, «0 * AY "^ * "^0^ .^^^ .HO. ■.y ^ i t » X,^*^' LETTERS TO THE HON. WILLIAM JAY, BEING A REPLY TO HIS " INQ.UIRY INTO THE AMERICAN COLONIZATION AND AMERICAN ANTI-SLAVERY SOCIETIES." BY DAVID M.'^EESE, M. D, OF NEW-YORK. Weto=Yorfe t ^ PUBLISHED BY LEAVITT, LORD & Co. 180 BROADWAY. BOSTON :— CROCKER fie BREWSTER 1835. [Entered according to Act of Congress, by Uavid M. Reese, M. D. in the clerk's office of the District Court of the Southern District of New- York.] Stereotyped by Conner & Cooke. RECOMMENDATIONS. FVom the Rev. John Breckinridge, President of the Young Men^syo- Ionization Society of Pennsylvania. New- York, May 13, 1835. I have examined with much interest and satisfaction, the proof sheets of the chief parts (the whole being not quite complete) of Dr. Reese's *' Letters to the Hon. Wm, Jay," in reply to his late work against the American Colonization Society. Dr. Reese has largely merited the thanks of the American people, for the prompt and satisfactory manner in which he has refuted and exposed a work, which, upon a momentous and agitating question, and under an imposing name, has said more disingenuous, sophistical, gud yet dangerous things, than I had supposed it possible to be uttered in so small a compass, by so honest, so good, and so sensible a man. JOHN BRECKINRIDGE. Prom the Rev. Drs. Milnor, Brownlee, and De JVitt. Dear Sir, — Having been favoured with the opportunity of reading the proof sheets of a large portion of your answer to the recent publi- cation of the Hon. William Jay, assailing the principles and proceed- ings of the American Colonization Society, we beg leave to express our approbation of the views which you have presented ; and to add, that, in our opinion, you have very successfully defended the Institu- tion against the charges in the book referred to, exposed the mistakes and errors of its worthy author, and presented arguments and facts, as we conceive, abundantly sufficient to satisfy every impartial mind of the preference which should be given to the practical operations now in successful pro.secution by the friends of colonization, for the re- lief of a distressed class of our fellow men, over the fruitless, impracti- cable, and dangerous theories, of the advocates of immediate abolition. We cheerfully commend your work to the public, and trust its ge- neral perusal will have a happy effect in removing unfavourable im- IV RECOMMENDATIONS. pressions, and in increasing the interest which has recently been sa signally manifested in the cause of colonization. As citizens desiring the continuance and perpetuity of the peace, security, and happy union of our beloved country ; as philanthropists anxious to promote the teniporal and spiritual welfare of the people ol colour, both bond and free ; as Christians willing to pray and labour for the extension of the blessings of civilization and religion to be- nighted Africa ; we do earnestly hope, that a cause, so blessed already by a benignant Providence. Atill continue to grow in the favour of this enlightened community, and its active advocates and supporters be furnished by its liberality with the means of accomplishing their be- nevolent and noble object. We remain your Christian friends and coadjutors, JAMES MILNOR, D. D. WM. C. BROWNLEE, D. D. THOS. DE WITT, D. D. Dr. David M. Reese, New-Yorlc, May 18, 1835. From the Rev. N. Bangs, Editor of the Christian Advocate and Journal. I have examined the Letters of Dr. D. M. Reese, addressed to the Hon. William Jay, in defence of the American Colonization Societ}', and in opposition to the Anti-Slavery Society, and believe them an ample and able refutation of the errors of the latter, as exhibited in Mr. Jay's unfortunate book, and a triumphant as well as timely vin- dication of the principles and proceedings of the American Coloniza- lion Society; and therefore most heartily and cordially recommend these Letters to the careful pertisa] and serious consideration of the American public. NATHAN BANGS, D. D. -Nevi-Yorl, May 18, 1835. PREFACE. On the appearance of the " Inquiry" of the Hon. Mr. Jay, into the American Colonization and American Anti-Slavery Societies, I eager- ly procured a copy, and read it throughout with mingled emotion.^ of pain and pleasure. I was pained that so worthy a man should exhibit such evidence of ignorance of the subject on which he undertakes to enlighten the public ; and still more, that such a man should descend from the dignity of his profession and character, to assail and satirize many of the ablest and best men of this nation, and that noblest enter- prise of human benevolence, to which the American Colonization So- ciety is consecrated ; and this too on such queslionable authorities, as those on which alone, he seems to have been dependent for his state- ments. Btit I found pleasure in this renewed demonstration, that the colonization scheme, though assailed by another of the champions among its foes, a man of talents, learning, and piety too, is, neverthe- less, so firmly erect upon the immoveable foundation of light, and love, and truth; that it comes forth from this fiery ordeal, " like gold seven times tried," and retains all its brilliancy, purity, and strength, untar- nished by the process, and trittmphmg in its own native and heaven- born sublimity. Such were my impressions when I had finished its perusal ; and a similar estimate of the utter impotency of the book, is, I have since learned, very generally entertained, by those of our fellow citizens, who are well informed in relation to the history and operations of the colonization enterprise. I therefore felt no disposition to attempt a reply, for, at that time, I confidently believed that the author had furnished, in the volume itself, abundant materials for his own refu- tation. I think so still, although I have yielded to the judgment of others, and consented again to engage in this controversy. I feel that I have no other qualification, than a conscientious attachment to the cause of colonization, because of au hones! and deliberate persuasion, that it is one of supreme importance to the prosperity of my own cotmtry; of unmingled benevolence to the coloured population of this ■and, whether free or enslaved j and of rich and unspeakable promise 1* VI PREFACE. to fallen, degraded, and heathenish Africa. But as many of our friends, who agree with me in my view of the harmlessness of the assault, which Mr. Jay's book contains, express their apprehensions, lest the magic of his name upon its title page, may mislead the " un- learned and unwary," and that multitudes of such may be taught to infer from our silence, that we cannot or dare not meet this " giant" in the field of discussion, they have judged it expedient, from these considerations, that a vindication of the society and its friends from the unjust accusations of the Hon. Judg6, is imperiousl)' called for, and, by common consent, the author of the present Letters has been urged to the unwelcome task. That it has not been performed by another and an abler hand, is not less a matter of regret to myself, than it can be to others. For although I do not, in matters of conscience and duty, quail beneath the frowns of any foe, nor shrink from any measure of obloquy and reproach, which I am permitted to share with the wisest and purest men of this nation : yet, with the evidence of the spirit and temper of the present race of abolitionists, v.'hich experience has furnished, unless a man is doubly strong in his own conscious integrity of pur- pose, and prepared to endure the revilings, and brave the barkings of the whole kennel press, hired for the purpose ; he will neither seek nor desire a conflict with such antagonists as gather around almost every anti-slavery periodical. It is perhaps well, however, that the party should be taught, in the present case, that this Goliath, in whom they glory, can be encountered by the " least among the hosts of our Israel," and, in the name of that God in whom we trust alone for the success of colonization, I go forth in this defensive war. In the following Letters, it has been, my design to treat the author with all proper respect, while I animadvert upon the contents of his book, with the same freedom with which he has treated the sentiments of colonizationists. I have therefore taken up the several chapters of his whole " Inquiry," and brought into view each of his prominent arguments, and the authorities on which he places most reliance; and in correcting his numerous mistakes, and exposing the contradic- tions and inconsistencies which abound in the volume, I have not de- signedly, in any instance, charged upon him an intention to deceive, but attribute his blunders to his recent associations, which have led him to fallacious sources for information, and perverted his own mind, so that, on this particular subject, he has become disqualified for sober thinking. And in offering this apology for the author of the Inquiry, which in candour and Christian charity is his due, we have another striking and melancholy proof of that mental and moral infatuation, which affords the 4eplorable evidence th.al the imputation of " fanati- PREFACE. Vll cism," however it may be repelled b}' the zealot? for immediate aboli- tionism, is nevertheless neither unmerited nor unfounded. Under vv^hal other influence save that of pure fanaticism, could an intelligent, virtuous, and respectable citizen, gravely afhx his name to a book containing such perversions of facts, — distortions of mean- ings, — misquotations of authors, — direct and palpable inconsisten- cies, — disconnected and incongruous declamation, and such illiberal censoriousness toAvards his " fellow citizens and fellow Christians." as those of vvhich I have convicted this " Inquiry" of the Hon. William Jay 7 If the reader can excuse or explain such examples as those pointed out in the following Letters, in any milder and more Christinn language than that which imputes them to fanaticism, I shall rejoice, that it may ever hereafter be adopted. I confess for myself, that this is the only mantle to cover them, which it appears to. me is furnished, even from the wardrobe of Cn.vRiTY itself. On the 07ie page we read, that tlie whole of the slaves in the United States are " kept in ignorance, and compelled to live without God, and to die without hope." And on another we are told, that " 245,000" of these same slaves are " Christians, ^^ and '^possess a saving knowledge of the religion of Christ !" At onetime the Colonization Society is charged with "professing to be a remedy for slavery, and the only one;" — and at another, it is de- clared, that its "professed constitutional object is exclusively that of colonizing the free blacks and manumitted slaves, and that it has no more right to meddle witfi slavery or emancipation, than a Bible So- ciety !" On one page, the Colonization Society is called a " powerfvJ institution^'^ and on another, it is called " ntterhj iravotent.^'' a " v-cak, broken-winded, good far nothing teavi /" In one place we are told, first, that " the Colonization Society is, in its general influence, decidedly Anti-Christian ;" and that it can " in no sense be termed a religious society ;" and on the same page, it is said that this Colonization Society contains " midtitudes of religious men.'' And again, " The Colonization Society unquestionably comprises a vast number of as pure and dkvoted Christians, as can be found in this or any other country !" But if this be not unsophisticated fanaticism, let me ask the reader to afl[ix a softer name to the attempt here made by a good man, to ap- propriate the sentiments and language of his own father to the support of the scheme of immediate abolition, when that father, distinguished as he was for benvolence to every class of his fellow beings, expressed those sentiments and that language distinctly in behalf of gradual abolition, of which " gradualism" he continued an unwavering advo- cate, as the extracts from his writings conclusivelv shov,\ VIU PREFACE. But in the reference to Mr. Jefferson, made in several parts of Mr, Jay's book, his sentiments are so palpably perverted from the connex- ion and design in which they were expressed, that no other evidence is necessary, to convict the author of fanaticism, or wickedness, and the former only is insinuated, than we have in the following sentence IVom his writings. "Nothing is more certainly written in the book of fate, than that these people (the slaves) are to be free, nor is it less certain that the two races, equally free, cannot live in the same government. Nature, 'habit, opinion, have drawn indelible lines of distinction between them. It is still in our power to direct the process of eviancipation and de- portation peaceably, and in such slow degrees, as that the evil will wear o^ insensibly, and their place be, pari passu, filled up by free white labourers." Thus spoke Thomas Jefferson, than whom no man was ever better qualified to judge on this great subject,* and yet an attempt is made to identify him, as well as John Jay, with the visionaryscheme of imme- diate abolition, and they are both quoted, most inconsistently, for this purpose. If this be not " fanaticism," when resorted to by a good man, by what name shall it be called '? But I forbear to anticipate any farther the long catalogue of similar testimonies, which my letters exhibit, but would briefly inquire of any reader who is intelligent and candid, whether it is possible to account for such examples, as those to which allusion is made, on any principle consistent with the known character of the author for learning and piety, except by the imputation of fanaticism 1 And when each suc- cessive example of such conversion to the anti-slavery ranks, is accom- panied by the evidences of a similar abandonment of all the restraints of reason and consistency; to what other cause is it to be ascribed"? And here I am constrained to say, that if the members of the Anti- Slavery Society were not all fanatics, they would by this time discover what is palpably manifest to every body else, that their doctrines and measures are already inflicting accumulated and irreparable mischiefs upon the oppressed race, for whose welfare and happiness they profess exclusive zeal and benevolence, and for whose good many of them are doubtless conscientiously labouring. If they would suffer a coloniza- tionist to plead the cause of the poor and needy, and if my voice in behalf of the suffering coloured population, whether free or enslaved, could be heard, amidst the groans of the anti-slavery press and the ' Mr. Bimey says, that "Mr. Jefferson was the advocate of all from whom liberty was withheld, be they white, red, or black." Andyet vve see that lie was the advQ- cate only of gradual emancipation and deportation, by slow degrees f PREFACE, IX fulminating anathemas of anti-slavery lecturers, I would supplicate their mercy, and implore them to desist from their misplaced and mis- guided philanthropy. In the name of the aiflicted free blacks of the north and the south, I would point them to the new and oppressive legislation which they have provoked by their ill-limed endeavours, and the rash impetuosity of their blind and mistaken zeal. And in behalf of the slaves of this land, I would invoke their humanity and religion, while groaning under already intolerable laws, and beseech them to withhold themselves from efforts, which in their results have already aggravated the number and severity of the privations and hardships which bondage inflicts. But if my vindication of the Colonization Society disqualifies me from successfully urging my appeal, may I not ask Mr. Jay himself to pause, now that his book has gone forth for the vain though avowed purpose of the "entire prostration," the " utter extinction of the Coloni- zation Society;" — now that he has proclaimed " unrelenting hostility,"^ and beaten up for volunteers to " labour without rest and without weariness" for tMs great object ; may I be permitted to ask him to pause and inquire, Cui bono ? Suppose that the Colonization Societ)^, were " utterl)'' extinct," and that you had already effected its " entire prostration" — Let me ask what good purpose or result do your san- guine hopes allow you to anticipate, for the coloured race in the Uni- ted States whether free or slaves? In'that case the American Anti- Slavery Society would be your only hope of benefiting them, and where should we look for the first fruits of your success. Whose voice would then plead the cause of the oppressed in the slaveholding states'? "While your anti-slavery appeals from the forum and the press were " waking up the north," how many of the "millions of slaves in the south" would be thus emancipated, when your orators are excluded from every slaveholding state in the union, and your publications suffered to lie in the post-offices, or committed by thousands to tlie flames'? And if you could not hope to benefit the slaves, by your labours in the north, what influence would you exert upon the free coloured population of the states south of the Potomac or even in Maryland or Delaware'? Have not the events of the last two years, demonstrated that these northern anti-slavery efforts, in their effects upon the free blacks of the south, are " evil, only evil, and that continu- ally T' But shall we look to the non-slaveholding states, and estimo,'e the character of the tree of " immediate abolition" by its " fruits 7" What then have been the results upon the condition of the free coloured people in New-York 1 Within two brief years what scenes have been wiinessed in this citv and' other sections of the state"? Before the last X PREFACE. year, an instance of insult to persons of colour in this city, under any circumstEinces, was exceedingly rare. They mingled in all our popu- lar assemblages, and though often genteelly and even fashionably attired, their presence attracted little attention, and provoked no indignity. The intelligent and respectable among them, and there are many such in our city, were uniformly treated with kindness, and a tender sympathy for their depressed condition was generally felt among all classes of the community, which if suffered to grow, could not have failed to be most salutary in its results. Their friends among the whites, were rejoicing in the gradual and successful efforts made for their elevation, and the prospect of improving their condition encouraged the efforts which humanity and religion were making for their improvement. But in an evil hour, the spirit of Garrisonism was infused among these depressed people, and the result was first visible among themselves. From having been quiet and unassuming, as the better class of them proverbially were, they now began to as- sume an attitude of pride and independence. They were taught to regard themselves as perfectly equal to the whites in every aspect, and to attribute their separation, which long custom had rendered tolerable, as the fruits of robbery and oppression. Above all they were taught to abhor the Colonization Society, and to hate its mem- bers and friends with a perfecU hatred. The idle and visionary hope of political and social equality in every relation, has been drilled into them, until they have lost the characteristics, which until now have been their safeguard from indignity and outrage. And accordingly these poor unfortunates have thence been exposed to outrages which else had never been committed. Apart from the sufferings inflicted upon the innocent and unoffending, during the abolition riots of the last year, they have since been insulted in numerous instances in the streets, and in public assemblages, until it has become dangerous for a coloured person male, or female, to be caught in a crowd. Their clothes have been torn off, they have been beaten and pelted with stones, and other acts of shameful cruelty have been committed upon them, such as were hardly ever known in this community. And why this change in the condition and prospects of the free coloured people of the north'? Unquestionably it is the result of abolitionism, and the leaders of this party are responsible not only for their own acts, but for the altered bearing and conduct of these people themselves, so far as this may have provoked these outrages. From my soul I pity the delusion under which the coloured people of the north have been beguiled into circumstances so afflicting to themselves, by the " flatter- ing \mction" of these pseudo philanthropists. The truth is becoming more and more apparent, that in the anti- PREFACE. a slavery crasade against " vincible prejudice," they have created this prejudice where it did not exist, and they have fostered and strength- ened it where it did, so that in the less intelligent portion of the com- munity it has acquired an intensity by which it has been converted into cruelty and persecution. And this has been exhibited in so many instances, invariably and directly resulting from the measures of the Anti-Slavery Society, that intelligent men of colour are begin- ning to feci, in the language of one of them, that " these friends are digging a pit for our destruction." Still, however, multitudes of them are so infatuated by the anti-slavery delusion, that they continue to be inspired with the visionary hope, that they shall soon be elevated to perfect and universal equality with the white race. I know that the members of the Anti-Slavery Society deceive them- selves and others by the notion that if the Colonization Society were annihilated, these evils would no longer exist. They seem to think that but for the provision made by the society to transport to Africa such free persons of colour or manumitted slaves, as wish to go there, all the '^prejudice of caste" would wither and die, and no farther ob- stacle exist in the way of " immediate and unconditional emancipa- tion." But facts are altogether against this hypothesis. The cause of abolition is prosperous only in those sections of the south where colonization is popular, and no where is this cause so hindered as in those slaveholding states, where the society has but few friends. So obvious has been the influence of the, Colonization Society in pro- moting actual abolition, that the true' friends of the coloured race, would find a sufficient motive for supporting it in this single feature, if it accomplished nothing else either here or in Africa. I will only add, that the discreet members of the Anti-Slavery Soci- ety, and there are doubtless many such, might find in the class of men with whom they are associated, ample reason to pause and ponder and retreat. It might not be easy to predict who would not become the votaries of abolitionism in any given place, where anti-slavery meetings were held ; but one might readily prophesy who would cer- tainly become such. Individuals and congregations, who are known to be radicals, in church or state ; — prone to ultraism on every subject with which they are connected, are the early converts to anti-slavery lecturers. Let the observation be made in any city, town, village, or congregation, where abolitionism has gained partizans, and it will be found, that however many from among other classes of the popula- tion may go over to the party, all those known by their general cha- racter to be enthusiasts, visionaries, fanatics, and radicals, in politics or morals, are sure to be included. And if there happen to be a church of any denomination, whose pastor and membership are proverbially Xii PRfiTACE. given up to eccentricities in doctrine or to ultra measures, such clu^rc^l will prove a luxuriant garden for the growth of abolitionism. And though Mr. Jay seems to deprecate the fact that " infidels" are occa- sionally found among the friends of colonization, yet among his own associates, when he becomes better acquainted, he will find many such. One of these infidels in this city, who is an active friend of temper- ance as well as of immediate abolition, publicly and unblushingly avowed the sentiment very lately, that " neither the Anti- Slavery Soci- ety nor the Temperance Society, could ever succeed, unless the Bible could be got out of the way .'" And when asked for an explanation, he falsely alleged that the Bible justified both slavery and intemper- ance, and referred to what he called Scripture proofs, which he said, while the people believed and reverenced, would be an insuperable obstacle to both these societies. As I have attempted in the following Letters a vindication of the Colonization Society, because this is the chief object of his attack, and because I am in heart and action identified with that enter- prise ; — so I have been constrained to carry the war into the enemy's camp, and examine the principles, professions, and tendency of the American Anti-slavery Society, which is the subject of Mr. Jay's affection and eulogy. Whether the " free discussion," which Mr. Jay invites, and which anti-slavery orators and presses _pro/e55 to desire, and which is here attempted, shall be met with a spirit correspondent with their unani- mous professions, remains to be seen. Should Mr. Jay think him- self misapprehended, or should he be able to maintain any one of the heinous charges against the Colonization Society, which I have deni- ed and repelled by unimpeachable testimony, the opportunity of free discussion is accessible to him, and the public will expect it. To such a reply, or to one from any other respectable source, I shall deem it a duty and pleasure to extend all due regard, and if I cannot sustain myself in the estimation of the discerning public, I am content to suffer the forfeiture. But while I shall feel bound to give respectful notice to any reply to my arguments, or any denial of the facts I re- cord, let it be remembered that no reviling, calumny, or abuse aimed at my humble self, from any quarter, will meet any kind of notice. " I am doing a great work, and cannot come downP With these prefatory observations, I submit the following Letters to the judgment of the reader. LETTERS TO THE HON. WILLIAM JAY. LETTER L Sir, Having read your "Inquiry into the character and tendency of the American Colonization and American Anti-Slavery Societies," and being convinced that the " character and ten- dency" of your own book, demand an "inquiry," at this crisis in public feeling, which you have selected for its publication, I have chosen the form of letters to yourself, as that most con- venient for my present purpose. The high regard I entertain for your general character and private worth, so favourably known, and deservedly appreciated among our fellow citizens, will entitle you to my respectful courtesy, and our mutual relationship as professors of a common Christianity, forbid that I should impeach your motives, or impugn either your integrity or benevolence. The subject of your "Inquiry," however, is to every Ame- rican citizen, of paramount importance, and to the Christian of absorbing interest. This you seem fully to estimate when you affirm in your Introduction, " If the claims of the Ameri- can Colonization Society are founded in truth^ they cannot he resisted without guilt /" page 7. And as you have written a volume in " resistance" of those claims, you have been obliged, for the sake of your own consistency and justification, to at- 1* a LETTERS TO THE tempt the proof that they are not " founded in truth." You will forgive me when I say, that you have failed to make out your case, not for lack of talents as a. citilian, or of skill as a controversialist, or of learning as a judge, or of sincerity as a Christian, but you have in the present case been self-deceived by "want of information," and therefore you must permit me in turn to " regret most sincerely, that a man possessing the power of doing so much good, should ever, through want of INFORMATION, SO gricvously misapply it." p. 16^. : ' ' In this "Introduction" to your book, which is the subject of criticism in the present letter, your Jirst paragraph makes the astounding affirmation, that in the United States there are 2,245,144 slaves,* "compelled to live without God, and to die without ho'pe, by a people professing to reverence the obliga- tions of -Christianity." On such a fact, if true, an appeal anight be framed which would awaken heaven and earth, and be "enough to make an angel weep." But is it true, that the whole of our slave population "live without .God!" and do they all "die without hope P^ and are they "compelled" to do so by the inhuman monsters, who inhabit this nation? Every reader who finds this hyperbole at the very threshold of * This estimate of the whole number of slaves in the United States ■~A\ the 1st of January last, is made from the ratio of increase between 1820 and 1830. And as this description of ab.^oluie and compulsory heathenism^ is applied to them all, without exception^ we shall look in vain among the publications of the Colonization Society, for any si- milar instance of ^^disparaging the free blacks,"' and ''discouraging all efforts for their improvement," as the author's rhetorical flourish here presents of " these millions of slaves.'^ If such be truly the character of the slaves, we should scarcely look for its avowal by an advocate of " immediate abolition," since it presents "an apology for slavery" which would justify the perpetuity of the system, unless they could be imriiediately transformed by the process of emancipation, and created anew by "instajit abolition." The preparation of such hea- ihens for freedom, would indeed be a "triumph of gradualis/n" al- though it must be confessed that this picture of the intellectual and moral de2:radation of 2;245,14-4 of ottr fellow beings, is enough not only to annihilate the hopes of inune'diate abolitionists, but to fill the hearts of the advocates of gradtud emancipation itself with despair. For if the whole of our slave popiilation, at this day, be such as is here represented, then may philanthropy and religion despair of a remedy, and abandon their hopeless efforts. But on more mature re- flection, Mr. Jay will acknowledge that he is mistaken, and lament his own " want of information." HON. WILLIAM JAY. 3 your book, must conclude that you commenced writing it in a state of mind and feeling not the best calculated for a grave "inquiry," or you would not thus indiscreetly make such a statement, so utterly " at variance with truth and Christianity," as you charitably charge against the Colonization Society on your 13th page.* Suffer me to ask whether you had forgotten this sentence when you penned the 132d page of your book? How else do you say in that place, " We will not assert there are 7io Chris- tians among the slaves, for we trust there are some.^^ Ami again, " we suppose that 245,000 slaves possess a savinL- knowJedge of the religion of Christ .'" Do you mean to say that these 245,000 Christians, who " possess a saving know- ledge of the religion of Christ, are compelled to live without God^ and die without hope?" And can you persuade yourself, that such a number of Christians, who are the " light of the "world," though they be in bondsj can fail to " let their ligh: shine' among the slaves around them, and exert an influence which shall prevent all " these millions from being kept in ignorance, and compelled to live without God and die withowt hope .'" If this be not undervaluing the Christian character, artd depreciating the effect of Christian example, to an extent beyond any of the sentiments of the Colonization Society, against which you urge this objection, I fear that you will b'ere actuated by a benevolent desire to pro- mote the xcelfare of our coloured popidation^ and could never have intended to countenance oppression !" But alas, we look to your book in vain for any other name in connexion with the " origin" of this scheme of philanthropy but those oi " slaveholders," or those whom you stigmatize with this epithet. Let me ask, is this fair ? Is it candid ? Is this an exemplifica- tion of the " golden rule ?" Because that holy man, Robert Finlay, the founder of the society, and his devoted companions, in this " work of faith," the excellent Caldwell, and the pious Mills, — because these were not " slaveholders,'''' you carefully omit to mention their names, in your professed history of the " origin" of the society ; while other names are repeated for this single reason, that they were slaveholders. I charitably hope, that your " want of information" may prove a sufficient apology to your conscience and your God. You next quote the first two articles of the constitution. 10 LETTERS TO THE against which yovi protest, because you allege the want of a ^^preomble, setting forth the motives which led to its adoption, and the sentiments entertained by its authors." Has the Ame- rican Bible Society any such preamble to its constitution? or has that of the Ameri HON. WILLIAM JAY. 65 to an argument, in favour of a scheme of " emancipation and colonization,^^ under the patronage of the general government. " In undertaking a work of this magnitude, compromises will be found as necessary as they were in forming the federal com- pact. We must take men as they are, and things as they are. And we must move in this business with a full conviction, that the slaveholders and slave states must act with ns, in this matter. They must give their consent to the emancipa- tion of their slaves, and we must offer the inducements. It will not do, therefore, to refine too much. And although we do not believe it lawful, in the sight of heaven, to hold flesh and blood as property, still we must, from motives of expediency, €ict as though it were so. We have no disposition to interfere with the rights of property, nor with the subsisting relations be- tween master and slave. We would not liberate the slaves en masse, in their present condition, and let them loose upon this community, but would transport them, Avith their own consent, if possible, or prepare them to enjoy the blessmgs of freedom in some part of our own country. We have not come to the south, to scatter firebrands, arrows, and death, but to meet our southern friends on neutral ground, and join them in a mighty effort to rid them of an evil which they all affect to deplore." With the foregoing reference to abolition societies, and ex- tracts from the language of a " leading colonizationist," I leave them, and him, to the judgment and candour of the reader, who may form his own opinion, of your attempt to identify the former with the anti-slavery societies, or impute to the latter, the destitution of principle of Avhich you accuse him. After vainly attempting to identify yourself and your asso- ciates with the former " abolition societies," you inadvertently refute yourself by admitting that they were for " gradual abolition," while you utterly repudiate all gradualism. I shall, therefore, w^aive all farther reference to this topic at present, and proceed to notice your complaints that the " rights" of abolitionists have been invaded by colonizationists. And as among the first and most formidable in your list of grievances, you have placed Colonel W. L. Stone, editor of the Commercial Advertiser, and very frequently in your book al- uded to him, and his press I shall here allow him to speak 7* 66 LETTERS TO THE for himself in reference to the most prominent of the charges you so unjustly make against him. I deem this course due to that estimable man, whom I regard as a fellow Christian, and especially because the Commercial Advertiser, he conducts, is so valuable an auxiliary to every good work, that its vindication is a subject in which the cause of public morals is largely in- volved. I extract the following from the Commercial Adver- tiser, of March 24th, 1835. " Truly we have fallen upon evil times and evil days. Never did we expect to meet with such a book, from the pen of the son and biographer of the illustrious John Jay. And such a son ! — a man of high political and moral worth — of scholarship, and sound integrity. But fanaticism is a contagion, which sometimes seizes upon the gifted and the good, as well as upon the weak brother, and the bolder hypocrite. Of this truth, we have a melancholy instance before us — affording another ex- ample of the exceeding virulence of this last species of fanati- cism, which, like the cholera among diseases, exceeds in malig- nant power all that have gone before it. Why it should be so, we know not : but it seems to be the fact, that wherever, and upon whomsoever, this spirit of immediate and unconditional abolitionism fastens itself, it drives reason from her empire ; divests Christianity of all her sweetest charities and graces ; sears the conscience as with a hot iron ; and tramples the Divine attribute of Truth under foot. Mr. Jay has selected for his motto, the following passage from Milton : — ' Give me the liberty to know, to utter, and to argue freely, according to my conscience, above all liberties.' The sentiment is good as far as it goes ; but before we shall have completed the present ar- ticle, the reader will have reason to regret that the author had not governed himself by another maxim, to be found likewise in an English poet, yet older than Milton, and equally il- lustrious. . . " ' In thy right hand carry gentle peace. Be JUST, and fear not : Let all the ends thou aim'st at, be thy coimtry's, Thy God's, and Truth's ; then if thou fall'st, Thou fall'st a blessed martyr.' HON. WILLIAM JAY. 67 " Had the author selected such a motto, and written in its spirit, we should have been spared the pain of writing the pre- sent article, — which, from the high regard we have ever enter- tained for Mr. Jay, and the affection we cherish for him still, notwithstanding the cruel misrepresentations by which we are assailed in the volume before us, renders its composition one of the most unpleasant acts of editorial duty we have for many years been called upon to discharge. " A highly valued clerical friend admonished us the other day, that the immediate abolitionists in this city were engaged in a desperate effort to fasten the responsibility of the abolition riots of last summer, upon the Commercial Advertiser, and the writer of this article in particular ; and he advised us to be pre- pared for an attack, (from a quarter least expected,) which it would be necessary for us to meet with firmness and decision. The caution was given in relation to the work now before us. '' But the information as to the existence of the foul design respecting the riots, was not new. It is an effort in which both the tongues and the pens of the immediate abolitionists have been engaged, with an energy and a zeal worthy of a better cause, ever since they themselves, by their own publications, and their own acts, spoke those riots into existence, and had well nigh perished in thejiatnes of their own kindling. And it is in furtherance of this design, that the author has been in- duced by evil counsellors, to put forth the volume before us, and in which it is melancholy to find, that such a man as Wil- liam Jay should appear, not only in alliance with the notorious Garrison, but as his apologist — nay. his eulogist ! Equally pain- ful, also, and greatly amazing, will it be to the friends of Mr. Jay, to find his name in the title of a book, consisting, in a great measure, of the unfair and garbled extracts from the publica- tions of the Colonization Society, and of others friendly to it, or perhaps connected with it, which have for a few years past graced the columns of the New-York Evangelist, and such scandalous journals, as Garrison's Liberator, and the Emanci- pator. And yet such is the fact. The Hon. William Jay, strange as it may appear, has been persuaded — it needs no familiar to tell by what coterie of pseudo philanthropists — to lend his name to such a compilation — accompanying it with 68 LETTERS TO THE remarks conceived in the same spirit of candour, which first prompted the system of garbled quotations, for the purpose of charging upon the Colonization Society and its friends, the maintenance of doctrines, opinions, and designs, which they have not only never entertained, but have uniformly and most emphatically repudiated. " The practice of these abolitionists in this matter, has been upon precisely the same principle that the Atheist proves from the Bible that ' there is no God^ viz. : by omitting the ante- cedent and most important portion of the sentence — ' The fool hath said in his heart? It is exactly after that manner, that this journal has been treated by the abolitionists in regard to the riots of last summer. For instance, when in common with a vast majority of the most respectable people in this city, we saw to what the perverse counsels of the immediate abolition- ists were leading, we should have been recreant to our duty, had we not remonstrated. After Garrison's shameful calum- nies upon his own country in Europe — uttered, too, in the pre- sence of such m.en as Anson G. Phelps, and Thomas A. Ro- nalds, of this city, it was easy to foresee that his presence here, to form a society in furtherance of his wretched theories, would inevitably lead to tumult. The abolitionists were told as much — though not in this paper, however, as has been false- ly asserted. But they persisted in their course ; and the result was such as might have been anticipated, and in some respects, as all good men deplored. Nor did they learn wisdom from experience ; but from that day, until tlie disgraceful riots of July, the course of these misguided people was the same, or rather, it was marked, from day to day, with increasing folly. The scenes of May, in the Chatham-street Chapel, will not soon be forgotten. It was in vain that we protested, over and over again, against such transactions, and admonished the lead- ers of the consequences in which they would result, and which, in a community so highly and wickedly exasperated, no wis- dom nor forecast would be able to prevent. " The public and ostentatious exammation of the worthless instrument. Brown, and the loathsome questions which the managers of that wretched, but insulting farce, put to him, awakened a storm of popular indignation which could scarcely HON. WILLIAM JAY. 69 then be controlled. Afterwards followed the inflammatory lec- tures in the chapel ; and in connexion therewith, a notice of a fouth of July celebration of the fanaticism, to be held at the same place. It occurred to us at once, and not to us only, that such a celebration, on such an occasion, when all the elements of popular violence would be in motion, would be an exceedingly hazardous experiment, and w^e deemed it a duty to write and publish a temperate remonstrance against the procedure. But as before without effect. The result is knowm. " Now we do not pretend to say, that the leaders of the aboli- tionists actually designed to bring about those riots. We do not believe they did. But their object "was indisputably to produce a strong degree of excitement ; and they succeeded, by means of their meetings, their inflammatory newspapers, and their incendiary handbills, Avritten by one of the principal officers of their society, in effecting a higher degree of excite- ment than they intended. Still, we concede, that they did not really mean to stimulate to riot ; but we are free to say, at the same time, that if it Avere our design now, to kindle another series of riots, we should, as the most certain method, pursue exactly the course which they then pursued. But against all these things we remonstrated ; and because we did so, and the results corresponded w^ith our predictions, the authors of the incendiary publications, and the Chatham-street scenes, which, beyond all doubt, caused the riots, turned short about, and have from that day to the present made the country ring with charges against us, of creating riots fomented by themselves, and against the measures leading to which we were solemnly imploring and protesting. " We now come to the book itself, of which the reader will already have formed some idea from what is said, and truly said, above. The volume is, from beginning to end, a con- tinued attack upon the Colonization Society and its friends — filled with acrimonious and illiberal allegations against that noble institution, which the author obviously perceives to be the * great mountain' in the way of the visionary schemes in which he has embarked ; and, as we have already intimated, we are sorry to say that he repeats and endorses all the stereo- typed calumnies of the Garrison tribe of scribblers, though so 70 LETTERS TO THE often disclaimed and refuted. And in this crusade against the society, standing in the relation to it which we have done for years past, it was hardly to have been expected that we should escape at least a passing notice. " In common with many others, therefore, abler and better than ourselves, the writer of this article has been selected by name, for vindictive reprobation. But we do not murmur at the distinction of being thus included in the same denunciation with the great and good men of this land — many of whom are named in terms which could hardly have been expected from the author — a circumstance which can only be accounted for by the bewildering mental and moral association to which he now belongs. We have no room to go into any detailed re- futation of the gross misrepresentations of fact and of senti- ment, to be found in this book, and must content ourselves with a single example — an example, however, which will fall with withering effect upon the work of which it is a specimen. We quote the following passage : " 'The abolitionists in New-York gave notice of a meeting for forming a City Anti-Slavery Society. In reference to this notice, the chairman of the executive committee of the New- York Colonization Society, Mr. Stone, published in his paper, 2d October, 1833, the following : " ' Is it possible, that our citizens can look quietly on, while the flames of discord are rising? while even our pulpits are sought to be used for the base purpose of encouraging scenes o{ bloodshed in our land. If we do, can we look our southern brethren in the face, and say, we are opposed to interfering with their rights '? No, we cannot. " ' The HINT thus kindly given, was readily taken, and a mob of 5000 scattered the abolitionists.' — Jay's Inquiry, pp. 110, 111. "Now, what is the inference which the unsophisticated reader will draw from this extract ? And w^hat was the inference which the author intended his readers should draw from it 1 Does he not mean, by the use of a little adroit phraseology, to charge upon us the passage which he has quoted from the Com- mercial of October 2d, 1833, as an editorial article, sanctioned by an officer of the Colonization Society, as such ? Does he not, moreover, intend to be understood as charging this publica- tion upon Mr. Stone, with the express design of creating a riot? It cannot be otherwise. The public will understand him as HON. WILLIAM JAY. 71 meaning to impute alike the sentiment, the authorship, and the base design of creating a riot, to Mr. Stone. ' The hint, thus kindly given, &c. Does not Mr. Jay mean to say, that Mr. Stone intentionally gave the populace a hint to go and break up the meeting ? It cannot be otherwise. What, then, will the public think, when informed, that Mr. Stone did not write the article which Mr. Jay pretends to quote from him, and that it was 7iever published editorially in the Commercial Advertiser at all ! " What will the public, moreover, say of the conduct of Mr. Jay in this matter, when informed of the fact, that in that very same paper of October 2d, 1833, the leading editorial article, written by Mr. Stone himself, vjas of directly the opposite ten- dency, vindicating the right of the abolitionists to hold their meeting, and exhorting every person entertaining opposite or different sentiments, to keep au-ay ! Nay, more : so far from fanning the embers of popular excitement, or writing the para- graph imputed to him, Mr. Stone protested strongly against an article having obviously such a, tendency, which appeared in a morning paper of that day ! Yet such are the facts, and the Commercial Advertiser of October 2d, 1833, shall speak for itself: — The truth of the matter is — and Mr. Jay must have known as much, unless he has been imposed upon, by Men that make Envy, and crooked malice, nourishment. And who ' dare bite the best,' — that the passage quoted by Mr. Jay is an excerpt from a communication, published as such, and prefaced by the following editorial disclaimer, and expression of our own views : " From the Commercial Advertiser of October 2, 1833. ••Anti-Slavery — the Meeting to-night. — By a notice which has been published in this, as well as other papers, the friends of the immediate abolition of slavery in the United States, are requested to meet, this evening, at Clinton Hall, to form a 'New- York City Anti-Slavery Society.' " In one sense, the terms of the notice may be construed into a universal invitation of our citizens to atterid the meeting, in- asmuch as upon the abstract and naked question of an immedi- ate abolition of slavery in the United States, there can be but one voice in the community. We are all, to a man, in favour 72 LETTERS TO THE of the measure, provided it can be immediately accomplished without danger to the whites, without injury to the slaves themselves, without jeoparding the peace and safety of the union, and upon the principles of equal and exact justice to all men. But viewed in all its bearings, there is a wide difference of opinion between those who, par excellence^ profess them- selves immediate abolitionists^ and the far greater number of our ow^n citizens, equally opposed to slavery, but who desire to pursue some rational plan for its ultimate and certain extin- guishment, by Avhich the rights and feelings of the slavehold- ers shall be consulted, and the condition of the slave improved on his emancipation. And as the gentlemen who have called the meeting are bitterly opposed to the great majority last de- scribed, it is fair to suppose their notice to be exclusive in its intention. At any rate, we have so been inclined to receive it. Much, therefore, as we lament the calling of such a meeting, at this time, and under existing circumstances, yet the right of calling it can7iot be questioned. The friends of immediate emancipation, regardless of circumstances and consequences the most fearful and appalling, have as good a right to their opinions^ and to meet, and discuss, and propagate them, as we have to entertain and inculcate ours. Hence we have seen, WITH REGRET, au inflammatory article in a morning paper, the evident design and tendency of which is to produce the attend- ance of perso7is not intended to be invited, for purposes of opposition, which must result in uproar and confusion. THIS IS WRONG. The gentlemen calling the meeting are very respectable. They are deeply and sadly in error, according to our views of the great question which is now beginning to agi- tate the union, with more dangerous throes than at any former period. Still, they have their rights, and shoidd be allowed to pursue their own measures^ so long as those measures are legal and peaceable, without molestation from any source. We, there- fore, hope that no persons will attend the meeting, who are op- posed to the objects of it, excepting merely as spectators — taking no part, and presenting no obstructions, unless the gen- tlemen conducting the meeting should feel disposed to present an opportunity for free and manly debate. With this brief ex- pression of our views, we give place, at the special request of tlie writer, to the following communication. " With what spirit the author was actuated, who, with this ar- ticle before his eyes, dares to accuse us of giving a ' hint,' for the purpose of producing a mob, we leave to honest men of any party to decide. We do not believe that Mr. Jay has done this passage of his book entirely himself; but we do not envy the author of the misrepresentation, whoever he may be, the HON. WILLIAM JAY. 73 reflections it will one day afford, living or dying. The insinu- ation, therefore, amounting, in fact, to a direct and positive charge, that the ' hint' was ever given for the assembling of a mob, by the editors of the Commercial Advertiser, though frequently repeated in the volume before us, is untrue ; and we appeal with confidence — not to the garbled quotations or bald assertions of the abolitionists — but to the columns of the paper itself, from the date of the foregoing article until the dis- graceful riots which took place nine months afterwards, for proof of our position. " We may have occasion to recur to this subject again ; but for the present let the foregoing suffice. Meantime, if the author ' knows the things which belongs to his peace,' he will not only lament the publication of such a book, but repent of the evil he has attempted to inflict upon us." Having thus allowed the Commercial Advertiser, and its editor, to speak for themselves, I shall make no allusion to the extracts you make from the Courier and Enquirer ; for its editor, Mr. James Watson Webb, has never, to my knowledge, been identified with the Colonization Soci- ety. And from the specimen just furnished of your quo- tations from the Commercial Advertiser, I confess I have little confidence in the accuracy of your quotations, presuming, as I am bound to do, that in both cases, the extracts are among the materials furnished you, for writing your " inquiry," for I will not suspect you of the perversions, and suppression of the truth, of which Colonel Stone has convicted your book. For if I believed you capable of the moral obliquity, which such sus- picion would imply, not even your name, or reputation, or pro- fession of Christianity itself, should have induced me to this correspondence? It is idle, however, to pretend, that the mobs and riots, of which you complain, were occasioned by newspapers, or editors, whether justly, or unjustly, styled colonizationists. Every can- did and disinterested witness of those disgraceful scenes, must have attributed them to other, and far more potent causes. It was actions, which speak louder than words, from which the mischiefs you deplore clearly originated ; and it is unphilosophi- cal and absurd, " to attribute an effect to more causes than are 74 LETTERS TO THE necessary for its existence." And it requires not the spirit of pro- phesy to discern, that if there were no Colonization Society in ex^- istence, and if all the colonization presses should be silent, the same conduct then pursued by your associates of the Anti-Sla- very Society, would produce similar results, in any large Ame- rican community. But as I have elsewhere, in my " acrimo- nious pamphlet," expressed my opinions on this subject deli- berately formed, and published under a deep sense of duty and responsibility, I forbear to enlarge, since my present convictions on that subject remain unchanged. I must, however, refer for a moment to the extraordinary pa- ragraph on your 112th page, in which, you accuse the socie- ty of pouring " obloquy and violence" upon the abolitionists, for the purpose of '• iNTiMmATioN." The reason of the alleged resort to intimidation is thus expressed : "Utterly vain is the hope of maintaining the cause of coloni- zation, or of suppressing that of abolition, by discussion" And then you add, with a self-complacency, at which even your own party must smile, " In every instance ! in which colonization- ists have ventured to meet their opponents in public disputation, they have invariably retired with diminished strength?'' If you did not expect, sir, that in your very name, resides " a tower of strength," you might have condescended to have given us some other authority for this sweeping clause of your book, by naming some one from among " every instance," when pub- lic disputation has thus terminated. You do not, surely, pre- tend to speak from personal knowledge, of " every instance in which colonizationists have ventured to meet their opponents in public disputation," and therefore must have given this de- cision upon the authority of the Liberator^ Emancipator^ or Evangelist. Par nobile fratrum^ sir, I admit, but neither of these are distinguished for accuracy, else by repeating their dogmas, you had escaped the multiplied mistakes, to which it has been my painful duty to direct your attention. In New- York, where the fact of Mr. Finlay's annihilation of that mis- guided, but excellent man, Mr. Jocelyn, is so recent, and so well remembered, this assertion of yours provokes a smile. And your " want of information" on this point, has certainly obliterated from your memory, the •' public discussion" of the HON. WILLIAM JAY. 75" anniversary week in May last, in Chatham Chapel, in the con- secutive meetings of the two societies, the result o-f which has been, ever since, visible in the subdued tojie, and " diminished strength," of the defeated abolitionists. In conclusion, let me briefly notice your attempt to gainsay the character of the society as a " religious institution," when you ask, " In what sense can the society be termed a religious one?" I answ^er, because it originated in "humanity and be- nevolence to the oppressed ;" — was founded after solemn and united prayer, for the divine guidance, by Finlay and his asso- ciates, whose religion prompted them to this good work. That it is truly a religious society, may be safely inferred from your own showingjW'hen you say, on p. 116, " The Colonization So- ciety, unquestionably, comprises ai'asi number of as pure and devoted Christians, as can be found in this, or any other coun try !" and again, " that 'multitudes of religious men belong to the Colonization Society is not denied !" When, then, you demand, " in what sense can the society be termed a religious one," I refer you to these admissions, by which, as you law- yers are wont to sky, you " admit yourself out of court." But you next affirm, that it is not professedly founded on any one principle of the gospel of Christ. To this,^ it might be suf- ficient to reply, that so long as the "golden rule" is one prin- ciple of the gospel of Christ, Christian colonizationists repel this statement, by declaring, that in colonizing the free people of colour on the coast of Africa with their own consent, they are "doing unto others, as they would have others do unto them," in like circumstances. And in view of that judgment to which we are hastening, and of Avhich, sir, you take fre- quent occasion to remind us, I am free to declare, that such is the "principle of the gospel of Christ," on which my vindica- tion of the society is "founded," and by which I am. influ- enced in common with thousands of my Christian brethren in the north and the south, of my own and sister denominations. You tell us, indeed, that the society " extends no one act of benevolence towards the free blacks in this country," and here you difier, toto ccelo, from your fellow labourer,. Charles Stew- art, who says, " For the few coloured people who prefer leaving their na- 76 LETTERS TO THE tive country, and emigrating to Africa, it is unquestionably a great blessing /" But again, you charge that " the society takes no measures to Christianize Africa, but landing on its shores an ignorant and vicious population !" And this, sir, is one of the most unaccountable assertions in your unaccountable book. After the published testimony o'' British and American visitors to Liberia, touching the general character of the colonists, and with the knowledge you must have of the pious Christians, and devoted ministers of the gospel, Avhom the society have sent out among the emigrants, I marvel that you should hazard your reputation on such a declaration, that it " takes no measures to Christianize Africa, but landing a vicious population on its shores." I might point you to the " measures" it has taken to promote schools, and the building of churches, in the colony, as Avell as the fa .;••>>"" v<:^^.\ ""\o^\. A HECKMAN BINDERY INC. ^^APR 89 W^IP' N. MANCHESTER ^^ INDIANA 46962 A\ o « a *tA.