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THOUGHTS 
 
 ON 
 
 AMERICAN SLAVERY 
 
 AND ITS 
 
 PROPOSED REMEDIES, 
 
 BY A NbRTHERNEFU 
 
 HARTFORD: 
 
 PUBLISHED BY HENRY BENTON. 
 
 1838. 
 
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1838, by Hexhy 
 Benton, in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of Connecticut. 
 
THOUGHTS ON SLAVERY. 
 
 1 HE present age is evidently marked with 
 a redeeming spirit. As intellectual improve- 
 ment progresses, and especially as the light of 
 truth brightens and extends, and mankind more 
 clearly understand, not only their unalienable 
 rights, but also their true interests, moral and 
 physical, we may anticipate corresponding ef- 
 forts for the attainment of the one, and the pro- 
 motion of the other. 
 
 But a few years since, the almost universal 
 prevalence of the use of intoxicating drink, 
 gave sad evidence of the bias of human nature 
 to self ruin, and formed an alarming symptom 
 that, on this point, "destruction and misery 
 
4 .THOUGHT* OH SLAVERY. 
 
 were in its way." Now we find, at least in 
 the more enlightened portions of the land, the 
 current of popular sentiment setting strongly 
 against all connection both in traffick and use, 
 with an article which, so far from being an in- 
 dispensable requisite to human happiness, is a 
 relic of barbarism, and the bane of all that is 
 valuable in social and domestic life. And as 
 this sentiment prevails, we see proportionate ef- 
 forts put forth to expel the poison from the 
 community. 
 
 But a few years ago, the representatives of 
 the United States from the East, West, North, 
 and South, virtually declared by their votes in 
 Congress, that the purchase and possession of 
 the natives of Africa and their descendants, was 
 consistent with the charter of our freedom, 
 which declares as the political creed of the na- 
 tion that " all men are created equal ; that they 
 are endowed by their Creator with certain un- 
 alienable rights ; that ainong these are life, 
 
THOUGHTS ON SLAVERY. 9 
 
 liberty, and the pursuit of happiness."* — 
 But since experience has taught that the 
 phrase " all men" in this article of the public 
 faith, recognizes no exception of colour, and 
 that the love of liberty glows as ardently under 
 a black skin as under a white ; and particularly, 
 since experience has begun to testify to the dan- 
 ger as well as the injustice of trafficking in hu- 
 man bones and sinews under the banner of 
 freedom ; we perceive a correspondent spirit of 
 reform awaking in the public mind on this 
 subject. 
 
 This is as it should be. And it were well if 
 a similar spirit of reformation existed towards 
 all the offences against the laws of Heaven 
 which mark us as a people, and expose us to the 
 divine displeasure. I know not but that the same 
 hearts which swell with the feelings of reform 
 
 * The word unalienable must obviously be used here 
 in a qualified sense ; as even civil liberty itself requires these 
 rights to be alienated or taken away in individual cases for 
 the welfare of the community. 
 
 l» 
 
6 THOUGHTS ON SLAVERY. 
 
 towards the evils which have been specified, 
 are equally engaged to wipe away our reproach 
 for the oppression of the Indian tribes on our 
 borders, by promoting repentance and restitu- 
 tion — are equally zealous to redeem the Chris- 
 tian Sabbath from legalized desecration — to 
 exalt the statute-book of God in our halls of le- 
 gislation ; and to spread the influence of the 
 gospel so extensively, that the nation may be 
 brought to " beat the sword into the plough- 
 share, and the spear into the pruning-hook, and 
 learn war no more." 
 
 One thing is certain, the spirit of reform 
 which looks at national sin in all its ramifica- 
 tions, and which aims to cast away from the 
 midst of us all our transgressions, is the spirit 
 most to be desired and cherished. An over- 
 bearing zeal against some sins, while others are 
 committed without compunction or restraint, is, 
 at best, the mere ebullition of a temporary ex- 
 citement, springing not from principle but from 
 extraneous circumstances ; and proves that the 
 
FREE DISCUSSION. 
 
 opposition professed, arises not from aversion 
 to crime itself, but from prejudiced feelings, 
 and very partial if not entirely selfish motives. 
 Not that we ought to neglect all efforts to re- 
 form mankind, unless we can make the refor- 
 mation thorough and entire ; or that we should 
 aim to abolish no crime because we cannot 
 banish all. This is not the sentiment de- 
 signed to be conveyed. But, that our ef- 
 forts will prove suspicious and fruitless, just 
 in proportion as they seem to arise from hos- 
 tility to the sinner more than to his sins : — 
 from opposition to a particular modification of 
 crime, more than to crime itself. 
 
 In accordance with this sentiment, it is my 
 object to consider the subject of slavery, as it 
 exists in our country, and the measures propo- 
 sed for its abolition. And in presenting my 
 thoughts on this topic, I only avail myself of 
 the right of free discussion, which is now so 
 loudly contended for ; and respecting which, I 
 beg leave to say a word in the outset. 
 
i8 FREE DISCUSSION. 
 
 I understand by this right, the privilege of all 
 men to publish either orally, or by the press, 
 their opinions on all subjects, and the reasons 
 for them ; provided that these opinions, and 
 their publication, do not invade the rights of 
 others. 
 
 Suppose, for example, that a community of 
 some fifty or a hundred families, united in senti- 
 ment and purpose, should emigrate in a body to 
 the West, and there form themselves into a 
 society under certain laws or regulations, upon 
 the principle of government by a majority. 
 A stranger visits the town, and proposes to as- 
 semble the inhabitants, and proclaim in their 
 hearing sentiments diverse from their own ; 
 and which they consider subversive of their 
 peace and harmony. The authorities of ih€ 
 town refuse his request, and forbid the proce- 
 dure. With what grace would such an indi- 
 vidual demand a hearing, or raise the cry of an 
 infringement of his rights ? And suppose that a 
 few of the inhabitants, easily led away by eve- 
 
FREE DISCUSSION. • 
 
 ry wind of doctrine, should come forward to 
 favor his application ; would this give him the 
 right to be heard, against the will of the majori- 
 
 • 
 
 ty? And if, under these circumstances, he 
 should persevere in obtruding himself upon 
 them ; setting at defiance the expressed will of 
 the community ; and that community should, 
 under the excitement of the occasion, break 
 through their own wholesome regulations and 
 mob him ; would he be most justly deemed a 
 martyr to the cause of free discussion, or a 
 victim to his own rashness ? 
 
 Again. Suppose I should proclaim to this 
 community, that on a certain day or evening I 
 would hold a public meeting, in which I would 
 pourtray the characters of some members of 
 the community, not by name, but so vividly 
 that they could not be mistaken, and hold them 
 up to public notoriety. The magistrates of the 
 place say to me, " Sir, you must relinquish this 
 purpose, and not attempt such a movement, 
 otherwise you will assuredly be assaulted, and 
 
10 FREE DISCUSSION. 
 
 probably abused." I reply, " Gentlemen, this 
 is a land of freedom of opinion, and I, as a citi- 
 zen, demand my right of free discussion, and I 
 hope you will sustain me in vindicating that 
 right." Does any one fail to perceive the ar- 
 rogance, not to say absurdity, of such a claim ? 
 And suppose, seeing my obstinate determina- 
 tion to proceed, they should, in the exercise of 
 the authority vested in them by law, interfere 
 to prevent me from making the attempt ; with 
 what propriety could I complain of persecu- 
 tion? 
 
 The right of free discussion, then, is to be 
 regulated by circumstances ; by the subject to 
 be discussed, and the rights of others, and to be 
 limited to that over which we have control, for 
 the right to discuss implies the power to decide. 
 Like the expression of private opinion, it must 
 have regard to whom and of whom it is ex- 
 pressed, and the time and circumstances in 
 which it is uttered. And they who inflame the 
 passions of a mob by the abuse of what they 
 
EXTENT OF THE EVIL. 
 
 11 
 
 call their rights on this point, ought not to com- 
 plain of the consequences. But to the subject 
 proposed. 
 
 That slavery is an evil, and a threatening 
 evil, it is presumed will not be denied. And in 
 order to a correct and practical consideration 
 of this evil, it is necessary that we form a right 
 judgment respecting its nature, and who are 
 concerned in its guilt. Thus we shall be better 
 qualified to think, feel, and act upon the great 
 question respecting the ways and means for its 
 removal. 
 
 Let it be observed, then, that slavery, as it 
 exists in our land, is a public, and national, and 
 not merely an individual or a provincial sin. 
 Not many years since, the inhabitants of the 
 Northern as well as Southern section of the 
 country were direct partakers in it. Northern 
 vessels have heretofore been extensively enga- 
 ged in the slave traffick which has entailed the 
 evil on the South, and many princely estates in 
 
12 EXTENT OF THE EVIL. 
 
 different parts of New-England were acquired 
 by the profits. 
 
 Previous to the adoption of the Constitution 
 of our country, all were involved in the pro- 
 motion of this evil ; and, in the formation of the 
 Union, as it now exists, the votes of the North 
 and the South were equally concerned.* In 
 some of the Northern states, also, slavery was 
 marked with great severity. In the year 1740, 
 a slave belonging in the state of New- York was 
 convicted of some crime, by three justices and 
 a jury of Jive, and burnt at the stake ; so severe 
 were the laws of that State against slaves.f 
 
 Slavery is an evil of numerous and extensive 
 ramifications; interwoven with sonie of the 
 most important interests of the nation, especial- 
 ly of the South and West. The commerce of 
 the North is still, to a greater or less extent, 
 
 * See Art. I. Sec. 3, and Art. P7. Sec. 2, of the Consti- 
 tution of the U. S. 
 
 t Judge Daggett's charge, at the trial of Miss Crandall, 
 Oct. 1833. 
 
EXTENT OP THE EVIL. 13 
 
 employed in the transportation of the products 
 of slave labor. Indigo, cotton, rice, tobacco, 
 sugar, molasses, &c. &c, have become impor- 
 tant articles of commerce to every portion of 
 the country. "So long as our confederacy 
 exists," says a late advocate of immediate abo- 
 lition, " a commercial intercourse with slave 
 states, and a consumption of their products can- 
 not be avoided." In the collection of debts, al- 
 so, the property in slaves is recognized by 
 Northern as well as by Southern traders ; and 
 as such, slaves have been attached by Northern 
 creditors to secure payment. 
 
 In the slave-holding states especially, is this 
 evil entwined about all the interests of civil and 
 domestic life. It has been transmitted from 
 generation to generation ; and those who are 
 now its more immediate inheritants, feel its 
 pressure heavier than did any of their ances- 
 tors. But it lies at the basis of their social and 
 political interests. They are all, to a greater . 
 
 or less extent, born the constituted guardians, 
 « 2 
 
14 EXTENT OF THE EVIL. 
 
 as well as the possessors of the coloured popu- 
 lation ; and as such, are involved .in duties and 
 cares of which they can no more divest them- 
 selves, while holding that relation, than those 
 who are parents can throw off the duties and 
 cares involved in the parental relation. 
 
 Nor is it an easy matter to abolish, at once, 
 the relation thus existing between the master 
 and slave, consistently with the welfare of both. 
 Its roots have so entwined themselves around 
 the foundations of almost all that is " lovely and 
 of good report" in the community, that in 
 their eradication, there is, to say the least, a 
 possibility of uprooting also the wheat with 
 them. 
 
 It has become customary with those who are 
 endeavouring to pourtray the sin and guilt of 
 slavery in its darkest shades, to compare it to 
 the sin of intemperance, and argue from the 
 supposed analogy, the duty of immediate 
 emancipation. The force of such reasoning 
 is quite imperceptible, because no such analogy 
 
EXTENT OP THE EVIL. 15 
 
 6xists in the nature and circumstances of the 
 two evils ;_ the one being a matter of individual 
 appetite, and habit, which may be controlled, 
 and the traffic pursued or abandoned at the op- 
 tion of the individual concerned in it ; while 
 the other depends for its remedy, on the com- 
 bined will of the whole community, expressed 
 through their legal representatives. 
 
 I admit, that, taking the abstract principle of 
 sin merely, in the two cases, and reasoning 
 from it on the extent of the guilt connected with 
 each respectively, we may frame a specious 
 argument to suit a purpose. Thus it has been 
 argued, that as those who traffic in, or use. 
 intoxicating drink, are viewed as accessories to 
 the sin of drunkenness and its results, and in- 
 volved in its guilt : so are not only slave-hold- 
 ers guilty, but all who traffic in and consume 
 the products of slave-labor, are accessories to 
 the sin of slavery. 
 
 As I shall have occasion again to advert to 
 this mode of reasoning, I will merely observe 
 
16 EXTENT OP THE EVIL. 
 
 here, that, supposing it correct, it serves to 
 show the extent of the evil — that slavery, as 
 it exists in our land, is peculiarly the sin of 
 the nation ; and very similar in its nature to 
 the sin of oppression, as it has been committed 
 against the aborigines of the country, in the 
 violation of the most solemn compacts made 
 with them ; and the sin of desecrating the 
 Christian Sabbath by the legalized transporta- 
 tion of the public mails on that day. 
 
 Like these, also, it is a sin of extensive rami- 
 fications ; blended with the enactments of civil 
 law, and involving many questions, not only of 
 expediency, but of duty, in relation to its bear- 
 ings upon the various departments of political 
 and civil life. 
 
 Viewed in this broad light, we shall find that 
 it is an evil, the eradication or reformation of 
 which, is no work of a day, or a year ; and 
 that it cannot be effected suddenly, but by pro- 
 ducing convulsions in society, which will be felt, 
 
EXTENT OF THE EVIL. 17 
 
 not merely in the South and West, but through- 
 out this great republic. 
 
 In prescribing remedies for this evil, there- 
 fore, it becomes us to keep steadily in view 
 its nature and extent ; its magnitude and con- 
 nections ; that we may not blindly set in mo- 
 tion the engines of our political destruction, 
 and bury, at once, our efforts and our hopes, 
 in the grave of our civil and religious as well 
 as domestic happiness. On a correct and judi- 
 cious estimate of the evil itself, must depend 
 the efficiency or inefficiency of all plans and 
 efforts for its removal. 
 
 If we merely apply to it the abstract princi- 
 ple of moral right and wrong, and call it sin, I 
 am aware that nothing is more easy than to 
 prescribe the cure. This, of course, is immedi- 
 ate repentance. All must agree in the general 
 concession, that sin, as such, is wrong, and 
 ought, without delay, to be forsaken. But, to 
 test the efficiency of this mode of combatting 
 the evil of slavery, we have only to apply it to 
 
18 ITS SIN ABSTRACTEDLY. 
 
 the other national sins which have been men- 
 tioned. 
 
 The violation of the Sabbath by the trans- 
 portation of the public mails and the attendant 
 post-office duties, is a national sin, because 
 sanctioned by law ; and we are all partakers in 
 its guilt, as in the case of slavery. And as a 
 sin against the divine law, all must admit that it 
 ought immediately to be repented of and forsa- 
 ken. It is more easy and practicable for post- 
 masters and mail-contractors to abandon at 
 once, their posts of office, than it is for the slave- 
 holder immediately to emancipate his slaves. 
 Both are under equal moral obligation to per- 
 form their duty in the matter. 
 
 But the work of repentance, according to 
 this abstract mode of reasoning, to be thorough, 
 must go further ; and extend not only to the 
 immediate agents in those sins, but to all who, 
 in any way participate therein. Accordingly, 
 all who avail themselves, directly or indirectly, 
 of the advantages of Sabbath mails, and all 
 
ITS SIN ABSTRACTEDLY. 19 
 
 who in any way wink at the sin, are, so far 
 from being accusers, transgressors themselves, 
 and under obligations of immediate repentance. 
 And who, then, is clear in this matter ? 
 
 On the same principle, all who directly or 
 indirectly avail themselves of the benefits of 
 slave labor ; who traffic in or use any of the 
 productions of slave countries ; or who, in any 
 way, wink at the sin, are, so far from being 
 rightful accusers, the transgressors themselves, 
 and under obligations of immediate repentance. 
 And who of us is exempt in this matter ? 
 
 And, pursuing the same reasoning; as the 
 churches of Christ are unquestionably bound 
 not to suffer sin upon their members, but to 
 reprove and rebuke it ; and if still persisted in, 
 to cut off the offender ; who that sustains a 
 place in the visible church, has any right, on 
 these abstract principles, to stand a moment, 
 unless he at once break off from all direct and 
 indirect participation in these national sins. 
 
 I wish the reader to perceive the extent of 
 
20 ITS SIN ABSTRACTEDLY. 
 
 the work of reformation when measured by the 
 line and plummet of the law of God ; and can- 
 didly to judge, whether acting according to 
 what human nature ought to be, instead of 
 adapting our efforts to its true character and 
 condition, we can most efficiently promote a 
 reformation on the subject of slavery or any 
 other sin. 
 
 If we carry this abstract principle of sin to 
 its full extent, the slave-holder would not be 
 exonerated even after the immediate emancipa- 
 tion of his slaves ; but would stand guilty, and 
 equally exposed to censure, for the incapacity 
 of his slaves to provide for themselves after 
 they were liberated, so far as that incapacity 
 could be traced to their former condition. 
 
 It is evident, therefore, that mere reasoning 
 on the moral turpitude of slavery, however 
 just and cogent, and the application of such 
 arguments to one portion of the community 
 when the whole are guilty : or in other words, 
 the denunciation of one class of transgressors 
 
ITS SIN ABSTRACTEDLY. 21 
 
 by another, does not present any prospect of 
 relief from the evil — any thing practicable on 
 the subject : but rather tends to exasperate the 
 feelings and harden the heart, and destroy all 
 hope of reformation. 
 
 With equal propriety and hope of success 
 might we denounce and reason against idola- 
 try, polytheism, and all sin in this ruined world, 
 and proclaim the duty of immediate repent- 
 ance ; without showing, at the same time, a 
 way of deliverance from its thraldom and 
 curse. 
 
 With equal justness, might the friends of en- 
 tire abstinence from strong drink be denounced, 
 because they continue to live under a govern- 
 ment and laws which tolerate and sanction its 
 traffick and use. 
 
 With as much propriety and expectation of 
 usefulness, might a physician denounce the im- 
 prudent habits of his patient, and his guilt in 
 contracting the disease under which he may be 
 suffering ; and proclaim to him his moral obli- 
 
22 ITS FIN ABSTRACTEDLY. 
 
 gations to eradicate those habits; instead of 
 investigating the nature and extent of his mala- 
 dy, and prescribing some practicable, though it 
 might be very gradual process for his reco- 
 very. 
 
 If, then, the immediate emancipation of his 
 slaves, be the moral duty of every slave-Jiolder; 
 so is the immediate renunciation of all connec- 
 tion, by use or otherwise, with the products of 
 slave labor, and of all participation in the laws 
 which sanction it, the moral duty of every non- 
 slave-holder in the land. And so with regard 
 to every national sin. But, will the continued, 
 boisterous, and I may say angry proclamation 
 of this moral obligation by one class of partak- 
 ers in the sin to another, while no feasible meth- 
 od of relief is made known, be likely to effect a 
 reformation? 
 
 And will it not follow of course, on the 
 same principle, that if the duty of immediate 
 emancipation is to be so constantly and vehe- 
 mently urgcd,the duty of immediate insurrection 
 
TOLERATION OF MORAL EVIL. 23 
 
 on the part of slaves ought to be ? Surely 
 consistency demands it ; for if the master is liv- 
 ing in sin every hour he retains possession of 
 his slaves, they are sinning also in submitting to 
 the oppression. 
 
 , There must then be something wrong in rea- 
 soning, which will not bear thus to be extended 
 in its application. 
 
 Let us then look a little more particularly at 
 this doctrine respecting the toleration of moral 
 evil. And I remark, on this point, that the 
 power by which moral evil is produced, is not 
 usually competent to its remedy ; and, there- 
 fore, however culpable for its production, is in 
 vain denounced for not removing it. Is the 
 same power which brought sin and death into 
 the world, adequate to its immediate and entire 
 removal ? 
 
 But slavery is not only a moral, but a politi- 
 cal evil. And I remark again, that in the produc- 
 tion of political evils, the power that produces, 
 cannot always remove them. An institution 
 
24 TOLERATION OF MORAL EVIL. 
 
 may be chartered by legislative enactment, 
 which may, in its operatiens and results, be 
 productive of much evil to the community; 
 and iyet the attempt on the part of the same 
 power to destroy its charter, would be deemed 
 fruitful of far greater mischief. 
 
 Nor is it true, that all who consent to act un- 
 der a system of political or moral evil, neces- 
 sarily approve such system, or are guilty of its 
 injurious results ; though by reasoning upon the 
 abstract principle of sin, as has been shown, it 
 may be so made to appear. 
 
 A foreign prince may abhor the very system 
 of despotism under which he reigns ; but, at 
 the same time, were he to abdicate the throne, 
 he might spread tenfold more mischief through 
 his empire. So that it may be his duty to con- 
 tinue to sway the sceptre, and tolerate the po- 
 litical system which he knows and feels to be 
 wrong, that he may avoid greater evils, and 
 ultimately change or modify the system itself. 
 
 A zealous abolitionist, knowing that the con- 
 
TOLERATION OF MORAL EVIL. 25 
 
 stitution and laws of the State where he resides, 
 disfranchise the free coloured population within 
 its limits, and even to a certain extent tolerate 
 slavery ; (as do the statutes of Connecticut ;) 
 may yet deem it his duty to swear allegiance 
 to that constitution, and those laws, and live and 
 act under their operation. But does he there- 
 fore approve of those peculiar features of the 
 government, because he does not break forth 
 in open hostility to them ? 
 
 So also, an inhabitant of a State where sla- 
 very exists, as in the southern section of our 
 land, does not necessarily approve of slavery, 
 nor is he entitled to the charge of man-stealing, 
 because he lives and acts under the laws which 
 sanction slavery. But he may be legally a 
 slave-holder, while in principle and spirit he ab- 
 hors the system, and does all that he can con- 
 sistently to mitigate and change it. And I feel 
 authorised to say that such cases are not rare 
 in the South and West. 
 
 Take a case in which the question of dutv 
 3 
 
26 TOLERATION OF MORAL EVIL. 
 
 with regard to this toleration of moral evil is 
 clearly presented. A family is called in the 
 providence of God to remove their residence 
 to one of the slave-holding States. Their her- 
 itage is fallen to them there ; and on the cul- 
 tivation of the farm or plantation, depends 
 their subsistence. But consisting mostly of 
 females, they are dependent on the aid of the 
 laboring class of the community where they 
 dwell. This class they find composed chiefly, 
 if not entirely, of slaves. I 1 hey have consci- 
 entious scruples against slavery and abhor the 
 system ; but unless their labor is performed, and 
 at the proper season, they must be destitute of 
 food and raiment. Shall they hire slaves, and 
 thus throw their earnings into the pockets of 
 some unkind and perhaps cruel master ; or shall 
 they possess them, and thus be enabled to treat 
 them with Christian kindness ? In either case, 
 they must be connected with slavery ; as the 
 laws permit no emancipated slaves to reside 
 
SCRIPTURE DOCTRINE. 27 
 
 within the State, unless heavy bonds are given 
 for their support and good behavior. 
 
 Now it is very easy to answer, on the ab- 
 stract principle of sin which we have consid- 
 ered, that they ought to suffer, rather than tol- 
 erate the evil. But what is the answer which 
 the real circumstances of the case, under the 
 existing laws of the country where they reside, 
 and the golden rule of equity, would dictate? 
 What answer would the great Governor of the 
 universe give to this question of duty ? 
 
 This leads me to glance at the doctrine of 
 divine inspiration on this subject ; the toleration 
 of moral evil : I do not mean in ourselves, but 
 in others. I will not dwell upon the obvious 
 truth, that Jehovah tolerates it every day. Not 
 that he appro oes it. They are perfectly distinct 
 things. But while sin is that " abominable 
 thing which his soul hateth ;" he does not ban- 
 ish it at once, as he might do ; nor does he cut 
 off the sinner from the earth : but is long-suf- 
 fering and of great mercy, that he may gradu- 
 
28 SCRIPTURE DOCTRINE. 
 
 ally but ultimately bring order and glory out of 
 the confusion which sin has produced. He tol- 
 erated many moral evils among the Jews for 
 this same end. 
 
 But to the law and the testimony. And I 
 cannot select a better illustration of duty on 
 this point, than the parable which was spoken 
 by the Great Teacher, with particular refer- 
 ence to the existence and cause of moral evil 
 in the church. The caution which it contains 
 is one directly applicable to the subject under 
 consideration. 
 
 The servants of a householder discovered, 
 with deep regret, tares growing among the 
 wheat in one of his cultivated fields ; and with 
 great zeal, proposed to their Master to permit 
 them to enter immediately on the work of their 
 extermination. Why should the evil be tolerated 
 a moment ? Why should the householder delay 
 an instant to remove it ? According to the rea- 
 soning often employed on this subject, and to 
 which I have alluded, he should have proceeded 
 
SCRIPTURE DOCTRINE. 29 
 
 at once to the eradication of the tares, without 
 regard to consequences. 
 
 His reply to the proposal of his servants is 
 a sufficient answer to such reasoning, and ex- 
 hibits the Saviour's doctrine on the subject. — 
 " Nay ; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye 
 root up also the wheat with them. Let both 
 grow together until the harvest" Not that 
 they were to feel satisfied to have the tares 
 growing there ; they might desire and pray for 
 their removal ; but they were so entwined about 
 the wheat, that to eradicate them al once would 
 be the destruction of both. 
 
 The principle here set forth, and to illustrate 
 which I have referred to this parable, is this : 
 that there are moral evils existing under the 
 divine government, the immediate removal of 
 which, though desirable, would endanger the 
 most vital interests of society, and be doing 
 evil that good may come. 
 
 As reasoning upon the abstract principle of 
 
 sin, and the denunciations founded on such rea- 
 3* 
 
30 COLONIZATION SOCIETY. 
 
 soning, avail nothing towards rectifying the evil 
 of slavery ; still more hopeless, it appears to 
 me, is the attempt to promote this object by 
 hostility to the American Colonization Soci- 
 ety. 
 
 What bearing the invectives which have been 
 issued against that society (whether true or 
 false) can have upon the object proposed, I 
 have ever been at a loss to ascertain. How 
 an association, whose simple design is to aid 
 the free coloured population of our country in 
 settling voluntarily in the land of their forefa- 
 thers, and thus to promote in proportion the abo- 
 lition of the slave-trade, and the civilization 
 and Christianization of Africa, should be viewed 
 as standing in the way of the reformation of 
 the sin of slavery, is equally unintelligible. 
 
 If some of those who have advocated the 
 interests of this society before the public, have 
 held it up to view in an objectionable light ; it 
 is presumed there has been enough of the 
 spirit of bitterness and misrepresentation on 
 
COLONIZATION SOCIETY. 31 
 
 the other side, to destroy their prerogative of 
 casting the first stone. 
 
 But to test the reasonableness and utility 
 of this method of opposing slavery, we may 
 imagine the Colonization Society stricken from 
 existence ; and would the evil of slavery van- 
 ish any more quickly for its overthrow ? To 
 say that there are members of this society who 
 are slave-holders, and consequently must be its 
 advocates from interested motives ; is to say no 
 more than might, in substance, be said of all other 
 benevolent institutions in the land, anti-slavery 
 societies not excepted. It can never be a valid 
 objection to an object that it is liable to perver- 
 sion and abuse, unless it can also be shown that 
 its chief tendency is to such abuse. 
 
 But so far is the Colonization Society from 
 justifying such a charge, that its general ten- 
 dency has manifestly been to promote the 
 emancipation of slaves, as well as the welfare of 
 the free coloured population. And to denounce 
 it because some contribute to its support, and 
 
32 COLONIZATION SOCIETY. 
 
 are therefore called its members, who still up- 
 hold slavery in their theory and practice ; is, as 
 I remarked, to adopt a principle which would 
 justify the denunciation of every association 
 which receives pecuniary aid from any but the 
 most pious, and disinterested portions of the 
 community. 
 
 Shall we cry " crucify it, crucify it !" against 
 the Bible Society, because it enrols among its 
 members those who disbelieve and reject some 
 of the most important doctrines of revelation, 
 if not practical deists ? 
 
 But it may be said that the Colonization 
 Society does not array itself against slavery. 
 True : this is not its professed design. Neither 
 does the Bible, Tract, or any of the other reli- 
 gious and benevolent societies of the day. And 
 what reason does this afford for special hostil- 
 ity 1 Are we justified in opposing the benevolent 
 efforts of others, merely because they follow 
 not us ? 
 
COLONIZATION SOCIETY. 33 
 
 Again, it will perhaps, be said, that .some of 
 the advocates for colonization have represented 
 the system as an ample remedy for slavery, 
 and a sufficient substitute for all other plans and 
 efforts ; and further, that its agents have spoken 
 one language concerning it at the North, and 
 another at the South.* 
 
 To all this I take the liberty of replying 
 again, that the Colonization Society, as well a 
 the Anti-slavery Society, ought to be viewed 
 and treated according to its professed design, 
 and not according to the misdirected zeal of any 
 of its friends. Now, its professed design, as 
 stated by one of its opposers, in quoting its con- 
 stitution, "is to colonize the free people of color 
 residing among us, in Africa, or such other 
 place as Congress may direct." " Steadily ad- 
 
 * While the British Abolitionists condemn the West India 
 system of apprenticeship in abolishing slavery, is not the 
 example of Great Britain in the matter, continually held up 
 before us by the abolitionists of North America ? 
 
34 COLONIZATION SOCIETY. 
 
 hering to this object," he adds, " it has nothing 
 to do with slavery."* 
 
 It certainly requires no uncommon mathe- 
 matical acuteness to discern, that the annual col- 
 onizing of afeiv hundreds of our coloured popu- 
 lation, can never be an adequate means of dimin- 
 ishing an annual increase of some thousands : 
 an idea which some have seemed to labor in- 
 tensely to impress on the public mind. Nor is 
 extraordinary skill at computation necessary to 
 shew, that should the disposition to colonize on 
 the part of the people of colour, and the dispo- 
 sition to aid them in so doing on the part of the 
 government, exceed their annual increase, it 
 would tend in proportion to reduce their number 
 among us. 
 
 And this, it should be observed, would be 
 greatly facilitated, by the colonization of that 
 portion of the population, who are at a time of 
 life to be fathers and mothers. For, from this 
 
 * Whitticr's Address, p. 5. 
 
Colonization society. 35 
 
 portion alone can the annual increase be calcu- 
 lated. 
 
 Nor is there much extravagance in the be- 
 lief that such an event would promote, at once, 
 their political welfare and that of the country 
 to which they might emigrate, by placing them 
 in circumstances to form a republic of their 
 own ; and, if in Africa, among a people of their 
 own colour ; and by carrying civilization, at 
 least, into its borders. 
 
 Whether or not a majority of our coloured 
 population will ever consent to emigrate to the 
 land of their forefathers, is of course uncertain. 
 And what of this ? Must the object be abandon- 
 ed because it meets not with its full success at 
 the outset? Do they who so zealously oppose this 
 design, and aim at nothing but the immediate 
 liberation of the whole slave population in the 
 midst of us, relinquish their efforts, or in any de- 
 gree hesitate in their movements, at what might 
 reasonably be deemed as difficult a problem as 
 those just stated, viz. According to the ratio 
 
COLONIZATION SOCIETY. 
 
 of their past success, with the aid of so much 
 wealth, and talent, so many agents, and so much 
 public excitement ; how long will it require for 
 the advocates of immediate abolition to effect 
 the freedom of the whole slave population, in- 
 cluding their annual increase ? 
 
 I can discover no reason why, when flourish- 
 ing and respectable colonies are planted on the 
 African coast, our free coloured population should 
 not flock thither as readily as the emigrants 
 from Europe crowd to our shores, and at their 
 own expense. The probability at least favors 
 the experiment. 
 
 Even with the limited resources formed by pri- 
 vate contributions, the society has been enabled 
 to send several expeditions to Africa. Recently 
 its claims have been regarded and favored by 
 several of the State legislatures : and " eman- 
 cipation," says Mr. Frelinghuysen, " has follow- 
 ed closely in the steps of this enterprise. Mary- 
 land, Virginia, Kentucky, and Tennessee, have 
 approved it. Maryland has devoted 200,000 
 
COLONIZATION SOCIETY. 37 
 
 dollars, and Virginia 90,000 to the cause." 
 "Maryland has had an agency in Africa to 
 establish a colony at Cape Palmas, south of Li- 
 beria ; and she avows in distinct and unequivo- 
 cal terms, the noble purpose of eradicating 
 slavery from her soil." 
 
 A recent Colonization Journal from that 
 State, informs us that the cause meets with 
 increasing success. That " the friends of the 
 cause are more numerous, and increasing in their 
 liberality. In the past year, there have been 
 not less than six vessels chartered, and fitted 
 out with emigrants, teachers, missionaries, and 
 officers, to be borne by the winds of Providence 
 to the coast of Africa." And since December, 
 1831, when the colonization law was enacted, 
 the number of slaves emancipated, is estima- 
 ted at one thousand five hundred and eighty- 
 one. 
 
 This, then, is the way in which the Coloniza- 
 tion Society, though not its avowed object, indi- 
 rectly promotes the abolition of slavery ; and 
 4 
 
38 COLONIZATION SOCIETY. 
 
 if the general government, or the govern- 
 ment of the States respectively, would fur- 
 nish means to promote this enterprise ; and 
 particularly, furnish the means to the colo- 
 nists of defence against the slave-trade on the 
 coast of Africa; the day would soon dawn 
 which would witness the complete triumph of 
 this cause. 
 
 When thus the contrast is presented to the 
 mind of the slave-holder, between the elevated 
 citizens of a colony governed by wise and 
 equal laws, and free as our own ; and the degra- 
 dation of the same class of minds, as held by 
 him in bondage ; his reflections will prompt 
 him to place those minds where they can be 
 ennobled and elevated in their condition and 
 prospects. 
 
 Will it still be said that the experiment in- 
 volves a sacrifice of money and life, without 
 a proportionate advantage? The same bug- 
 bear has been thrown in the way of all colo- 
 nial enterprises ; and, had it been regarded, 
 
COLONIZATION SOCIETY. 89 
 
 even the settlement of our own country must 
 have been relinquished. 
 
 The work of African Colonization has not 
 yet been attended with the sacrifices by which 
 the first colonies on our own shores were plant- 
 ed — not more than were connected with the 
 settlement of some of our Western States; 
 e. g. Kentucky. About a moiety of the first 
 emigrants to Plymouth, (Mass.) died in four 
 months. Of the one hundred emigrants who 
 first settled Jamestown, (Va.) ninety were cut 
 ofFby disease in six months. And subsequent- 
 ly the colonists at the latter place, were reduced 
 in about the same short period, ixomfim hun- 
 dred to sixty, by famine. Some time after this, 
 when £150,000 had been expended on that col- 
 ony, and nine thousand persons had emigrated 
 thither, its population amounted to only eighteen 
 hundred* while out of 3300 emigrants to 
 Africa, sent out by the American Colonization 
 Society, only 733 have been lost in any way. 
 
 Report of Colonization Society, 1834. 
 
40 COLONIZATION SOCIETY. 
 
 The incipient work accomplished by the past 
 missionary effort, has been attended by a simi- 
 lar sacrifice of life and property. Yet no reflect- 
 ing mind considers it unnecessary or unprofit- 
 able. We ourselves are reaping the blessings 
 resulting from similar missionary efforts and 
 sacrifices in past ages. The opening of such 
 enterprises, like the subduing of uncultivated 
 wilds, must be attended with much labour and 
 risk, and but little, and that very gradual, ap- 
 pearance of success ; which, however, will be 
 proportionate to the numbers and the zeal em- 
 ployed in the work. 
 
 But the efforts of the Colonization Society 
 have not been unsuccessful : nor has its success 
 been small, when compared with the means 
 employed, and contrasted with other similar 
 enterprises. Its friends have indeed partaken 
 in a proportionate degree, of the infirmities 
 and proneness to err which marks all the plans 
 and efforts of man. 
 
 This, I am aware, has not escaped the notice 
 
COLONIZATION SOCIETY. 41 
 
 of its gainsayers, who, in their vituperations, 
 have manifested that they also inherit the frail- 
 ties of the race. And, if I do not greatly mis- 
 take, a few years to come will evince, that the 
 advocates of immediate abolition, afford equal 
 evidence of the truth of the poet's declaration, 
 " To err is human." 
 
 I remarked that the Colonization Society has 
 done something, and done it .effectually, beyond 
 the power of human annihilation. Within 
 eighteen years it has opened a bright spot of 
 civilization on the coast of Africa, which will 
 not soon again be enveloped in its former dark- 
 ness. It has already caused, indirectly, the 
 emancipation of more than a thousand slaves, 
 and colonized about four thousand free coloured 
 persons. Nine settlements, embracing that 
 population, and containing fourteen schools* and 
 fourteen churches where the gospel is statedly 
 
 * One half the necessary funds have been raised for the 
 
 establishment of a College, 
 4 # 
 
42 COLONIZATION SOCIETY. 
 
 preached; with nearly twenty other public build- 
 ings ; and holding friendly Intercourse with the 
 natives, and thus acquiring influence over them; 
 bear testimony that their enterprise and their 
 efforts have not been fruitless. 
 
 It is worthy of notice that about one third of 
 these colonists are emancipated slaves from the 
 southern section of our country. Among them 
 also, are nearly six hundred professors of 
 religion, and more than five hundred members 
 of the temperance society — on the principle of 
 entire abstinence. 
 
 The effect of this enterprize has been, the 
 abolition of human sacrifices from among the 
 natives, and, by its control of nearly four hun- 
 dred miles of the coast, a proportionate dimi- 
 nution of the slave traffick in that region. It 
 has also opened a safe channel for Christian 
 missions to Africa. 
 
 I have already dwelt longer on this subject 
 of colonization and the objections raised against 
 it, than I had intended ; yet I cannot leave it, 
 
COLONIZATION SOCIETY. 43 
 
 without adverting to a somewhat curious exem- 
 plification of this hostility in two diametrically 
 opposite objections. 
 
 The opponents of the Colonization Society 
 at the North, have charged it with riveting the 
 fetters of the slave by soothing the conscience 
 of the slave-holder — justifying his claim of pro- 
 perty in his slaves ; and enabling him to hold 
 them with greater security ; and fostering the 
 distinction which exists in the community be- 
 tween the black man and the white. 
 
 On the other hand, its Southern opposers 
 accuse it of acting under a disguise ; and, while 
 it professes to confine its operations to colo- 
 nizing the free people of colour, covertly un- 
 dermining the system of slavery, and slyly 
 effecting the work of abolition. It is remarka- 
 ble that this latter objection is peculiar to those 
 portions of the South, that are most resolutely 
 determined to perpetuate slavery. 
 
 The reader, on contemplating these two an- 
 tipodal objections, will very naturally recur to 
 
44 COLONIZATION SOCIETY. 
 
 the kindred spirit and reasoning which was 
 once arrayed against the perfection of purity 
 and worth, human and divine. " John came 
 neither eating nor drinking, and they say, He 
 hath a devil. The Son of Man came eating 
 and drinking, and they say, Behold a man 
 gluttonous, and a wine-bibber, a friend of publi- 
 cans and sinners." 
 
 Thus when this society is said to have 
 in view the removal of slavery, we hear 
 the charge that it is inefficient, and worse than 
 useless : and if its friends disavow any direct 
 interference with the subject, then the outcry 
 against it is, that it winks at oppression and 
 sanctions the sin ! 
 
 The objection of its southern foes is surely a 
 sufficient reply to that of its northern opponents. 
 The fact too, that a large proportion of the col- 
 onists at Liberia are emancipated slaves from 
 the South, silences the charge that it rivets the 
 chains of slavery. 
 
 With regard to that count in the indictment 
 
COLONIZATION SOCIETY. 45 
 
 which charges it with fostering the distinction 
 between the black man and the white, it may 
 thus be analyzed. The Colonization Society is 
 a system of cruelty and oppression towards the 
 free coloured people, because it provides 
 for them a refuge from the unhappy influence 
 (call it prejudice if you please) that depresses 
 them, and separates them from their white 
 brethren in the enjoyment of political and social 
 privileges. What else can be made of the 
 cavil ? Now suppose again, this society oblit- 
 erated. Would this distinction between the 
 black and the white cease 1 Has it arisen from 
 this Society ? No : for it is well known, that it 
 was the existence of this very prejudice (if you 
 choose so to call it) rendering the condition and 
 prospects of the free colored man in this land so 
 unhappy, that gave rise to the plans of this 
 society. It originated in a benevolent design to 
 remedy this very evil. 
 
 But, says the objector, " To send them away 
 to a heathen country is cruelty, and only serves 
 
46 COLONIZATION SOCIETY. 
 
 to obstruct their elevation here, and maintain 
 the distinction of colour." 
 
 " But how else can you abolish the distinc- 
 tion, and place them on a level with the rest of 
 the community'?" 
 
 "By denouncing the sin or the prejudice, 
 until it is annihilated." 
 
 " But while this denunciation is in progress, 
 and before the community are disposed to cower 
 under it, must those who are willing and anxious 
 to escape from the influence of this prejudice 
 to a land where it is unknown, have no aid 
 afforded them in accomplishing their wishes V* 
 
 " No : this is cruelty — this is expatriation." 
 
 The reader can judge of the force of such 
 reasoning ; especially when he looks at it in con- 
 nection with the fact, that in some of the aboli- 
 tion publications, the numerous instances of 
 emancipation of slaves by their masters with a 
 view to their colonization, have been boastingly 
 attributed to the influence of abolition doc- 
 trines ! ! 
 
COLONIZATION SOCIETY. 47 
 
 Whatever be the origin or foundation of that 
 feeling which in this country dooms the coloured 
 man, whether bond or free, to obscurity and de- 
 pression, be it just or unjust; no denunciation nor 
 change of public sentiment on the subject of sla- 
 very, will ever reach it. Swarthy and/air, as to 
 complexion, will still continue to have their pe- 
 culiar and distinctive meanings. It can no more 
 be abolished, than the distinction of colour 
 itself. The very experiment, to place the two 
 classes whom nature has thus distinguished, on 
 a level in social and domestick life ; overthrows 
 the whole design by its disgusting influence. 
 Its effect was strikingly exemplified a short 
 time ago in the case of a zealous abolitionist, 
 who had been declaiming on his favorite theme, 
 in one of the villages in Pennsylvania. On taking 
 his seat in a railroad car the next morning, the 
 manager, either by accident or design, placed 
 him in one where were two negroes. The lec- 
 turer immediately protested against the pro- 
 ceeding, and refused to ride with them. When 
 
48 COLONIZATION SOCIETY. 
 
 reminded of the principles he had advocated the 
 evening previous, he became quite angry, and 
 persisted in claiming his privilege to sit apart 
 from the negroes. 
 
 And this is not mere prejudice, any more than 
 the preference of one human form to another 
 under any other circumstances ; or than the 
 preference of a rose to a poppy, 
 
 "De gustibus non est disputandum." 
 
 These social restrictions are not confined to 
 the African. Similar feelings are cherished 
 towards the Indian, and the South Sea Islander. 
 It does not arise from any obliquity of moral 
 feeling. For the distinction is in perfect accord- 
 ance with humane and even Christian princi- 
 ples of regard and esteem. It never was fhe 
 design of Christianity to destroy all distinctions 
 in society. The master may feel towards and 
 treat his servant as a Christian, though he may 
 not admit him to the intimacies and privileges 
 of a child. We may as well talk of amalga- 
 mating the relation of master and servant, as 
 
COLONIZATION SOCIETY. 49 
 
 amalgamation on this point. The apostle Paul, 
 in his letter to Philemon, recognizes his proper- 
 ty in Onesimus as his servant, though both 
 master and servant were Christians. 
 
 These remarks on colonization and the ob- 
 jections raised against it, though protracted 
 beyond my intention, afford a mere glance at 
 the subject, which the reader will find satisfac- 
 torily presented in detail in the society's publi- 
 cations. From the correspondence between 
 the colonists and their former masters, in which 
 they express their contentment and happiness, 
 will be found ample refutation of the calumnies 
 thrown upon them by the enemies of this cause. 
 And it will be seen also, on referring to these 
 documents, that very much, if not all the dis- 
 content which may have been manifested by 
 some, was the result either of direct or indirect 
 interference on the part of these enemies to 
 produce it. 
 
 From this cursory glance, however, it must 
 
 be apparent, that hostility against this cause 
 5 
 
50 IMMEDIATE RESTITUTION. 
 
 has no tendency to remove the evil of slavery, 
 any more than 'denunciation of the sin in the 
 abstract. 
 
 Still more rash, and not more effectual is the 
 attempt to turn the current of popular feeling 
 against slavery by the loud cry of immediate 
 restitution of the wrongs of the slave, accom- 
 panied by exaggerated, if not false, representa- 
 tions of those wrongs through the medium of 
 pictorial and other descriptions. The walls of 
 Jericho were once prostrated with an outcry ; 
 but it was by the express command of Jehovah, 
 and not without His special and miraculous 
 aid. 
 
 But the age of miracles has passed away ; 
 and if it had not, we know of no similar com- 
 mand on this subject ; and consequently there 
 is no certainty, and I may say no probability, 
 that the professed wishes of the advocates of 
 immediate abolition, will in this way be ful- 
 filled. 
 
 The walls of the temple of freedom — the 
 
IMMEDIATE RESTITUTION. 
 
 51 
 
 great charter and constitution of our liberties : 
 may be crushed by the means, after a long and 
 bloody scene of civil and domestick warfare, 
 and perhaps, the utter extermination of the poor 
 slaves themselves ; and they who shall have 
 been the instigators and promoters of the ruin, 
 may stand as horror-stricken as did the woman 
 of Endor at the result of her incantations. 
 
 But this is not the professed object of their 
 desires and plans. Why then attempt to ac- 
 complish it in a way that can end only in revo- 
 lution and carnage? The rumblings of the 
 storm are already heard : why persevere in the 
 mad attempt to exterminate the wheat and tares 
 together ? 
 
 The cry for immediate restitution is founded 
 in error. Though the purpose of such resti- 
 tution ever attends genuine repentance, it can 
 be of little avail to enjoin it, much less to en- 
 force it (so far as moral reformation is con- 
 cerned) where repentance is wanting. And 
 even where the spirit of penitence is found, 
 
52 IMMEDIATE RESTITUTION. 
 
 immediate restitution is not always safe nor 
 practicable. Many cases might be adduced to 
 shew that its immediate performance would 
 not only defeat itself, but promote the injury of 
 the person to whom the restitution should be 
 made : as in the case of a lunatic, or an idiot. 
 
 Suppose an individual who by fraudulent 
 means has obtained from his neighbour a valu- 
 able watch, becomes penitent for his fault, and 
 disposed to make ample restitution. On visiting 
 his neighbour for that purpose, however, he dis- 
 covers him to be in a state of mental hallucination, 
 to which he is at times known to be subject; and 
 he is assured that if he should at that time deliver 
 to him the watch, he would instantly dash it in 
 pieces, and withal, have no correct understand- 
 ing of the object of his visit. Most clearly it 
 is not his duty then to make the restitution. 
 
 And with regard to the overwrought descrip- 
 tions which have been employed to depict the 
 horrors of slavery : it is an expedient itself at 
 variance with the moral law. We may fancy 
 
EXAGGERATED DESCRIPTIONS. 53 
 
 scenes of horror ; and in the fervor of a heated 
 imagination cry out for the cause of liberty. 
 But to employ fancy sketches, or even real 
 instances of cruelty and suffering, to exhibit the 
 general character of slavery at the South and 
 West, is to pourtray injustice by injustice; and 
 when the misrepresentation is brought to light, 
 to obstruct and defeat the very object for which 
 the portraiture was drawn. 
 
 The writer has had some opportunities to 
 observe personally the character and operation 
 of slavery, in one of the States where it exists, 
 and to learn its peculiar features in other por- 
 tions of the South and West, from respectable 
 and intelligent individuals and families from 
 those regions ; and he has not been able to dis- 
 cover that cruelty is a predominant feature of 
 slave-holders in the treatment of their slaves* 
 
 * " John Randolph of Roanoake would be delayed a 
 
 week from Congress, that he might distribute winter cloth. 
 
 ing to his slaves with his own hands. He said they could 
 
 not be placed in a better condition than they then enjoyed, and 
 
 5* 
 
54 EVILS OF SUDDEN ABOLITION. 
 
 On the contrary, with the exception of the 
 traffick, and the unhappiness and separations 
 attending it ; and the legal restrictions im- 
 posed on them ; the slave population of 
 those States are as comfortable, if not more 
 so, than an equal number of the poor and 
 labouring classes in any community ; and more 
 happy than the mass of the free coloured pop- 
 ulation. So much so, at least, that to turn them 
 adrift on the ocean of life at once, to take care 
 of themselves, would be cruelty far surpassing 
 any treatment which most of them now receive. 
 
 A large proportion of the slave population 
 is composed of old and decrepid men and wo- 
 men and young children ; and a considerable 
 portion of those who are active and useful, are 
 no better than children in the matter of provid- 
 ing for themselves. Numbers of them, too, 
 
 that he would give five hundred pounds to know how they 
 could be kept in as good condition after his death." (Tes- 
 timony of R. Randolph, Jr. in the Randolph Will case.) 
 
EVILS OP SUDDEN ABOLITION. 55 
 
 are quite unprofitable to their masters, from a 
 natural deficiency of energy and skill ; requir- 
 ing a constant superintendence and guardian 7 
 ship in their labour. 
 
 When once emancipated, there would be no 
 obligation on the part of their previous owners 
 to hire or employ any but the able-bodied and 
 industrious, or those, in other words, who were 
 worth employing. 
 
 And what would be the effect upon the great 
 body of the slave-population, to be thrown, in 
 this heterogeneous, crude state, dispaupers upon 
 the community ? The following letter of the 
 late President Madison, may serve to throw 
 some light upon this question. 
 
 {From the New York Times.) 
 
 Richmond, March 23, 1836. 
 To the Editor of the Richmond Register : 
 
 Sir — You expressed a wish to obtain information in rela- 
 tion to the history of the emancipated Blacks in Prince 
 Edward. I presume, those emancipated by the late Rich- 
 ard Randolph, more especially. 
 
 More than twenty-five years ago, I think, they were lib- 
 erated, at which time they numbered about one hundred, 
 
56 EVILS OF SUDDEN ABOLITION. 
 
 and were settled upon small parcels of land of from ten to 
 twenty-five acres to each family. As long as the habits of 
 industry which they had acquired while slaves, lasted, they 
 continued to increase in numbers, and lived in some degree 
 of comfort. But this was soon lost, and the most of those 
 who had been in slavery, having either died, or become old 
 and infirm, a new race, raised in idleness and vice, sprung 
 up. They began not only to be idle and vicious ; but to 
 diminish instead of increasing; and have continued to 
 diminish in numbers very regularly every year : and that 
 too, without emigration. For they have, almost without 
 exception, remained together in the same situation where 
 they were first placed, to this day. Idleness, poverty, and 
 dissipation, are the agents which continue to diminish their 
 numbers, and to render them wretched in the extreme, as 
 well as a great pest, and heavy tax upon the neighbourhood 
 in which they live. There is so little of industry, and so 
 much of dissipation amongst them, that it is impossible that 
 the females can rear their children: of which, indeed, their 
 dissolute habits prevent them from having but few. — 
 The operations of time, profligacy, and disease, more than 
 keep pace with any increase among them. Whilst they 
 are a very great pest, and heavy tax upon the community, 
 it is most obvious that they themselves are infinitely worsted 
 by the exchange from slavery to liberty, if indeed their con- 
 dition deserve that name. 
 
 James Madison. 
 
 The changes are constantly rung upon the 
 word liberty : and it expresses indeed an inesti- 
 mable blessing. But the liberty which we esteem, 
 
OTHER RESTRICTIONS OF CIVIL LIBERTY. 57 
 
 is widely different from that which immediate and 
 unconditional emancipation would yield to its 
 subjects. Nor is the withholding or depriving of 
 civil liberty, under all circumstances except for 
 crime, a moral wrong or sin. It is often neces- 
 sary for the general good, that individuals should 
 suffer in this respect. As in the case of jurors 
 on trials for capital offences : — in times of pes- 
 tilence, to secure medical and other aid for the 
 sick : — in time of war, to obtain a sufficient 
 military force, &c. &c. And it is well known 
 that individual rights are daily sacrificed to the 
 public good, in the progress of municipal and 
 other internal improvements. So also, it might 
 not be difficult to shew, that a suitable regard 
 to the welfare of society, forbids the immediate 
 and unconditional liberation of the slaves, and 
 requires that they be retained in servitude, until 
 they shall be properly fitted to meet and sustain 
 the cares, as well as to value the blessings of a 
 state of freedom. That it is the interest as well 
 as the duty of slave-holders to commence this 
 
58 AN EFFICIENT RULE. 
 
 work of preparation without delay, will, it is 
 presumed, not be denied. It must be stated, 
 however, that some of the advocates of imme- 
 diate emancipation modify the term : and ex- 
 plain it to mean an immediate and universal 
 denunciation of the whole system of slavery, 
 for the purpose of influencing publick senti- 
 ment and awaking publick indignation against 
 it ; which is in substance the same spirit and 
 design on which I have just animadverted. 
 
 In addition to what has been advanced, the 
 writer would remark, that there is a rule which 
 never fails when applied, to determine any 
 question of duty between man and his fellow 
 man: and in conclusion, will the reader indulge 
 him in its application to the question of slavery? 
 The rule is this: "Whatsoever ye would that 
 men should do to you, do ye even so to them." 
 This rule, it should be observed, regards man 
 as he is, not as he ought to be ; i. e. it is to be 
 adopted and acted on in the present circum- 
 stances of mankind. In seeking the best meth- 
 
. * MISTAKEN POLICY." 59 
 
 od of remedying the evils of slavery then, so 
 far from denouncing the slave-holder, and, un- 
 der the influence of party zeal, demanding un- 
 conditional and immediate emancipation, reck- 
 less of consequences ; we must first, in imagin- 
 ation, place ourselves in the stead both of the 
 master and the slave. As was remarked in 
 the commencement of this essay, we must first 
 look at the evil in its true nature and extent. 
 We must have in view the welfare of both 
 parties. The method which will banish sla- 
 very consistently with this, we may be sure is 
 the proper method. 
 
 Here, then, it is believed, has been a radical 
 mistake'in the movements of those who are 
 popularly styled « abolitionists" Instead of 
 adopting the rule just stated ; they have 
 pursued a policy, and manifested a spirit, 
 which have very justly spread the sentiment 
 throughout the slave-holding population of the 
 South and West, that they are seeking the 
 mere emancipation of the slave, not only with- 
 
60 MISTAKEN POLICY. 
 
 out any regard to the interests and welfare of 
 his master, but also regardless of the conse- 
 quences to the slave himself. Whereas, the 
 golden rule of equity requires that they should 
 have sought, and made it op-parent that they 
 sought the welfare of both master and slave. 
 The effect has been, as we all know, and as 
 the most melancholy facts testify, to inflame the 
 passions and rouse the prejudices of that whole 
 community to such a degree, as not only to 
 defeat the design of these movements, and bar- 
 ricade all access to the mind and heart; but 
 also to threaten a convulsion which will shake 
 the political fabrick of this great nation into 
 atoms ; unless the agents in this work shall 
 seasonably discover that God's service does 
 not require them to gather up tares, when there 
 is any danger that they may root up also the 
 wheat with them. 
 
 Now the evil which we wish to abolish, has 
 been through a long course of years, entailed 
 upon our neighbours in the southern and west- 
 
THE RULE APPLIED. 61 
 
 era slave States, and many of them, I might 
 say most of them, feel it to be a curse. And 
 very gladly would they have it removed imme- 
 diately, could it be done without bringing upon 
 themselves and upon the slaves an accumula- 
 tion of greater evils. They know the charac- 
 ter of the coloured population, and they know 
 the effects of premature steps in this matter. 
 And when urged to immediate action on this 
 subject, without regard to consequences and 
 without preparation, the answer is obvious, and 
 satisfactory to a reflecting mind, that " duty has 
 no claims where both the Tight and the power 
 to receive it, are wanting." " The door," say 
 they, " is shut upon us here, nor could we open 
 it, but by a violence destructive of public harmo- 
 ny, and probably fatal to our national union."* 
 
 Adopting the Saviour's rule, therefore, and 
 avoiding those measures which serve only to 
 exasperate the feelings, and arm the prejudices 
 
 * African Repository, March, 1834. 
 6 
 
62 THE RULE APPLIED. 
 
 of the slave-holder ; we should, by a judicious, 
 affectionate, and faithful exposure of the evil, 
 endeavour to convince him, that slavery is at 
 once a sin and a curse ; and that it ought to be 
 abhorred and forsaken ; — that it is his interest 
 to give his attention to the subject without 
 delay. Placing ourselves as it were in his cir- 
 cumstances, and desiring to promote his best 
 interests, we should regard the perils necessa- 
 rily resulting from the sudden liberation of so 
 great a mass of men incapable of self-govern- 
 ment, and influenced only by passion and re- 
 venge ; and propose those measures which 
 would tend to fit them for self-government, by 
 suitable instruction promoting mental exertion ; 
 and by the inculcation of virtuous principles, 
 accompanied with humane treatment, and the 
 prospect of freedom at a proper time, perhaps 
 purchased by themselves, on some plan of ap- 
 prenticeship, either here or in Africa. We 
 would recommend the immediate relinquish- 
 ment of the traffick, which leads to the separa- 
 
THE RULT2 APPLIED. 63 
 
 tion of husbands and wives, parents and chil- 
 dren — and the employment ofevery means 
 which would prepare the slave to enjoy and 
 value his freedom, so soon as God in his provi- 
 dence shall open a way for its accomplishment 
 in a proper manner : for which we should ear- 
 nestly enquire of Him. 
 
 These are the views which it is hoped our 
 neighbours at the South and West will cherish 
 towards this subject, and these the principles 
 on which, it is believed, they will find it for their 
 interest to act. It is worthy of notice, that pre- 
 vious to the Northern abolition movements, the 
 slave-holders of the South had emancipated 
 many thousands of slaves, through the influence 
 of the gospel and our free institutions alone.* 
 
 Again, we should place ourselves, as it were, in 
 the condition of the slaves ; and candidly weigh 
 the consequences of being cast at once as pau- 
 pers on the public support, without the knowledge 
 
 * African Repository. 
 
64 THE RULE APPLIED. 
 
 necessary to self-respect and control ; or if they 
 possessed the means of supporting themselves, 
 of being subjected to that depression which 
 the distinction of colour connects with the pros- 
 pects of the black man in this country. And 
 with true sympathy and rational benevolence, 
 we should endeavour to provide the necessary 
 and effectual relief. The only practicable meth- 
 od yet devised to meet this particular exigency, 
 appears to be that afforded by the system of 
 colonization. It has been hitherto approved 
 by Heaven, and has shared its smiles ; and it is 
 sanctioned by precedent in the history of the Di- 
 vine administration. For when Jehovah would 
 effect the universal emancipation of his chosen 
 people from Egyptian slavery, he effected it by 
 bringing them out of the land of their captivity 
 and colonizing their posterity in the land of 
 their forefathers. And could we have the same 
 certainty of immediate colonization, it would 
 afford at least a very strong inducement to as 
 immediate emancipation. 
 
THE TRUE REMEDY. 65 
 
 Above all, taking the same rule of equity as 
 a guide, we should send to the slave-holder and 
 the slave, the gospel of christ, which is the 
 most efficient, if not the only remedy for the 
 whole evil. " We should send it, not obtru- 
 sively, but in the spirit of kindness. I know 
 that under the present excited state of feeling, 
 in those regions, this is apparently almost im- 
 practicable ; and the old legal restrictions on 
 the subject of instructing the slaves, and other 
 severe enactments, which were becoming obso- 
 lete and inefficient, have been revived by the 
 force of the excitement and rendered more 
 rigorous. Yet the gospel is our only hope in 
 this exigency. What else can avail us ? Pub- 
 lic opinion cannot remove the evil, unless we 
 suppose such opinion to be universal, which is 
 in substance supposing the evil removed. Before 
 such sentiment can be universal, the consent of 
 the slave-holders must be obtained. And how 
 shall this be effected? Surely not by standing 
 
 afar off from them, and in the midst of com- 
 6* 
 
66 INEFFICIENCY OF OTHER MEANS. 
 
 munities where slavery is unknown and even 
 abhorred, denouncing it as sin in the sight of 
 God, under any and all circumstances ; (a charge 
 which is not true even in the case of taking 
 human life by violence ;) and heaping upon the 
 character of the slave-holder the most oppro- 
 brious epithets ; holding him up before the 
 publick with a spirit which would let loose, if it 
 could, the lightnings of heaven upon his head, 
 as a " man-stealer," and an " inhuman wretch ;" 
 " the bristling and unprincipled slave-holder," 
 and " the pro-slavery negro-hater." The very 
 last of all measures, one would think, which a 
 mind in the smallest degree acquainted with 
 mankind, and desirous of success, would think 
 of adopting. 
 
 Nor can the power of legislation remove the 
 evil, and compel the slave-holder to acquiesce ; 
 unless indeed it be the legislation of the slave- 
 holding States themselves. The general gov- 
 ernment of this nation have no jurisdiction over 
 it : and all attempts to induce it to assume such 
 
INEFFICIENCY OF OTHER MEANS. 67 
 
 jurisdiction, must, and ought to be nugatory. 
 It has, indeed, the legislative control of the Dis- 
 trict of Columbia ; but this too, is restricted by 
 good faith on the part of the nation, towards 
 the States adjacent. 
 
 The general government have no right, even 
 virtually, by their operations in the District, to 
 destroy that faith, any more than by granting 
 chartered privileges to one institution, to virtu- 
 ally annul or injure those previously granted to 
 another. The wishes of the inhabitants of the 
 District themselves are surely first to be con- 
 sulted, if we would do to others as we would 
 have them do to us. And next, the wishes of 
 the inhabitants of the adjoining States, whose 
 already chartered interests may be seriously 
 affected by the act. 
 
 Although the power exists, therefore,*in Con- 
 gress to legislate for the District, there are seve- 
 ral questions to settle before it may be expedi- 
 ent to exercise that power in the matter of sla- 
 very. It could only serve to create an incon- 
 
68 EFFICACY OF THE GOSPEL. 
 
 venience in the intercourse between the inhab- 
 itants of the District and their neighbours, while 
 it would not remedy the evil. 
 
 But beyond the District of Columbia, Con- 
 gress have no power to touch the evil under 
 consideration. And if the power existed, the 
 question of expediency with regard to its exer- 
 cise under present circumstances, would be 
 solemn and momentous. A respectful regard 
 to the petitions of the people, when properly 
 presented, is doubtless their duty. But, as to 
 granting the prayer of such petitions, it is 
 equally their right and their prerogative to deter- 
 mine. The exercise of the power, if it existed, 
 might rend asunder the constituent parts of this 
 great republic ; but it would also as certainly 
 and effectually terminate the efforts and the 
 hopes of those who urge the application of this 
 remedy to slavery, and would fix the evil be- 
 yond our control. 
 
 But make the slave-holder a Christian, and 
 he will begin to feel the influence of gospel 
 
EFFICACY OF THE GOSPEL. 69 
 
 principles. This, as was observed, is already 
 apparent in numerous instances. And Chris- 
 tian slave-holders, (for notwithstanding the 
 Shibboleth of a party on this point, I do not 
 deem this phrase incongruous,) are availing 
 themselves of the opportunity afforded by the 
 Colonization Society, of emancipating their 
 slaves consistently with their own and their 
 neighbour's security, and the welfare of the 
 slaves themselves. And the gospel would en- 
 join their emancipation on no other conditions, 
 according to the rule already stated. 
 
 Every measure which tends to inflame the 
 passions of the master and lead him to sin 
 against the slave, either by an increase of rig- 
 our, or a premature discharge, is inconsistent 
 with its spirit. And every measure which 
 would make the slave sin against the master, 
 either by a desertion from his service, or by 
 violence against his person and property, is 
 equally so. When the illustrious forerunner 
 of the Saviour was accosted by certain sol- 
 
70 EFFICACY OF THE GOSPEL. 
 
 diers who were under bonds as rigorous and 
 oppressive as any slave, and had as great temp- 
 tations to desertion — " Master, what shall we 
 do ?" — did he encourage them to attempt their 
 escape, and in the spirit of some professed 
 Christians in modern times, denounce those 
 who held them in servitude ? Far from it. — 
 " Do violence to no man, and be content with 
 your wages." But was this winking at their 
 oppression ? 
 
 And what say the Apostles of Christ? — 
 
 " Servants, be obedient unto them that are 
 your masters according to the flesh." 
 
 " Servants, be subject to your masters with 
 all fear, not only to the good and gentle, but 
 also to the froward." 
 
 Here we find no insurrection nor desertion 
 inculcated. 
 
 "Masters, give unto your servants that 
 which is just and equal, knowing that ye also 
 have a Master in heaven." 
 
 "Let as many servants as are under the 
 
EFFICACY OF THE GOSPEL. 71 
 
 yoke, count their own masters worthy of all 
 honour." ¥ And they that have believing mas- 
 ters, let them not despise them, because they 
 are brethren." 
 
 It should be remembered that these precepts 
 were given under the existence of the Roman 
 laws, by which slaves were bought and sold, 
 as any other commodity; and under which, they 
 were treated with far more rigour and severity 
 than any in modern times. But where do we 
 find the apostles denouncing the relation be- 
 tween the master and slave ? On the contra- 
 ry, the Apostle Paul alludes to the custom of 
 the country on this subject as an illustration of 
 the Christian's redemption, when he says, " Ye 
 are bought with a price." They found the 
 political institutions of the country established ; 
 nor did they attempt to interfere with them, 
 except by inculcating the pure and perfect 
 principles of the gospel of Christ. 
 
 Thus the Jewish lawgiver also found slavery 
 and polygamy established ; but instead of at- 
 
72 EFFICACY OF THE GOSPEL. 
 
 tacking them by force, and violent denuncia- 
 tion, he proceeded as was most prudent, to reg- 
 ulate and mitigate what he could not control. 
 Thus, too, if we would labour successfully in 
 redeeming our own happy land from the sin 
 and curse of slavery and other national sins, 
 we must make the gospel our guide. 
 
 Make the slave a Christian, and he will be 
 prepared for freedom. The gospel has effected 
 this, and it will continue to produce the effect, 
 just as rapidly as it reaches the hearts of the 
 master and the slave. This alone, through the 
 attendant power of the Divine Spirit, can make 
 man what he ought to be under any circum- 
 stances. 
 
 It may indeed be said that the gospel has not 
 produced emancipation in the Southern States 
 in proportion to its extent; and that many 
 slave-holders prevent their slaves from receiv- 
 ing it. 
 
 The same might be said of every commu- 
 nity in Christendom; that many still remain 
 
EFFICACY OF THE GOSPEL. 73 
 
 uninfluenced by the gospel, and hate and reject 
 it. Nor has it been the instrument of conver- 
 sion to all the heathen who have received it. 
 In many parts of the pagan world it is inter- 
 dicted by law, and all who promulgate it are 
 subjected to the severest penalties. 
 
 And even in not a few of the highly favoured 
 communities of New England, may be found 
 those, who wilfully exclude themselves and their 
 families from many, if not all of the means of 
 salvation. But the truth stands unaltered, that 
 the gospel is their only hope. 
 
 So also notwithstanding the objection, is it 
 the only effectual remedy for slavery. This, 
 under the blessing of Jehovah, will liberate both 
 master and slave from the captivity of sin and 
 Satan, and fit them to discharge their respective 
 duties according tg " the perfect law of liberty." 
 Then there could be no danger from immedi- 
 ate emancipation. 
 
 It is worthy of notice here, that the dreadful 
 
 massacre at Southampton a few years since, 
 
 7 
 
74 EFFICACY OF THE GOSPEL. 
 
 was the result of fanaticism. Its instigator 
 dreamed that it was the will of God that he 
 should devise the scheme. Had his mind been 
 enlightened in the knowledge of gospel princi- 
 ples, that melancholy event would doubtless not 
 have stained our annals. 
 
 It is the gospel alone that can render those 
 colonies which have been planted on the coast 
 of long neglected and injured Africa, and those 
 which shall hereafter be formed there, a bless- 
 ing to that land. And it is the duty, and I trust 
 the design, of those who are engaged in this 
 benevolent enterprise, to make each colony a 
 bright centre of radiation, from which the beams 
 of gospel truth may extend their healing and 
 saving influence. And with this design in view 
 their cause will triumph. This, it is believed, 
 was the high and holy purpose of its original 
 patrons. 
 
 " The year 1792 was rendered memorable 
 by the establishment of the colony of Sierra 
 Leone, and, in connexion with that, the adoption 
 
EFFICACY OF THE GOSPEL. 75 
 
 of a system of measures in behalf of enslaved 
 Africa, which, we have reason to hope, will 
 eventuate in her complete emancipation." — 
 " The flourishing colony already opens a wide 
 door for the introduction of Christianity and 
 civilization into the heart of Africa : and recent 
 information inspires the hope, that the Ameri- 
 can Colonization Society is about to obtain 
 firm footing in that land of darkness, and to 
 plant there a vine whose branches shall spread 
 far and wide, over those i-egions of desola- 
 tion."*" 
 
 Again — " One of the most delightful, benevo- 
 lent, and ennobling hopes that ever animated the 
 bosom of an American patriot, is, that the west- 
 ern coast of Africa will yet be fringed with 
 American colonies ; and that, under the influ- 
 ence of their happy example, the governments 
 of all that beniffhted continent will come to be 
 
 * Sermon on the last Sabbath of the year 1822, by Rev. 
 Joel Hawes, Hartford. 
 
76 EFFICACY OF THE GOSPEL. 
 
 modeled after the precious free institutions of his 
 own beloved country. Must this hope, that Afri- 
 ca may be thus Americanized, be extinguished ? 
 Must the lights which American patriotism 
 and piety have for fifteen years been kindling 
 up on that dark coast — lights, on which the 
 philanthropy of the, world has fixed its gaze, 
 and to which the eyes of thousands and tens 
 of thousands of native Africans are already 
 turned with joyful hope — must these lights be 
 put out forever ? Must humanity fail of reap- 
 ing a bright harvest from the precious seed 
 which has been sown there at so great an ex- 
 pense of treasure and life ? To all these inqui- 
 ries the Anti-slavery society makes an affirma- 
 tive answer; and manifests, in doing so, the sad 
 effects of party spirit on the. good men who 
 give tone to the society. The benevolent men 
 who lead the Anti-slavery Society, once had 
 sympathy for Africa. Where is it now ? How 
 little evidence of its continued existence in the 
 proceedings and organs of that society ! How 
 
EFFICACY OF THE GOSPEL. 77 
 
 little in the conversation and prayers of its mem- 
 bers ! With colonization, designed to strew the 
 richest blessings among the millions of Africa, 
 they have nothing to do — save to oppose it 
 with all their might, — and this too, for no better 
 reason, than because they are burning with 
 hatred towards the agents who carry it on." 
 
 " Again we entreat these unrelenting enemies 
 of the Colonization Society to revise their judg- 
 ment against it; peradventure they may be 
 moved, in view of the unreasonableness, vin- 
 dictiveness, and severity of that judgment, to 
 reverse it. But if they shall still be inexorable 
 to our calls on their justice and their Christian 
 sympathy and forgiveness ; if they shall still 
 persist in demanding the unconditional destruc- 
 tion of the society ; and if nothing short of 
 this can appease their implacable malevolence 
 towards it : then let them know that its friends 
 are as determined as its foes. Our determina- 
 tion is fixed — fixed as the love of God and the 
 
 UOFfc 
 
78 EFFICACY OF THE GOSPEL. 
 
 love of man in. our hearts — that the Coloniza- 
 tion Society, under the blessing of Him who 
 never even ' for a small moment has forsaken' 
 it, shall continue to live ; — and to live*loo, until 
 the wrongs of the children of Africa amongst 
 us are redressed ; until the slave-trade has 
 ceased, and the dark coasts which it has pol- 
 luted and desolated for centuries, are over- 
 spread with the beautiful and holy fruits of 
 civilization and the Christian religion. And 
 as we fear the judgments of heaven on those 
 who commit great sin, so we dare not desert 
 the society, and leave Satan to rejoice over the 
 ruin of all this ' work of faith and labour of 
 love.' "* 
 
 One of our most eminent statesmen! remarked 
 that " the Colonization cause must prosper, for 
 it unites religion with patriotism, humanity with 
 justice and safety." 
 
 * Sentiments of Gerrit Smith, Esq., 1834. 
 t The Hon. Henry Clay. 
 
EFFICACY OF THE GOSPEL. 79 
 
 It has already been shewn that this remark 
 is justified in the history of the colonists them- 
 selves, one fourth of whom are professors of 
 religion. And the object of the society, in the 
 language of one of its recent advocates, " is 
 by means of the colored people in this country, 
 to liberate fifty millions of souls from the most 
 appalling rites of the bloodiest superstition, and 
 make them free indeed ; and likewise to intro- 
 duce amongst them the blessings of civilization 
 and free government. It is not merely to find 
 a more comfortable residence for the free peo- 
 ple of colour; it is to endeavour to secure an 
 eternal residence in heaven for the wicked, 
 wretched, degraded African. I do not look 
 upon the African in this country as a mere 
 slave ; I see in him an apprentice brought from 
 a land of superstition and despotism, to learn 
 the principles of religion and liberty ; I see 
 in him a person schooled for the benefit of his 
 country, and the improvement of his species ; 
 and whose business and glory it will be to 
 
80 EFFICACY OF THE GOSPEL. 
 
 regenerate his native land/' " Is it not cause 
 for regret, if not wonder, that there should 
 be a Christian or a man who will not aid 
 this, of all others, the noblest benevolence of 
 modern days !"* 
 
 The fact that in Africa there are not the 
 obstacles in the way of the gospel that impede 
 its progress in other heathen lands — no caste 
 — no ancient institutions — no unchangeable 
 laws — no material idolatry — affords special en- 
 couragement to the friends of colonization to 
 aim principally at its evangelization. 
 
 And, in conclusion, I would repeat the re- 
 mark, that this result should be the first object 
 of the friends of the coloured bond-servants in 
 America ; and especially of those by whom 
 they are held in bondage, viz. : to make them, 
 under God's blessing, the 
 
 — " freemen whom the truth makes free." 
 
 * Speech of Capt. R. F. Stockton at the meeting of tha 
 Colonization Society, Trenton, N. J., Feb. 1837. 
 
EFFICACY OF THE GOSPEL, 81 
 
 Let the slave-holder take as his guide, that 
 heavenly rule of equity, which has already 
 been quoted, and applied to this subject. Let 
 him contemplate in the slave committed to his 
 care, not only a fellow man, but a spirit im- 
 mortal, destined alike with himself, soon to 
 commence the " travel of eternity." And thus 
 viewing its character, let him become to the poor 
 benighted soul that is toiling away its probation 
 in his service, a ministering angel of mercy, by 
 giving to it without delay, the light and the 
 consolations of the glorious gospel of the 
 
 BLESSED GOD. 
 
 " Inform his mind ; one flash of heavenly day, 
 Would heal his heart, and melt his chains away. 
 
 • Beauty for ashes ' is a gift indeed, 
 
 And slaves by truth enlarged, are doubly freed ; 
 Then would he say, submissive at thy feet, 
 While gratitude and love made service sweet, — 
 
 • My dear deliverer out of hopeless night, 
 Whose bounty bought me but to give me light, 
 I was a bondman on my native plain, 
 
 Sin forged, and Ignorance made fast the chain : 
 
82 EFFICACY OF THE GOSPEL. 
 
 Thy lips have shed instruction as the dew, 
 Taught me what path to shun, and what pursue. 
 Farewell, my former joys ! I sigh no more 
 For Africa's once loved, benighted shore ; 
 Serving a benefactor, I am free ; 
 At my best home, if not exiled from thee !' " 
 
 Thus with the gospel operating upon the 
 hearts of both the slave-holder and the slave, 
 we may hope, most effectually to promote 
 their preparation, not only for th? dissolution 
 of the bonds of domestick slavery as it exists 
 in our happy country ; but also for their be- 
 coming, under God, the honoured instruments 
 of rekindling the light of science and civiliza- 
 tion on that distant continent, and spreading 
 over it the fertility, beauty, and happiness, 
 which are the fruits of a pure Christianity. 
 This will be, in the broadest, noblest sense, 
 " to loose the bands of wickedness — to undo 
 the heavy burdens — to let the oppressed go 
 free — and to break every yoke." 
 
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