\ o^^.tSj;^% ,-^*\^A^%^-^ .o^-0-.-..'^o .«> / %^^^%oo v^-> V^%^' V^ ^^** il! of the Committee of Ways and Means, after discussing the constitutional protection of Slavery, he says — "But that same interest Is further protected by tho laws of the United States. It was protected by the existence of a standing army. If the Stales of tliis Union were all free republican Slates, ;ind none of them possessed any of the machinery of which he liad spoken, and if another portion of the Union were not e.xposed to another danger, ftoui their vicinity to the tribes of Indian savages, he believed it would be difllcult to prove to the House any such thing as the necessity of a standing army. What in fact was the occupation of the army ? It had been protecting tliis very same interest. It had been doing so ever since the army existed. Of what use to the District of Ply- mouth which he there represented, was the stantijng army of (lie nrnted Stares 1 Of not one dollar's use and never hUQ 't)cen." S2 And wtiat » thtt Sy»l«n whidi tre are thos protect- ing and upholding ? A system which holds two millions of God's creatures in bondage — which leaves one million females without any protection save their own feeble strength, and which makes even the exercise of that strength in re- sistance to outrage^ punishable with deathj-^which considers rational, immortal beings as articles of trafnc — •vendible commodities — merchantable property,— which recognises no social obligations — no natural relations— which tears without scruple the infant from the mother — the wife from th j husband— the parent from the child. In the strong but just language of another — "It is the full measure of pure, unmixed, unsophisticated wicked- ness ; and scorning all competition or comparison, it stands without a rival in the secure, indisputed posses- sion of its detestable pre-eminence." So fearful an evil should have its remedies. The following are among the many which have been from time to time proposed : — 1. Placing the slaves in the condition of the serfs of Poland and Russia, fixed to the soil, and without the right on the part of the master to sell or i-emove them. This was intended as a preliminary to complete emanci- pation at some remote period ; but it is impossible to per- ceive either its justice or expediency. 2. Gradual Abolition, an indefinite term, but which is Understood to imjjly the draining away drop by drop of the great ocean of wrong, — plucking off at long inter- vals some straggling branches of the moral Uphas — holding out to unborn generations the shadow of a hope which the present may never feci-,— gradually ceasing to do evil; gradually refraining from robbery, lust and murder: — in brief, obeying a short»sighted and criminal policy rather than the commands of God. 3. Abstinence on the part of the people rvf the free states from the use of the known products of slave la- lx)r, in order to render that labor profitless. Beyond a doubt the example of conscientious individuals may nave a salutary effect upon the minds of the slave- holders ;* — but so long as our confederacy exists, a com- mercial intercourse with slave-states, and a consumption of their products cannot be avoided. f 4. Colonization. The exclusive object of the American Colonization Society, according to the second article of its constitu- tion, is to colonize the free people of color residing among us, in Africa or such other place as Congress may direct. Steadily adhering to this object it has nothing to do with Slavery ; and 1 allude to it, as a remedy only because some of its friends have in view an eventual abolition or an amelioration of the evil. Let facts speak. The Colonization Society was organized in 1817. It ' Tlie followiiie is a recorded stalcmcnt of tlic vfnpralcil Bir William .lones : " Let sugar be as cheap as it may hp, it is better to eat none— bolter lo eat alues and colloqinrni;l:i llcan Violate a primary law impressed on every l^-ait, jmt mibrnled Wif.li avarice ; — than rob one liiiman creatuie of llinso cloriial riglits of wliicli no law on earth can jiisl'.y deprive Inm." t It may be doubted wlietlier Mr. W. hvocitty. t " Prejudice Vincible, or the Practicability of conquering -Prejudice by better means than Slavery or Exile, in relation to llie American Colonization Society >)y ';. Stewart, Liver- nool, Smith &. Oo. 183i" „, ., however honest, wotild find it impossible always- to distinguish between the African slave-trader or his agents and other dealers. And how many skopkcepers are there any where that would be over scrupulous in questioning a customer with a full purse ?" But we are told that the Colonization Society is to civilize and evangelize Africa. " Each eviiffranl," says Henry Clay, the ablest advocate which the Society has yet found, '• is a Missiona- ry, carrying with him credentials in the holy cause of civilization, religion and free institu- tions! !" lieatttiful and heart-cheering idea! But stay — who are these emigrants — these Missionaries '? The free people of color. " They, anc; they onl//,^' says the African Repository, the Society's organ, " are qucdijied for colonizing Africa." What are their qualifications ? Let the Socie- ty answer in its own Avords: — '■ Free blacks are a greater nuisance than even slaves themselves." — African Repository, vol. 2^ p. 328. '• A horde of miserable people — the objects of universal suspicion — subsisting by plunder." — C. F. Mercer. " An anomalous race of beings the most de- based upon earth." — African Repositorv, vol. 7, p. 230. • " Of all classes of our population the most vicious is that of the free colored." — Tenth An- nual Report of Colonization Society. I might go on to quote still further the " cre- dentials" which the free people of color are to carry with them to Liberia. — But I forbear. I come now to the only practicable — the only just scheme of Emancipation : — Immeim.vte Abo- lition OF Slavery : an immediate acknowledg- ment of the great truth, that man cannot hold property in man; an immediate surrender of baneful prejudice to Christian love; an immedi- ate practical obedience to the command of Jesus Christ: — " Whatsoever ye would that men should do unto you, do ye even so to them.'''' A correct-understanding of Avhat is meant by Immediate Abolition must convince every can- did mind, that it is neither visionary nor danger- ous ; that it involves no disastrous consequences of bloodshed and desolation ; but, on the contra- ry, that it is a safe, practicable, efficient remedy for the evils of the Slave-system. The term Immediate^- is used in contrast with that of Gradual. Earnestly as I Avish it — I do not expect— no one expects— that the tremendous system of oppression can be instantaneously over- throAvn. 1'he terrible and unrebukable in'digna- * Rev. Dr. Thornson, of Edinburgh, thus speaks of it: "Were I to treat the term gradual as some of our enemies have the term immediriU, I could easily by the help of a little quibbling, bring you to the conclusion that, as hitherto employed, it means tliat tho abolition of Slavery will never take place." "The meaning of the word as used by us is perfectly clear ; it is to bo considered and understood under the direction of com- mon sense — and as modiiied and expounded by the state- ments with which it is associated," 55 lion ©f a free people has not yet been sufficiently ' concentrated against it. The friends of aboli- tion have not forgotten the peculiar organization of our Confederacy — the delicate division of power between the states and the general gov- ernment. They see the many obstacles in their path-way ; but they know that public opinion can overcome them all. They ask no aid of physi- cal coercion. They seek to obtain their object not with the weapons of violence and blood, but with those of reason and truth, prayer to God, and entreaty to man. They seek to impress indelibly upon every human heart the true doctrines of the rights of man ; to establish now and for ever this great and fundamental truth of human liberty — that man cannot hold property in his brother ; for they believe that the general admission of this truth will utterly destroy the system of slavery — based as that system is upon a denial or disre- gard of it. To make use of the clear exposition of an eminent advocate of Immediate Abolition,* our plan of emancipation is simply this : " To promulgate the doctrine of human rights in high places and low places, and all places where there are human beings. To whisper it in chimney corners, and to proclaim it from the house-tops — yea, from the mountain-tops. To pour it out like water from the pulpit and the press. To raise it up with all the food of the inner man, from infancy to gray hairs — to give '' line upon line, and precept upon precept," till it forms one of the foundation principles, and parts indistruc- tible of the public soul. Let tliose Avho contemn this plan, renounce if they have not done it al- ready, the gospel plan of converting the world ; let them renounce every plan of moral reforma- tion, and every plan whatsoever, which does not terminate in the gratification of their own ani- mai nature?. The friends of emancipation would urge in the first instance an Immediate Abolition of Slavery in the District of Columbia, and in the Territories of Florida and Arkansas. The number of slaves in these portions of the Country, coming under the direct jurisdiction of the General Government, is as follows : District of Columbia, - - - 6,119 Territory of Arkansas, - - 4,576 Territory of Florida, - - - 15,501 Total, - ■- - - - 26,196 Here then are twenly-six thousand human beings, fashioned in the image of God, the fitted temples of His Holy Spirit, held by the Govern- ment in the abhorrent chains of Slavery. The power to emancipate them is clear. It is indis- putable.t It does not depend upon the twenty- • * Professor Wright, of tke Western Reserve ColleTe, Ohio. ° t The report of Mr. Alexander in the Congress of 1829, unfavorable to the prayer of the petition for abol- ishing Slavery in the District of Columbia, may be re- ferred to, as a specimen of the veriest sophistry which •ver supplied the place of argument. five slave votes in Congress. It lies with the free states.* Their duty is before them : the fear of God, and not of man, let them perform it. Let them at once strike off' the grievous fetters. Let them declare that man shalfno longer hold l.is fellow-man in bondage— a beast of burden — an article of traffic, Avithin the Government do- main. God and truth and eternal justice de- mands this. The very reputation of our fathers —the honor of our land— every principle of lib- erty, humanity, expediency demand it. A sacred regard to free principles originated our indepen- dence, not the paltry amount of practical evil complained of. And although our fathers left their great work unfinished, it is our duty to fol- low out their principles. Short of 'Liberty and Equality we cannot stop without doing in- justice to their memories. If our fathers intend- ed that Slavery should be perpetual— that our practice should for ever give the lie to our pro- fessions—why is the great constitutional com- pact so guardedly silent on the subject of huuian servitude? If State necessity demanded this perpetual violation of the laws of God and the rights of man— this continual solecism in a Government of Freedom— why is it not met as a necessity, incurable and inevitable, and formal- ly and distinctly recognized as a settled part ot our social system ? State Necessitv, that impe- rial tyrant seeks no disguise. In the language of Sheridan, " what he does, he dares avow, and avowing, scorns any other justification than the great motives which'placed the iron sceptre in his grasp." I Can it be possible that our fathers felt this I State necessity strong upon them ? No— for they left open the door for emancipation— they left us the light of their pure principles of liberty— they framed the great charter of American rights, v/ithout employing a term in its structure to which in after times of universal freedom the enemies of our country could point with accusa- tion or reproach. What is onr duty? To give effect to the spirit of our Constitution ; to plant ourselves upon the great Declaration and declare in the face of all the world, that politi- cal, vehgious and legal hypocrisy shall no longer cover as with loathsome leprosy the features of American freedom ; to loose at once the bands or wickedness— to undo the heavy burdens, and lei the oppressed go free. We have indeed been authoritatively told in Congress and elsewhere that our brethren of the South and West will brook no farther aeitation of the subject of Slavery. What then '.—shall we heed the unrighteous prohibition? No— by our duty as Christians— as politicians— by our duty to ourselves— to our neighbor and to 'God, we are called upon to agitate this subject ; to give Slavery no resting place under the hallow- '^ "Trust not" said the illustrious Canning, "the mas |ters c^"" Slaves in what concerns legislation for Slavery ." Let t:ic evil be remedied by a government of fre« peo- ple, and not by the makers of Slaves." 56 ed JEg'is of a government of freedom ; to tear it root and branch, with all its fruits of abomina- tion, at least from the soil of the national domain. The slave-holder may mock us — the representa- tives of property — merchandise — vendible com- modities, may threaten us; still our duty is im- perative ; the spirit of the constitution should be maintained within the exclusive jurisdiction of the Government. If we cannot " provide for the general welfare ;"' if we cannot •' guarantee to each of the States a republican form of govern- ment,"* let us at least, no longer legislate for a free nation within view of the falling whip, and within hearing of the execrations ot the task- master, and the praj^er of his slave ! 1 deny the right of the slave-holder to impose silence on his brother of the North in reference to Slavery. What ! compelled to maintain the System— to keep up the standing army which protects it, and yet be denied the poor privilege of remonstrance ! Ready, at the summons of thp master to put down the insurrections of his slaves — the out-breaking of that revenge which is now, and has been, in all nations, and all times, the inevitable consequence of oppression and wrong — and yet like automata, to act but not speak ! Are we to be denied even the right of a slave — the right to murmur ? I am not unaware that my remarks naay be re garded by many as dangerous and exceptionable; that I may be regarded as a fanatic for quoting the language of eternal truth, and denounced as an incendiary for maintaining, in the spirit as Avell as the letter, the doctrines of American In- dependence, But if such are the consequences of a simple performance of duty, I shall not regard them. If my feeble appeal but reaches * The reader will find some speculations and forebod' ings on this point in the very able speeches of Vice Presi. dent Calhoun and Gov. Poindexter of Mississippi, in the U. States Senate. It is foreign to my present purpose to meddle in any way with the doctrine of Nullification — a doctrine, which whatever it may have been originally, has been recently so sublimated and mystified, as to admit only of the Scotchman's well known definition of Meta- physics : " He that speaks disna weel ken what he says, and he that listens disna weel ken what he hears." But I would ask the reader to follow out the doctrine of the rights of the minority, or the inferior power, in point of physical or political s'trength, as maintained in the speech- es above referred to, and see to what it will lead. If there could be found motal energy enough among the slaves of South Carolina to apply *' the peacfful remedy" — to enable them to stand upon their reserved rights as members of the great human family, and formally demand a reduction of their burdens — their sufferings — what course could South Carolina adopt? If true to her principles — in which if she errs at alt it is on the side of liberty — she would grant that reduction. Would she use coercion — brute force — because the law allowed it ? No. With the indignant eloquence of her own oreat champion she would scornfully repudiate " the idea, as sophistry — bloody sophistry — such as cast Daniel in the lion's den, and the three Innocents into the fiery furnace : the same sophistry under which the bloody edicts of Nero and Calisula were executed." She would scorn to "collect tribiite from her slaves under the mouth of cannon" — to " enforce robbery by murder" — to act upon the vague abstraction — the miserable sophistry of enfor- cing a law whether just or unjust. [See speech of J. C. Caihaun in the U. S. Senate on the Enforcing Bill.] the hearts of any who are now slumbering in ini- quity — if it shall have power given it to shake down one stone irom that foul temple where the blood of human victims is otiered to the Moloch of Slavery — if under Providence, it can break one fetter from off the image of God, and enable one suflerinsr African -"To feel The weight of human misery less, and glide Ungroaning to the tomb," I shall not have written in vain : my conscience will be satisfied. Far be it from me to cast new bitterness into the gall and wormwood waters of sectional pre- judice. No — I desire peace — the peace of uni- versal love — of catholic sympathy — the peace of a common interest — a common feeling — a com- iTQon humanity. But so long as Slavery is tole- rated, no such peace can exist. Liberty and Slavery cannot dwell in harmony together. There will be a perpetual 'war in the members' of the political Mezentius — between the livmg and the dead. God and man have placed be- tween thein an everlasting barrier — an eternal separation. No matter under what name or law or compact their union is attempted, the ordina- tion of Providence has forbidden it, and it can- not stand. Peace! — there can be no peace between justice and oppression — between robbery and righteousness — truth and falsehood — freedom and slavery. The Slave-holdiug States are not free. The name of Liberty is there, but the spirit is want- ing. They do not partake of its invaluable blessings. Wherever Slavery exists to any con- siderable extent, with the exception of some re- cently settled portions of the country, and which have not y«t felt in a great degree the baneful and deteriorating influences of slave-labor — we hear at this moment the cry of suffering. We are told of grass-grown streets — of crumbling mansions — of beggared planters and barren plantations — of fear from without — of terror within. The once fertile fields are Avasted and tenantless, for the curse of Slavery — the impro- vidence ot that labor whose hire has been kept back by fraud— has been there, poisoning the very earth beyond the reviving influence of the eaily and the later rain. A moral mildew min- gles' with and blasts the economy of nature. It is as if the finger of the everlasting God had written upon the soil of the slave-holder the lan- guage of His displeasure. Let then the Slave-holding states consult their present interest by beginning without delay the work of emancipation. If they fear not, and mock at the fiery indignation of Him, to whom vengeance belongeth, let temporal interest per- suade them. They know, they must know, that the present state of things cannot long continue. Mind is the same every where, no matter what may be the complexion of the frame which it animates : there is a love of liberty which the scourge cannot eradicate— a hatred of oppression which centuries of degradation cannot extin- &7 guish. The ilare will become conscious Booner or later of his strength — his physical superiority, and will exert it. His torch will he at the thres- hold and his knife at the throat of the planter. Horrible and indiscriminate will be this ven- geance. Where then will be the pride — tlie beauty and the chivalry of the South? The smoke of her torment will rise upAvard like a thick cloud visible over the whole earth. " Belie the negro's powers : — in headlonj will, Christian, thy brother thou shalt find him still. Belie his virtues : — since his wrongs began, His follies and his crimes have stamped him man."* Let the canse of insurrection be removed then as speedily as possible. Cease to oppress. " Let him thai stole steal no more." Let the laborer have his hire. Bind bin no longer by the cords of Slavery, but with those of kindness and broth- erly love. Watch over him for his good. Pray for him; instruct him ; pour light into the dark- ness of his mind. Let this be done ; and the horrible fears which now haunt the slumbers of the siave-holdei will depart. Conscience will take down its racks and gibbets, and his soul will be at peace. His lands will no longer disappoint his hopes. Free labor will renovate them. Historical facts — thenatureof the human-mind — the demonstrated truths of political economy —the analysis of cause and effect, all concur in establishing, L That Immediate Abolition is a safe, and just and peaceful remedy for the evils of the slave-system. 2. That Free labor, its necessary consequence, is more productive, and more advantageous to the planter than slave-labor. In proof of the proposition it is only neces- sary to state the undeniable fact that immediate emancipation, whether by an individual or a community, has, in no instance been attended with violence and disorder on the part of the emancipated; but that on the contrary it has promoted cheerfulness, industry, and laudable ambition, in the place of sullen discontent, in- dolence and despair. The case of St. Domingo is in point. Blood was indeed shed on that island like water, but it was not in consequence of emancipation. It was shed in the civil war which preceded it. and in the iniquitous attempt to restore the Slave- system in 1801. It flovved on the sanguine altar of slavery, not on the pure and peaceful one of emancipation. No — there, as in all the world and in all times, the violence of oppres- sion engendered violence on the part oi the op- pressed, and vengeance followed only upon the iron footsteps of wrong. When, where, did justice to the injured waken their hate and ven- geance? When, where did love and kindness and sympathy irritate and madden the persecu- ted — the broken-hearted— the foully wronged ? In September, 1793, the Coramissiouer of the Mortfomtrj, French National Conrention issued his proela- mation giving immediate freedom to all the slaves of St. Domingo. Did the slaves baptize their freedom in blood? Did they fight like unchained desperadoes because they had been made free? Did they murder their emancipa- tors ? No— they acted, as human beings must act, under similar circumstances, by a law as irresistible as inose of the Universe— kindness disarmed tliem—ju.stice conciliated them— free- dom ennobled them. No tumult followed this wide and instantaneous emancipation. It cost not one drop of blood ; it abated not one tittle of the wealth, or the industry of the island. Colonel Malcnfant, a slave proprietor residing at tiie time on the island, slates that after the public act of abolition, the negroes remained perfectly quiet— they had obtained all tiiey ask- ed for — Liberty, and they continued to work upon all the plantations.* "There were estates" he says, "which had neither owners nor managers resident upon them, yet upon these estates, though abandon- ed, the negroes continued their labors where there were any even inferior agents to guide them, and on those estates where no white men were left to direct them, they betook themselves 10 the planting of provisions; but upon all the plantations where the whiles resided, ihe blacks continued to labor as quietly as before." Colo- nel Malenfant says, that when many of his neighbors, proprietors, or managers, were in prison, Ihe negroes of their plantitions came to him to bog him to direct tium in their work. ^' H you will take care not to talk to them of the restoration of slaveiy, but talk to them of freedom, you may with this word chain them down to iheir labor. How did Toussaint suc- ceed ? How did 1 succeed before his time in t!ie plain of the Cnlde-Sac on the plantation of Gourand, during more than eight months after iberly had been granted to the slaves? Let those who knew me at that time, let the blacks themselves, be asked : they will all reply that not a single negro upon that plantation, consist- ing of more than four hundred and fifty labor- ers, refused to work; and yet ihis plantation was thought to be under the worst discipline and the slaves the most idle of any in the plain. I inspired the same activity into three other plantations of which I had the management. If all the negroes had come from Africa within six months, if they had the love of indepen- dence that the Indians have, I should own that force must be employed ; but ninety nine out of a hundred of the blacks are aware that with- out labor they cannot procure the things that are necessary for ihem ; that there is no other method of satisfying their wants and their tastes. They know that they must work, they wish to do so, and they will do so." 'This is strong testimony. In 1796 three * Malenfant. Memsirs for a History «f St. Donua- go by Cht. Lecr«ix, 1819. S8 years after the a«l of emancipation we are told that the colony was flourishing under Tous- saint— tiiat tl^e whites lived hapi-ily and peace- ably on their estates, and the biiicks continued to work for them.* Up to 1801 the same happy state of things continued. The colony went on as by enchantment — cultivation made day by day a perceptible progress, imder the recupera- tive energies of free labor. In 1801 General Vincent a proprietor of es- tates in the island was sent by 'i'oussajnt to Paris for the purpose of laying before the Direc- tory the new Constitution which had been adopted at St. Domingo. Ho reached France just after the peace of Amiens, Vv'hen Napoleon was fitting out his ill-starred armament for the insane purpose of restoring Slavery in the Island. Gen. Vincent remonstrated solemnly and earnestly against an expedition so prepos- terous, so cruel and unnecessary — undertaken at a moment when all was peace and quietness in the colony ; when the proprietors were in peaceful possession of their estates ; when cul- tivation was making rapid progress ; and the blacks were industrious and happy beyond ex- ample. He begged that this beautiful state of things might not be reversed. Its issue is well knoAvn. Threatened once more with the hor- rors of slavery, the peaceful and quiet laborer became transformed into a dem.on of ferocity. The plough-share and the pruning-hook gave way to the pike and the dagger. The white invaders were driven back by the sword and the pe&tilence ; and then, and not till then., was the property of the planters seized upon by the excited and infuriated blacks. In 1804 Dessalines was proclaimed Emperor of Hayti: the black troops were in a great measure disbanded, and they immediately rit turned to the cultivation of tlie phniialions From that period to the present there has I no want of industry among the inhabilants Mr. Harveyt, who during the reign of Chris tophe, resided at Cape Francoise, in d('scril)ing the character and condition of the inhabitants, says: " It was an interesting sigiit to behold thisl class of the Haylians, now in posscssfun of I their freedom, coming in groups to the market nearest which they resided, bringing the pro- duce of their industry there for sale ; and after- wards returning, carrying back the necessary articles of living which the disposal of their commodities had enabled them to purchase : all evidently cheerful and happy. Nor cotdd it fail to occur to the mind that their present con- dition furnished the most satisfactory answer to that objeclion to the general emancipation of slaves found on their alleged unfitness to value and iinprove the benefits of liberty." " As they'would not suiter, so they donot require the attendance of one acting in the capacity of a driver with the instrument of punishment in his hand. As far as I had an cppcrtunily of ascertaining from what fell under my own ob- servation, and from what I gathered from other Europern residents, I am persuaded of one general fact, which, on account of its impor- tance, I shall state in the nK)st explicit terms, viz: — that thellaytians employed in cultivating the plantations, as well as the rest of the popula- tion perform as much work in a given lime as they were accustomed to do during their subjec- tion to the French. And if we may judgeof their future iir.provernent by the change wliish has been already effected, it may reasonably be anti- cipated that Hayti will ere long contain a popu- lation not inferior in their industry to that of any civilized nation in the world." * * * * "Everyman had some calling to occupy his attention ; instances of idleness or intempe- rance were of rare occurrence, the most perfect subordination prevailed, and all appeari d con- tented and happy. A foreigner would have found it difficult to persuade himself on his first entering the place, that ihe people he now be- held so submissive, industrious and contcntedj were the same people who a few years before had escaped from the shackles of slavery." The present condition of Hayti may be judged of, from the following well authenticated facts. Its population is more than 700,000 — its resour- ces ample — its prosperity and happiness gene- ral — its crimes few — its labor crowned with abundance — with no paupers save the deerepid and aged — its people hospitable, respectful, or- der!}' and contented.* The manumitted slaves, who to the number of 2,000, were settled in Nova Scotia by (he British Government at the close of the Re'vidu- tionary War " 'ed a harmless life, and gained tlie character of an Imnest people from their Vt'hite ni ighbors.-'t Of the free laborers of Trinidad we have the fame report. At the Cape of Good Hope 3000 negroes received their freedom, and with scarce a single excep- tion betook themselves to laborious employ- ments.J But we have yet stronger evidence. The total abolishment of Slavery in the Southern Repul)lic has proved beyond dispute the safety and utility of Iimnediate Abolition. The de- parted Bolivar indeed deserves his glorious title of Liberator, for he began his career of freedom by striking off the fetters of his own slaves seven hundred in nimiber. In an official letter from the Mexican Envoy ot the British Government, dated March 1820, and addressed to the Right Hon. George Can- ning, the superiority of free over slave labor is clearly demonstrated by the following facts: 1. The sugar and coffee cultivation of Mexi- co is almost exclusively confined to the great valley of Ceurnavaca and Cauntala Amilpas. ♦ Memoir* HLstorique et Politique deg Colonics, &c. I SketchvB of Hayti. N. * C. Stewart, Capt. R. t Clarkaon. i Ami-Sla^Try Report for 1832. 59 H. It 1:5 now carried on exclusively by the labor of free bhicks. 3. It was formerly wholly sustained by the; forced labor of slaves, purcliased at Vera Cruz at §800 to s$400 ea'di. 4. Abulilioti ill this seclioa was elTuctcd not by GoveriiineiUal intei-rereuco — not even fiom motives of humanity — but from an irresisiible conviction on the part of the planters that their pecuniary interest demanded it. 5. 'f'ho result has proved tlie entire correct- ness of this convicdon ; and the plantecs would now be as unwdhng as the blacks themselves to return to the old system. Let our Southern brethren imitate this exam- ple. It is in vain in the face of facts like these to talk of tiie necessity of maintidning the abominable systeai — operating as it does like a double curse upon planters and slaves. Heaven •and Eirih deny its necessiiy. It is us necessary as otiier roblKnies, and no more. Yes— pulling aside altogether the righteous law of the hviiig God— tlie same, yesterday, to-day and for ever; and shutting oui the clear- est political truths ever taught by man — still, in huma^n policy — selfish expediency, would demand of the planter the immediate emanei- pation of his slaves. Because ?]ave-lal)or is the labor of mere ?j?.a- chines ; a mechanical impulse of body and hmb, with which the mind of the laborer has no sympa- thy and from which it constantly and loaihing- ly re vol IS. Because slave-labor deprives the master alto- gether of the uicalculable benefit of the negro's will. That does not co-operate wan the forced toil of the body. This is but the necessary consequence of ail labor v.diich does not benefii the laborer. It is a just remark of tliat pro- found political economist Adam Smith, th;U " a slave can have no otiier interest than to eat and waste us much, and work ns little as he can.'" To my mind in the wasteful and blighting influences ol slave-iabor there is a solemn and warning mora!. They seem the evidence of the displeasure of Him \vlio created man after his own image, nl the unnatural attempt to govern the bones and sinews, the bodies and souls of one portion of His children by the caprice, the avarice, and the lusts of another:— at that utter violation of the design of His merciful Providence, where- by the entire dependence of millions of his ra- tional creatures, is made to centre upon the will — the existence— tliG ability of their fellow- mortals, instead of renting under the shadow of His own Infinite Power and exceeding love. I shall offer a few more facts and observations on this point. 1. A distinguished scientific gentleman, Mr. Coulomb, the superintendent of several milita- ry works in the French West Indies, gives it as his opinion, that the slaves do not perform more than one third of the labor, which they would do, provided they were urged b.v their owii interests and inclinations instead of brute force. 2. A plantation in Barbadocs in 1780, wau, cultivated by 282 slaves; 93 meh, 82 women, 56 boys and 6'J girls. In three years and tiiree months, there were on this plantation fifty seven deat.hs, and only fifteen births. A ehango was then made in the government of t'le slaves. The use of the whip was de- nied; all severe and 'arbitrary punishments were abolished; the laborers received wa- ges, and their offences were tried by a sort of negro court established au'.ong themselves: in short, thcj'' were practically free. Under this system, in foi r years and three months there were forty four births, and but forty one deaths ; and the annual net produce of the plantation was more than three limes what it iiad been before.* 3. The followiug evidence was addiicGd by Pitt in the Britis'i Padiamenl, April 1792. The assembly of Grenada had themselves stated, "tliar, though the ne- groes were allowed only the afternoon of one day in a week, they would do as tmicli work in that afternoon whea eiiip'loyod for their own benefit, as in a whole day when employed in their masters service." "Now after this confession," said Mr. Pitt, "the house might burn all its calculations relative to the negro popula- tion. A nc^ro, if he worked for himself, could, na doubt, do double work. By an improvement then in th« mode of labor, the work in the islands could be doub- led." 4. "In Coffee districts it is usual for the mas- ter to hire his people after they have done the regular tasks for the day, at a rate varying from lOd to 15. 8d for every extra bushel which they pluck from the trees ; and many, almost all^ are found eager to earn their vmges." — Christian Piecord for Jamaica, quoted by C. Stu- art, 1831. 5. In a report made by the commandant of Castries for the government of St. Lucia, in 1822, it is stated, in proof of the intimacy be- tween the slaves and the free blacks, that many small plantations, of the latter, and occupied by only one man and his wife, are better cultivated and have more land in cultivation, than those of the proprietors wdio have more slaves, and the labor on them is performed by runaway slaves;" thus clearly proving that even runaway slaves, under the ail depressing fears of discovery and oppression, labor well, because the fruits of their labor are Immediately their own.f Let us look at this subject in another point of view. The large simis of money necessary for stocking a plantation with slaves has an in- evitable tendency to place the agricultural and slave-holding community exclusively in the hands of the we;dlhy,— a tendency at war with practical republicanism and conflicting with the best maxims of political econom3^ Two hundred slaves at ($200 per head would cost in the outset .^40,000 dollars. Compare * English (Quarterly Magazine and Review of Aprfi 1832. t J. JeremiG, quoted by Stuart- i»o this enormous outlay for the labor of a single j plantation, with the beautiful system of free I labor as exhibited in New-England, where eve-: ry young laborer, with health and orJinary; prudence may acqiiireby his labor on the farms, of otliers ill a few years, a farm of his own, j and t:ie stock necessary for ils proper cultiva- tion ; — where on a hard and untlianlvful soil, independence and competence may be attained by all. . j Free labor is perfectly in accordance with; the spirit of onr inslitnlions ; slave labour isj a relic of a barbarous, despotic age. The one| like the firmament of Heaven, is the equal dif-j fusion of similar lights, manifest, harmonious,! regular; the other is tlie fiery predominance of some disastrous star, hiding all lesser lumina ries around it in one consuming glare. Emancipation would reform this evil. The planter would no louijer be under the necessit}- of a heavy expenditure for ^laves. He would only pay a very modenite price for his labour; a price indeed far less than the cost of the main- tenance of a promiscuous gang of slaves, which the present system requires. In an old plantation of 300 slaves, not more than 100 effective laborers will be found. Chil- dren— the old an! superannuated — the sick and det;repid — the idle and incorrigibly vicious — will lie found to con-titute two thirds of the whole number. The remaining third perform only about one third as much work, as tlie same number of free laborers. Now disburden the master of this heavy loid of maintenance; let hiui employ /r-ee, able, in- dustri-ms laborers only, those who feel con- scious of a personal interest in the fruits of their labor, and who does not see that such a system would be vastly more safe and econom- ical than the present 1 The slave states are learning this truth by fatal experienc<'. Most of them are silently writhing under the great curse. Virginia has uttered her complaints aloud. As yet, howev- er, nothing has been done even there, save a small annual appropriation for lln:' purpose of colonizing the free colored in/iabUanlf! of the Slate. Is this a remedy ? But it may be said that Virginia will ultim- ately liberate her slaves on condition of their colonization in Africa, peacefully if possible, forcibly if necessary. Well — admitting that Virginia may be able and willing at some remote period to rid her- self of the evil by commuting the punishment of her unoffending colored people, from Slave- ry to Exile, will licr fearful remedy apply to some of the other slaveholding states ? It is a fact, strongly insisted upon by our Southern brethren as a reason for the perpetu- ation of Slavery, that their climate and pecu- liar agriculture will not admit of liard labor on the part of the whiles. That amidst the fatal malaria of the rice plantations the white man is almost annually visited by the country fever ; I that few of the white overseers of these planttt- Itions reach the middle period of ordinary life : that the owners are compelled to fly from their estates as the hot season approaclies, without being able to return until the first Irosts have fallen. But vve are told that the slaves remain there, at their work— mid-leg in putrid water; breatiiing the noisome atmosphere, loaded with 'contagion, and underneath the scorching fervor 'of a terrible sun ; that they indeed suffer; but Ithat their habits, constitutions and their long {practice enable them to labor, surrounded by 'such destructive influences, with comparative 'safety. I The conclusive answer, therefore, to those jwho in reality cherish the visionary hope of col- ionizing all the colored people of the United j Slates in Africa or elsewhere, is this single, all- ! important fact : — The labor of the blacks will \vot an, I caniwl he dispensed with by the planter \of the South. To what remedy then can the friends of hu- maniiy betake themselves but to that of Eman- cipation? And nolhins but a strong, unequivocal ex- pression of public sentiment is needed to carry into effect this remedy, so far as the General Government is cuncerned. And when the voice of all the non-.slavehold- ing slates shall be heard on this question; a voice of expostulation, rebuke, entreaty: — • wlieii tliefull light of truth shall break through the night of prejudice, and rev( ;il all the foul abominations of slavery, will Delaware still cling to the curse which is wasting her moral strength — and still rivit the fetters upon her three or four thousand slaves? Let. Delaware begin tlu; work; and Mary- land, New Jeisey, and Virginia must follow ; the examide will b.j contagions; and the great object of Universal Emancipation will be at- tained. Freemen, Christians, lovers of truth and jus- tice! \\ hy stand ye idle? Ours is a govern- ment of opinion, and slavery is interwoven with it. Change the current of opinion, and slavery will be swept away. Let the awful sovereiguty of tlie people — a power which is limited only by the sovereignty of Heaven, arise and pronounce judgment against the crying iniquity. Let each individual remember that upon iiimfelf rests a portion of that sovereign- ty; ;i part of the tremendous responsibility of its exercise. The burning, v.ithering concen- tration of public opinion upon the Slave sys- tem is alone needed for its total annihilation. God has given us the power to overthrow it;— a po A'er, peaceful, yet mighty — benevolent, yet effectual — "awful without severity" — amoral sirensth equal to the emergency. "How does it happen," inquires an able wri- ter,* "that whenever duty is named we begin to hear of the weakness o*" ^'-r-"" nct-.rf.'? — ♦ W. B. O. Peabodj. 61 Thai same nature which outruns the whirlwind in the chase of gain — which rages li] ulogy was w()m;in's i;iflu( nci- (iverreJ.< d. Sisters, daughters, wives, ;iiid mothers, your ji fliieiiceis fell evr ry where, at tiie fir- side, and in the hall.s of legislation, siirrouiilinii liki; the al!-encircling atmosphere, brother and fallur, husband and sun! And by your love of them : by every holy sympathy of voiir bojoms; by every mournful appeal wdiich comes up to you from hearts whose sanctuary oi' affections has been made wtiste and desolate, you are called upon to exert it in the cause o redemption from wrong and outrage. Let the Patriot, — the friend of liberty and the 62 Union of the States, no longer shut his eyes lo the great danger — the masler-evil before which all others dwindle into insignificance. Our Union is tottering to its foundation, and slaverj- is the cause. Remove the evil. Dry up at their source the bitter waters. In vain you en- act and abrogate your lariflFs: in Vr in is individ- ual sacriricCj or sectional concession. The ac- cursed thing is with us— the stone of stumb- ling and the rock of offence remains. Drag then the Achan into light; and let National Repentance atone for National Sin. The conflicting interests of free and slave- labor, furnish tlie only ground for fear in rela- tion to the permanency of the Union. The line of separation between them is day by day grow- ing broader and deeper: geograpliicaily and politically united, we are alread}-, in a moral point of viev.', a divided people. But a few months ago we were on the very verge of civil war, a war of brothers — a war between the Nortli and the South, — between the slave-hold- er and the free-laborer. The danger lias been delayed for a time ; — this bolt has fallen with- out mortal injury to the Union — but the cloud from whence it came still hangs above us, red- dening with the elements of destruction. Recent events have furnished ample proof that the slaveholding interest is prepared lo re sist any legislation on the part of the General Government w hich is supposed to have a ten «y directly or indirectly, to encourage and in- vigorate free-lubor : — and that it is dctersnined to charge upon its opposite interest the infliction of all those evils which necessarily attend its own operation — "the primeval curse of Omnip- otence upon slavery." We have already felt in too many instances the extreme difficulty of cherishing in one com- mon course of National Legislation the oppo- site interests of republican equality, and feudal aristocracy and servitude. Ihe truth is, we havexindertnken a moral impossibility. These interests are from their nature irreconcileable. — The one is based upon the purer principles of rational liberty : the other under the name of freedom, revives tlie ancient European system of barons and villains—nobles and serfs. Indeed the state of Socii'ty which existed arnons our Anglo-Saxon anctstors was far more tohrabK than that of many portions of our republicari confederacy. For the Anslo-Saxon slaves had it in their power to purchase their freedom ; — and the laws of the realm recognized their lib- eration and placed them under legal protec- tion.* *The difiiision of '•hristianity in Great Britain was moreover, ror.ouec: Dy a general manumission : for it would seem that tlio priests and missionaries of religion in that early and benighted ajjc were more faithful in the performance of their duties, than those of the present. "The holy fathers, monks, and friars," says Sir T. Smith, "had in iheir confessions, and especially in tlicir e.Mreme and deadly sickness, convinced the laity iiow daii:;erous a thing it was for one christian to hold another in bond- age ; so that temporal men bv reason of the terror in To counteract the dangers resulting from a slate of society so utterly at variance with the Great Declaration of American Freedom, siiould be the earnest endeavor of every patriotic states- man. Nothing unconstitutional, nothing vio- lent should be attempted ; but the true doctrine of tiie rights of man should be steadily kept in view; and the opposition to slavery should be inflexible and constantly maintained. The al- most daily violation of the constitution in con- sequence of the lawsof some of the slave states, subjecting free colored citizens of New-Eng- land and elsewhere, who may happen lo be on board our coasting vessels, to imprisonment immediately on their arrival in a Southern port, should be provided against. Nor should the imprisonment of the free-colored citizens of the Northern and Middle stales, on suspicion oi being runaways, subjecting them even after being pronounced free, to the costs of their con- finement and trial, be longer tolerated; for if we continue to yield to innovations like these upon the constitution of our fathers, we shall ere long have the name of a free government :eft us. Dissemble as we may, it is impossible for us to believe, after fully considering the na- ture of slavery that it can muchlonger maintain a peaceable existence among us. A day of rev- olution must come ; and it is our duty to pre- pare for It. Its threatened evil may be chan- ged into a national blessing. The establish- ment of schools for the instruction of the slave children ; a general dilrusion of the lights of Christianity ; and the introduction of a sa- cred respect lor the social obligations of mar- riage, and for the relations between parents and children, among our black population, would render emancipation not only perfectly safe, but also of the highest advaitt;ige to the country Two millions of freemen would be added to our population, upon whom in the hour of danger we could safely depend ; '"the domestic I'oe" would be changed into a firm friend, iaith- I'ul, generous, and ready to encounter all dan- gers in our defence It is well known tliat du- ring the last war witli Greaat Britain, whenever the enemy touched upi^n our southern coast, the s/arf.5 ill multitudes hastened to join them. On the other hand the/ro /^;^^\ ,^° /^> Ci^ *. • • • .v.* • I1» >^ .1^% ^^ «. •••<•• <^ ^.•i:^'* ^V' WERT 600KB1NCHNC March ikpril 1989