradle of the arts and sciences : she could once boast of a Republic, famed for its wealth and its commerce, and the rival of Rome herself. But, long since, the sun of her glory and her greatness has gone down ; and barbarity and ignorance established their dark and ruthless dominion. Sut the march of empire and of intellect, that has for ages been westward, may yet retrace its course. Through the humble agency of the American Colonization Society, the light of knowledge may be diffused over yVfrica, the chains of her bond- age be broken, and her sons be regenerated. Her idolatry and superstition may yield to the pure and undefiled influence of our Holy Religion ; her forests may be converted into fruitful fields, and the banks of her Senegal, her Gambia, and her Niger, may yet vie in splendor and in wealth with those of our beautiful Ohio, and majestic Mississippi. Events as great as these are within the compass of human possibilities, and cannot be contemplated with- out emotions of interest and admiration. The American conti- nent now exhibits the proud spectacle, of twelve millions of free people, united into one great and enlightened Republic. Two hun- dred years ago, and who foresaw this great event ? Fancy herself could not, in her boldest flights, have caught so bright a vision. But the merits of the Society, and the utility of its plans, are not to be tested by the issue of distant, and, perhaps, uncertain events. The advantages which the Society hold out, are imme- diate, certain, and permanent, in their character and operation. The removal of those free blacks, which throng our cities and pulous towns, to the coast of Africa, where they may find an tl •as)!lum fpont their present degraded and debased condition, is, in {iself, a scheme at once benevolent and patriotic. This population now numbers about 300,000, and is annually increasing at the rate of 7,000, or 8,001). In some of the States, the free blacks comprise a large ratio of the whole population. In Virginia, there are 36,000, an eighth, at least, of the whole num'- ber in the United States, The existence of so large a number of free blacks, in the immediate neighborhood of their slaves, has al- ways been a source of anxious solicitude and alarm in the slave- holding States. With us, they have always been a miserable and degraded race, and, as to all those lofty sensibilities, which give dignity and worth to human character, absolutely forsaken and forlorn. Although free, they are not permitted to enjoy the bless- ings of freedom. They are strangers and aliens in the land of their birth. Like the fabled sufferer, they are encompassed by water, and surrounded by fruits, which they never taste. They rather hang upon Society, than constitute any part of it. Protect- ed indeed, they are, by the laws of the country, but excluded from any share in their administration, they feel none of those generous impulses, which prompt to virtue, or deter from vice. Without character, or any regular vocation, shunned, and even scorned, by the white man, they become reckless and abandoned. They furnish a large proportion of our malefactors. Indolent in their habits, vicious in their propensities, they become discontentr ed with themselves, and excite discontent in others. Like the baneful Upas, they corrupt and poison all around them. Ohio has already shaken thetn oft', and forced a large number to seek a ref- uge with a neighboring people, with whom they are already ob- jects of jealousy and distrust. (Note B.) To remove this class, therefore, beyond these unhappy influ- ences, and embody them into one community, where distinction of color will no longer exclude them from those endearing sympa» ihies, which flow from social intercourse, — to place them, not only, in a state of freedom, but in a condition of conscious indepen- dence, where industry and honesty shall carry with them the re- ward of influence and respect ; — finally, to secure to them, not only the enjoyment, but the sole exercise, of political rights and privileges, is calculated, while it rids the country of a pest, tOjr.eS', cue this unfortunate race from their moral and intellectual debase- ment, and to ins|)ire them with that hope, pride, and dignity, which freedom, connected with self-government, can alone excite- But the Society, from its commencement, hoped to do some- thing for the cause of emancipation. It holds out its benefits, therefore, to such, " as the humanity of individuals, and the laws of the different States might sec fit to liberate from bondage." The existence of slavery in the United States has been, with every friend to his country, a constant theme of regret. The philan- thropist and the friend of liberty deprecate it, as a stain upon the lofty character which a republic, like our own, ought to sustain. 12 Our most distinguished statesmen acknowledge it to be a political evil, and a domestic scourge ; a sort of morbid excrescence, des- tined to become more unsightly, and to grow more deformed with the growth of the country. It has even been reprobated at the South, as a wicked conspiracy of all Europe against that portion of these United States ; and many a slave-holder, at this moment, might utter the just sentiments of his heart, and say with one of their own eloquent citizens, " would that this baneful plant had withered ere it bloomed on our soil, and would, that Provi- dence, in mercy to the destinies of this country, had whelmed the slave ship in the fathomless deep, ere she disgorged her accursed cargo on our once smiling shores." But, commensurate with the magnitude of the evil, has always been the difficulty of finding a remedy. To violate the rights and duties, which, under our con- stitution and laws, govern the relation between master and slave, cannot be justified upon any principle of justice, or precept of re- ligion. The Society have, accordingly, at all times, unequivocal- ly disclaimed any design of that character, and have always for- borne to countenance any measure that would, in the least degree, impair the rights and obligations imposed by such a relation. To emancipate these unfortunate beings, and leave them to their fate, would be madness and folly. To knock off their shackles, and turn them loose upon the community, would, not only be no kind- ness to them, but a palpable injustice to Society. It is, for rea- sons like these, that the slave-holding States have enacted those prohibitory laws, which discourage the emancipation of slaves. They are dictated by necessity, and a regard to domestic tranquil- lity. It is admitted by all, that the United States, as a people, or a nation, are not responsible for the introduction of slaves into her limits. It was the result of a barbarous and wicked traffic, en- gendered by that love of gain, which has ever existed and sustain- ed the commercial spirit of the world. It was a parental gift of the mother country, to her infant colonies, and there were not wanting, those, who early saw the treachery of this Grecian gift. It met with a timely remonstrance from the house of Burgesses in Virginia. As early as 1772, his Majesty, the King of Great Brit- ain, was addressed by Virginia upon this subject, and the danger of such a population, to his American colonies, described.* * Tho follovving is an extract from a petition of the house of Burgesses in Vir- ginia, to hii Majesty, the King of Great Britain, upon this subject, dated April 1 1772. "The importation of Slaves, into the Colonies, from the coa«t of Africa, hath long been considered ai a trade o^ grtat inhumanity ; and, under iti encour- agement, we have too much reason to fear, will endanger the very existence of your Majesty's American Coloniei. We are sensible that some of your Majesty'* subjects in Great Britain, may reap emolument from this sort of traffic; but when we consider that it greatly retards the tcttlcmeiit of the Colonies with more white inhabitants, and may, in time, have the most destructive influence, we pre- sume to hope that the interest of a few will be disregarded, when placed in eom- ])ctition with the security and happiness of such numbers of your Majesty's duti- ful and loyal subjects. Deeply impressed with these sentiments, wc most humbly beseech your Majesty to remove all those restraints on your Majesty's Governors of this tJolony, which inhibit their assenting to such laws as might check ISO very pernicious a Commerce." 13 But, whether wc arc to be responsible for the continuance of this evil, depends, in a great measure, upon the efibrts we make to correct it. If, in direct violation of the great principles of jus- tice and humanity, errors exist in our institutions, within the reach of our laws, or the sphere of our influence, the same great princi- ples of justice and humanity demand, at our hands, their correc- tion. If we cannot eradicate the evil, we are bound to exert our- selves to mitigate it. The only remedy for the evil, has been applied by the Society. They have provided for the liberated slave, an asylum and a home. The friends of the Society expected that voluntary eman- cipation would follow in the train of colonization. It was believ- ed that many masters would follow the natural dictates of justice and humanity, and manumit their slaves, when it could be done with safety to them?elves, and without danger to the public. The anticipations of the Society have been more than realized. Many slaves have already been emancipated and transported to the colo- ny. Of 300 emigrants, sent out in 1828, one third, at least, were manumitted slaves. Of the 160 embarked in the sliip Harriot, in February last, 40 or 50 were liberated slaves. Six hundred were seeking a passage at the date of the Society's last Report, and 165 were offered by six individuals, it is stated by the manager, in the last annual Report, that the disposition to emancipate slaves for the purpose of colonizing them, exceeds in progress, by far, the means of the Society to transport them ; and, that they have good authority for saying, that in North Carolina, 2000 slaves would now be liberated, if funds were provided for their removal. Another important advantage, thai was expected to result from the scheme of the Society, was, the aid which a civilized colony, established on the coast of Africa, would afford in the suppression of the Slave Trade. This trade has now been prosecuted for more than three centuries, in direct violation of all right, and all chiis- tendom have been engaged in its prosecution. So far has com- mercial cupidity, at one time, triumphed over the principles of justice and the dictates of humanity, that this bloody traffic, in one of the most enlightened legislative bodies of Europe, with- stood, for twenty years, the most powerful talents exerted, and the most ardent appeals made, for its abolition. So intimately had this trade become connected with the interest of a portion of our confederacy, that, to propitiate the States, and secure the adoption of our Constitution, it became necessary to declare, in that instru- ment, that " the migration, or importation, of such persons as any of the States, now existing, shall think proper to admit, shall not be prohibited by the Congress, prior to the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and eight." But, to the honor of those who then governed the councils of our country, the consti- tutional right was no sooner accjuired, than it was exercised. It was declared piracy by our laws in 1820, and, by the laws of Great Britain, in 1821. But, notwithstanding these measures, it is htill prosecuted with vigor, under tl.c Dutch, French, and Portuguese 14 llags. It appears, from the twentieth Report of the London Afri- can Institution, that more than 10,000 of these unhappy beings were landed in Cuba, during the year IS'il, and that the trade had increased during the year 1825. Into the single port of Rio Janeiro, in 182(5, not less than 35,000 were imported, and, in 1827, 41,000; and it is said in the London Report, that the whole coast, with the exception of that pait where Colonies are established, was the scene of this infernal comsnerce, and in a worse conditionr than it had been for years past. The managers of the American Society, in their Report of 1829, say, " it is painful to stale, that they have reason to believe, that ihe slave trade is still prosecuted to a great extent, and, with circumstances of undiminished atroci- ty." This trade is truly a Hydra, that bids defiance to power, and posterity will read, with horror and remorse, the page of history, which records the tale of its enormities. In vain has force, and law, and public sentiment, been employed to destroy this jnonster. He must be attacked in some other form : he must be hunted in the deep and distant forests of Africa : he must be fol- lowed into the inmost recesses of his gloomy caverns. The Her- culean arm of civilization must strip of its covering, the grim man- sion which he inhabits, and strangle this savage, and inhuman Cacus, in his hidden retreat. The petty and deluded princes of Africa must be taught to feel the superiority, conferred by civiliza- tion and Christianity, and deem it infamous to sell their brethren into bondage. The hope of reward from the slave dealer, the re- ward of wickedness and woe, must be made to yield to the bright- er promises of that Religion, which proclaims peace and good will to all men. They must learn that commercial intercourse can be sustained, and the best of gain indulged, without recourse to that barbarous and bloody traffic in human flush. This, and this only, is the efficient means of promoting, ellectually, the cause of aboli- tion. The continued example of a happy community, enjoying the peace and tranquillity, which civilization and Christianity con- fers, must produce the desired efl'ect ; and the success of the So- ciety's ellbrts in this pan of its scheme, will yet be, it is believed, ihe brightest page of its history. But the successful propagation of our pure and holy religion is one of those benefits which the scheme of the Society presents, that deserves a particular consideration. It is, beyond all doubt, the best scheme ever devised, to promote and extend the great cause of Christianity. Through the agency of the Colony, the gentle promises of the Gospel will be dilfused, whose cheering in- lluences, like a vernal sun, will give a fresh animation to the whole African continent, and make glad her solitary places. We send back the natives to carry to their own countrymen, the liberty and religion taught them in the land of iheir captivity. Every indi- vidual emigrant becomes a missionary ; and the whole communi- ty together constitute a fountain, iiom which streamy of living wa- ters will unceasingly How. It iiromiacs to do more, in a few years, than has been accomplished by missionary labors, for a cjutury. 15 fu die language of a distingnishe'l orator of the west,* " the col- ony, compared with other missionary plans, presents the force and grandeur of a noble steamer, majostically ascending, and, with tbrce 3ul)duin2;, tlie current of the Mississippi, in comparison with the feeble and tottering canoe, moving slowly among ihe reeds that fringe its shores. It holds up the image of the resistless power of the Mississippi, itself, rushing from the summits of the rocky mountains, and marking its deep, broad, and rapid course, tlirough the heart of this continent, thousands of miles, to the (iulph of Mexico, in comparison with that of an obscure rivulet, winding its undiscernable way, through dark and dense forests, and luxuriant prairies, in which it is quickly and for ever lost." Whether, therefore, we contemplate the magnificence of its plan, the beneficence of its design, or the unexampled success of its efforts, the Colonization Society must be, to every American citizen, an object of interest and admiration. The Society is now sustained by men high in the confidence of the nation — men who have graced our Senates, and adorned our Pulpits and our Courts ; whose fame has spread to every village in the land. It has won its favor with the public ; and the voice of public opinion is raised in its defence and support, throughout the Union. The Legisla- tures of thirteen States have passed resolutions in commendation of its object. Eleven States have recommended it to national patronage, and instructed their Senators and Representatives in Congress, to promote and approve the cause of the Society. The fiOgislatures of Maryland, and Virginia, have aided the object hy pecuniary appropriations. In fifteen States, State Societies have i)een formed, and not less than 1-39 County and Town Auxiliaries have been reported. The progress and prosperity of the Colony has been unexam- pled in the history of the world. None of those epidemic disers- es, incident to new settlements, have ever visited Liberia, and the conflicts with the natives have been attended with but little sacri- fice of human life on the part of the Colonists. After a slight ill- ness, occasioned, on their first arrival on the coast, by the change to a tropical climate, the emigrants from our Southern States en- joy tininterrupted health. Without recurring to the history of ancient colonies for exatn- ples, we need only to compare the success of this Colony with the early settlement of this country, to enable us to judge of its pros- pects. The condition of Jamestown, at the end of thirty years, was far less advanced, and its prospects far less animating, than those of Liberia at the present moment. Colony after Colony, was planted in Virginia, and massacred by the savages. The cold of wintv^r, and the diseases of summer, swept them off by hundreds. The emigrants of Jamestown suffered more losses from famine, disease, and the natives, in one short period of six * Henr}' Day. 16 months, than has been sustained at Liberia, since its first occupa- tion. Much greater disasters accompanied the fortunes of our Plymouth ancestors, than has ever fallen to the fate of the African Colony. At the end of ten years from the landing of the Pilgrims, Plymouth could number only 300 inhabitants : not nine years have yet elapsed, since Cape Montserado was an impenetrable for- est, and Liberia can now number almost 2000 souls. The funds of the Society have increased with its increasing popularity. The receipts, paid into its treasury the last year, amounted to '$20,000. But the means of the Society are far too limited for the full accomplishment of its design. The expense of transportation for each emigrant over twelve years of age, is §25, and under that age, $ 12 50. The number of free blacks, as has been stated, may be estimated at nearly 300,000, and their annual increase at 7000 or 8000. Our slave population may be es- timated at nearly 2,000,000, and their annual increase from 50,000 to 60,000. To remove the annual increase of free blacks, would require an appropriation of perhaps $150,000, and of the slave population, $1,000,000 per annum. The Society cannot hope to effect so much by the aid of private charity alone. The resources of the national Government alone are sufficient for the complete success and final accomplishment of so great an object ; and the friends of the Society have always cherished a belief, that an enterprize, so intimately connected with the nation- al welfare, would ultimately command the patronage and cordial support of our General Government. In 18CS, the colored population of these United States, if they increase at the past ratio, will not be less than 10,000,000, and in 1885, 15,000,000. Who can contemplate these events without calculating their effect upon posterity. Of the whole population of eight of the slave-holding States, Virginia, Maryland, Louisiana, Georgia, South and N. Carolina, Alabama, and Mississippi, amount- ing to not less than three millions and an half, one million and an half are free blacks and slaves, and their increase is still more rapid than the whites. What will be the effect of a future accu- mulation of such a population in a few States of the Union, under its present habits, condition, and character, must be an object of solicitude to the whole country. We are subject to the same vi- cissitudes that have overtaken other nations. Such overwhelming numbers, should they shake off restraint, and burst from their confinement, like a volcanic eruption, would bury in ruins a fair portion of our country. St. Domingo is the sad memorial of such a tale, the bare recital of which is sufficient to fill the mind with terror and dismay. And, can it be said that a matter of such mo- mentous interest is beyond the legitimate power of a government, whose province it is, expressly, to *' provide for the common de- fence, and general welfare of the country ?" To reduce the black poj>ulation of tliese United States, by colonization, is, it is appro- 17 hended,as much within the constitutional power of the government, as was its exercise in the purchase of Louisiana and Florida, and the annual expenditure for the support and removal of the Indian tribes, and the extinguishment of their title. Will it be said that prudence, or policy, forbids the exercise of this right 1 Would the annual appropriation of $ 1,000,000 to an object of such impor- tance to our welfare, be an unreasonable expenditure 1 Are the resources of a nation, whose public debt is merely nominal, and whose revenue is from $15,000,000 to $20,000,000, annually, too limited ? Will our national councils be deaf to the imploring voice of the captive, and, while they employ our naval power to enforce the mandates of the law, which declares the slave trade piracy, will they even refuse to transport the manumitted slave to the land of his fathers ? Will not the commercial advantages to be derived, not only from an intercourse with the Colony itself, but also with those extensive nations, lately discovered in the interior of Africa, and the prospect of a new and extensive market for American pro- duce and manufactures, be an object of national regard ? These are questions upon which the people, themselves, will first sit in judgment. Public opinion is the mighty power which propels a popular Government like our own ; and, like the great principle of gravitation, its influence alone can keep all its rights, duties, and powers, within their proper orbits. When, therefore, this subject shall have passed the ordeal of public opinion, we cannot doubt but that the voice of approbation will be expressed in accents loud enough to reach the Capitol. The Society, in the meantime, have only to continue their efforts, and to sustain their cause, until the public shall acknowledge the claims which its merit deserves. The Committee have thus attempted to present some of the most leading facts, connected with the history of the origin and progress of the American Colonization Society, and to give a brief and faint sketch of some of the benefits, which it is likely to pro- duce. All that has been said, and vastly more, the Committee are aware, is perfectly familiar to those friends of the Society, who have watched its progress, and felt an interest in its welfare. But to many of their fellow citizens, the Committee fear, the charac- ter of the Society, and its claims to support, are wholly unknown. The name of Massachusetts is not to be found enrolled on the catalogue of those States which have formed a State Society, or among those, whose Legislatures have commended its cause to our National Government. The County of Hampden can boast of the only Auxiliary in this Commonwealth. The clergy, however, at their general Convention, held at Boston, three years since, passed resolutions approving of its objects, and recommending it to the attention of the several churches throughout the Slate. Resolutions were also passed by the Senate of this Common- wealth, at the last session of the Legislature, recommending the subject of African Colonization to the consideration of Congress. GEO. A. TUFTS, Chairman. 18 Afier the acceptance of the foregoing Report, the following Resolutions were presented to the meeting, at an adjournment on the evening of December 9, and being read, were, after an ani- mated discussion, unanimously accepted : IVhereas, The degraded and unhappy condition of the colored population of our country is an evil deserving the sympathy of the Philanthropist, and threaten- ing) by the rapid increase of its numbers, and its unequal distribution in the sev- eral States, the prosperity and permanency of our political institutions, and there^ by justly exciting the alarm of the Patriot. And whereas. The prosperous condition of the colony at Liberia offers to this population not only an asylum from oppression, but a restoration to their native land, where they may hold that rank and enjoy that liberty for which they were fitted by Hivi who created all men " free and equal." And whereas, Througli the agency of this colony the Slave Trade, which is norr carried on with circumstances of aggravated horror, may be eiFectually sup- pressed — a way be opened by which the blessings of civilization and Christianity may be introduced into Africa, and that debt due from the whole civilized world to tliis much injured country, and which has been accumulating through centuries of crime and bloodshed, may thus, in part, be cancelled. Therefore, Resolved, That we cordially approve of the objects of the American Coloniza- tion Society. Resolved, That we will discharge a duty to Patriotism, and render to Humani- ty a debt, by aflbrding to this Institution our influence in the formation of Auxil- iary Societies, and by direct contribution to its funds. Resolved, Tliat we will organize ourselves into a County Society, ausiliary to the American Colonization Society. OFFICERS /yfthe Worcester County Colonization Society. PRESIDENT, Rev. John Nelson, Leicester. VICE PRESIDENTS, Rev. Jonathan Going, Worcester; Hon. Joseph G. Ken> D.\LL, Leominster ; Geo. A. Tufts, Esq., Dudley. MANAGERS, Rev. JosiAH Clark, Rutland ; Rev. John S. C Abbott, Pliny Merrick, Esq., Charles Allen, Esq., Worcester ; Ira Barton, Esq., Oxford ; Heman Stebbins, Esq., Brookfield ; Rer. George Allen, Shrewsbury ; Joseph Willard, Esq., Lancas? ter. SECRETARY, Dr. John S. Butler, Worcester. TREASURER, Charles G. Prentice, Esq., Worcester, 19 NOTE A. -'CorrEK. The Colony is wholly supplied with this article from !t3 own limits. Bought of the natives, it costs about five cents the pound. It would bear exportation as respects the price — but that the natives do not gather in suf- iic ent quantities. The time of colonists is too valuable to be spent in picking Coffee. But the quantity cured every year increases, and several trading vessels have taken a part of what should have come to our settlements, the present year. The Coffee actually grown between Montserado and St. Johns, along the" sea- coaat, cannot be estimated — but it is so great as to render it in time, even if no new plantations are made, an important article among the exports of the Colony. The Coffee tree, attains to the height of forty feet, with a trunk of six to eight inches, often at a small distance from the ground — but the best bear- ing trees are those which have not surpassed half that size. There is another species of the Coffee tree, (such as is cultivated at Sierra Leone) found growing in the greatest profusion, on nearly all the high lands of the Colony. This grain is of less than half the size of the other ; and of a pale, or greyish irreen hue; but the flavor is thought by many superior to the large green grain. The tree begins to bear at four or five feet high, and seldom exceeds seven or eight feet."' NOTE B. Extract from the Ist Annual Report of the Kentucky Colonization Society. " Shortly after Kentucky assumed her station among her sister States, the question was tried, whetlier she should or should not be one of those which retained slavery. It was decided by not large majorities, that the evil should remain ; because its extirpation could not be effected without too great an injury to those who had already fixed upon this as their home, with numerous slaves, ac- quired and possessed under pre-existing laws of undoubted validity. Since then, experience has taught us that slaves add nothing to our national wealth. Where they exist, labor is not only high, but badly performed ; and the communities growing up around us who are clear of this evil, flourish over us, and bv their cheapness of labor, nicer mechanism, and more abundant industry, are making us tributary. The progress of light — the conduct of other nations — and particularly those of our South American neighbors, in liberating their slaves — the growing belief of the disadvantages of slavery, Avith other causes, contribute to increase the conviction that slavery is an evil ; and that its consequences may one day or other become terrible. Add to this, the growing plans of Christian benevolence in operation, strive to render man more happy, and a commendable philanthropy induces us to wish for the happiness of every class of the children of Adam. These considerations increase the number of free colored persons among us ,; and slaves become what are erroneously called freemen — some by act of law. but more by voluntary emancipations ; particularly by last wills and testaments, in which testators, while leaving the world, break the chains of slavery. The late dispoxiiion to voluntary emancipation is so fast increasing, that perhaps no laie is necessary to free us from slavery, provided there teas an asylum accessible to all liberated." Extracts from an Address from the Colonists at Liberia to the Free People of Color in the United States. " The first consideration which caused our voluntary removal to this country, and the object which we still regard with the deepest concern, is liberty — lib- erty, in the sober, simple, but complete sense of the word — not a licentious lib- erty — nor a liberty without government — or which should place us without the restraint of salutary laws. But that liberty of speech, action, and conscience, which distinguishes the free enfranchised citizens of a free state. We did not enjoy that freedom in our native country : and, from causes, which, as respects ourselves, we shall soon forget for ever, we were certain it was not there attaina- ble for ourselves or our children. This, then, being the first object of our pursuit in coming to Africa, is probably the first subject on which you will ask for infor- mation. And we must truly declare to you, that our expectations and hopes lu this respect, have been realized. " We solicit none of you to emigrate to this country ; for we know not who among you prefers rational independence, and the honest respect of his fellotr- men. to that mental sloth and careless poverty, which you already possess, and your children will inherit after you, in America. But, if your views and aspira- tions rise a degree higher — if your minds are not as servile as your present con- Jitioa — we can decide the question at once ; and with confidence say, that *o:i 20 will bless the day, and your children after you, when you determined to become citizens of Liberia. •• A more fertile soil, and a more productive country, so far as it is cultivated, there is not, we believe, on the face of the eartli. Its hills and its plains, are covered with a verdure which never fades 3 the productions of nature keep on in their growth through all the seasons of the year. Even the natives of the country, almost without farming tools, without skill, and with very little labor, make more grain and vegetables than they can consume, and often more than they can sell. " Without pretending to any prophetic sagacity, we can certainly predict to the Colonization Society, the ultimate triumph of their hopes and labors : and disap- pointment and defeat to all who oppose them. Men may theorize, and speculate about their plans in America, but there can be no speculation here. The cheer- liil abodes of civilization and happiness which are scattered over this verdant mountain — the flourishing settlements which are spreading around it — the sound of Christian instruction, and scenes of Christian worship, which are heard and seen in this land of brooding pagan darkness — a thousand contented freemen unit- ed in founding a new Ciiristiau Empire, happy themselves, and the instruments of happiness to others : every object, every individual, is an argument, is demon- stration, of the wisdom and the goodness of the plan of Colonization.'" dTpThe Circular, from which the above extracts are made, is contained in the third volume of the African Repository, a valuable and highly interesting periodi- cal, published monthly, under the immediate direction of the Board of Managers of the Colonization Society, at Washington, edited by the Secretary, tlie Rev. K. R. Gurley. The Repository was established in 1824, and contains a full and faithful histo- ry of the progress and condition of the Colony, and of the efforts made in this country for its advancement. It is cordially recommended to all who desire a more intimate knowledge of the merits of the plan of Colonization. By a vote of the Board it is forwarded gratuitously to all such Clergymen as may take up collections on or about the 4th of July in aid of the Society. Tlie subscription price is $ 2,00 per annum. Form of a Constitution for an Avxiliary Society. 1st. This Society shall be called , and shall be called auxiliary to the State or County Colonization Society, or the American Colonization So- ciety. 2d. The object to which it shall be exclusively devoted, shall be to aid the parent Institution at Washington, in the colonization of the Free People of col- or of the United States on the coast of Africa — and to do this not only by ths contribution of money, but by the exertion of its influence to promote the forma- tion oi' other Societies. :jd. An annual subscription shall constitute an individual a mem- ber of this Society ; and the pavmant at any one time, ol a member for life. 4th. The oflieeis of this Society shall be a President, Vice-Presidents, and Managers ; Secretary and Treasurer, to be elected annually by the Society. .'nh. The President, Vice-Presidents, Secretary, and Treasurer, sliall be er- offlcio members of the Board of Managers. 0th. The Board of Managers shall meet to transact the business of the Soci- ety . '7th. The Treasurer shall keep the accounts of the Society, as well as take charge of its funds, and hold them subject to an order of the Board of Managers. 8th. The Secretary of the Society shall conduct the correspondence, under the direction of the Board of Alanagers, both with the parent Institution and oth- or Societies. Errata. Page 3, 7th line of the Report, for Oen. Hooper read Gen. Harper Page 4, line 22 from the top, for " reeeivcd" read vittued. Page 12, line 31, for • exiittd" read excittd. Page 14, line 2'J, for " best of gain" read lust o/gain. •n^o^ ?i«^/ J^ ^o ^^'^^^♦^ nO^'^'S. "-J^"^/ J^' "^o 'I^ ^-..9^^ • ^^ A^ *th ' %:^^^'\<' w-'-'-j' v^'^'^'^ **.,f * ^0 \.^'' <" v^ 67 *Ci \''^'-''^' V-'^'y %*^-*'*o'' " 5°^ "Cr»«P^ 'bV