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THE niGHT OF COLORED PEOPLE TO EDUCATION, VINDICATE! 
 
 T 
 
 ANDREW T. JUDSON, ESQ. 
 
 AND OTHERS IN CANTERBURY, 
 
 REMONSTRATING WITH THEM ON THEIR UNJUS 
 
 AND 
 
 UNJUSTIFIABLE PROCEDURE RELATIVE 
 
 TO 
 
 MISS CRANDALL AND HER SCHOOL 
 
 FOR 
 
 COLORED FEMALES, 
 
 Minister of the 1st Church in Brooklyn, {Conn.) 
 
 BROOKLYN: 
 
 ADVERTISER PRES 
 
 1833. 
 
I 
 
 
LETTE 
 
 Brooklyn, March 29, 183$. 
 
 ANDREW T. JUDSON, ESQ. 
 
 Sir: — I left Canterbury, after the 
 town-meeting on the 9th ult. grieved that so large a number of per- 
 sons could be so completely misled by the art and influence of a few 
 individuals; and ashamed that in Connecticut (which claims to be the 
 most enlightened and moral State in our Union,) a community of 
 freemen could be found, who would thus yield themselves to be the 
 instruments of such injustice and cruelty. 
 
 From your high official standing, Sir, both in the town and state, 
 it was to have been expected that you would have endeavored to al- 
 lay the popular excitement, and to persuade your fellow-citizens to 
 act advisedly. So far from it, however, you were the prominent ac- 
 tor on the occasion; and exerted yourself beyond measure to heat 
 the imaginations of your hearers, to enkindle their bitterest feelings 
 against Miss Crandall and her friends, and to hurry them on to an 
 immediate decision — a decision which can reflect no honor upon the 
 town; and which, if it cannot be reversed, may indirectly affect the 
 happiness of millions in our land. 
 
 I therefore take the liberty thus publicly to plead with you, and 
 with your fellow-citizens. Nay — Sir, I have a right to claim from 
 yourself, and from the people of Canterbury, and from the commu- 
 nity at large, some attention to the defence I am about to offer of 
 Miss Crandall's most benevolent project; of the part I have acted on 
 her behalf; and of the sentiments and purposes Gf those Gentlemen, 
 
who with myself have encouraged her undertaking. I solemnly 
 aver, that so far as I know any thing about that young lady, or her 
 patrons, or my own intentions, we have all been grossly misrepre- 
 Bented and traduced. 
 
 It was not until about the time of Miss Crandall's return from 
 New-York, that I received the first intimation of her design to open 
 her School for the education of colored females. I expressed to my 
 informant, my heartfelt satisfaction that there was one so near ine, 
 who would dare to brave the prejudices of the public, so far as to 
 devote herself to that great "labor of love." The young lady was 
 then an entire stranger to me. I had heard however of her good 
 reputation as a teacher in Canterbury and Plainfield, and, better than 
 that, of her great integrity of mind, benevolence of heart, and en- 
 ergy of purpose; and therefore I determined to hold myself in read- 
 iness to aid her, if my assistance should be needed by her in any 
 way. 
 
 A few days afterwards, i. e. on the 27th of February, I was fur- 
 ther informed that she had made her intention publicly known in 
 your town, and that the people there, were, in consequence, filled 
 with indignation at her, especially yourself and her immediate neigh- 
 bors. Not having received from Miss Crandall any notice of her 
 plan (though my deep interest in the melioration of the condition of 
 our colored brethren must be well known in this vicinity,) I at first 
 concluded, that she might prefer to avoid receiving any assistance 
 from me, because perhaps of her strong objections to my religious 
 opinions. On further reflection however, it seemed to be my duty 
 to proffer her a helping hand, which she would be at liberty to ac- 
 cept or reject as she might choose. Accordingly on the 28th I wrote 
 her a hasty letter, of which the following is an exact copy. 
 
 Brooklyn, Feb. 28, 183S. 
 
 Miss Cuandall. 
 
 Although I am a stranger to you I shall offer no 
 apology for addressing you. 
 
 The cause, which I hear you have espoused, is one which has 
 long been deeply interesting to me. My situation and engagements 
 have prevented my doing as much in behalf of our colored brethren, 
 as I fain would have done. Last week I heard indirectly from Dr. 
 Green that you proposed to open a boarding school for colored girls. 
 The intelligence rejoiced my heart, and I determined to do all in my 
 power to assist you. You are probably well aware that my religious 
 sentiments have rendered me obnoxious to the suspicion, and ill-will 
 of the Clergy, and a considerable proportion of the people in tlii^ 
 yicinity. This may lessen very much my ability to serve you. But 
 
I wish you would command my services in any way in which you 
 think I can be useful to you. 
 
 Last evening Chauncy Morse informed me thattnere was con- 
 siderable excitement in Canterbury, in consequence of your propo- 
 sal. This was to have been expected, so inveterate are the preju- 
 dices of the people against the Blacks. But it is disgraceful to any 
 community pretending to be Christian. I would enlarge upon this 
 topic, but I feel too deeply to write in a proper temper. 
 
 It has been intimated that there is to be even a town-meeting to 
 prevent you from carrying your plan into operation. If there is, I 
 shall endeavor to attend it. But how do they purpose to prevent 
 you? It has occurred to me that your conspicuous residence in the 
 village mi"-ht render your plan more objectiouable to those, who are 
 so hostile to the blacks. Perhaps your removal to some more retir- 
 ed situation would at once allay the violence of your opponents, and 
 be more favorable to your pupils, who would not be so exposed to 
 insult as they might be where you now are. 
 
 I should be very happy to see you at my house — or I will come 
 and see you, if a visit, from such a heretic as I am accounted, would 
 not increase the ill-will of your neighbors towards you. 
 Yours in the cause of the oppressed. 
 
 S. J. MAY. 
 
 It was not until the following Monday (March 4th) that I receiv- 
 ed her reply, in which she assured rne that I could be of service to 
 her, and requested me to visit her as soon as might be convenient to 
 myself. About the same moment, the Liberator for March 2d came 
 to hand, in which I saw for the first time the Advertisement of her 
 school, and my name in the list of those to whom she referred. — 
 This satisfied me, that she had relied upon my co-operation. I there- 
 fore set off immediately for Canterbury, in company with a mutual 
 friend. 
 
 Every thing we gathered from Miss Crandall, and from others 
 with whom we conversed, satisfied us that a most determined effort 
 would be made at the town meeting, then warned, to prevent the 
 prosecution of her benevolent plan. Regarding it not, by any means 
 as a local, town affair, but on the contrary as affecting indirectly the 
 happiness of millions of the American people, Ave were deeply im- 
 pressed with the importance of sustaining the school. Should a se- 
 cond attempt to provide for the better education of our colored 
 people, be put down by the popular clamor in New-England, (the 
 land of schools) discouragement we feared would enfeeble the ef- 
 forts of many, who are now laboring to meliorate the condition of 
 this immense body of the inhabitants of our land. The location of 
 the school in your village wa3 not indeed a matter, in itself consid- 
 ered, of any moment. But that the school should not be abandoi - 
 
ed 3 we deemed a matter of the utmost consequence. As therefore 
 it so happened, that Miss Crandall was already established in Can- 
 terbury, it was obviously right in our view, that she should be sus- 
 tained there; at least until her opponents or her patrons should pro- 
 vide her with a suitable situation elsewhere. And such a situation 
 we thought could not easily be obtained any where else, if she were 
 first to relinquish the one she now has. For wherever we looked, 
 wo saw reason to believe, that there too would be found much of the 
 same feeling of hostility to the people of color; added to which would 
 be the disgrace that would follow her and her school, wherever she 
 might go — the disgrace of having been expelled from your town as 
 a nuisance. 
 
 We have long since perceived how deep and inveterate, even in 
 New-England, are the prejudices of the whites against those of Af- 
 rican descent. We have apprehended, that ero our colored brethren 
 will have any chance to rise to that intellectual and moral elevation, 
 which they may doubtless reach, there would need to be a conflict 
 between those great republican principles, on which our civil insti- 
 tutions are based, and that aristocracy of color which has become 
 hereditary among us. It seemed to us that, in the course of Provi- 
 dence we were called to take a part in this conflict. We did not 
 dare to shrink from it; nor to advise Miss Crandall to withdraw, let 
 the consequences to her or to ourselves be what they might. Wo 
 therefore exhorted her to be steadfast — meekly to bear the injuries 
 that might be heaped upon her; and in hope of the good she would 
 bo instrumental in doing, to despise the shame she would incur. — 
 We also promised to afford her all the assistance in our power; and 
 assured her she might rely upon those who had encouraged her un- 
 dertaking; upon others who were doubtless watching with deepest 
 interest the result; and above all upon Him who will prosper the 
 cause that is right. 
 
 The injurious reports which were busily circulated respecting Miss 
 Crandall, and the friends of her school, filled.her and us with appre- 
 hension, that her sentiments and purposes would be sadly misrepre- 
 sented at the approaching town meeting. Who would be there to 
 speak in her behalf? A sense of propriety forbade her appearing 
 in person. She knew of no one that would venture to breast the 
 current of public sentiment, that was set against her. Fearing 
 that the prejudices which prevail in your town against my religion:} 
 opinions, might only aggravate the public odium if I should appear 
 
there in her stead,* I hesitated some time whether it would be advis- 
 able for me to undertake her defence. But as there was no one else, 
 in the town or neighborhood, that she supposed would be willing to 
 stand up for her, she strongly expressed her desire that I would do 
 so. She agreed to give me a written request to the Moderator of the 
 meeting, that I might be permitted to speak in explanation and de- 
 fence of her sentiments and purposes. 
 
 When I went again to Canterbury on the 9th of March, I found 
 at Miss Grandad's house, Arnold Buffum, the Agent, of the New- 
 England Anti-Slavery Society. Having heard that he was at Nor- 
 wich, in the prosecution of his official duty, she had been to that ei- 
 ty the day previous, and induced him to come to Canterbury to help 
 her. I had had the pleasure of seeing that gentleman two or three 
 times. I knew that he was an able advocate of the rights of the op 
 pressed; and rejoiced that he was permitted to be there. It was at 
 onee determined, that ho should be her principal attorney at the 
 meeting. She however requested me also to speak on her behalf; 
 and I had now become so deeply interested in the cause, that I longed 
 for an opportunity to advocate it. 
 
 Mr. Buffum and myself accordingly proceeded to the house, where 
 we found the meeting already organized. Asael Bacon, Esq. Mod- 
 erator. Andrew T. Judson. Esq. Clerk. Looking about us, I per- 
 ceived many persons present from neighboring towns, who came 
 there, as I have reason to believe with no very friendly regard to- 
 wards the proposed school. I assure you and the public, that I went 
 to Canterbury not knowing that a single individual was to be at the 
 meeting besides the inhabitants of the town, excepting only the 
 young gentleman who accompanied me. I had not heard that Mr. 
 Buffum was in the region; and I was equally surprised when I saw 
 the two young men from Providence ("boisterous boys" as you have 
 called them,) enter the house. In the gallery there w r ere two or 
 three decent looking colored men. Who they were I did not know, 
 but at the time supposed them to belong to your town. I saw no- 
 thing in their deportment at all improper, though if they had mani- 
 fested great displeasure at some of your remarks, I should not have 
 wondered. I am thus particular, because you have endeavered 
 through the Norwich papers to make the public believe, that the 
 friends of Miss Crandall's school presented themselves at your "per- 
 fectly orderly meeting" in a most formidable array, as if to awe your 
 
 "Though I meant to be there as a witness of your proceedings. 
 
citizens into a Compliance with their wishes. Permit me to ?a/ Sir, 
 if you or some of your coadjutors had adopted the precaution of 
 "taking notes" at the time, (for which precaution you seem to be of- 
 fended at one of the Providence young men,) you probably would 
 have given as correct an account of the meeting as he has done in 
 "the Liberator,*'* and uot have committed so many mistakes in your 
 communications to the Norwich papers, as must be apparent to all 
 who were witnesses of what you have therein attempted to de- 
 scribe. 
 
 After "the warning'' had been read, the following Resolutions? 
 wore laid before the meeting by Rufus Adams, Esq. viz: — 
 
 "Whereas, it hath been publicly avowed that a school is to be open- 
 ed in this town, on the first Monday of April next, using the lan- 
 guage ot the advertisement, "for young ladies and little misses of 
 color," or in other words, for the people of color, the obvious ten- 
 dency of which, would be, to collect within the town of Canterbury 
 large numbers of persons, from other States, whose characters and 
 habits might be various and unknown to us, thereby rendering in- 
 secure the persons, property, and reputation of our citizens — 
 
 Under such circumstances our sileoco might be construed into an 
 approbation of the project. 
 
 Therefore Resolved, That the location of a school for the people 
 of color, at any place within the limits of this town, for the admis- 
 sion of persons from foreign jurisdictions, meets with our unequivo- 
 cal disapprobbation, and it is to be understood that the inhabitants 
 of Canterbury, protest against it, in the most earnest manner. 
 
 Resolved, That a Committee be now appointed, to be composed 
 of the Civil Authority and Select Men, who shall make known to 
 the person contemplating the establishment of said school, the senti- 
 ments and objections entertained by this meeting, in reference to 
 said school, pointing out to her, the injurious effects, and the incal- 
 culable evils, resulting from sueh an establishment within this town, 
 and persuade her, it possible, to abandon the project." 
 
 Mr. Adams accompanied the presentation of these resolves with 
 a speech, in which he attempted to set forth the causes of complaint^ 
 which the town of Canterbury had against Miss Crandall. But, I 
 am sorry to say, ho sadly misrepresented her sentiments and purpo- 
 
 *I suspect no one will undertake to prove the statements, made by IT. E. 
 Benson, untrue in any one material point. But he is not, nor is any one but 
 the Editor of the Liberator, responsible for the heading and the remarks pre- 
 fixed to the Letter; nor for the black letter type, in which the names of certain 
 individuals in Canterbury are signalized. 1 respect and love Mr. Garrison's 
 fervent devotion to the cause of the oppressed, and his fearlessness in reprov- 
 ing the oppressors; but no one can disapprove, more than I do, the harshness 
 of his epithets, and the bitterness of his invectives. 
 
fees; and made several most ungenerous insinuations against her mo- 
 tives. 
 
 As soon as he sat down, you took the floor. I shall not pretend 
 to repeat all that you said, nor to describe minutely the style of your 
 address. It was a most inglorious exploit! And oh Sir! what a 
 golden opportunity you lost, on that day, to act as a true patriot and 
 genuine philanthropist should have done; ay, to illustrate the princi- 
 ples of a real republican! It is much more difficult, I grant, but how 
 much more honorable is it to withstand public prejudice, and labor 
 to enlighten and correct it, than it is to avail ourselves of its blind- 
 ness and impetuosity to accomplish some selfish purpose, or gratify 
 some private feelings ! Who Sir, have ever been instrumental in 
 tho melioration of the human condition, or the advance of knowl- 
 edge and virtue, but they who have dared to oppose public error, 
 and even defy public odium ? I deeply lament, Sir, that you did not 
 perceive, or that you chose not to pursue the course, in which the 
 principles of our civil institutions, as well as the precepts of tne 
 gospel would have guided and sustained you. To whom Sir, should 
 they, who, condescending to men of low estate, would labor to in- 
 struct and raise them, to whom I ask should such look for encour- 
 agement, if not to those who profess to believe that all men are born 
 with equal rights — that the King of Kings and Lord of Lords is no 
 respecter of persons? But all such reliance upon you, Sir, it seems 
 would have been misplaced. You vented yourself in a strain 
 which evinced your reckless hostility to Miss Crandall, her school 
 and her patrons; and your determination to do every thing in your 
 power to thwart her project. You twanged every chord that could 
 stir th coarser passions of the human heart; and with such sad suc- 
 cess that your hearers seemed to have lost for the time their percep- 
 tion of right and wrongs The remarks that were made by yourself and 
 by othersj were adapted to make an impression of this sort upon the 
 minds of your fellow-citizens, — that a great calamity was impending- 
 over your town, of which Miss Crandall was the author, or the in- 
 strument — that there were powerful conspirators combined with her 
 in the plot— and that the people of Canterbury should be roused by 
 every consideration of self-respect and self-preservation, to prevent 
 the accomplishment of the design, defying the wealth and influence 
 of all who were abettors of it. 
 
 When I supposed you were done, though it appears from the ac- 
 count in the Norwich paper I was mistaken— but certainly not until 
 I thought you had drawn your remarks to a close— I whispered to 
 
10 
 
 Mr. Buffum, it is now high time for us to present Miss Crandall v 
 request to be heard. He therefore, being the one on whom her de- 
 fence was chiefly to rest, first handed her respectful petition to the 
 Moderator. I watched until he had read it, and passed it to you, 
 and you had read it; and I then gave to the Moderator a similar bil- 
 let from Miss Crandall, praying that I also might be permitted to 
 speak on her behalf. For reasons however, known only to yourself 
 and to Him who sees all hearts, youreversed the order of our certi- 
 ficates, when you read them to the meeting. But let this pass. It 
 might have been accidental. 
 
 You instantly broke forth with even more violence than before,, 
 and accused us of insulting the town, and interfering in the manage- 
 ment of its local concerns. Other gentlemen arose in high displeas- 
 ure, (Mr. Solomon Payne in particular,) and opposed Miss Cran- 
 dall's petition; and very roughly admonished us, that if we dared to 
 interfere, we should suffer the penalty which the Law prescribes. — 
 Of course we did not dare to interfere; and so we sat quietly until 
 the dissolution of the meeting. But we dare now to appeal from 
 your decision; and we do appeal in full confidence that it will be re- 
 versed by the opinion of the fair minded, and impartial, every where. 
 It is necessary that I should dwell for a moment upon this point, be- 
 cause it has been made so prominent by yourself and your coadju- 
 tors. Not only has Rumor with her thousand tongues spread every- 
 where the slander, that Mr. Buffum and Mr. May thrust themselves 
 into a peaceable town meeting in Canterbury, and interfered with 
 the business of the town; but the same false accusation is brought 
 against us in the public prints. It is not true that we asked leave to 
 address the meeting. Miss Crandall asked leave to be heard by us, 
 her sex forbidding her to advocate her own cause. "We said not a 
 word : but simply put into the hand of the Moderator a written re- 
 quest from Miss Crandall. We were silent, because we were not 
 permitted to speak. How then did we interfere ? The meeting was 
 called for the sole purpose of opposing a project started by that 
 young lady. Her sentiments and purposes were misrepresented, by 
 you and others, and even her integrity called in question. And 
 where Sir, was your sense of justice, where your honor, to say no- 
 thing of your gallantry, when you opposed, as you did with vehe- 
 mence of passion, her being heard iu reply? A young lady was 
 accused by you and others before the assembly of the people, ay, 
 and in the presence of her aged father, accused of entertaining sen- 
 timents and purposes which excited the public disgust, and no one 
 
II 
 
 was permitted to speak in her defence ! Where will you find an 
 upright man, who will say this was fair? You will not Sir, I hope 
 pretend to justify it yourself. You have been so long accustomed 
 to the proceedings of our Courts of Justice, in which no judgment 
 is ever given, until both parties have been patiently heard, that you 
 Sir, of all others, should have seen at a glance the propriety of Miss 
 Crandall's claim to be heard; and should have had the honor to in- 
 sist on her right to speak by those, whom she chose to represent her 
 sentiments and purposes, and vindicate her character. I did expect 
 as much as this from you, although I had been told of the violence 
 of your opposition to the proposed school; for I would not suppose 
 there was a Lawyer, of good standing in this community, that would 
 claim at any tribunal a verdict in favor of the side he espoused, un- 
 til after the opposite counsel had been heard. I am now compelled 
 to believe, that you were afraid to submit the case in question to a 
 fair investigation. You relied upon the prejudices of the people; 
 and having excited them to the utmost, hurried on a decision which 
 you plainly foresaw would gratify your wishes. If this be not the 
 just inference, why were you so much offended at the presence of 
 Mr. Buffinn and myself? And why did you show so much passion 
 when we presented Miss Crandall's request to be heard by us? 
 
 You sought to turn off the minds of your fellow-citizens, from the 
 very proper request of that defenceless young lady, by holding us 
 up as foreigners who had come there to interfere. And you have 
 since pressed this accusation of foreign interference with so much 
 urgency, that I am persuaded you rely, for the justification of your 
 own conduct, upon the impression you may make on the public mind 
 by this charge against us. Calling us foreigners (especially those 
 of us who live in an adjoining town) would be only a ludicrous mis- 
 nomer, if it had not been obviously applied by you for a sinister 
 purpose. 
 
 Of course Sir, there are town rights, as well as state rights, which 
 every individual is bound to respect, and every town competent to 
 maintain. If I have violated those rights I shall be most anxious to 
 make to the people of Canterbury a public apology. But surely 
 the rights and interests of any town are not to be regarded as of 
 equal, much less of paramount importance to the rights and inter- 
 ests of larger portions of the community. To maintain that they 
 arc, would be to maintain a wilder doctrine than our South Caroli- 
 na brethren ever broached. Nor are the rights of any town to be 
 considered ns] of equal, much less of paramount importance to the 
 
12 
 
 eternal principles of right, and truth, and justice. Whenever there- 
 lore any town is seen to be pursuing a measure that will be preju- 
 dicial to other portions of community, those not belonging to that 
 particular town have a right to interfere. There can he nothing 
 wrong in their going into that town, and asking leave of the town to 
 remonstrate with them against the measure. If permission be not 
 given, they are then left with the right to call the measure in ques- 
 tion before a common tribunal. So too, if the procedure of a town 
 is likely to be unnecessarily injurious to an individual, whether that 
 individual be a resident in the town or not, he has a right to inter- 
 fere — he has a right to present himself at the town meeting where 
 such a procedure is to be determined on, and claim to be heard. If 
 he be an inhabitant of the town he may speak without special per- 
 mission; if not an inhabitant, he must obtain permission. In neither 
 case however is he doing wrong. And if he cannot present him- 
 self in person, oris unable to speak, he obvieusly has a right to ap- 
 point an advocate: and the town would obviously do wrong if they 
 refused to hear the advocate. Now, will you Sir, say that he must 
 select for his advocate one who is an inhabitant of the town in which 
 the meeting is convened? I trust not. How futile then was } r our 
 objection to us that we were foreigners ! and how false the accusa- 
 tion, which you have reiterated, that we interfered, or were dispos- 
 ed to interfere (in an improper manner at least,) with the business 
 of your town meeting.* If the question, to be considered on that 
 occasion, had been altogether local, still as it deeply involved the 
 interests and character of one who could not with propriety be pre- 
 sent, she had a right to delegate one or more to appear for her. And 
 as she knew of no one in the town, who would be willing to under- 
 take her defence, she was under the necessity of seeking assistance 
 from some joreigners, as you are pleased to call those who do not 
 live within the limits of Canterbury. I leave it for all honorable 
 men to decide between us, whether on this supposition I should have 
 done wrong to go to the meeting; and whether you would have done 
 right to oppose my being heard at her request? 
 
 But Sir, the question at that meeting was not one of local interest 
 
 *A gentleman of Plajnfield has assured me, that some years ago, Andrew 
 T Judson, Esq. himself, attended a town meeting inPlainfield, and asked per- 
 mission to speak upon the subject under consideration; that permission was 
 given him, and he did address the meeting. The gentlemau did not recollect 
 the subject. But it is a matter of no consequence what the subject was, in 
 order to test the principle If it were a less important one, than that at Can- 
 terbury there was the less reason for the interference. 
 
13 
 
 merely. It was intimately connected with the greatest question our 
 nation is now called upon to decide — i. e. whether our immense col- 
 ored population shall henceforth he permitted to rise among us, as 
 they may be able, in intellectual and moral worth; or be kept down 
 in hopeless degradation, until in the providence of a just God they 
 may throw off the yoke of their oppressors, with vindictive vio- 
 lence. Such Sir, was the magnitude of the question agitated at 
 Canterbury on the 9th of March. So momentous was it in my view, 
 that I should have attended the discussion, even if Miss Crandall 
 had not called on me to advocate her cause. And so deeply inter- 
 esting is the question to our whole country, that I cannot think 
 I should have been guilty of any great impropriety if, with- 
 out her certificate, I had respectfully asked permission to address 
 your fellow-citizens. Had leave been given mo , I could have 
 assured them, that there was no intention or wish on tho part of 
 those who will patronize the school, to injure your village or incom- 
 mode an individual in it; but that they would be ready at any tima 
 to have it removed to any more retired spot, wherever such an insti- 
 tution could be suitably accommodated. And I should have plead 
 with you and your neighbors Sir, with all the earnestness in my 
 power, that, in view of the momentous connexions and dependen- 
 cies of the question, you would so far forego your prepossessions 
 and prejudices, as to decide that a School for the better education of 
 those, who of all others in our land need it most, might be permitted 
 to remain unmolested where it happens in the providence of God to 
 have been located. 
 
 I will not detain you and the public longer Sir, with this direct ex- 
 culpation of Mr. Buffum and myself. It might be easily shown that 
 several other statements in the Norwich papers are untrue-, and that 
 the whole account of the meeting is highly discolored.* Our pres- 
 ence there evidently disturbed the feelings of yourself and those who 
 were leagued with you against Miss CrandalPs school. But we nei- 
 ther did nor said any thing to disturb the meeting. When we carri- 
 ed Miss CrandalPs certificates to the Moderator, we did so as quietly 
 as possible. And when we spake to each other, which we did but 
 three or four times, it was in a whisper. 
 
 *It may not be improper here to inform the public that one of the Civil Au- 
 thority, whose name appears in the Norwich Courier, was not at the meeting 
 — that another has been since heard, by three witnesses, to say that some of 
 the statements in that, address to the American Colonization Society were not 
 true; and also I believe that not more than two or three of the Authority 
 remained after the meeting, to hear the remarks by Mr. Buffum and mvselt'. 
 
14 
 
 So soon as the meeting was dissolved, I called upon the people to 
 hear us. Perhaps io this, I misjudged. Bat I thought, after what 
 had been alleged against Miss Craudall, our absent friends and our- 
 selves, that we ought to speak, when we could do so without impro- 
 priety. What we said, those who heard us can testify. I can only 
 aver that neither Mr. Uurruni's language nor my own was what it is 
 represented to have been in the Norwich Republican, 
 I am Sir, not a foreigner, but 
 
 Your fellow-citizen, 
 
 SAMUEL J. MAY. 
 
 LETT E 
 
 Brooklyn, April 6, 1833. 
 
 ANDREW T. JUDSON, ESQ. 
 
 Sir; — I intend now to consider 
 some of the charges brought by you and others against Miss Cran- 
 dall; and some of the objections urged against her proposed school; 
 correcting as I proceed, some of the many misrepresentations, which 
 were given (and have been reiterated,) of the sentiments and pur- 
 poses of those, who have encouraged her undertaking. 
 
 The first complaint or charge, if I remember correctly, which was 
 alleged at the town meeting on the 9th, was that Bliss Craudall had 
 perverted her school from its original purpose. 'She was introdu- 
 ced here,' said one or more of her accusers 1 , 'to instruct our children. 
 We gave her our patronage and our confidence. She has set aside 
 the one, and abused the other, and is now about to introduce into 
 
15 
 
 the town a class of persons whose presence will be offensive to us. 1 
 I do not give this as the precise language, but as the substance of 
 the charge; and the same is repeated in the Norwich papers. It 
 struck me at the time, that the tone of the complaint implied that 
 you had conferred upon this young lady a much greater amount of 
 favors, than she has in fact received. All that has been done for 
 her, by the Ladies and Gentlemen of Canterbury, has been to en- 
 courage her opening a school there, which surely was as much for 
 their own accommodation, as for her benefit. The favor was then 
 at least mutual. But I am one Sir, who regard a capable and faith- 
 ful Teacher of youth as a greater benefactor to the community, 
 than the community is to her. Will you tell me she was furnished 
 with money ? Very true. But did she not give the lender good se- 
 curity for the repayment of the loan, with lawful interest? The 
 house in which she resides was purchased by herself, and she is 
 still indebted for it to a considerable amount. If the establishment 
 had been bought and fitted up for her by her patrons, they would 
 unquestionably have the right to insist that it should be still appro- 
 priated to its original purpose, or else given back into their hands. 
 But they cannot pretend to so much as this. Unless therefore you 
 and your neighbors have good reason to believe, that she had her 
 present plan in contemplation when she came into your village; and 
 that she availed herself of your patronage only that she might get 
 herself established there, all the while intending to enter as soon as 
 possible upon the course now proposed — I repeat, unless you have 
 good reason to believe this, you have no reason to be offended with 
 her. Now I have never heard this alleged. Nor do I suppose she 
 ever thought of devoting herself to the instruction of colored fe- 
 males until last Fall, after she had been resident among you a year 
 or more. She has not been bribed nor persuaded by others, to this 
 undertaking. The circumstances which have led her to it, (as she 
 relates them) seem to have been providential. How could she re- 
 sist the convictions Avrought in her mind? How could she refuse 
 to obey them, without disregarding a higher obligation, than any she 
 is under to her patrons? Some men may sneer if they will, at what 
 is called a sense of duty. There is such a thing. And when it is 
 awakened in the human breast it leads one to act with a determina- 
 tion, consistency and fearlessness, which is never to be seen in the 
 conduct of the selfish, calculating and worldly. 
 
 The next charge was that Miss C. went off to Providence, Boston 
 and New-York to make arrangements for her proposed school, with- 
 
16 
 
 out ! a iug apprised her neighbors of her intention, asked their ad- 
 vice, or consulted their wishes; Surely, Sir, it was not her fault that 
 none of the people of Canterbury were known to ieel so much com- 
 miseration for the colored people in our land, that she could hope 
 for encouragement from them to pursue her intention to labor for 
 their good. 
 
 But it has been repeatedly said of her since, if it was not alleged 
 against her at the meeting, that she was guilty of falsehood or at least 
 prevarication respecting the object of her journies. This is indeed 
 a grave accusation. The untruth is said to have been this: when 
 asked by some one or more, why she was going to the above named 
 cities, she replied, to visit schools and procure school apparatus; 
 whereas it now appears that she went to seek patrons and pupils for 
 her school, under the new arrangement. Miss Craudall's reply to 
 this accusation is, that she had for sometime previous contemplated 
 a visit to the schools in the various parts of our country — that she 
 had long felt the need of more apparatus, and that such a journey 
 as she has lately made would have been ere long necessary, if she had 
 not proposed the important alteration that has taken place in her 
 school. She adds that when about to leave home, she was wholly 
 unacquainted with the friends of the colored people, excepting by 
 reputation • and did not know that they would approve of her design; 
 and that she therefore felt herself justified in accpiainting those of 
 her neighbors who inquired, with only a part of the objects of her 
 journey. She assuros me, and is ready to prove to her opposers if 
 they wish, that while absent from Canterbury she did visit eight 
 different schools in Providence and Boston. If she had not met 
 with so much encouragement to open her school for colored females 
 she would have devoted more of her time to similar examinations; 
 and this would then have become the principal purpose of her jour- 
 ney. But finding so many persons, where she went, deeply inter- 
 ested in her proposal; and so large a number of pupils ready to bo 
 placed under her care; this assumed that prominence among the 
 purposes of her journey, which it doubtless had in her thoughts. — 
 Now Sir, I am willing to leave this explanation with the public, as 
 she has left it with me; aud I have no doubt it would satisfy even 
 yourself and her opposers, if you were in a state of mind that would 
 permit you to judge impartially. 
 
 Again; it was, (by more than one of the Speakers at your town 
 meeting,) objected to the school proposed by Miss Crandall, that it 
 would greatly lessen the value of property in your village, by ren- 
 
17 
 
 dering it no longer a desirable place of residence. One gentleman; 
 [f not more, intimated that he should wish to sell out his property, 
 and move off. If this depreciation of real estate will be consequent 
 upon the establishment of her school, the effect should be attributed 
 to its true cause; not to that benevolent institution, but to the preju- 
 dices of those who would crush it. If you and the other gentlemen 
 who have become so unhappily conspicuous, had interested your- 
 selves as much as all patriots and philanthropists in our country 
 should have done long ago in the condition of that immense portion 
 of the American people, which is held in degradation, you would 
 have rejoiced to hear that an experiment was to be made so near 
 you to benefit them; and would have watched its operation with in- 
 creasing satisfaction. But if on the contrary, you hare cherished 
 your unrighteous prejudices against them — prejudices which have 
 no deeper foundation than their skins, unless it be in that deep de- 
 gradation itself, to which they have been consigned by our govern- 
 ment, in despite of the principles on which our government rests, — 
 I repeat Sir, if you and other gentlemen in Canterbury have cher- 
 ished your prejudices against them to such an extent, that you can- 
 not bear even to have a few of them resident among you — who is 
 to blame? Who but yourselves? Although therefore, you may, 
 through the influence of the same prejudices in the breasts of your 
 earthly judges, escape utter condemnation at the bar of public opin- 
 ion; can you expect a similar impunity at the tribunal of the Most 
 High ? He is no respecter of persons ! He does not regard the 
 rich and mighty, more than the poor, and the despised! The cause 
 of truth and righteousness — the melioration of the human condition 
 has never made any advance, but in opposition to the wishes of a 
 cert aim sort of men. Ought the cause at any time to have been aban- 
 doned on their account? The preaching of Paul at Ephesus was 
 very prejudicial to one Demetrius, and a few other silversmiths; and 
 they succeeded in raising an uproar, and making it appear to be an 
 affair of great consequence to all the Ephesians. But Sir, did you 
 ever think Paul was to blame in that matter? 
 
 In a pecuniary point of view, such a seminary will doubtless be 
 beneficial to the inhabitants of Canterbury. Thirty or forty tempo- 
 rary residents will be introduced among you to be clothed, fed and 
 warmed, as well as instructed; thus making a considerable addition 
 to the class of consumers. Some of them will be the daughters of 
 men of wealth; and all of them supported there by their parents or 
 relatives,* who are able and willing to pay all their expences. — 
 However, to quiet the fears ef those who are, or pretend to be, ap- 
 prehensive that some of Miss Crandall's colored pupils may become 
 chargeable to the town, the patrons of her school hold themselves 
 in readiness to give bonds, in any amount that may be required, to 
 eecure the town from all such harm. 
 
 *There is a solitary exception among those who are now engaged, the very 
 honorable exception of a young woman, now keeping a school in New-York, 
 who by her own frugality has accumulated enough to defray her expenses for 
 half of a year. She will be assisted by a gentleman of that city, to complete 
 
18 
 
 Nothing, I am confident, could have been further from Miss 
 Crandall 's intention, than to do her neighbors any injury. And Sir, 
 you may rest assured, the gentlemen referred to in her Advertise- 
 ment would not uphold her a moment in violating any of your 
 rights. The determination she has formed to devote herself to the 
 education of colored females, we cannot but highly approve. Her 
 residence in your village is altogether a providential circumstance. — 
 We should encourage her benevolent enterprise, wherever it might 
 be undertaken. And if a suitable situation can be provided for her, 
 in some place where her neighbors would assist and cheer her, or 
 where they would only not molest her, we should rejoice to have 
 her remove thither.f But you declared, in the town meeting, that the 
 school should not be located in any part of Canterbury — and also 
 that there is not a town in the State which would admit such a 
 seminary within its borders. It is therefore all the more necessary 
 that she should be sustained where she now is. It is to be deeply 
 regretted that yourself and others are opposed to her. We think 
 you are doing yourselves no honor; and more than that, we are per- 
 suaded you are helping to perpetuate the great iniquity, and the deep 
 disgrace of our country. The question between us is not simply 
 whether thirty or forty colored girls shall be well educated at a 
 school to be kept in Canterbury; but whether the people in any part 
 of our land will recognize and generously protect the "inalienable 
 rights of man," without distinction of color? If this be not done, 
 in Connecticut, where else in our land can we expect it will be done, 
 at least in our day? That it cannot be done even in this State with- 
 out a struggle is now most shamefully obvious. A year or two since, 
 some benevolent individuals proposed to erect an institution, at New 
 Haven, for the education of colored young men. The design was 
 defeated by violent opposition. If the citizens had opposed merely 
 its location in that City, they might have escaped condemnation, for 
 such a seminary there might have been very prejudicial to Yale Col- 
 lege. But it was only too apparent, that their hostility to the insti- 
 tution was peculiarly embittered by their prejudices against the 
 color of those, who were to be educated at it. So too in the case at 
 Canterbury; no one pretends there would have been any opposition 
 to Miss Crandall's school, if her pupils were to be white. The tinc- 
 ture of their skin then it is which has called out all the men of in- 
 fluence in array against her; and has even procured from the free- 
 men of the town an expression of their "unqualified disapprobation" 
 of her plan. 
 
 Here then, in Connecticut, we have had two recent instances of 
 outrage committed upon "the inalienable rights of man." Among 
 these rights, to use the language of the Declaration of Indepen- 
 
 a year with Miss Crandall. 
 
 tAn offer may have been made to Miss Crandall by responsible individu- 
 als to purchase her house, as stated in the Courier; but we beg the public to 
 take notice, that the offer implied an abandonment of the project. No pro- 
 posal has been made to her to procure her some other suitable situation in lieu 
 of the one she now has. Such a proposal would have been acceded to. 
 
19 
 
 denccc "are life, liberty, and tha pursuit of happiness." Now Ed- 
 ucation has from the first, been regarded in this State highly condu- 
 cive to the private happiness, and the public weal. Yet have our 
 colored brethren been twice angrily denied permission to seek thia 
 blessing, to the extent that they have desired. Will the people of 
 Connecticut generally, countenance these violations of our civil and 
 religious principles? If they will, let them no longer claim to be a 
 republican, much less a christian people! 
 
 The appeals, you have made in the public newspapers, are very 
 similar to those you urged at the town meeting on the 9th. I trust 
 however they may be shown to rest upon mistakes or prejudicss. 
 
 Throughout your remarks it was continually implied, and some- 
 times offensively expressed, that Africans and their descendants are 
 naturally, as well as actually, inferior to the white varieties of the 
 human race. This notion has become so prevalent through our 
 country, that I suppose it is generally received as resting upon an 
 indubitable fact; and so few take pains to examine the ground of it. 
 If there were room within the limits, to which I must restrict my- 
 self, I could easily lay before you enough of the results of those in- 
 quiries, which physiologists have pursued into this matter, to show 
 you that the teaching of our Sacred Scriptures on this point is de- 
 serving of so much higher deference, than your prejudices have per- 
 mitted you to pay to it. Causes enough have been in operation to 
 produce all the varieties of men, which we now behold among tho 
 descendants of the primitive pair. I might also adduce many in- 
 stances of Africans, who under the withering influences which have 
 surrounded their race for the last three hundred years, have yet ris- 
 en to a considerable elevation in science, literature, and moral ex- 
 cellence. But I shall leave their defence for the present in far abler 
 bands. The Massachusetts Colonization Society at its last Annual 
 Meeting, February 9, was addressed by Hon. Alexander H. Everett, 
 one of the ripest scholars, and most distinguished civilians in our 
 land. Having spoken at some length of the new hopes of Africa, 
 which seem to be kindling in many bosoms, and having pointed out 
 the benefits which may be conferred upon that benighted land by 
 colonies planted there from this country and Europe, he said 
 
 "But, Sir, we are sometimes told that the African is a degraded 
 member of the human family — that a man with a dark skin and curl- 
 ed hair is necessarily, as such, incapable of improvement and civi- 
 lization, and condemned by the vice of his physical conformation to 
 vegetate forever in a state of hopeless barbarism. Mr. President, I 
 reject with contempt and indignation this miserable heresy. In re- 
 plying to it, the friends of truth and humanity have not hitherto 
 done justice to the argument. In order to prove that the blacka 
 were capable of intellectual efforts, they have painfully collected a 
 few imperfect specimens of what some of them have done in thia 
 way, even in the degraded condition which they occupy at present 
 in Christendom. Sir, this is not the way to treat the subject. Go 
 back to an earlier period in the history of our race. See what the 
 blacks were, and what they did, three thousand years ago, in the pe- 
 riod of their greatness and glory, when they occupied the fore front 
 
'20 
 
 in the march of civilization — when they constituted, in fact, the 
 whole civilized world of their time. Trace this very civilization, of 
 which we are so proud, to its origin, and see where you will find it. 
 We received it from our European ancestors: — they had it from the 
 Greeks and Romans, and the Jews. I'But, Sir, where did the 
 Greeks, the Romans, and the Jews get it? They derived it from 
 Ethiopia and Egypt, — in one word— from Africa. Moses, we aro 
 told, was instructed in all the learning of the Egyptians. The foun- 
 ders of the principal Grecian cities — such as Athens, Thebes, and 
 Delphi — came from Egypt, and for centuries afterwards, their de- 
 scendants returned to that country, as the source and centre of civ- 
 ilization. There it was that the generous and stirring spirits of the 
 time — Herodotus, Homer, Plato, Pythagoras, and the rest, made 
 their noble voyages of intellectual and moral discovery, as ours now 
 make them ia England, France, Germany, and Italy. Sir, the 
 Egyptians were the masters of the Greeks and Jews, and conse- 
 quently of all the modern nations in civilization, and they had carri- 
 ed it very nearly as far — in some respects, perhaps, a good deal fur- 
 ther than any subsequent people. The ruins of the Egyptian tem- 
 ples laugh to scorn the architectural monuments of any other part 
 of the world. They will be, what they are now, the delight and ad- 
 miration of travellers from all quarters, when the grass is growing 
 on the sites of St. Peter's and St. Paul's, — the present pride of Rome 
 and London. 
 
 Well, Sir, who were the Egyptians? They were Africans: — and 
 of what race ? It is sometimes pretended, that, though Africans, 
 and of Ethiopian extraction, they were not black. But what says 
 the father of history — who had travelled among them, and knew 
 their appearance as well as we know that ot our neighbors in Can- 
 ada? Sir, Herodotus tells you that the Egyptians were blacks, with 
 curled hair. Some writers have undertaken to dispute his authori- 
 ty, but I cannot bring myself to believe, that the father of history 
 did not know black from white. It seems, therefore, for this very 
 civilization of which we are so proud, and which is the only ground 
 of our present claim of superiority, we are indebted to the ancestors 
 of these very blacks, whom we are pleased to consider as naturally 
 incapable of civilization. 
 
 So much for the supposed inferiority of the colored race, and their 
 incapacity to make any progress in civilization and improvement. — 
 And it is worth while, Mr. President, to remark, that the prejudice 
 which is commonly entertained in this country, but which does not 
 exist to any thing like the same extent in Europe, against the color of 
 the blacks, seems to have grown out of the unnatural position which 
 they occupy among us. At the period to which I just alluded, when 
 the blacks took precedence of the whites in civilization, science and 
 political power, no such prejudice appears to have existed. The 
 early Greek writers speak of the Ethiopians and Egyptians as a su- 
 perior variety of the species: — superior, not merely in intellectual 
 and moral qualities, but what may seem to be much more remarka- 
 ble, in outward appearance. The Ethiopians, says Herodotus, ex- 
 cel all other nations in longevity, stature, and personal beauty. — 
 
21 
 
 The black prince, Memnon, who served among the Trojan auxilia- 
 ries at the siege of Troy, (probably nn Egyptian prince,) is con- 
 stantly spoken of by the Greek and Latin writers, as a person of 
 extraordinary beauty, and is qualified as the son of Aurora, or the 
 Morning. There are, in short, no traces of any prejudice whatever 
 ngainst the color of the blacks, like that which has grown up in 
 modern times, and which is obviously the result of the relative con- 
 dition of the two races. This prejudice forms at present, as was 
 correctly observed by President Madison in one of his speeches in 
 the late Virginia Convention, the chief obstacle to the practical im- 
 provement of the condition of that portion of them who reside in 
 this country." 
 
 Coming as this testimony does, from a distinguished member o f 
 the Colonization Society, I trust it will make some impression upon 
 your mind, and upon the minds of other gentlemen in Canterbury, 
 who have all at once come to take such a deep interest in the oper- 
 ations of that Society.* I have however one word more to say be- 
 fore I leave this topic. If it were true, that the African members of 
 the human family are naturally inferior to others, would n ot this be 
 a very strong argument with correct reasoncrs, no less than with be- 
 nevolent men, in favor of their being aided by peculiar assistance, 
 ay, with every possible facility for improvement? Surely it would 
 be, methinks, unless they can be shown to be insusceptible of im- 
 provement. 
 
 But Sir, that even you do not consider them thus incapable of im- 
 provement, is evident enough from what you have said may be 
 done for them, on the other side of the Atlantic. It is then only 
 their being improved in America that you object to. The thought 
 of encouraging or even permitting colored men to rise, if they can, 
 tu an equality with us, even us! white ones (who have no doubt de- 
 parted quite as much as they have from the original complexion of 
 our race) — the thought, that they should ever be partakers with us, 
 even us ! in all the privileges of' this land of equal rights, this is a 
 thought, which seems to have maddened you and other gentlemen 
 who have been preeminent in this region for their republican zeal! 
 Surely the heart of man is deceitful above all things! 
 
 I shall leave with you what I should say on this point also, in the 
 words of Mr. Everett, who has set forth what I believe to be true, 
 far better than I could. 
 
 "I was not, Mr. President — if so humble an individual may be per- 
 mitted to allude to his own private sentiments, upon a subject of so 
 much interest — I was not, in the first instance, very favorably im- 
 pressed in regard to the character of (his institution. Looking at it 
 as it has been sometimes represented, as intended chiefly to remove 
 from this country the colored portion of the population, I was in- 
 clined to consider it as an inadequate instrument for effecting an ob- 
 
 *1 have reason to believe that neither Andrew T. Judson, Esq., nor indeed 
 any of the Civil Authority and Select Men of Canterbury were members of 
 the Colonization Society, or expressed any interest in it, uutil the excitement 
 against Miss Crandall. 
 
22 
 
 j«ct hi Itsslf impracticable, und which, if it could be effected, would 
 l>e, after all, of doubtful utility. The pecuuiary means at the dis- 
 posal of the Association never have been, and probably never will 
 be, sufficient to pay the expenses of the transportation to Africa of a 
 tenth part of the annual increase of the colored people. It is quite 
 clear, therefore, that there could be no prospect of ever making any 
 approach in this way, to a removal of the whole mass. And Sir, if 
 this could be effected, why should we desire it? Is there not ample 
 room and verge enough in our vast territory for the population of all 
 colors, classes and descriptions ? Is it not our true policy rather, as 
 far as possible, to induce emigration from abroad, than to endeavor 
 to remove two or three millions of our present inhabitants? What- 
 ever may be the case in the crowded countries of the Old World, 
 here at least, thank God, there is no pressure of population upon 
 the means of subsistence. Sir, it is literally true in this country, 
 that the harvest is many and the laborers few. And this being the 
 case, shall the little accident of the different color which it has pleas- 
 ed Providence to give to their complexion, render an entire varie- 
 ty of our fellow-men so odious to us, that we cannot abide them in 
 the same continent? Suppose, Sir, tiiat you or I, or any individual, 
 had it in his power, by a mere act of the will, to change the color 
 of the whole black race to white, would it be a proof of good sense 
 and good feehug to exercise the power? Suppose that an individu- 
 al had it in his power by an act of the will, to change all the black 
 eyes in this assembly to blue? Would he think it worth while to 
 exercise it? Sir, one of these operations would be just as judi- 
 cious as the other. The attempt to break down the beautiful va- 
 riety that pervades all the works of Providence into a tame and mo- 
 notonous sameness, is every way objectionable. To desire the re- 
 moval of two millions of our population, merely because their com- 
 plexion indifferent from that of the rest, would be inconsistent with 
 any corroct principles of taste, morals, or political economy. No 
 Sir, I am quite willing that the colored people should remain with 
 us. What we really ought to desire is, that their present political 
 situation should be improved, that they should be, in the language of 
 Curran, redeemed, regenerated, and disenthralled — that they should 
 be placed, in short, on an equal footing in point of civil and politi- 
 cal rights, with all the other inhabitants of our favored country. — 
 This, Sir, is a change which ought to be effected— which must, at 
 some time or other, be effected — which, I have no hesitation in say- 
 ing, will, at no very distant period be effected." 
 
 That my own sentiments are perfectly accordant with Mr. Ever- 
 ett's, you may see in my published discourse, which was delivered Ju- 
 ly 3d 1831. No one surely will deny, that it is benevolent to provido 
 a retreat on some iar distant shore for any of our countrymen, who 
 may wish to escape from oppression at home. But there are many 
 who deny that it is right to make any, even the blackest, wish to 
 emigrate by cherishing our wicked prejudices against them, or with- 
 holding from them any of the privileges which our country affords. 
 And there are many too, who have satisfied themselves that it can 
 never be in the power of the Colonizatioa Society to transport so 
 
 mb ioa 
 
23 
 
 many of our colored brethren every year to the shores of Africa, as 
 to make any sensible dimunition in their numbers; even if so many 
 could be made willing to go. For my own part, I would as soon un- 
 dertake to remove our Alleghany mountains across the great deep, 
 in any given time, as I would to transport in the same time hoo mill- 
 ions, Jive hundred thousand human beings with their annual increase 
 of sixty-two thousand, and prepare the wilds of Africa for their re- 
 ception. Sir, there never will be fewer colored people in this land 
 than there are now. They must then be admitted to the full exer- 
 cise of all their rights, as men, here. The reason, and the only rea- 
 son why the Colonization Society is losing favor with many truo 
 philanthropists in the land, is that sentiments are continually dis- 
 seminated in its publications, which tend to perpetuate the degrada- 
 tion of our colored brethren, and put further off the day, when they 
 will be permitted freely to enjoy with us the blessings of this favor- 
 ed portion of the earth. For six or eight years past I have been a 
 member of this Society. But I have come to be so doubtful of tho 
 tendency of its operations, that I shall probably soon withdraw. 
 Should the late procedure at Canterbury be accepted as promotive 
 of its real objects, sure am I that the worst suspicions that have 
 been awakened of it, would be confirmed in the bosom of every true 
 friend to our colored brethren. But I cannot believe it will be. — 
 Many Colonizationists at the South may perhaps applaud what you 
 have done, and threaten still to do; but there are many in New Eng- 
 land who will condemn your proceedings as heartily as I do. Oth- 
 ers besides Mr. Everett acknowledge the rights of the colored peo- 
 ple to a full participation in the privileges of American citizens; and 
 insist that they ought to be educated. I would particularly refer you 
 to the closing remarks of the review of "Mr. Garrison's Thoughts 
 on Colonization" in the last No. of the Christian Spectator, suppos- 
 ed to have been written by Rev. Mr. Bacon of New-Haven, a zeal- 
 ous member of the Colonization Society. 
 
 Had I roooa I could easily bring forward other sentiments from 
 other gentlemen who are members of the Colonization Society, ve- 
 ry little in accordance with those uttered by yourself and others at 
 the meeting, and since published in the Norwich papers. But I 
 must hasten to notice one or two more of your allegations. 
 
 It has often been charged upon those, who advocate the aboli- 
 tion of Slavery, that they are aiming to amalgamate the blacks 
 and the whites. This string was harped upon at the town meeting 
 by all the opposers of Miss Crandall. It served to shock the pre- 
 judices of the people, and dupe their judgment. The same charge 
 is repeated in the Norwich papers to the same effect, so that I am 
 compelled to take some notice of it. And I now call upon you, 
 and others who have brought this accusation to prove it, if you 
 can. I know and am sure, that such is not one of the intentions 
 or wishes of the Anti Slavery Society, nor of any Abolitionists 
 that 1 am acquainted with. Of course we do not believe there are 
 any barriers established by God between the two races. If there 
 were any, the complexions of tens of thousands in our land show 
 to our disgrace that those barriers are not impassable. Whether 
 
Carriages 3hall or shall not take place between those of different 
 colore, id a matter which time must be left to decide. We do not 
 advocate them, we do not hope to see them, we only say that such 
 connections would be incomparably more honorable to the whites, 
 as well as more consistent with the laws of God, and the virtue of 
 our nation, than that illicit intercourse which is now so common 
 especially at the south. 
 
 As to your charge that we advocate the immediate emancipa- 
 tion of the slaves in our country, it is true. We do so from the 
 deep conviction, that few if any sins can be more heinous, than 
 holding fellow men in bondage and degradation; and in the assur- 
 ance that men cannot leave off sinning too suddenly. So long as 
 we believe there is a wise and good Being presiding over the af- 
 fairs of men, so long we must believe that it will be safe for men 
 to do right at any moment. Persons who are alarmed at the doc- 
 trine of immediate emancipation, forget that the same civil arm 
 which now holds the slaves in bondage would still be stretched 
 over them, when free laborers, to keep them in due subjection to 
 righteous laws. And that when free they may be brought more 
 effectually under the soothing and sanctifying influences of Reli- 
 gion. I am unwilling to pass from this topic without making all 
 the remarks I intended. But I have not room to enlarge.* 
 
 By reiterating the charges, I have now been considering, you 
 and your coadjutors succeeded in effecting your purpose. You 
 procured from the inhabitants of Canterbury an expression of 
 their unqualified disapprobation of Miss Crandall's project. But 
 remember Sir, this does not prove that Miss Crandall's project is 
 an unworthy one. Far otherwise. The purest and best under- 
 takings have often been opposed. There are those, who, deeply 
 persuaded of the importance of doing what we may to meliorate 
 the condition of our colored people; and believing that Miss C. is 
 actuated by right motives, will do all in their power (not to injure 
 Canterbury) but to sustain her school. I sincerely hope Sir, that 
 you and your neighbors will see your mistake, and by upholding 
 instead of overthrowing this institution, secure to your town tha 
 high praise of being first in this great "labor of Love." 
 Yours, 
 
 SAMUEL J. MAY. 
 
 *My views are given at soma length in my Discourse on "Slavery in tha 
 United Statei." 
 
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