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This BOOK may be kept out TWO WEEKS 
 ONLY, and is subject to a fine of FIVE 
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REASONS FOR SUBSTITUTING 
 
 EAST INDIA, 
 
 FOR 
 
 WEST INDIA SUGAR. 
 
 IT is now seventeen years since the Slave 
 Trade was abolished by the government of this- 
 Country; but Slavery is still perpetuated in our 
 West India colonies, and the horrors of the Slave 
 Trade are aggravated rather than mitigated.* 
 By making it felony for British subjects to. be 
 concerned in that inhuman traffic, England has 
 only transferred her share of it to other countries. 
 
 * For abundant proof of the present continuance of the Slave Trade 
 by the Continental Powers, to an equal extent and with greater atrocity 
 than ever, in spite of all the efforts of the British Government to 
 prevent it, see, ‘‘ Parliamentary Papers, relative to the Slave Trade, 
 and Reports of the African Institution ; or in a more abridged form, 
 ina pamphlet entitled, “ Statements Tilustrative of the Nature of the 
 Slave Trade ;” and another entitled, “ Cries of Africa, to the inhabi- 
 tants of Europe, by Thomas Clarkson ;” both published by Harvey, 
 Darton and Co. London. 
 
 For evidence of the injustice and oppression to which the Slaves of 
 our West Indian Colonies and America, are, still subjected, see, 
 %s Stephen’s West Indies ; ” & Bickell’s West Indies as they are;”. | 
 ** Hall’s and Fearon’s Travels in America;” and the numerous 
 pamphlets circulated by the Anti-slavery Sogiety. 
 
 Bo 
 
 ( 
 
2 
 
 She has, indeed, by negociation and remon- 
 strance, endeavoured to persuade them to follow 
 her example; but has she succeeded? How 
 should she, whilst there is so little consistency in 
 her conduct? Who will listen to her pathetic 
 declamations on the injustice and cruelty of the 
 Slave Trade, whilst she rivets the chains on her 
 own Slaves, and subjects them-to all the injustice 
 and cruelty which she so eloquently deplores 
 when her own interest is no longer at stake? 
 Before we can have any rational hope of prevail- 
 ing on our guilty neighbours to abandon this 
 atrocious, commerce, to relinquish the gain of 
 oppression, the wealth obtained by rapine and 
 violence, by the deep groans, the bitter anguish 
 of our unoffending fellow-creatures, we must 
 urge ourselves from these pollutions, we must 
 reak the iron yoke from off the neck of our onn 
 Slaves, and let the wretched captives in our own 
 islands go free. Then, and not till then, we 
 shall speak to the surrounding nations with the 
 all commanding eloquence of sincerity and truth ; 
 and our persuasions will be backed by the irre- 
 sistible argument of consistent example. But to 
 invite others to be just and merciful, whilst we 
 grasp in our own hands the rod of oppression, 
 what is it but cant and hypocrisy? Do such 
 preachers of justice and mercy ever make con- 
 verts? On the contrary, do they not render 
 themselves ridiculous and contemptible. 
 
 But let us individually, bring this great question 
 closely home to our own bosoms. We that hear, 
 and read, and approve, and applaud the powerful 
 appeals, the irrefragable arguments against the 
 
 fen 
 
A-Z2163( 
 
 8 
 
 Slave Trade, and against Slavery, are we ourselves 
 sincere or hypocritical? Are we the true friends 
 of justice, or do we only make a profession of it ? 
 To which party do we really belong? To the 
 friends of emancipation, or of perpetual Slavery ? 
 Every individual belongs to one party or the 
 other, not speculatively, or professionally merely, 
 but practically. The perpetuation of Slavery in 
 our West India colonies, is a question in which 
 we are all implicated; we are all guilty (with 
 shame and compunction let us admit the oppro- 
 brious truth) of supporting and perpetuating 
 Slavery. ‘The planter refuses to set his wretched 
 captive at liberty, treats him as a beast of burden, 
 compels his reluctant, unremunerated labourer 
 under the lash of the cart whip: Why? Because 
 qwe furnish the stimulant to all this injustice, 
 yapacity, and cruelty, by purchasing its produce ! 
 Heretofore, it may have been thoughtlessly 
 
 and unconsciously ; but no, this palliative is 
 
 removed ;—the veil of ignorance is rent aside ;— 
 the whole nation must now divide itself into the 
 active supporters, and the active opposers of Slavery; 
 
 there is no longer any ground for a neutral party 
 to stand upon. 
 
 Our knowledge on this subject must not end 
 in exclamations, in petitions, and remonstrances. 
 There is something to be done as well as to be 
 said ;—there are tests to prove our sincerity, 
 sacrifices to be offered in confirmation of our zeal. 
 One in particular, (but it is in itself so small and 
 insignificant, that it seems almost like burlesque 
 to dignify it with the name of sacrifice,) it is, 
 
 -abstinencefro m the use of West Indian Produc- 
 
4 
 
 tions; Sugar, especially, in the cultivation of 
 which, Slave-labour is chiefly occupied.. Small 
 however, and insignificant as the sacrifice may 
 appear, it would at once give the death-blow to 
 West Indian Slavery. When there is no longer 
 a profitable market for the productions of Slave- 
 labour, then, and we fear not till then, will.the 
 Slaves be emancipated.t 
 
 Reason and eloquence, persuasion and argu- 
 ment, have been powerfully exerted; experiments 
 have been fairly made; facts broadly stated, in 
 proof of the impolicy as well as iniquity of Slavery, 
 to little purpose ; even the hope of its extinction, 
 with the concurrence of the planter, or by any 
 enactment of the Colonial, or British legislature, 
 is still seen in very remote perspective; so remote, 
 that the heart sickens at the cheerless prospect. 
 All the answers have now come in from the dif- 
 ferent West India Legislatures to the humane 
 propositions of his Majesty’s ministers, by which 
 it appears, that the former will do nothing effec- 
 tual; that there is a determination to evade or 
 resist all amelioration, and much more every step 
 that has emancipation for its avowed object. 
 There seems to be no hope for humanity,. but in 
 the use of force by Government (which would not 
 be desirable ;) or in the virtue of the English 
 people, which would shew their abhorrence of the 
 
 + See second report of the Anti-slavery Society, and Cropper’s 
 Relief of Wést Indian Distress; in which the beneficial effects of a 
 fallin the price of Slave Grown Produce, (arising from a diminished 
 consumption) upon the condition of the Slaves, and its immediate in- 
 fluence in ‘promoting their gradual emancipation, are clearly proved, 
 and admirably illustrated, 
 
3 
 
 planter’s system by leaving off the, use of their 
 produce.* 
 
 “ Yes, (it may be said) if all would unite in 
 such a resolution; but what can the abstinence 
 of a few ua iaeels or a few families do, towards 
 the accomplishment of so vast an object?” ‘It 
 can do wonders. Great ends often result from 
 small beginnings. Yourresolution will influence 
 that of your friends and neighbours ;—each of 
 them will in like manner influence their friends 
 and neighbours; the example will spread from 
 house to house, from city to city; till, among those 
 who have any clam to humanity, there will be 
 but one heart and one mind, one resolution, one 
 uniform practice. Thus, by means the most simple 
 and easy, would West Indian Slavery be the most 
 safely and speedily abolished. 
 
 Should any still be discouraged ee the idea 
 that little good can reasonably be expected to 
 result from individual abstinence from West 
 Indian produce, let them reflect, that the most 
 astonishing effects of human power have been 
 accomplished by combined exertions; which 
 when. individually and separately considered, 
 appear feeble and insignificant. Let them reflect, 
 that the grandest objects of human observation, 
 consist of small agglomerated particles; that the 
 olobe itself is composed of atoms too minute for 
 discernment ; that extended ages consist of accu- 
 mulated moments. Let them reflect, that greater 
 victories have been achieved by the combined 
 
 * Clarksen. 
 
6 
 
 expression of individual opinion, than by fleets 
 and armies ; that greater moral revolutions have 
 been accomplished by the combined exertion of 
 individual resolution, than were ever effected by 
 acts of Parliament. 
 
 The hydra-headed monster of Slavery will 
 never be destroyed by other means than the united 
 expression of individual opinion, and the united 
 exertion of individual resolution. Let no man 
 restrain the expression of the one, or the exertion 
 of the other, from the apprehension that his single 
 effort will be of no avail. The greatest and the 
 best work must have a beginning; often it is a 
 very small and obscure one. And though the 
 
 Note.—We are now paying in bounty to keep up the prices of 
 Sugar, and in establishments and armies, to keep the slaves in sub- 
 jection, about three millions annually! And all this we are distinctly 
 told by the planters is not sufficient. Three millions more according 
 to their estimates must be given them to afford even a moderate re- 
 muneration ; which altogether would make an expense to the country 
 of eight pounds on every slave held in bondage. See Second Report 
 of the Anti-slavery Society. 
 
 The protecting bounties and prohibitions, apply to various articles, 
 but chiefly to Sugar, which is the great Production of our West India 
 Colonies ; they are :— 
 
 I. A bounty which is paid on the exportation of Refined Sugar, and 
 which raises the price of al] sugar in the home market, about Gs. per 
 ewt. above its natural price, making an annual sum of £1,200.000. 
 
 Il. A high duty of 10s. per cwt. above what is paid from the West 
 Indies,imposed on Sugar,the produce of the British dominionsin India. 
 
 III. Prohibitory duties on Sugar grownin all other parts of the world. 
 
 These bounties have enabled the British Planters to be absent from, 
 and to neglect their own concerns and to delegate to others the tre- 
 mendous responsibility of their situation. This characteristic of the 
 British system is the fruitful source from which many of its peculiar 
 evils arise. The colonies of Spain and Portugal have been compelled 
 to support themselves; they have neither had bounties ontheir produce, 
 noi the expenses of a standing army paid by the mother country. 
 Their system of treatment is more mild, they encourage emancipation, 
 and have vast numbers of free labourers; and these are the countries 
 which are underselling the British Sugar planters in all the markets of 
 Europe.—See a paper, ‘‘ On the Impolicy of Slavery.” 
 
7 
 
 example in question should not become universal, 
 we may surely hope that it will become general. 
 
 It is too much to expect that the matter will be 
 taken up (otherwise than to make a jest of it) by 
 the thoughtless and the selfish: what proportion 
 these bear to the considerate and compassionate, 
 remains to be ascertained. By these we may 
 reasonably expect that it mill be taken up with 
 resolution and consistency. By christian societies 
 of every denomination, who are sincere in their 
 profession of the one religion of universal com- 
 passion, which requires “ to love our neighbour 
 as ourselves,” this testimony against Slavery may 
 
 be expected to be borne with scrupulous and con- 
 scientious fidelity. 
 
 That abstinence from West Indian Sugar 
 alone would sign the death-warrant of West 
 Indian Slavery, is morally certain. The gratuity 
 of from one to two millions annually paid by the 
 people of this country in bounties on West Indian 
 Sugar, is acknowledged by the Planters to be 
 insufficient to bolster up their tottering system ; 
 and they scruple not to declare to Parliament, 
 that they may be ruined, if the protecting duty 
 against Hast India competition be not augmented. 
 
 One concluding word, to such as may be con- 
 vinced of the duty, but may still be incredulous 
 as to the efficacy of this species of abstinence, 
 from the apprehension that it will never become 
 sufficiently general to accomplish its purpose. 
 Should your example not be followed; should it 
 be utterly unavailing towards the attainment of 
 
§ 
 
 its object ; still, it will have its own abundant re- 
 ward; still, it will be attended with the conscious- 
 ness of sincerity and consistency ; “ of possessing 
 clean hands,” of having “no fellowship with the 
 workers of iniquity ;’’ still it will be attended with 
 the approbation of conscience, and doubtless with 
 that of the Great Searcher of hearts, who regarded 
 with a favourable eye, the mite cast by the poor 
 widow into the treasury ; and declared, that a 
 eup of cold water only. adiministered in christian 
 _ charity, “shall im no wise lose its reward.” 
 
 ” ; FINIS. 
 
 ae 
 
 Printed by Richard Peart, 38, Bull-street, Birmingham. 
 
 * 
 
AN 
 
 ADDRESS 
 
 TO 
 THE CETIZENS OF PHILADELPHIA, 
 
 ON THE 
 
 SUBJECT OF SLAVERY. 
 
 DELIVERED 
 
 On the 4th of 7th Month, (July,) A. D. 1833. 
 
 BY 
 
 EDWIN P. ATLEE, M. D. 
 OF PHILADELPHIA. 
 
 PHILADELPHIA = 
 
 PUBLISHED BY PARTICULAR REQUEST. 
 .Wm. P. Gibbons, Printer. 
 
hy nt 
 ‘eh Boe, 
 
 He 
 Perany 
 
AN ADDRESS, &c. 
 
 msn 9 potine 
 
 F'eviow Cirizens—It has been customary since the es- 
 tablishment of the government of these United States, for 
 the citizens of the Republic, in various sections, to meet 
 together on the annual return of this day, to commemorate 
 the glorious era on which that incomparable and illustrious 
 band of patriots of 1776 gave to the world the declaration of 
 our independence. 
 
 As a remembrancer of times, circumstances and events, 
 which in ages to come are to influence the destiny of this _ 
 nation, and through it, perhaps, that of the governments of 
 the whole civilized world, it is proper that we, who are peace- 
 fully enjoying the inestimable privileges of that freedom, for 
 the accomplishment of which our forefathers fearlessly staked 
 their “ lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honour,” should 
 embrace the opportunity of so auspicious an occasion, to in- 
 quire how far we have maintained and extended the happiness 
 and security most likely to result from the steady pursuit of 
 original principles. 
 
 It is our design, on the present occasion,— 
 
 Ist. To inquire what were the fundamental principles of our 
 
 Union. 
 2d. How far, in the organization of the present government 
 
 of the United States, these principles were maintained by the _ 
 
 venerated framers of our Constitution. 
 
 3d. What direful evil has, by them, through mistaken policy, 
 been entailed upon the country. 
 
 4th. How, and by what means, the nation may be preserved. 
 from the inevitable and untimely destruction which the con- 
 tinuance of this evil must bring upon it. 
 
poe 
 
 1st. The fundamental principles upon which was based the 
 great struggle for our national independence, are those con- 
 tained in the following words, put forth “ By the Representa- 
 - tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
 July 4th, 1776,” viz.: “ When in the course of human events, 
 _ it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political 
 bonds which have connected them with another, and to as- 
 sume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal 
 station to which the laws of nature, and of nature’s God en- 
 title them, a decent respect for the opinions of mankind re- 
 quires, that they should declare the causes which impel them 
 to the separation. . 
 
 “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are 
 created equal—that they are endowed by their Creator with 
 certain inalienable rights—that among: these are, life, liberty, 
 and the pursuit of happiness. That to secure these rights, 
 governments are instituted among men, deriving their just 
 powers from the consent of the governed: that whenever any 
 form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is 
 the right of the people to alter or abolish it, and to institute a 
 new government, laying its foundation on such principles, and 
 organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most 
 likely to effect their safety and happiness. Prudence, indeed, 
 will dictate, that governments long established should not be 
 changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all 
 experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to 
 suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by 
 abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when 
 a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably 
 the same object, evinces a design to reduce them under abso- 
 lute despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off 
 such government, and to provide new guards for their future 
 security,” &c. 
 
 Thus, fellow citizens, did our fathers proclaim the se/f-evi- 
 dent, and therefore unquestionable, truths, which present them- 
 selves to the mind of every rational man who reflects at all 
 upon the laws of moral and social happiness; and after enu- 
 
 merating a long list of grievances and sufferings to which they 
 
ae 
 
 were unjustly subjected by the tyranny of Great Britain, aris- 
 ing out of the total disregard of an unnatural government, to 
 the inalienable rights of man, they further declared, that in — 
 the prosecution of their designs, they felt “a firm reliance 
 upon the protection of Divine Providence.” The blessings of 
 millions of freemen have arisen in sweet incense at the tombs 
 of the fathers of our liberties, for their heroism in maintaining 
 unmoved “the glorious cause of equal rights’—the almost 
 spontaneous voice of the people, has awarded them a niche in 
 the Temple of immortality 
 
 clared as almost sacred—and the air has been annually rent 
 by the thunders of our cannon, in evidence of a nation’s jubi- 
 lee. The powers of poetry’and oratory have been exhausted 
 in portraying the characters of the assembled sages of 76, 
 and the happiness and prosperity of our republican institu- 
 tions. And yet in the face of all this, as if to expose us be- 
 fore the nations of. the earth to the extremest derision, there 
 is engrafted upon our statutes, a system of oppression and 
 despotism, unsurpassed by those of any people, civilized or 
 barbarous. 
 
 The whole of the movements of the then siiemest in obtain- 
 ing emancipation from the thraldom of Great Britain; their 
 defenceless condition compared with the strength and re- 
 sources of the “mother country;” together with their novel 
 views of government and morals, had excited an intense inte- 
 rest among the nations of Europe. Nothing but a total de- 
 feat, followed by a still more onerous and degrading vassalage, 
 was predicted for “ the rebels” and contemners of “ the divine 
 right of kings.” In short, the chances of success were so un- 
 certain, that the stoutest hearts almost quailed, in the contem- 
 plation of so unequal a contest. But the principles they pro- 
 mulgated were those of immutable justice, and of inalienable 
 human rights. ‘They were content, therefore, to advance and 
 abide the issue. 
 
 2. Man, under the guidance of human reason alone, is 
 mainly the creature of circumstances, changing his character 
 and feelings according to the condition in which those cir- 
 cumstances may place him. All history proves, unfortunately 
 
[om 
 
 for the dignity, and superiority of intelligence which he claims, 
 
 that while adversity and persecution soften his heart, and 
 produce benevolence towards his brethren, prosperity and 
 power blunt the nobler feelings of his nature, and render him 
 tyrannical. Notwithstanding the seeming sincerity of their 
 movements, the honoured sages to whom was intrusted the 
 _ framing (and adoption) of our Constitution, in the name of 
 “the people of the United States,” “in order to form a more 
 _ perfect union, [than that attempted by the Confederation, ] es- 
 tablish justice, insure domestic tranquillity, provide for the 
 common defence, promote the general welfare, and secure the 
 blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity,”—those very 
 sages, from motives of worldly policy, and pretended expe- 
 diency, authorized the perpetuation of usurpations, which 
 themselves had declared to be contrary to “ the laws of na- 
 ture and of nature’s God.” It is true there were many among 
 them who opposed, while opposition was available, the con- 
 tinuance of such abuses as retarded the general welfare, and 
 jeoparded the blessings of liberty. It is not enough for pos- 
 terity to be told that the present government could not have 
 been established without compromising the vital principles of 
 our fathers. Better had it been for millions of our fellow men, 
 if each state had been refused admittance into the Union, until 
 prepared to conform to the spirit and letter of the Declaration 
 of Independence. While we cheerfully unite in the expressions 
 of gratitude for the inestimable privileges secured to some 
 twelve millions of freemen, we feel compelled to protest 
 against the entailment of an evil, authorized by the Magna 
 Charta of which we so loudly boast. 
 
 3. The evil to which we allude, and which our Constitu- 
 tion perpetuates, is slavery. 
 
 Whatever may have been the necessity, in the then existing 
 state of things, for the formation of a General Government, it 
 is deeply to be regretted that some clause was not introduced 
 into the Constitution, fixing a time for the entire abolition of 
 slavery. The glaring inconsistency of the toleration of so 
 great an evil, led the friends of universal emancipation to 
 espouse the cause of the oppressed descendants of Africa. By 
 
i a 
 
 their untiring zeal in combating the specious pleadings of cu- 
 pidity and avarice, the public mind was enlightened to per- 
 ceive the enormities of the system, and its abolition was pro- 
 vided for in a number of the states, by their legislatures. Had 
 the convention of delegates of 1787, maintained original prin- 
 ciples in their purity, the nation might have been at this day 
 a nation of freemen, uniting as the voice of one man, in hal- 
 lelujahs for rights and privileges granted to no other people 
 under the canopy of Heaven. ‘To show the amount of des- 
 potism practised by the freemen of this republic, we will re-- 
 view the census, as taken at the several times since the year 
 1787. | 
 
 In 1790, there were 697,897 slaves. In 1800, 893,041. 
 In 1810, 1,192,364. In 1820, 1,538,038. In 1830, 2,009,043. 
 Showing the increase in 40 years, to be at the rate of about 
 32 per cent. ‘The annual increase of the slave population, at 
 the present time, is not less than 60,000. 
 
 Let us now examine whether the white population has ad- 
 vanced in the ratio of the coloured, since the year 1790, in 
 the slave holding states. At that time the whites numbered 
 101, to 57 coloured persons; but in the census for 1830 they 
 stood in the proportion of 101, to 63. Instead, therefore, of 
 advancing, they have depreciated 6 per cent. 
 
 The constant disproportion, and alarming encroachment, 
 as to numbers, of the coloured population, induced a train of 
 circumstances which early gave rise to discordant views and 
 opposite interests among our sister states. The cause was 
 diligently concealed as long as ignorance and sophistry could 
 hold dominion. At length, (that is after a continuance in 
 tyranny until the retributive justice, alluded to by Jefferson, 
 appeared about to fall upon those who were so pseudo-repub- 
 lican, inhuman, and unchristian, as to hold property in their 
 fellow man,) slavery was acknowledged to be an evil which 
 ought to be remedied. Yes, my fellow citizens, it was not 
 until the number of slaves had increased from 697,897 to 
 1,538,039, or in other words, after the expiration of 44 years 
 from the Declaration of Independence, that a portion of the 
 very people whose representatives in general congress assem- 
 
Lo 
 
 bled, July 4th, 1776, had solemnly appealed “ to the Supreme 
 Judge of the world, for the rectitude of their intentions,” in 
 announcing the inalienable right of every man to freedom, was 
 prepared to acknowledge that slavery is an evil. 
 
 About the year 1820, there were discovered some leading 
 men in the slave holding states, who appeared desirous of ap- 
 plying a remedy. Long antecedent, however, to this period 
 of time, there had issued appeals from some of the greatest 
 and best of our countrymen, such as Rush, Franklin, Wistar, 
 and a host of other philanthropists, on the subject of slavery, 
 sufficiently powerful to have convinced the most obdurate. 
 As members of “ 'The Pennsylvania Society for promoting the 
 abolition of slavery,” &c., founded in 1774, while these states 
 were still colonies of Great Britain, they had zealously advo- 
 cated the cause of emancipation, and had shown the impolicy 
 and inevitable consequences of the slave system. Let it be 
 remembered that at that time slavery existed in all the colo- 
 nies, and therefore they were as unjustifiable as we, in med- 
 dling with “ the delicate subject.” Yet, relying on the justice 
 and equity of their cause, they relaxed not in their efforts un- 
 tila majority of the original states had made arrangements 
 for its total abolition. 
 
 Unhappily for the cause of humanity and of righteous go- 
 vernment, the admissions granted by our Constitution, to the 
 right of property in the bodies of our fellow men, opened the 
 door to the reception of additional states into our Union, in 
 which slavery was legalized. The blackness of darkness 
 about to be dispelled from our horizon, through the instrumen- 
 tality of the cheering rays of gradual emancipation, again 
 arose, and has been rapidly accumulating, until its fearful 
 portent threatens our beloved country with some dire convul- 
 sion. Already have been heard the distant thunders of Divine 
 displeasure—vivid flashes have been seen to cross and che- 
 quer the black clouds which were gathering, with the in- 
 signia of wrath. When our political firmament shall be- 
 come obscured,—when the impending storm shall burst upon 
 us, is known only to “Him who inhabiteth eternity.” Yet | 
 may we experience redemption from the approaching de- 
 
struction—our waste places may be rebuili—our founda- 
 tions raised up for the safety of many generations—our li 
 may rise in obscurity, and our darkness be as noonday, u we 
 repent of our iniquities, “break every yoke, undo the heavy, 
 
 burdens, and let the oppressed go free.’ 
 
 The process of gradual abolition having’ been early adopted | 
 by several of the states, and before the influence of th e slave 
 system -had become interwoven with their whole abri 
 ie F a 
 
 rc ti +e yr aa } cane ~4-¢ shy , Aire +r “ 
 as erased the foul stain from their statute Wee tox: ever. 
 y 
 i 
 
 At this moment, twelve out of t , are 
 freé from legalized slavery. Shall we, who compose the 
 
 creat party of the sovereign pep er and. who know and 
 C | inert shall ace 
 
 } ith tg LE stag Ve 
 feel the ennobli ing operations. of unall 
 v7 
 
 y | ey ¢° 
 whose homes and firesides are the abode « :! contentment and 
 
 whose families and ‘aves may lie ie to rest 
 without A dread of insurrection and murder, from the vic- 
 tims of their oppression—shall we, whose attachment to the 
 Union rust at least be as fervent as that of our slave holding 
 brethren, and whose interest and deep anxiety for the perma- 
 nent welfare of posterity must be proportionate to the bounds 
 which encircle us—shall we cease to expostulate with the mi- 
 nority, or to intreat them no longer to defy “the God and 
 Father of; us all,” “whose justice will not sleep for ever ?” 
 Never, until every human being within their jurisdiction shall 
 be free. | 
 
 4, But, say the abettors of slavery, the evil has been en- 
 tailed upon us ;—how shall we get rid of it without terrible 
 consequences ? 
 
 _ We answer, by fofak abolition. Not gradual, but imme- 
 diate. Immediate, because the voice of justice demands it. 
 Immediate, because every hour is adding to the mass of our 
 oppressed fellow beings, whose cries and groans and blood, 
 are calling unto God for deliverance. Not less than one thou- 
 sand per week are added to the number of those, born “in the 
 image of God,” and heirs, and joint heirs with us in immor- 
 tality, who are doomed, by our laws, to interminable degra- 
 dation ;—whose bodies are classed with “ the beasts that pe- 
 
 rish,” and from whose souls are shut out, by statute, the rays 
 9 , 
 
[10 4 
 of intellectual comfort, and the beams of gospel consolation, 
 to which every Christian is entitled. 
 
 ‘¢ Yet Afric’s sons, the beasts of burden here, 
 Freed from the lash awhile, prefer their prayer— 
 Waft their deep woes in sighs unto their God, 
 And groans, which pierce Compassion’s blest abode.” 
 
 Shall the freemen of this nation listlessly look at these awful 
 truths, without seeking the remedy ? 
 
 We use the definite phraseology, because we believe no- 
 thing but immediate abolition will meet the exigencies of our 
 situation. By this we do not mean that the shackles of slavery 
 shall be instantly severed, and the slaves cast out upon the 
 - country without the restrictions of wholesome laws. This 
 would be turning a state of vassalage into that of licentious- 
 ness, and accumulating, instead of lessening our calamity. 
 In the language of one of the ablest and most learned of those 
 connected with what are termed the “divines” of the age, 
 who now “ rests from his labours,” and whose works do fol- 
 low him—the term is to be used relatively, as contrasted with 
 gradual. ‘'The meaning of the word, as used by us, is per- 
 -fectly clear, and cannot be misapprehended by any one: it is 
 not to be made a subject of metaphysical animadversion : it is 
 to be understood under the direction of common sense, and 
 especially as modified and expounded by those statements with 
 which it is associated: viewed in that light, immediate aboli- 
 tion is not merely an unintelligible phrase, but one that does 
 not warrant a particle of the alarm which some have affect- 
 ed to take at it, and is not liable to any one of those objections 
 which some have been pleased to make to it. To say that we 
 will come out of the sin by degrees—that we will only for- 
 sake it slowly, and step by step—that we will pause and hesi- 
 tate, and look well about us, before we consent to abandon 
 its gains and pleasures—that we will allow another age to 
 pass by ere we throw off the load of iniquity that is lying so 
 heavy upon us, lest certain secularities should be injuriously 
 affected—and that we will postpone the duty of “doing justly 
 and loving mercy,” till we have removed every petty diffi- 
 
i 
 
 culty out of the way, and gotten all the conflicting interests 
 that are involved in the measure, reconciled and satisfied :— 
 to say this, is to trample on the demands of moral obligation, 
 and to disregard the voice which speaks to us from Heaven. 
 The path of duty is plain before us, and we have nothing to 
 do but to enter it at once, and to walk in it, without turning © 
 to the right hand or to the left.” The first step to be taken is, 
 to repeal every law which denies the slave the acknowledged. 
 rights of every man. Secondly, to open the way for his 
 intellectual and moral culture. Third, to point him to the 
 way that leads to present happiness, and_to eternal peace— 
 and to draw him near to us by the cords of Christian love. 
 All this may be done at once, and all the fancied horrors of 
 insurrection and murder will vanish into “ airy nothing.” If 
 it be true that “righteousness exalteth a nation,” then shall 
 our beloved country, divested of this load of sinfulness, rise 
 higher and higher, and approach nearer and _ nearer to the 
 summit of earthly prosperity. 
 
 To suppose that any other than total abolition, will afford 
 the specific our national constitution demands, is to suppose 
 that mere palliatives ever removed a malady. However use- 
 ful and comforting they may appear for the time, the march 
 of the disease is onward, and inevitable dissolution is the -re- 
 sult. ‘The palliatives, in themselves, are nevertheless worthy 
 of some consideration. Such is the consideration which the 
 genuine abolitionist awards to African colonization. He be- 
 lieves in the possibility of bettering the condition of -the few. 
 The mass of the coloured population, he knows can never be 
 transported. In fine, his powers of calculation are bewilder- 
 ed in the contemplation of how an annual increase of 56,000 
 slaves, can be provided for in any distant colony?’ The average 
 price of transporting each individual will, at the lowest pos- 
 sible sum, be 20 dollars. This allowance we know to be too 
 little by one half. But grant that it takes no more, the in- 
 credible sum of $1,120,000 would be required simply for 
 transportation, without the necessary appropriations for sus- 
 taining the colonists until they were enabled to take care of 
 themselves. This would swell the sum to at least double the 
 
gas, ae ea) 
 
 Ry amount. Whence is it to be derived? . And if supplied, re- 
 member that 2,000,000 of our fellow men remain in bondage. 
 /. Asa means, therefore, of totally a DOU RAIE the evil, coloni- 
 * zation is incompetent.. The condition of the few, who by the 
 benevolent intentions of those who are interested in the sub- 
 oo” are improved, although satisfactory so far as it goes, 
 ean never make amends ae the constant plundering of mil- 
 “ lions of their most sacred rights—neither can it materially 
 be lessen the mass of crime and wretchedness, as it now exists. 
 . Abolition and colonization are. distinct subjects—in their 
 ‘places, capable of rauch good. But when the friends of either, 
 influenced by a “zeal without knowledge,” denounce: the 
 ~ other, evil may ensue to both. Our fellow citizens have the’ 
 undoubted right to exercise their privilege to contribute to the 
 advancement of either; and the advocates of each have the 
 " right to be heard patiently. The columns of the press through- 
 » -out the country, should be opened for the calm, deliberate and 
 » judicious consideration of the real claims of both. “An evil 
 tree cannot bring forth good fruit,” neither can malice, vitu- 
 - peration and slander be the fruit of good principles, In the 
 discussion of the two subjects before the community at large, 
 ~ the champions of both sides have too often descended from 
 - the true dignity of the advocates of Christian benevolence, 
 and losing sight of truth and soberness, have marred the beau- 
 ty which each claims for its design. 
 ; The main reasons urged, by the friends of ‘colonization, 
 “against immediate abolition, are these. Ist. ‘They assert that 
 “its effects would be to spread discord and devastation from » 
 one end of the Union to the other.” 2d. That “the condition 
 - of the slave, suddenly emancipated, and thrown upon his own 
 x _Tesources, is very far from being improved; and, however 
 laudable the feeling which leads to such emancipation, its 
 ‘policy and propriety are at least. questionable.” 3d. That 
 ’ observation has fully convinced them. that sia ale has 
 often been injurious to both master and slave’— that « it is 
 ey probable that the manumiited would not only be poor 
 and wretched, but likewise a public nuisance.” Again, “ that 
 it is not right that men should be free, when their freedom. 
 
Lae 
 
 would prove injurious to themselves and others.” Our rene : 
 
 is, that the manner of observation used by them and us is 
 very dissimilar.’ We have been made. satisfied from facts 4 
 which cannot be controverted, that no danger whatever is to” 
 be anticipated from immediate emancipation, as called forby — 
 us. We ask your deliberate attention while we recur to some : 
 of them. ! ae 
 History informs us that after the instantaneous emancipas 
 tion of the slaves at St. Domingo, by the act. of the National” 
 Convention of France, in the month of February, 1794 be 
 no such confusion and destruction resulted. .Malenfant, who 
 resided in the island at the time, says, “ After this public act 
 of emancipation, the Negroes remained guiet, both in the 
 south and in the west, and ther y continued to work upon all the 
 plantations. Upon those estates which were abandoned, 
 they continued their labours, where there were any, even in- 
 ferior agents, to guide them: and on those estates where no 
 white men were left to direct them, they betock themselves to 
 the planting of provisions; but upon all the plantations where 
 - the whites resided, the blacks continued to labour as quietly as” 
 before. On the plantation Gourad, consisting of more than 
 450 labourers, noé a single Negro refused to work; and yet. 
 this plantation was thought to .be under the worst discipline, — 
 and the slaves the most idle, of any in the plain.” Lacroix, | 3 
 who published his “ Mem: oirs for a History of St. Domingo,” 
 at Paris, in the’ year 1819, uses this language, viz—* The 
 colony marched, as by enchantment, towards its ancient 
 ‘splendour ; civilization prospered ; every day produced per- 
 ceptible proofs of its progress.. The city of the Cape, and the 5 
 -plantations of. the nor\), rose’ up again visibly to the eye.” 
 Vincent, who was a brigadier g seneral of artillery in St. Dor 
 . mingoyand proprietor of ‘estatesin that island, atthe same period,” 
 declared to the Directory of France, that “ every thing was go- 
 ing on well in St. Domingo. The proprietors were in peacealile. 
 possession of their estates; cultivation was making rapid pro-. 
 gress; and the blacks were industrious, and beyond beaniile hap= 
 py.” In Mexico, and in Colombia, the immediate abolition of 
 slavery has caused no insurrections, but evidently increased the 
 
stability of the governments. The slaves, amounting to 2,000, 
 
 Pe a 
 
 who had joined the British standard, and continued under its 
 
 protection after the close of our revolutionary war, and who 
 were manumitted by the British government, and settled in 
 
 ‘Nova Scotia, according to Clarkson, whose historical facts 
 
 are beyond contradiction, “ led a harmless life, and gained the 
 character of an industrious and honest people, from their 
 
 white neighbours.”—* A large number [as free labourers] are 
 
 now earning their livelihood, and with so much industry and 
 
 good conduct, that the calumnies originally spread against 
 
 them, have entirely died away.” 
 Joshua Steele, the proprietor of large slave estates, or plan- 
 
 tations, in Barbadoes, and who had determined to test the 
 ‘influences of voluntary and involuntary labour, among the 
 
 slaves belonging to his several plantations, by allowing them 
 compensation, instead of applying the lash, declares, in a let- 
 ter to his friend Dr. Dickson, “that during the operations un- 
 der the premium, his people became contented, and in a Uittle 
 better than four years, the annual nett clearance of his pro- 
 perty was more than triple.” That accordingly, “ he soon dis- 
 missed his superintendent.” ‘This experiment, made in the 
 midst of other plantations, had no injurious effect upon the 
 neighbouring estates, by the production of insurrection, &c. 
 Having now produced such evidence as we consider 
 conclusive, in proof of the position that the dangers ap- 
 
 prehended from immediate abolition, are entirely ideal and 
 illusory—we shall leave those who differ from us in opinion 
 to pursue their own course, with the hope, that in all their 
 
 proceedings they may constantly remember the injunction to 
 
 do unto others as ye would wish them to do unto you.” 
 _ Fellow citizens—Let us once more turn our attention to the 
 
 fact, that we are now convened on the fifty-seventh anniver- 
 
 sary of our independence as a nation. Let us once more con- 
 
 trast the principles we profess, with the practice we pursue. 
 Let us, while we are rejoicing in our liberty, forget not that 
 this “land of the free” is polluted by the footsteps of more 
 
 y 
 
 than two millions of human beings, whose hearts dare not par- 
 
Oe ee 
 
 uw. ate with ours, in the song of freedom, and whose souls” 
 are bowed down by the debasing chains of slavery. 
 
 Sons and daughters of Columbia! shall revolving years 
 bring no deliverance to the oppressed? Shall ad the tender 
 ties which sweeten life, continue to be severed at the nod of 
 tyrant man? Shall that one spot, of ten miles square, within 
 whose limits, meet the representatives of all the states, and 
 over which they hold entire jurisdiction, be still profaned by. 
 marts and prison houses for the sale of human flesh and 
 sinews? Shall thousands of a race, created with “a skin not 
 coloured like our own,” be still concentrated in this district, 
 “where the sounds of the clanking fetters, mingle with the 
 voices of American statesmen, legislating for a free people ?” 
 Shall all these flagrant inconsistencies, in the view of foreign 
 nations, and more especially of the very government against 
 whose usurpations, and whose despotic sway, our fathers 
 fearlessly recorded thcir solemn protest, continue longer to 
 draw forth the imprecations of insulted and indignant hu- 
 manity ? | 
 
 We pause for your reply. 
 
 We beseech you, therefore, by your regard for justice and 
 the rights of man—by your religion, and the enduring welfare 
 of our common country—by your respect for yourselves, and 
 your interest in the happiness of unborn millions, not to relax 
 in the efforts of philanthropy, and in the vindication of equal 
 rights—not to disregard the luminous admonitions of Sacred 
 Truth—nor to stifle the rising spirit of pure patriotism: not 
 to withhold your appeals to our brethren of the South, and 
 your remonstrances to our National Councils, until the em- 
 blems and horrors of slavery shall cease to exist, and the 
 blood stains upon our soil be expunged for ever. ‘ 
 
A 
 TREATISE 
 
 ON THE 
 
 ee 
 
 PATRIARCHAL SYSTEM OF SOCIETY, 
 
 AS IT EXISTS IN 
 SOME GOVERNMENTS AND COLONIES IN AMERICA, 
 
 AND IN THE UNITED STATES, 
 
 UNDER 
 
 THE NAME OF SLAVERY, 
 
 WITH IT'S NECESSITY AND ADVANTAGES. 
 
 BY AN INHABITANT OF FLORIDA. 
 
 fm 4 
 
 ad 
 
 FOURTH EDITION, WITH AN APPENDIX. 
 
 1834. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 It will be allowed by every one, that agriculture is the great foun- 
 dation of the wealth and prosperity of our Southern States. This 
 important science has already attracted some share of attention from 
 men of the first talents, by whose improvements in cultivation seve- 
 ral valuable productions promise, from their superiority, to maintain 
 a preference in foreign markets; and the recent introduction of new 
 articles of tropical produce into the southern districts, where they bid 
 fair to succeed, offers still greater incitements to agricultural enter- 
 prise, and opens a new and extensive range for future speculation. 
 
 While this great field of wealth and independence promises now 
 to be well understood and duly appreciated, the primary cause and — 
 means by which alone it can be realized, has either escaped attention, 
 or been designedly overlooked: I mean the perpetuation of that kind 
 of labor which now produces it, and which seems best adapted, under 
 all circumstances, to render it profitable to the Southern capitalist. 
 
 The idea of slavery, when associated with cruelty and injustice, 1s 
 revolting to every philanthropic mind ; but when that idea is associ- 
 ated with justice and benevolence, slavery, commonly so called, easily 
 amalgamates with the ordinary conditions of life. 
 
 To counteract the existing prejudice against slavery, by making 
 it evident that the condition of slaves may be equally happy and more 
 independent of the ordinary evils of life, than that of the common 
 class of whites denominated free—that they are now equally virtu- 
 ous, moral, and less corrupted than the ordinary class of laboring 
 whites—that their labor is far more productive—that they yield more 
 support and benefit to the State, which, under a well regulated sys- 
 tem of management, is better fitted to endure a state of war than it 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 would be with an equal number of free white people of ordinary 
 means and condition; and, finally, that the Slave or Patriarchal 
 System of Society [so often commiserated as a subject of deep re- 
 gret] which constitutes the bond of social compact of the Southern 
 seaboard of the United States, is better adapted for strength, dura- 
 bility, and independence, than any other state of society hitherto 
 adopted. ‘To endeavor to prove all this, and to destroy the preju- 
 dice existing against slavery, under the circumstances with which it 
 is now associated in the South, is the object of the present essay ; 
 dedicated to the people of Florida, and to political economists through- 
 out the Southern States, by a votary of rational policy, and 
 most respectfully 
 their humble servant, 
 A Suave Hoxper. 
 
 *,* See notes at theend. 
 
A TREATISE. 
 
 ON x 
 IN 
 THE PATRIARCHAL SLAVE SYSTEM. 
 
 That there is a large portion of territory inthe Southern States unfavor- 
 able to the health and production of white people, is evident fromthe sickly 
 appearance of nearly the whole seaboard laboring white population, extend- 
 ing from the Chesapeake Bay to the Mississippi. This sickly appearance 
 is most observed among the lower orders, who are exposed to the weather ; 
 and it can only be accounted for by supposing that nature has not fitted a 
 white complexion for hard work in the sun, as it is evident that the darkness 
 of complexion here is a measure of capacity for endurance of labor, under 
 that influence. | 
 
 Many, from a superficial view of things, suppose that the aversion to 
 labor observable in the South, among the working classes of whites, pro- 
 ceeds from natural indisposition. Buta nearer view, and better acquaint- 
 ance with facts will show, that the radical cause is the want of health, 
 which produces an apathy or aversion to work and frequently a relaxation, 
 or want of natural excitement in the powers of life, which seek ertiiciay 
 stimulants ; as we see frequent instances of the strongest, soberest, and 
 most industrious mechanics coming from the North, becoming, after a few 
 years hard labor, weak and idle, and finally falling a sacrifice to the abuse 
 of ardent spirits. Some are of opinion, that the want of health in these 
 classes, is owing to their being unaccustomed to a hot climate. But as many 
 years have elapsed since the first white people settled among the Southern 
 swamps, and their descendants have not improved in either looks or long- 
 evity, it becomes evident that the people of white complexions are unfitted 
 by nature for that situation. (2) 
 
 Some of our Northern neighbors, living in a state of health and afflu- 
 ence, and not being aware that this prosperous state, in many instances, 
 proceeds indirectly from Southern slave labor, and without duly investi- 
 gating, and comparing the hardships, and humiliation of the lower condi; 
 
6 
 
 tion of their white population with the more comfortable state of the 
 Southern negroes, have denounced the Patriarchal state of subordination of 
 the latter, called Slavery, as the most abject and miserable of all possible 
 grades of human existence. Now it appears to me, that no one state can 
 be perfectly free from these evils, but that all must experience some modi- 
 fications of dependence. (3) The negro, under the management of a just, 
 conscientious, and humane master, (of which description it will certainly 
 be allowed that there are some,) who provides for the physical wants of his 
 servant, his wife and children, in health, sickness and old age, for no other 
 consideration than the equitable one of competent labor, when in health, 
 will surely enjoy a happier and more enviable state of existence than the 
 poor white man, burdened with a family, who has to contend with cold and 
 hunger, besides religious aud moral tyranny. : 
 
 Moreover, the free white man, with the greatest economy and industry, 
 usually consumes nearly the whole product ofhis labor; laying by but little, 
 even under the most favorable circumstances, but with a smaller stock of 
 prudence and exertion, which more commonly happens, he not only con- 
 sumes all his earnings, but is compelled by cold, hunger, and want of em- 
 ployment, or ill health, to apply to the public for charity. Whereas the 
 negro by his labor, discreetly restrained under the Patriarchal System, not 
 only furnishes clothing, implements of husbandry, and provisions, but 
 creates a large export surplus to meet contingencies; thus increasing the 
 comfort and capital of the establishment, of which he considers himself an 
 
 integral part. (4) 
 
 - In short, the greatest value of agricultural product for export, and nearly 
 all the springs of national and individual prosperity, flow from slave labor, 
 as is fairly demonstrated by our annual account of exports. It could not 
 reasonably be expected otherwise. The labor of the negro, under the 
 wholesome restraint of an intelligent direction, is like a constant stream ; 
 that of the white man is economically measured out by his urgent neces- 
 sities, or dissipated by his expenses. Besides, climate enables the one to 
 furnish articles of greater value; while the white man’s labor is usually 
 applied to raise cheap articles of food for the mere subsistence of himself 
 and family. 
 
 Such is the comparative usefulness of these two classes of society in 
 our present state of peace. But to render a slave holding country stronger 
 and equally advantageous ina state of war, against which it ought always 
 to be prepared; or, in other words, to neutralize the spirit of disaffection 
 which necessarily results from every unequal distribution of privileges ; it 
 will be requisite to alter a little our present policy.(5) Before, however, 
 we begin, and by way of getting rid of some slight prejudices, it might be 
 well to take a view of some other slave holding countries, which have al- 
 ready undergone the test of experiment, and successfully resisted all the 
 disorganizing temptations and insidious machinations of powerful, but as 
 yet, unsuccessful enemies ; (6) and endeavor to obtain safe and conclusive 
 evidence from established precedents exactly applicable to our circum- 
 _ Stances. 
 
 First, I will take a view of Brazil,(7) which is by far the most powerful 
 and extensive slave holding country in America, or in the world ; its popu- 
 
# 
 
 lation consists ofsomething less than one million of whites, something more 
 than one million of free colored, and considerably over two millions of slaves, 
 besides many independent Indian nations. It passed through such a war 
 of revolution as our own, from the colonial state to that of an independent 
 government, attended with all the violence of conflicting interests, opinions, 
 and consequent hostility of royal and independent partizans, with their 
 hostile armies. It now ranks as Empire of Brazil, perhaps the most exten- 
 sive government in the world, and is carrying on war with the free Repub- 
 lic of Buenos Ayres ; with its white and free colored population, it has fitted 
 out, manned, and sent to sea, nearly forty ships of war, and has raised or 
 sent to the frontiers, nearly fifty thousand regular troops. It now affords 
 the grand imposing spectacle of a slave holding government, whose popu- 
 lation greatly preponderates in favor of color, at war with a free republic, 
 which constitutionally disavows slavery, and which not only endeavors to 
 subdue it by force of arms, but to subvert it by inflammatory proclamations, 
 offering freedom and protection to the slaves as their reward for revolt. But 
 all these disorganizing temptations have heretofore failed ; the slaves main- 
 tain their obligation, and do their work peaceably as usual; furnishing 
 produce and means, not only to support the national credit, but to carry on 
 the war, and repel the bearers of these insidious proclamations. This trait 
 of virtue and fidelity in the Brazilian slaves, is to be attributed to humane 
 and just treatment. 
 
 The door of liberty is open to every slave who can find the means of 
 purchasing himself. It is true, few have the means, but hope creates a 
 spirit of economy, industry, and emulation to obtain merit by good beha- | 
 vior, which has a general and beneficial effect. Slaves are also allowed to 
 hold some kind of property, under limitation—such as stock. But the grand 
 chain of security by which the slaves are held in subordination, is the free 
 people of color, whose persons, properties, and rights are protected by law; 
 which enables them to acquire and hold property in their own name, and 
 allows the free children of quarteroons by a white man, to be white by law. 
 By this link, they become identified with the whites on one side, and with 
 the slaves by descent on the other; a connexion which perfectly cements 
 the three castes of which the whole nation is composed; and each being’ 
 perfectly contented with its permanent, lawful privileges, the jealousy, 
 which might otherwise arise from caste or difference of complexion or con- 
 dition, is totally extinguished, and no one feels an interest in disturbing 
 that with which every one is satisfied. 
 
 The British colonial policy is fast verging to the same point. Its object 
 is to improve the education and mental attainments of its free colored popu- 
 lation, as well as to protect its slaves from unjust oppression. 
 
 The free colored people are thusgradually rendered fit to take place ofthe 
 whites, whose lives have long been uselessly sacrificed to a hot climate, 
 which does not nor ever can agree withthem. They have so far progressed, 
 as to fill up a great deal of agricultural as well as mercantile room, and most 
 of the militia troops, with free colored people, who are good mechanics, 
 well educated, and of great respectability: so that a very considerable share 
 of landed property has already passed into their hands. Their law also 
 
aa) 
 
 entitles tlie children of free quarteroons to all white privileges, if the father 
 is white. By this policy they unite the two castes, who become equally 
 interested in maintaining good order and contentment among the slaves. 
 
 The Spanish, French; and Dutch Colonies have all adopted the same 
 policy. 
 
 The island of St. Domingo is now independent under its aboriginal name 
 Hayti.(8) Its colonial tranquility was first disturbed by national edicts, 
 which the French people, while frantic with revolutionary zeal, madly pro- 
 mulgated in their colonies. This dangerous fanaticism soon spread itself 
 among the slave holders, who being divided in two great political factions, 
 nearly equal in strength, armed their slaves to support their own political 
 opinions. This, together with their pride in denying the participation of 
 equality to the free colored people, caused the destruction of that flourish- 
 ing and important colony. The fall, and final extinction of its colonial 
 power, and its subsequent re-establishment under a free and independent go- 
 vernment of negroes in our vicinity, furnishes, in a variety of incidents which 
 took place during its whole course, abundant examples of situation, oecur- 
 rences, and facts, from which we may establish consequences that would 
 apply to almost every possible situation in which we could imagine slaves 
 of a similar class to our own to be placed. 
 
 To infuse a general spirit of revolt among the numerous plantations of 
 St. Domingo, appears to have been a matter which required both time and 
 labor to accomplish ; especially as some departments were more prudeut 
 _ than others, and tried to counteract it. Santhonax and Polvorel, the com- 
 missioners sent out from France to enforce the national decrees of liberty 
 and equality, were the most active and successful propagators of liberty. 
 But in many of the quarters the slaves still continued to work, even with- 
 out white’overseers ; and furnished large quantities of coffee for expors- 
 tation during the whole government of Toussaint. And, what is still more 
 remarkable, the rich and extensive department of Grande Anse continued: 
 to furnish nearly its usual quantity of produce, and remained quiet for seve+ 
 ral years after the commencement of the revolution, and until Jeremie was 
 evacuated by the British, notwithstanding that this department was 
 annually beseiged by Generals Toussaint and Rigaud, commanding the 
 armies of the North and of the West, accompanied by all their seditious 
 proclamations. The slaves were armed by their masters, and protected 
 themselves and families while they made abundant crops of coffee. In 
 short, when we come to consider the massacres and bloodshed necessarily 
 attending such a horrid revolution, where a vast number of slaves were 
 forced into a state of licentious anarchy, and led on by partizans blinded by 
 revolutionary fury, who gave no quarter on either side, itis astonishing that 
 the slaves now liberated should have so soon returned to a peaceable and 
 quiet state of domestic order, and again admitted whites to reside peaceably 
 among them, and enjoy all the pre-eminence that condition could give. (9) 
 But such was the fact ; and considering that they were still acting on the 
 defensive against the British, who for many years after, and with all their 
 disposable force, endeavored to subdue them, itis a matter of astonishment 
 and wonder how so much produce was still made as was exported under the 
 
9 
 
 reign of Toussaint, and until the arrival of the grand French expedition 
 under Rochambeau and Leclerc, (in 1802-3,) when the island was again 
 thrown into anarchy, and would have been ultimately re-conquered but for 
 the breaking out of the war afresh between France and Britain, which 
 suspended the farther progress of the conquest, and finally confirmed its 
 independence. Its government has now settled under the form of a mili- 
 tary Republic ; but the quantity of produce raised bears but little propor- 
 tion to what it was under the Patriarchal restraint of its Colonial system 
 of government, as the present state of individual emancipation implies less 
 necessity for hard work, especially in a healthy, fertile, and mild climate 
 such as Hayti, where few clothes are required, and bountiful nature pro- 
 duces spontaneously the necessaries of life. 
 
 From all these facts it follows, that, undera just and prudent system of 
 management, negroes are safe, permanent, productive and growing pro- 
 perty, and easily governed; that they are not naturally desirous of change, 
 
 ut are sober, discreet, honest and obliging, are less troublesome, and 
 possess a moral character equally respectable with the ordinary class of 
 whites. (10) 
 
 Their strong attachment to their homes, to their wives and children, and 
 to domestic life, are likewise great securities for their good behavior ; which, 
 with a fair and equitable allowance of clothes and provisions, kind treat- 
 ment when sick, and fair words when well, will, in most cases, insure good 
 behavior, obedience, and attachment. Under those circumstances they 
 will, without grumbling, and with very little corporeal punishment, perform 
 a great deal of valuable labor in one year, and with profit and satisfaction 
 to the owner, who, if prudent, will soon find himself in easy circumstances, 
 and feel happy in experiencing the attachment, confidence, and good will 
 
 ofa grateful and happy people. (11) 
 
 The policy generally pursued by our own slave holding state govern- 
 ments with regard to free colored people, and that pursued by foreign — 
 colonial and other slave holding governments, is directly opposite. In 
 the latter, the free colored people have found it their interest universally 
 and decidedly to place themselves in the scale of the whites, orin oppo- 
 sition to the slaves. (12) In the former, necessity, from the unfavorable 
 construction of the laws, has compelled them universally to throw them- 
 selves into the scale of the slaves in opposition to the whites. This diffe- 
 rence of policy adopted by these different governments, who have precisely 
 the same views and interests to favor, and the same objects to guard 
 against, is obviously owing to the difference of local circumstances, grow- 
 ing out of the different situations of the two countries with regard to 
 population and government. 
 
 In our greatest slave holding states which take the lead, the great ma- 
 jority of our inhabitants is white, who boast of enjoying every privilege of 
 free men, but possessing a strong feeling of prejudice against.every other 
 shade or color, and inhabiting a high, healthy country, suitable to the 
 labor of white people to whom colored labor is not absolutely necessary. 
 
10 
 
 This majority has the right of forming the laws to govern the minority, 
 or slave holding part of these states, lying nearest to the sea, to whom a 
 colored population is absolutely necessary, and with the safety and good 
 government of which a smaller degree of prejudice against color would 
 better comport. But as the great quantity of whites in the up country is 
 at all times ready to put down or exterminate all the colored people in case 
 of insurrection; fear and force in governing these people are safely sub- 
 stituted for wisdom and policy. (14) 
 
 The operation of physical causes hasinduced the foreign slave holding © 
 colonies and governments to adopt a policy diametrically opposite. Their 
 climates being unfavorable to the increase of the whites, has thrown a 
 great majority into the scale of the free colored people, many of whom, 
 being rich and liberally educated, enjoy great respectability, and having 
 the same interest with the whites, and great influence with the slaves, 
 form a barrier to insurrection ;. which not only makes life and property safe 
 in time of peace, but renders the whole physical strength of the country’ 
 completely disposable in time of war. 
 
 North Carolina, by the liberal provisions of her constitution and enlight- 
 ened policy to her free colored people, standg firmer with regard to slave 
 property than any state to the south, not even excepting Louisiana. A 
 general line of limitation might be drawn between white and colored, such 
 as. exists in the British West India colonies. 'T'axes in all cases should be 
 equal ; and the law both criminal and civil should be as impartial asthe sun. 
 If it is otherwise, what kind of protection can be given either to person or 
 property ; and what is the final result where neither is given. ? 
 
 I believe no disadvantage has ever been perceived in North Carolina 
 from its free citizens of color being allowed to vote. 
 
 ) 
 
 It appears from the above statement, that to raise the value of southern 
 plantation property to its just scale of purchase value, according to the 
 rate of interest yielded by its neat average return of crops, to bear an 
 equal proportion with the value and returns of real property in the 
 north, which is the principal of this treatise, it may be considered ne- 
 cessary— 
 
 Ist. To put all fear of danger either to person or property, from insur- 
 rection of the slaves, at rest. ' 
 
 2d. To destroy all doubt of the permanent. durability of such property in 
 case of war or invasion. Ser: 
 
 3d. To extinguish that general foreign or northern prejudice against — 
 holding slave property, which commonly arises from their mistaken view of 
 our policy and laws to regulate slaves and free colored people. 
 
 _ To accomplish these objects will require a considerable sacrifice of local 
 prejudices to the shrine of self interest, with some small mixture of dis- 
 
11 
 
 cretion, which I flatter myself the present enlightened state of society, 
 improved by its advancement in the science of political economy, will, in 
 consideration of the proposed advantages, liberally bestow. 
 
 The red aborigines were in this low country a healthy people, but robust 
 and durable even in swamps. 
 
 The intermediate grades of color are not only healthy, but when con- 
 dition is favorable they are susceptible of every amelioration. Daily 
 experience shows that there is no natural antipathy between the castes on 
 account.of color; and it only requires to repeal laws as impolitic as they 
 are unjust and unnatural; which confound merit and condition with 
 infamy and degredation on account of complexion, and to leave nature to 
 find out a safe and wholesome remedy for evils which are merely imagi- 
 nary, and unfit subjects for legislation. 
 
= 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 \ 
 
 Since the year 1829, when the second edition of this pamphlet was 
 published, the subject of our colored population has been pretty fully dis- 
 cussed in several of the State Legislatures of this Union, without arriving 
 at any positive orsatisfactory conclusion, as to how it would be safest and 
 best to dispose of them, so as to avoid the risk of reaction from their re- 
 sentment, | 
 
 The alarm occasioned by the massacre at Southampton, naturally caused a 
 fear and diffidence in that quarter, which spread itself throughout the slave 
 holding states, and operated with extreme cruelty and injustice against all 
 the colored people, by confounding the innocent with the guilty ; and it is 
 hardly a matter of doubt, whether or not the excessive rigor and cruelty of 
 these consequent enactments has not been very prejudical to the slave 
 holding interest, by causing a general feeling of compassion which is natu- 
 rally excited in favor of helpless innocence, when oppressed by relentless 
 tyranny. Colonization in Africa has been proposed to the free colored 
 people, to forward which a general system of persecution against them, 
 upheld from the pulpit has been legalized throughout the Southern states, 
 which leaves them the sad alternative of submitting to a condition worse 
 than slavery, or of leaving the country to which nativity has given them a 
 natural right; in this dilemma it is to be hoped that some way of escape 
 will present itself. 
 
 The same subject has excited an interest gradually proportioned to its 
 magnitude, throughout all the American colonies, and has been regulated 
 by acts of legislation dictated by circumstances connected with the views 
 and prejudices of each. 
 
 The Swedish, Danish and French, have abolished the distinction of color 
 where the parties are free, by admitting them to a participation of equal 
 rights. The British have gone still further, and not only assimilated the 
 interests of the free people of color of their colonies with those of the 
 whites, but have threatened to extend their legislation to the emancipation 
 of the slaves; this premature interference is generally condemned, as tend- 
 ing to overturn and destroy civilization, by too suddenly admitting an over- 
 whelming proportion of ignorant and uncivilized people into society. 
 
 The Spanish colonies of Cuba and Puerto Rico have flourished beyond 
 example without altering the wise, liberal, and humane policy of their former — 
 system, which protected the slaves from acts of cruelty and injustice, and 
 
13 
 
 at the same time united the interests of the free colored people to those of 
 the whites, soas to form one consolidated mass of effective force under 
 the complete control of their government. 
 
 Cuba, perhaps, under its present circumstances, stands more independent 
 of external help than any other slave holding government in America, 
 ‘except Brazil. Its population may be estimated at one million, one third of 
 which is free people, all united in the same interest; the other two thirds 
 are slaves, who, being justly treated, have never manifested any signs of 
 discontent. Its soil is extremely fertile, its climate is healthy, its situation 
 convenient for commerce, which it carries on with its own people, its ex- 
 port productions are immense, and its revenue competent for all the purpo- 
 ses of good government. 
 
 The empire.of Brazil was left in a former edition of this work, at war 
 with its neighbor, the republic of Buenos Ayres, which has since happily 
 terminated, and proved the possibility of a country whose revenues and 
 government depend entirely upon slave labor for support, being so entirely 
 independent as not to require any foreign or external protection to enable 
 it to resist a foreign enemy, without fear of a revolt from its own numerous 
 slave population. Since the termination of that war, several political con- 
 vulsions and party revolutions had happened within it ; just enough to prove 
 its stability, but there has been no sign or suspicion of any discontent among 
 the slaves; and it now stands fairly and firmly upon its own national re- 
 sources, and solely under its own protection, unparalleled in its extent, 
 situation, and prospects of greatness derived from its healthy climate, ferti- 
 lity, and extent of territory, all convenient for commerce, which is exten- 
 sively carried on by its own inhabitants, and protected by equitable and 
 just laws. It now proudly and practically claims the only banner of actual 
 independence belonging to any slave holding state in America. 
 
 Since that period, also, our own colored population, having been conso- 
 lidated into one mass and identified with slavery by our state laws, has _re- 
 trogated exceedingly in the southern states without producing the desired 
 effect of increasing the proportion of whites, and has proved incontestibly, 
 I think, that the policy of persecuting the free colored people to induce 
 them to sacrifice their native attachments and property for banishment to 
 Africa, is at variance with the prosperity and interests of the South, and 
 tends to lower the price of property by destroying the prospect of its dura- 
 bility. ; 
 
 By persecution we force them off, and place them in a situation to retali- 
 ate upon us in case of war, and perhaps to glut their vengeance upon us at 
 some future period, for no person can seriously believe that they are going 
 to remain long in a savage and sterile country like Liberia, when so many 
 healthy, fertile, end civilized countries, every where around, are inviting 
 them to citizenship, and we well know that revenge for cruelty and injustice 
 is a hereditary passion in human heart: handed down from father to son, 
 3t never dies until satiated by atonement. 
 
 As any argument about the justice and right of such laws can always be 
 
14 
 
 answered by the plea of expediency, it would be useless to enter into it 
 farther than to observe that the policy of unjust laws is more than doubtful 
 dn any case whatever, especially as attended by the hostility naturally con- 
 sequent to acts of cruelty and injustice, which must naturally produce — 
 resentment uncompensated for by any probable benefit. This could 
 never have been fairly considered, or it never would haye been attempted. _ 
 
 First, 1 will allow that it is physically possible to exterminate all the free _ 
 colored people of the South, it makes no matter how; say about one hun- ~~ 
 _ dredth part of all the free colored people of this quarter of the world is 
 destroyed, the quantity of resentment of the remainder, and of all justiy | 
 ' thinking men, will still be measured by the atrocity of the act. 
 
 Second. Will the same instinctive passion which caused their existence 
 diminish, or will the same regular quantity of colored people still continue 
 to be produced by that passion? _ If it will, destroying the present existing 
 race will be playing a part of the Danaides in the story, attempting to fill the 
 continually leaking pitcher; besides, this system of tyranny and injustice 
 is a libel upon our pretended republican institutions, incompatible with our 
 national character, and cannot be considered but as an affront and open 
 violation of the morality and civilization in the age we live in. But what is 
 still worse during its continuance, it evidently involves the necessary de- 
 pendence of every individual slave holding state, upon foreign protection 
 against itself. No political association under the present laws against color 
 could assure independence to the slave holding states. The want of ordinary 
 population would render regular white soldiers difficult to be got as well as 
 expensive, and quite inefficient in the sickly season, when they might be 
 most wanted. Andthe want of sailors would render commerce too expen- 
 sive to be carried on amongst ourselves, and foreigners would carry away 
 as they do now, all the profits of our labor ; we therefore would be too poor 
 to meet the expenses of such an exotic and unnatural independent govern- 
 ment. Dependence therefore is our doom; we must seek protection from 
 the free states who have a disposable population to make soldiers of, or to 
 man ships to protect us, and to carry away our produce together with all the 
 profits of our labor. 
 
 The consequences of some recent attempts at independence on the 
 part of some slave holding states bringing the above facts home to us; 
 therefore to irritate that necessary and unoffending class of people by cru- 
 elty and injustice is impolitic, and completely defeats the object of our ever 
 becoming independent. | 
 
 The whole colored population of the United States, even including 
 slaves, would not be more than one eighth part of those who immediately 
 surround us, destroy them all, root and branch, they could easily be repla- 
 ced at some future time; but until they were replaced, our southern sea- 
 board country would offer a safe retreat for the bear and the wolf without 
 competition. 
 
 = 
 
 Experiment is the fairest and most convincing argument ; truth itself is” 
 
ie 
 
 15 
 
 only proved by connecting insulated facts ; our mistaken system of policy 
 has proved its fallacy, by late events, and showed us that we are wrong; to 
 persist in error is dangerous; let us take lessons from the laws of those 
 countries which have already tested their policy by their beneficial 
 effects with regard to slaves and free people of color, who are all united 
 and friendly to the interests of the whites, and to society generally ; simi- 
 - Jar eauses must produce similar effects; as we are the first in intelligence, 
 so let-us be first in the practice of political wisdom; and by uniting the 
 “interests of our whole population with that of our government, in support 
 of national freedom and independence, rid ourselves of the most torment- 
 ing of all fears—that,of ourselves. 
 
 Query. What would be the natural consequence of granting the same’ 
 legal protection tothe persons and properties of all free people alike, or 
 the free-use and benefit of the law to protect themselves ? 
 
 a 
 
 Answer. They would all have the same means of acquiring property, 
 and all would feel equally interested in the public welfare and peace of the’ 
 country. | 
 
 Query. . Is the increase of free colored people injurious or beneficial to 
 the seaboard country of the South? 
 
 Answer. Inall the southern seaboard country which is unfavorable to 
 the agricultural labors of white people, the increase’ of a free colored popu- 
 lation is not only beneficial, but absolutely necessary, to its stability and 
 to cheapen the price of labor, without which neither domestic commerce, nor 
 mechanical operations, nor manufactures can be carried on to advantage, as 
 is clearly demonstrated by the present state of poverty and dependence of 
 that section, owing évidently to the want of cheap labor, which can only be’ 
 obtained from a settled population attached to the soil. 
 
 Query. What national benefit is derived from the acts’ of outlawry now 
 in force against the free colored people of the south? 
 
 Answer. No benefit whatever, but the greatest and most tormenting of 
 all evils—a conscious dread of criminal guilt, arising from the known ty- 
 ranny of the lawless and unprincipled part of the white population which 
 the law authorises to perpetrate every species of wicked abuse upon inno- 
 cence and unoffending color, which is entirely excluded from legal pro- 
 tection, except through the means of white evidence. Moral restraint 
 without the fear of law being so rare, as to create a doubt whether or not 
 the conscientious principle of justice, independent of legal restraint, has 
 any real existence in the human breast. 
 
 Query. Has any property left by will to any colored person, ever been 
 honestly and fairly administered by any white person ? 
 
 Answer. Such instances might possibly have happened, but never tomy 
 knowledge. 
 
 mr, 
 
 we Se 
 
« 
 
 16 
 Query. What must be the ultimate tendency of such a system of ty- 
 oly and injustice ? 
 
 Answer. By exciting the indignation of the world, it must accelerate its 
 own downfall. A government whose laws grant exclusive privileges to the 
 wicked and abandoned part of its populatiou, to persecute and destroy the 
 weak of another humble part, is a government of anarchy ; to call such a — 
 government a Republic, would be a gross libel on the name: it is ultra 
 democracy or anarchy. 
 
 Query. What remedy could be proposed for this unsafe state of society ? 
 
 Answer. Hither to modify or repeal the most oppressive parts the laws 
 now in force, or to improve the moral principles of the lower orders of white 
 society by a more liberal education, such as would govern their actions by 
 principles of moral justice, without the constraint of law; as the jealousy 
 and injustice of the different grades of society, in their present conduct 
 towards colored people seems to be graduated by the cultivation of their 
 minds in moral economy, or the rule of conscientiously treating their fellow 
 men justly, without regard to law, andjust as they would like to be treated 
 themselves, if placed under similar circumstances. Of the two remedies, 
 the last would be the most radical and effectual, but being the most expen- 
 sive, and the most tedious, would come too late to remedy the present evils, 
 which are now pressing upon society, and calling for immediate relief: 
 
NOTES. 
 
 [1] It will reasonably be inquired, who is the writer, and how presumes 
 he to advise in contradiction to common practice and the received opinion of 
 nine tenths of all the slave owners of the United States? He answers that 
 he is a slave owner, and has a right to express his opinion, having lived by 
 planting in Florida for the last twenty-five years. He disavows all other 
 motives but that of increasing the value ofhis property ; moreover, he thinks 
 that truth will support his arguments as to a subject with which he has had 
 great opportunities of becoming well acquainted, having lived long in dif* 
 ferent ative holding countries. | . 
 
 [2] This observation will apply to many of our farmers whose youth, 
 strength, and ambition seem for several years to set the climate at defiance, 
 but they are finally overcome by sickness, which brings on debility and pre- 
 mature old age. 
 
 [3] Northern emigration to the south for the purpose of gain in winter, 
 and southern emigration to the north to spend money in the summer, finally 
 concentrate in the north the whole product of southern slave labor. 
 
 Slavery is a necessary state of control from which no condition of society 
 can be perfectly free. The term is applicable to, and fits all grades and 
 mae in almost every point of view, whether moral, physical, or po- 
 itical. 
 
 It certainly is a mistaken notion, that the progress of labor, guided by the 
 accidental impulse of single individuals, is greater than that of systematic 
 co-operation, directed and controlled by a skilful mechanic and economist, 
 under the patriarchal government; for it is evident that slaves taught early, 
 could produce any kind of manufactured goods one third cheaper than free 
 people ; the co-operative system of labor being better calculated either to 
 increase the quantity or to attain perfection in the manufacture ; and when- 
 ever labor, expended in manufacturing cotton into cloth, yields more than it 
 does when employed in raising the raw material, slaves will become manu- 
 facturers. ks 
 
 [4] As white people are only wanted to act as overs¢ers, or to fill vacan- 
 cies in conformity to law, their number must always be limited to these 
 wants and easy situations. But the number of colored people must even- 
 tually be bounded by the quantity and quality of soil from which they derive 
 subsistence by manual labor. 
 
 [5] Pride and préjudice our present stumbling blocks in the management 
 of our negroes, should give way to policy and the necessity of self preser- 
 vation, and inducé us to remove as far as possible whatever are the obvious 
 causes of this dangerous spirit of revolt. 
 
 Power may for a while triumph over weakness and misfortune. But as all 
 nature (from the eternal principle of self) takes part with weakness against 
 power, the re-action finally must be terrible and overwhelming. 
 
 [6] Whoever was so unlucky as to see, on Cumberland Island, last war, 
 
 3 
 
18 
 
 the magical transformation of his own negroes, whom he left in the field but 
 afew hours before, into regular soldiers, of good discipline and appearance, 
 and with what dispatch and celerity the recruiting service went on under 
 the protection of a few hundred marines, notwithstanding all the care and 
 vigilance that were used to prevent desertion, could not help figuring to 
 himself the consequences had there been a larger force, able to maintain a 
 position on the main, with any ulterior ohject of conquest in view and pos- 
 sessing the means of equipment. Where would they have stopped, or what 
 could have stopped them ? 
 
 [7] The empire of Brazil embraces, from north to south, about one thou~ 
 sand leagues of sea coast, and as many from east to west. ‘The whole ofthis 
 immense territory is a wholesome, temperate, and warm climate, is watered 
 by the largest and most extensive rivers in the world, and possesses abun- 
 dance of capacious and deep harbors for shipping, with inexhaustible quan- 
 tities of incorruptible timber, of which it has already built some of the finest 
 first-rate ships of war and merchantmen that any country can boast of. Its 
 _ export agricultural produce is fast approaching in value to that of the United, 
 States, and it is incontestably the most extensive, valued, rich, healthy, 
 and best situated body of land under any one government in America: and 
 bids fair, from its policy and form of government, which is a limited monar- 
 chy, to be one of the most durable. Its present population being more than 
 three fourths colored, will rapidly predominate on that side, on account of 
 its convenient situation to Africa, its immense annual importation of slaves, 
 its rich soil, its temperate and healthy climate, and more especially from its 
 great distance, and the expense of passages from HKurope. With Chinese 
 economy it may, at some period, not very remote, compete in population 
 with that most ancient Empire, which it greatly exceeds in extent. Of all 
 other countries, in fact, it most resembles China in its climate, fertility of 
 soil, and complexion of inhabitants, 
 
 [8] I-heard of no instance of abuse or treachery on the part of the 
 negroes of Grand Anse, during my residence in Jeremie, while it was held 
 by the British: nor did I experience either insult or interruption, in the 
 south or west of St. Domingo, under the government of Touissant, or Ri- 
 gaud. Iresided there nearly a year, at one period, besides making fre- 
 quent voyages, during which I often travelled alone, and on horseback, 
 from Leogane to the Cayes, and from Petit-Goave to Jacquemel, through 
 _ woods and over mountains, with my saddle bags loaded with specie to buy 
 coffee; and though I frequently met large groupes of armed negroes in the 
 woods, I neither received insult or hindrance, but was always treated with 
 kindness and civility. Many Americans, (I may say hundreds,) at that time 
 on the Island, can testify to the same treatment and circumstances. 
 
 [9] This observation applies only to neutral nations. The French, who 
 were at war and enemies, were several times not only plundered but killed 
 within the government of Rigaud: but under Touissant, I knew of no 
 instance of treachery, and all nations, classes, and conditions were equally 
 _ protected. 
 
 [10] For the truth of this observation, I appeal to every slave holder in 
 the south who has had an opportunity of witnessing the conduct of white , 
 laborers who come annually to seek work from the north; whether the 
 common plantation negroes do not conduct themselves. much better and. 
 
 are of a more respectable moral character. 
 
19 
 
 [11] Our laws to regulate slaves are entirely founded on terror. It 
 would be worth while to try the experiment of a small mixture of reward 
 with the punishment—such as allowing them the free use of Sunday as a 
 market day and jubilee, which I have observed had a good effect in all 
 foreign countries, also in Louisiana. The laws of the southern states are 
 exclusively constructed for the protection of whites, and vexatious tyranny 
 over the persons and properties of every colored person, whose oath can in 
 no case be admitted as evidence against a white person. Policy and self- 
 preservation require, to render the system beneficial, that slaves must be 
 kept under wholesome and just restraint, which must always create some 
 degree of resistance more or less to Patriarchal authority; to counter- 
 balance which the interest and co-operation of the free colored people is 
 absolutely necessary when the white population is scanty. 
 
 [12] A slave who. saves iny life by rescuing it from assassins at the risk 
 of his own, or who saves the lives and.properties of a whole community by 
 informing against conspirators, must still remain a slave ! and what a dread- 
 
 ful feeling of general resentment must originate from such a source of. 
 
 injustice $ 
 
 [13] What greater insult can be offered to common sense, than to arro- 
 gate the cendition of freedom to ourselves, who have not the power under 
 any circumstances, of disposing of our property in the way we please. Is 
 there any thing worthy of acceptance that can be offered to a slave but 
 freedom ? 
 
 If our low country is destroyed, and I lose my life and property by an 
 insurrection, what satisfaction is it to me to know that our back country 
 militia will promptly and bravely revenge my death and destroy my negroes ? 
 A state of war might soon produce such an event. 
 
 A very common areument against free eolored people’s testimony being 
 admitted as evidence in all cases is, that their moral character is not gene- 
 rally so respectable. The force of all testimony must be measured by its 
 respectability ; therefore of unequal value. But that the moral character 
 of free colored people generally, is inferior to that of the same condition of 
 whites, I think cannot be proved. ‘On the contrary, all unprejudiced people 
 who have had an opportunity of knowing, and have paid attention to the 
 subject, will say that the very opposite isthe case. Even if it were not so, 
 what a reflection on our policy and justice, to outlaw them for complexion, 
 which they cannot help, and deprive them of the means of acquiring moral 
 
 improvement, by driving them to seek shelter among the slaves! Few, I. 
 
 think, will deny that color and condition, if properly considered, are two 
 very separate qualities. _ But the fact is, that in almost every instance, our 
 legislators, for want of due consideration, have mistaken the shadow for the 
 substance, and confounded together two very different things; thereby sub- 
 stantiating by law a dangerous and inconvenient antipathy, which can have 
 no better foundation than prejudice. It is much to be regretted that those 
 who enact laws to regulate slaves and free people of color, are often obliged 
 to consult popularity rather fan policy and their own good sense. If such 
 
 alterations were practicable as would render slave property safe, without — 
 
 adopting the present system of terror, all such laws as tended to regulate 
 plantation management, and interfere with the province of individual 
 owners, could be repealed; property would increase in value; and the 
 
20 
 
 owner, no longer a kind of state prisoner, hovering over the movements of 
 his negroes and overseers, could liberalise and improve his mind by travell- 
 ing, and satisfy his thirst for knowledge wherever the advance of science 
 offered the greatest field for its acquirement. 
 
 The patrol laws are demoralising to the whites who compose the patrol ; 
 tyrannical and unjust to the negroes ; and unnecessarily supersede, in most, 
 cases, the owners perogative and rights over his property. . 
 
 Some of our state laws, in defiance of our national treaties, condemn to 
 indiscriminate imprisonment inthe common jail, every class of free colored 
 persons, who may arrive within their limits, without reference to sex, cause, 
 or condition ; and to be sold as slaves where they have not the means of 
 paying the penalties annexed to the crime of arriving within the jurisdiction 
 of the law. What must be the final consequence of such infatuation ? an 
 infatuation arraying itself in open and ayowed hostility against twenty mil- 
 lions of people, now composing the colored population of this quarter of the 
 world, - Hayti, alone, in the full career of wealth, freedom, and juvenile 
 independence, with equal, if not superior advantages of climate, soil, and 
 situation, to any equal portion of territory in the world, is evidently desti- 
 ned by nature, at no very distant period, if not to command, at least to 
 share the commerce of the surrounding ocean; and, without being over 
 peopled, comfortably to accomodate twelve millions of inhabitants. . 
 
 A war of color would in our situation, of all wars be the most dangerous, 
 therefore the least advisable, because we naturally and unavoidably (under 
 our present policy) contain within us the materials of our own dissolution ; 
 and nine tenths of all our present white friends would at least laugh at our 
 absurd indiscretion. 
 
 All the late insurrections of slaves are to be traced to fanatical preachers 
 (as, for instance at Barbadoes and Demerara) and to white missionaries from 
 England. Vesey, who instigated the Charleston plot, was an exhorting 
 brother. Gualla Jack or Jack the Conjurer was a Conjurer in his own coun- 
 try, M‘Choolay Moreema, where a dialect of the Angola tongue is spoken 
 clear across Africa from sea to sea, a distance perhaps of three thousand 
 miles: I purchased him a prisoner of war at Zinguebar, He had his con- 
 juring implements with him in a bag which he brought on board the ship, 
 and always retained them. I know two instances, to the southward, where 
 gangs of negroes were prevented from deserting to the enemy by drivers, 
 or influential negroes, whose integrity to their masters, and influence over — 
 the slaves, prevented it ; and what is still more remarkable, in both instan- 
 - the influential negroes were Africans, and professors of the Mahomedan 
 religion. 
 
 - favorite maxim with some of our old southern politicians to increase 
 the security of slave property, has been to prohibit the increase of free 
 people, or, by some means or other not yet divulged, to get rid of the evil 
 altogether. If this could be done without making the remedy worse than 
 the disease, it would be worth while to try it; but as the iniquity has its 
 origin in a great instinctive universal and immutable law of nature, legis- 
 lation, by the aged, against such an alleged crime as propagation in youth, 
 would be hopeless, and, like the story ofthe King of Arabia, who, after de- 
 stroying his appetite by excess and gluttony, made a law, forbidding, under 
 @ severe penalty, that any of his subjects should be hnngry. 
 
21 
 
 About twenty-five years ago, I settled a plantation on St. Johns River, in 
 Florida, with about fifty new African negroes, many of whom I brought 
 from the coast myself. They were mostly fine young men and women, 
 and nearly in equal numbers. I never interfered with their connubial con- 
 cerns, nor domestic affairs, but let them regulate these after their own 
 manner. I taught them nothing but what was useful, and what I thought 
 would add to their physical and moral happiness. I encouraged as muchas 
 possible dancing, merriment, and dress, for which Saturday afternoon and 
 night, and Sunday morning, were dedicated; and, after allowance, their time 
 was usually employed in hoeing their corn, and getting a supply of fish for 
 the week. Both men and women were very industrious. Many of them 
 made twenty bushels of corn to sell, and they vied with each other in dress 
 and dincing, and as to whose wife was the finest and prettiest. They 
 were perfectly honest and obedient, and appeared quite happy, having no 
 fear but that of offending me; and I hardly ever had occasion to apply other 
 correction than shaming them. If I exceeded this, the punishment was 
 quite light, for they hardly ever failed in doing their work well. My object 
 was to excite their ambition and attachment by kindness: not to depress 
 their spirits by fearand punishment. I never allowed them to visit, for fear 
 of bad example, but encouraged the decent neighboring peoplé to partici- 
 pate in their weekly festivity, for which they always provided an ample 
 entertainment themselves, as they had an abundance of hogs, fowls, corn, 
 and all kinds of vegetables and fruits. They had nothing to conceal from 
 me, and J had no suspicion of any crime in them to guard against. Perfect 
 confidence, friendship and good understanding reigned between us; they 
 increased rapidly. After a few years, this pleasant and profitable state of 
 harmony was interrupted by the revolution of 1812. A war party of Semi- 
 nole Indians attacked the plantation in my absence; caught, bound, and 
 carried off, or killed, forty of them, whose reluctance in going with the in- 
 yaders may be easily imagined from the folldwing circumstance. The wife 
 of a young man they.had tied and were driving off, that her husband, who 
 was too'strong to be handled, and who had his young child in his arms, 
 might follow; but this he absolutely refused, handing over the child to his 
 wife, and saying that she knew best how to take care of it, but that his 
 master should never say that he was a runaway negro; upon which the 
 Indian shot him, and he died next day. 
 
 Butmy objectin this long digression is to show the danger and hurtful 
 tendency of superstition (by some called religion) among negroes whose 
 ignorance and want of rationality render them fit subjects to work upon. I 
 afterwards purchased more new negroes. A man, calling himself a minis- 
 ter, got among them. It was now sinful to dance, work their corn or catch 
 fish, on a Sunday ; or to eat catfish, because they had no scales; and if they 
 did, they were to go to a place where they would be tormented with fire 
 and brimstone to all eternity! They became poor, ragged, hungry, and 
 disconsolate : to steal from me was only to do justice—to take what belong- 
 ed to them, because I kept them in unjust bondage; that all pastime or 
 pleasure in this iniquitous world was sinful; that this was only a place of 
 sorrow and repentance, and the sooner they were out of it the better; that 
 they would then go to a good country, where they would experience no 
 want of any thing, and have no work nor cruel taskmaster, for that God 
 
a2 
 
 was merciful, and would pardon any sin they committed ; only it was ne- 
 cessary to pray and ask forgiveness, and have prayer meetings, and contri- 
 bute what they could to the church, &c. | 
 
 They accordingly formed private societies under church regulations, 
 where all were brothers and sisters, and, under an oath of the most horrid 
 penalty, never to tell or divulge any crime that would bring any brother or 
 sister into trouble, but to lay all the blame on those who had not united with 
 them, and who, of necessity, were obliged to join the fraternity, as soon as 
 possible, in their own defence. They had private nightly meetings, once 
 or twice a week, with abundance of preaching and praying, (for they all ex- 
 horted, men as well as women,) with an ample entertainment from my hogs, 
 for it was no sin to steal for the church, the elders of which held it right to 
 break open my corn house, and provide amply for the meeting; so that, 
 finally, myself and the overseer became completely divested of all authority 
 over the negroes. The latter even went so far as to consult the head men 
 of the church whether or not, according to religion, my orders ought to be 
 obeyed! Severity had no effect; it only made it worse ; and I really believe 
 that, in several instances, sick children were allowed to die, because the 
 parents thought conscientiously that it was meritorious to transfer their _ 
 offspring froma miserable and wicked world to a happy country, where they 
 were in hopes of soon joining them! ; 
 
 I relate the above circumstance not from any disrespect or prejudice 
 against any particular religious profession; but when it renders men un- 
 happy and discontented w:th their condition in life, by destroying local 
 attachment and love of country, it certainly should be rationally opposed : 
 and I cannot help regretting that honest well meaning men, with so much 
 ability to do good, and render mankind, especially the lower orders, happy 
 and contented, should so misapply their talents as to subvert all natural and 
 rational happiness, and endeavor to render our species miserable. © 
 
 I was informed by a gentleman who lived near the Fishdam ford, on Broad 
 River, South Carolina, that his employer had made an experiment on the 
 management of negroes, of whom he was overseer, which answered ex- 
 tremely well, and offers to us a strong case in favor of exciting ambition 
 by cultivating utility, local attachment, and moral improvement among 
 -slaves. He established four or five plantations, not far apart, and stocked 
 each of them witha suitable proportion of hands, and work cattle,under a 
 driver, who had the entire management of every thing under his (the over- 
 seer’s) control. The overseer’s duty merely extended to direct the driver 
 
 -on what land he was to raise provisions, and where cotton was to be planted ; 
 with this understanding, that all the cotton raised, after it was cleaned and 
 packed, belonged to the owner, and that all the hogs, corn, and provisions left 
 after supplying the plantation, belonged to the negroes, who might do with 
 it as they pleased. 
 
 The consequence of this arrangement was, that these plantations, regu- 
 lated as before stated, turned out better crops than any other plantations 
 of equal force in that neighborhood, and the owner had no farther trouble 
 nor expense than furnishing the ordinary clothing and paying the overseer’s 
 wages, so that, he could fairly be called free, seeing that he could realise 
 his annual income, wherever he chose to reside, without paying the cus- 
 ee homage toservitude of personal attendance on the operation of his 
 slaves, 
 
4g 
 
 Good policy requires that all laws tending to demoralise the people by 
 holding out a premium for perjury, should be abolished. Motives of policy; 
 self preservation, or justice, on which laws should be founded, form little 
 or no part in such laws,as far as regards the free colored people of the 
 
 South, (with some exceptions, such as North Carolina and Louisiana,) which * 
 
 are dictated in a spirit of intolerant prejudice and irresponsible autocracyy 
 holding out to people they nickname free, no positive reward or premium 
 whatever for being virtuous ; nothing to stimulate to industry or the acqui- 
 sition of a good name, learning, or refinement; no kind of protection either 
 for person or property ; their destiny is already fixed by a mark of nature 
 which has doomed to irrevocable disgrace its degraded bearer, who is sing- 
 led out as a victim for cruelty, avarice, and revenge; whose punishment 
 must be corporeal, not even excepting’ the most delicate female, whose in- 
 dustry and virtue alone would place her at the head of society in any other 
 country. The fruits of their industry must be offered up as a temptation to 
 the avarice of some nobler color, which alone is privileged to hold and pro- 
 tect it, In short, liberty is merely nominal, without any constitutional pro- 
 tection, They may be sold for debt to pay partial, exhorbitant, and tyranniz 
 cal taxes or fines, all of which are unconstitutional. Oppression is carried 
 to its greatest extreme, when a mother of the most unexceptionable moral 
 character, leaving her family on account of ill health, and going out of her 
 native state, is inexorably punished by perpetual banishrnent from her 
 husband, children, friends, country, and all that is dear to her. 
 
 ‘Since these severe enactments against color, several of the most respec 
 table and enterprising young men have withdrawn from their native coun- 
 try and entered into the Haytian navy,and more will undoubtedly follow: 
 I should think it were better to induce such to remain at home as friends, 
 than oblige them to pass the Rubicon as enemies. 
 
 It has bel a favorite project of some of our least mathematical econo 
 mists to transport all the colored people of the U. States to Africa, without 
 
 considering that the cost of the annual increase alone, if purchased, when 
 
 added to the lowest possible freight, would exceed the annual revenue of 
 the United States. Besides, the difficulty and stern opposition that would 
 encounter a prostration of all rights of property and liberty of person, they 
 would have to be put on board in irons, under astrong guard, and be convey- 
 edand landed with the same military formality, to oppose the resentment of 
 the natives wliom they must displace, as well as the vengeance of the con- 
 victs themselves, both of whose lives must be sacrificed to famine or re- 
 sentment, at the despotic nod of cruelty and superstition. 
 
 A great opportunity was lost of colonizing more rationally at the late 
 evacuation of the Spanish part of Saint Domingo, where there would have 
 been ample room for all the colored people or the U. States, within five 
 days sail of Charleston, ; 
 
 A patriarchal feeling of affection is due to every slave from his owner, 
 who should consider the slave as a member of his family, whose happiness 
 and protection is identified with that of his own family, of which his slave 
 constitutes a part, according to his scale of condition. This affection cre- 
 ates confidence which becomes reciprocal, and is attended with the most 
 beneficial consequences to both. It certainly is humiliating to a proud 
 master to reflect, that he depends on his slave even for bread to eat. But 
 such is the fact: 
 
24 
 
 In most foreign colonies where spring is perpetual, Saturday is #¥ewed 
 the slaves as a compensation for their furnishing their own provision, which . 
 chiefly consists of yams and plantains, produced almost spontaneously, or 
 with little labor, and abundance of sweet, nutritious, and farinacions fruits . 
 of exquisite flavor, growing wild on the trees all the year round. This 
 not only supplies them with delicious and wholesome food, but furnishes the 
 means of traffic in the towns at night, or tocarry to market on Sunday, 
 whichis every where celebrated as a day of freedom and rejoicing, similar 
 to the practice at New Orleans. 
 
 Let any slave owner reflect and say how much advantage the country 
 would derive from preaching up industry, economy, and local attachment 
 to the slaves ; and by pointing out to them the happy coincidence and wise 
 and beneficent dispensation of so much good which every where surrounds 
 them, how much he would be deserving of universal respect and gratitude ; 
 instead of preaching up terror and dismay, misery and discontent, as dis- 
 ey of the supreme author of all good. All Tocal attachment and 
 ove of virtue must be chilled or annihilated by such intemperate abuse of 
 supreme wisdom. Any extreme is said naturally to produce its opposite. 
 Will an excess of error ever produce truth ? 
 
EULOGY 
 
 on 
 
 WILLIAM WILBERFORCE, ESQ. 
 
 DELIVERED AT THE REQUEST 
 
 OF 
 
 THE PEOPLE OF COLOUR 
 
 oF 
 Tue City of Piiladclphia, 
 IN THE 
 SECOND AFRICAN PRESBYTERIAN CHURC. , 
 ON THE 
 
 Sixth Day of December, 1833. 
 
 es SS 
 e eS 
 
 BY WILLIAM WEIPIER. 
 
 Se ree eS OS 
 ICE. Ree PRED 
 
 PHILADELPHIA: 
 Printed by William P. G.bbons, 
 Sizth § Cherry Sts. 
 
, a as ha ‘ , ‘ 4 
 ik = ee ha ne 
 ay A va ; ins = ft 4 3 bd ¥ ; ” o ake g 
 . és ‘ > 
 
 aR AS, 
 
 ae a feet 
 feed, ets sett ee et ge was, 
 
 1. ” 
 
Tribute to Wilberforce in Philade}phia, 
 
 At an adjourned meeting of the coloured citizens of the city and county of Phi- 
 Yadelphia, held on Tuesday evening the 12th inst. to make a demonstration of 
 our regard and gratitude to the memory of that venerable and distinguished phi- 
 ‘lanthropist. Witt1am Witserrorce, Esa.—in consequence of the indisposition 
 of the chairman, (Mr. Forten,) the meeting was organized by choosing James 
 M’Crummel, President, Thomas Butler and Frederick A. Hinton, Vice Presi- 
 -dents, and John B. Dupee and Jacob White Secretaries. 
 
 The President opened the meeting in a few pertinent remarks, and the follow- 
 ing preamble and resolutions were presented, with a few observations by Mr. F. 
 A. Hinton; and after some highly appropriate remarks from Mr. Robert Purvis, 
 and several other gentlemen, were unanimously adopted :— 
 
 Whereas, it has pleased infinite Goodness to r.move from mutability this our 
 sincere friend and benefactur—it therefore becomes us, who were a portion of 
 the objects of his solicitude, to pay that tribute of respect and gratitude which 
 -his noble exertions in our behalf would inculcate. 
 
 Resolved, In testimony of the foregoing that our ‘whole people,’ more par- 
 ticularly that portion we represent, be recommended to set apart a day for the 
 special purpose, not only of commemorating the disinterested labours of that 
 great and good man, William Wilberforce, Esq but the noble and dignified course 
 which he so eminently and availingly advocated,—viz: the g orious cause of 
 Freedom. 
 
 Resolved, That a committee of seven persons be appointed to make such ar. 
 rangements as may be deemed expedient to carry into operation the foregoing 
 resolution —embracing mainly the delivery of an appropriate eulogium. 
 
 The following gentlemen were appointed: Messrs. Jacob C. White, Joseph 
 Cassey, F. A. Hinton, Robert Purvis, James M’Crummell, Abraham Williams 
 and Samuel D. Potts. 
 
 On motion, Rese¢lved, That the proceedings of this meeting be published in 
 all fhe papers friendly to the great cause of humanity. 
 
 JAMES M’CRUMMELL, President. 
 
 Tuomas Burter, i 
 Frep. A. Hixon, V. Presidents. 
 
 Jno. B. Dupee, 
 
 Jacob White, { Secretaries. 
 
 MR. WILLIAM WHIPPER. 
 
 Dear Sir—By the unanimous voice of the committee of seven, appointed to 
 carty into effect the measures adopted at an adjourned meeting of the coloured 
 citizens of Philadelphia county, held on the Ist inst. to commemorate the life 
 and character of the late Wiru1am WivsrrForce, Esq., you were selected, and 
 
Iv 
 
 we, a sub-committee, authorized to solicit your services in the delivery of an ap 
 propriite eulogy, in commemoratic of that illustrious philanthropist. 
 We have the honour, dear sir, to be your obedient servants, 
 ROBERT PURVIS, 
 F. A. HINTON, 
 Oct. Srd, 1833. JACOB C. WHITE, 
 
 Sas 
 
 Messrs. ROBERT PURVIS, JACOB C. WHITE, F. A. HINTON. 
 
 GrnTLEMEN—I respect‘ully acknowledge the receipt of your polite invitation 
 of the 34 ultimo in behal/ of the co:mittee you represent, “authorized to sclicit 
 my services in the delivery of an appropriate address, on the character of the 
 lite Wituiam Wixperrorce, Esq.” Having concluded to accept the same, I 
 have, there-ore, in behal’ of yourselves and the committee you represent, the 
 honour to be your most obedient and very humble servant, 
 
 WILLIAM WHIPPER. 
 Philada., Noy. 11, 1833. 
 
EULOGY. 
 
 Farenps ano. Fsettrow Cirizens—To duly awaken and 
 justly impress upon the feelings of an audience, the inestima- 
 ble worth of an individual whose purity of life and upright- 
 ness of character has imperishably enrolled his name in the 
 archives of nations, as one of the greatest earthly benefactors, 
 is a duty of such magnitude, that those who can call to their 
 aid the most powerful of human requisites might well in their ap- 
 peal, ask for indulgence. In contemplating the history of man- 
 kind in all ages, we are naturally led to the brow of a scenery 
 that presents so many varied hues, so intermixed and inter- 
 woven with vice and virtue that, while there is much to ad- 
 mire there is more to lament that the philosopher who could 
 only !cve causes for their effects, while he admired the hand 
 that adorned the picture, might frequently regret that mate- 
 rials could have been found to produce the colouring. 
 
 The most pleasing history that can command our attention 
 is that which depicts the ancient splendour of Africa, when 
 the sunbeams of science and civilization were illumining that 
 vast continent, and imparting their benign influence to the 
 then dark and barbarous regions of the world. The most 
 horrible, that which exhibits her downfall, carrying with it 
 such heart-rending consequences that human nature sickens 
 at the recital, and a Christian world might well exhibit her 
 lamentations in mourning and regret that she could point 
 either to the history of nations, or to that quarter of the globe 
 that would prove that she had once existed. 
 
 But the rise and fall of other nations has taught us that in- 
 valuable example that an overruling Providence, in his wise 
 
L omy 
 
 dispensation of affairs, has suffered governments as well as 
 individuals to perform their different revolutions. So that 
 when she who was the first to rise and demonstrate the value 
 of a regular cultivation of the arts, sciences, and civilization, 
 was the first to fall into degradation, barbarism, and super- 
 stition, it was then only left her for to pourtray the folly of na- 
 tional arrogance, and exhibit the destructibility of govern- 
 mental pride. But, my fellow citizens, we have not met to 
 commiserate the unfortunate condition of mankind, or to 
 lament the fate of governments. We have met to pay a tri- 
 bute of respect to one of the best men that ever graced the 
 earth, or ornamented history. With talents of the highest 
 order, and whose labours have been the most indefatigable 
 in defence of human rights for upwards of forty years, both 
 in and out of Parliament, twenty years of which were spent 
 in appealing to and persuaditig Parhament to pass a law that 
 would change the slave trade from a national commerce to 
 a national piracy. To achieve this, he doubtless encountered 
 more difficulties, disappointments and persecutions than per- 
 haps has fallen to the lot of any individual of his day, in the 
 prosecution of the most righteous enterprise. 
 
 whe eloquent and forcible appeals that he then made in be- 
 half of poor unfortunate Africa, and her much injured sons 
 (although the voice that spoke them into existence, like the 
 spirit that moved it, has quit this terrestrial ball,) have not 
 yet ceased to re-echo over the land, but fall on the ear 
 wherever forcibly uttered, with the same convincing power. 
 His speeches, though prepared for and directed towards the 
 members of Parliament, were destined to meet the views of 
 a more numerous and more enlightened assemblage—I mean 
 posterity. His acts are now before the world to receive the 
 meed of praise to which they are so richly entitled. 
 
 Doubtless no man ever lived who urged the passage of a 
 law with a more honest zeal, or with such a torrent of 
 awakening eloquence as that which he used in beseeching 
 Parliament to quit her merciless invasions on poor, defence- 
 less Africa. In one of his speeches, said to be the most pow- 
 erful ever delivered in St. Stephens, he uses the following 
 
aS 
 
 language: “ Would you be acquainted with the character of 
 the slave trade, look to the continent of Africa, and there | 
 you will behold such a scene of horrors, as no tongue can 
 express, no imagination represent to itself. One mode adopt- 
 ed by the petty chieftains of that country is, that of commit- 
 ting depredations upon each others’ territories. This cir- 
 cumstance gives a peculiar character to the wars in Africa. 
 But this is not all. No means of procuring slaves is left 
 untouched. Even the administration of justice itself is made 
 a fertile source of supply to this inhuman traflic. QO, sir, these 
 things are too bad to be~longer endured; I cannot persuade 
 myself that a British House of Commons will give its sanc- 
 tion to the continuance of this inhuman traffic. Never was 
 there indeed a system so big with cruelty. To whatever 
 part of it you direct your view the eye finds no relief. Hurri- 
 canes clear the air, and persecution promotes the propaga- 
 tion of truth. But here it is otherwise. It is the prerogative 
 of this detested traffic to rob war of its generosity, and peace 
 of its security. You have the vices of polished society with- 
 out its knowledge or its comforts, and the evils of barbarism 
 without its simplicitye No age, sex, or rank is exempt from 
 the influence of this wide wasting calamity. It attains to the 
 fullest measure of pure, unmixed wickedness; and scorning 
 all competition or comparison, it stands in the nudsinate 
 possession of its own detestable pre-eminence.’ 
 
 The same honest zeal that characterized his vouthil la- 
 beurs in defence of the mother country and her native sons, 
 has accompanied him through a long and useful life, in assist- 
 ing to remove from the British dominions the corroding stain 
 of domestic slavery, and preparing the way for their ultimate 
 enjoyment of civil and religious liberty in the land of their 
 birth. So if man in the most laudable pursuit for the benefit 
 of his fellow man can do aught that demands respect, we are 
 justly bound.to reverence his memory. He is now no more. 
 If the grave holds the mortal remains of a man the fruit of 
 whose toil is a treasure, and whom the dictates of duty bid 
 us worship, that man was Wituiam. Witeerrorce. A name 
 
 that should descend to posterity clothed -with more of the 
 
{ 4] 
 
 éver-green laurels that ornament human greatness, than all 
 the heroes of Grecian and Roman fables. 
 
 To celebrate his acts and to reverence his memory is to 
 render homage to the cause of religion, morality and public 
 as well as private virtue. To extend his fame is to enrich 
 and embellish the cause he advocated. We, who enjoy the 
 benefits, owe to posterity a history of the man who stood 
 foremost in achieving them. As bodies and matter fly for- 
 ward in proportion to the projectile force received, so in pro- 
 portion to our exertions will the beneficial results of that free- 
 dom he laboured to establish, be felt, circulated, and enjoyed. 
 It is therefore lamentable to me, and it should be to you, and 
 the glorious cause he so eminently adorned, that he who 
 stands as your representative on the present occasion, is in- 
 adequate to the task of fully developing those refulgent vir- 
 tues that would delineate his character in all those glowing 
 ‘colours that ornament the great actions of his life, 
 
 Through all the different vicissitudes of his life he was the 
 same inflexible original, always ready to brave the utmost 
 inconvenience, to aid the oppressed and promote the cause of 
 liberty. If the wandering stoic, in search of matter to esta- 
 blish his theory, should doubt that the passage of a law to 
 abolish the slave trade in Great Britain was a work -of such 
 difficulty as to bring into requisition such eminent talents, ar- | 
 dent zeal and untiring industry, let him inquire at the halls of 
 jezislation—let him examine the parliamentary journals of 
 the house of commons, from its first introduction by Mr. 
 Pitt, on the 9th of May, 1788, until its final passage, when 
 introduced by Mr. Fox, on the 10th of June, 1806; he may 
 then divine that peace is the end of all things; but that to 
 attain it, the black and tenpestuous clouds of war, with her 
 red lightnings may flash, her thunders roll, her seas rage and 
 foam with an angry fury, until the hurricanes of impetuous 
 wrath may direct us to the foreboding of an awful destruc- 
 tion—if he shall then suppose that the system of morality was 
 then based on such proud principles as not only to advocate 
 the enjoyment of civil and religious liberty, but promote the 
 cause of public as well as private virtue—let the reign of 
 
Fai ed 
 
 Elizabeth, James and Charles answer; let the desolating 
 wars that dethroned kings and princes of the eighteenth cen- 
 tury answer; let the history of the church, and the horrors 
 of the inquisition speak aloud; let poor, unfortunate Africa, 
 whose tribes, towns and cities became a theatre of blood and 
 carnage to feed the hand of the ruthless destroyer of the best 
 prospects of civilized man, utter forth her lamentations ; let the 
 ships freighted with human victims, stuffed and crammed in the 
 middle passage, wafted forward by the winds of heaven, whose 
 captives received scarcely any other ventilation than that 
 produced by the messenger of death, preparing food for the 
 monsters of the deep, reappear in all their real and imagina- 
 tive forms; let the monsters of the deep, that daily and nightly 
 followed these vessels of crime from one shore to the other, 
 offer up their dead, and let their departed spectres, on what- 
 ever sea may have borne these vessels of crime and pollution, 
 or on whatever land slavery may have existed, stand forth 
 and testify to the guilt of these transgressors of the rights of 
 man and the laws of heaven; let the slave markets, of what- 
 ever country or nation, bow with humility at the merited in- 
 dignation heaped on them so liberally by a virtuous poste- 
 rity; let public opinion, during this scene of outrage and 
 cruelty, be taken as a criterion to form our judgment of pub- 
 lic morals, and we might justly be inclined to believe that 
 the progressive extension of the human species ought to have 
 been earnestly deprecated by the wise and good—that nature 
 should have stood still in her socket, the planets cease to 
 revolve on their axis, and all creation become inanimate at 
 the “obduracy of civilized man,” and that no more human 
 beings, should have been born, either heirs to tyrannical 
 power, or doomed to suffer oppression. 
 
 It was in times like these, when corruption and cruelty 
 spread forth its withering influence over land and sea, and 
 ushered forth their noxious exhalations, (like the upas of J ava,) 
 blasting the fairest fruits of creation, and poisoning with their 
 pestiferous odour the noblest productions of the animal king- 
 dom, that the light of heaven with its virtuous fragrance first 
 beamed forth its delectable smiles on young Wtlberforce. 
 
[ 10 | 
 
 We do not, however, find that any extraordinary circut- 
 stances attended the birth of this great man that might in- 
 duce his relatives, or the most sanguine of his friends, to 
 believe that he was a child of great promise. Although he 
 descended from an opulent and ancient parentage, and his 
 ancestors can be traced to the profession of distinguished 
 situations in public life, yet neither his birth nor education 
 seemed calculated to render him the occupant of that distin- 
 guished situation he afterwards held in the literary and poli- 
 tical world. Buy his was not a mind that loitered around 
 
 | scholastic refinements. The bent of his genius was of a no- 
 bler cast. He possessed an insatiable thirst for useful know- 
 
 ‘ledge, that new acquisitions strengthened and enlarged, until 
 
 by his philanthropic and Christian benevolence, he was capa- 
 ble of forwarding the many noble enterprizes that redounded 
 to the happiness of his country, and entailed on mankind the 
 greatest blessings. 
 
 Among his many great achievments, the “ abolition of the 
 slave” may be justly marked down as the grevtest effort of his 
 life, and in that history that records his deeds of glory, it will 
 illumine the brightest page, and on that monument that may 
 be built to his honour, or erected to his memory, it will be 
 placed the topmost stone, and stand as a crown. 
 
 In his successful advocacy and prosecution of that noble 
 enterprize, we must ascribe to him all that human exertions 
 could command or conceive. The highest intellectual en- 
 dowments, the most unflinching fortitude, the most ardent 
 zeal, and untiring industry—a mind the most skillful in pene- 
 tration, framed to conceive, with a heart to approve, and a 
 will to act; the most happy method of associating his ideas, 
 and gifted by nature with an impassioned eloquence, that 
 never exerts itself but to command, convince and subdue. 
 He at once with a majestic air, undaunted by dangers, threw 
 the torch of light, justice and truth, into the strong holds of 
 slavery, sophism and deceit, and, as it were, with the “ grasp 
 of a strong arm” he pulled down the most impregnable of its 
 fences. 
 
 His successes, great as they were, cannot be wholly attri- 
 
lj 1] 
 
 buted to his own exertions. He was assisted by an alliance 
 of kindred. spirits, who faithfully struggled in the same great 
 cause. ‘Lhe philanthropist* to whom posterity will no doubt 
 assign the place next to Wilberforce, or probably regard him 
 as his equal, may justly be regarded as the greatest living 
 philanthropist on the globe. If we form our judgment either 
 from the extent of his exertions, his numberless privations, 
 the multiplicity of his writings, the depth of his researches, or 
 the length of his labours, we may challenge the world to pro- 
 duce, either from the living record or all history, his superior. 
 
 While Wilberforce was wielding the torch in the house of 
 commons, scorching the abominations of that sinful policy, he 
 coolly and deliberately fed the “vestal fire” that kept alive 
 the flame. The one gathered the materials, the other dis- 
 posed of them. While the one was painting the horrors of 
 that detestable traffic with a blaze of eloquence that ought to 
 “move the rude and inanimate parts of nature with horror 
 and indignation at the recital of so enormous an action,” the 
 other was awakening the attention of the nation to its duty 
 by the eloquence of his pen. In their respective situations 
 they occupied, it not only required the highest effort of hu- 
 man genius, but their united action, to elevate at so early a 
 period the fabric of human wisdom so high that the nation 
 might walk in the path. of justice and humanity. 
 
 In associating the name of Clarkson with the subject of our 
 eulogy, it is not our intention to seek among the living those 
 virtuous ornaments intended to adorn the character of the il- 
 lustrious dead, nor to pass by the exertions of many other 
 distinguished men, who aided in the accomplishment of the 
 same glorious purpose. But on account of the relative posi- 
 tion they stood to each other, during that remarkable contest, 
 that it is impossible to associate the virtues of the one, with- 
 out estimating the valuable influence those virtues received 
 from the other. On that great subject their souls were 
 Siametrically knit, and it would be as pardonable a de- 
 reliction of duty to neglect the kindred of body as mind. 
 
 *The venerable Thomas Clarkson. 
 
[ 12 J 
 
 Having now established the relationship that existed betweert 
 them, we shall again pass onward to notice those sublime 
 traits of character that enrich and encircle the name of Mr. 
 ~ Wilberforce, and leave that of Clarkson, which must soon, ac- 
 cording to the calendar of nature, be enrolled among the vir- 
 tuous dead, for nations to mourn his loss, and nations to 
 sound his praise. 
 
 Perhaps, like the elder Adams and Jefferson, (whose quali- 
 fications bear a strong similarity to Wilberforce and Clark- 
 son,) some distinguished statesman* alike renowned for his 
 patriotism and public virtues with that of our distinguished 
 fellow citizen, who ascended the stage, and united and as- 
 sociated their patriotic virtues in an eloquent eulogium, like 
 him they may be called upon to perform the same devotional 
 exercise. If that should ever take place, and if the most im- 
 pressive description of human kindness, exalted and merito- — 
 rious actions, ean inculcate into the feelings of an assemblage 
 those hallowed feelings that eject forth respirations of adora- 
 tion for the Creator and love for the creature, it will be on 
 that occasion. | 
 
 Of the early life and character of Mr. Wilberforce we 
 know but little; and if we did, neither time nor prudence 
 would allow of that description at present. We must neces- 
 sarily leave that, as well as many other of his important acts 
 and legislative duties, for his biographer, and pass on to no- 
 tice that portion of his life that he lived for Africa—for ws— 
 for Christianity, humanity and virtue. 
 
 Were it not for his great efforts in abolishing slavery and 
 the slave trade, he could never have ‘been particularly dear 
 tous. We should not. now have been called upon by the 
 strongest impulse of duty to render to his memory a tribute 
 of gratitude’ as our benefactor—encircle his name with a 
 halo of glory—spread garlands around his grave, or transmit 
 to posterity those noble deeds performed by the man we loved 
 and adored. 
 
 ' Many great men and valuable christians have paid the 
 
 * The Hon. John Sergeant. - 
 
[ 13 ] 
 debt of nature; and while we could sympathize with thei 
 sufferings, we have seldom been left heirs to such a devo- 
 tional respect; if it should again be our lot, I feel satisfied 
 (that as soon as our sensibilities are duly awakened) that 
 gratitude, as an inherent property of our nature, will be hbe- 
 rally bestowed. 
 
 It may be proper to take some notice of his birth and fa- 
 mily. His ancestors for many years were successfully en- 
 gaged in trade at Hull, in East Yorkshire, England. His 
 great grandfather was a Mr. William Wilberforce was once 
 the governor of Beverley, (in the same borough,) in the year 
 1670. The grandson of this gentleman married Sarah, the 
 daughter of Mr. John Thornton, in the year 1711. There 
 were two sons and two daughters, the issue of this marriage. 
 William the elder died without issue in the year 1780. Ro- 
 bert the younger married Miss Elizabeth Bird, the aunt of 
 the present Bishops of Winchester and Chester. The late 
 Mr. William Wilberforce was the only son of Mr. Robert 
 Wilberforce. ‘There were two daughters, Elizabeth and Sa- 
 rah. | 
 
 Mr. Wilberforce was born at Hull on the 24th day of Au- 
 gust, 1759. “He went to St. Johns College, Cambrige, as a 
 fellow commoner, at the usual age, and there formed an in- 
 timacy with Mr. Pitt, which remained unbroken till his 
 death.” . Mr. Wilberforce did not obtain academical ho-: 
 nours, and such honours were rarely sought at that time by 
 those who wore a fellow commoner’s gown; but he was dis- 
 tinguished as a man of elegant attainments and acknowledged — 
 classical taste. Dr. Milner, the late President of Queen’s 
 College, was in the same University, and was another inti- 
 mate of Mr. Wilberforce, and accompanied him and Mr. Pitt 
 in a tour to Nice. We mention this fact, “that his first se- 
 rious impressions of religion were derived from his conversa- 
 tions with Dr. Milner during their journey. And to him must 
 be awarded the high destinction of having led Mr. Wilber- 
 force’s mind into the paths of pleasantness and peace.” 
 
 Mr. Wilberforce appears to have early imbibed. the idea 
 that the great object of living is to live well. ‘The great 
 principle of life, it is said, is to resist putrefaction, and to a 
 
[ 4 J 
 
 certain extent maintain a temperature different from that of 
 surrounding bodies.” The fulfilment of these objects appears 
 to have been his peculiar aim, and became early adopted into 
 ‘the standard of his life. To resist vice must have been a 
 common energy of hisnature. ‘That he must have been early 
 loved and admired, will be sufficiently understood by his 
 having attained his majority at the age of twenty-two, and is 
 found representing his native town in the councils of the. na- 
 tion, at an age when the youthful pulsations generally beat 
 with folly and extravagance, rather than savour of that 
 sound and serious reflection so necessary to guide the mind 
 into a systematic train of thought, calculated to render it ca- 
 pable of relieving the wants and regulating the burthens of 
 their fellow citizens. Even at this early period we find him 
 performing the solemn duty of administering the oaths to 
 members. In 1783, he seconded an address of thanks on 
 peace. The same year we find him opposmg Mr. Fox’s 
 India bill, and in 1785, he spoke in favour of a reform in Par- 
 liament. The following year he succeeded im carrying through 
 the Commons, a bill for amending the criminal law, but. it 
 was thrown out in the Lord’s, on account of its imperfection 
 in form. 
 
 Such was the calmness of his disposition, the extent of his 
 kindness, that it was painful to men who frequently indulged 
 in sarcastic virulence themselves to see others use it to him. 
 In 1787, in a debate on the commercial relations with France, 
 Mr. Burke having provoked Mr. Wilberforce into some acri- 
 mony of retort, when “Mr. Pitt checked him for his impru- 
 dence, by telling him that it was as far beyond. his powers as 
 his wishes, to contend with such a man as Burke in abuse 
 and personality.” 
 
 Having noticed his early career, we now, with pride, ap- 
 proach that field of successful labour whose harvest has re- 
 stored to the sons of Africa their inherent rights and natural 
 privileges. It was in the year 1787, that Mr. Clarkson call- 
 ed on Mr. Wilberforce, and requested him to present the 
 subject to Parliament—a request that he heartily accepted. 
 It was in the year 1788, that Mr. Wilberforce first gave no- 
 tice. that it: was: shortly his intention to: bring the questiow be- 
 
Lyle 7) 
 
 fore the House of Commons for the abolition of the slave 
 trade, but indisposition prevented him. Accordingly on the 
 9th of May in the same year, Mr. Pitt introduced it for him. 
 Such was the estimation in which his talents were then held, 
 (he being only 29 years of age) that Mr. Pitt expressed his 
 conviction that the “question could not have been confided 
 to abler hands.” 
 
 It is a fact worthy of notice, that Mr. Wilberforce, who 
 was the great champion of that question for twenty years in 
 Parliament, and the general who led them on to victory, and 
 won the laurels, neither introduced it at first, nor at the time 
 of its final passage. But we find Messrs. Pitt and Fox, who 
 Were warm opponents to each other on almost all questions, 
 united on this, and the latter one introducing the question for 
 the last time, followed the example of his predecessor, Mr. 
 Pitt, in calling the attention of the house to the subject by in- 
 troducing it with the following eloquent eulogium on the 
 character of Mr. Wilberforce: He said “that no man, either 
 from his talents, eloquence, zeal in the cause, or from the es- 
 timation he was then held in that house, and the country, 
 could be better qualified for the task.” 
 
 The result of the first attempt was that they only succeed- 
 ed in getting a resolution passed pledging the House, that in 
 its next session, it would consider the subject of the “ slave 
 trade.” The agitation of the question by the passage of a 
 resolution to consider the same at the next session, threw the 
 enemies of the measure on the alert, who exerted themselves 
 as much as possible to defeat it. 
 
 The time having arrived for the discussion of the subject, 
 and Mr. Wilberforce having recovered from his indisposition, 
 on the 12th of May, 1789, moved tue order of the day for the 
 House toe take into consideration tke petitions that had been 
 presented against the slave trade. And on moving that the 
 evidence adduced on the siave irade be referred to a com- 
 mittee, he prefaced his motion with a speech of three hours 
 and a half in length, opening the horrible attrocities of the 
 trade, and its effects on Africa, the planters and the nation, 
 with so much force, and power, that ir. Burke, who follow- 
 ed in support of the motion, bestows on it the following elab- 
 
[ 16 ] 
 
 orate panegyric: “that it was masterly, impressive, and elo- 
 -quent. He had laid down his principles so admirably, aud 
 with so much order and force, that his speech had equalled 
 any thing he had ever heard in modern oratory, and that 
 perhaps it had never been excelled in ancient times.” 
 
 Mr. Pitt, Mr. Fox, and Lord Grenville followed in its sup- 
 port; the latter in noticing the speech of his honourable 
 friend, Mr. Wilberforce, characterizes it as as the “ most 
 masterly, impressive and eloquent speech he ever heard; 
 _ while it did honour to him, it entitled him to the thanks of the 
 
 . House, of the people of England, all Europe, and the latest 
 posterity.” , 
 
 It would be doing injustice to the memory of departed 
 worth, not to notice that Messrs. Pitt, Fox, Burke, Grenville 
 and William Smith, stood by and faithfully supported Mr. 
 Wilberforce in all his motions and movements with regard to 
 the measure; and we might exhaust language, and fail to be- 
 stow on him a higher encomium on either his talents or his 
 virtues, than when we say they chose him as their leader. 
 Men whose talents and legislative knowledge lighted up all 
 Europe with their fame. They were a brilliant constellation 
 of intellectual geniuses, that bedizzened almost every star 
 that came within their orbit. Yet we find these converging 
 and encircling around Mr. Wilberforce, attracted by his in- 
 imitable powers, receiving his radiant light and emitting it 
 forth, like the planetary system around our sun. 
 
 But a short interval of time succeeded, until the discussion 
 of the question was again attempted; but the opponents of 
 the measure successfully resisted it, by conjuring up the “im- 
 aginary evils” that would arise to the merchants and planters, 
 and called for further evidence, which ended in the passage of 
 Sir William Dolben’s bill for the regulation of the trade. 
 
 Mr. Wilberforce, early in 1790, again revived the subject, 
 and was similarly defeated. But on the 18th of April of the 
 same year, he again succeeded in getting up a discussion of 
 the subject, which he opened with such power, and poured 
 forth such a flood of light upon the subject, that the admirers 
 of his former memorable speech of the 12th of May, declared 
 that it was far surpassed by his late effort; that the long de- 
 
LPF 
 lays of his opponents had given him time to recruit both in 
 energy and materials. This speech is said to have been a pow- 
 erful effort. He was followed by Messrs. Pitt, Fox, {and | 
 Smith, but was again defeated by a majority of 75. 
 
 To a man of ordinary abilities, this would have been truly 
 discouraging, but to him who had pledged his life to the cause, 
 defeat only led him to change positions, exhibit a broader front, 
 and prepare to discharge a volley of truth from a more pow- 
 ful battery. 
 
 ‘On the 3d of April 1792, he again moved the abolition, but 
 was opposed with more virulence than ever. 
 
 Many of the opponents were talented, and interested; and 
 all that sophistry and evasion could command, were levelled 
 against the cause andits advocates. We learn by this discus- 
 sion, to the credit of our own country, that those epithets, 
 “fanatic, incendiary,” &c. are of foreign extraction. If we 
 trace their derivation, we shall be able to find that they have 
 ever been used by the advocates of slavery, in the place of ar- 
 guments, so when they appear on our soil, they are clothed in 
 borrowed livery. The resolution was opposed by Messrs. 
 Dundas, Bailey, Vaughn, Col. Thornton, and Mr. Grosvenor. 
 To give you a sample of their arguments, it may be proper to 
 cite to you a few remarks that fell from the latter gentleman. 
 ‘He said, the slave trade was certainly not an amiable trade. 
 Neither was that of a butcher, yet it was a necessary one. | 
 There was great reason to doubt the propriety of the present 
 motion. He had twenty reasons for disapproving it; the first 
 was that it was impossible: he need not, therefore give the rest. 
 Parliament might indeed relinquish the trade; but to whom? 
 To foreigners, who would continue it, without the humane re- 
 gulations, that were applied it to’by his countrymen. 
 
 The motion was again lost, and the motion of Mr. Dundas 
 for the gradual abolition of the trade, was carried by a ma- 
 jority of sixty-eight. 
 
 On the 25th of April, the house having again resumed the 
 consideration of the subject, Mr. Dundas having brought in his 
 bill, moved “that it should be unlawful to import any African 
 negroes into any of the British Colonies, in ships owned or 
 uavigated by British subjects, “ any time after the Ist of Janv- 
 
[ 18 J 
 ary, 1800,” which was warmly discussed, and an amendment 
 was offered, to substitute 1793 in its stead, which was lost by 
 a division, by a majority of forty. 
 ~ Sir Edward Knatchbull, finding that there was. disposition 
 in the house to bring the subject to a conclusion, chose.a mid- 
 dle passage, and accordingly moved “that the year 1796 be 
 substituted in the room of 1800, which was carried by a ma- 
 jority of nineteen. 
 
 During the years 1784-—5-6—7-8, and 9, Mr. Wilberforce 
 agitated the question by nine distinct motions. Although only 
 a part of these motions were for the total abolition of the trade, 
 yet they all so materially affected it, that had he have been 
 successful, each would have shorn off its asperity and barba- 
 rity, so that its advocates would have nothing left to cherish 
 their inhuman appetites, nor sufficient interest to have sustain- 
 ed them in supporting the odious traffic. 
 
 The first was.a bill to “ prohibit the supply of slaves to fo- 
 reign colonies,” which was carried in the lower house, but was 
 thrown out in the Lords, by a majority of 45 to4. The next 
 was a motion “to promote a pacific relation with France,” 
 which he again repeated, but with the same ill success. | 
 
 Mr. Wilberforce, never wearied in well doing, even when 
 the most gloomy prospects surrounded his efforts, he was cool- 
 ly calculating new projects of victory—raising new fortifica- 
 tions for defence, and feeling the pulsations of his enemies in 
 new veins. Accordingly, on the 26th of February 1795, he 
 again brought forward his original motion for the abolition of 
 the trade, but as usual, it was unsuccessful; and on motion of 
 Mr. Dundas, it was postponed for six months. On the 18th 
 of February the following year, it met with the same fate.. 
 
 In the same year he again®*asked leave to bring in a “ bill to 
 abolish thé slave trade for a limited time,” which was carried 
 on the third reading by a majority of 45; but in the next stage, 
 after a speech from Mr. Dundas, it was lost by a majority of 
 four. Mr. Wilberforce having felt elated by the effect of an 
 address having been presented to the crown, for the protection 
 of colonial interests, was determined to occupy the advantages 
 it might present, for the final adjustment of the question. In 
 the year 1798, he again renewed his motion, but on a division 
 
L Ww ] 
 
 of the house, there were found eighty-three for it, and eighty- 
 seven against it. 
 
 Mr. Wilberforce remained undismayed by these different 
 disappointments, and on the success of his next movement, he’ 
 calculated on the influence that the acquisition of Mr. Canning 
 would bring to the cause. In 1799 he again brought up his 
 motion, which was warmly supported by all his former col- 
 leagues, with the addition of Mr. Canning, and to their as- 
 tonishment, on a division of the house, it was lost by a majo- 
 rity of eight. 
 
 There were two other attempts made to carry the measure 
 partially, one for the “ prohibition of foreign slaves,” the other 
 for making “a certain pertion of Africa sacred to liberty.” 
 The question now having been so long and powerfully agitated, 
 Mr. Wilberforce, like a skilful physician, “thought it impru- 
 dent longer to press the abolition as an annual measure, but 
 to allow members time to digest the eloquence that had so long 
 and faithfully been bestowed upon it for so many years, think- 
 ing that probably some new circumstances might favour its 
 introduction.” 
 
 Accordingly, nothing more was done until the year 1804, 
 except moving for certain papers, during which time he as- 
 sured the house that he should again agitate the question at a 
 future session. 
 
 We are now approaching a new period, and a fruitful era 
 in the history of this long delayed, though important question. 
 While it promised to England and all Europe the greatest 
 blessings, it presented to Africa an opening dawn that might 
 radiate her whole realm with a bright refulgency, whose beam- 
 ing rays seemed to speak in the language of the poet— 
 
 % O ye winds and waves, 
 Waft the glad tidings to the land of slaves; 
 Proclaim on Guinea’s coast by Gambia’s side, 
 As far as Niger rolls his eastern tide, 
 That thy sons shall no longer be driven 
 So far from happiness and Heaven.” 
 
 In this interval of space, Mr. Wilberforce, although so often 
 defeated, had sufficiently learned the encampments and bul- 
 warks of the enemy, to understand what materials were ne- 
 cessary to be obtained to carry the citadel. He lost no time, 
 
[ 2 J 
 
 and prepared accordingly, having learned the fact, (that oughit 
 to throw the whole world in amazement) that one point they 
 meant to establish, was the natural inferiority of the African 
 _ —his incapability of holding and enjoying civil and religious 
 liberty, and that they were not legitimate heirs to the rights of 
 man. ‘To defeat this point, Mr. Wilberforce and his friends 
 that were in conjunction with him, found it necessary to es- 
 tablish a college at Clapham, a village in Surrey, about four 
 leagues south of London, for the education of African pupils. 
 It may seem somewhat astonishing, yet it is not less true, 
 that in so enlightened a period of the world, such doctrines 
 should have been either believed or advocated in England, (at 
 a time when she could challenge the world to produce as many 
 eminent philosophers and statesmen,) that the intellectual quality 
 of mankind was regulated by the Jaws of lights und shades. 
 Yet we may be somewhat awakened from our revery when 
 we reflect-that we so often find some men the dupes of mea- 
 sures, while others are borne forward by interested motives to. 
 complete the execution of some plan that may promote their 
 evil designs. For such is the character of many politicians, 
 when they assume the doctrine of expediency, that they re- 
 sort to dazzling speculations, in defence of opinions which 
 can never be sustained by reason, or advocated by reasonable 
 men, to give them the colouring of virtue, and thus insure the 
 execution of designs, at once inhuman and impious. That this 
 must have been the situation of the opponents to the “ abolition 
 of the slave trade” is so self-evident that it needs no illustration. 
 To have established the fact that Africa was once the cradle 
 of science—the seat of civilization—and her sons its early vo- 
 taries and boasted cultivators, who in their search after wis- 
 dom had scanned the “azure pathway of the heavens,” and 
 laid the foundation of some of the most abstruse sciences, they 
 might only have referred to the Ptolemian age, or to that 
 mammoth receptacle of their collected wisdom, the Alexan- 
 drian Library, that by the decree of Omar, was consumed by 
 fire, with all its philosophical treasures. The light of its con- 
 flagration was followed by an age of darkness; and its in- 
 censed smoke appears in its fall to have brought down bar- 
 barism and superstition. Let history mourn the event. — 
 
(Hebe | 
 
 Or when we approach more modern times, we find that the 
 National Institute of France have examined the ancient col- 
 lege of La-Marche, where African pupils were educated, de-— 
 clared that there existed no difference between them and the 
 Europeans, except the colour of their skins. 
 
 Europe, previous to that period, had been a nursery for the 
 improvement of African intellect, yet it appears that the doe- 
 trineof African inferiority wasso well grounded, that not only 
 Mr. Wilberforce and his associates had to establish a college 
 for their instruction, so that in advocating their cause they 
 might plead for the rights of human beings, but the celebrated 
 Abbe Gregoire felt called upon to write a work, entitled “An 
 inquiry concerning the intellectual and moral faculties of Ne- 
 groes,” to prove that they were not of the brute creation. 
 
 We now approach the year 1804, as fixed by Mr. Wilber- 
 force for again bringing the question before the house. His 
 reasons and prospects for now agitating the question was on 
 the account of the union that had taken place between Eng- 
 land and Ireland, and his knowledge that the Irish members 
 were favorable to the abolition. ‘Therefore he recorded it to 
 the credit of the Irish name, and to the honour of their coun- 
 try, that they were four centuries in advance of England in 
 that national purity which bestows on mankind the enjoy- 
 ment of those rights and privileges granted by his Creator. 
 As early as the reign of Henry VII. tney were engaged ina 
 domestic trafic in human beings; but having experienced a 
 general calamity, which they imputed as a judgment from 
 heaven on account of its wickedness they abolished it. 
 
 On the 30th of March Mr. Wilberforce asked leave to re- 
 new his bill for the abolition of the slave trade within a limited 
 time. The sublimity of his speech onthis occasion surpassed all 
 his former eloquence. A warm debate ensued, both sides hav- 
 ing recruited in resources as well as members, it was truly 
 animated, which terminated in favor of the abolitionists, by a 
 majority of 124 to 49. The bill was now sent up to the house 
 of lords, but the discussion was postponed to the next year. 
 
 In 1805, Mr. Wilberforce again renewed his motion for the 
 for the former year, but it met with the same vigorous opposi- 
 tion, and was finally lost by a majority of seven. 
 
[ 22 ] 
 
 Mr. Wilberforce never again introduced the question. He 
 now found that it was necessary to prepare for the next ses- 
 sion of parliament, when it was generally believed the bill 
 would become a law. 
 
 Mr. Wilberforce having now like a towering eagle in its 
 erial flight, been faithfully supported by Messrs. Pitt. and 
 Fox, for a period of nineteen years, their soaring spirits could 
 in prospect see the most triumphant success. Amidst this 
 scene of enjoyment they were interrupted by the death of 
 Mr. Pitt, in January 1806, who, like Moses of old, had as- 
 cended Pisgah’s top, but was not permitted to enjoy the pro- 
 mised land, and in him fell not only a powerful advocate, but 
 the right wing of the # pluribus unum. 
 
 On the death of Mr. Pitt, Lord Grenville and Mr. Fox 
 were called to the ministry; the former was a fit substitute for 
 Mr. Pitt, both as a minister of the crown and the cause. 
 Thus was Mr. Wilberforce again ready to take his flight, and 
 after calculating on the effect of ministerial influence he ad- 
 vised Mr. Fox to bring forward the question, which he did 
 on the 10th of June, 1806, enforced by a very able speech, 
 which after some considerable debate it was finally carried 
 by a majority of 114 to 15. 
 
 Mr. Wilberforce, immediately after the division, moved an 
 address to his majesty, which was carried without a division. 
 The resolutions of the lower house, together with the address, 
 were sent to the lords, which with the efforts of Lord Gren- 
 ville were carried by a majority of 100 to 36. 
 
 Thus passed both houses of the legislature a bill that for its 
 value, whether we regard the interest of Africa, Europe, or 
 the world, is unequalled in legislation, and one which Mr. 
 Fox regarded as the highest glory of his administration. But 
 how often are the “ pleasures of life illusory.” Before the bill 
 had received the royal sanction, Mr. Fox was numbered with 
 the dead, and in him fell a giant of abolition, and the left 
 wing of the golden eagle, when he had barely reached the 
 shores of victory, before a friend could greet him at the end 
 of his pilgrimage, his spirit had fled to join that of its de- 
 parted. associate. 
 
 Although the bill had passed both houses of the legislature, 
 
[ 23 ] 
 
 a circumstance took place which threw great terror into the 
 ranks of the abolitionists, and caused them much to fear, that 
 at the moment when they had expected that it would receive 
 the royal sanction, they might have to perform the whole 
 work over again. ‘The reason of this was his majesty being 
 displeased with the introduction of the Roman Catholic’s bill 
 into the house of commons, had signified his intention of dis- 
 placing the ministry; therefore all their exertions were put 
 into requisition to have the bill adopted in detail, and to have 
 it printed ; accordingly, on the 24th of March, 1807, the whole 
 was completed. And on the next day at 11 o’clock in the 
 morning, his majesty’s message was delivered to the minis- 
 ters of the crown, that they were to wait upon him and deli- 
 ver up the seals of their offices. 
 
 The commission for the royal assent to this bill, among 
 others had been obtained. And Mr. Clarkson relates that 
 “the commission was opened by Lord Chancellor Erskine, 
 who was accompanied by Lords Holland and Auckland; and 
 as the clock struck twelve, just when the sun was in its me- 
 ridian splendour to witness this august act, of the establish- 
 ment of magna charta for Africa in Britain, and to sanction 
 it by its most glorious beams, it was completed.” 
 
 It was indeed a time for England, for Africa, and the 
 friends of humanity all over the world to rejoice, at one of 
 the most glorious victories ever recorded in the history of 
 legislation—a victory achieved without blood-stained ban- 
 ners. Unlike the revolution of France, it was not the “ ille- 
 gitimate offspring of a bloody night.” It was the overthrow 
 of public opinion by the triumph of reason. It was placed on 
 a permanent basis, because a virtuous posterity would vindi- 
 cate and sustain its adoption. It left the enemies of the mea- 
 sure without a temple to erect their hopes for further inva- 
 sions on Africa, It marked for tyrants a moral and legisla- 
 tive boundary, and left them no charter to protect them from 
 the omnipotence of the law, and without a panoply to shield 
 their degrading infamy from the curse of time. 
 
 To .its friends all was hope and rejoicing. The valiant 
 band who had so faithfully sustained this great cause could 
 look with pride on Mr. Wilberforce, who was the leader of 
 
CM] 
 
 the mighty phalanx—the director of their mighty genius—the 
 general who won the victory and wears its laurels. 
 
 As a government measure, the triumph might have been 
 given to Lord Grenville, but it was fairly given to Mr. 
 Wilberforce. He was hailed with enthusiastic acclamations 
 on reéntering the house after his success, and the country 
 reéchoed it from shore to shore. Thus, in the language of 
 the poet— 
 
 ‘‘ When Wilberforce, the minister of grace, 
 The new Las Cassas of a ruined race, 
 With angel might opposed the rage of hell, 
 And fought like Michael till the dragon fell.” 
 
 The contest now being over Mr. Wilberforce’s fame shone 
 forth like a towering monument associating in itself the no- 
 blest qualities, and bearing for its inscription the incompara- 
 ble motto of Virtue, Liberty and Independence, an object for 
 tyrants to fear, Christians to admire, and nations to love. 
 
 On the following year he was returned for Yorkshire, al- 
 though a subscription of £100,000 sterling was necessary to 
 secure his election. It is said that such was the warmth of 
 the friends of humanity in his support that double that amount 
 was secured. He continued in Parliament until the year 
 1825, when he retired into private life, to share those convi- 
 vial joys that domestic life affords, that are sought for in vain 
 in the tempestuous billows that distract the affairs of men in 
 the full tide of public life. It is not our intention to refer 
 either to the course he pursued or the measures he advocated 
 during this part of his parliamentary career; suffice it to say, 
 that he was considered the father of the House, and that the 
 greatest indulgences were extended to him as a national 
 benefactor. 
 
 Having now faintly noticed that great act, the recollection 
 of which inspires us with a solemn regard for his exertions 
 in behalf of “the poor and oppressed,” we shall pass on to 
 notice those peculiar and distinguishing traits of character 
 that endeared him to his associates. Mr. Wilberforce not 
 only distinctly understood, but unerringly practised the seve- 
 ral duties of man as an individual, a member of society, a 
 guardian of national interests, a lover of his God, and a pro- 
 moter of religion. 
 
[ 23 ] 
 
 About the year 1797, a time when his mind was deeply 
 absorbed in the slave trade, he became the author of a cele- 
 brated work, entitled “A popular view of Christianity,” that 
 secured for him a valuable reputation in the religious world, 
 not only for the intrinsic elegance of its style, but for the cor- 
 rectness of its principles; probably the best eulogium that 
 can be pronounced upon it is, when we say that it has gone 
 through forty editions, and been translated into different lan- 
 guages, and has been adopted into almost every library in 
 this country, and Europe. This itself entitles him to another 
 claim on public gratitude, viz. that of being a,defender of the 
 faith, and protector of the established church. 'There can be 
 little doubt but that he was induced to write this work with 
 the-hope that the extension of the doctrines would aid the 
 cause of abolition. The public mind at that period had be- 
 come so corrupted with the metaphysical speculations of in- 
 fidel and deistical theorists, that a book containing the simple 
 doctrines of Christianity as practised in the established church, 
 could scarcely have gained admittance into families in the 
 higher walks of life under a less respectable recommenda- 
 tion. Notwithstanding the abundance of his labours, the 
 multiplied claims the public made on his time and talents, 
 that sufficient time was scarcely left for his body to receive 
 that relaxation so necessary to prepare it to encounter new 
 trials and meet new difficulties. He appeared determined to 
 occupy every situation that could be filled with honour, or 
 enable him to shed an illustrious example to those around 
 him. We therefore find that, in the same year, he became 
 united in wedlock to Miss Barbara Spooner, the daughter of 
 an opulent banker at Birmingham, with whom he lived in the 
 utmost harmony and conjugal fidelity until his death. They 
 were blest with four sons and two daughters, all of which 
 under their parental care, and the protection of Him whom 
 he daily supplicated, grew up to maturity. The former with 
 their mother have survived their venerable head. The latter, for 
 whom he cherished the most fond and endearing hopes, and 
 with whom his affections were indissolubly united, by all the 
 ties that can unite the relation of father and child, or parents 
 and their offspring, have, as if My were, to test his Christian vir- 
 
26 
 
 tues, or the reality of that offering that he had so often and 
 solemnly dedicated to the God he loved and served, have 
 been summoned in the bloom of youth from the presence of 
 their parents, their earthly affections and fond endearments» 
 by the destroying hand of time, to become the tenants of an 
 early grave. The elder died four years ago, unmarried. The 
 younger was married to the Rev. J. James, and survived her 
 marriage less than twelve months. Grievous as was this af- 
 flicting dispensation, the morning of her decease found him 
 at church performing his usual devotion. It is said that she 
 bore so strongly the impress of her father’s beautiful mind 
 that he never recovered her loss. 
 
 If we follow him in domestic life, we find in him all those 
 virtues that form an endearing husband, an affectionate pa- 
 rent, a social companion, a kind and benevolent neighbour— 
 not only seeking the happiness of those around him, but ex- 
 tending the same illustrious example to society that distin- 
 guishea him as a Christian, a legislator and a lawgiver. 
 
 If we call into being those pecuniary considerations that 
 the world calls wealth, Mr. Wilberforce having descended 
 from an opulent parentage was born an heir to no personal 
 wants that fancy might invent or fortune purchase; yet we . 
 find that these birthright enjoyments were to trivial for the 
 nobleness of his nature. His capacious mind soon quit the 
 vain pleasures of the domestic hearth, where the abundance 
 of nature lay treasured at his bidding, and engaged in an ex- 
 tensive field of speculation, where the corruption of his coun- 
 try had to be purchased by the-enlargement of his genius and 
 the fruit of his industry. 
 
 Mr. Wilberforce possessed a combination of good qualities 
 calculated to render him agreeable in all his different situa- 
 tions of life. He was so uniform and unassuming in all his 
 domestic acts, that he seemed almost invariably to adapt him- 
 self to the peculiar habits and dispositions of the company 
 with whom he was associated. With children he was ani- 
 mated and playful—with statesmen he was a counsellor— 
 with the aged and infirm he was a consoler—in short, he ap-_ 
 peared at home in the society of all, and by all he was gene- 
 rally loved and esteemed. He was small of stature, and na- 
 
[ 27 ] 
 
 ture appears not to have adorned his features for personal 
 admiration. He was happy in conversation, and when his 
 countenance was animated it was truly striking. His me- 
 mory was richly stored with classical illusions; a natural 
 poetry of mind constantly displayed itself; a melodious ca- 
 dence marked every thought, and every expression of the 
 thought. He was seldom impassioned, and not often ener- 
 getic; his tones were mellifluous and persuasive, exactly ac- 
 cording to the sentiment they conveyed. It may be said of 
 his eloquence, while it delighted and awakened the imagina- 
 tion, it convinced the heart. It did not awe it into obedience, 
 but peacefully and intuitively led the senses of the audience 
 in the train of the orator. 
 
 In the natural power of eloquence there is something truly 
 mysterious. If tanguage be an emanation from God, eloquence 
 when advocating the cause of truth and justice, must breathe 
 forth divinity. In every age it has only had to call forth its 
 powers, command, and it wasdone. If we look back into the re- 
 trospective vale, when the creator spoke and said, “ Let us 
 make man,” or when most noble Festus trembled before the 
 towering eloquence of Paul, or to the history of Greece and 
 Rome, it has always possessed the same irresistible power. 
 Probably we may look in vain in modern times to find it pos- 
 sessing so much of its primitive powers and original excellence, 
 as when it was called into action to extinguish the slave trade. 
 Those associate virtues that were blended in the subject of 
 our eulogy, together with his Christian benevolence, and ex- 
 alted kindness that breathed through his words and actions, 
 were well calculated to inspire his opponents with a regard 
 for the honesty of his motives, and when his emphatic tones 
 were mellowed with the milk of christianity, we feel not as- 
 tonished that among even the dazzling lights of his cotempo- 
 raries, he was considered the brightest of the train. 
 
 We now follow him down to the present year. Mr. Wil- 
 berforce having spent a long and useful life ; undergone exces- 
 sive toils, and acquired for himself an extensive fame among 
 all nations, for his advocacy in behalf of abolition, kept be- 
 holding his country wiping from her dominions the internal 
 guilt of that horrible system, seemed willing to retire in peace, 
 
[ 28 ] 
 
 and not again shfler his quiet to be disturbed by the turmoils 
 of life. But his labours of love were not yet finished, another 
 great work was yet to be performed, which may no doubt be 
 said his last public act, viz: his protest against the American 
 Colonization Society. That institution having appeared before 
 him in its giant form, he recognized in its interior his old ad- 
 versary, that arch enemy of liberty, with whom he had spent 
 his whole life contending against. That Protean disciple of 
 his Satanic majesty stood upon the altar clad in the hvery of 
 the sanctuary—the ermine of the bench, and the robe of the 
 statesman. Notwithstanding he loved the colony of Liberia, 
 and the civilization of Africa, but to use the language of the 
 “ protest,” he saw that to the cause of liberty throughout the 
 world, it was a total obstructton—he raised his dying hand and 
 smote the monster. 
 
 My friends, if this were the only benefit he had ever confer- 
 red on either Africa or her descendants, we should sound forth 
 his praise. When he might have peacefully slept in blissful 
 security, enjoying a fame as enduring as time, he risked it all 
 against the popularity of an institution, almost incorporated 
 with the pride and patriotism of one of the greatest republics 
 on the globe, to save us from its grasp, and from that monster 
 that had withered the influence and prospects of his own be- 
 loved country. 
 
 Having now closed his public career of half a century, with 
 an act that was immediately connected with our interests; 
 and having undergone the vicissitudes of upwards of seventy 
 years, he could in retrospection look back at the overthrow 
 of public opinion; at the re-establishment of religion and mo- 
 rality on the ruins of vice and absolute degeneracy. He 
 looked forward to the promise given to the righteous—“ well 
 done, good and faithful servant,” thou shalt enter into the joy 
 of thy Lord, and quietly closed his eyes in death on the 29th 
 day of Jnly last, when his noble spirit took its flight to receive 
 those blessings prepared from the foundation. 
 
 To mourn over the event, would be to desire that heaven 
 should be deprived of one of her richest jewels, and that our 
 benefactor should have still lingered out a few more shert 
 years, subject to the endurance of all those pains and diseases 
 
[ 2 | 
 
 that belong to the infirmity of age. Yet we discover that in 
 the demise of our friends, that the common feelings of our 
 nature, in the abundance of their affection, overflow our senses, 
 and frequently drown our better judgment in the flood. 
 
 Death always brings a solemnity, over which the feelings 
 of our nature weeps, on whomsoever his cold and icy hand is 
 laid; sorrow must be the consequence—the “peace of some 
 living being must be slain.” Though the grave be open to 
 receive the humblest of God’s creatures, yet there is some 
 one to shed tears upon it—a wife is bereft of a beloved hus- 
 band—a mother of a darling babe—a sister of a kind and de- 
 voted brother—some child fatherless—some friend friendless 
 —some small circle of gaiety repressed—some house of joy 
 converted into a house of mourning. 
 
 In the present instance, a wife is deprived of one of the 
 most amiable of husbands—four sons one of the kindest of 
 fathers—the friends of liberty and of man, a bold and intrepid 
 champion—the nation, one of her proudest ornaments.—Let 
 us pour forth our sympathies for the family and friends of the 
 departed. If we have tears to shed, let us mingle them with 
 theirs, and pour forth the noblest feelings of gratitude for 
 departed worth; and let us resign ourselves to the will of that 
 Providence “ that giveth and taketh,” and return him thanks 
 for preserving him so long to plead the cause of his poor and 
 oppressed brethren. 
 
 With us the shock of his death cannot be so sensibly felt ; 
 to him we were not united by that social intercourse that 
 warms and endears the personal affections, and frequently 
 terminates in forming the holiest relations of life. 
 
 Ours were not of that cast. He having lived out the days 
 allotted to man, and usefully employed them in erecting a 
 structure of liberty that stands an honourable memento of his 
 labours, we have fixed our aspirations of love on the fruit of 
 his exertions. ‘Though the mortal remains of Mr. Wilber- 
 force may be entombed within the narrow precincts of the 
 grave, the theme of our admiration still lives, and will con- 
 tinue to live, an object for philanthropists to admire and ty- 
 rants to fear—so that with us he can never die. The fabric 
 of liberty may fall; but if it should, the crashing ruins would 
 
[ 0 ] 
 
 éry out, in the spirit of its founder, to the friends of humanity 
 all over the world, to erect another temple on its foundation, 
 and dedicate it as a trophy to christianity; and inscribe on 
 its immeasurable front the indestructible name of Walliam 
 Wilberforce. And the historian that shall record the event 
 will not only associate his name with the spirit of liberty, but 
 when songs may be sung to their honour, the minstrel will 
 dedicate his lays, 
 To offer them notes of adoration and praise. 
 
 Thus terminated the earthly career of one, that the exer- 
 cise of language in all its boasted strength will fail to do him 
 honour. Asa Christian he stood like the church upon the - 
 rock of ages—as a philanthropist he shone like the sun of h- 
 berty (with its healing rays) lighting up the dark chasms of 
 slavery and oppression—as a man, he concentrated in him- 
 self those refulgent virtues that rendered him a model for the 
 world; and after having “ fought the good fight, finished his 
 course, and kept the faith,” he with that spirit of humility 
 that characterized his whole life, desired to be interred pri- 
 vately, with those becoming ceremonials that exhibit Chris- 
 tian meekness. 
 
 Although this was his dying request, the pride of Britons 
 could not consent that he whose life had been spent in their 
 service, and who had achieved for his country so much na- 
 tional good, should be buried without national honours. She 
 decreed that the remains of the champion of liberty, who had 
 exposed the iniquity of the slave trade, and overthrew the 
 temple of immorality, should be deposited in Westminster 
 Abbey, along with Granville Sharpe, who had interpreted the 
 British constitution, by which the ground on which they 
 “trod became holy, and was consecrated to the genius” of 
 universal liberty—with the illustrious Newton, the immortal 
 Bacon, and the collected wisdom of the nation, and beside 
 his esteemed compatriots and coworkers in the same glori- 
 ous cause, Messrs. Pitt and Fox. Thus again, after a period 
 of twenty-seven years, has that celebrated triumvirate been 
 united, whose matchless eloquence, like an unconquerable 
 torrent in its roaming flood, swept the inhuman traffic from 
 Britain’s coast. 
 
[ 31 | 
 
 Mr. Wilberforce was not only spared to accomplish the 
 noble work, but was to have the pleasure of examining its 
 operations, as if that he were to be the messenger that should 
 bear to departed spirits the rewards of their toil, and the 
 blessed and happy influence of those exertions on the great 
 family of mankind. It must have been to him a theme of 
 pride, not only to see that the slave trade was abolished by 
 other nations, but that under no national flag could kidnapped 
 slaves be brought into the ports of the world, without being 
 subject to the laws of piracy. 
 
 It must have gladdened his heart in his dying moments to 
 see domestic slavery about being swept from the dominions 
 of his country, and that their free coloured population were 
 advancing in education and refinement, and occupying dis- 
 tinguished situations of public trust ; and that the Republic of 
 Hayti had taken her stand among the nations of the earth; 
 and that when he cast his eyes across the broad Atlantic sea, 
 (to the United States,) he could there see the happy influence 
 of those principles that he so long cherished, had swept from 
 
 half her territory the yoke of the bondsman; and that they, 
 too, were, by their rapid improvements in the blessings of 
 education and public spirit, fit subjects to enjoy the boon of 
 heaven. 
 
 Having seen all this, like good old Simeon he was satisfied 
 “to depart in peace,” and put on immortality, to enjoy the 
 regions of glory. Unlike the patriotic Emmet, let his epitaph 
 be written. “ Let it not be left to other men and other times 
 to do justice to his character,” for those who know his mo- 
 tives dare assert them; for the same redeeming spirit is 
 abroad in our own land that accomplished the destruction of 
 slavery and the slave trade. Let it not only be written in in- 
 effacable letters on tables of stone, but let us imprint his worth 
 on our memories, and inscribe on the portals of his fame 
 “peace and good will to men.” 
 
 Although you have already been detained, and probably 
 too long, we must not suffer the present opportunity to escape 
 without awakening in ourselves that national feeling, which 
 as true patriets we are bound to cherish. 
 
 We will now leave the shores of Britain, and review the 
 
 =m 
 
;: oe 
 
 history of our own country. She too has passed a law pro- 
 hibiting the slave trade. She too has had her heroes for abo- 
 lition, and at no period like the present has the boasted 
 sons of humanity and justice more powerfully stood forward 
 to advocate the rights of the oppressed descendants of Africa. 
 The same glorious success awaits us as the inhabitants of the 
 old world. We, too, have had a Benezet, a Jay, a Rush, a 
 Franklin, a Wistar, a Lay, a Tyson and a Livingston, as 
 well as many others, that time would fail us to enumerate— 
 men who have shone in the most important situations of pri- 
 vate, as well as public life, and may be justly considered the 
 pride of the nation, and on whom the history of the present 
 generation points to as the departed fathers of the republic. 
 
 Of the living we can truly say they are as valiant a band 
 as ever stood by a friend or met a foe. 
 
 When we speak of America we do it with those feelings of 
 respect that are due to it as our country—not as the land of 
 our adoption, nor with the alienated breath of foreigners; but 
 with the instinctive love of native born citizens. We look 
 upon her as favoured by Providence above all others, for the 
 geniality of her climate and fruitfulness of her soil, and, in 
 the language of Dr. Rush as possessing “ a compound of most 
 climates of the world”—a country said to be the “freest on the 
 globe,” where not only the liberty of the press is guaranteed, 
 but the Christian and the infidel, the Mahometan and pagan, 
 the deist and the atheist, the Jew and Gentile, are not only 
 protected in their faith, but may propagate their doctrines un- 
 molested—a country where the oppressed of all nations and 
 castes seek shelter from oppression, and become incorporated 
 into the spirit of her laws, and rally round her standard of 
 liberty, EXCEPT THOSE OF AFRICAN ORIGIN. 
 
 We admire her declaration of rights, and worship it as our 
 holy creed; but we mourn over its fallen spirit as we would 
 over some ancient ruin, whose splendour and magnificence 
 had attracted the gaze of an admiring world. We point not 
 to the graves of our relatives and immediate ancestors as the 
 graves of departed Africans, but as American citizens; many 
 of whom have fallen in battle with the revolutionary fathers 
 in their arduous struggle for liberty ; whose blood have moist- 
 
 "€ 
 
[ 33 ] 
 
 ened this sacred soil, and whose tomb-stones, if erected, would 
 not only direct us to the depositories of departed heroes, but 
 would light our path to a patriot’s grave. There are yet 
 many of our aged fathers, who were scions of the British 
 colonies that have survived the struggle, and have been in- 
 corporated in that bond of union that forms the national 
 standard, and have grown up through American liberty, but 
 who have never enjoyed the glorious privilege of citizenship. 
 They have weakened with her strength, and their heads that 
 are now blossomed for a future world, stand as evidence 
 against American cruelty, the injustice of her policy, and the 
 spirit of her laws. 
 
 The slave trade was not only beheld with horror by the 
 good and great of all nations, but its destruction was ef- 
 fected by their union and co-operation. If we take into con- 
 sideration who were the first forerunners and coadjutors in 
 effecting the abolition of the slave trade it may no doubt 
 awaken our state and sectional pride, to find that in this land 
 of Penn, and our own “city of brotherly love,” the society 
 of Friends, those pioneers of liberty, peace, and moral reform, 
 were the first public body that ever associated to promote the 
 cause. ‘They preceded the yearly meeting of the Society of 
 Friends in London thirty-one years. Their first yearly meet- 
 ing on the subject was in 1696, They again met in 171], 
 1754, 1774,1776. The legislative spirit of Pennsylvania has 
 early adopted for her polar star, the principles of her immor- 
 tal founder and celebrated lawgiver, and she continued not 
 - only marching forward herself ia the cause of freedom, but 
 has led the nations of the earth in her path. It is to the ex- 
 ertions of the Society of Friends, and the moral influence 
 they inculcated, more than to any other set of people, that 
 we are to ascribe that union in the religious communities, that 
 taught them to discard sectional prejudices, and unite them- 
 selves in a body for the purpose of aiding the oppressed Af- 
 ricans and their descendants. In the year 1780, they formed 
 a society, that was known, as it continues to be, by the name 
 and title of “ the Pennsylvania Society for promoting the abo- 
 lition of slavery, and the relief of free negroes unlawfully 
 held in bondage ;” and Pépjamin Franklin was chosen presi- 
 
[| 34 ] 
 
 dent. Thus, the philosopher who had signed the declaration 
 of American independence, and “drew down >the lightning 
 from heaven,” and had aided in achieving the liberty of his 
 country, thought it no indignity to stand at the helm, and guide 
 the destinies of an institution, that had avowed for its creed, 
 ‘that it is not for us to inquire why in the creation of man- 
 kind that the inhabitants were formed of different complexion; 
 it was sufficient to know that they were the work of an Al- 
 mighty hand,” and that. they should enjoy the privilege of his 
 creatures. 
 
 This society petitioned parliament on the subject of abolish- 
 ing the slave trade, and avowed its codperation in every mea- 
 sure that might tend to its promotion; and the most happy 
 effects have slgesbeistdl its exertions. On the death of Frank- 
 lin, Drs. Benjamin Rush, and Wistar have filled the presiden- 
 tial chair, and it has only been vacated by the termination of 
 their existence. It is now filled by our learned and distinguish- 
 ed fellow citizen, William Rawle, Esq. These gentlemen have 
 not only been the pride and boast of our state, but they have 
 been distinguished cultivators of American science, and have 
 shed such a lustre around their professions, that they have been 
 styled the ornaments of the age. May the march of Penn- 
 sylvania be onward; but if she should depart from the spirit 
 of such ancestors, she will be on the road to degeneracy. 
 
 ~) We have made this departure from our subject, to exhibit 
 the happy influence the carly abolitionists of | our country had’ 
 in effecting the passage of a law by which the subject of our 
 eulogy has received unfading renown; the effect of which 
 has been, that the attention of nations has been taught to re- 
 gard his moral worth; and that wherever his name has been’ 
 known, his praises have been uttered forth with that heart-felt - 
 regard, to which they believed the merit of his exertions were 
 so richly entitled. By his life;we find there is a reward for’ 
 the righteous. By his death, we learn, that the true road to 
 fameiis in advocating the cause 6f the oppressed. i 
 
 » My friends, of the millions who sound ‘forth his praises,’ 
 probably there are only thousands who do ‘him ‘honour. Those 
 who. advocate slavery and perpetual servitude, on es 
 of Kneeling at his sacred” shrine—those: who are opposed! te 
 
 t ; 
 
[| 35 J 
 
 the natural elevation of the man of colour to the rights and 
 privileges of free citizens, are unworthy of paying him devo- 
 tion—those who have not adopted for the line of their con- 
 duct towards their fellow men, the golden rule, “do unto 
 others as you would they should do unto you,” are unfit to 
 utter forth his name. As well might an angel of darkness 
 bow down and worship the prince of light and glory, as for 
 men possessing such:a motley of inconsistencies, to attempt 
 to pay tribute to his memory. But his fame is fixed, the in- 
 fluence of his exertions is felt, and the news that a great and 
 good man is fallen, has been uttered in such pathetic strains, 
 that babes have caught the sound, and are beginning to lisp 
 forth his name, which must be transmitted to posterity en- 
 robed in the mantle of Christian virtue, that nothing can 
 tarnish but our degeneracy. If we should fail to render our- 
 selves worthy of so powerful an advocate, we shall retard 
 the influence of those virtues. If we shall fail to walk in those 
 paths of eleyation, marked out for us by the laws of our 
 country, and the achievements of philanthropy, we shall not 
 only destroy the .prospects of those who come after us, but 
 will weaken the cause of those who come forward for our 
 support. Let that not be our course. Let us march forward 
 with a firm, unvarying step, not only occupying every inch 
 of ground acquired by those philanthropists who are labour- 
 ing in our behalf, but let the strength of our characters, by ._ 
 the influence of their examples, acquire for us new territory, 
 and the name of Wittiam Wiveerrorce will not only burnish 
 into brighter fame, but will serve as a lamp, the light of 
 whose blaze will grow broader and higher, until it shall have © 
 not only warmed the most remote regions, by “ encircling the 
 globe we inhabit,” but, by its revolutionary power, we, in 
 our ascent upwards, shall be lost in the regions of the skies. 
 
Wo gasitene tle inieen ait | 
 
 ite ined heoek 
 
MINUTES 
 
 AND 
 
 BROGOHBHOCNES 
 
 OF THE 
 
 THIRD ANNUAL CONVENTION, 
 FOR THE IMPROVEMENT 
 or Tu 
 FREE PEOPLE OF COLOUR 
 
 Mw these Ginited States, 
 
 HELD BY ADJOURNMENTS 
 IN THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA, 
 
 From the 3d to the 13th of June inclusive, 1833. 
 
 NEW-YORK: 
 PUBLISHED BY ORDER OF THE CONVENTION. 
 
 1833. 
 
oF Poa 
 
 we 
 
 4 
 
 F ms 
 
 geak altel: 
 es ; Z E 
 
MINUTES. 
 
 Tue Delegates to the third Annual General Convention of 
 the Free People of Colour, for their improvement in these 
 United States, met agreeably to public notice in the Benezett 
 Hall, in the City of Philadelphia, on Monday, June 3, 1833. 
 
 Mr. Frederick A. Hintori, was appointed ‘Chairman, and 
 Mr. Charles H. Levick Secretary, until the convention be 
 organized. Prayer by the Rey. Noah Cannon. 
 
 The following delegates presented their credentials, and 
 were regularly admitted members of the convention. 
 
 PENNSYLVANIA. 
 Philadelphia. Rev. Jeremiah Miller. 
 Frederick A. Hinton, Carlisle. 
 Abraham Williams, John Peck, 
 
 Thomas Butler. 
 
 Peter Gardiner, 
 
 James Bird, 
 
 Samuel C. Hutchins. 
 Harrisburg. 
 
 Rev. J. D. Richardson, 
 
 George Galbrecht. ae 
 
 Wiliam Brewer, Wilkesbarre. 
 
 MARYLAND. 
 
 Baltimore. 
 Robert Cowley, 
 
 Stephen H. Gloucester, 
 Robert Purvis, 
 William Whipper. 
 Westchester. 
 Abraham D. Shadd, 
 William Lewis, 
 Caleb Cregg, 
 ‘Vincent Smith, 
 
 - Rev. Samuel Elliott, 
 
 Wilham D, Jenkins, 
 
 Gloucester. 
 John Kelly, 
 “Thomas Banks, 
 Henry Frisby, 
 Benjamin Stokely, 
 James C. Matthews. 
 
 Henry Ogden, Newark. 
 
 NEW-JERSEY. 
 
 Samuel Hiner. 
 
 Burlington. 
 Emanuel W. Congo, 
 Robert J. Taylor. 
 Trenton. 
 
 Leonard Scott, 
 Abner H. Francis. 
 
 DELAWARE. 
 Wilmington. — 
 
 Peter Hubbard, 
 Jacob Morgan. 
 
 Joseph Burton. 
 Matthew Draper. 
 
 Providence, R. 1.—George Spywood. 
 
4 
 
 MASSACHUSETTS. 
 Boston. Hosea Easton. 
 James G. Barbadoes, . New Bedford. 
 George W. Thompson, Richard Johnson. 
 CONNECTICUT. 
 a aen. —Luke Lathrop. Hartford. —Mason F'reeman. 
 | NEW-YORK. | a 
 New. York City. William Brown, © 7 kan: 
 William Hamilton,Sen. H. C. Thompson, Ae Brooklyn 
 pos L. Jinnings, - J. We. C. Pennington. Newtown. 
 ansom F.. Wake, . Charles Smith; . Ya, ) ,0% 
 Charles Mortimer, Wm. P. Johnson. } Newburgh. 
 James Barnett, William Rich, Troy. 
 Poughkeepsie. _ John G. Stewart, Albany... 
 George Richardson, Catskill § Hudson. _ 
 David Ruggles. ~ Henry Sipkins. : 
 
 In the progress of convention, the following gentlemen 
 were admitted honorary members. Rey. Messrs. Watkins 
 and Douglass of Maryland, Mr. Nathan Johnson of New- 
 Bedford, Mass. and Mr. Thomas Van Renselear, of Prince- 
 ton, N. J. | 
 
 On motion the following persons were appointed a com- 
 mittee to nominate suitable officers for the convention, viz. 
 Thos. L. Jinnings, Robert Cowley and John Peck. 
 
 _ After various motions and discussions, Adjourned to meet 
 at 3 o’clock. 
 Afternoon Session. 
 
 Metas per adjournment. Mr. Wm. Hamilton was appointed 
 chairman. Prayer by the Rev. Peter Gardiner. 
 
 The roll having been called and the minutes of the morning 
 session read, the convention resolved itself into a committee 
 of the whole, to act upon some controverted polnbay of ad- 
 mitting members. 
 
 On the various motions offered, very animated athousb\ond 
 were kept up until the hour of adjournment. Adjourned to 
 meet at 9 o’clock to-morrow morning. 
 
 Tuesday Morning, June 4. 
 
 Met in the Benezett Hall. The chairman’ took~his seat. 
 Prayer by the Rev. Samuel Elliott. The minutes of the pre- 
 vious meeting haying been read, it was, on motion, resolyed 
 
5 ; 
 
 that the convention immediately adjourn to meet in the First 
 African Presbyterian Church—to which they immediately 
 repaired and proceeded to business. 
 The committee appointed to nominate fico for the con- 
 vention, reported the following: 
 ABRAHAM D. SHADD, President. : 
 RICHARD D. JOHNSON, 1st. Vice do. 
 JOHN G. STEWART, 2d do. 
 RANSOM F.. WAKE, Secretary. 
 HENRY OGDEN, Assistant Secr elamtan 
 JOHN *B. DUPUY, Clerk. 
 
 On motion, the report was unanimously sdonied: and the 
 persons therein named, declared duly elected, the officers be- 
 ing regularly installed proceeded to the duties of their 
 several appointments. 
 
 On motion, resolved, that a eommittee of five: persons be 
 appointed to draft Rules and Regulations for the government 
 of the conyention, Messrs. Purvis, Jinnings, Sipkins, ee | 
 and Peck, were appointed. | 
 
 On motion, resolved that the President appoint a comintthees 
 of five for the purpose of correcting the minutes and pub- 
 lishing the same. 
 
 On motion of Mr. Spywood, seconded by Mr. Barbddaes, | 
 resolved that no person shall be acknowledged as déleonm 
 to this conyention unless they bring proper credentials from 
 their respective societies or meetings held for the purpose of . 
 electing them as such. A petition from the People of Colour 
 of Hartford, to this convention, praying it to take into con- 
 sideration the constitutionality of a Law lately passed in the 
 State of Connecticut, prohibiting the establishing of Literary 
 institutions in said State, for the instruction of persons of 
 Colour of other States, was read and laid over for further con- 
 sideration. 
 
 Mr. Frederick A. Hinton having requested leave to in- 
 troduce a preamble and resolution on Wednesday afternoon, 
 on motion of P. C. Matthews, seconded by Robt. Purvis, re- 
 solved that F°. A. Hinton be permitted to offer to this con- 
 vention a preamble and resolution, approbatory of the mission 
 of Wm. Lloyd Garrison, Esq. to England. 
 
 The committee appointed to draft rules and regulations for 
 
6 
 
 the government of this convention, made the sb edag re- 
 _ port, which was adopted. | 
 
 ~ Your committee appointed to adopt rules and regulations for the 
 government of this Convention, respeetfully report— 
 
 1. The President shall take the chair at the time to which the 
 House may be adjourned, and upon the appearance of a quorum 
 shall direct the roll to be called and the previous minutes read. 
 
 2. The President shall have full power to keep order and deco- 
 rum; shall decide questions of order, subject to an appeal to the 
 Convention, and appoint or nominate committees when ordered by 
 ne Convention. 
 
 In case of the absence of the President, the first Vice Presi- 
 dent shall perform his duty, and in his: absence it shall devolve 
 upon the second Vice-President. 
 
 4. If two or more members rise to speak at one time, the Pre- 
 sident shail decide who shall be entitled to the floor. 
 
 5. Every member who shall be in the House at the time the 
 question is put, shall give his vote, unless the House, for special 
 reasons, shall excuse him. 
 
 6. No member shall be permitted to leave the House without 
 the permission of the President. 
 
 “7, No member shall be interrupted while speaking, except by a 
 
 call to order by the President; when such member may appeal to 
 
 the House. | 
 
 8. When a motion is stated by the President, it shall be deemed 
 to be in possession of the House, but may be withdrawn at any 
 
 time before a decision. 
 
 9. While the President is stating any question, or addressing the 
 House, no member shall walk out, or cross the floor, nor when any 
 member is speaking entertain private discourse. 
 
 10. No member shail speak more than twice on the same sub- 
 ject, and shall not occupy more than fifteen minutes at each time, 
 without permission from the House. 
 
 11. No motion or proposition on a subject different from that 
 under consideration shall be admitted under colour of amendment. 
 
 12. No motion for reconsideration shall be in order unless made 
 by a member who voted in the majority, and approved of by the 
 President. . 
 
 13. A motion for adjournment shall always be in order after 
 1 o'clock, P. M. or 6 o'clock, P. M. 
 
 14. All documents and papers, presented for the consideration 
 of this convention, shall be submitted to a committee of five, ap- 
 pointed for that purpose. 
 
 15. All motions to be made shall be submitted to writing, if re- 
 quested. 
 
 par (Signed) Henry SIpxKINs, 
 Rosert Purvis, 
 Tuomas L. JINNINGS, 
 Joun PEcK, 
 Tuomas BUTLER. 
 
 Adjourned to meet at 3 o’clock. 
 
7 
 
 Afternoon Session. 
 
 Held in the First Presbyterian Church in Seventh-street, 
 the President in the chair. The roll having been called and 
 the minutes of the morning session read, on motion, the 
 president appointed James Barnett, William Brown, Leonard 
 Scott, James G. Barbadoes and Joseph Burton, a committee 
 to examine all documents and papers submitted to the Con- 
 vention, in conformity to the 14th Article of the Rules and 
 Regulations. < 
 
 The President also appointed Messrs. Henry Sipkins, 
 Frederick A. Hinton, T. L. Jinnings, Robert Cowley and 
 John Peck, a committee for the purpose of revising the 
 minutes of this convention, and superintending the printing 
 of the same. ; 
 
 On motion, resolved that a committee of five be appointed 
 to lay before this convention such business as may be thought 
 proper to be acted upon. ‘The President appointed Wm. 
 Whipper, John Peck, Robert Cowley, Henry Sipkins, and 
 Wm. Lewis, said committee. Adjourned to meet to-morrow | 
 morning at 9 o’clock. i 
 
 Wednesday Morning, June 5. 
 
 President in the chair. Prayer by the Rev. Mr. Elliott. 
 
 Moved and seconded that the committee appointed to pre- 
 sent the order of business: make their report, whereon the 
 following was presented. 7 
 
 The committee appointed to lay before this convention a 
 report of such business as they deem proper to engage its at- 
 tention, respectfully submit the following : : 
 
 Moved by R. F. Wake, seconded by David Ruggles, that 
 the report be accepted, carried. Resolved that it be taken up 
 by sections for adoption : viz. | 
 
 1. That it is the duty of this Convention to. inquire into the 
 transactions of the Conventional Board appointed by the last Con- 
 vention. | pe 
 _ 2. Whether the recommendation of last Convention have gone 
 into operation, and whether they have or have not had any happy 
 effect in producing an improvement in the condition of our people. 
 
 3. Whether there is any prospect that a Manual Labour School. 
 for the instruction of coloured youth will shortly be established, and 
 
 so where, and what progress has been made towards its com- 
 pletion. 
 
re) 
 
 4. Whether the resolution attached to the report of the com- 
 
 me on the Canadian subject last year, has been put in operation. 
 . The committee most respectfully recommend an expression 
 of Bihan in regard to colonization. 
 
 6. Thata committee be appointed to present some more efficient 
 plan of representation, by which each city, town or village, may be 
 represented according to the respective ratio of numbers. 
 
 7. That a committee be appointed to draw up an address to the 
 people of colour, on the subject of Temperance, depicting: its happy 
 influence on the morals of a community, and likewise declaring the 
 traffic and use of ardent spirits destructive to the morals of a com- 
 munity. 
 
 8. They also recommend that the President of the Conventional 
 Board, or in case.of his decease, or inability to perform the duties, 
 the Vice- President prepare an annual message depicting the situ- 
 
 ation of our people, and suggesting for the consideration of the 
 
 Convention, such matter as he shall deem worthy of their consider- 
 ation, and also that he shall preside at the opening’of the Conven- 
 ulon, until it 1s organized by the appointment of its officers. 
 
 9. That there be a committee of five, to prepare an address to 
 ee thy people of colour of the United States. Adopted. 
 
 (Signed) Wirtytiam WHIPPER, 
 8 a Joun Peck, 
 Henry SIPKINS, 
 Rosvert Cow Ley, 
 Wittiam Lewis. 
 
 Resolved, that a nominating committee, consisting of five 
 persons, be appointed to nominate committees to act on the 
 different subjects embraced in the report of.the committee on 
 the order of business, to be acted on during the sitting of this 
 conyention. The president appointed Mess. J. G. Stewart, 
 Henry Sipkins, S. H. Gloucester, J. W. C. Pennington and 
 John Peck, that committee. 
 
 - Moved by R. F. Wake and seconded by Wm. Hamilton, 
 that a committee consisting of one delegate from the different 
 states represented in this convention, be appointed to draft 
 
 resolutions expressive of the sentiments of the people of 
 Colour by them sob 8 in regard to the subject of 
 colonization. 
 Moved by S. H. Gloucester, seconded by Geo, Spywood, 
 that it shall be the order of the day on Friday next, that the 
 chairman, or one that he shall appoint, of cach delegation, to 
 give a short report respecting the condition of the people 
 that they represent. Adopted. 
 _ Adjourned to meet at 3 o’clock, P. M. “ 
 
i) 
 
 ( 
 
 Afternoon Session. 
 
 Held pursuant to adjournment in the First African Pres- 
 byterian Church. President in the chair. The roll having 
 been called and minutes of the morning session read :—The 
 following preamble and resolution, was submitted by F’. A. 
 Hinton, seconded by Robert Purvis. 
 
 Whereas, the Board of Managers of the New England Anti- 
 Slavery society, have sent Wm. Lloyd Garrison, Esq. as 
 their agent to England, for the purpose of procuring funds 
 to aid in the establishment of a Manual Labour School, for 
 
 the education of coloured youth; and of disseminating ing te 
 
 that country, the truth in relation to the ee of the 
 American Colonization Society. 
 
 And whereas we deem it proper that the sentiments of the 
 Free Coloured Population of this country, should be ex- 
 pressed in relation to the said mission. ‘Therefore be it 
 Resolved, that this Convention do most heartily approve of 
 the appointment of Mr, Garrison for the objects above men- 
 tioned, and having the utmost confidence in his worth and 
 integrity, as well as a sincere interest in the purposes of his 
 mission, we do cordially recommend him to the attention 
 and kindness of the philanthropic. inhabitants of Great Britain. 
 
 The foregoing preamble and resolution was supported by 
 Mess. F. A. Hinton and R. Purvis, in very excellent ad- 
 dresses, and was carried unanimously. 
 
 Moved by T. L. Jinnings, and seconded by Wm. Ham- 
 ‘ilton, that no person shall be eligible to a seat in the Con- 
 vention as a delegate, under the age of 21 years, and that he 
 shall be an actual resident of the state from which he shall be 
 returned, at least six months previous to the ce of the 
 Convention. 
 
 The committee appointed to nominate edrhintebaes to act 
 on the different subjects embraced in the report on the order 
 of business to be acted on during the present session, respect- 
 fully report the following: 
 
 To draft a preamble and resolutions expressive of the 
 views of the Convention in regard to colonization, James 
 G. Barbadoes of Massachusetts, William Hamilton of New- 
 York; Luke Lathrop, of Connecticut; George Spywood, of 
 Rhode Island; Thomas Banks, of New-Jersey; William 
 
10 
 
 Whipper, of Pennsylvania; ‘Samuel Elliott, of Maryland; 
 
 -and Joseph Burton of Delaware. | 
 * - To prepare an address to the Free People of Colour, Wm. 
 Whipper, John G. Stewart, Robert Cowley, Henry Sipkins 
 and Richard Johnson. 
 
 To prepare an address. on Temperance, James W. C.. Pen- 
 nington, Abraham Williams and William Rich. 
 
 On the transactions of the Conventional Board: William 
 Brown, James C. Matthews and James Bird. 
 
 To inquire whether the recommendation of last conven- 
 tion has been attended to, and what effect it has had among 
 our people, F. A. Hinton, Henry C, Thompson and Peter 
 Gardiner. 
 
 To inquire whether there is any prospect that a Manual 
 Labour School for the instruction of coloured youth, will 
 -short!y be established or not; Charles Mortimer, Wm. D. 
 Jenkins, Henry Ogden, George W. Thompson, Matthew 
 Draper, Mason Freeman and Abner Frances. 
 
 On the regulation of representation, Thomas L. Jinnings, 
 Abraham D. Shadd, Stephen H. Gloucester, David Ruggles 
 and John Peck. 
 
 On the duty of the President and Vice President of the 
 Conventional Board, Henry Sipkins, Robert Cowley, George 
 Richardson, Wittiam Brown and William Lewis. Which 
 was adopted. ‘ 
 
 Moved by Wm. Hamilton and seconded by Frederick A. 
 Hinton, that Wm. Hamilton have leave to bring in a motion 
 relative to the Phcenix Societies, to be the order of the day 
 on Friday next, in the afternoon. Adopted. Adjourned to 
 meet to-morrow morning at 9 o’clock A. M. 
 
 Tursday Morning, June 6. 
 
 Convention met pursuant to adjournment, in the first Af- 
 rican Presbyterian Church. President inthe chair. Prayer 
 by the Rev. Mr. Levington of Baltimore, Md. 
 
 The roll having been called, and the Minutes of the last 
 session read, the Rev. Mr. Levington having expressed a 
 desire to address the convention, it was moved by T. L. 
 Jinnings, seconded by William Hamilton, that he be per- — 
 mitted. Carried. The Rev. gentleman then addressed the © 
 Convention at considerable length, recommending a monthly 
 
 Lannrortootienraveramanc omrnoonte thranchoant.the-btiwS a 
 
si iinet 2 ‘a 
 
 il 
 
 A motion for reconsideration of the subjects debated on 
 
 Monday, and on some documents submitted to the committee 
 
 of examination, engaged the session until the hour of adjourn- 
 ment. Adjourned to meet at 3 o’clock precisely. 
 _ Afternoon Session. 
 
 President in the chair. The roll was called, and the mi- 
 nutes of the morning session read. 
 
 A letter from Mr. John B. Vashon of Pittsburg was read, 
 expressing his approbation of the objects of the Convention, 
 and enclosing the sum of five dol aS) for the furtherance of 
 the objects thereof. 
 
 On motion of R. F. Wake, seconde” 78 J. G. Stewart, it 
 was resolved, that this Convention accept the donation sent 
 by Mr. Vashon, of Pittsburg, for which, and the expression 
 ef sentiment contained in his letter, we return him our 
 thanks. | . é 
 
 Mr. Bacon of Boston was introduced, who very feelingly 
 addressed the Convention, expressive of the deep interest 
 that he personally, and the New England Anti-Slavery So- 
 ciety, of which he is an Agent, felt in our behalf, 
 
 Moved by F. A. Hinton, and seconded by John Peck, that _ 
 a special Committee of three be appointed to return our thanks 
 to Mr. Bacon, Agent of the New England Anti- Slavery So- 
 ciety, for the expression of the sentiments of the said Society 
 in regard to this Convention. Carried. William Whipper, 
 R. F. Wake, and J. G. Stewart, were appointed. 
 
 The Committee on the duties of President and Vice-Pre- 
 sident -of the Conventional Board, presented their report, 
 together with rules and regulations to be observed by the 
 Conventional Board of Officers, which was accepted. 
 
 On motion, resolved that the report be taken up by sections 
 for adoption. When the following rules were adopted— 
 
RULES AND REGULATIONS 
 
 TO BE OBSERVED BY 
 
 THE CONVENTIONAL BOARD OF OFFICERS. 
 
 1. The funds shall be- under the immediate control of the offi- 
 cers of the Convention during their continuance in office, subject to 
 _ the following restrictions, viz :—They shall pay all moneys appro- 
 - priated’ by the Convention, and for that purpose they are hereby 
 invested with authority to draw on the Treasurer for the same, 
 
 and to fill any vacancy that may happen in the board by a vote 
 
 of the majority at any of their meeting's. 
 
 2. They shall pay all the ordinary ¢ expenses of the Convention 
 that may be nécessary and proper, and shaJl with proper vouchers 
 account to the Annual Convention for the same at each session. 
 
 3, The President shall preside at each meeting of the board of 
 officers which shall form a council for the transaction of the busi- 
 ness of the Convention during its recess. ~ 
 
 4. During the absence or inability of the President to preside, 
 the Vice-President shall be competent to the discharge of all the 
 duties of President in the council. 
 
 5. The Recording Secretary shall keep accurate minutes of the 
 meetings of the officers at any time or times, which minutes, with 
 all other useful matter that shall come under his observation, shall 
 be laid before the Annual Conventions from time to time. 
 
 _6. 'The corresponding Secretary shall notify the Vice- Presidents 
 and Secretaries of their appointments, together with the general 
 views of the Convention in relation to the Canadian Settlement. 
 He shall, also, hold the most extensive and faithful correspondence 
 with the Committees and Agents appointed to advance the inte- 
 rests of our people, holding his correspondence subject to the in- 
 spection of the President and Vice-President only. 
 
 7. The Treasurer shall receive all moneys that may be sent by 
 the different societies (which now are or hereafter may be subject 
 to the order of the Convention,) for which the President shall take 
 his receipt. He shall pay all moneys that the council may draw 
 on him for, the order being signed by the President and Secretary. 
 
 8. No moneys shall be drawn from the funds, but by the consent 
 of a majority of the council. 
 
 9, It shall be the duty of the President of the Chnecitionat 
 Board, (or in case of his death, resignation, or inability to act, the 
 Vice-President,) to prepare and send an annual message to the 
 
 Convention, at the opening of each session, depicting the situation“ 
 
 of our people, and suggesting for the consideration of the Conven- 
 tion such matter as he shall deem worthy of their consideration. 
 
 10. The President of the Conventional Board shall preside at 
 
 the opening of each Annual Convention, until the same is organ- 
 
 ized by the appointment of its own officers, and in his absence — 
 
 the Vice-President shall preside. 
 (Signed) Witiram Brewer, 
 Witiiam Lewis, 
 Henry SIPKINS, 
 Rosert Cow .ey, 
 
 Adjourned. GrorGE R. RicHARDSON. 
 
 A= 
 
 <i 
 
13 
 Friday Morning, June 7 
 
 President in the Chair. 
 
 Prayer by Rev. Jeremiah Miller. The roll was called, 
 and the minutes of the preceding session read. 
 
 The order of the day was called up, namely, the home 
 of the foreman of the several delegations, some of which were 
 _ presented and accepted. Mr. Arnold Buffom, addressed the 
 Convention, in relation to the High School for coloured fe- 
 males, established in Canterbury, Connecticutt, by Miss Pru- 
 dence Crandall, and read an extract from a letter from Mr. 
 Arthur Piiuen of New-York, containing important facts 
 relative to said School, and recommending to the people of 
 colour, the encouragement and support of the same. __ 
 
 Moved by S. H. Gloucester, and seconded by R. Cowley, 
 that a Committee of five persons be appointed to inquire into, 
 and report whether any and how far encouragement ought to 
 be given to the settlement in Upper Canada ; carried. The 
 following persons were appointed, Messrs. Cowley, Butler, 
 Banks, Draper, and Stewart. 
 
 Moved by Henry Sipkins, seconded by James W. C. Pen- 
 nington, that William Hamilton, John Peck, and Peter Gar- 
 diner, be a Committee, to whom the reports on the state of 
 Society be submitted for condensation. Adjourned. 
 
 Friday Afternoon. | 
 
 President in the Chair. The roll was called, and me mi- 
 nutes of the morning session being read, the Convention 
 proceeded to business, 2 
 
 Moved by Henry Ogden, seconded by William Whippert 
 that the next Annual Conyention of the free people of colour, 
 be held in the City of New-York, 
 
 Mr. Wm. Whipper made the following amendment, pro- 
 vided that it sit in New-York and Philadelphia, alternately, 
 after considerable debate, in which a majority of the dele- 
 gates took part, it was carried in the affirmative. Yeas 32, 
 Nays 12. 
 
 Mr. Hinton, introduced Mr. William Wharton, of Phila- 
 delphia, a distinguished philanthropist, and friend of the peo- 
 ple of colour, who, after some preliminary remarks, read a 
 highly interesting letter from Mr. Charles Marriott, of Hud- 
 son, N.Y. 
 
 . 
 
14 
 
 - Moved by John G. Stewart, and seconded by Frederick 
 A. Hinton, that the thanks of this Convention be returned to 
 Messrs. Wharton and Marriott, for the expression of good will 
 nanifested in the.address, and in the communication. Ad- 
 journed to meet at 9°o’clock to-morrow morning. 
 * Saturday Morning, June 8. 
 President in the Chair. _ 
 _ Prayer by the Rev. Mr. Levington, of Maryland. The 
 roll being called, and the minutes of the preceding session read. 
 several reports of the Foreman of the different delegations 
 were read and accepted. The Committee appointed to in- 
 quire whether there is any prospect, that a Manual Labour 
 School, for the instruction of coloured youth will shortly be 
 established, presented their report, which was read and 
 accepted. 
 oe : REPORT. 
 
 The Committee on the above subject, respectfully bee leave to 
 
 eport, that from the best information, they have been able to obtain, 
 the following is the present state of progress, viz: The New Ene 
 land Anti Slavery Society, have proposed the establishment of a 
 Manual Labour School, which will be-commenced as soon as ten 
 thousand dollars shall have been subscribed, nearly one thousand 
 has been already raised, and there is reason to believe that it will 
 shortly be carried into operation. ‘'here are also great efforts 
 making for the establishment of a Manual Labour School in New 
 York, ‘which will be commenced as soon as an adequate amount 
 is subscribed, and your Committee have been informed that the 
 contributions for this purpose have been liberal, and in the State 
 of Pennsylvania, ten thousand dollars has been Jeft for the es- 
 
 tablishinent of a Manual Labour School, near the City of Philadel. 
 phia, subject to the control of the Society of Friends. 
 
 (Srgned) - Cuaryes Mortimer, 
 $ Henry Oepven, 
 
 Georce W. THOMPSON, 
 
 MatrHew Draper, 
 
 Mason Freeman, 
 
 ABNER H. Francis, 
 
 Wituam D. Jenxins. 
 Moved by William Hamilton, seconded by Thomas L. 
 Jinnings, that this Convention earnestly recommends the 
 formation of Phoenix Societies in every State, after the form, 
 and on the principles of the Pheenix Societies of the City of 
 Ee ew-York, and that the constitution of said Societies be at- 
 tached to the printed minutes of this Convention. Carried 
 ‘ 
 
 unanimously. The Committee appointed to inquire into, 
 
 By Pras Pa. Se OF re ee cA ee de Bae 
 
1S 
 
 and report whether any, and how far encouragement ought tc 
 be given to the settlement of coloured people in Upper Ca- 
 nada, presented their report, which was read and accepted, 
 to which was appended the following resolution— ; 
 
 Resolved, that Mr. Austin Stewart be requested to contt- 
 nue his agency at the Wilberforce Settlement in Upper Ca 
 nada,* to whom funds may be remitted, by societies or indi 
 viduals, for the relief of such persons as may leave the 
 United States, and take up their residence within their bor: 
 ders. A 3 ae: 
 On motion of Mr. Whipper, seconded by Mr. Peck, the 
 Convention resolved itself into a Committee of the whole 
 Mr. Richard Johnson in the chair, for the discussion of the 
 resolution. Very animated debates on the subject, continuee 
 until near the hour of adjournment, when the Committe 
 rose, reported progress, and asked leave to sit again, whicl 
 was granted for Monday afternoon. =~ ‘ - 
 
 Adjourned till Monday morning, at 9 o’clock, A.M. | ee 
 
 * 
 Monday Morning, June 10. | 
 The Convention met, pursuant to adjournment, in the firs 
 African Presbyterian Church, at 9 o’clock, A. M. 
 President in the Chair. | > 
 Prayer by the Rev. Mr. Eliott. The roll having beet 
 ealled, and the minutes of the preceding session read, the 
 report of the Vice-President. of the State of New-York, an 
 several reports of the different delegations were read ant 
 accepted. ‘I'he commitiee on Temperance presented thei: 
 report, which was accepted and adopted. __ F 
 
 REPORT. 
 
 The committee on the subject of Temperance, beg leave to re 
 port, that in common with the friends of moral reform throughou 
 our country, we are called upon for devout aspirations of praise ¢ 
 God, for that success he has granted to the cause of Temperance 
 during the past year. gh 
 
 In every section of our country, and among every class of per 
 sons, the principlés of the American Temperance Society hay 
 progressed at a ratio, wholly beyond all anticipation. : 
 
 Intemperance, the great evil which a few years since was seater 
 in the vitals of our nation, threatening a speedy death to ever 
 interest, whether social, civil, or religious, and baffling every effor 
 made for its removal, now has, as must be acceded by every in 
 telligent observer, an adequate remedy. That remedy is the sim 
 ple principle of voluntary associations, on the plan of INTIRE aB 
 
ie 
 7 | | : : 
 a m A 16 
 
 STINENCE, which is evidently the only safety of the temperate, 
 and the only hope of the intemperate. 
 
 In connexion with the earnest and ‘faithful arguments drawn 
 from an array of facts, alike incontestable and appalling, exposing 
 the evils of the traffic, and of the use of Distilled Liquors, the 
 means which have urged forward the reformation in opposition to 
 the ignorance, the prejudice, and the cold selfishness of enemies, 
 and the inactivity and timidity of friends; the providence of God 
 has concurred, in a remarkable manner, so as to place the cause of 
 temperance beyond the possibility of failure. Facts in connexion 
 ae the Cholera, the awful judgment, which has “hung sack- 
 cloth around the globe,” and within the past year, converted our 
 land into one vast house of mourning, have forcibly impressed upon 
 this, and upon other nations, the conviction, that Intoxicating Li- 
 quors have an injurious tendency upon the human system, at once 
 establishing the opinion, in which men, the most eminent of the 
 bredlicel profession in both Europe and America, harmonize, “that 
 there is an affinity, between human disease and strong drink,’ 
 ‘that it is invariably injurious to persons in health, and therefore 
 the use should be discontinued.” 
 
 _ The one million, five hundred thousand individuals, in -the 
 United States, and the one hundred thousand in England, arrayed 
 under the banners of Temperance, respond the same sentiment. 
 
 The one thousand five hundred, who have conscientiously discon- 
 
 tinued the manufacturing of, and the five thousand who have-ceased 
 
 to sell ‘he waters of death, unitedly rejoice in the principle of ToTaL 
 ABSTINENCE. 
 
 The six hundred American Vessels, now navigating the ocean, 
 
 without the use of the poison, are proclaiming to the nations in 
 
 “trumpet tones,’ that the monster is soon to be driven from the 
 face of the globe. 
 
 - The committee are happy to state, that the recommendation on 
 
 this subject, given by the Convention, last year, has exerted a 
 happy influence, in awakening attention to this subject, although 
 
 owing to the sparceness of the colored population, we have no 
 means of accurate knowledge of the number, who have: pledged 
 
 themselves to this cause, yet as they are more or less under the 
 influence of Temperance Societies, and from facts before us, we are 
 
 safe in stating that large numbers have signed the pledge, and are 
 
 members of societies connected with the different Churches and 
 
 Sabbath Schools, and of other societies in almost every section of 
 e country. é 
 
 Distinct societies have been organized in most of the cities and 
 
 large villages in the states represented in the Convention, though 
 
 jt is not in our power to lay before you all, which in this way has 
 
 oh effected, yet we are gratified in stating, that societies have 
 been formed at Washington, D. C., Philadelphia and Carlisle, 
 
 Penn., New Haven, Hartford and Middletown, Conn., Boston, 
 
 Mass., Princeton, N. J., and in the State of New-York, at Albany, 
 
 Schenectady, Utica, Syracuse, Catskill, Poughkeepsie, Newburg, 
 
 Newtown, Troy, Brooklyn, and in the City of New-York there 
 
 are five distinct organizations, ‘These societies forthe most part 
 
 are doing well. 
 
 " 
 
17 | ” 
 
 While in view of what has been accomplished, we have causé 
 of gratitude, and of encouragement, yet much, very much, remains . 
 
 = 
 
 to be done. The Rum system, like that of slavery, is upheld by — 
 ignorance, avarice, and incorrect views of duty. Alike they are 
 exerting a withering influence— both, blessed be God, are receding 
 before omnipotent truth; but the triumph is to be achieved over 
 deep rooted prejudices, and long cherished and stubborn habits, but — 
 the light of truth, in its energy and majesty, is adequate for its ae- iy 
 complishment. | | 
 
 While upon other portions of the community, a flood of light is — 
 pouring forth from the press and from the pulpit, there is among _ 
 us a criminal remissness in the diffusion of correct principles on this. : 
 subject—To free our brethren from the chains of American oppres+ 
 sion, and to clear away the mists of prejudice, which so unjustly 
 attempts to withhold from us our rights, as American citizens, 
 our hope and confidence is in the diffusion of correct moral princi- — 
 ple; this alone, is adequate to induce those whom we represent, to’ 
 feel the obligation of banishing, at once, and for ever, the use of 
 strong drink, and with it the fruitful source of the evils which 
 retard our best interests. 
 
 That the Convention may act with more efficiency, and assume — 
 an attitude to guide public opinion, your Committee have deemed. 
 it important to make a few suggestions. : 
 
 They recommend during the present session of the Convention, 
 the formation of a Conventional Temperance Society, to be styled 
 Tue Cotovrep AMERICAN CoNVENTIONAL TEMPERANCE SOCI- — 
 ETy ; that the officersand managers of which be appointed from dif+ 
 ferent sections of the country; and that it hold its Annual Meeting 
 during the time and at the place of the Meeting of the Convention. 
 
 The utility of such an organization is obvious; the design of 
 which should not be to descend to the drudgery and minute atten- 
 tion to detail the appropriate work of other societies engaged in 
 this good work, but to give an impulse to, and to exercise a super- 
 vision over the Temperance effort, throughout our portion of com. 
 munity. Every member will be a pledged and authorised Agent, 
 happily adapted to exert an influence in the formation of Societies, 
 and in securing the co-operation of the friends of moral reform, and — 
 of the friends of the people of colour. oa 
 
 Such a Society, from its relative position to our population, i 
 form a medium of. statistical information, which cannot be as well — 
 procured in any other way. It will promote unity of feeling and — 
 action, which in this work are of intrinsic importance. What- — 
 ever doubt may be entertained of man’s capacity single handed, to 
 do much good, it cannot be doubted when he allies himself to — 
 others. “ Union is full of strength and encouragement.” ie 
 
 Your Committee further suggest, the importance of an endea- _ 
 vour to call up the attention of our population generally to this 
 momentous subject, more particularly, that of influential indivi- 
 duals; for at every successive step taken in the investigation of 
 this subject, with its bearing upon our political and moral inte- 
 rests, we have been shocked, and humbled, at the criminal apathy — 
 which pervades the minds of many of our intelligent and useful 
 men, and many of our pious men too, on this obviously important 
 
is 
 
 subject. We venture to assert, that no portion of our fellow citi- 
 zens has as deep an interest in the promotion of the cause of Tem- 
 _ perance, as that to which we belong, and no body of men either im 
 _ their individual or collective capacity, are pressed with weightier 
 responsibilities, than that to whom we now address ourselves—what 
 we are to be asa people is peculiarly suspended upon our moral and 
 intellectual qualities. - ae | 
 For-in addition to all those weighty considerations tending se 
 remarkably to correct the public opinion of other portions of com- 
 munity, and are working such moral wonders, there are other con- 
 siderations which ovght deeply to interest the “ Free people of 
 Colour of the United States,’ and to rivet the conviction upon every 
 mind, that they of all others ought by every possible means to 
 urge forward this glorious reformation; not that intemperance 
 abounds more among us, than among others, for in the face of the 
 declaration to the contrary, made by the disparagers of an injured 
 people, your committee are prepared to prove, that it does not 
 exist among us even to as great an. extent as among others; but 
 notwithstanding, it, more than any thing under our control, tends 
 to perpetuate that relentless prejudice, which arrays itself against 
 eur dearest interests; frowns us away from the avenues of useful 
 knowledge and of wealth; and which with a cruel hand wrenches 
 from us our political rights. ° 
 
 _ In all our deliberations, we recognize the idea, that intelligenee, 
 industry, economy, and moral worth, in connexion with the puri- 
 fying power of heaven-born truth, are sufficient alone, to prostrate, 
 this cron hearted monster. 
 
 Now the destroyer, Intemperance, directly counteracts the influ- 
 ence of these redeeming qualities, and what is worse, nurtures in 
 their stead every thing loathsome. 
 
 Those children in tatters, who are cruelly permitted to waste 
 those precious hours, which should be employed in the acquisition 
 of knowledge, who are shivering with cold, or crying for a morsel 
 of bread, are the children of tatemperate parents. These impove- 
 ished families, these premature graves, are the production of 
 strong drink. 
 
 What is the foundation of those vile and unreasonable slanders, 
 -which are trumpeted throughout this land of freemen? “ That the 
 situation of the slave at the souta, is far preferable to that of the 
 coloured freeman of the north.” It is founded in the opinion of the 
 apologer of slavery, formed, when beholding degraded men, clus- 
 ‘tering around those fatal corners, where “ /iquzd fire is dispensed, 
 or while beholding here and there, the staggering steps of mise- 
 rable men and women, who with fetid breath, deride the idea of 
 ‘TOTAL ABSTINENCE.” Here too, we have the source of four fifths 
 of the pauperism known among us, and that of the most of those 
 petty crimes which, contribute much to keep in countenance those 
 weak men who are for ever prating about extraneous mass, and 
 
 African inferiority, | : ) 
 _. We take the liberty farther to recommend as powerfully tend- 
 ing to advance the Temperance reformation, the formation of So- 
 cleties, in religious congregations; in each ward of large cities, and 
 
 in each large village in the UNITED STATES, where circum: _ 
 
19 
 
 stances will admit. We also recommend the organization of 
 Female Societies. | 
 
 Finally we recommend, as worthy of notice, the following reso- 
 lution passed in the “ United States’ Temperance Convention,” 
 recently held in this City. 
 
 Resolved, that Temperance Societies, and the friends of tempe- 
 
 rance throughout the country, be requested to hold simultaneous 
 
 Meetings, on the last Tuesday in February, 1834, to review what 
 
 has been done during the past year, and to consider what remains 
 to be done, and to take such measures as may be suitable, by the 
 universal diffusion of information, and by kind moral influence, te 
 extend and perpetuate the principles and the blessings of our land. 
 In conclusion, the Committee beg leave to state, that they have 
 given that attention, to the duty assigned them, as time and cir- 
 cumstances would allow, that while they regret that their Report 
 does not present this all engrossing subject as fully as they could 
 wish, still they hope it may in a measure answer the desired 
 object. | | 
 in dismissing our subject, we would respectfully impress upon 
 each Member of the Convention, that of all the subjects that come 
 within the range of our deliberations, few, if any, are of greater im- 
 portance than that of Temperance; it has a claim upon our vig- 
 orous support, upon our best feelings and efforts—JIf this advances, 
 if this triumphs, every interest we aim to promote, every blessing 
 we seek as men, or as citizens of this our beloved republic, must 
 
 advance, must triumph. Mora woRTH IS POWERFUL, AND WILL 
 
 PREVAIL. Ali of which is respectfully submitted. 
 
 James W. C. PENNINGTON, | 
 
 ABRAHAM WILLIAMS, 
 Witiiam Ricu. 
 
 Moved by T. L. Jinnings, seconded by Samuel C. Hutch- 
 ins, that there be a Committee of three persons to draft a 
 constitution, in order to carry the resolution of forming a 
 Temperance Society into effect. Whereupon, William Whip- 
 per, F. A. Hinton, and T. L. Jinnings, were appointed. 
 
 Monday Afternoon. 
 President in the Chair. 
 The roll having being called, and the minutes of the morn- 
 
 ing session read, the Convention resolved itself into a Com- 
 
 mittee of the whole, to take up the order of the day. 
 Charles Mortimer in the Chair. 
 After a very interesting discussion on the Canadian Report 
 
 and Resolution, the Committee arose, the Convention thea 
 
 resumed its session. 
 President in the Chair. : : 
 The Chairman of the Committee reported progress, and 
 asked leaye to sit again, whereon it was moved, that the 
 
 f 
 
as ee x 
 oe ‘ 
 ik: 
 
 20 
 
 Committee have leave to sit again on to-morrow, afternoon, 
 _at 3 o’clock. Adiourned. 
 
 ' Tuesday Morning, Rina 11. 
 President in the Chair. 
 
 . Prayer by the Rev. Mr. Levington, of Maryland. Roll 
 was called, and minutes of the last sitting read. The Com- 
 mittee on representation presented their report, which was 
 
 read, taken up by sections, and adopted, viz :— 
 
 REPORT. 
 
 Resolved, that in each and every county in which a Society is, 
 or may be formed Auxiliary to the Convention, shall be entitled’ to 
 send. delegates, not exceeding five persons, and it is hereby under- 
 stood, that under no pretence whatever, will any other body or 
 society be admitted to send delegates as members to the Conven- 
 tion from such county, where a society shall or may exist, without 
 the sanction of the senior society, in their participating in selecting 
 or electing the above mentioned delegates. Carried. 
 
 Resolved that in any county where no society has been formed, 
 the people shall have the privilege of returning two delowates, 
 provided they contribute to the furtherance of the objects of the 
 Convention. Carried. 
 
 Resolved, that as_one of the primary objects of the Convention, 
 
 is to elicit information in regard to the situation of our people, it 
 is expedient therefore, that no person shall be received as a dele- 
 gate, who shall not be a resident of the State from which he shall 
 be returned, at least six months previous to his election. Carried. 
 
 “Resolved, that it is expedient to have a regular return of each 
 delegate signed by the President and Secretary, or Chairman, and 
 Secretary of every Society, or Public Meeting of any county, at 
 least: two weeks previous to the sitting of the Convention, for- 
 warded to the President of the Conventional Board, who shall 
 _ keep a rerular record, and present the same at the opening of the 
 
 Convention. 
 
 i 
 
 ae 
 
 Moved by David Ruggles, seconded by James G. Barba- 
 does, that each delegation pay toward the promotion of the 
 objects of the Convention, when they present their creden- 
 tials, a sum not less than five dollars. Carried. Several re- 
 ports of the different delegations were read, and accepted. 
 
 A very interesting and highly important communication 
 was received from the Rey. Simon S. Jocelyn, of New Ha- 
 yen, which was read and approved of, encouraging us to per- 
 severance in our efforts, for the common benefit, and affording 
 
 ms the consolatory information, than to some of the north, 
 west, and eastern Colleges, he is assured, that properly pre- 
 
‘ 
 Nae 
 
 21 
 
 pared coloured youth can be admitted, and also, that notwith- 
 standing the persecution and opposition to the establishment 
 of Miss Prudence Crandall’s School, (for the instruction of — 
 coloured females, in Canterbury, Conneceticut,) it was in a— 
 flourishing condition, and only required the encouragement ~ 
 and support of those for whom it was opened, to triumph 
 over the opposition. The grateful thanks of the Convention 
 were returned, for the very valuable information contained | 
 therein. Adjourned. | 
 Afternoon Session. 
 
 The Convention met agreeably to adjournment. 
 
 President in the Chair. Roll called and minutes read. 
 
 The Convention went.into committee of the whole, to take 
 up the order of the day, on the Canadian question. ‘ 
 - Henry Sipkins in the chair. The report and resolution 
 was read. (Bags, 
 
 On motion of Mr. Cowley, seconded by Mr. Jenkins, that 
 the Committee of the whole on the above question be dis- 
 solved, and beg leave to decline any further consideration of 
 the subject. : 
 
 The President then resumed the chair, and the chairman 
 of the committee reported accordingly.. The resolution was 
 then taken up in Convention and debated, when on motion ~ 
 of John G. Steward, seconded by William D. Jenkins, that 
 the report and resolution be adopted, was decided in the affir- 3 
 mative. Ayes 32, Nays 14. 
 
 Moved by H. eden seconded by T. L. Jinnings, that 
 the session of this Convention, be protracted from 9 o *clock, 
 A. M., to 3 o’clock, P. M., on Wednesday. Carried. Ad- 
 fap to meet to-morrow morning, at 9 o’clock. 
 
 Wednesday, June 12. 
 
 President in the Chair. 
 
 Prayer by Mr. Charles Mortimer. The roll was called, 
 and minutes of the preceding meeting read. A reconsidera- 
 tion of the vote on the Canada Report and Resolution being 
 called for. 
 
 On motion of Henry Sipkins, seconded by Henry Ogden, 
 it was resolved, that the Canadian Report be returned to the _ 
 Committee, with whom it originated, together with the Ree 
 
29 aa ee aie 
 
 - solutions offered yesterday afternoon, as amendments, to make 
 such use of them in connexion with the report, as they may 
 deem proper. 
 
 Mr. T. L. Jinnings, presented some resolutions, to be 
 made the order of the day, which was referred to a Com- 
 mittee of three, to report in one hour. The President ap- 
 pointed Mr. H. Sipkins, R. Cowley, and L. Lathrop. The 
 committee to whom the Canadian Report was returned, toge- 
 ther with the resolutions offered by F. A. Hinton, seconded 
 by W. Whipper, presented the report with the said resolu- 
 tions attached as a substitute for the one adopted yesterday. 
 
 On motion of R. F. Wake, seconded by D. Ruggles, that 
 the report and resolutions be adopted, they received a unani- 
 mous vote. The following is the report and resolutions— 
 
 REPORT. 
 
 Resolved, that a Committee of five persons be appointed to in- 
 quire into, and report thereon, whether any, and how far encourage- 
 ment ought to be given to the settlement of coloured people in 
 Upper Canada. 
 
 The Committee appointed to take into consideration the fore- 
 going resolution, having had the same under mature deliberation, 
 
 _ beg leave to submit the following brief report— 
 
 it appears to your Committee, that the call for a Convention of 
 
 free people of colour, was at first made for the purpose of giving 
 
 # aid and encouragement toa settlement of coloured people 1 in the 
 province of Upper Canada, in consequence of the revival of certain 
 oppressive acts of the Legislature of the State of Ohio. It appears 
 to your Committee, that the unjust operation of those laws, induced 
 many persons of colour to leave, their hitherto peaceful and quiet 
 homes, for one of a transitory and doubtful character. In this situ- 
 
 ~ation of affairs, the feelings and sympathies of the free people of 
 colour, were aroused in every part of this widely extended repub- 
 lic, meetings held and means collected to assist those who had 
 precipitately fled the land of their nativity, and left all the endear- 
 ing associations that make life desirable. The philanthropists of 
 our country, with that liberality of feeling, which has ever cha- 
 racterised the good and great of every clime, came forward with 
 distinguished ardour, and liberally contributed means to alleviate 
 the precarious situation of those who had pubig rated: Hence arose 
 the present Convention. 
 
 The peculiar situation of a large portion of the free people of 
 colour of this country, has not escaped the observation of your 
 Committee, and the most rigid scrutiny has led to the conclusion, 
 that there is not now, and probably never will be actual necessity 
 for a large emigration of the present race of free coloured people, 
 
 they therefore refrain from recommending any emigration what- — 
 ever, but would respectfully say to such as may be desirous to go, 
 
= 
 a 
 
 23 
 that the fertile soil of Upper Canada holds out inducements far | 
 more advantageous, than the desolate regions of Africa, where the — 
 scorching rays of a meridian sun, blasts by its withering influence 
 the enlivening erowth of suceessful vegetation. 
 
 Your Committee are not unmindful of the oppressive jaws re- 
 cently enacted in several of the States, which dooms the free people 
 of colour to inconveniences far more gricvous than could have 
 been anticipated, by the enlightened and sincere friends to the 
 happiness of mankind; yet such is the uncertainty of all sublunary 
 concerns, that laws, (which should have slept for ever in the si- 
 lence of night,) have been enacted in this enlightened day, ina 
 country possessing many beautiful Institutions, “that would have 
 been a disgrace to the most barbarous nations of antiquity. Hence, 
 the sviahste necessity for opening a door for the voluntary emigra- 
 tion of our people, to a region of country possessing all the advan- 
 tages of a healthy and salubrious climate, fertile soil, and equitable 
 laws. Your Committee therefore, recommend the adoption of the 
 following resolutions— 
 
 Resolved, that this Convention most respectfully recommend to 
 their constituents, to devote their thoughts and energies to the im- 
 provement of their condition, and to the elevation of their character, 
 in this their native land, rejecting all plans of colonization any 
 where. 
 
 Resolved, that should any State by Legislative enactments, 
 drive our brethren from its jurisdiction, we will give them all the 
 aid in our power to enable them to remove and settle in Upper 
 Canada, or elsewhere, that they may not be compelled to sacrifice 
 their lives in the insalubrious climate of Liberia, provided for them — 
 by the American Colonization Society. ae 
 
 Resolved, that for the above purpose, the Societies auxiliary to 2 
 this Convention, are requested to supply our Treasury with funds. 
 
 Rosert Cow ey, 
 THOMAS Burter, 
 MatTTHEeW DRAPER, 
 Tuomas Banks, 
 JoHn G, STEWART. 
 
 The Committee appointed to condense the reports of the 
 several delegations, presented their report, which was read 
 and accepted, as follows— 
 
 The Committee. appointed to condense the reports of the heads 
 of Delegations, have had under consideration the subject submitted 
 to them, and after a careful examination of twenty-two reports, are 
 gratified in being enabled to state to the Convention, that an im- 
 provement in the general character of their constituents, is beginning 
 to appear in a greater or less degree, every where among them.. 
 In some places, several Churches are established, with large con- 
 gregations ; several School Houses, well attended by scholars ; 
 many Temperance and Benefit Societies, and there is scarcely any 
 places represented, where there is any considerable number of 
 coloured people, notwithstanding the prevalence of colonization. 
 
 | prmciples i In some of them, where some portion of the children are: 
 
24 
 
 not, where they have no school of their own, admitted among the ~ 
 
 ~ white, or have the benefit of Sabbath School instruction, and your — 
 Committee respectfully submit it as a matter of belief, gathered 
 from remarks contained in the reports, that an increasing desire 
 of improvement is extending itself among us. 
 
 (Signed) Witiram HamitrTon, 
 Joun Peck, 
 PETER GARDINER. 
 
 The Committee appointed to take into consideration, the 
 resolutions presented by T. L. Jinnings, presented their re- 
 port, which was read and accepted. 
 
 Resolved, that the report be adopted. Carried, viz:—~ 
 
 Resolved, that the Vice-President and Secretaries, appointed in 
 the different States, be requested to use théir exertions to form Phe- 
 nix Societies, similar to those in the City of New-York. 
 
 Resolved, that the next Convention be held on the second Mon- 
 day in August, 1834. Reconsidered and lost. 
 
 Resolved, that a Committee of five persons be appointed to nomi- 
 nate the officers of the Conventional Board. 
 
 Resolved, that a Vice-President. and Corresponding Secretary 
 be appointed in the different States. 
 
 ; (Signed) Henry Si1pxins, 
 Luxe Larurop, 
 : Rogert Cow ey. 
 
 The President appointed Messrs. Barnet, Hamilton, Sip- 
 kins, Wake, and Jinnings, a Committee to nominate officers 
 for the Conventional Board. | 
 
 Resolved, that the Convention proceed to the appointment of 
 Vice-Presidents and Corresponding Secretaries in the different 
 States. The following gentlemen were appointed :— 
 
 2 NEW YORK. 
 - Thomas L. Jinnings, Vice-Pres., city—Henry Sipkins, Cor. Scc., city. 
 MASSACHUSETTS. 
 Rich. Johnson, Vice-Pres., New Pedford—J. G. Barbadoes, Cor. Sec., Boston. 
 * RHODE. ISLAND. 
 George C. Willis, Vice-President—Alfred Niger, Corresponding Secretary. 
 CONNECTICUT. ; 
 J. W. Creed, Vice-President—Luke Lathrop, Corresponding Secretary. 
 OHIO. 
 John Liverpool, Vice-President, with permission to appoint his own Seeretary. 
 NEW JERSEY. 
 Leonard Scott, Vice-Pres., Trenton—Henry Ogden, Cor. Sec., Newark. 
 
 _ 
 
 MARYLAND. 
 Rev. Samuel Eliott, Vice-Pres., Baltimore—R. Cowley, Cor. Sec., Baltimore. 
 . DELAWARE. y ae 
 ~ Israel Jeffries, Vice-Pres., Wilmington—Pet. Hubbard, Cor. Sec., Wilmington. ayaa 
 PENNSYLVANIA. -. 
 
 ’ : . rt se i! * 
 Joba P. Burr, Vice-Pres., Philade!phia—Rob. Purvis, Cor. See., Philadelphia. oh cae 
 
25 
 
 y MAINE. 
 . Mr. Manvel, Vice-President, Portland—Rhuben Rhuben, Cor. Sec., Portland. 
 DISTRICT OF COLUMDIA. 
 
 Arthur Waring, Vice-President—John Cook, Corresponding Secretary. 
 
 Moved by John Peck, and seconded by Richard Johnson, 
 that the Convention adjourn (stne die) to-morrow, Ti 
 afternoon. Carried. 
 
 Moved by John Peck, and seconded by Charles Mortimer, 
 that the Convention requests our friends and the people of 
 colour in general, to take such means and measures as may 
 in their wisdom seem most expedient to collect money, to be 
 forwarded to the President of the Conventional Board, in 
 order to form a general Conventional fund, to be applied as 
 the Convention shall deem most beneficial. Approved. — 
 
 On motion of William Hamilton, seconded by Henry Sip- 
 kins, it was resolved, that a committee of five be sppointed 
 to bring in a report of all unfinished business, and the same 
 to be acted on to-morrow morning. T. L. Jinnings, William 
 Rich, William Hamilton, W. D. Jenkins, and John Rich, 
 were appointed. 
 
 Moved by T. L. Jinnings, seconded by James Barnett, that — 
 the Convention prescribe the form in which the reports of - 
 the different delegations shall be made, respecting the.situ- 
 ation of their different sections of country, and that the same — 
 be attached to the printed minutes, arranged under the proper 
 heads to be reported on. Carried. 
 
 The following form was adopted, agreeably to the seaneet 
 of the Convention of free people of colour of the United 
 States. 
 
 ne 
 
 We, the delegates of the town of . in the county 
 of | and state of respectfully report, 
 that there is in the said town, city, or county, 
 
 cé Inhabitants of Colour, 
 ay Churches, 
 $s Day Schools, 
 si - Sabbath Schools, 
 = +... Seholars, 
 £6 Temperance Societies, 
 66 Benevolent Societies, 
 bee Si sé . Mechanics, 
 ae § _ Store Keepers, &c. 
 
26 
 
 The report of the Conventional Board, exhibiting the 
 amount of receipts and expenditures sung the year, was 
 read: and accepted. 
 
 Moved by T. L. Jinnings, seconded by R. F. Wake, that 
 the thanks of the Convention he returned to the Conven- 
 tional Board, for their services during the past year. Carried. 
 
 Adjourned-to meet to-morrow morning, at 9 o’clock. 
 
 Thursday Morning, June 13. 
 
 President in the Chair. 
 
 Prayer by Mr. Charles Mortimer. The roll having been 
 ealled, and the minutes of the preceding session read, the 
 Committee appointed to bring ina report of all unfinished 
 business, presented their report, which was read, and disposed 
 of in the course of the day. 
 
 Moved, that each delegation represented in this Conven- 
 tion, be a Committee, to form Temperance Societies in their 
 respective places which they represent. Ordered to lie on 
 the table. 
 
 Moved by John Peck, and seconded by Henry Ogden, that 
 it be recommended to our people, to hold a monthly concert 
 of prayer on the last Monday of every month, to supplicate 
 the Supreme Ruler of the universe, for his blessing upon the 
 efforts which are making, or may hereafter be made for the 
 improvement of the condition of the people of colour. 
 Adopted. Yeas 18, Nays 12. 
 
 The Committee on Colonization presented their report, 
 which was read and’adopted, viz :— 
 
 Report on African Colonization. 
 
 The committee consisting of one delegate from each State, for 
 the purpose of reporting the views and sentiments of the people of 
 colour in their respective States, relative to the principles and ope- 
 rations of the American Colonization Societ y, respectfully beg 
 leave to report :—'Phat all the people of the States they represent, 
 feel themselves: aggrieved by its very existence, and speak their 
 sentiments of disapprobation in language not to be misunderstood. 
 The only exception to the rule is, those who are receiving an edu- 
 cation, or preparing themselves for some profession, at the expense 
 of the society. 
 
 Your committee, therefore, respectfully declare, that they have 
 given the subject that serious consideration which its connexion 
 with the interest of our peeple, and a proper respect for the opinions 
 
27 
 
 of a large portion of the people of the United States, imperiously 
 demand. _ 
 
 After having divested ourselves of all unreasonable prejudice, — 
 and reviewed the whole ground of our opposition to the American 
 Colonization Society, with all the candour of which we are capa- 
 ble, we still declare to the world; that we are unable to arrive at 
 any other conclusion, than that the life-giving principles of the 
 association are totally repugnant to the spirit of true benevolence; 
 that the doctrines which the society inculcates, are hostile to those 
 of cur holy religion; nay, a direct violation of the golden rule of 
 our Lord, “All things whatsoever ye would that men should do 
 unto you, do ye even so to them.” —That the inevitable, if not the 
 designed tendency of these doctrines, is to strengthen the cruel pre- 
 judices of our opponents, to steel the heart of sympathy to the ap- 
 peals of suffering humanity, to retard our advancement in morals, — 
 literature and science, in short, to extinguish the last glimmer of — 
 hope, and throw an impenetrable gloom over our fairest and most — 
 reasonable prospects. 
 
 These are not the illusions of a distempered imagination, the 
 ebullitions of inflamed prejudice, or the effusions of fanaticism, as 
 some would unjustly insinuate—No: they are deliberate, irresistible — 
 conclusions, founded on facts derived from the official documents — 
 of the Colonization Society—the approved declarations and acts 
 of the agents of that association, which we need not here recapi- 
 tulate, as we presume you are perfectly familiar with them. 
 
 The recent discussions on that subject have elicited much light, 
 _ and an awakening influence is arising in favour of the true inte- 
 
 rests of our people. Many of its ablest advocates have deserted 
 the cause, and are now busily engaged in tearing down the Monvu- | 
 MENT they assisted in erecting. 
 
 The investigations that have been made into that society within 
 the past year, justifies us in believing that that great Bapex of 
 oppression and persecution must soon cease to exist. It has been 
 reared so high, that the light of heaven, the benevolence of true 
 philanthropy, and the voice of humanity, forbid its further ascent; 
 and, as in ancient times, the confusion of tongues has already 
 begun, which speedily promises its final consummation—and 
 although it has but recently been classed with the benevolent en- _ 
 terprises of this age, it must shortly be numbered with the ruins 
 of the past. ; 
 
 __ The recent appeal of the selectmen of Canterbury, (Conn.) to 
 that Society, but too clearly demonstrates to the eyes of an enlight- 
 ened public, that they have recognized it as an instrument, by 
 which they might more fully carry into operation their horrible 
 design of preventing innocent and unprotected females from re- 
 ceiving the benefits of a liberal education, without which, the best 
 sp pee prospects of any country or people, must be for ever 
 asted. 
 
 Your committee would recommend to this Convention to adopt 
 the following resolution :— : 
 _ Resolved, That this Convention discourage, by every means in 
 their power, the colonization of our people, anywhere beyond the 
 limits of this ConTINENT; and those who may be obliged to eX: 
 
 4 
 
28 
 
 change a cultivated region for a howling wilderness, we would 
 recommend, to retire back into the western wilds, and fell the natrve 
 forests of America, where the plough-share of prejudice has as yet 
 been unable to penetrate the soil—and where they can dwell in 
 _ peaceful retirement, under their own vine and under their own fig 
 tree. 
 (Signed) James G. Barpapoes, Mass. 
 
 Witiiam Hamitton, N. Y. 
 
 Witiiam WuippeEr, Penn. 
 
 SAMUEL ELLioTT, Md. 
 
 Georce Spywoop, R. Island, 
 
 Tuomas Banks, N. J. 
 
 JosEpH Burton, Del. 
 
 Luxe Laturop, Conn. 
 
 Moved by John G. Stewart, seconded by James Bird, that 
 three thousand copies of the Conventional Address, and the 
 Report on African Colonization, be printed in handbills for 
 distribution, by the members of the Convention. Carried 
 unanimously. 
 
 The committee appointed to nominate officers for the Con- 
 ventional Board, presented their report, which was read, 
 and on motion of James Bird, seconded by John G. Stewart, 
 adopted, viz :— 
 
 WILLIAM HAMILTON, Sen., President, 
 THOMAS DOWNING, Vice-President, 
 JAMES FIELDS, Recording Secretary, 
 i HENRY SIPKINS, Corresponding Secretary, 
 JOHN ROBERTSON, Treasurer. 
 
 COMMITTEE. 
 - JAMES FRAZER, ’ WILLIAM C. JEFFERS, 
 ~ BOSTON CRUMMEL, RANSOM F. WAKE, 
 | JOHN BERRIAN, PHILIP A. BELL, 
 
 JAMES BARNETT. 
 
 “ee Mr. Thomas Shipley, of Philadelphia, addressed the 
 Conyention on the subject of Temperance, and the general | 
 rules of conduct as connected with our improvement, in an 
 eloquent manner, and reccived the thanks of the Convention, 
 
 Eeertaed to meet at 3 o’clock, P. M. 
 
 Afternoon Session. 
 
 The Convention met pursuant to adjournment. 
 
 ‘President in the Chair. The roll was called, and minutes 
 of the morning session read, » lee Neagit 
 
29 
 
 A communication from our distinguished friend, Benjamin 
 Lundy, being received, on motion, it was resolved, that the 
 same be read, which by request, was done by Mr. Lewis. 
 
 On motion of William Hamilton, seconded by David Rug- 
 gles, resolved that Mr. Evan Lewis be requested to have the 
 communication of Benjamin Lundy to this Convention, 
 printed in the ‘* Genius of Universal Emancipation.” 
 
 On motion of S. H. Gloucester, seconded by Wm. Hamil- 
 ton, It was resolved, that the thanks of the Convention be 
 returned to Mr. Evan Lewis, for reading the communication, 
 and for his able address delivered before the Convention. 
 
 Moved by R. F. Wake, seconded by James Barnett, that 
 inasmuch as it is in contemplation, as soon as possible to es- 
 tablish Manual Labour Schools, in different sections of the 
 country, viz: in Pennsylvania, New-York, and New Eng- 
 land. We, the delegates of the free:people of colour, assem- 
 bled in Convention in the city of Philadelphia, do earnestly 
 recommend them to the notice of the dzbera/, the philanthro- 
 pic, and all who are friendly to the cause of the general im- 
 provement of our hitherto much neglected and oppressed 
 race, to contribute in aid of the object in view, to the general 
 agents that may be employed for that purpose. Carried. 
 
 Resolved, that the Convention require of the Conventional 
 Board, that as soon as the Minutes of this Convention shall — 
 have been printed, that they shall distribute to each delega- 
 tion 50 copies gratis, if required, and for all over they shall 
 exact the sum of one dollar and fifty cents per hundred, 
 Carried. . ae ua 
 
 On motion of William Whipper, seconded by pouet 
 Purvis, It was resolved that this Convention recommend to > 
 our people generally, to give all the support in their power 
 to such papers as advocate the cause of our people, that are 
 now in general circulation, such as ‘* The Genius of Univer- 
 sal i:mancipation,’”—‘‘ The Liberator,’”—‘‘ Emancipator,”? 
 ‘¢ Genius of Temperance,’’—“ Abolitionist,” &c. pe 
 
 Mr. David Ruggles, according to leave, presented a pre-_ 
 amble and resolution, relative to the High School recently 
 established by Miss Prudence Crandall, which was read. 
 
 Resolved, that the preamble and resolution be handed to 
 the committee of revision, for their decision. Carried. 
 
£f 
 
 30 
 
 The committee are of opinion that the preceding is ineluded 
 in the two communications before mentioned, but think that 
 the utmost in our power should be done to sustain it, and 
 therefore cheerfully recommend to our brethren, who may 
 have girl children whom they wish to be well educated, to 
 send them to her school. 
 
 Moved by J. G. Stewart, seconded by William Rich, that 
 the Convention recommend to the free people of colour in 
 the United States, the formation of free labour produce Soci- 
 eties, wherever it may be practicable, and that each delegate 
 use the utmost exertions in his private capacity, in recom- 
 mending to coloured capitalists, the eStablishment of stores 
 on the principles above named. Carried. 
 
 Moved by Robert Purvis, seconded by John Peck, that 
 this Convention highly approve of the indefatigable labours 
 of Miss Lydia White, in her establishment of a free labour 
 store, and that the patronage of all who feel an interest in 
 promoting the cause of universal freedom, is cheerfully re- 
 commended to her store, No. 42 North Fourth-Street, in 
 the city of Philadelphia: Carried unanimously. 
 
 The committee to prepare an address, presented the same, 
 which was read and adopted. (See next page.) 
 
 Moved by W. Whipper, seconded by R. Purvis, that all 
 the unfinished business of this Convention be referred to the 
 Conventional Board, whose duty it shall be to complete the 
 
 same. Carried. 
 Moved by F... A. Hinton, seconded by R. F. Wake, whereas 
 
 the American Colonization Society, have recently elected the 
 
 venerable general, La Fayette, and several of our distin-— 
 
 guished citizens, their Vice-Presidents, for the purpose as 
 appears to us of suppressing public sentiment, in opposition 
 
 to their motives, by seeming to give the sanction and coun- 
 
 tenance of great names to their sinister plans and projects, 
 and conceiving that such apparent approbation may not always 
 be intended on the part of the individuals whose names are 
 so used, or if intended, may be the result of imperfect or in- 
 correct information in relation to the subject ; Therefore, 
 
 Resolved, that our worthy and highly esteemed fellow-citi- 
 zens, Mr. James Foster, of Philadelphia, and the Rev. Peter 
 Williams, of the city of New-York, be requested to corress 
 
St 
 
 pond with such of the gentlemen above alluded to, as they 
 may deem proper, for the purpose of explaining to them, the 
 views and wishes of the people of colour, in reference to the 
 important subject of Colonization, and if possible to coun- 
 teract the mischievous aims of the American Colonization 
 Society, so adverse to the best interests and happiness of the 
 free people of colour in this country. Carried. 
 
 ‘On motion of S. H. Gloucester, seconded by J. G. Steward, 
 It was resolved, that the thanks of this Convention be, and 
 they are hereby given to Mr. Abraham D. Shadd, President 
 of the Convention, for his impartial and dignified deportment 
 
 in the discharge of his official duties, during the sitting of 
 
 this Convention, to which the President made an appropriate 
 reply. : 
 
 On motion of J. C. Mathews, seconded by R. Purvis, It 
 was resolved, that a vote of thanks be tendered to the Vice- 
 Presidents and Secretaries for their services. é | 
 
 Adjourned to meet in the city of New-York, on the Ist 4 
 
 Monday in June, 1834, at 10 o’clock, A. M. 
 
 7 ABRAHAM D. SHADD, Pres: 
 RANSOM F. WAKE, ee | | 
 HENRY OGDEN, pitasde A 
 
 Philadelphia, Fnne 13, 1833. 
 
 CONVENTIONAL ADDRESS, 
 
 To the Free Coloured inhabitants of the United States. 
 
 Brethren and Fellow Citizens, 
 
 Itis a matter of high congratulation that, through the provi- 
 dence of Almighty God, we have been enabled to convene, for the 
 fourth time, as the representatives of the free people of colour of eight 
 of the States of the Union, for the purpose of devising plans for our 
 mutual and common improvement, in this, the land of our nativity. 
 
 To that important object the entire attention of the Convention 
 has been directed; but to effect it, as might be expected, a very 
 considerable diversity of sentiment as to the best means, existed. 
 Various circumstances growing out of our local situations operate 
 to producea great difference of feeling, as well as of judgment, in 
 the course best calculated to insure our advancement in prosperity. 
 
 Our brethren at the south are subject to many very cruel and’ op- | 
 pregsive laws, to get clear of which they will consent to go into 
 
 “ee 
 i es 
 
4 
 
 32 
 
 exile, as promising to therm enjoyments from which they are cut 
 off in the land of their birth. Gratitude to the bountiful Bestower 
 of all good, compels us to rejoice in the acknowledgment that the 
 lot of many of us has fallen in a-happier and fairer. portion of the 
 land, to separate ourselves from which, or to promulgate a wish to 
 do so, without better prospects of improvement before us than has 
 yet come to our knowledge, would be suicidal to the vital interests 
 of the coloured people of the free states, and would justly draw 
 upon us the execration of the thinking part in the slave states. 
 
 Ours isa defensive warfare; on cur domicil we meet the aggres- 
 sor, and if we move, or give our conseut to move, and bid them to 
 follow before we are driven, forcibly driven, from our lodgeinents 
 —which, Heaven be praised, is not probable—their denunciations 
 would be just. 
 
 The Canadian Reports, as published in the minutes of this Gog: 
 vention, may be regarded as the unequivocally expressed senti- 
 
 nents of the coloured people of the free states, viz.: improvement, 
 
 but without emigration, except it be voluntary. 
 
 By an attentive perusal of the minutes and proceedings of the 
 Convention, it will be apparent how deeply we sympathize in the 
 distresses of our more unfortunate brethren, and the interest we 
 willingly take, to the extent of our power, to mitigate their suf- 
 
 - ferings. We feel confident that the course pursued, as presented 
 
 in this address, will receive the approbation of our constituents, 
 and of those of our fellow citizens who are solicitous that our 
 moral, religious, civil, and political condition should be improved 
 in the United S.ates. ‘To promote our welfare, a great and in- 
 creasing interest is manifesting itself in various parts of the Union ; 
 and we feel assured that we shall receive the hearty concurrence 
 and support of our brethren, in the measures herein recommended 
 for our general benefit. We supplicate the intercession of Jehovah, 
 to extend this interest to the most remote parts of our country. 
 
 We think that we cannot make a stronger or more effectual ap- 
 
 peal to your judgments to secure your active co-operation in the 
 plans suggested, than by exhibiting to you a brief outline of the 
 efforts making by our friends to elevate the character and condi- 
 tion of the man of colour. 
 
 With a view that we may the more clearly understand the du- 
 ties that now devolve upon us, it may be necessary to advert to 
 times gone by, when ina state of slavery, ignorance, and misery, 
 with scarcely sufficient intellect remaining to wish for freedom: 
 such is the deteriorating effect of the slave system, carried to the 
 extent that it has been and nowis in America; there arose a num- 
 ber of pkilanthropists, who espoused our cause, and by their con-, 
 tinued exertions have effected the entire liberation of the slaves in 
 some of the states; and the salutary influence of those principles 
 has been felt, in some degree, in every part of the U. States, and 
 once bid fair to make every citizen of our country proud of the 
 distinguished appellation of an American. But it is lamentable 
 that a deep and solemn gloom has settled on that once bright an- 
 ticipation, and that monster, prejudice, is stalking over the land, 
 spreading in its course its pestilential breath, blighting and wither- 
 
 au 
 
33 
 
 ing the fair and natural hopes of our happiness, resulting from thé 
 enjoyment of that invaluable behest of God to man—FREEDOM. 
 
 ‘It is not to be expected that we would enter into a disquisition, 
 with a view to satisfy the minds of those who fancy they are in: 
 terested in prolonging the miseries of their fellow men; on that 
 subject, it 1s presumed ‘the greatest stretch of human reason has 
 been employed to elucidate its repugnance to the precepts of the 
 Gospel; its infringement on the natural rights of man; its injury 
 to the interests of those who cleave to it on the score of supposed 
 interest, and its repugnance to the happiness, as well as to the in- 
 terests of society in general. From these considerations, the con 
 viction is forced upon us that they willingly and wilfully shut 
 their eyes against the clearest evidences of reason. In that state 
 of helplessness in which we were, schools were erected for our. 
 improvement, and from them great benefit has resulted. Schools 
 have been erected by philanthropists, and many of us have been 
 educated without so much as knowing when, or by whom, the 
 edifices had been reared. But the manifest improvement that we 
 have made, loudly demands we should employ the talents we pos-- 
 sess in assisting the philanthropists of the present time in their 
 endeavours for our further advancement. A host of benevolent 
 individuals are at present actively engaged in the praiseworthy 
 and noble undertaking of raising us from the degradation we are 
 now in, to the exalted situation of American freemen. ‘Their suc- 
 cess eminenily depends upon the succour and encouragement they 
 receive from our united efforts to carry into effect those plans re- 
 commended for the government of our conduct. With a strong: 
 desire for our improvement in morality, religion, and learning, 
 they have advised us strictly to practise the virtues of temperance’ 
 and economy, and by all means early to instruct our children in 
 the elements of education. The Convention being perfectly con- 
 vinced of the impossibility of our moral elevation without a strict _ 
 adherence to these precepts, has conceived it to be its duty ear- 
 nestly to call upon our brethren to give their aid and influence in 
 promoting an object so desirable. In conformity to the recom- 
 ~mendation of the former Convention, we are happy to have it in 
 our power to state, that several temperance societies have been: 
 formed in most, if not in all, the states represented. In the course 
 .of the proceedings, will be found an elaborate report on the sub- 
 ject of temperance, to the careful perusal of which we invite the 
 especial attention of our brethren. ‘I’hat societies for mental im- 
 provement, particularly among the females, have been establish- 
 ed in several places, and. a manifest improvernent: has marked 
 their progress. Some diligence has also been employed in extend- 
 ing the benefits of education to a considerable number of children, - 
 who had been before neglected, and mental feasts have been held, 
 of mixed companies of males and females, in some of the cities,. 
 on the recommendatton of our very worthy friend, the Rev. Simeon 
 S. Jocelyn, of New Haven. 
 
 From these promising beginnings we eagerly anticipate a speedy 
 
 and extensive spread of those principles’ so justly calculated to 
 dignify human nature; and earnestly hope a universal imitation 
 
 5 
 
34 
 
 of those salutary examples, without which the best endeavours of 
 our friends must prove abortive. 
 
 The resolution passed at the last Convention, that the auxiliary 
 societies obtain all the information possible relativeto the num- 
 ber and state of the schools in their respective sections; the 
 branches of education taught in each, with the number of 
 scholars,,and make returns of the same through their delegates, 
 to this Convention, has not been fulfilled to the extent desired ; 
 but a general report will be found attached to the proceedings. 
 
 A circumstance that we would particularly introduce to the 
 serious consideration of our brethren in general, is, the great efforts 
 that are making by our friends, for the establishment of manual 
 labour schools, for the improvement of our youth in the higher 
 branches of education, for the report on which subject we refer the 
 reader to the minutes. It is not, however, thought to be improper 
 here to state, that in the city of New-York efforts are making to 
 establish, in ‘that state, a school of this description. In the state 
 of Pennsylvania, a benevolent (deceased) individual has bequeath- 
 ed ten thousand dollars for, or towards, the erection of a similar 
 school. And the New England Anti-Slavery Society, (which has 
 laid a broader base for philanthropic exertion in the cause of the 
 man of colour, than any benevolent institution that has preceded 
 it,) has, in addition to its various other methods to raise the cha- 
 racter and condition of the free people of colour, promoted ad- 
 dresses and discussions, oral and written, defending us from the 
 unjust aspersions of our enemies; has opened a subscription, with 
 a determination to raise funds sufficient to establish manual labour 
 schools in New England for the instruction of coloured youth. 
 This most meritorious institution, in the vindication of the natural, 
 civil, and political rights of the coloured people, ought, and we 
 trust does, occupy a distinguished place in the feelings and affec- 
 tions of our people. The more perfectly and securely to carry into 
 effect that part of their plan relating to schools, they deemed it 
 necessary to send our very worthy and highly talented advocate 
 atid defender, William Lloyd Garrison, to England, to endeavour 
 to raise funds to aid in that enterprise, but not less to unfold the ma- 
 nifold misrepresentations respecting the people of colour, by Mr. 
 Elliot Cresson, an agent of the American Colonization Society, in 
 his addresses to the British people. 
 
 On the subject of the American Colonization Society, the ex- 
 pression of public sentiment has been frequently and clearly given, 
 and as am evidenee of our unvaried conviction of its hostility to 
 our interests, we refer to the address and report on that subject. 
 We cannot, however, brethren, pass over this important cause of 
 much of our debasement, without informing you that we have ar- 
 rived at that pomt in the examining of the duties submitted for our 
 consideration, that we must necessarily leave the confined borders 
 of our own view of natural, civil, and political rights, growing 
 out of immemorial prescriptive usage, that birth constitutes cltizen- 
 ship. ‘Theories, perfectly new and multiform, are offered for ad- 
 judication. -We shall decline a decision until we have examined 
 their several merits. We shall first call your attention to the most 
 
35 
 
 important of these theories, that of the American Colonization 
 
 Society, not only because it pursues, by its dependent agents, the 
 
 most irrational course to effect the object they profess to have in 
 
 view, as unfolded by them to the people of the North, but that the 
 
 supporters of the system at the South are among the most talented - 
 and respectable of their citizens; how these men should advocatea 
 
 cause so incommensurate to produce the avowed desired effects, 
 
 seems involved in impenetrable mystery. - But it is worse than idle, 
 
 when the address is made tothe common sense of common men, to 
 
 ask whether a child or person born in the United States of America 
 
 can be considered a native of England. The philanthropists of 
 
 this association have endeavoured to establish, as a primary belief, 
 
 that the coloured.child, that is, the child not white, no matter how 
 
 many generations he may be able to trace in a lineal ascent, is an_ 
 African, and ought to be sent to the land of his forefathers—A frica. 
 
 When they have worked up the fancy of their hearers to that pitch 
 
 that they really believe us to be Africans, it becomes an easy mat- 
 
 ter to excite thtir sympathy so that they readily loose their purse- 
 
 strings, and voluntarily contribute to the beneficent scheme of the 
 
 Society to restore us to the land of our nativity. The show of 
 seeming seriousness in combatting so ludicrous a position, if It was 
 
 not upheld by a very respectable portion of the intelligence of the 
 
 country, might create a doubt of the intent. 
 
 But this society has most grossly vilified our character as a peo- 
 ple; it has taken much pains to make us abhorrent to the public, 
 and then pleads the necessity of sending us into banishment. A 
 greater outrage could not be committed against an unoffending 
 people; and the hypocrisy that has marked its movements, deserves 
 our universal censure... We have been cajoled into measures by 
 the most false representations of the advantages to be derived from 
 our emigration to Africa. The recommendation has been offered 
 as presenting the greatest and best interests to ourselves. No ar- 
 gument has been adduced, other than that based on prejudice, and 
 that prejudice founded on our difference of colour. If shades of 
 difference in complexion is to operate to make men the sport of 
 powerful caprice, who can pretend to determine how long it may 
 be before, on this principle, the colonists may.be again compelled 
 to migrate to the land of their fathers in America. 
 
 The conduct of this institution is the most unprincipled that has 
 been realized in almost any civilized country. Based and sup- 
 ported as it was, by some men of the greatest wealth and talent 
 that the country boasts, under the sanction of names so -respect- 
 able, the common sense of the community was led astray, little 
 imagining that any thing more was designed than appeared on the 
 surface, viz. the improvement of the condition of the people of 
 eolour, by their removal to Africa, and the evangelizing of that 
 continent. ‘The hidden insidious design in our removal, political 
 expediency, was confined to the few that organized the society; 
 its secret purposes have been kept as close as possible. But South- 
 ern inyuisitiveness demanded a developement of the secret, with 
 which they were satisfied, and it received their support—while the 
 North, prompted by sentiments of benevolence towards us, entered 
 
36 
 
 heartily into the scheme. But the real objects being now manifest 
 many have withdrawn their support from it, from their conviction 
 of its insufficiency to perform what was expected, and the want 
 of good faith on the part of the society, as to its real object in 
 awakening their sympathy. The deception is discovered, and 
 it is hoped that before long, the man of colour will be reinstated 
 in his natural rights. 
 
 In the city of New-York, there has been lately formed an in- 
 stitution called the Phenix Society, consisting of some of the 
 most wealthy and talented men in that city, white and coloured, 
 the object of which is to unite the whole coloured people into a 
 fraternity for our improvement; and it is hoped, that under the 
 guidance of Almighty God, our most sanguine expectations will 
 be realized. 
 
 ABRAHAM D, SHA DD, President, 
 
 Philadelphia, June 13, 1833. 
 
ADDRESS AND CONSTITUTION 
 
 OF THE 
 
 PHCENIX SOCIETY OF NEW-YORK, 
 
 AND OF 
 
 THE AUXILIARY WARD ASSOCIATIONS. 
 
 Though it is the pride and boast of our state, that in conformity 
 with the principles of Christianity and republicanism, no man 
 within her precincts can now hold another as his property, yet it 
 is obvious that the people of colour, who have always composed a 
 very considerable part of her population, labour under much greater 
 disadvantages than any other class of the community, and that 
 their condition can only be meliorated, by their being improved in 
 morals, literature, and the mechanic arts. 
 
 It is no less obvious, that this important work cannot be accom- 
 plished to any great extent, but by a combination of their own 
 powers, and the aid of benevolent white persons. The want of 
 such combination and co-operation, has hitherto prevented the 
 labours of philanthropists in their cause, from being more suc- 
 cessful. 
 
 The Pu@nix Society, whose Constitution is hereto affixed, 
 has these objects in view. It has, therefore, a claim upon every 
 man of colour, upon every Christian, upon every philanthropist, 
 and every patriot. Let each of these classes duly regard its claims, 
 and according to their ability aid its operations. Let every person 
 of colour unite himself, or herself, to this Society, and faithfully 
 endeavour to promote its objects—and let every one who wishes to 
 see their condition improved, aid them in the work; and, instead 
 of their being sunk in a state of poverty and degradation, they will 
 rise to be a virtuous, respectable and useful portion of the commu- 
 nity. How desirable a result! What coloured person will refuse 
 to do his part in producing it? What good man will refuse his aid 
 towards it? God speed it. 
 
 New-York, April 20th, 1883. 
 
CONSTITUTION. 
 
 Tus Society shall be known by the name of the “ PHa@nix 
 Society” of the City of New-York, the object of which shall be 
 to promote the improvement of the coloured people in Morals, Li- 
 terature, and the Mechanic Arts. 
 
 ArticLte I. The Society shall consist of all persons who con- 
 tribute to its funds quarterly, any sum of money they may think 
 proper. 
 
 ARTICLE 11. ‘The Officers shall consist of a President, two Vice 
 Presidents, a Corresponding Secretary and a Recording Secretary, 
 and a Treasurer, who ‘shall constitute a part of the Board of Di- 
 rectors. : 
 
 ARTICLE 111. There shall be a Board of Directors not to exceed 
 in number sixty, who shall meet monthly—sixteen of whom shall 
 be a quorum to do the ordinary business. 
 
 ARTICLE Iv. The Officers and Directors, shall be chosen annu- 
 ally, at the annual meeting of the Society; they shall have power 
 to fill vacancies in their Board. 
 
 ArtTicLE v. At the formation of this Society, there shall be 
 but thirty Directors chosen, who shall have power to add to the 
 number, not exceeding sixty in all. 
 
 ArTIcLE vi. The Board of Directors shall appoint from their 
 own number, an Executive Committee of seven, including the Pre- 
 sident, Secretary, and Treasurer; who shall transact the business 
 of the Society in the recesses of the Board, and shall meet weekly, 
 and shall report to the Board at its monthly meeting, by reading 
 their minutes. 
 
 ArTicie vit. The Board shall appoint an Agent to be devoted 
 to the objects of the Society, who shall attend the meetings of the 
 Board and of the Executive Committee, and report weekly in 
 writing to the Executive Committee. | i. 
 
 ArTicLE vii. The funds raised after the necessary expenses 
 of the Society are paid, shall-be applied to the establishment and 
 sustaining of a Manual Labour School, and for this object an effort 
 shall be immediately made to raise at least Ten Thousand Dollars. 
 
 ArTicLE 1x. This Constitution may be altered or amended at 
 an annual meeting of the Society, by a majority of the members 
 present at such meeting. 
 
39 
 
 OFFICERS. 
 
 Rev, CHRISTOPHER RUSH, President. 
 
 Rev. THEODORE S. WRIGHT, First Vice-President. 
 THOMAS L. JINNINGS, Second Vice-President. 
 ARTHUR TAPPAN, Treasurer. 
 
 BENJAMIN F. HUGHES, Recording Secretary. 
 PETER VOGELSANG, Corresponding Secretary. 
 
 DIRECTORS. 
 
 George XR. Barker, James Fields, © John Peterson, 
 
 James Barnett, William Goodell, George L. Phillips, 
 
 Philip A. Bell, Rev. Charles Hall, Rev. William P. Quinn, 
 
 John Berrian, William Hamilton, Rev. John Raymond, 
 ' Rev. George Bourne, Samuel Hardenburgh, Henry Scott, 
 
 Rev. James Burton, Isaac Hatch, - Wright Seaman, 
 
 Platt S. Cleaveland, Rev. James Hayborn, Henry Sipkins, 
 
 George Collins, William L Jeffers, + Charles Smith, 
 
 Rev. Edmund Crosby, Rev. Simeon S. Jocelyn, William Thompson, 
 
 Boston Crummell, Richard Livingston, William Turpin, 
 
 Rev. Charles C. Darling, Rev. Jacob Matthews, Peter Vanderhost, 
 Rev. Chas. W. Dennison, Richard C.-M ‘Cormick, Ransom F. Wake, 
 
 Rev. Loring D. Dewey, James Miller, Rev. Peter Wil‘iams, 
 Thomas Downing, James Moore, Aaron Wood, 
 Samuel Ennalls, Ezra Morris, James Fraser. 
 
 Constitution for Ward Societies. 
 
 Articxe I. This Society shall be called the Puawix Society 
 of the ———— Ward, in the City of New-York, auxiliary to the 
 “ Phenix Society of the City of New York,” and shall consist of 
 all persons who contribute to its funds. Its object is to promote 
 the improvement of the people of colour of this Ward in Morals, 
 Literature, and the Mechanic Arts. - 
 
 _ArticxieE If. Its Officers shall be a President, one Vice-Presi- 
 dent, a Secretary, a Treasurer, and twenty Directors, to be annually 
 chosen, who together shall constitute a Board of Managers, and 
 shall have power to fill vacancies in their own body. 
 
 ARTICLE III. Seven shall constitute a quorum for the transac- 
 tion of business. 
 
 ArticLeE TV. All meetings of the Board shall be opened with 
 prayer. 
 
 ArticLte V. The Ward shall be divided into ——— Districts, 
 and a committee of one or more members of the Board be ap- 
 pointed to each District, whose duty it shall be to carry into effect 
 the objects of the Society, and to report to the Board at its recular 
 meetings. 
 
 Articite VI. The Board shall appoint Committees of Ladies: 
 to visit the Districts to promote the objects of the Society, who * 
 shall be expected to report at the meetings of the Board. 
 
 ArticLe VII. All money collected shall be paid over to the 
 Treasurer of the Parent Society, after the necessary expenses of the 
 Society are provided for. : 
 
40 
 
 Arricie VIII. The Board shall meet monthly, on the 
 day of the month. 
 
 ArticLe 1X. It shall be the duty of the Secretary to make a 
 minute report of the proceedings of this Society in writing, month- 
 ly, to the Board of the Parent-Society. 
 
 ArticLE X.. The annual meeting for the choice of Officers — 
 and Directors shall be on the , and in case of there being no 
 election at the appointed time, the old Board shall continue to act 
 till such election takes place. 
 
 ArTIcLE XI. This Constitution may be altered at an annual 
 meeting. 
 
 ArticLe XII. If any member shall absent himself from the 
 meetings of the Board three months in succession, or shall neglect 
 to attend to the duties assigned him, without offering a satisfactory 
 excuse, he shall be considered as having resigned. 
 
 Tuts Society will aim to accomplish the following objects. 
 To visit every family in the Ward, and make a register of 
 every coloured person in it—their name, sex, age, occupa- 
 tion, if they read, write and cipher,—to induce them, old 
 and young and of both sexes, to become members of this 
 Society, and make quarterly payments according to their 
 ability ;—to get the children out to infant, Sabbath and week 
 schools, and induce the adults also to attend school and 
 church on the Sabbath,—to encourage the females to form 
 Dorcas Societies to help to clothe poor children of colour if 
 they will attend school, the clothes to be loaned, and to be 
 taken away from them if they neglect their schools ; and to 
 impress on their parents the importance of having the chil- 
 dren punctual and regular in their attendance at school, —to 
 establish circulating libraries formed in each ward for the 
 use of people of colour on very moderate pay,—to establish 
 mental feasts, and also lyceums for speaking and for lectures 
 on the sciences, and to form moral societies,—to seek out 
 young men of talents, and good moral character, that they 
 may be assisted to obtain a liberal education,—to report to 
 the Board all mechanics who are skilful and capable of con- 
 ducting their trades,—to procure places at trades and with 
 respectable farmers for lads of good moral character—giving 
 a preference to those who have learned to read, write, and 
 cipher,—and in every other way to endeavour to promote 
 the happiness of the people of colour, by encouraging them 
 to improve their minds, and to abstain from every vicious 
 
 .and demoralizing practice. 
 
 : ERRATA. 
 Page 20, second line from bottom, for than read that. 
 ao, " o for James Foster read James Forten. 
 
‘i be 
 TREATISE 
 ON THE 
 
 PATRIARCHAL SYSTEM OF SOCIETY, 
 
 AS IT EXISTS IN 
 
 SOME GOVERNMENTS AND COLONIES IN AMERICA, 
 
 AND IN THE UNITED STATES, 
 
 UNDER 
 
 THE NAME OF SLAVERY, 
 
 WITH ITS NECESSITY AND ADVANTAGES. 
 
 BY AN INHABITANT OF FLORIDA. 
 
 bs ver) WW 25 heey 
 
 THIRD EDITION, WITH AN APPENDIX, 
 
 peeoeenes 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 it will be allowed by every one, that agriculture is 
 the great foundation of the wealth and prosperity of 
 our Southern States. This important science has al- 
 ready attracted some share of attention from men of 
 the first talents, by whose improvements in cultivation 
 several valuable productions promise, from their su- 
 periority, to maintain a preference in foreign markets ; 
 and the recent introduction of new articles of tropical 
 produce into the southern districts, where they bid fair 
 to succeed, offers still greater incitements to agricultu- 
 ral enterprise, and opens a new and extensive range 
 for future speculation. 
 
 While this great field of wealth and independence 
 promises now to be well understood and duly appre- 
 
 _ ciated, the primary cause and means by which alone it 
 
 can be realized, has either escaped attention, or been 
 designedly overlooked: I mean the perpetuation of 
 that kind of labor which now produces it, and which 
 seems best adapted, under all circumstances, to ren- 
 der it profitable to the Southern capitalist. 
 
 The idea of slavery, when associated with cruelty 
 and injustice, is revolting to every philanthropic mind; 
 but when that idea is associated with justice and be- 
 nevolence, slavery, commonly so called, easily amal- 
 gamates with the ordinary conditions of life. 
 
 To counteract the existing prejudice against slave- 
 ry, by making it evident that the condition of slaves 
 may be equally happy and more independent of the 
 ordinary evils of life, than that of the common class of 
 whites denominated free—that they are now equally 
 virtuous, moral, and less corrupted than the ordinary 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 class of laboring whites—that their labor is far more 
 productive—that they yield more support and benefit 
 to the State, which, under a well regulated system of 
 management, is better fitted to endure a state of war 
 than it would be with an equal number of free white 
 people of ordinary means and condition ; and, finally, 
 that the Slave or Patriarchal System of Society [so of- 
 ten commiserated as a subject of deep regret| which 
 constitutes the bond of social compact of the South- 
 ern seaboard of the United States, is better adapted 
 for strength, durability, and independence, than any 
 other state of seciety hitherto adopted. ‘To endeavor 
 to prove all this, and to destroy the prejudice existing 
 against slavery, under the circumstances with which 
 it is now associated in the South, is the object of the 
 present essay ; dedicated tothe people of Florida, 
 and to political economists throughout the Southern 
 States, by a votary of rational policy, and 
 most respectfully 
 their humble servant, 
 Z. IKINGSLEY. 
 
 - *,* See notes at the end. — 
 
A TREATISE 
 
 ON 
 
 THE PATRIARCHAL SLAVE SYSTEM. 
 
 That there is a large portion of territory in the Southern states 
 unfavorable to’the health and production of white people, is evident 
 from the sickly appearance of nearly the whole seaboard laboring 
 white population, extending from the Chesapeake Bay to the Mis- 
 sissippi. ‘This sickly appearance is most observed among the low- 
 er orders, who are exposed to the weather; and it can only be 
 accounted for by supposing’ that nature has not fitted a white com- 
 plexion for hard work in the sun, as it is evident that the darkness 
 of complexion here is a measure of capacity for endurance of labor, 
 under that influence. 
 
 Many, from a superficial view of things, suppose that the aver- 
 sion to labor observable in the South, among the working classes 
 of whites, proceeds from natural indisposition. But a nearer view, 
 and better acquaintance with facts will show, that the radical cause 
 is the want of health, which produces an apathy or aversion to work 
 and frequently a relaxation, or want of natural excitement in the 
 powers of life, which seek artificial stimulants ; as we see frequent 
 instances of the strongest, soberest, and most industrious mechanies 
 coming from the North, becoming, after a few years hard labor, 
 weak and idle, and finally, falling a sacrifice to the abuse of ardent 
 spirits. Some are of opinion, that the want of health in these 
 Classes, is owing to their being unaccustomed to a hot climate. But 
 as many years have elapsed since the first white people settled 
 among the Scuthern swamps, and their descendants have not im- 
 proved either in looks or longevity, if becomes evident that people 
 of white complexions are unfitted by nature for that situation.(2) 
 
 Some of our Northern neighbors, living in a state of health and 
 affluence, and not being aware that this prosperous state, in many 
 instances, proceeds indirectly from Southern slave labor, and with- 
 out duly investigating, and comparing the hardships, and humilia- 
 tion of the lower condition of their white population with the more 
 comfortable state of the Southern negroes, have denounced the 
 Patriarchal state of subordination of the latter, called Slavery, as the 
 most abject and miserable of all possible grades of human existence. 
 Now it appears to me, that no one state can be perfectly free from 
 
6 
 
 these evils; but that all must experience some modifications of 
 dependence.(3) The negro, under the management of a just, con- 
 scientious, and humane master, (of which description it will cer- 
 tainly be allowed that there are some,) who provides for the physical 
 wants of his servants, his wife and children, in health, sickness 
 and old age, for no other consideration than the equitable one of 
 competent labor, when in health, will surely enjoy a happier and 
 more enviable state of existence than the poor white man, burdened 
 with a family, who has to contend with cold and hunger, besides 
 religious and moral tyranny. 
 
 Moreover, the free white man, with the greatest economy and 
 industry, usually consumes nearly the whole product of his labor ; 
 laying by but little, even under the most favorable circumstances, 
 but with a smaller stock of prudence and exertion, which more 
 commonly happens, he not only consumes all his earnings, but is 
 compelled by cold, hunger, and want of employment, or ill health, 
 to apply to the public for charity. Whereas the negro by his labor, 
 discreetly restrained under the Patriarchal System, not only furnish- 
 es clothing, implements of husbaudry, and provisions, but creates a 
 large export surplus to meet contingencies; thus increasing the 
 comfort and capital of the establishment, of which he considers 
 himself an integral part.(4) 
 
 In short, the greatest value of agricultural’ product for export, 
 and nearly all the springs of national and individual prosperity, 
 flow from slave labor, as is -fairly demonstrated by our annual ac- 
 count of exports. It could not reasonably be expected otherwise. 
 The labor of the negro, under the wholescme restraint of an intelli- 
 gent direction, is like a constant stream; that of the white man is 
 economically measured out by his urgent necessities, or dissipated 
 by his expenses. Lesides, climate enables the one to furnish arti- 
 cles of greater valuc; while the white man’s labor is usually applied 
 to raise cheap articles of food for the mere subsistence of himself 
 and family. 
 
 Such is the comparative usefulness of these two classes of society 
 in our present state of peace. But to render a slave holding country 
 stronger and equally advantageous in a state of war, against which 
 it ought always to be prepared; or, in other words, to neutralize the 
 spirit of disaffection which necessarily results from every unequal 
 distribution of privileges ; it will be requisite to alter a little our 
 present policy.(5) Before, however, we begin, and by way of get- 
 ting rid of some slight prejudices, it might be well to take a view of 
 some other slave holding countries, which have already undergone 
 the test of experiment, and successfully resisted all the disorganizing 
 temptations and insidious machinations of powerful, but, as yet, un- 
 successful enemies ;(6) and endeavor to obtain safe and conclusive 
 evidence from established precedents exactly applicable to our cir- 
 cumstances. 
 
7 
 
 First, I will take a view of Brazil,(7) which is by far the most 
 powerful and extensive slave holding country in America, or in the 
 world ; its population consists of something less than one million 
 of whites, something more than one million of free colored, and 
 considerably over two millions of slaves. It passed through such a 
 war of revolution as our own, from the colonial state to that of an 
 independent government, attended with all the violence of con- 
 flicting interests, opinions, and consequent hostility of royal and 
 independent partizans, with their hostile armies. It now ranks, as 
 Empire of Brazil, perhaps the most extensive government in the 
 world, and is carrying on war with the free Republic of Buenos 
 Ayres; with its white and free colored population, it has fitted out, 
 manned, and sent to sea, nearly forty ships of war, and has raised 
 or sent to the frontiers, nearly fifty thousand regular troops. It 
 now affords the grand imposing spectacle of a slave holding govern- 
 ment, whose population greatly preponderates in favor of color, at 
 war with a free republic, which constitutionally disavows slavery, 
 and which not only endeavors to subdue it by force of arms, but to 
 subvert it by inflammatory proclamations, offering freedom and 
 protection to the slaves as their reward for revolt. But all these 
 disorganizing temptations have heretofore failed; the slaves main- 
 tain their obligation, and do their work peaceably as usual; fur- 
 nishing produce and means, not only to support the national credit, 
 but to carry on the war, and repel the bearers of these insidious 
 proclamations. ‘bis trait of virtue and fidelity in the Brazilian 
 slaves, is to be attributed to humane and just treatment. 
 
 The door of liberty is open to every slave who can find the means 
 of purchasing himself. It is true, few have the means, but hope 
 creates a spirit of economy, industry, and emulation to obtain merit 
 by good behavior, which has a general and beneficial effect. 
 Slaves are also allowed to hold some kind of property, under limi- 
 tation—such as stock. But the grand chain of security by which 
 the slaves are held in subordination, is the free people of color, 
 whose persons, properties, and rights are protected by law; which 
 enables them to acquire and hold property in their own name, and 
 allows the free children of quarteroons by a white man, to be white 
 by law. By this link, they become identified with the whites on 
 one side, and with the slaves by descent on the other; a connexion 
 which perfectly cements the three castes of which the whole nation 
 is composed ; and each being perfectly contented with its perma- 
 nent, lawful privileges, the jealousy, which might otherwise arise 
 from caste or difference of complexion or condition, is totally ex- 
 tinguished, and no one feels an interest in disturbing that with 
 which every one is satisfied. 
 
 The British colonial policy is fast verging to the same point. Its 
 object is to improve the education and mental attainments of its 
 free colored population, as well as to protect its slaves from unjust _ 
 oppression. 
 
8 
 
 The free colored people are thus gradually rendered fit to take 
 place of the whites, whose lives have long been uselessly sacrificed 
 to a hot climate, which does not, nor ever can agree with them. 
 They have so far progressed, as to fill up a great deal of agricultural 
 as well as mercantile room, and most of the militia troops, with 
 free colored people, who are good mechanics, well educated, and of . 
 great respectability : so that a very considerable share of landed 
 property has already passed into their hands. ‘Their law also en- 
 titles the children of free quarteroons to all white privileges, if the 
 father is white. By this policy they unite the two castes, who be- 
 come equally interested in maintaining good order and contentment 
 among the slaves. 
 
 The Spanish, French, and Dutch Colonies have all adopted the 
 same policy. 
 
 The island of Saint Domingo is now independent under its abo- 
 riginal name Hayti.(8) Its colonial tranquility was. first disturbed 
 by national edicts, which the French people, while frantic with 
 revolutionary zeal, madly promulgated in their colonies. This 
 dangerous fanaticism soon spread itself among the slave holders, ~ 
 who being divided in two great political factions, nearly equal in 
 strength, armed their slaves to support their own political opinions. 
 This, together with their pride in denying the participation of 
 equality to the free’ colored people, caused the destruction of that 
 flourishing and important colony. ‘The fall, and final extinction 
 of its colonial power, and its subsequent re-establishment under a 
 free and independent government of negroes in our vicinity, fur- 
 nishes, in a variety of incidents which took place during its whole 
 course, abundant examples of situation, occurrences, and facts, 
 from which we may establish consequences that would apply to 
 almost every possible situation in which we could imagine slaves of 
 a similar class to our own to be placed. 
 
 To infuse a general spirit of revolt among the numerous planta- 
 tions of St. Domingo, appears to have been a matter which required 
 both time and labor to accomplish; especially as some departments 
 Were more prudent than others, and tried to counteract it. San- 
 thonax and Polvorel, the commissioners sent out from France to 
 enforce the national decrees of liberty and equality, were the most 
 active and ‘successful propagators of liberty. But in many of the 
 quarters, the slaves still continued to work, even without white over- 
 seers; and furnished large quantities of coffee for exportation during 
 the whole government of Toussaint. And, what is still more re- 
 markable, the rich and expensive department of Grande Anse con- 
 tinued to furnish nearly its usual quantity of produce, and remained 
 quiet for several years after the commencement of the revolution, 
 and until Jeremie was evacuated by the British, notwithstanding 
 that this department was annually beseiged by Generals Toussaint 
 and Rigaud, commanding the armies of the South and of the West, 
 
9 
 
 accompanied by all their seditious proclamations. 'The slaves were 
 armed by their masters, and protected themselves and families while 
 they made abundant crops of coffee. In short, when we come to 
 consider the massacres and bloodshed necessarily attending such a 
 horrid revolution, where a vast number of slaves were forced into a 
 state of licentious anarchy, and led on by partizans blinded by 
 revolutionary fury, who gave no quarter on either side, it is astonish- 
 ing that the slaves now liberated should have so soon returned to a 
 peaceable and quiet state of domestic order, and again admitted 
 whites to reside peaceably among them, and enjoy all the pre-emi- 
 nence that condition could give.(9) But such was the fact; and 
 considering that they were still acting on the defensive against the 
 British, who, for many years after, and with all their disposable 
 force, endeavored to subdue them, it is a matter of astonishment 
 and wonder how so much produce was still made as was exported 
 under the reign of Toussaint, and until the arrival of the grand 
 French expedition under Rochambeau and Leclerc, (in 1802—3,) 
 when the island was again thrown into anarchy, and would have 
 been ultimately re-conquered but for the breaking out of the war 
 afresh between France and Britain, which suspended the farther 
 progress of the conquest, and finally confirmed its independence. 
 Its government has now settled under the form of a military Repub- 
 lic; but the quantity of produce raised bears but little proportion to 
 what it was under the Patriarchal restraint of its Colonial system of 
 government, as the present state of individual emancipation implies 
 less necessity for hard work, especially in a healthy, fertile, and 
 mild climate such as Hayti, where few clothes are required, and 
 bountiful nature produces spontaneously the necessaries of life. 
 
 From all these facts it follows, that, under a just and prudent 
 system of management, negroes are safe, permanent, productive 
 and growing property, and easily governed ; that they are not na- 
 turally desirous of change, but are sober, discreet, honest and obli- 
 ging, are less troublesome, and possess a much better moral character 
 than the ordinary class of corrupted whites of similar condition.(19) 
 
 Their strong attachment to their homes, to their wives and 
 children, and to domestic life, are likewise great securities for their 
 good behavior; which, with a fair and equitable allowance of 
 clothes and provisions, kind treatment when sick, and fair words 
 when well, will, in most cases, insure good behavior, obedience, and 
 attachment. Under these circumstances they will, without grum- 
 bling, and with very little corporeal punishment, perform a great 
 deal of valuable labor in a year, and with profit and satisfaction to 
 the owner, who, if prudent, will soon find himselfin easy circum- 
 stances, and feel happy in experiencing the attachment, confidence, 
 and good will of a grateful and happy people.(11) 
 
 The policy generally pursued by our own slave holding state 
 governments with regard to free soe people, and that pursued 
 
id 
 
 by foreign colonial and other slave holding governments, is directly 
 opposite. In the latter, the free colored people have found it their 
 interest universally and decidedly to place themselves in the scale 
 of the whites, or in opposition to the slaves.(12) In the former, 
 necessity, from the unfavorable construction of the laws, has com- 
 pelled them universally to throw themselves into the scale of the 
 slaves in opposition to the whites. ‘This difference of policy adopt- 
 ed by these different governments, who have precisely the same 
 views and interests to favor, and the same objects to guard against, 
 is obviously owing to the difference of local circumstances, growing 
 out of the different situations of the two countries with regard to 
 population and government. 
 
 In our greatest slave holding states which take the lead, the great 
 majority of the inhabitants is white, who boast of enjoying every 
 privilege of free men, but possessing a strong feeling of prejudice 
 against every other shade of color, and inhabiting a high, healthy 
 country, suitable to the labor of white people, to whom colored 
 labor is not absolutely necessary. This majority has the right of 
 forming the laws to govern the minority, or slave holding part of 
 these states, lying nearest the sea, to whom a colored popula- 
 tion is absolutely necessary, and with the safety and good govern- 
 ment of which a smaller degree of prejudice against color would 
 better comport. But as the great quantity of whites in the up 
 country is at all times ready to put down or exterminate all the 
 colored people in case of insurrection, fear and force in governing 
 these people are safely substituted for wisdom and policy.(14) 
 
 The operation of physical causes has induced the foreign slave 
 holding colonies and governments to adopt a policy diametrically 
 opposite. ‘I'heir climates being unfavorable to the increase of the 
 whites, has thrown a great majority into the scale of the free color- 
 ed people, many of whom, being rich and liberally educated, enjoy 
 great respectability, and having the same interest with the whites, 
 and great influence with the slaves, form a barrier to insurrection ; 
 which not only makes life and property safe in time of peace, but 
 renders the whole physical strength of the country completely dis- 
 posable in time of war. 
 
 North Carolina, by the liberal provisions of her constitution and 
 enlightened policy to her free colored people, stands firmer with re- 
 gard to slave property than any state to the south, not even except- 
 ing Louisiana. A general line of limitation might be drawn between 
 white ard colored, such as exists in the British West India colonies. 
 Taxes in all cases should be equal; and the law both criminal and 
 civil should be as impartial as the sun. If it is otherwise, what kind 
 of protection can be given either to person or to property ; and what 
 must be the final result where neither is given ? 
 
 I believe no disadvantage has ever been perceived in North Caro- 
 lina from its free citizens of color being allowed to vote. 
 
11 
 
 It appears from the above statement, that to raise the value of 
 southern plantation property to its just scale of purchase value, 
 according to the rate of interest yielded by its neat average return 
 of crops, to bear an equal proportion with the value and returns of 
 real property in the north, which is the principal object of this 
 treatise, it may be considered necessary— 
 
 Ist. To put all fear of danger, either to person or property, from 
 insurrection of the slaves, at rest. 
 
 2d. ‘lo destroy all doubt of the permanent durability of such pro- 
 perty in case of war or invasion. 
 
 3d. To extinguish that general foreign or northern prejudice 
 against holding slave property, which commonly arises from their 
 mistaken view of our policy and laws to regulate slaves and free 
 colored people. 
 
 To accomplish these objects will require a considerable sacrifice 
 of local prejudice to the shrine of self interest, with some small 
 mixture of discretion, which I flatter myself the present enlightened 
 state of society, improved by its advancement in the science of po- 
 litical economy, will, in consideration of the proposed advantages, 
 liberally bestow. 
 
 The red aborigines were in this low country a healthy people. 
 The negroes are not only a healthy people, but robust and durable 
 even in swamps. 
 
 The intermediate grades of color are not only healthy, but when 
 condition is favorable, they are susceptible of every amelioration. 
 Daily experience shows that there is no natural antipathy between 
 the castes on account of color; and it only requires to repeal laws 
 as impolitic as they are unjust and unnatural; which confound 
 merit and condition with infamy and degradation on account of 
 complexion, and to leave nature to find out a safe and wholesome 
 remedy for evils which are merely imaginary. 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 Since the year 1829, when the second edition of this pamphlet 
 was published, the subject of our colored population has been pretty 
 fully discussed in several of the State Legislatures of this Union, 
 without arriving at any positive or satisfactory conclusion, as to how 
 it would be safest and best to dispose of them, so as to avoid the 
 risk of reaction from their resentment. 
 
 The alarm occasioned by the massacre at Southampton, natural- 
 ly caused a fear and diffidence in that quarter, which spread itself 
 throughout the slave holding states, and operated with extreme 
 cruelty and injustice against all the colored people, by confounding 
 the innocent with the guilty ; and it is hardly a matter of doubt 
 whether or not the excessive rigor and cruelty of these consequent 
 enactments has not been very prejudicial to the slave holding in- 
 terest, by causing a general feeling of compassion which is natural- 
 ly excited in favor of helpless innocence, when oppressed by relent- 
 less tyranny. Colonization in Africa has been proposed to the free- 
 colored people, to forward which a general system of persecution 
 against them, upheld from the pulpit, has been legalized through- 
 out the southern states, which leaves them the sad alternative of 
 submitting to a condition worse than slavery, or of leaving the 
 country to which nativity has given them a natural right, to go 
 where sickness, privations and barbarity must soon put an end to all 
 their troubles; in this dilemma it is to be hoped that some way of 
 escape will present itself. 
 
 The same subject has excited an interest gradually proportioned 
 to its magnitude, throughout all the American colonies, and has 
 been regulated by acts of legislation dictated by circumstances 
 connected with the views and prejudices of each. 
 
 The Swedish, Danish and French, have abolished the distinction 
 of color where the parties are free, by admitting them to a partici- 
 pation of equal rights. The British have gone still further, and not 
 only assimilated the interests of the free people of color of their 
 colonies with those of the whites, but have threatened to extend 
 their legislation to the emancipation of the slaves ; this premature 
 interference is generally condemned, as tending to overturn and 
 destroy civilization, by too suddenly admitting an overwhelming 
 proportion of ignorant and uncivilized people into society. 
 
 The Spanish colonies of Cuba and Puerto Rico have flourished 
 beyond example without altering the wise, libera), and humane 
 policy of their former system, which protected the slaves from acts 
 of cruelty and injustice, and at the same time united the interests 
 of the free colored people to those of the whites, so as to form one 
 
13 
 
 consolidated mass of effective force under the complete control of 
 their government. 
 
 Cuba, perhaps, under its present circumstances, stands more in- 
 dependent of external help, than any other slave holding govern- 
 ment in America, except Brazil. Its population may be estimated 
 at one million, one third of which is free people, all united in the 
 same interest; the other two thirds are slaves, who, being justly. 
 treated, have never manifested any signs of discontent. Its soil is 
 extremely fertile, its climate is healthy, its. situation convenient for 
 commerce, which it carries on with its own people, its export pro- 
 ductions are immense, and its revenue.competent for all the purposes 
 of good government. 
 
 The empire of Brazil was left in a former edition of this work, at. 
 war with its neighbor, the republic Buenos Ayres, which has since 
 happily terminated, and proved the possibility of a country whose 
 revenues and government depend entirely upon slave labor for sup- 
 port, being so entirely independent as not to require any foreign or 
 external protection to enable it to resist a foreign enemy, without 
 fear of a revolt from its own numerous slave population. Since the 
 termination of that war, several political convulsions and party re- 
 volutions have happened within it; just enough to prove its stability, 
 but there has been no sign or suspicion of any discontent among the 
 slaves; and it now stands fairly and firmly upon its own national 
 resources, and solely under its own protection, unparalleled in its 
 extent, situation, and prospects of greatness derived from its healthy 
 climate, fertility, and extent of territory, all convenient for commerce, 
 which is extensively carried on by its own inhabitants, and protect- 
 ed by equitable and just. laws. It now proudly and practically 
 claims the only banner of actual independence belonging to any 
 slave holding state in America. 
 
 Since that period, also, our own colored population, having been 
 consolidated into one mass and identified with slavery by our state 
 laws, has retrogaded exceedingly in the southern states, without 
 producing the desired effect of increasing the proportion of whites, 
 and has proved incontestibly, I think, that the policy of perse- 
 cuting the free colored people to induce them to sacrifice their na- 
 tive attachments and property for banishment to Africa, is at variance 
 with the prosperity and interests of the South, and tends to lower 
 the price of property by destroying the prospect of its durability. 
 
 By persecution we force them off, and place them in a situation 
 to retaliate upon us in case of war, and perhaps to glut their ven- 
 geance upon us at some future period, for no person can seriously 
 believe that they are going to remain long in a savage and sterile 
 country like Liberia, when so many healthy, fertile, and civilized 
 countries, every where around, are inviting them to citizenship, and 
 we well know that revenge for cruelty and injustice is a hereditary 
 passion in human nature: handed down from father to son, it never 
 dies until satiated by atonement. 
 
14 
 
 As any argument about the justice and right of such laws can 
 always be answered by the plea of expediency, it would be useless 
 to enter into it farther than to observe that the policy of unjust laws 
 is morethan doubtful in any case whatever, especially as attended by 
 the liostility naturally consequent to acts of cruelty and injustice, 
 which must necessarily produce resentment uncompensated for by 
 any subsequent benefit. ‘This could never have been fairly consid- 
 ered, or it never would have been attempted. 
 
 First, 1 will allow that it is physically possible to exterminate all 
 the free colored people of the South, it makes no matter how ; say 
 about one hundredth part of all the free colored people of this quar- 
 ter of the world is destroyed, the quantity of resentment of the re- 
 mainder, and ofall justly thinking men, will still be measured by the 
 atrocity of the act. 
 
 Second. Will the same instinctive passion which caused their 
 existence diminish, or will the same regular quantity of colored 
 people still continue to be produced by that passion? If it will, 
 destroying the present existing race will be playing the part of the 
 Danaides in the story, attempting to fill the continually leaking 
 pitcher; besides, this system of tyranny and injustice is a libel upon 
 our pretended republican institutions, incompatible with our national 
 character, and cannot be considered but as an affront and open 
 violation of the morality and civilization of the age we live in. But 
 what is still worse during its continuance, it evidently involves the 
 necessary dependence of every individual slave holding state, upon 
 foreign protection against itself. "Io point out how it would be 
 invidious, no political association under the present laws against 
 color could assure independence to the slave holding states. The 
 want of ordinary population would render regular white soldiers 
 difficult to be got as well as expensive, and quite inefficient in the 
 sickly season, when they might be most wanted. And the want of 
 sailors would render commerce too expensive to be carried on 
 amongst ourselves, and foreigners would carry away as they do 
 now, all the profits of our labor ; we therefore would be too poor 
 to meet the expenses of such an exotic and unnatural independent 
 government. Dependence therefore is our doom; we must seek 
 protection from the free states who have a disposable population 
 to make soldiers of, or to man ships to protect us, and to carry away 
 our produce together with all the profits of our labor. 
 
 The consequences of some recent attempts at independence on 
 the part of some slave holding states bring the above facts home to 
 us; therefore to irritate that necessary and unoffending class of 
 people by cruelty and injustice is impolitic, and completely defeats 
 the object of our ever becoming independent. 
 
 The whole colored population of the United States, even including 
 slaves, would not be more than one eighth part of those who im- 
 mediately surround us; destroy them all, root aud branch, they 
 
15 
 
 could easily be replaced ot some future time; but until they were 
 teplaced, our southern seaboard country would offer a safe retreat 
 for the bear and the wolf without competition. 
 
 I’xperiment is the fairest and mos¢ convincing argument; truth 
 itself is only proved by connecting insulated facts; our mistaken 
 system of policy has proved its fallacy by late events, and showed 
 us that we are wrong; to persist in error is dangerous; let us take 
 lessons from the laws of those countries which have already tested 
 their policy by their beneficial effects with regard to slaves and free 
 people of color, and who are all united and friendly to the interests 
 of the whites, and to society generally ; similar causes must produce 
 similar effects ; as we are the first in intelligence, so let us be first in 
 the practice of political wisdom ; and by uniting the interests of our 
 whole population with that of our government, in support of nation- 
 al freedom and independence, rid ourselves of the most tormenting 
 of all fecrs—-that of ourselves. ! 
 
 Query. What would be the natural consequence of granting the 
 same legal protection to the persons and properties of all free peo- 
 ple alike, or the free use and benefit of the law to protect themselves? 
 
 Answer. They would all have the same means of acquiring pro- 
 perty, and all would feel equally interested in the public welfare 
 and peace of the country. , 
 
 Query. Is the increase of free colored people injurious or hene- 
 ficial to the seaboard country of the South? 
 
 Answer. In all the southern seaboard country which is unfavora- 
 ble to the agricultural labors of white people, the increase of a free co- 
 lored population is not only beneficial, but absolutely necessary, to its 
 stability and to cheapen the price of labor, without which neither 
 domestic commerce, nor mechanical operations, nor manufactures 
 can be carried on to advantage, as is clearly demonstrated by the 
 present state of poverty and dependence of that section, owing evi- 
 dently to the want of cheap labor, which can only be obtained from 
 a settled population attached to the soil. ~ : 
 
 Query. What national benefit is derived from the acts of out- 
 lawry now in force against the free colored people of the south? 
 
 Answer. No benefit whatever, but the greatest and most tor- 
 menting of all evils—a conscious dread of criminal guilt, arising 
 from the known tyranny of the lawless and unprincipled part of the 
 white population which the law authorises to perpetrate every species 
 of wicked abuse upon innocence and unoffending color, which is 
 entirely excluded from legal protection, except through the means 
 of white evidence. Moral restraint without the fear of law being 
 so rare, as to create a doubt whether or not the conscientious prin- 
 ciple of justice, independent of legal restraint, has any real existence 
 in the human breast. 
 
 Query. Has any property left by will to any colored person, 
 ever been honestly and fairly administered by any white person 2 
 
16 
 
 Answer. Such instances might possibly have happened, but 
 never to my knowledge. 
 
 Query. What must be the ultimate tendency of such a system 
 of tyranny and injustice ? 
 
 Answer. By exciting the indignation of the world, it must ac- 
 celerate its own downfall. A government whose laws grant exclu- 
 sive privileges to the wicked and abandoned part of its population, 
 to persecute and destroy the weak of another humble part, is a 
 government of anarchy ; to call such a government a Republic, 
 would be a gress libel on the name: it is ultra democracy or 
 arnachy. 
 
 Query. What remedy could be proposed for this unsafe state of 
 society 2 
 
 Answer. Either to modify or repeal the most oppressive parts 
 the laws now in force, or to improve the moral principles of the 
 lower orders of white society by a more liberal education, such as 
 would govern their actions by principles of moral justice, without 
 the constraint of law; as the jealousy and injustice of the different 
 grades of society, in their present conduct towards colored people 
 seems to be graduated by the cultivation of their minds in moral 
 economy, or the rule of conscientiously treating their fellow men 
 justly, without regard to law, and just as they would like to be 
 treated themselves, if placed under similar circumstances. Of the 
 two remedies, the last would be the most radical and effectual, but 
 being the most expensive and the most tedious, would come too 
 late to remedy the present evils, which are now pressing upon society, 
 and calling for immediate relief. 
 
NOTES. 
 
 ere 
 
 [i] It will reasonably be inquired, who is the writer, and how presumes he to 
 advise in contradiction to common practice and the received opinion of nine tenths 
 of all the slave owners of the United States?. He answers that he is a slave own- 
 er, and has aright to express his opinion, having lived by planting in Florida for 
 the lasttwenty-five years. He disavows all other motives but that of increasing 
 the value of his property ; moreover, he thinks that truth will support his argu- 
 ments as toa subject with which he has had great opportunities of becoming well 
 acquainted, having lived long in different slave holding ccuntries. 
 
 [2] This observation will apply to many of our farmers whose youth, strength, 
 and ambition seem for several years to set the climate at defiance, but they are 
 finally overcome by sickness, which brings on debility and premature old age. 
 
 [3] Northern migration to the south for the purpose of gain in winter, and south- 
 ern migration to the north to spend money in the summer, finally concentrate 
 in the north the whole product of Southern slave labor. 
 
 Slavery is a necessary state of control from which no condition of society can be 
 perfectly free. ‘The term is applicable to, and fits all grades and conditions in 
 almost every point of view, whether moral, physical, or political. 
 
 It certainly is a mistaken noticn, that the progress of labor, guided by the ac- 
 cidental impulse of single individuals, is greater than that of systematic co-opera- 
 tion, directed and controlled by a skilful mechanic and economist, under the 
 patriarchal government; for it is evident that slaves taught early, could produce 
 any kind of manufactured goods one third cheaper than free people ; the co-ope- 
 rative system of labor being better calculated either to increase the quantity or to 
 attain perfection in the manufacture; and whenever labor, expended in manu- 
 facturing cotton into cloth, yields more than it does when employedin raising the 
 raw material, slaves will become manufacturers. 
 
 [4] As white people are only wanted to actas overseers, or to fill vacancies in 
 conformity to law, their number must always be limited to these wants and easy 
 situations. But thenumber of colored people must eventually be bounded by the 
 quantity and quality of soil from which they derive subsistence by manual labor. 
 
 [5] Pride and prejudice, our present stumbling blocks in the management of 
 our negroes, should give way to policy and the necessity of self preservation, and 
 induce us to remove as far as possible whatever are the obvious causes of this dan- 
 gerous spirit of revolt. ie 
 
 Power may for a while triumph over weakness and misfortune. But asallna- 
 ture (from the eternal principle of self) takes part with weakness against power, 
 the re-action finally must be terrible and overwhelming. 
 
 [6] Whoever was so unlucky as to see, on Cumberland Island, last war, the 
 magical transformation of his own negroes, whom he left in the field but a few 
 hours before, into regular soldiers, of good discipline and appearance, and with 
 what despatch and celerity the recruiting service went on under the protection 
 of a few hundred marines, notwithstanding all the care and vigilance that were 
 used to prevent desertion, could not help figuring to himself the consequences had 
 there beena larger force, able to maintain a position on the main, with any ulterior 
 object of conquest in view and possessing the means ofequipment. Where would 
 they have stopped, or what could have stopped them ? 
 
 [7] The empire of Brazil embraces, from north to south, about one thousand 
 leagues of sea coast, and as many from east to west. The whole of this immense 
 territory is a wholesome, temperate, and warm climate, is watered by the largest 
 and most extensive rivers in the world, and possesses abundance of capacious 
 and deep harbors for shipping, with inexhaustible quantities of incorruptible tim- 
 ber, of which it has already built some of the finest first-rate ships of war and 
 
 3 
 
18 
 
 \ 
 
 merchantmen that any country can boastof. Its export agricultural produce is 
 
 Ne approaching in value to that of the United States, and it is incontestably the 
 ost extensive, valued, rich, healthy, and best situated body of land under any 
 
 Oe government in America: and bids fair, from its policy and form of govern- 
 ment, which is a limited monarchy, to be one of the most durable. Its present 
 population, being more than three fourths colored, will rapidly predominate on 
 that side, on account of its convenient situation to Africa, its immense annual im- 
 portation ofslaves, its rich soil, its Faget and healthy climate, and more espe- 
 cially from its great distance, and"the expense of passages from Europe. With 
 Chinese economy it may, at some period not very remote, compete in population 
 withthat most ancient Empire, which it greatly exceeds in extent. Of all other 
 countries, in fact, itmost resembles China in its climate, fertility of soil, and com- 
 plexion of inhabitants. a ° , 
 
 [8] I heard ofno instance of abuse or treachery on the part of the negroes of 
 Grand Anse, during my residence in Jeremie, while it was held by the British : 
 nor did t experiexce either insult or interruption in the south or west of St. Do- 
 mingo, under the government of Touissant, or Rigaud. I resided there nearly a 
 year, at one period, besides making frequent voyages, during which I often tra- 
 velled alone, and on horseback, from Leogane to the Cayes, and from Petit-Goave 
 to Jacquemel, through woods and over mountains, with my saddle bags loaded 
 with specie to buy coffee; and though I frequently met large groupes of armed 
 negroes in the woods, I neither recieved insult or hindrance, but was always treat- 
 ed with kindness and civility. Many Americans, (I may say hundreds,) at that 
 lume on the Island, can testify to the same treatment and circumstances. 
 
 [9] 'Phis cbservation applies only to neutral nations. The French, who were 
 at war and enemies, were several times not only plundered but killed within the 
 government of Rigaud: but under Touissant, I knew of no instance of treachery, 
 and all nations, classes, and conditions were equally protected. 
 
 [10] For the truth of this observation, I appeal to every slave holder inthe south, 
 who has had an opportunity of witnessing the conduct of white laborers who come 
 annually to seek work from the north; whether the common plantation negroes 
 
 _ do not conduct themselves much better and are ofa more respectable moral 
 character. 
 
 [11] Our laws to regulate slaves are entirely founded on terror. It would 
 be worth while to try the experiment of a small mixture of reward with the pun- 
 ishment—such as allowing them the free use of Sunday as a market day and jubi- 
 lee, which I have observed had a good effect in all foreign countries, alsoin Loui- 
 siana. The laws of the southern states are exclusively constructed for the protec- 
 tion of whites, and vexatious tyranny over the persons and properties of every 
 ebdlored person, whose oath can in no case be admitted as evidence against a 
 
 \white person. Policy and self-preservatioa require, to render the system beniefi- 
 cial, that slaves must be kept under wholesome and just restraint, which must 
 always create some degree of resistance more or less to Patriarchal authority ; 
 
 \ to counterbalance which the interest and co-operation of the free colored people 
 
 is absolutely necessary when the white population is scanty. 
 
 [12] A-slave who saves my life by rescuing. it from assassins at the risk of his 
 own, or who sayes the lives and properties of'a whole community by informing 
 against conspirators, must still remain aslave ! and what a dreadful feeling of ge- 
 neral resentment must originate from such a source of injustice ! 
 
 [13] What greater insult‘can be offered to common sense, than to arrogate the 
 conditon. of freedom ‘to ourselves, who have not the power, underany circum-' 
 stances, of disposing of our property in the way we please. Is there any thing 
 worthy of acceptance that can be offered to a slave but freedom? 
 
 If our low country is destroyed, and Ilose my life and property by an insurrec- 
 tion, what satisfaction is it to me to’ know that our back country militia will 
 promptly and bravely revenge my death and destroy my negroes? A state of 
 war might soon produce such an event. 
 
 A very common argument against free colored people’s testimony being ad- 
 
19 
 
 mitted as evidence in all cases is, that their moral character is not generally so 
 respectable. The force of all testimony must be measured by its respectability ; 
 therefore of unequal value. But that the moral character of free colored people 
 generally, is inferior to that of the same condition of whites, I think cannot be 
 proved. Onthe contrary, all unprejudiced people who have had an opportunity 
 of knowing, and have paid attention to the subject, will say that the very opposite 
 is the case. Even ifit were notso, what a reflection on our policy and justice, to 
 outlaw them for complexion, which they cannot help, and deprive them of the 
 means of acquiring moral improvement, by driving them to seek shelter among 
 the slaves! Few, I think, will deny that color and condition, if properly consi- 
 dered, are two very separate qualities. Butthe fact is, that in almost every in- 
 stance, our legislators, for want of due consideration, have mistaken the shadow 
 for the substance, and confounded together two very different things; thereby 
 substantiating by law a dangerous and inconvenient antipathy, which can have 
 no better foundation than prejudice. It is much to be regretted that those who 
 enact laws to regulate slaves and free people of color, are often obliged to con- 
 sult popularity rather than policy and their own good sense. If such alterations 
 Were practicable as would render slave property safe, without adopting the’ pre- 
 Sentsystem of terror, all such laws as tended to regulate plantation management, 
 and interfere with the province of individual owners, could be repealed ; property 
 would increase in value ; and the owner, no longer a kind of state prisoner, hover- 
 ing over the movements of his negroes and overseers, could liberalise and im- 
 prove his mind by travelling, and satisfy his thirst for knowledge wherever the 
 advance of science offered the greatest field for its acquirement. 
 
 The patrol laws are demoralising to the whites who compose the patrol; ty- 
 rannical and unjust to the negroes; and unnecessarily supersede, in most cases, 
 the owner’s prerogative and rights over his property. 
 
 Some of our state laws, in defiance of our national treaties, condemn to indis- 
 criminate imprisonment in the common jail, every class of free colored persons, 
 who may arrive within their limits, without reference to sex, cause, or condition ; 
 and to be sold as slaves where they have not the means of paying the penalties © 
 annexed to the crime of arriving within the jurisdiction of the law. What must 
 be the final consequence of such infatuation? an infatuation arraying itself in 
 open and avowed hostility against twelve millions of people, now composing the 
 colored population of this quarter of the world. Hayti, alone, in the full career of 
 wealth, freedom, and juvenile independence, with equal, if not superior, advan- 
 tages of climate, soil, and situation, to any equal portion of territory in the world, 
 is evidently destined by nature, at no very distant period, if not to command, 
 at leastto share the commerce of the surrounding ocean; and, without being over 
 peopled, comfortably to accomodate twelve millions of inhabitants. 
 
 A war of color would, in our situation, of all wars be the most dangerous, 
 therefore the least advisable, because we naturally and unavoidably (under our 
 present policy) contain within us the materials of our own dissolution; and nine 
 tenths of all our present white friends would at least laugh at our absurd indis- 
 cretion. 
 
 All the late insurrections of slaves are to be traced to fanatical preachers (as, for 
 instance, at Barbadoes and Demarara) and to white missionaries from England. 
 Vesey, who instigated the Charleston plot, was an exhorting brother. Gualla 
 Jack or Jack the Conjurer was a Conjurer in his own country, M’Choolay Morece- 
 ma, where a dialect of the Angola tongue is spoken clear across Africa from sea 
 to sea, a distance perhaps of three thousand miles: I purchased him a prisoner 
 of war at Zinguebar. He had his conjuring implements with him in a bag which 
 he brought on board the ship, and always retained them. 1 know two instances, 
 to the southward, where gangs of negroes were prevented from deserting to the 
 enemy by drivers, or influential negroes, whose integrity to their masters, and 
 influence over the slaves, prevented it ; and what is still more remarkable, in both 
 instances the influential negroes were Africans, and professors of the Mahomed- 
 an religion. | 
 
20 
 
 A favorite maxim with some of our old southern politicians to increase the 
 security of slave property, has been to prohibit the increase of free people, or, 
 by some means or other not yet divulged, to get rid of the evil altogether. If 
 this could be done without making the remedy worse than the disease, it would 
 be worth while to try it; but as the iniquity has its origin ina great instin¢tive 
 universal and immutable law of nature, legislation, by the aged, against 
 such an alleged crime as propagation in youth, would be hopeless, and, like 
 the story of the King of Arabia, who, after destroying his appetite by excess 
 and gluttony, made a law, forbidding, under a severe penalty, that any of his 
 subjects should be hungry. 
 
 About twenty-five years ago, I settled a plantation on St. Johns River, in 
 Florida, with about fifty new African negroes, many ef whom I brought from 
 the coast myself. ‘They were mostly fine young men and women, and nearly . 
 in equal numbers. I never interfered with their connubial concerns, nor do- 
 mestic affairs, but let them regulate these after their own manner. I taught 
 them nothing but what was useful, and what I thought would edd to their 
 physical and moral happiness. I encouraged as much as possible dancing, 
 merriment, and dress, for which Saturday afternoon and night, and Sunday 
 morning, were dedicated ; and, after allowance, their time was usually employ- 
 ed in hoeing their corn, and getting a supply of fish for the week. Both men 
 and women were very industrious. Many of them made twenty bushels of 
 corn to sell, and they vied with each other in dress and dancing, and as to 
 whose wife was the finest and prettiest. ‘They were perfectly honest and obe- 
 dient, and appeared quite happy, having no fear but that of offending me; and 
 I hardly ever had occasion to apply other correction than shaming them. If 
 I exceeded this, the punishment was quite light, for they hardly ever failed in 
 doing their work well. My object was to excite their ambition and attach- 
 ment by kindness; not to depress their spirits by fear and punishment. I 
 never.allowed them to visit, for fear of bad example, but encouraged the decent 
 
 - neighboring people to participate in their weekly festivity, for which they 
 always provided an ample entertainment themselves, as they had an abundance 
 of hogs, fowls, corn, and all kinds of vegetables and fruit. ‘They had nothing 
 o conceal from me, and I had no suspicion of any crime in them to guard 
 against. Perfect confidence, friendship, and good understanding reigned be- 
 tween us; they increased rapidly. After a few years, this pleasant and profit- 
 able state of harmony was interrupted by the revolution of 1812. A war 
 party of Seminole Indians attacked the plantation in my absence ; caught, 
 bound, and carried of, or killed, forty of them, whose reluctance in going with 
 the invaders may be easily imagined from the following circumstance. The 
 wife of a young man they had tied and were driving off, that her husband, who 
 was too strong to be handled, and who had his young child in his arms, might 
 follow ; but this he absolutely refused, handing over the child to his wife, and 
 saying that she knew best how to take care of it, but that his master should 
 never say that he was a runaway negro; upon which the Indian shot him, and 
 he died next day. 
 
 But my object.in this long digression is to show the danger and hurtful ten- 
 dency of superstition (by some called religion) among negroes whose ignoronce 
 and want of rationality render them fit subjects to work upon, I afterwards 
 purchased more new negrocs. A man, calling himself a minister, got among 
 them. It was now sinful to dance, work their corn or catch fish, on a Sunday ; 
 or to eat cat fish, because they had no scales; and if they did, they were to go 
 to a place where they would be tormented with fire and brimstone to all eter- 
 nity! They became poor, ragged, hungry, and disconsolate : to steal from me 
 was only to do justice—to take what belonged to them, because I kept them 
 in unjust bondage ; that all pastime or pleasure in this iniquitous world was 
 sinful; that this was only a place of sorrow and repentance, and the sooner 
 they were out of it the better; that they would then go to a good country, 
 where they would experience no want of any thing, and have no work nor 
 
21 
 
 cruel taskmaster, for that God was merciful, and would pardon any sin they | 
 committed; only it was necessary to pray and ask forgiveness, and have prayer 
 meetings, and contribute what they could to the church, &c. 
 
 - They accordingly formed private societies under church regulations, where 
 all were brothers and sisters, and, under an oath of the most horrid penalty, 
 never to tell or divulge any crime that would bring any brother or sister into 
 trouble, but to lay all the blame on those who had not united with them, and 
 who, of necessity, were obliged to join the fraternity, as soon as possible, in 
 their own defence. They had private nightly meetings, once or twice a week, 
 with abundance of preaching and praying, (for they all exhorted, men as well 
 as women,) with an ample entertainment from my hogs, for it was no sin to 
 steal for the church, the elders of which held it right to break open my corn 
 house, and provide amply for the meeting; so that, finally, myself and the 
 overseer became completely divested of all authority over the negroes. ‘The 
 latter even went so far as to consult the head men of the church whether or 
 not, according to religion, my orders ought to be obeyed! Severity had no 
 effect ; it only made it worse; and I really believe that, in several instances, 
 sick children were allowed to die, because the parents thought conscientiously 
 that it was meritorious to transfer their offspring from a miserable and wicked 
 world to a happy country, where they were in hopes of soon joining them! 
 
 I relate the above circumstance not from any disrespect or prejudice against 
 any particular religious profession ; but when it renders men unhappy and dis. 
 contented with their condition in life, by destroying local attachment and love 
 of country, it certainly should be rationally opposed: and I cannot help re- 
 gretting that honest well meaning men, with so much ability to do good, and 
 render mankind, especially the lower orders, happy and contented, should so 
 misapply their talents as to subvert all natural and rational happiness, and en- 
 deavor to render our species miserable. | 
 
 I was informed by a gentleman who lived near the Fishdam ford, on Broad 
 River, South Carolina, that his employer had made an experiment on the 
 management of negroes, of whom he was overseer, which answered extremely 
 well, and offers to us a strong case in favor of exciting ambition by cultivating 
 utility, local attachment, and moral improvement among slaves. He establish- 
 ed four or five plantations, not far apart, and stocked each of them with a 
 suitable proportion of hands, and work cattle, under a driver, who had the 
 entire management of every thing under his (the overseer’s) control. The 
 overseer’s duty merely extended to direct the driver on what land he was to 
 raise provisions, and where cotton was to be planted; with this understanding, 
 that all the cotton raised, after it was cleaned and packed, belong to the own. 
 er, and that all the hogs, corn, and provisions left after supplying the planta- 
 tion, belonged to the negroes, who might do with it as they pleased. 
 
 The consequence of this arrangement was, that these plantations, regulated 
 as before stated, turned out better crops than any other plantations of equal 
 force in that neighborhood, and the owner had no farther trouble nor expense 
 than furnishing the ordinary clothing and paying the overseer’s wages, so that 
 he could fairly be called free, seeing that he could realise his annual income 
 wherever he chose to reside, without paying the customary homage to servitude 
 of personal attendance on the operations of his slaves. 
 
 Good policy requires that all laws tending to demoralise the people by hold- 
 ing out a premium for perjury, should be abolished. Motives of policy, self. 
 preservation, or justice, on which laws should be founded, form little or no 
 part in such laws, as far as regards the free colored people of the South, (with 
 some exceptions, such as North Carolina and Louisiana,) which are dictated 
 in a spirit of intolerant prejudice and irresponsible autocracy, holding out to 
 people they nickname free, no positive reward or premium whatever for being 
 virtuous ; nothing to stimulate to industry or the acquisition of a good name, 
 learning, or refinement ; no kind of protection either for person or property ; 
 their destiny is already fixed by a mark of nature which has doomed to irrevo- 
 
22 
 
 cable disgrace its degraded bearer, who is singled out as a victim for cruelty, 
 avarice, and revenge; whose.punishment must be corporeal, not even excepts 
 ing the most delicate female, whose industry and virtue alone would place her 
 at the head of society in any other country. ‘The fruits of their industry must 
 be offered up as a temptation to the avarice of some nobler color, which alone 
 is privileged to hold and protect it. In short, liberty is merely nominal, with- 
 out any constitutional, protection. ‘They may be sold for debt to pay partial, 
 exhorbitant, and, tyrannical taxes or fines, all of which are unconstitutional. 
 Oppression is carried to its greatest. extreme, when a mother of the most un- 
 exceptionable moral character, leaving her family on account of ill health, and 
 going out of her mative state, is inexorably punished; by perpetual banishment 
 from her husband, children, friends, country, and all that is dear to her. 
 
 Since these severe enactments against, color, several of the most respectable 
 and enterprisir , young men, have. withdrawn from their native country and 
 entered into the Haytian. navy, and more will undoubtedly follow. I should 
 think it were better to induce such to remain at home as friends, than oblige 
 them to pass the Rubicon as enemies. 
 
 It has been. a favorite prcject of some of our least mathematical economists, 
 to transport all the colored people of the U. States to Africa, without consider- 
 ing that the cost of the annual increase alone, if purchased, when added to the 
 lowest possible freicht, would exceed the annual revenue of the United States. 
 Besides, the difficulty and stern opposition that would encounter a prostration 
 of all rights of property and liberty of person, they, would have to be put on board 
 in irons, under a strong guard, and be conveyed and landed with the same 
 military formality, to oppose the resentment of the natives whom they must 
 displace, as well as the vengeance of the convicts themselves, both of whose 
 lives must be sacrificed to famine or resentment at the despotic nod of cruelty 
 and superstition. 
 
 A great opportunity was lost of colonizing more rationaily at the late evacu- 
 ation of the Spanish part of Saint Domingo, where there would have been 
 ample room for all the colored people of the U. States, within five days sail of 
 
 Charleston. 
 
 A patriarchal feeling of affection is due to every slave from his owner, who. 
 
 should consider the slave as a member of his family, whose happiness and pro- 
 tection is identified with that of his own family, of which his slave constitutes 
 a part, according te his scale of condition. ‘This affection creates confidence 
 which becomes reciprocal, and is attended with the most beneficial conse- 
 quences to both. It certainly is humiliating to a proud master to reflect, that 
 he depends on his slave even for breadto eat. But such is the fact. 
 
 In most foreign coienies where spring is perpetual, Saturday is allowed the 
 slaves as a compensation for their furnishing their own provision, which chief- 
 ly consists of yams and plantains, produced almost spontaneously, or with 
 little laker, and abundance of sweet, nutritious, and farinacious fruits of ex- 
 quisite 1..vor, growing wild on the trees all the year round. ‘This not only 
 su,, ies them with delicious and wholesome food, but furnishes the means of 
 trafic in the towns at night, or to carry to market on Sunday, which is every 
 where celebrated as a day of freedom and rejoicing, similar to the practice at 
 New-Orleans. 
 
 Let any slave owner reficct and say, how much advantage the country would 
 derive from preaching up industry, economy, and local attachment to the 
 slaves; and, by pointing out to them the happy coincidence and wise and bene- 
 ficent dispensation of so much gocd which every where surrounds them, how 
 much ie would be deserving of universal respect and gratitude; instead of 
 preaching up terror and dismay, misery and discontent, “as dispensations of the 
 supreme author of all good. All local attachment and love of virtue must be 
 chilled or annihilated by, such intemperate abuse of supreme wisdom. Any 
 extreme.is said naturally to produce its opposite. Willan excess of error ever 
 produce truth ? 
 
 rie 
 
y 
 
 hs real ta 
 
. . a — am ¢ ios i Se 8 
 | a pe ee) 
 
 G&. 
 BY Pa! 
 
 THE 
 
 ae IN-OF SLAVERY, 
 
 REMEDY; 
 
 CONTAINING 
 SOME REFLECTIONS ON THE MORAL INFLUENCE 
 
 OF 
 
 AFRICAN COLONIZATION. 
 
 BY ELIZUR WRIGHT, JR. 
 Professor of Math. and Nat. Phil., Western Reserve College. 
 
 Therefore, all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to 
 them : for this is the law and the prophets.—JEsus Curisv. 
 
 / we 
 
 NEW-YORK: 
 
 PRINTED FOR THE AUTHOR. 
 
 1833. 
 
 ™4 
 
Entered according to an Act of Congress, in the year one thousand sight hundred and thirty-three, 
 by ELizur Waiaut, Je., in the Clerk’s Office of the Court of the United States, for the 
 Southern District of New-York. 
 
 W. OSRORN AND CO., PRINTERS 
 85 Chatham-street. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 PA i hi. 
 
 Tue American revolution was incomplete. It left one sixth part 
 of the population the victims of a servitude immeasurably more de- 
 basing, than that from which it delivered the rest. While this na- 
 tion held up its declaration of independence—its noble bill of human 
 rights, before an admiring world, in one hand ; it mortified the friends 
 of humanity, by oppressing the poor and defenceless with the other. 
 The progress of time has not lessened the evil. ‘There are now held 
 in involuntary and perpetual slavery, in the southern half of this ‘re- 
 public, more than 2,000,000 of men, women, and children, guarded 
 with a vigilance, which strives, and with success appalling as it is 
 complete, to shut out every ray of knowledge, human and divine, 
 and reduce them as nearly as possible to a level with the brutes. 
 These miserable slaves are not only compelled to labor without 
 choice and without hire, but they are subjected to the cruelty and 
 lust of their masters to an unbounded extent. In the northern states 
 there is very generally a sympathy with the slave-holders, and a 
 prejudice against the slaves, which shows itself in palliating the 
 crime of slave-holding, and in most unrighteously disregarding the 
 rights, and vilifying the characters of the free colored men. 
 
 At the same time, slavery, as a system, is {in a certain sense) con- 
 demned. It is confessed to be a great evil, “a moral evil,” and, 
 when the point is urged, a sen. The slaves, it is admitted, have 
 rights—every principle of honesty, justice, and humanity, “an the 
 abstract,’ calls aloud that they should be made free.. The word of 
 God is in their favour. . Indeed, there is no ground claimed by the 
 abettors of slavery, on which they pretend to justify it for a mo- 
 ment, but a supposed—a begred—expediency, baseless as the driven 
 clouds. I say baseless, for while not a single fact has ever been pro- 
 duced, going to show the danger of putting the slaves, all at once, 
 under the protection of law, and employing them as free laborers, 
 there have been produced, on the other side, varied and fair experr 
 ments showing, that it is altogether safe and profitable. 
 
 In this state of things where has the American church stood? 
 Has she too sympathized with the hearts of the Pharaohs? Or has 
 she, in the spirit of the martyrs of former times, borne an unflinching 
 testimony against this sin? Alas! the painful truth stares us in the 
 face. She has come down from the high and ‘firm foundation of 
 scripture truth, and is progessedly at work upon a floating expediency, 
 doing against slavery what can be done upon the unchecked current 
 of popular prejudice. Speaking through the organ of the Coloniza- 
 tion Society, she has admitted all that the most determined slave- 
 
oo A 
 
 holder could ask, and she is doing just that, and no more, which so 
 far as he understands the subject, he hails with pleasure as a safe- 
 guard to his property in human bodies and souls. This is the testi- 
 mony of slave-holders themselves—most competent witnesses. 
 
 Is further evidence needed? When the American Colonization 
 Society, as a remedy for slavery, has been called in question, as well 
 it might be for its tardiness, if for no other reason, there has been 
 manifested a determination to hush inquiry. There has been a 
 most pusillanimous shivering and shrinking from the probe. Nay, 
 the few men who, in the uncompromising spirit of Christian benevo- 
 lence, have ur ced this inquiry, have been slandered as disturbers of 
 the public peace,—have been assailed with abusive epithets, not by 
 slave-holders only, but by their brethren in the bosom of the church. 
 
 A most singular spectacle is presented in this enlightened and 
 Christian age; a handful of philanthropists, dare to denounce a sys- 
 tem of legalized oppression, and to charge guilt upon all who uphold 
 it; upon this, not. only do the principals in crime, as might be ex- 
 pected, ascribe the whole to sheer malice, but the leaders of the 
 Christian church, as ought not to be expected, endorse, and give cur- 
 rency to the charge, and throw the whole weight of their cold and 
 crushing influence to smother in its cradle this attempt at a gospel 
 reformation. 
 
 What does all this mean? Are Christians in these northern states 
 interested in upholding slavery? Are they unwilling to be con- 
 
 vinced that their colored brethren are better than the slanders of 
 their oppressors would make them? Are they sure, beyond a doubt, 
 that the colonization scheme will relieve our country of the mighty 
 evil which is crushing it? that it is the Christian way to relieve it ? 
 Ayre they on good evidence convinced that it is not expedient to say 
 to the wicked, ‘‘O wicked man, thou shalt surely die?” Must they 
 have p&ace at any rate—peace, though the groans of millions should 
 ascend and mingle with the muttering thunders of coming wrath ? 
 Will they have it, that if a word is said agvainsta mere experiment, to 
 test the practicability of rescuing the victim by flattering the oppres- 
 sor, the whole cause of Christian benevolence is attacked? If not, 
 why not welcome inquiry? <A thorough investigation—a looking 
 on both sides, would surely dono harm. Those defenders of truth who 
 have shunned such inquiry,- have always proved themselves short- 
 sighted. The cause of God courts scrutiny—aits advocates are thrown 
 into no unseemly agitation when they are most rigorously sifted. 
 
 The subject cries aloud for more earnest consideration than it has 
 yet received. More than two millions of outraged, down-trodden 
 men cry out, shall we die in this sore bondage that white Christians 
 may have the pleasure of attempting to shun God’s wrath without 
 repenting of sin? Half a million of free colored men cry out— 
 America is our country—the land for which owr fathers bled as well 
 as yours. Why will you seek to banish*us? The wrongs of the 
 poor Indian cry aloud, There is no safety in league with transgres- 
 sors! ‘'he present political aspect of the South cries out, that ty- 
 rants do not regard law! Six hundred millions of idolaters cry out 
 
5 
 
 to the American church, “ Why pluckest thou the mote out of thy 
 brother’s eye, and behold a beam is in thine own!” 
 
 Let us, Christian brethren, for I will not waste an appeal upon 
 those who do not acknowledge the authority of the Gospel, dispas- 
 sionately, and in the fear of God, look this inquiry inthe face—Js 
 the Colonization Society doing what the Gospel requires to be done for 
 the removal of slavery and its concomitant sins? 
 
 GHA P TE RL: 
 SLAVERY A SIN. 
 
 We must first take a view of the evil to be remedied. A very 
 material inquiry meets us at the outset. -Is slavery, in all circum- 
 stances, or at least in all the circumstances in which it exists in this: 
 country, a sin ?—a violation of the divine prohibition, THov sHALtT 
 NOT STEAL ? 
 
 In regard to the wretch who steals a man on the coast of Africa, 
 and sells him into bondage, there is no longer any doubt. The 
 curses of all parties meet upon his devoted head. Neither is the 
 slave-merchant exculpated, nor does he deserve to be. His guilt is 
 probably still greater than that of the kidnapper. He sins against 
 greater light. He dwys a man, knowing him to be stolen, and sub- 
 jects him to the nameless horrors of the “middle passage.’ The 
 nations have pronounced his doom, along with that of the pirate and 
 the murderer; and this notwithstanding any palliating circumstan- 
 ces. Should he plead, when taken on the high seas, that he ac- 
 knowledged the reception of those slaves to be wrong, but he had 
 received them, and what could he do?—should he liberate them in 
 the midst of the ocean ?—he would plead in vain. 
 
 Let us follow up this course of. sin, to see, if possible, where it 
 meets those modifying circumstances which take away its guilt. 
 “At the next step we see the stolen African standing on the shore of 
 a Christian country. Within sight of Christian temples it is cried, 
 “What will you bid fora man?’ Is that man guiltless who bids 
 and buys an immortal being, and subjects him to his own use, as he 
 would a horse? Does he not thus uphold, and justify, and take 
 upon his own shoulders, the sin of the slave-merchant? Nay, does 
 he not stand in the relation of a principal to all the accessary agents 
 who have been concerned in the wicked transaction before him ? 
 If the government allows, it surely does not compel him to buy. 
 He himself, in his own voluntary act, is the entroducer of slavery ; 
 and his cuilt too has been pronounced by the public voice, uttered 
 through the American Colonization, Society. That Society has 
 said repeatedly that the guilt of slavery ‘rests not on the present 
 slave-holders, but upon those who wntroduced the system.” 
 
6 
 
 But let us proceed. Let us suppose, for the sake of simplicity, 
 that the poor African, whom we have been contemplating, and his 
 family, were the only slaves in the land. He was bought—it was 
 the consummation of his wrongs. No matter whether his master 
 be kind or cruel, in regard to the justice of the thing; the African 
 1S an Innocent man, and has aright every where to liberty and the 
 safe government of law.. What! will a man claim the right to buy 
 and use his fellow man, at the caprice of his own will, as he would 
 a brute, because, forsooth, he is kind and benevolent? Or, will he 
 eo aright to the slave because, contrary to right, he paid for 
 
 im ? 
 
 But we go forward. The poor slave submits to his hard lot. He 
 bows his neck to the yoke. He renounces,’along with the inde- 
 pendence, all the responsibilities of a man; and learns, for his second 
 nature, to anticipate every wish of his master, of whatever kind. 
 He sees his children treated as brutes, and he learns to consider him- 
 self and them as belonging to an inferior race. In the meantime his 
 master, having grown old in his transgression, dies. He had no 
 claim to be considered a Christian, “ for if a man say that he loves 
 God, and hateth his brother, he isa liar.” No, ina land of Bibles 
 he dies amidst the terrors of unrepented sin. His children stand 
 around his dying bed and see the agony of his sinking spirit as hope 
 takes her returnless flight. Where now are the circumstances which 
 justify the children in going forward in the same course? With 
 their father’s damning guilt before them, blazing in the light of 
 God’s curse, can they divide among themselves that wretched family 
 of slaves as an inheritance? If they do, they may well be said to 
 inherit their father’s sin—they commence the business of sinning 
 not like their father, upon their own resources, but with an accumu- 
 lated and fearfully productive capital. Why they sreat afresh, be- 
 neath the gallows, that very thing for which their father paid the | 
 last penalty of the violated law! they dare heaven and earth, be- 
 tween which he was suspended, to do their worst !! 
 
 The slaves increase. ‘They furnish now both the excitement and 
 the gratification to their masters’ lusts. Industry, economy, and 
 every household virtue, are impaired on the part of the master; in 
 their place are nurtured sloth, pride, cruelty, and ungovernable pas- 
 sion, ‘The hand of tyranny becomes so heavy that the poor, crushed 
 slave can no longer bear it; he now gives occasional but terrific 
 proof that he is a man. Henceforward. fear and trembling, by day 
 and by night, are the price paid for the indulgence of arbitrary power. 
 As generation after generation passes away, the curse of God grows 
 heavier, and the thunders of his coming wrath swell to a louder tone. 
 
 Now, I ask again, where are the circumstances which go to justify 
 ‘slave- “holding 2 Are they to be found in the consequences ?—conse- 
 quences fraucht with blasting and mildew to the fields, and deep 
 ‘damnation to the souls of the slave-holders? Are they to be found 
 in the human law, which, we may suppose, has by this time forbid- 
 den the liberation of slaves? The very question regards the right- 
 eousness of the law. Can an unrighteous law justify an unright- 
 
7 
 
 eous action ? ” Does the law speak to the conscience against God, 
 or does God speak to the conscience against the law? With what 
 face can these slave-holders, with all their Bibles, and their lucid 
 facts, and their repeated warnings, and the groans of the prison- 
 house sounding in their ears, lay back the entire guilt upon the za- 
 troducer of slavery—the mere originator of an experiment which 
 they have brought to result in a hell upon earth—and still persevere 
 in the same course? With what face can a slave-holding judge, 
 fed, and clothed, and charioted in splendor by the forced action of 
 bought and sold human muscles, pronounce sentence of death 
 upon the kidnapper who has, it may be, stolen a single African from 
 his barbarous home? Can sin be multiplied into righteousness * 
 
 Again, are the transforming Circumstances to be found in the 
 character of the slave-holders? Multitudes of slave-holders are said 
 to be Christians—ornaments to the church of God—forward in 
 every benevolent work, But in estimating their character, what 
 weight has been given to their slave-holding? Is not that one of 
 the elements of their character? Would it not materially affect 
 our estimate of the piety of the Apostle Paul, if we were to learn 
 that he retained, till the day of his death, in the city of Tarsus, a 
 patrimony of slaves, whom, so long as they remained there, he might 
 not liberate, nor teach to read a syllable of his epistles, on pain of 
 death? Could he have elaimed sincerity for his exhortation, “ Mas- 
 ters, give unto servants that which is just and equal,” if he kept 
 men in involuntary and perpetual servitude without wages ? 
 
 “But many slave-holders are kind, and generous, and hospitable 
 Must every tyrant of course put on the demeanor of a tiger? Must 
 every sinner’s brow, at all times, be ruffled with the malice of a 
 demon? Why, the very tiger is playful-with his mates. The very 
 demon knows how to flatter and caress, and put on all the attract- 
 iveness of an angel. Surely, while slave-holding forms a material 
 trait in the character, to justify it on the ground of character, is to 
 bee the question. God has made our state of affection towards our 
 fellow men, embracing the vilest and poorest, a test of our love to 
 him: This test must be applied, whomsoever it may offend, and 
 whatsoever pretensions it may demolish. Moreover, it is abundantly 
 confirmed by the history of the past, that the most flagrant trans- 
 gressors may show much respect to God, and be sufliciently just to 
 their equals. God said to his ancient prophet, ‘‘ Cry aloud, spare 
 not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and show my people their trans- 
 gressions, and the house of Jacob their sins. Yet they seek me daily, 
 and delight to know my ways, as a nation that did nghteousness, 
 and forsook not the ordinances of their God; they ask of me the or- 
 dinances of justice ; they take delight'in approaching to God.” We 
 must then look beyond apparent piety to God, to find a justification 
 for unrighteousness towards man. 
 
 Is not a justification found in the necessities of the case? Cana 
 man liberate his slaves at the south if he would? What is there to 
 hinder? Is there any command of God against it? Is public 
 opinion necessity? Are human laws necessities? So thought not 
 
 p? 
 
 wheter ¢ 
 
8 
 
 the Christian martyrs. . They braved death for doctrines; would they 
 have done less for practice? If slave-holding be a sin, it cannot be ne- 
 cessary ; God never places his creatures under a necessity of sinning. 
 It-is necessary to obey God—to live is not always necessary. This, 
 even in the worst possible case; but bad as American slavery 1s, it 
 has not yet come to this. The slave-holder may yet remove with 
 his slaves and emancipate them—the sacrifice of ill-gotten wealth is 
 the sole necessity which can now exist. 
 
 _ Hitherto we have not come up with any of those potent, but fugi- 
 tive circumstances, which can transmute an abstract sin into a “sa- 
 cred duty.” Whither have they fled? Have they*betaken them- 
 selves to the fields of fancy 2 Have they found an abiding place, at 
 length, in the shadowy limbo of supposed consequences? So I am 
 constrained to think. © 
 
 It is heard from the south, and re-echoed from the remotest north, 
 that instant emancipation “would be but an act of dreamy madness’ 
 —the fatal match to produce a most appalling and destructive ex- 
 plosion. A reformation so sudden, it is said, would be worse than 
 the sin. But where are the facts? In the name of sacred verity, 
 where are the racts? We must have evidence, the same in 
 kind, and not less in, degree, than that which convinces us that 
 the sun will rise to-morrow, before we. believe that God has-so 
 constituted his creatures, that they must continue in one sin to avoid 
 another, or that there is danger in being just and merciful. In the 
 entire absence of facts which prove them, and in the face of facts 
 which disprove them, I must believe that the evil consequences of 
 immediate emancipation, are confined to the fancies of the apologists 
 of sin. 
 
 If then there is guilt any where, it rests in full weight upon the 
 present slave-holder. In vain he looks around him for those modi- 
 fying circumstances which may change his crime to a misfortune. 
 Out of his own mouth he is condemned: He admits the guilt of the 
 kidnapper, the slave-merchant, the original purchaser—and why ? 
 Not simply because their transient agency was marked with cruelty, 
 but because the consequence was the perpetual slavery of a race, and 
 the entail upon a fair country of a blighting curse—a consequence 
 for which he, in his place, is responsible. Gruilt, however, is not 
 measured by the consequences of action, but by some known rule. 
 To say nothing of the voice of conscience, the Word of God is plain: 
 “Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.’ Who would put him- 
 self under the arbitrary control of an individual, rather than under 
 the mild and steady government of law? Who would, himself, be 
 willing to labor without wages, and have his own support, and 
 that of his family, depend upon the will of any man, however good ? 
 “Thou shalt not steal,” says the supreme law; but the slave-holdey_ 
 is a perpetual thief. He steals, not “to satisfy his soul when | 
 hungry,” but to feast on dainties, to pamper every lust. There can- 
 not be made out a clearer case of violation of divine law, than slave; 
 holding. The very permission given to the Israelites to makeSer- 
 vants of the heathen who dwelt about them, is a proof against the 
 
A 
 
 Py 
 
 slave-holder. Did God grant an express permission to his people to 
 buy and use oxen? An express permission implies that a thing 
 would be wrong without it. But the Bible contains positive 
 instruction on this subject which is applicable to all,—fair eXposi- 
 tions of the general law in regard to this very thing. “Is not this 
 the fast that I have chosen? ‘To loose the bands of wickedness, to 
 undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that 
 ye break every yoke ?’—Isa. lviii. 6. “Masters, give unto your 
 servants that which is just and equal; knowing that ye also, have 
 a Master in heaven.’—Col. iv. 1. In the first epistle to Timothy, 
 first chapter, tenth verse, the Apostle classes men-stealers with whore- 
 tnongers, liars, perjured persons, and the like; on this passage there 
 stood in the standard of the Presbyterian Church, till 1818, this very 
 appropriate comment: “ Men-stealers among the Jews Were exposed 
 to capital punishment; and the Apostle Paul classes them with sin- 
 ners of the first rank. Stealers of men are all those who bring off 
 slaves or free men, and keep, sell, or buy them; comprehending all 
 those who are concerned in bringing any of the human race into 
 slavery, or detaining them in it.” | 
 _~ But in 1818 this note was struck out. That is, when the Gene- 
 _ ral Assembly of the Presbyterian Church saw that the “ thieves” 
 were respectable, “then it consented with them, and became parta- 
 kers with adulterers.” And has God indeed placed a church in the 
 world to say that his law is too severe? Do his redeemed people 
 tarry in this wilderness on their way to glory, to keep sin in counte: 
 nance by sympathizing with shameless rebels? If God asks the 
 transgressor, what will you do when I shall deal with you? What 
 will you answer when J shall make inquisition for blood 2 Is the 
 church to rise up and cry, this is not a religious but a political ques- 
 toon—it will exasperate sinners, it will divide Christians, it will 
 grieve the blessed spirit, it will put an end to revivals. Well mig 
 God say of such a church, “'They draw near to me with their 
 mouths.” 
 
 “But we hope better things, though we thus speak.” The church, 
 as a body, (I speak without respect to denominations, ) has taken her 
 view of slavery, not from the word of God, but from a supposed ex- 
 pediency. She has considered it a political question, settled by an 
 authority with which she has no concern. Moreover she has heard — 
 the statement of one party only; the slave-holder has told his story, 
 but the poor slave has not been heard. Let the doctrines of scripture 
 be now at length preached ; let the facts, the woful, blood-stained 
 facts, be spread out; let the tale of a slave's wrongs enter the ear, 
 and the church, as a body, will rise in the might of truth. Her tes- 
 timony will be uttered, and heard, and felt. She will speak out, and 
 trust God for the consequences. 
 
 Again, the guilt of slave-holding may be clearly seen from the re- 
 lation it holds to acknowledged sins. I have already hinted at this ; 
 
 but let us look it more fully in the face. Why has it come to be a 
 settled point, (in the abstract, the slavery apologists would say,) that 
 man is unfit to be intrusted with despotic power? Why, but that 
 2 
 
10 
 
 this very power stands in the relation of a fruitful parent to all the 
 transgressions of the second table of the law? Destroying natural 
 affection, exciting anger, lust, extortion, falsehood, and cruel cove- 
 tousness? What is the testimony of facts in regard to slavery in 
 republican America? Look at the prodigality and shameless profli- 
 gacy of southern youth, How many ason has been sent to the 
 distant University, surrounded with whatever advantages wealth 
 could procure, and after having been subjected to all that is reforma- 
 tory in discipline, and stimulating in the love of praise, has returned 
 to his house a ruined debauchee, made so by the vices that he carried 
 from his father’s roof? Did che parent’s heart break? No: it was 
 the heart of a slave-holder—it was..too hard! It thrust away the 
 undutiful child from the scene of his first lessons in guilt, to the riper 
 instruction of hoary-headed gamblers, profligates, and duellists. 
 Look again at the shameless violation of the seventh commandment. 
 Read the proof in the thousands of mulattos born of black mothers 
 every year—born to be treated hke brutes by their own fathers! 
 Shall I enter into further details? Most easily I might, but the task 
 is needless. ‘The abomination is open, the cry has gone up to hea- 
 ven, the very sun turns pale! ‘Shall I not be avenged on such a 
 nation as this, saith the Lord 2” 
 
 But is there no reproving, reforming spirit among them? Does 
 not the Christian pulpit thunder forth the penalties of the insulted 
 law? Is there not an intrepid remnant of God’s elect, whose lives 
 are a standing rebuke to the general corruption? No, the pulpit is 
 spell-bound. The message of God is clothed in pointless general- 
 ities. The righteous are tamer than Lot in Sodom. The prophet 
 dares not to take forth the precious from the vile; I speak of the 
 general fact. If there are men, and I rejoice to believe there are 
 few, who dare openly to attack slavery on Bible ground, they are 
 
 regarded as insane by their brethren. ‘Their most celebrated philan- 
 thropists, in view of all the sins of the system, think they have done 
 enough when they have exposed, what every slave-holder knew well 
 enough before, the pecuniary waste which attends it. ‘They lig 
 that a clear demonstration of the pecuniary unprofitableness of sla- ‘\, 
 very will supersede the necessity of any more direct and hazardous \ 
 aggression, Vain hope! Will the loss of property stop the drunk- 
 ard, or the gambler, or the debauchee? The slaves are held by the e/) 
 Just of power and the lust of pleasure. Are these passions—che./ 
 rished, fortified, enthroned in the heart as they are, to be weakened 
 and expelled by the love of money ? 
 
 Let those cherish such hopes who can shut out the glorious sun at. 
 noon-day, and illuminate themselves with rushlights, For one I 
 disclaim all respect for such childish absurdity, and cowardly good 
 nature. If man is not a soulless brute, the whole system of slavery, 
 in all its parts, by whatsoever circumstances surrounded, and by 
 whomsoever upheld, is a monstrous sin, a most comprehensive and 
 damning iniquity, for which it is downright treason against God to 
 offer the shadow of an apology, and for which there is no cers 
 but the uncompromising truth of the Gospel. 
 
tt 
 
 Such is the slavery which cleaves to our republic, and holds in its 
 fist, defying heaven’s wrath, one sixth part of our population. Who 
 shall gauge the current of its wo? Who shall calculate the 
 amount of sighs, and tears, and wailines, and of unspoken anguish, 
 that have flowed through it during one hundred and fifty years ? 
 Who shall sum up the bitter complaints which it has poured into the 
 ear of an avenging God? + Who shall despise the coming retribu- 
 tion? Let those do so, if they will, who represent slavery as a 
 curse which we innocently inherit from our fathers—which we can- 
 not throw off, however much we may desire to. I must be permit- 
 ted to “tremble for my country,” while I regard it as a crvme which 
 has polluted this whole nation fom the lakes to the gulf, and from 
 the river tothe sea. While I claim the right, nay, while I avow 
 the imperative obligation, thus to denounce slavery, be it understood 
 that it is not on the ground of my own innocefice. ‘The conscious- 
 ness of past gwi/é sometimes impels a man to speak the terrors of the 
 law in the ear of a fellow sinner. Slavery is not the exclusive sin of 
 the South. Northern ships and northern capital helped to introduce 
 it; and northern capital and northern morality throw the strongest 
 shield around the system at this moment. And is this a reason why 
 northern men, washing their own hands of the guilt, should not 
 raise their voices against it? Is it not rather a reason why they 
 should do it the more earnestly 2? If slavery has polluted the moral 
 atmosphere of the nation; if it has stupified the conscierice, and 
 paralized the energy, of the church of God—if it has written “ hy- 
 pocrisy’ upon the portals of the sanctuary, and thrown doubt upon 
 the very existence of love for souls, (and who will say that it has’ 
 not ?) shall those who see, and know, and feel all this, smother their 
 convictions of duty? And for what ? 
 
 Or should such language seem too harsh, (for I would not be 
 guilty of uttering truth in words which are ¢oo true,) if there is any 
 apparent inconsistency in professing to love God, while we do so 
 little for 2,000,000 of our fellow men, who are laboring under the 
 peculiar disadvantages of domestic servitude, and while, indeed, as a 
 community, we hardly express somuch sympathy with them as with 
 their masters, will it not be expedient for those who can do it con- 
 scientiously, to say that slavery is always wrong—or even wicked— 
 as a sort of foundation for their efforts towards its removal? I ask 
 those sober men, who have sharpened their vision by looking after 
 consequences and circumstances in the dim field of political expe- 
 diency, was any great triumph ever won in favor of truth, by con- 
 cealing truth? 
 
4 
 
 CHAPTER TI. 
 COLONIZATION AS A REMEDY. 
 
 Iv needs not be said to any wakeful observer of things as they 
 are, that sin always surrounds itself with obstacles to repentance: 
 It lands upon a forbidden shore, burns the ship, draws the sword, 
 throws away the scabbard, and proclaims itself under a necessity of 
 rushing forward. The thief is careful, as soon as may be, to trans- 
 mute the stolen goods, so as to put restoration out of the question. 
 The drunkard has so modified his constitution, that he must, in his 
 own apprehension, persevere in his course, or, at least, not break off 
 suddenly, which amounts to exactly the same thing. The liar has 
 so involved himself in a web of falsehood, that to burst away at once, 
 would, in his view, be worse than to adda little more of the same sin. 
 The prodigal, amidst his riotous excess, finds moments to think of 
 repentance; but the sneers of the wicked, and the mockery of the 
 fools, whom his wasteful expenditure has drawn around him, rise as 
 mighty obstacles in the way of his return. Now, of how much 
 avail would it be to remove these obstacles, without doing any thing 
 else to secure repentance. Do any, or all of*them amount to a ne- 
 cessity ? Does the wicked heart, which first broke away from duty 
 of its own accord, grow weary of its course, and would it return but 
 for the insuperable barriers which it has left behind it? Are the 
 most high-handed tyrants the unfortunate prisoners of circumstances, 
 who would gladly avail themselves of the opportunity to escape, if 
 some friendly hand without, would unbar the gate? Something 
 very much like this is involved in the proposition, that the American 
 Colonization Society is adapted to remove the sin of slavery. “That 
 Society justifies slavery, on the plea of a present nesessety ;—the ty- 
 rants own plea. It finds this necessity in the laws which forbid 
 manumission, or, perhaps, in the reason for such laws, namely, the 
 alleged fact, that the free blacks in the slave-holding states, are more 
 wretched than the slaves, and that they are dangerous as excite- 
 ments to rebellion. Just what it pretends to do, and no more, is to 
 remove this necessity, by removing the free blacks and the slaves as 
 fast as they are made free. Now the question is, has this any ten- 
 dency to secure the abolition, however gradual, of slavery? I an- 
 swer just as much as the following proclamation would have to re- 
 cover stolen property. | 
 TAKE NOTICE! ; 
 
 The person who stole a watch from Y. Z. is hereby informed, 
 that he is considered guilty in the abstract ; but, now that he has 
 stolen it, a necessity prevents the restitution, inasmuch as he is 
 known to belong to a gang of thieves, who have bound themselves 
 not to restore any thing, and as it would be attended with a loss of 
 character—a far greater evil than the retention of the watch :—There- 
 fore, I will carefully abstain from all measures which might occasion 
 
13 
 
 such an unhappy development. But I am charged to recover the 
 
 watch; and that the necessity of retaining it may be removed, I pro- 
 
 mise to ask no questions of the person who shall leave it, when it 
 
 may suit his convenience, at my office. A. B. 
 
 Agent for the owner. 
 
 Have not the slave-holders themselves, for more than one hundred 
 and fifty years, been making this necessity stronger? And does 
 this argue any general willingness to manumit the slaves, if the ne- 
 cessity were removed? What has created and augmented this 
 necessity, but the determination ‘to retain the slaves in ‘bondage ? 
 Do the laws against the instruction of slaves, show any willingness 
 to profit by the removal of this pretended necessity y? 
 
 The very reasons assigned for the laws against manumission with- 
 out removal, are direct proofs of the unwillingness of the great body 
 of slave-holders to manumit their slaves uf they could-~ What is the 
 cause of the extreme “ wretchedness” of the free black#at the South 2 
 We have it from the mouth of a slave-holder—want of employment. 
 Here is the whole secret. Ifa few negros, from their own indus- 
 try, or the conscientiousness of their masters, gain their freedom, the 
 whole community of slave-holders turn round and trample them in 
 the dust. ‘They refuse them employment, without which poor men 
 cannot live honestly, and then complain of them for bemg thieves ! 
 and point at them as being in worse condition than the slaves! 
 Does this show any disposition to substitute free for slave labor ? 
 
 Again, the slave-holders fear the free blacks as incitements to ser- 
 vile rebellions. Would they, if they were sincerely desirous to rid 
 themselves of their slaves? ‘The slaves would rebel, simply to get 
 their freedom. It is wnsafe to keep them in bondage. Send away 
 the free—make slavery more safe, and will the master be more dis- 
 posed to give up the slave ? Will Pharaoh relent when the plague 
 is withdrawn? Why does he not send his slaves to Liberia? There 
 would be no danger of the free exciting insurrection among the 
 slaves, if there were no slaves: 
 
 Pe “Again: southern colonizationists cannot be serious in proposing 
 the removal of the whole colored population, for they well enough 
 know that this cannot be effected without the substitution of a class 
 of white laborers, a problem evidently more difficult than the remo- 
 val of the blacks, and yet their plan takes no cognizance of any re- 
 placement. Indeed, in their own expressive language, they contem- 
 plate nothing more than “a drain for the excessive increase’—an 
 
 \ artificial antidote to nature’s cure for slavery. 
 
 ‘There needs no further proof that the main body of slave-holders, 
 who'create the laws, and give tone to public sentiment, would not 
 be moved a hair towards the manumission of their slaves by the re- 
 moval of the so called necessity for retaining them. ‘This action of 
 the Society, then, if it takes effect at all, must do so upon the few 
 scattered individuals, too few to forma measurable minority, who 
 do not assent to the laws. From these few, those must be subtract- 
 ed whose consciences are thoroughly awakened, for the removal of 
 this necessity from their way would be plainly a work of superero- 
 
14. 
 
 gation, There would then remain to be acted on, a class of sinners 
 who are in the condition of slightly preferring some other sin to that 
 of slave-holding. Relieve them of their “ durden,’ and one conse- 
 quence will certainly follow—they will feel less personal interest 10 
 the laws with regard to slavery, so that the formation of a minority, 
 even in the legislatures, in opposition to the laws, and in favor of 
 abolition, will be effectually prevented. 
 
 But I will weary my obliging reader no longer by seriously exa- 
 mining an argument, which owes to a prevalent and wicked preju- 
 dice against the Africans, its salvation from overwhelming contempt. 
 Transfer the scene to the empire of Morocco. How far would it go 
 towards the liberation of a large body of American slaves supposed 
 to be there, to offer to transport them, not to the land of their fathers, 
 but to their own native land, for which they were pining in despair? 
 Is the parallel denied? How can it be accounted for, if it is indeed 
 a fact, that Christian slave-holders, after having broken through all 
 the holy restraints of Christianity, are a more tender-hearted, spon- 
 taneously repentant race than the Mahommedan Moors ? 
 
 But it has been said, the Society exerts a moral influence against 
 slavery. Does it, indeed? And where is the moral machinery 
 which it has set at work? Is it found in the authorized publications ° 
 of the Society? Weare taught by them that slavery is a great 
 evil, and that there was great gwilé somewhere. But the bolts of its di- 
 rect rebuke—how harmless!—shorn smooth of every thing that 
 could hurt the proverbial sensitiveness of a tyrant! 
 
 The following passages are extracted from a very elaborate “ de- 
 velopment of the true principles and character of the Society,” 
 marked No. 3, in the Appendix to the Fourteenth Annual Report. 
 They embrace all the passages in that paper, in which the Society 
 speaks with any distinctness on the moral character of slavery, 
 along with some of fhe neutralizing matter which is thrown in quite 
 profusely. ‘The opinions of the founders of the Society are appealed 
 to. Judge Washington had said: 
 
 “Should it [colonization] lead, as we may fairly hope it will, to 
 the slow but gradual abolition of slavery, it will wipe from our po- 
 litical institutions the only blot which stains them, and in palliation 
 of which we shall not be at liberty to plead the excuse of moral ne- 
 cessity,(/) until we shall have honestly exerted all the means which 
 we possess for its extinction.” 
 
 Mr. Mercer had said, “‘ Many thousand individuals in our native 
 state, you well know, Mr. President, are restrained, as you and L are, 
 by the melancholy conviction that they cannot yield to the sugges- 
 tions of humanity, without manifest injury to their country. The 
 laws of Virginia now discourage, and very wisely, perhaps, the 
 emancipation of slaves. But the very policy on which they are 
 founded will afford every facility to emancipation, when the colont- 
 zation of the slave will be the consequence of his liberation.” 
 
 Mr. Clay had said, “ Let the colony once be successfully planted, 
 and legislative bodies, who have been grieved at the necessity of 
 passing those prohibitory laws, which, at a distance, mmght < appear 
 
15 
 to stain our codes, will hasten to remove the  eiaueanaas st to the exer- 
 cise of benevolence and humanity.” 
 
 General Harper, in his letter, had said, ‘lt tends, and may power- 
 fully tend, to rid us gradually and ‘entirely, in the United States, of 
 slaves and slavery, a great moral and political evil, of increasing 
 virulence and extent, from which much mischief is now felt, and 
 very great calamity in future is justly apprehended. * * * * This 
 great end is to be attained in no other way, than by a plan of Unt- 
 versal Colonization, founded on the consent of the slave-holders, and 
 of the colonists themselves.” P 
 
 From the Society's Memorial to Congress. 
 
 “Tt is now reduced to be a maxim, equally approved in philosophy 
 and practice, that the existence of distinct and separate castes or 
 classes, forming exceptions to the general system of policy adapted 
 to the community, is an inherent vice in the composition of society, 
 pregnant with baneful consequences, both. moral and political, and 
 demanding the utmost exertion of human energy and gecpient to 
 remedy or remove it.” 
 
 The same memorial speaks thus, after speaking of the “ unfortu- 
 nate condition of the FREE PEOPLE oF CoLoR, and the consequent 
 injury to the public welfare’—“ 'The evil has become so apparent, 
 and the necesszty for a remedy so palpable, that some of the most 
 considerable of the slave-holding states, have been induced to impose 
 restraints upon the practice of emancipation, by annexing conditions 
 which have no effect but to transfer the evil from one state to another, 
 or by inducing: other states to adopt countervailing regulations, and 
 in the total abrogation of a right, which benevolent or conscientious 
 proprietors had long enjoyed under the sanction of positive law, and 
 of ancient usage.’ 
 
 Mark how the abrogation of the iiaite of the conscientious, is pal- 
 liated by the tyrant’s plea—vecessity! But, good reader, let us re- 
 strain our indignation for the present—we may have further use 
 for it. 
 
 From the second Report, ‘a formal and official declaration of the 
 sentiments of the Society.” 
 
 “It (the Society) has been suggested to be an invention of the 
 southern proprietor, to rivet the claims of servitude upon his slaves, 
 as if the circumstances which accompanied the origin of the Society, 
 the character of its members, and their solemn and reiterated decla- 
 rations, did not forbid so unfounded an imputation. It would not be 
 more uncandid to ascribe to them a design to invade the rights of 
 private property, secured by the constitution and laws of the several 
 slave-holding states, and to proclaim Universal Emancipation.” — 
 What is this but to say, that proclaiming universal emancipation. is 
 invading rights? What is it but to say, that the right of property in 
 man must not be questioned ? 
 
 Those who established the Society, “ had no desire or intention of. 
 interfering, 27 any way, with the vighis or the interests of the pro- 
 prietors of slaves.” 
 
16 
 ‘ ) 
 
 “They considered slavery a great moral and political evil, and 
 cherished the hope and belief that the successful prosecution of their 
 object would offer powerful motives, and exert a persuasive influence, 
 in favor of voluntary emancipation.” 
 
 “Tt is equally plain and undeniable, that the Society, in the pro- 
 secution of this work, has never interfered, or evinced even a dispo- 
 sition to interfere, in any way, with the ricu'Ts of proprietors of 
 slaves.” 
 
 “But it may be said that the Society has expressed the opinion 
 that slavery is a moral and political evil, and that it has regarded 
 the scheme of colonization as presenting motives, and exerting a 
 moral influence at the South, favorable to gradual and voluntary 
 emancipation. This is true, and-it is this, beyond all question, 
 which has secured to it the countenance and patronage of our most 
 profound and sagacious statesmen, and given to this scheme a pecu- 
 liar attractiveness and glory in the view of the enlightened friends 
 of their country and mankind.” 
 
 “ And is the Society to be held up as odious and dangerous, be- 
 cause it entertains and avows the opinion that slavery is an evil? Is 
 not this a truth inscribed, as it were, upon the firmament of heaven, 
 and the face of the world, and the heart of man? Would not a de- 
 nial of it be a denial of the fundamental principle of all free govern- 
 ment? And is the Society to be condemned for assuming as fruth, 
 what even the Southern Review does not hesitate unequivocally and 
 repeatedly to avow, while arguing, very ingentously, in defence of 
 southern RicHTS and southern POLICY ?” 
 
 Look at this, reader: ponder it well. The Society, on its own 
 confession, goes no farther in reprobating slavery, than do the advo- 
 cates of slavery themselves! By demonstrating this, it has at length 
 “eonverted’ the South. Shall it any longer hold “the friends of 
 their country and mankind” deluded by the vain show of such a 
 moral influence as Satan is willing to exert against himself? But 
 let us look once more at this famous paper. 
 
 “ A true son of Virginia has said, ‘I may be permitted to declare 
 that IT wouLD BE A SLAVE-HOLDER TO DAY WITHOUT SCRUPLE. 
 But I hold it due to candor to say, that if there be a statesman in the 
 United States, and I believe there are two or three such, who 1s con- 
 tent that we shall always hold them in servitude, and would advise 
 us to rest contented with them, us, and our posterity, without seek- 
 ing or accepting means of liberating owrselves and them, he deserves 
 a heavier vengeance than the orator’s bile, [the curse of God? No.] 
 the curses of America counselled to her ruin, and of outraged 
 Africa. Let me not be considered harsh; for inasmuch as the pi- 
 ratical trader for human beings on the African coast, the master of | 
 the slave ship, is the most detestable of monsters in action—so, I must 
 say, is the advocate, by cool argument, of slavery in the ABSTRACT, 
 odious in thought?” 
 
 The two or three THEORETIC slave-holders must look out for this 
 thunderbolt—the thousands of PRACTICAL ones are quite safe. 
 
 But what does all this mean? What does the Society mean by — 
 
17 
 
 talking about a “ moral evil,” capable of being justified by a “ MoRAL 
 necessity,’ when “we shall have honestly exerted all the means 
 which we possess for its extinction?’ Does it mean that we cannot 
 cease to do wrong when we please? What means this extreme soli- 
 citude about the rights of slave-proprietors ? What, the apologetic 
 style of all this moral influence? Is the Society made up of such 
 tenderness of persuasion, such very milk of charity, that it would 
 do violence to its lamb-like nature, by uttering harsh rebuke, even 
 where such rebuke is deserved? See how it treats the forergn slave 
 traders!—“ the most detestable. monsters in action!” It leaves no 
 corner of the horrible, unransacked-for epithets, and similes, and thun- 
 derbolts, to be poured upon their forfeited heads. Its agents take 
 care to exhibit chains wherever they go, to awaken the indignation 
 of old and young against those miscreants who drive their fellow 
 beings from the interior of Africa to the coast, and at the same time 
 to demonstrate the triumphs of the colony in opposing the slave trade. 
 But why does it not show us some of those chains that clink under the 
 windows of the capitol? Why does it not take them fresh from the. 
 victims of the domestic trade, and show the cruel ingenuity of the rings 
 for the wrists, and ankles, and necks—brightened on the inside by rub- | 
 bing against the bone, and foul and black on the outside with dusty - 
 gore? Is it not simply because these chains cannot be spared ? Why 
 then not tell us the sad story? Are there, indeed, throngs of chained 
 and driven wretches in our own Christian land, who are so thoroughly 
 ‘given over to despair, that their case must not be mentioned in the ear 
 of Charity? Must our sympathies and pity be borne away from the 
 cries of distress that mingle around us, and stun our ears, to the 
 mere accessory, trans-ocean traffic? No, no! no matter how sincere, 
 the Colonization Society is too pustllanimous to deserve the high 
 station which it has assumed. It is afraid to speak the whole truth. 
 And if the mass of American Christians are to have any thing to do 
 in setting free two millions of oppressed men, the American Coloni- 
 zation Society must be given up, or it must retire into the compara- 
 tive insignificance, [ might say cringing sycophancy, of the object 
 proposed in its constitution ; it must leave the ground of operation 
 against slavery clear to a society which shall use a more aggress- 
 ive moral influence. What! Is that to be dignified with the name 
 of a moral influence, which abstains from a correct representation of 
 its object, lest the equanimity of those whom it would persuade should 
 be disturbed ?—lest passion should be excited, and the ground of hos- 
 tility should be taken? Here is a most singular phenomenon: a so- 
 ciety professing to exert a moral influence against slavery, and yet 
 afraid to state facts, and when compelled to state facts, afraid to use 
 language appropriate to them. A society which, when speaking of 
 the most odious system of oppression, takes special care to avoid the 
 words sin, crime, guilt, and speaks of it as a burden, a curse, a sore 
 “evil.” Is such a “moral” remedy for sin likely to effect a cure? 
 Are the slave-holders in reality not slave-holders, but virtuous men, 
 keeping their slaves merely under that name, from necessity, till it 
 
18 
 
 shall be practicable to enlarge them? Can this be proved of a single 
 individual 2 
 
 But the Society, instead of exerting any efficient moral influence 
 in favor of emancipation, is exerting a most pernicious influence 
 against it, by the doctrines of its authorized publications. It is un- 
 derstood by the slave-holders, so far as it gains their confidence, to 
 admit the right of property in men, as fully as it admits any right 
 whatever. It is of no avail for the secretary to say, when ques- 
 tioned by northern philanthropists, that it merely admits the legal 
 right. It is careful not to tell the plantersso. ‘To question the legal 
 right, would be sheer ignorance or idiocy. It was the moral ques- 
 tion which the planters feared, and on this they required a pledge of 
 silence, and suppose they have obtained beyond this a full admission. 
 What right they have to the supposition, such passages as the fol- 
 lowing will show. 
 
 ‘It was proper again and again to repeat, that it was far from 
 the intention of the Society to affect, Iv ANY MANNER, the tenure by 
 which a certain species of property is held. He was himself a 
 slave-holder, and he considered that kind of property as inviolable, 
 as any other in the country. He would resist as soon, and with as 
 much firmness, encroachments upon it, as he would encroachments 
 upon any other property which he held. Nor was he disposed even 
 to go so far as the gentleman, (Mr. Mercer,) who had just spoken, in 
 saying that he would emancipate his slaves, if the means were pro- 
 vided for sending them from the country.” [Speech of Henry 
 Clay, one of the founders, and published by the managers in their 
 first Annual Report. | 
 
 - Quotations of the same import might be multiplied without end. 
 But there is no need; if further proof is required, that these traitorous 
 admissions do respect the moral right, look at the treatment received 
 by abolitionists. They have never called in question the legal right, 
 much less have they used force, or threatened it, or counselled the 
 slaves to use it. And yet they are clamorously accused of. interfe- 
 rence with rights, and by none more bitterly, or vehemently than the 
 American Colonization Society, through its accredited publications. 
 Take the following specimen. 
 
 ‘But we have not, we do not, and we will not, interfere with this 
 delicate, this important subject. There are rights to be respected, 
 prejudices to be conciliated, fears to be quelled, and safety to be ob- 
 served, in all our operations. And we protest, most solemnly protest, 
 against the adoption of your views, as alike destructive of the ends 
 of justice, of policy, and of humanity.”—--[ Af. Rep. Vol. vu. 
 page 101.) ’ Y sag 
 
 Abolitionists then, plainly, do that which the Colonization Society 
 does not; but they exert only a moral influence, they only deny the 
 moral right of slavery: therefore the Society does not deny the moral 
 right—yea, the moral right is the subject of its reiterated admission. 
 Can any moral influence be more adverse to repentance, than thus to 
 tell the sinner he has a right to sin ? 
 
 But, says the worthy secretary, “the Society calls the attention of 
 
19 
 
 the south, to the subject of the whole colored population,” that is 
 to say, it may prove the occasion of bringing them to reflection ;— 
 it constitutes a good point of suggestion. So.might a fawning 
 hypocrite be a good point of suggestion to remind the dissolute of 
 religion! Alas! what abominable mockery of sacred rights—the 
 rights of the poor and defenceless! Truly, in the language of the 
 prophet, “the right of the needy do they not judge.” ae) 
 The fact that the Society advocates gradual emancipation, 1s 
 proof that it exerts no efficient influence in favor of emancipation 
 at all. ‘But, what will you do with the facts?’ some one asks. 
 “Do they not prove that the Society has persuaded some slave- 
 holders to give up their slaves?’ No, most surely they do not; 
 and for this plain reason, the Society has used no persuasives. Its 
 friends are challenged now, as they have been challenged long, in 
 vain, to point out with the finger, in all the authorized and approved 
 publicationssof the Society, a single paragraph which urges a per- 
 suasive to mManumit slaves, at any definite time, or which condemns 
 slavery as a sin, without excuse. For the sake of keeping peace 
 with the slave-holders, it has brought no charge against slavery, 
 which they have not always, of themselves, readily admitted. How, 
 in the name of common sense, can it have persuaded any man of 
 his error when, in immaculate good faith, it has never meddled with 
 the question of slavery at all? Just as well might a man take to 
 himself credit for pleading the missionary cause with success, who 
 should slip a contribution box into the church door, and leave it to 
 the fate of catching a handful of coppers. The plain matter of 
 fact is, that this is a land of Bibles. ‘The principles of immediate . 
 abolition stand out on the face of all the law, and the prophets, and 
 the Gospel; and in spite of the apathy of the church, and the 
 silence of its ministers, they must needs make here and there a 
 convert. Moreover slavery is a blighting curse, hostile to agricultu- 
 ral thrift and.domestic.economy. So strong is thé light shed from 
 the condition of the free labor states, on this point, that it would be 
 (strange if some holders, without any movings.of humanity, should 
 ot become willing to emancipate their slaves) The Society offer- 
 ing its services to remove the emancipated, fhe emancipators what- 
 ever their motives, avail themselves of its aid. Among all the 
 tenders of liberated slaves for the colony, which are published with 
 so much care in the African Repository, is there to be found a 
 single note of penitence—or the most distant intimation that the 
 slaves in question, owed their liberty to a conviction wrought in the 
 mind of the liberator, by the Society’s moral influence ? If there is, 
 let it be pointed out. It will be precious to the Society's cause. It 
 will present the singular anomaly of a sinner convicted of his guilt, 
 by the concealment or absence of truth. Of conversions, so called, 
 there is no lack; but they are conversions without change. A man 
 supposes the Society to interfere with the “rights” of the masters, 
 or to “meddle” with the delicate question of slavery; he finds him- 
 self mistaken, and is said to be converted! By making such conver- 
 sions, the Society is becoming quite popular at the south. The appre- 
 
20 
 
 hension of the Society’s, moral influence, sensitive as are the tyrants, 
 never amounted to a fear—it never called forth legislative rewards 
 for the heads of the managers—now, it only calls forth contempt. 
 But emancipation is not a new thing, got up since the special 
 “ facilities’ afforded by the Colonization Society. In 1782, Virginia 
 passed a law, authorizing the manumission of slaves,—that is, au- 
 thorizing its citizens, to use one of their “inalienable” rights, and, 
 we are told, on the testimony of Judge Tucker, that 10,000 slaves 
 gained their freedom, in this state alone, between this year and 1791. 
 {See Holmes’ Annals, vol. ii. page 342.]—Without any elaborate 
 investigation, for which I have not the means at hand, it may be 
 concluded, with certainty, from the number of free blacks in the 
 country, (from 3 to 400,000) that emancipations were formerly far 
 more frequent than now. It is equally obvious, that these emanci- 
 pations have been beneficial to the emancipated. More than 70,000 
 colored persons are members of the Methodist Church alone. 1 
 quote this fact, because it happens at the present moment, to fall un- 
 der my eye. These colored members, are either bond or free; if 
 bond, they must be fit for freedom, or else they are not fit to die; if 
 free, their freedom cannot have ruined them. Again, of the 300,000 
 colored persons in the land, only a smal}l fraction have been convicted 
 under law of crime; the law, of course, judges the majority of them 
 innocent—/it for freedom. He who would discourage emancipation, 
 then, on the ground of the criminality of the free, would reverse the 
 maxim of the law, that “it is better to let ten guilty escape, than to 
 punish one innocent man.’ The American Colonization Society, 
 must. have the credit of originating the doctrine that emancipation, 
 to be proper, must be on the condition of exile. Since this noble 
 and magnanimous discovery, emancipation has received a notorious 
 check. If there is any thing plain in the world, it is that the Colo- 
 nization Society, is exactly adapted to, and actually does, shield 
 from public odium, the laws against emancipation without exile! 
 And then, with marvellous assurance, it turns round and assigns these 
 very laws, as a reason why it should seek to expatriate all the 
 colored people in the land, so fast as they become free ! | 
 _ But, of the emancipations, which have taken place since the 
 origin of the Colonization Society, few and far between, that Socie- 
 ty has not the right to take credit. What child does not know, that 
 it is because the Gospel gives a Now to all its requisitions, that i 
 succeeds at all? Say to the sinner, this course of sin in which you 
 have so long indulged is an “ evil,” a great “misfortune,” and can be 
 justified on no plea but that of “ necesszty ;’ you must therefore get rid 
 of it as soon as you can “safely ;” and, think you, he will set about 
 and execute a plan of gradual reformation? If he does, other ar- 
 guments than yours must have moved him. It is a truth, obvious 
 as the sun at cloudless noon, that all the gradual reformation in 
 practice, which has blessed the world; has been the fruit of stern im- 
 mediatism in doctrine. What, then, can the fruit of gradualism itself 
 be, but everlasting procrastination? What can better please Satan 
 and his minions, than to preach under the authority and vestments 
 
 4 
 
21 
 
 of Christian philanthropy, the gradual abolition of sin. Why! that 
 arch deceiver would blush to ask more of us! 
 
 On these grounds, then, I am forced to conclude, that the Coloni- 
 zation Society, whatever may be its motives, or its hopes, in regard 
 to slavery, either has not courage enough to state facts as they are, 
 or, it has made the unwarrantable assumption that such a statement 
 is not necessary, and consequently can claim no relationship with 
 that wise and effectual remedy for sin revealed in the Scriptures. 
 
 Now, shall the Society, embodying, as it does, an overwhelming” 
 weight of character, justify itself by saying that it does the best the 
 case will admit?—that it finds slavery grown into the very sub- 
 stance, the “frame-work” of society, and that it would be in vain, 
 nay, childishly absurd, to hope for any success by direct ageressive 
 action? So have other sins grown into the “ frame-work” of society. 
 So are other sins fortified by all that is redoubtable in earth and hell. 
 Idolatry has formed the character, and given shape to the customs, 
 of more than three fourths of the race. But those who would act 
 on the part of the living God have no option. They are not to 
 choose their own mode.of operating against idolatry. They are 
 not at liberty to propose a system of amelioration or of gradual renun- 
 ciation. Nor are they at liberty to despair. They must not, on 
 pain of their Master’s fierce displeasure, shun to declare the full 
 truth, though it may exasperate. “Is not my word like a fire, saith 
 the Lord? and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces? 
 Take forth the precious from the vile, and thou shalt be as my 
 mouth”—is the command and the promise of JEHOVAH. | 
 
 But let us descend from a consideration of the doctrines of the 
 Society, to the tendency of its actual practice. The question is 
 simply this. What effect must it have upon slavery, to remove far 
 off the free blacks and the slaves so fast as they become free? ‘To 
 consider this apart from the doctrines of the Society, let us suppose 
 that the removal is effected by some unseen hand, some invisible 
 agency, by which the subjects of it are known to be (as in reality 
 they are not) transferred to comparative happiness. Is it not. obvi- 
 ous that this agency would remove that class of freemen who would 
 most naturally sympathize with the slaves, and excite in their 
 breasts a feeling adverse to the authority of their masters? If so, 
 the removal would tend to allay the fears of the masters, and thus 
 destroy a motive which almost always stands first in the order of 
 feelings which lead to repentance and reformation. And would not 
 the masters be ready on such terms to part with the “excessive in- 
 crease’ of their slaves, taking care to turn off for deportation, the 
 most turbulent and the most idle—the dangerous and the unprofita- 
 ble? If so, not only fear would be allayed, but interest would be 
 subserved. Slavery would be rendered profitable, so far as the sys- 
 tem is capable of yielding profit. The natural tendency of the 
 increase of population, is to advance beyond the means of support. 
 In regard to American slavery, this tendency will soon produce a 
 redundancy of slaves, and a consequent depreciation of their value. 
 To maintain their value, deportation must be resorted to. 
 
 But is this the observed tendency of the Society’s action? Here 
 
22 
 
 we must rely on testimony. It is the only evidence which the na- 
 ture of the case admis. The Society itself has furnished this 
 evidence in publishing the speeches of its slave-holding friends, 
 delivered at its anniversaries.—[See extract from Mr. Archer's 
 speech at the end of this pamphlet. } 
 
 Whatever may be said of the motives of Mr. Archer, or of the Socie- 
 ty’s not being responsible for his sentiments, his testimony, and his 
 own lucid argument resting on it, must be received. And the con- 
 clusion is, not that the Society designs to perpetuate slavery, but that 
 nothing could be more wisely adapted to that very end, than its 
 
 present and contemplated actions. Let any intelligent man, without 
 regard to this controversy, set himself at work to devise a plan for 
 the perpetuation and security of slavery; could he, with all the wis- 
 dom that was ever allied to rectitude, arrange a more effectual train 
 of means, to gain his nefarious end, than just such a scheme of 
 colonization to Africa? (Not to Hayti, nor Texas, nor Canada, 
 for the too near proximity of black freedom might be dangerous to 
 slavery!) And in the execution of such a plan, could the man 
 abstain from any moral interference with the claims of the masters 
 more completely than the Society has done? He must necessarily 
 speak of slavery as an evil—must show, in stubborn arithmetic, the 
 rapid and dangerous increase of the slaves—must depict the horrors 
 of servile insurrection, and, indeed, must do every thing short of 
 charging downright guilt upon the infatuated masters, in order to 
 awaken them to a prudent regard for their own safety. If then the 
 American Colonization Society does not desxgn (and I should have 
 to confess my own guilt before I could charge its non-slave-holding 
 members with any such design) to perpetuate slavery, its friends 
 must reflect, that its plan, as to all its practical features, so exactly 
 comports with such a design, and, as to all its collateral results, is 
 so little inconsistent with it, that its motives are fairly exposed to im- 
 peachment by those whio are prone to judge of the tree by its fruit 
 —greenish though it may he. . 
 
 Shall the Society defend itself triumphantly against this argu- 
 ment, by showing the opposition it meets with from the great majori- 
 ty of slave-holders? This opposition is exactly what might be 
 expected. Why do slave-holders oppose the Society? Not, surely, 
 because the .action of the Society affects injuriously any of their 
 claims, for this is not pretended; but because they suppose its motive 
 to be benevolent. They well know that the Society ought to be 
 hostile to slavery, and they fear that at some time or other it may 
 be—iiment Danaos etiam dona ferentes—they fear that the Society, 
 when it sees the utter inefficiency—rather the mischievous reaction— 
 of its plan, will abandon it, and resort to aggressive measures—and 
 there ought to be sufficient reason for this fear. Therefore, the op- 
 position of slave-holders, on account of the motive, no more proves 
 {by the rule of contraries) the tendency to be good; than the opposi- 
 tion of some good men, on account of the tendency, proves the 
 motive to be bad. If good men advocate plans of bad tendency, 
 how can they fail to place themselves between two ranks of oppo- 
 nents? Can they plead persecution for righteousness sake on both 
 
 \ 
 
pas: 
 
 sides? Manifestly unsubstantial as this defence is thus found to be; 
 it must be said, in truth, that the colonizationists have rallied behind 
 it as their strongest point. Verily, if I were contending for the 
 love of it, | would fain spare them a rock or two from the fortifica- 
 tions of abolitionism, just to save them the mortification of being ta- 
 ken behind a breast-work, which proves itself too weak to stand 
 alone. Glory is not to be found in routing an enemy from sucha 
 fort of straw. 
 
 Again, colonization, as a remedial plan, is subject to no slight ob- 
 jection, in regard to its action upon the character of those who 
 apply it. I speak now, more especially, of the Colonization Socie- 
 ty, as composed of non-slave-holding men. There pervades the 
 whole community, a strong prejudice. against the colored race. (If 
 there were any doubt of this, it would only change my argument to 
 the “ad hominem” form.) 'The Society, not only acknowledges the 
 existence of such a prejudice, but it pronounces it unconquerable. 
 It asserts, without reserve, that this prejudice is sufficient for ever to 
 prevent the blacks from rising to an equality with the whites, in 
 this the native land of both. ‘The Gospel never can do for them 
 here,” in this land of Bibles, ‘‘ what it can do on a heathen shore.” 
 Now this could not be true, if there were left exempt from this pre- 
 judice a body of men so powerful as the Colonization Society. 
 Moreover, the prejudice is certainly wicked, for it counteracts the 
 Gospel. Therefore the Colonization Society, in applying its remedy 
 for slavery, humors its own wicked prejudice. In what light is a 
 remedy to be regarded, which, while it has no chance of curing 
 the evil for which it was intended, absolutely poisons the person 
 who administers it? How useless the charge, “be ye clean that 
 bear the vessels of the Lord,’ if reformers may leave their own 
 breasts polluted with an unholy prejudice—a palpable unwillingness 
 to obey the fundamental law of Christian brotherhood? Is this “the 
 best that can be done in the case?’ Wo, then, to the world, in spite 
 of infinite wisdom, almighty power, and redeeming love!—'The’ 
 blood of Calvary was wasted, and hell is triumphant!! In view of. 
 this subject I must be permitted solemnly to say, that I do confess- 
 my own guilt, in the cold and cruel prejudice with which I have 
 suffered myself, in time past, to advocate the unchristian principles; 
 and the mischievous plans, of the American Colonization Society. 
 If there are men of pure benevolence, who have in the sineerity of 
 their hearts sought to do good, and made this Society the channel 
 of their liberality, let them be aware that such night-born as theirs 
 can prove its genuineness only by welcoming the light that now be- 
 gins to shine, and shrinking with horror from the unholy company — 
 with which the morning finds it unconsciously proceeding. 4 
 
 I have all along taken it for granted that the motive of the Socie- 
 ty 1s good. I have not questioned the benevolence of its officers, 
 nor the sincerity of their expressed wish to remove slavery. But f 
 might have taken stronger ground. A majority of the Society, at— 
 its establishment, consisted of slave-holders—of slave-holders who 
 took special care to have it understood that they did not renounce’ 
 
24 
 
 the sin—that they considered the right of the master sacred! And, 
 from year to year, they have assured their southern friends that the 
 Society has not changed its character. Now the character of any 
 Society—its motive—is to be judged of, so far as man can judge of 
 motive, from the majority, the ruling influence of its board of mana- 
 gers. ‘This majority has been, and is slave-holding; it is therefore 
 impossible for us to concede to them purity of motive in this thing. 
 Their own practice condemns them. Are they holding on, and wait- 
 ing for the growth of Liberia? Then the right of a man to his liberty, 
 depends upon the contingency of a foot-hold for him 4000 miles 
 off !—a doctrine as damnable as it is absurd. What! does the So-- 
 ciety apply to itself, as “the best the case admits,” the same remedy, 
 which, on the plea of their hopeless obstinacy in sin, it applies to 
 slave-holders at large? Verily this must be a new and improved 
 kind of repentance. The recipe for it might run thus. First, for- 
 tify yourself in sin, so that there shall be no hope of your yielding 
 to the demands of God’s law; then make your own terms—repent 
 and repair to suit your own convenience, and all will be well! We 
 protest against making a combination of such men, the almoners of 
 our charity to Africa, and much more, to the Africo Americans— 
 our own countrymen. We hold their professions of philanthropy, 
 as Cheap as we do those of the Grand Turk. The saying is no less 
 true than trite, that a good cause is not to blame, because some pa- 
 tronise 1t with bad motives. Nor is it less true, that a bad causecannot 
 be justified because many patronise it with good motives. No scheme 
 arising out of that miscalled morality, which apologizes for slavery, 
 can either be right of itself, or be made so by the patronage of all 
 the saints on earth, or the angels in heaven. It is manifest from 
 the conduct of the members, that the motive of the Society, in its 
 operative and responsible capacity, can be nothing better than to 
 escape the righteous curse of God, in some other way than by a 
 direct repentance, confession, and reparation of injury—the only 
 way which he has appointed. How can the Church of God with- 
 hold its protest against this palpable subversion of the first principles 
 of the Gospel 2 
 
 CHAPTER IIT. 
 EFFECT OF COLONIZATION UPON THE FREE PEOPLE OF COLOR. 
 
 In the former chapter I have spoken of the colonization scheme 
 in its relation to the crime of slave-holding. In this I propose, very 
 briefly, to consider its bearing on the free people of color, the osten- 
 sible objects of its charity.. This 1s necessary, because some who 
 acknowledge that the Society is worse than useless in regard to 
 slavery, contend that it confers invaluable blessings upon the free 
 
25 
 
 people of color. They would balance the Society's benefits against 
 its “ defects,” as they are pleased to call them. I cannot faithfully 
 plead the cause of the poor slave, without exposing the fallacy of 
 this pretension, and also of that which is maintained in regard to 
 Africa. 
 
 These United States have been weak of as the asylum of the 
 oppressed of all nations, And, in many points of view, there is not 
 a more desirable retreat on the globe for the victims of. poverty or 
 persecution. ‘I'he population is yet sparse, the soil is fruitful, the 
 rivers, and forests, and mines, present infinite resources for the acq ul- 
 sition of wealth, the climate is salubrious, the means of education 
 are widely diffused, the laws are mild and equitably administered, 
 property is secure, both from private and public spoliation, the riehts 
 of conscience are most fully guaranteed, and most effectually guard- 
 ed by the jealousy of rival sects ; in short, there is no country on earth, 
 where a man can reap more fruit of his own honest labor, nor where he 
 can enjoy it with less interference on the part of others. Even if a 
 man were to possess none of the franchises of this republic, he might 
 repose under the protection of its laws with more security than he 
 could feel in any other nation under the sun. It would seem, from 
 the very nature of our government, that it must always be peculiar- 
 ly the friend of the poor, for by all its usages and laws it frowns 
 on aristocracy. It would seem, then, that there must be some very 
 strong reason, when it is proposed to colonize back to the old world, 
 over a thousand weary leagues of ocean, 400,000 of our fellow citi- 
 zens—aye, more than 2,000,000 who « of rieht ought to be’ so. 
 Are they poor? Here is the place of all the world to enrich them. 
 Are they ignorant? Here is the place to enlighten them. Are they 
 vicious? Here is the place to reform them. Are they unrighteous- 
 ly despised? Here is the place, if any where, to bring popular pre- 
 judice into subjection to the dictates of humanity and religion. ‘The 
 reason why all these things cannot be done here, is involved in a 
 single syllable—they are shack. ‘They are despised and ridiculed, 
 because they are black. They are in most states denied every civil 
 franchise because they are black. They are told, (by a Society em- 
 bodying the benevolence of the land,) that they can never rise here, 
 and must be colonized to Africa, because they are black. That is 
 to say, on account of the single circumstance of dissimilarity in 
 external appearance, which marks them as brethren of the slaves, 
 the slave-holding spirit in our land holds them at a distance, refuses 
 to communicate to them any of the privileges and responsibilities of 
 our free society, and denies them those means of instruction which 
 are requisite to bring them upon the same moral and intellectual 
 level with ourselves. Now it is undeniable that the color of the 
 negroes does distinguish them from the pale race of Europe. But 
 the distinction, so far as divine Providence is concerned, is merely 
 one of externals. It ought to stop here: The negroes are none the — 
 less men, nor are they the less Americans on account of their color. 
 If their rieht to a residence here, and to all the sympathies and aids 
 which their condition demands, is abridged by their blackness, then 
 
 4 
 
26 
 
 ours depends upon our whiteness—that is to say, our boasted, in- 
 - alienable, indefeasible rights, lie skin-deep—they reside in the color- 
 
 ing matter of the external integuments!—they are just as inaliena- 
 ble and indefeasible as our hides, and no more. Wo to them, if our 
 bare backs were once exposed to a nine-lashed slave whip! Intole- 
 rable as is the doctrine, which leads so directly to these contemptible 
 inferences, it is, nevertheless, held by a large portion of our citizens. 
 There are plenty of respectable persons who will not blush to say, 
 that Providence never designed black and white men to live together 
 on equal terms in the same republic. And what is remarkable, the 
 voice of humanity has hardly ventured to speak against such wick- 
 edness. Why, one would think that the man who, in this land, 
 should utter such narrow, bigotted, selfish, swinish absurdity, would 
 be glad to avail himself of his own littleness, to escape the com- 
 mingled hisses of scorn which such a doctrine would certainly call 
 forth. But so it isnot. Men who would have us think ¢heir worth 
 
 lies more than skin deep, deliver this paltry nonsense with the most 
 oracular gravity. And the consequence is, that the poor blacks are 
 degraded and down-trodden. They are robbed and wounded, and 
 thrown out to welter, and fester, and rot in the public highway— 
 and the priests and levites pass by on the other side. Yes, among 
 all our benevolent efforts, for the Indian upon our frontier, and the 
 far-off Hindoo—for the sailor of the ocean, and the boatman of the 
 river—efforts worthy to be increased a thousand fold—we have for- 
 gotten the stranger, who, having fallén among thieves in the midst 
 of us, has at length been left stripped and helpless, a present and urgent 
 provocation to our charity. We have not engaged in any general 
 and well concerted plan to raise the character of our colored popu- 
 lation. Yet, in spite of our prejudice and apathy, they have gene- 
 rally demeaned themselves among us, as quiet, industrious and use- 
 ful citizens. With more motives to hate us, and less to submit to our 
 laws, they have, beyond all question, been guilty of fewer crimes, than 
 an equal number of the mostignorant of the whites. They have attach- 
 ed themselves to our country, with a patriotism, as ardent as it is un- 
 guestionably genuine. Just now a Society comes forward, and says to 
 these wronged and insulted, but patient men, There is a prejudice 
 against you in this land, which can never be overcome. If you re- 
 main here, you must ever remain a distinct and degraded class. 
 Even religion cannot help you here. But emigrate to the coast of 
 Africa, and you may form a nation by yourselves; there, you may 
 enjoy the rights which are denied you here ; there, you will be rid 
 of that sense of inferiority, which binds you down here; there, you 
 will stand forth as men, and have strong motives to exert yourselves 
 in the pursuit of wealth and honor, which.you ean never have here. 
 And the whole community of whites, with all their wisdom, and 
 piety, and disinterested benevolence, so called, second the proposal ; 
 and exhort the Society to go forward and aim at the removal of the 
 entire black population—with ther free consent, to be sure—while 
 not a finger is raised to help them here—not even a syllable is lisped 
 against the unrighteous laws which are grinding them in the dust, 
 
24 
 
 or banishing them trom their homes—hunting them from state to 
 state ! : Faas 
 Patrons of the Colonization Society! you form a body sufficient- 
 ly powerful to wage a successful war with this popular prejudice. 
 You may procure the repeal of every oppressive law, if you please ; 
 you may open the door to fair competition in all the arts of life be- 
 fore the colored race, and persuade them to enter it, if you please ; 
 you may bring them all under the blessed influence of divine truth, 
 if you please. Do that; at least, attempt it, before you claim bene- 
 volenee as the motive of your colonizing scheme. ‘Till you have 
 made the attempt, whatever may be said of the African skin, it has 
 never been used to conceal hypocrisy, so loathsome and putrifying 
 as yours, if, haply, you yourselves are not the victims of a miserable 
 delusion. It grieves me to the heart to bring charges of this kind, 
 which I have reason to believe will be appropriated to themselves— 
 and too justly—by many, whom, in other things, I respect and love. 
 But facts are stubborn, and the principles of God’s word, are un- 
 bending. Even if an angel from heaven were to embark on the 
 principles which the Colonization Society has avowed, in regard to 
 the free blacks, he would sink. 
 
 Let us not be told that the colored men go voluntarily to Liberia. 
 There is not Jesuitism enough in the world to conceal such a lze 
 from any, but the willingly blind. The plain fact is this, and every 
 colored man, at least, knows it very well, the white community, un- 
 der the name of “'The Colonization Society,” merely receive the 
 volunteer emigrants—no compulsion—all fair; but mark, the same 
 community, without this name, sanction the oppressive laws, utter 
 the public sentiment, and point the finger of scorn, which, together, 
 amount to a bitter persecution, and compel the poor blacks to volun- 
 teer. What a convenient thing is a name, which can be put on and 
 off at pleasure. Here is my poor neighbor, a simple, good-natured 
 man, dwelling securely by me. I heartily despise him, and would 
 gladly have him out of the way; but how to do it, is the thing. 
 The problem may be thus solved. In every-day life, lam Mr. Pre- 
 judice. Under this name, I tell lies about my neighbor, and make 
 sport of him\at the taverns and grog-shops; I abuse and mortify him 
 on all occasions; I throw down his fences, filch away his cattle, 
 and refuse redress, till his hifeisa burdentohim. But, on the Fourth 
 of July, and some other great occasions, | am Mr. Generosity. I 
 go to my neighbor with my new name, and my best Sunday suit, 
 and say to him, “ You know Mr. Prejudice is very powerful in 
 these parts; he cannot be resisted; you had better emigrate, and if 
 you will do so, I will generously bear the expense. If, in the sim- 
 plicity of his heart, my neighbor mistakes me for a different man 
 from his old enemy, my success is almost certain. If he does not, 
 perseverance in this double dealing will wear out the most mulish 
 pertinacity. 
 
 That similar duplicity is justly chargeable upon the Colonization 
 Society, is evident from the fact, that it not only does not condemn, 
 but it hails with pleasure, those oppressive enactments which are design- 
 
28 
 
 ed to banish the colored race.* Is the conclusiveness of this.argument 
 doubted? ‘Take an illustration. In the recesses of yonder grated 
 and gloomy pile, there is a spacious room, hung round with name- 
 less furniture, into which curiosity is not permitted to pry. By the 
 light of a single taper, you may see the pale, half naked prisoner ; 
 the monkish executioner, fiendishly busy; the instruments of torture 
 —the trickling blood—the quivering lip—the very anguish of the 
 soul. But what has that man in black to do with the scene, who 
 sits sedately by, and as he sees limb after limb stretched upon the 
 rack, and screw after screw applied, and turned, and tightened to 
 the bone, says to the executioners, “Take courage, brethren, we 
 shall get the confession soon,” and to the prisoner, ‘‘ Only confess 
 now, and you will for ever bless God for his mercy on your soul!” 
 
 Say you, this flight to the inquisition is a flight of fancy! Then 
 let it go for that; but, after all, in sober sense, how can the Society 
 approve, or how can it even faz to condemn that prejudice and op- 
 pression which render its interference necessary 2 Let the organs of 
 the Society, at length, answer this question. Surely, it has been ask- 
 ed by friends, and asked by them in vain, till, in many cases, they 
 have waked up in the ranks of the Society's decided enemies. To 
 put the case in the most faverable light, by the supposition that 
 the sin of the legislators is, by the Society’s scheme, overruled for 
 good, has the Society any right to rejoice at the sin? Does not the 
 divine justice condemn the sinner, and does not the divine compas- 
 sion weep over him, even while the divine wisdom brings good out 
 of his evil? On the example of the Society, when we do evil from 
 which good may be extracted, we have a right to calculate on the 
 approbation of all those-angels of mercy, at least, whose business it 
 may be to bring glory to God out of the wickedness of men. 
 
 On these grounds, it is concluded that the Society’s plan is adjust- 
 ed to the wicked prejudices pf the community against the people of 
 color, and, of course, that its action cherishes these prejudices to the 
 injury of innocent men. 
 
 But if the evils which hang around the colored American were 
 irremediable here, it is still a forlorn alternative that the Society has 
 to offer. et us divest the colony of the poetry which is thrown 
 over it so profusely by the advecates of the Society, in their public 
 addresses, and see what remains. Let us suppose ourselves.in the 
 room of the emigrants, and see what inquiries would arise in our 
 own minds, - | 
 
 “Ts not a temperate more favorable than a tropical sun to the health 
 and mental development of man? Is not the climate of Africa con- 
 fessedly dangerous? Is not the colony surrounded by jealous 
 savages, always ready to shed blood, and who must be propitiated 
 by a traffic in RUM? Is not the prosperity of the colony regarded 
 as extraordinary by all intelligent men? What will its guarantee 
 of protection, and its offer of civil franchises be worth, if its inci- 
 plent prosperity should call to it an unmanageable -accession of un- 
 principled and ignorant men? What if the Colonization Society 
 should set down on the coast of Africa at once, the whole black 
 
 . * See Appendix. ; 
 
29 
 
 population, or even the yearly increase of it, or even the tenth pait 
 of that increase? Under all the circumstances of the case, is it pro- 
 bable that in my own life, or that of my children we can enjoy there 
 the privileges which, in spite of prejudice and persecution, we enjoy 
 here? Is there not vastly more probability of a return to truth and 
 righteousness of public sentiment in this christian land, than of the 
 colony's escaping the ten thousand evils to which a colony in such 
 a situation is liable? Is not the risk of an African voyage some- 
 thing?’ Let history answer. 'These American colonies, planted 
 under far more favorable circumstances, in regard to climate and the 
 character of the colonists, had for a long time to struggle against 
 fearful odds. The amount of privation and -suffering endured by 
 the pioneers can scarcely be imagined ; it defies calculation. Even 
 after the colonies had been established, and had gained strength and 
 opulence, they ran a fearful chance of becoming the vassals of a 
 foreign power. What if, instead of being pious, learned, enter- 
 prising, the very cream of the English race, the first settlers of New- 
 England had been from the lowest grade of society, driven off because 
 they. were a nuisance at home? Where would have been the stern 
 virtue to resist the numberless temptations that came upon them in 
 their new abode? Where the wisdom to impose upon themselves 
 salutary restraints? Where the moral courage to meet the many 
 critical emergencies of their first fifty years? Is not the success of 
 these American colonies to be attributed, under God, to qualities 
 moral and mental in the colonists, which, according to the Coloni- 
 zation Society, are not possessed by the colonists of Liberia, nor by 
 any that are likely to be added to them? Let it not be said that 
 the wisdom of the society can make up the deficiency. It may now 
 guide the tottering steps of the infant colony; but it will be quite 
 another thing to direct its energies, and repress its waywardness, 
 when it shall have gained the physical power without. the discretion 
 of manhood. Successful self-government is a thing which cannot 
 be achieved by proxy. One of two things must take place; either 
 the colony must fall (remain?) under trans-ocean vassalage, or it 
 must be thrown completely upon its own discretion—upon the will 
 of a people who are declared to be unfit even to be incorporated with 
 an already existing and firmly established republic. 
 
 In taking the testimony of history on this point, we must learn 
 not only that great nations have arisen from small and almost hope- 
 less beginnings, but we must also ascertain what. proportion the cases 
 of failure bear to those of success. History preserves every case of 
 success of course; but from the well known nature of the human 
 mind, multitudes of failures are utterly forgotten. Yet every careful 
 reader of history must have perceived that, for every successful pro- 
 ject of colonization which occupies its page or its chapter, scores of 
 unsuccessful ones are dismissed in a sentence. Certainly it will 
 not be considered remarkable in the year 1900, to find such a para- 
 graph as the following in a pretty elaborate history. 
 
 ‘In the earlier part of the late century, a colony of. Africo-Ame- 
 vicans, at the mouth of the St. Pauls, attracted much attention, and 
 
30) 
 
 prospered to the extent of gaining a large territory and numerous 
 villages; but owing to the excessive desire of the white Americans 
 to rid themselves of the descendants of Africa, it was overpeopled 
 with ill-qualified emigrants and ruined.” 
 
 I ask again, poetry apart, is there any thing in the rational pros- 
 pects of Liberia to entice an intelligent and industrious colored man 
 away from these enlightened shores, the home of hzs ancestors as 
 well as owrs, while a foothold is left for him? ‘Will he prefer the 
 liberty of making a home and a government for himself; on a distant 
 shore, in a sickly climate, to remaining here and urging yet longer 
 his just claim to a home and a country already made ? 
 
 [t may be more than suspected that a chill would strike the hearts 
 of those men, who, in such glowing rhetoric, recommend to the blacks 
 emigration, if in‘a moment, by the blackening of their own skins, 
 or the turning of the tables, they should themselves be exposed to 
 the motives which they so vehemently urge upon others. In sober 
 earnest, is it not essential and unmixed cruelty, to urge upon simple 
 and ignorant men, such an arduousand hazardous enterprise? The 
 present boasted prosperity of the colony, may do well enough to 
 grace a public parade, but it satisfies no intelligent man, of ultimate 
 success—it makes no white man envious of the lot of his colored 
 neighbor, (if it did, doubtless the colony would be little secure from 
 white intrusion,) nor does it prove to any but the unreflecting, that 
 the cause is righteous, 
 
 It will be seen, that if these arguments have any force, they spend 
 it against the position, that Africa is a favorable place for raising the 
 free people of color to. refinement, intelligence, and religion—more 
 favorable than this, the native land of most of them. | 
 
 That there are obstacles, and serious ones, in the way of effectual - 
 exertions for the colored people here, is not denied. But they are not 
 physical ones. They are such as must be met in every good work. 
 Let us compare them with some of those which will certainly exist 
 in Liberia. 
 
 _ To raise the character of a whole people, under the most favorable 
 external circumstances, demands a profusely;expended and long con- 
 tinued moral influence, the mass of the population must be brought 
 within the full bearing of the Gospel: there must be not only a 
 sufficient number of preachers but teachers of every grade; there 
 must be not only suns and moons, but innumerable stars. Accord- 
 ing to all past arrangements of divine Providence, the process of 
 kindling up such a flood of light as is poured upon the most favored 
 spots of Christendom, is very slow and painful. Now if the most 
 unenlightened part of our community is to be sifted out, and to be 
 insulated by heathenism, at the distance of 4000 miles, it is plain. 
 that we. can furnish them, in consistency with the wants of the 
 world, only a few living missionaries—a coal or two, a mere kindling 
 spark. Whereas, here we may, if we please, open upon them at 
 once, all the warmth and light of day. Is it replied, that what 
 ought to be done, can be done; that we can furnish every thousand 
 of the colonists with a living preacher of the gospel, and every 
 
St 
 
 hundred with a schoolmaster? How much more then can we do it 
 here! for surely a man who can be persuaded by the love of souls, 
 to encounter the pestilence of an African climate, can be persuaded, 
 on the same principle, to encounter the prejudices of his fellow 
 Christians. Let four hundred worthy ministers, and four thousand 
 schoolmasters, in this land, rise up and assert the rights of colored 
 men, and devote themselves, in a gospel way, to their interests, and 
 whatever prevents their elevation here, would be like the mists of 
 the morning. ‘The absurdity of making heathens* of 400,000 of our 
 countrymen, for their own good, would then be seen in daylight. 
 
 The special advantages of Africa, as a home for the free colored 
 people, are claimed to be, that there he can enjoy the rights of 
 citizenship, there he can have a voice in making the laws under 
 which he is to live, there he will not be disheartened by a compari- 
 son of himself with his superior white neighbors. Place him on the 
 shores of Africa with these advantages, and you make a new man 
 of him—you draw out his latent energies—you make him willing 
 and able to do all that can be expected of the most enlightened and 
 Christian philanthropist in his circumstances. 
 
 If, indeed, there is inherent in man, so strong a desire to be the 
 “artificer of his own fortune,” as this argument implies, so strong 
 that he needs only to be planted in a wilderness to occasion its full 
 development; what a surpassing pity it is, that the ignorant, the 
 lazy, and the vicious—no trifling fraction of our white population— 
 cannot be colonized? Under what discouragements do they not 
 labor, when they see the wealth, and power, and intelligence of their 
 more industrious and virtuous neighbors ?—from which they would 
 doubtless be delivered, by being set down some where in Patagonia, 
 Caffraria, or Arabia Felix, with provision for a year, and plenty of 
 rum and gunpowder. Ihave supposed that it must be stern necessety 
 which drives men in such a case to exertion, as it seems to have 
 been in Botany Bay; but I am mistaken—and the poor of England 
 are mistaken too, or they would petition their government to transport | 
 them to Botany Bay, rather than accept a passage as the miserable 
 alternative of hanging. The intelligence, superior art and wealth | 
 of the higher class of the community, in this and other free coun- 
 tries, it seems, tends to grind the lower class in the dust, repressing 
 even the desire to rise. But place the poor alone, unrivalled, unex- 
 celled, and they will at once become instinct with living ardor! 
 What new light has the wisdom of some men, employed in behalf 
 of the oppressor, struck out from the obscurity of human nature! ! . 
 
 Again, if the right of suffrage will work such wonders as are 
 attributed to it by the colonizing scheme, it is a thousand pities that 
 in this country it should be shackled and restricted. Why not 
 apply its elevating virtue to the whole of our own population? Are 
 there not hundreds, nay, thousands of white men in our country to 
 
 * The reader will perhaps recollect Knickerbocker’s story of the honest Dutch- 
 man, who, for the sake of overleaping a small hill, went back three miles to get a 
 start ; but when he arrived at the foot of the hill, was obliged to lie down and rest 
 before performing his wonderful feat. ‘The story finds its moral here! 
 
BY 
 
 whom the privilege of suffrage is not allowed? And do not many 
 of these men need elevating? Here is the motive by which they 
 may be elevated. If the right of suffrage be so powerful a stimu- 
 lant in a feeble, dependent, hand-to-mouth multitude of ignorant 
 and ill-assorted men, thrown together by no agency of their own, 
 on a barbarous coast, what would it not be ina long established, well 
 regulated, opulent and Christian republic 2 Yes, yes, on the ground 
 of this argument for colonization, any friend of humanity, who can 
 see deeper and feel deeper than the skin, might even venture to ask, 
 why this elevating power is not applied to colored men here? Sheer 
 hypocrisy prevents it, says Truth. The men who bring this argu- 
 ment, are the very men who do nor plead for the complete enfran- 
 chisement of the blacks nerE; which clearly shows that their pre- 
 tensions in this matter, are either so meanly subservient or so grossly 
 inconsistent, that they are unworthy of a serious refutation. As 
 the very best that can be said of them, they have so completely 
 parted with common sense, that they do remarkably illustrate why 
 the Bible calls the wicked roots. 
 
 Here, then, | must reiterate the charge, that the Colonization So- 
 ciety, by holding out an unsubstantial, fatal lure, is seeking to 
 banish from their country 400,000 of our own native born fellow 
 citizens, nay, to banish 2,400,000. 
 
 But there remains another charge: The Colonization Society 
 basely slanders the whole body of the free people of color. It 
 makes them a degraded, vicious, incurably besotted class, who not 
 only never can rise, but never can be raised, and are properly to be 
 got rid of as a nuisance. How would the welkin have rung with 
 peals of indignation if such a charge had been uttered against any 
 class of our white fellow citizens? Even if it had been true, how 
 would it have been represented as abusive and unchristian? But 
 no candid man needs to be told that against the free men of color 
 the charge is false, and calumnious asit is cruel. There is, as might 
 be expected of necessarily poor and ignorant men, goaded by preju- 
 dice and persecution, much vice among them. They do not belong 
 to that class of refined and innocent victims of oppression, which 
 abound in novels, it may be; neither is their depravity sufficiently 
 dignified to suit the lovers of romance ; but it is an ill-looking, every- 
 day, matter-of-fact thing. They need the same moral discipline 
 which is needed by any other portion of the community. But 
 amidst all their faults there are redeeming qualities, which must’ put 
 to shame every white man who has not lost the power to blush. 
 No field in the world is richer in instances of stern moral courage, 
 unbending decision of character, exact integrity, unassailable 
 fidelity, self-sacrificing patriotism, ardent thirst for knowledge, disin- 
 terested benevolence, and unfeigned piety, than the history of our 
 free colored brethren. Multitudes of them have risen spontaneously 
 from the lowest depths of slavery, have bought their freedom by years 
 of toil, have risen amidst unmeasurable reproach and obloquy to an 
 eminence that has extorted the admiration of their oppressors. 
 Others have braved death for liberty, have been hunted from moun- 
 
33 
 
 tain to mountain, have been ferreted from city to city, by monsters 
 attracted by the price set upon their heads, till at length they have 
 foiled all the advantages of their pursuers, and have planted them- 
 selves as quiet and industrious citizens of our northern fepuniies. 
 Some of them have borne away the palm of genius, by their own 
 unaided endeavors. As a class, they have moved steadily forward, 
 till they have consummated a union, whose voice, by its dignity and 
 manful energy, has arrested the attention, and called forth the ad- 
 miration of the wise and good in both hemispheres. 
 
 The defence, however, does not rest here; the calumniator may 
 be convicted out of his own mouth. No sooner has he taught the 
 community of white men to regard their black brethren as an ex- 
 crescence, a gangrene, an intolerable nuisance, to be removed at what- 
 ever expense, than, in marvellous consistency, he turns around and 
 urges their removal for the good of Africa. Every one of them, he 
 says, “will become a miss1onary to Africa, carrying with him cre- 
 dentials in the holy cause of civilization, religion, and free institu- 
 tions.’ * With the most dignified composure, he assures us that the 
 same voyage which relieves our shores of a curse, lands an equal 
 blessing upon the shores of Africa. Thus does the Society not 
 only ‘‘kill two birds with one stone,” but it throws one and the 
 same stone, at the same time, in opposite directions. It has made 
 the important discovery, that ignorance and vice, which bid defiance 
 to the concentrated force of christianity, af home, when thrown 
 upon a heathen shore, are the very leaven to produce christianity. 
 That is to say, christianity cannot convert and elevate 400,000 free 
 blacks, in the most favorable circumstances, much less, then, can it 
 convert Africa: but these 400,000 unconverted blacks can do it ; 
 hence, they can do more for the cause of Christ, than chris- 
 tianity itself. Yes, poor christianity has come to be best propa- 
 gated by its vilest enemies. Most exquisite absurdity!! © 
 
 The Society is presented with this alternative—either to confess 
 itself a calumniator, or give up its missionary pretensions. From 
 this dilemma, there is no escape, except by the childish supposition, 
 that some marvellous change takes place during the voyage to Li- 
 beria. The probability of a great change for the better, those will 
 easily appreciate, who have themselves witnessed the effects of 
 emigration. Had the absurd suppositions of the Society any ex- 
 istence, in fact, the world might probably be converted, not by the 
 sacrifice of our comforts, but of our curses. ; ae ta 
 
 _ Again, the Society presents the colony, as it now stands, as a 
 proof of what may be done (as soon as funds and the consent of 
 the blacks themselves may be somehow obtained) in regard to all 
 the free blacks of the land. But it is said that the morals of the 
 Colony, are better than those of the United States. Therefore, 
 either the Society deals falsely in arguing from the success of Li- 
 beria, to what may be done for all the free blacks, or it must allow 
 that the morals of the colored people here, are as good as those of 
 
 * Speech of Henry Clay. 
 : > 5 Fd = 
 
34 ; 
 
 their oppressors, or, in other words, that it is a calumniator. That 
 is to say, if it has told the truth about Liberia, it has either con- 
 victed itself of a calumny against the free blacks here, or of a false- 
 hood, when it has pretended that their emigration could benefit 
 Africa. From this net of its own making, the Society can come 
 off clear only by showing that the Colonists, now settled in Libe- 
 ria, were an ignorant, vicious, degraded set while here; that they 
 are now eminently the reverse, and that they became so in the very 
 act of setting foot on the coast of Africa. 
 
 It is hardly necessary to add, that blushes and confessions could 
 hardly make it plainer, than do these tortuosities of the Society, 
 that it has been for sixteen years pouring out calumny and defama- 
 tion against our brethren and countrymen, the free men of color. 
 
 And who are the objects of all this abuse? The strong, the 
 proud, the haughty, the tyrannical? No: they are the weak, the 
 humble, the defenceless. Magnanimous work indeed for the edu- 
 cated, the refined, the pious, the dignitaries of every profession, to 
 scour the country for the sake of reviling the poor in public ha- 
 rangues! Such a work costs no sacrifice except that of conscience ; 
 (one which seems to have been made in the lump by the Coloniza- 
 tion Society,) and, to drop irony, it is as despicable as it is cheap. 
 
 Virulent and persevering’ as this persecution has been, it is re- 
 freshing to every lover of his race, to know that it has failed of its 
 object. With the exception of a few of the goaded and abused 
 colored men of the South, who, as an English writer well remarks, 
 “are glad to jump out of the fryingpan into the fire’—out of civil 
 and religious persecution into Liberia—they have promptly nega- 
 tived every offer to remove them; have attached themselves more 
 closely to the country, and have been stimulated to the most lauda- 
 ble endeavors, to educate their children and elevate themselves. 
 The friends of the free people of color are not afraid to compare 
 the proceedings of the general convention of that people, in Phila- 
 delphia, with those of any other body of men whatever. Com- 
 pare them, candid reader, with the proceedings of any of the annual 
 meetings of the American Colonization Society, and say if, laying 
 aside all evidence but the authorized minutes, you would not judge 
 the latter to be a combination of unprincipled demagogues, seeking 
 under the guise of benevolence, to remove from our land a respecta- 
 ble class of industrious and peaceable citizens, who, in their united 
 capacity, defended themselves with a firm dignity, and exposed the 
 nsidious attacks of their enemies, in the fearless composure of per- 
 secuted honesty ? 
 
CHAPTER. LV. 
 EFFECT ON AFRICA. 
 
 I come now to the Society's last resort—its citadel when hotly 
 pursued by northern philanthropists. It is almost certain that the 
 non-slave-holding friends of the Society are, to a man, painfully. 
 conscious of a perpetual obscurity, like a Newfoundland fog, hang- 
 ing around the point of the Society's tendency to remove slavery. 
 Not even the figures, that are so often pompously paraded to show 
 what may be done, can cleaf it away. Both the sow, and the when, 
 are beyond the reach of figures. The consummation so devoutly to 
 be wished for, is a semper fugiens, to the Colonization Society, more 
 evanescent than the silver cups at the end of the rainbow, and which 
 leaves the silly arithmetician out of breath, and bewildered in his own 
 pursuit. This, evidently, is not the aspect of the Society on which 
 its friends like best to dwell. Nor is it less sure that they feel con- 
 siderable embarrassment, in regard to its action on the free colored 
 people. Especially is this true, if they happen to be well acquainted 
 with colored men, and to know, as in this case they must, that to 
 persuade them to emigrate, every benevolent regard, and every 
 neighborly kindness, must be withholden, except on the express con- 
 dition of going to Liberia. Men, who have a drop of the milk of 
 human kindness in them, cannot but have some misgivings when 
 they act with a Society, which, to secure its object, is obliged to ap- 
 plaud, or at least not to disapprove, the most iniquitous legal enact 
 ments. This again is a point which they are willing enough to 
 have passed by. But, after all, the plan is adapted to benefit Africa. 
 
 Ist. It will introduce christianity there. Even here, much obscuri- 
 ty beclouds the now? ‘The Society does not very sedulously ex- 
 plain the precise adaptation of the means to the end; it does not 
 show how the spark at Liberia, so singularly feeble, is to kindle to 
 a blaze, a mass so singularly incombustible as the population of 
 Africa. The material proposition that it wall, is taken for granted. 
 And as Africa and its geography have scarcely a place among owr 
 matters of fact, imagination takes the liberty to portray, in her own 
 colors, the triumphs of the Gospel as it spreads from tribe to tribe, 
 carrying the blessings of civilization in its train. Errant fancy 
 threads the Niger, traverses the desert, climbs the mountains of the 
 moon, and every, where; her enchanted eyes rest on cities, villages, 
 and rural dwellings, peopled by regenerated, enlightened and Chris- 
 tian men—and all this, from the Society’s colony. He who would 
 spoil such a dream, by obtruding upon it the unwelcome inquiries of - 
 common sense, is very gravely called upon to lay his hand upon his 
 heart, and answer to his Maker for such gratuitous mischief! 
 
 Nevertheless, some plain inquiries must be urged, in behalf of 
 2,000,000 of slaves, whose rights are kept in abeyance, and in be- 
 half of 400,000 freemen, who are being sacrificed in detail for the 
 
36 
 
 sake of this mighty experiment on Africa. The equivocal charac- 
 ter of the “ Missionary’ colonists has already been spoken of. But 
 supposing their chard¢ter all that could be wished, is a com- 
 mercial colony adapted to christianize a savage people? » If there 
 is any example of this kind on record, there are advocates of the 
 Society sufficiently profound .in, history to lay the finger upon it. 
 Why have they not done so? The familiar examples with which 
 we are acquainted, certainly look in a different direction. What 
 colonies in the universe should produce this result, if not those of 
 New-England? Some of them received their charters for the ex- 
 press purpose of benefitting the aborigibes. Many of their ministers 
 were devoted missionaries, who labored and prayed without ceasing 
 for the conversion of the Indians. Buf, as we well know, their 
 efforts were thwarted, and almost nullified, by the proximity of the 
 white settlements. ‘The superior skill in trade, of the foreigners, 
 awakened the jealousy of the natives. Wars were the consequence, 
 of which we know the disastrous result. To be brief, the history 
 of christianity most clearly teaches us, that no colony can benefit 
 ignorant and savage men; till it is itself 80 thoroughly christianized, 
 in all its members, as not only to be hohést, but to be so “in the sight 
 of all men,” and to abstain totally from war and ardent spinits. 
 This is not true in regard to the colony at, Liberia, nor can it be 
 expected to be, on the plan of the Society. We are told of a brisk 
 and successful trade with the natives in trinkets, powder and shot, 
 and rum, and that many of the colonists are growing rich by it. 
 No matter whether this 1s authorized by the Society or not, we are 
 told that it cannot be prevented—not even the selling of Rum. What 
 would become of any Christian mission, atid what of the heathen 
 around it, if its members could not be prevented from selling rum ?— 
 if they enriched themselves by dealing in trinkets ?—if they not 
 only sold the materials of war, but had their mission house fortified 
 with deadly ordnance? What would become of their claim to bene- 
 volence? Why, such a mission would be a scandal, a shame, a 
 curse—the very worst obstacle that the devil could throw in the way 
 of the Gospel chariot. The blessed:Saviour, who came into ‘this 
 world, “not to do his own will,” is impiously outraged by any 
 such proceedings in his name. Would he, think you, Christian rea- 
 der, have stood in that fort, where the first colonist repelled a host 
 of savage assailants, adjusting, loading, aiming, and applying the 
 match to that artillery which spent its deadly force on compact 
 masses of living human flesh? No, he never would have built a 
 fort. It was his practice, and that of his followers, to gain the con- 
 fidence of men by showing confidence in them. He never asked 
 for his disciples the protection of hell’s engines of murder. When- 
 ever they have asked it, he has withdrawn from them both his sword 
 and his shield, and they have ceased to be victorious in his war- 
 fare. 
 
 Alas! poor Africa! Was it not enough that Christian robbers 
 should chain and drive away thy strong. men and women, murder- 
 ing the grandsire, the mother, and the suckling together, and leav- 
 
37 
 
 ing the ashes of their dwelling, reeking in their innocent blood ?— 
 Was it not enough that they should offer to thy parched lips the 
 scalding beverage of devils, turning thy peaceful villages into scenes 
 of murderous riot, and poisoning thy domestic bliss with universal 
 suspicion and fear of treachery? Must Christian missionaries, in 
 their first attempt to redress thy wrongs, bring with them the same 
 blood-stained weapons—the same infernal drink? But I cannot pro- 
 ceed—my heart is pained—that fitst African blood—nay, fresher 
 blood than that,is crying, like Abel’s, in the ears of ETERNAL JUSTICE. 
 The colony was stained with blood in its infancy—shall it proceed ? 
 Shall it grow up a murderer? No, says the voice of heaven-born 
 charity, let it die a thousand deaths, rather than shed another drop 
 of fraternal blood!! Let it throw away its carnal weapons, and 
 humble itself before God, and bare its bosom, and extend its naked 
 hand in fraternal affection, in the spirit of evangelic martyrdom, or 
 else let American Christians renounce the pretence of christianizing - 
 Africa by its means.. The very reason assigned by the Society, why 
 the colored men cannot be elevated and evangelized here, is, that 
 there exists an invincible antipathy, prejudice, and hatred, against 
 them in the breasts of the whites—or, in other words, that thé 
 whites are so wickedly proud, and the blacks are so wickedly degra: 
 ded in consequence of it, that the Gospel cannot act. And what is 
 the tendency of that gainful traffic in poison, of that fort on the. 
 cape, with its powder and balls, and guns, and martial array, if it 
 be not to raise up the same hostile prejudice there? Will a meré 
 similarity of color neutralize this adverse influence? Will a few 
 feeble rays of instruction, addressed to those savages, make a deeper 
 impression upon their minds, than the bullets shot through the living 
 flesh? There is, confessedly, in our own Christian country, a pestf: 
 lence, antagonist to the life of the Gospel. Along with the Gospel, shall 
 we inoculate the nations with this pestilence, which we may be 
 sure, from their deep depravity, and a hundred experiments, will 
 grow to the entire exclusion of the living principle? Why, in sober 
 earnest, the colony is the most serious hindrance of the Gospel on 
 the African coast. If the Christian church wishes to blot out the 
 hopes of the heathen, let it carry every where the worldly princi- 
 ples of nominal christianity along with zts “worldly gear.” 
 
 2d. The Colonization Society is claimed to benefit Africa, by its 
 tendency to destroy the slave trade. The first ground of this claim, 
 is its alleged tendency to christianize Africa, which I have already 
 considered. Secondly, the Colony does now defend a number of 
 miles of coast from the slave traders, from which the traffic is en- 
 tirely excluded ; (the matter is far enough from being proved, ) hence, 
 it is argued, that if such colonies were planted all around Africa, 
 the trade would be broken up, finished, annihilated. What simpli- 
 city! It reminds me of the scenes of childhood, when a number of 
 ingenious babies of us, formed the design of damming acertain small 
 brook, with a view to catch the fish, as the water below tne dam for- 
 sook them. [t was manifest that a single sod thrown in stopped the 
 water in that place, so we calculated on the certainty of stopping 
 
6 38 
 
 the whole with a sufficient number of sods. But how sadly were 
 we disappointed when, a fine dain being built, before the water had 
 time to recede beneath, that from above came pouring over with 
 fresh impetuosity. The disappointment taught us that damming a 
 stream is not the way to dry it up. A little of the Infant School 
 philosophy, which was then less rife than now-a-days, would have 
 taught us that water runs by virtue of an attraction, and that, if we 
 could have found the means to destroy this attraction, we should not 
 have been troubled with the water from above. In regard to that 
 wide stream of human wo, the slave traffic, in which the Coloniza- 
 tion Society, in the simplicity of perpetual babyhood, is always 
 dabbling, the attraction may be removed. It lies within the reach 
 of human agency. | It lies in the price paid for human cattle! 
 Abolish slavery; make it penal to hold human beings as property, 
 and you stop the traffic henceforth and for ever. It is the market 
 which calls the supplies. What! do we hold slaves at home—buy 
 and sell them as things, drive them in herds from state to state, work 
 and feed and lodge them as beasts, and yet wonder that they are 
 brought to us across the ocean for sale? What boots it, to brandish 
 the sword of justice in one hand, while we hold out the golden bribe 
 in the other? As there must be perpetual fluctuations in the de- 
 mand for labor, wherever labor is supplied by slavery, there must be 
 a slave trade. If it could be banished from the ocean it would 
 flourish the more at home. It would separate husbands and wives, 
 parents and children, and open every where fresh sluices of unut- 
 terable wo. Nay, in one horrible particular, the domestic outdoes 
 the foreign traffic; we do not learn that it is common for African 
 fathers to sell their own children, but it is quite common for a plant- 
 er, in one of our southern states to sell his own offspring—even after 
 the most solemn promises to the sable mother that such a thing 
 should never be done! ! 
 
 It may even be questioned whether this miserably inconsistent op- 
 position of the foreign traffic, has not increased the evil. In spite 
 of the cruisers, the market has been supplied. This is all that 
 would have been done at any rate. But to effect this the slaves 
 have been the more cruelly “packed,” and hundreds have been thrown 
 overboard in chains, when the slaver was pressed with pursuit. I 
 merely suggest this consideration to those who wish us to treat the 
 subject of slavery with great delicacy—to touch it with caution, if 
 at all, while they are making pictures of slave ships, stowed to the 
 full, and rattling African slave chains from every pulpit. Consis- 
 tency is a jewel. Let it not be understood that I oppose the call- 
 ing of the foreign traffic piracy, or the measures taken to drive this 
 piracy from the ocean. This ought ye to have done, but by no 
 
 means to have left the other undone. If the trader is a pirate, the 
 iolder is a felon, and should be called so. 
 
 I was just closing this chapter, when I heard some one ask, (it 
 eemed to be a female voice,) but do we not restore to Africa her 
 ong lost children? No, kind madam, a figure of speech has de- 
 ‘ived us here. Africa, when stripped of its personification, is mere 
 
39 
 
 inanimate rock and soil—and some of that very sandy—which has 
 never had any right of property in the men who have inhabited it, 
 much less in their descendants born on another continent. Accord- 
 ing to the constitution of the United States, every man belongs to 
 himself. Every man owns himself as much as he owns his horse 
 or his watch. If a thief should take your watch and retain it a — 
 long time, would you not think it.a strange restitution, if he refused 
 to restore it to you except on the spot where your grandmother was 
 born; perhaps a thousand miles off? Again, if we must hold to 
 the figure, and restore to Africa her children, why not to Europe, 
 hers? Would they be any more welcome in one case than in the 
 other? Would an armed colony of Europe’s children, on the coast 
 of France, or England, planted there expressly to introduce a new 
 order of things, excite more jealousy, than will an armed colony of 
 Africa’s children, on the slave coast? And more, if Africa is to 
 have her children, and Europe hers, what is to become of America’s 
 children 2 ‘ 
 
 This subject is capable of a much clearer development; but I 
 conclude, on the view we have taken, that the benefit to Africa is 
 exactly what might be expected of a RrossBeER holding to his 
 ROBBERY. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 IMMEDIATE ABOLITION. 
 
 Since I have shown so little respect for a scheme considered by 
 the bulk of the Christian community, as the last resort, and the only 
 hope against the system of slavery, it may be expected that 1 
 should point out something better. The expectation is reasonable 
 and shall not be disappointed... Under the government of God, as 
 exhibited in this world, there is but one remedy for sin, and that is 
 available only by a repentance, evidenced by reformation. There is 
 no such thing as holding on to sin with safety. It is not only to 
 be renounced, but the very occasions of it are to be avoided at what- 
 ever sacrifice. If thy right hand cause thee to offend, cut it off—if ~ 
 thy right eye, pluck it out... The dearest human relationships are 
 to be broken through when they interfere with the relation which 
 a man bears to God, and through him to his rational creatures. 
 This being the case, we might naturally expect that the entire agency 
 which God has provided to reclaim the world should be adapted to pro- 
 duce zmmediate repentance. It certainly isso, if we take the testimony of 
 the Bible. When the Apostle of the Gentiles attacked idolatry, he said, 
 “The times of this ignorance God winked at, (that is, used no special 
 agency to prevent it,) but now commandeth all men every where to 
 
 - 
 
40 
 
 repent. ‘Che living ministry, instituted by the author of christianity, 
 and propagated from age to age, was designed to reform and save 
 the world by preaching repentance—immediate, thorough repent- 
 ance. When it gives up this message, whatever other means it 
 may use, it does anything but reclaim men from sin. Throughout 
 all the recorded messages of God to men, he expresses the utmost 
 abhorrence of sin—there is no compassionate promise even, which 
 is not based upon the condition that sin be forsaken as an abomina- 
 ble evil. The entire and total wickedness of men, is the subject of 
 the first paragraph in every exposition of Gospel grace. ‘Those men 
 who are so excessively cautious not to disturb prejudice, who would 
 remove sin while the wicked are asleep, stealing around the bed and 
 effecting a reformation beforehand, so that the sinner may repent at 
 his leisure without hindrance when he wakes, derive their authority 
 elsewhere than from the word of God, as indeed they must derive 
 their hope of success elsewhere than from the natural history of 
 man. ‘The doctrine of the immediate abolition of slavery asks no 
 better authority than is offered by scripture. It is in perfect har- 
 mony with the letter and spirit of God’s word. 
 
 The doctrine may be thus briefly stated. Itis the duty of the 
 holders of slaves immediately to restore to them their liberty, and to 
 extend to them the full protection of law, as well as its control. It 
 is their duty equitably to restore to them those profits of their labor, 
 which have been wickedly wrested away, especially by giving them 
 that moral and mental instruction—that education, which alone can 
 render any considerable accumulation of property a blessing. It is 
 their duty to employ them as voluntary laborers, on equitable wages. 
 Also, it is the duty of all men to proclaim this doctrine—to urge 
 upon slave-holders immediate emancipation, so long as there isa 
 slave—to agitate the consciences of tyrants, so long as there is a 
 tyrant on the globe. | ‘ 
 
 Though this doctrine does not depend, in regard to the. slave- 
 holder, upon the safety of immediate emancipation, nor, in regard to 
 the non-slave-holder, on the prospect of accomplishing any abolition 
 at all, but upon the commands of God, yet I shall attempt to estab- 
 lish it upon those Jower grounds. Iam willing to rest the cause on 
 the truth of the following propositions. 
 
 1. The instant abolition of the whole slave system is safe, and 
 _the substitution of a free labor system is safe, practicable and pro- 
 
 fitable. 
 2. The firm expression of an enlightened public opinion, on the 
 part of non-slave-holders, in favor of instant abolition, is an effectual, 
 and the only effectual means of securing abolition in any time what- 
 soever. 
 1. Immedzate abolition is safe. t 
 Were I speaking to a Christian public, who believed half they 
 professed, I would not insult them by a labored argument on this 
 point. It would be enough to have shown that emancipation is the 
 duty of slave-holders, to arouse these Christians to plead the cause 
 
Al 
 
 of the oppressed, even at the peril of dungeons and gibbets. But 
 the Christians of this age, must have not only a “thus saith the 
 Lord,” but a guarantee—safe as a real estate mortgage—that the 
 performance of the duty shall not injuriously affect certain tempo- 
 ralities, which, taken together, little and great, are supposed to make 
 up the public weal. No matter how many millions writhe in the 
 last distress, the public safety is the paramount claim, the supreme 
 law. And of this public safety—-not God, but the public, is to be 
 judge. With a thorough going Christian of the apostolic school, 
 whatever is right, is of course expedient ; but with the modern bap- 
 tized “gnat strainer and camel swallower,” nothing is right, which 
 cannot be wire-drawn through his own apprehension of expediency. 
 For the special benefit of such, I proceed to this argument. 
 
 The immediate abolition of slavery is safe, because, without giv- 
 ing to the slaves any motives to injure their masters, it would take 
 away from them the very strong ones which they now have. Wh 
 does the white mother quake at the rustling of a leaf? Why, but 
 that she is conscious that there are those around her, who have been 
 deeply enough provoked to imbrue their hands in her blood, and in 
 that of the tender infant at her breast 2 And this, while all is crin- 
 ging servility around her—while every want is anticipated, and the 
 most menial services are performed with apparent delight. But well 
 she knows that it is a counterfeited delight. Well enough she knows, 
 that were she subjected to the same degradation to which she sub- 
 jects others, vengeance would fire her heart, and seek the first occa- 
 sion to do its fellest deed. All the instincts of animal nature cry 
 out, that oppression is dangerous. The natural history of man cries 
 out, that there is a point, beyond which endurance would be miracu- 
 lous. , 
 
 But the slaves are now, not only under the motives common to 
 humanity, to throw off their yoke, but they are urged on by the 
 boasts and taunts of their masters. They must either yield up every 
 pretension to manhood, and contentedly think themselves brutes, or 
 they must apply to themselves, and be aroused to action, by those 
 panegyrics on liberty, and that proud contempt of slavery, which 
 méet them on every side. No matter how many laws may be thrown 
 around the slave to keep out every ray of knowledge—you may 
 prevent the knowledge of letters—you may withhold the book of 
 God, and every other printed boek—but you can no more shut out 
 a knowledge of the fundamental propositions of human rights, by 
 laws—you can no more shut out the spirit of liberty, than you can, 
 by law, cause the sun not to shine, or the rain not to fall. The 
 masters, in all their movements, their celebrations, their elections, 
 their orations and conversations, on all occasions—are living and 
 breathing sermons to the slaves, on the value of liberty. Does a 
 tyrant, as for example the autocrat of all the Russias, who wishes 
 to keep all his subjects quiet, harangue, in their hearing, on the 
 value of his own liberty to do as he pleases—does he contemn those 
 who have the meanness to submit to his despotism? Or, does he 
 
42 
 
 speak of his love for his people, as having induced him to take this 
 course or that ?—and attribute all his actions to an ardent devotion 
 to the public weal? Manifestly, the latter. Why, you might as 
 well think of keeping powder for ever amidst the sparks in a black- 
 smith’s shop, as of keeping slaves for ever in such a republic as ours. 
 It is said, and with evident truth—educate the slaves, and they are 
 free. The slave-holding legislatures, aware of this, and alarmed at 
 some feeble individual attempts to communicate knowledge to the 
 slaves, as if the universal prejudice and despotic power of the indi- 
 vidual masters were not sufficient to repress the evil, have enacted 
 LAWS AGAINST TEACHING THE SLAVES TO READ. ‘Thisis a most 
 Capital blunder. It gives ominous pledge, that such tyranny as 
 theirs is soon to be swept from the face of the earth. Had they 
 let the matter alone, or had they made laws in favor of educating 
 slaves, about as operative as the school laws of some of the states, 
 the effectual degree of ignorance might have been secured. But 
 they have, in effect, taught the slaves, in language which they can 
 understand, what letters are good for—what printed books can do 
 for men. And there will now be a desire to learn letters, and to 
 read printed books, which the inquisitorial power and skill of all the 
 popes could not repress. It might as well be expected to keep the 
 ocean from wetting its shores, as to keep the floods of printed books 
 from reaching the slave population. 
 
 There is another very striking point of view in which these move- 
 ments may be regarded. So long as the slaves are left entirely to 
 the control of individual masters, some kind and lenient, freeing now 
 and then a slave, and promising freedom to others, and exercising a 
 sort of patriarchal authority, while others are, each in hisown way, 
 more harsh and severe, the unity of the slaves, as a body, is broken. 
 They have no common cause. Every conspiracy will be detected 
 early, by means of those who, being kindly treated, have a blind 
 attachment to their masters. But these legislative enactments area 
 common oppression. ‘They form the slaves into a single body, give 
 them a common interest, and break the claim of individual kind- 
 ness, as well as attach, in the view of the slaves, an immeasurable 
 importance to a knowledge of letters. Go on, then, tyrants—con- 
 nect into one mine the explosive materials beneath you—dry the 
 powder—increase the pressure—lay trains of the best fulminating 
 mixtures, and wait for the spark, or the blow that is to annihilate 
 you. Already have your abused, outraged vassals such motives to 
 rid themselves of your yoke, that your knees smite together in spite 
 of the boasted stoutness of your hearts. Go on, then, refuse to 
 emancipate, add insult to injury—add stings to desperation—make 
 death easier than bondage—for, in so doing, you assuredly hasten 
 the day, when the American bill of rights shall mean what it 
 Says. 
 
 But if you recoil at the prospect—if sanity has not yet bid adieu 
 to your heads, and the milk of human kindness is not quite dried up 
 from your breasts—look at the other side. Immediate emancipation 
 
43 
 
 would reverse the picture. It would place a motive to love you in 
 the room of every one which now urges the slaves to hate you. 
 They would then become, for you well know how grateful they are 
 for even the slightest favors, your defenders instead of your mur- 
 derers. The law which now represses their crimes, would then 
 more effectualy secure their good behavior, not being counteracted 
 by the exasperating influence of individual irresponsible oppression. 
 Your fields which now lie sterile, or produce but half a crop, because 
 the whip of the driver, although it may secure its motion, cannot 
 give force to the negro’s hoe, would then smile beneath the plough 
 of the freeman—the genial. influence of just and equitable wages. 
 Mark, that I say nothing of the amount of human happiness which 
 might be reared by Christian instruction on this ground of justice, 
 mercy and equal rights applied to 2,000,000 of men. Your own estates 
 would be worth double the cash. The capital which you have ex- 
 pended in slaves—scarcely less than the value of your land—is sunk; 
 for your slave labor after all costs more than free. And, besides, the 
 waste arising from involuntary laber is prodigious. Make all labor 
 free, and the purchaser can afford to pay for your land what he must 
 now pay for the land and slaves together. Even in a pecuniary 
 point of view the change from the slave to the free labor system 
 would be profitable, and that upon your own comparison. * 
 
 Do you say these are idle speculations of men who know nothing 
 of facts—the dreams of visionary enthusiasts? Do you say the 
 remedy would be worse than the disease ?—that violence, rapine, 
 murder—nay, universal massacre, would be the consequence of uni- 
 versal, immediate emancipation? Gentlemen, you mistake ws much 
 and our argument more. We are matter-of-fact people, and on the 
 ground of well attested, unmagnified, undistorted facts, we defy 
 you. . Show us the stain of a single drop of any master’s blood shed 
 by an emancipated slave! Why silent? Why dumb? Why no 
 motion of the finger ?—Do you at length venture to point us to St. 
 Domingo? Itistoo late. We have a better edition of the history 
 of St. Domingo than yours, and one which you dare not impugn. 
 The blood of the whites shed in St. Domingo was due either to the 
 civil wars which preceded the act of emancipation, or to the un- 
 
 Not one drop of it was shed by that act which in 
 500,000 freemen of as many slaves. Nay, it is 
 proprietors themselves, that the negros, without a known excez 
 went directly to work for their former masters, on wages—and eve 
 without wages or overseers they quietly cultivated those plantations 
 which had been deserted by the whites. St. Domingo is a blazing 
 beacon in favor of instant abolition, and against that monstrous in- 
 fatuation and fiendish cruelty, which would attempt to repress the 
 upward tendencies of the human soul by brute force. | 
 
 * See the ‘ West India Question, by C. Stuart,” where this subject is admi- 
 “bly discussed and for ever settled. 
 
 o 
 
Ad 
 
 {In the French colonies of Guadaloupe and Cayenne, the slaves 
 were liberated at once and with the same safety. Mexico made her 
 slaves free at a blow—but with the galling drawback that the mas- 
 ters should be remunerated for their loss! ! and yet we have heard 
 of no evil consequences. 
 
 Large bodies of slaves were emancipated at once, in Colombia, 
 during the revolution—no blood was shed but that of the enemies of 
 the republic. There are 600,000 enfranchised Africans in Brazil, 
 diffused throughout the body politic, enjoying its honors as well as 
 doing its labors—who are respected and happy—no blood shed. In 
 the colonies of Sierra Leone and Liberia, it is notorious that con- 
 siderable bodies of emancipated slaves have been incorporated into 
 regular governments—and under very unfavorable circumstances. 
 
 I might fill a volume with instances, but I repeat it, we are not 
 only matter-of-fact people, but we enjoy a complete monopoly of 
 facts ; that is to say, of all past facts, for of the future we say no- 
 thing any more positively than we would predict the sun’s rising to- 
 morrow. We would speak modestly here, and say, that inasmuch 
 as the sun always has risen once in twenty-four hours, the probability 
 1s, to our minds, that he will rise again to-morrow. Those may doubt 
 our prediction who please. Just this and nothing more we would 
 say in favor of immediate, unprepared-for emancipation. We know 
 it always has been safe, and we confidently expect it will always be 
 so. If such emancipations as I have referred to, in most or all of 
 which justice was hampered and partial, were safe and happy, | 
 beg to be told whether a complete and magnanimous act of justice 
 on the part of our country, by which the slaves should be placed 
 under the equitable government and firm protection of law, and by 
 which the balm of our disabused bill of rights, should be applied to 
 their lacerated feelings, would result in ruthless violence and butch- 
 ery! He who can be persuaded of any such thing—nay, he who 
 can fancy it, must be something else than a xnatwral fool—he must 
 have been stultified by inoculation. 
 
 Holders of stolen men! do you still point us to the degraded free 
 blacks of the South, and say they are more miserable than the 
 slaves? We deny the assertion. We appeal to yourselves whether 
 there be any suffering even unto death which you would not endure 
 rather than be slaves—rather than to be fed and fattened slaves— 
 rather than to wear a single link of the slave's chain—rather than 
 to submit to slavery even in the abstract principle, apart from all 
 matters of reality. But granting the assertion to express a fact. 
 You are not the men to plead it. You have made this fact with 
 your own blood-stained hands—made it for the very purpose of dis- 
 paraging the slave's freedom in the view of the slave, and the view 
 of the world! This shall be proved from your own lips. J. A. 
 M'Kinney, Esq., says, ‘‘ Let them [the free blacks] be maltreated ever 
 so much, the law gives them no redress unless some white person 
 happens to be present to be a witness in the case. If they acquire 
 
45 
 
 property, they hold it by courtesy of every vagabond in the coun: 
 try ; and sooner or later are sure to have it filched from them. * 
 
 But what if it were true, that the free black at the South is more 
 miserable than the slave? It would be no argument against that 
 sort of emancipation for which we plead. We plead for no twrning 
 loose, no exile, no kicking out of house and home, but for complete and 
 hearty susticr. Justice requires that the masters who have shut 
 out the light of knowledge from their slaves, should now freely com- 
 municate it; that they should follow up their acts of emancipation 
 by giving employmemt and affording the means of education. A 
 wise and vigorous system of free labor and of primary instruction, 
 should be immediately erected on the dark pile of oppression, which 
 we urge them instantly to.demolish. Nothing like this has been 
 done heretofore, either at the South or the North, on any extensive 
 and liberal scale. Is it a wonder then, that these poor enslaved men, 
 when thus twrned adrift, have in so many instances missed the path 
 of moral and mental improvement? Is it not rather marvellous that 
 they have not sunk, as a class, deeper in vice than we find them ? 
 We hold the masters bound, individually and in the aggregate, first 
 tO LIBERATE and then to ENLIGHTEN the IMMORTAL MINDs that 
 have been abused and debased by their avarice and lust! Jusricr 
 hitherto has been clogged, defaced, mutilated; but the day of her 
 power rolls on.—Her sun is above the horizon ! 
 
 Shame on you, proprietors of men! Do not add to your inhuman 
 cruelty the useless hypocrisy of professing to wish the free blacks 
 away for their own good! Say, in plain English, for we cannot be 
 much longer deceived, that your sole object is to rid yourselves of 
 colored freedom, lest your slaves should be provoked to think them- 
 selves men, and discover that they too have rights. Shame on you 
 too, benevolent colonizers! Do not add to your unchristian prejudice 
 the gratuitous sycophancy of doing their foulest deeds for men- 
 stealers! Say in plain English, for it will be believed whether you 
 say it or not, that you succumb to arrogance, and are recreants to 
 the Master in whose name you have been baptized ! 
 
 If, after reading these thoughts, any candid mind should feel a 
 lingering doubt whether emancipation, instant and unconditional, be 
 safe, I bee such a mind to hold its decision in suspense till further 
 facts, which have been unaccountably shut out from the public eye, 
 are brought forward, which, I trust, will be at no distant day. 
 
 2. The firm expression of an enlightened public opinion on the 
 part of non-slave-holders, in favor of instant abolition, rs an effectual, 
 and the only effectual means of securing abolition in any time what- 
 soever. ‘ 
 
 Many men, very wise men in their own estimNion, dismiss aboli- 
 tion as a “wild” project, a “ theory,’ a mere closet theory. Coloni- 
 
 * See his speech in the African Repository. See also Mr. Brodnax’s speeches 
 
 before the Virginia legislature, and Mr. Archer’s speech before the American Co- 
 lonization Society. 
 
A6 
 
 zation is a practical business—therefore they are for colonizatio#. 
 But is speaking truth a theory? Is calling things by their night 
 names a closet theory? How passing strange that one of our state 
 legislatures should offer $5,000 for the abduction of a mere theorist! 
 For my own part, I had supposed that such large pecuniary trans- 
 actions involved practical business. I had supposed that this reward 
 might be viewed in the light of a steam-gage, which indicates the 
 efficiency of the moving force. I had supposed it might be a ne- 
 cessary and practical part of the business of reclaiming wicked men, 
 to say something which they would not choose to have us. 
 
 If northern men, as a body, would become abolitionists, and if 
 they will not, what security have we that they will not become 
 slave-holders? If they would speak out as abolitionists, would the 
 people of the South regard it as a mere unpractical theory? May 
 it not be that they now hold their slaves by virtue of our theory 
 against zmmediate emancipation, expressed a thousand times through 
 the Colonization Society and in other ways? If we, that is to say, 
 all our wese and prudent men, have justified slavery, why should they 
 condemn it? Butif the cry, cwm tacent, clamant, of 2,000,000 of 
 oppressed men should enter our ears; if all our philanthropic men 
 and women should be moved from the bottom of their hearts, and 
 pour out the deep current of their united sympathy for the slave; 
 and if the cautious and the timid, and the immovably prudent, 
 should be, as they always are, borne along with the tide, might it 
 not have a very practical bearing on the common sense and con- 
 science of the southern people? How do we know that there are 
 not hundreds and thousands among them, who need only to be backed - 
 by northern sentiment to become martyrs in the cause of humanity ? 
 Are we to be told that the most benevolent men at the South depre- 
 cate any such interference on our part? Let us have the proof that 
 they are benevolent men. We cannot take their word. for it, nor 
 any man’s word for it, till it is shown that those men are not slave- 
 holders, and that they have no sympathy with slave-holders as such ; 
 otherwise, we are merely told of benevolent robbers,—a thing in- 
 credible, especially on the testimony of the robbers themselves. But, 
 waiving this point, it is said they are on the ground, and know bet- 
 ter than we what ought to be done, and how it ought to be done. 
 “ Why should men who have never set foot south of the Potomac or 
 Ohio, pretend to know more about slavery and its remedy, than 
 those who have been born and bred in the midst of it? Insuffera- 
 ble presumption!” This reminds me of a certain person—a mz- 
 nister of the gospel, reader—in this vicinity, who, on being asked to 
 subscribe for an abolition newspaper, said he had not yet read enough 
 on the subject to know whether a man could have a right of pro- 
 perty in man or not! accordingly, he very sagely concluded not to 
 take the newspaper till he had investigated the matter more tho- 
 roughly,—probably, to see whether or not it was worthy of investi- 
 gation! Should such a man visit the South, and see with his own 
 eyes, he would doubtless be well satisfied that man can have pro- 
 
 * 
 
A? 
 
 perty in man. What is a man’s honesty good for, if he needs to 
 make a pilgrimage’ to Georgia to learn whether stolen property 
 ought to be given up? ; 
 
 Others exclaim, “ But how can your scheme of ammediate, instant 
 abolition be practicable? Can a handful of northern men, or even 
 the combined North, expect to overturn southern society from its 
 foundation in a moment ?—in the twinkling of an eye? What fools! 
 Forsooth you will do nothing against slavery, unless you can do 
 every thing, all at once! Heaven deliver ws from such Quixotism ! 
 We are for the gradual abolition, for not attempting more than we 
 can effect.” What a pity that the great body of evangelical preach- 
 ers of the gospel cannot learn wisdom of such counsellors. They 
 preach immediate, entire repentance; of course they expeci, ‘what 
 fools!” to convert the whole world ata blow! Why do they not 
 confine themselves to the doctrine of gradual repentance, and not 
 attempt more than they are able to effect ? 
 
 Now if I may be allowed to make a distinction too elementary to 
 be overlooked by an infant, a doctrine is one thing, and a plan is 
 another. When we say that slave-holders ought all to emancipate 
 their slaves zmmediately, we state a doctrine which is true. We do 
 not propose a plan. Our plan, and it has been explained often 
 enough not to be misunderstood, is simply this: To promulgate the 
 true 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 moun- 
 tain-tops. To pour it out like water from the pulpit and the press. 
 To mix 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 indestructible of 
 the public soul. Let those who contemn this plan, renounce, if they 
 have not done it-already, the gospel plan for converting the world ; 
 let them renounce every plan of moral reformation, and every plan 
 whatsoever, which does not terminate in the gratification of their 
 own animal natures. 
 
 By prosecuting the plan described, we expect to see the benevo- 
 lent, one by one at first, and afterwards in dense masses, awaking, 
 gathering up their armor and rushing to the standard with the reso- 
 lution to make up for lost time ; we expect to see, at length, the full 
 tide of public sympathy setting in favor of the slave. We expect 
 to see him, when escaped from his cruel servitude, greeted by the 
 friends of liberty, at the North, equally with the more courtly re- 
 fugee of European tyranny. We expect to see the free colored 
 American so educated and elevated in our own land, that it shall be 
 notorious that the slave is BROTHER TO A MAN! In the meantime 
 we expect to see the great body of slave-holders exasperated, foam- 
 ing with rage and gnashing their teeth, threatening loudly to secede 
 from the Union!! madly prating about the invasion of sacred 
 rights, the disturbance of their domestic quiet, and the violation of 
 solemn compacts; and with blind infatuation, riveting tighter the 
 
48 
 
 fetters of their helpless victims. Nevertheless, we expect to see 
 some tyrants, conscience stricken, loosen their grasp; we expect, 
 with God’s good help, to hear the trumpet of the world’s jubilee 
 announcing that the last fetter has been knocked off from the heel 
 of the last slave. 
 
 Thus I have endeavored to develop the nature of the evil to be 
 remedied, and have held up, side by side, the remedies proposed. The 
 reader is called upon to judge between them. It is a question in 
 which he cannot fail to be interested till he ceases tobe a man. The 
 remedies are fundamentally ‘opposite. The one is physical, and 
 aims, contrary to nature, to withdraw 2,500,000 laborers from a 
 fruitful soil and a healthful climate, and plant them under a tropical 
 sun, in a soil trampled and spoiled by civilized rapacity and still the 
 resort of robbers, and all for the sake of avoiding the just vengeance 
 of Heaven, without giving up that wicked prejudice which lies at 
 the bottom of the sin. The other is moral; * it addresses—not the 
 slave, but the master; it seeks not to abolish slavery by a forced le- 
 gislation, but to correct that public opinion on which law in a free 
 country is based ; it applies to the subject the principles of the Buble, 
 in the spzrct of the Bible; it holds no compromise with the open viola- 
 tors of God’s law. Let public opinion be corrected and the requisite 
 legislation will be easily applied, and a complete substitution of free 
 for slave labor, without a removal of the laborers will be the conse- 
 quence. Tull that time let every slave-holder who becomes convinced of 
 his sin act upon the principles of justice. No law can justly compel 
 him to regard his fellow men as property—to buy and sell them. 
 Let him say then to his slaves that they are slaves no longer, that he 
 will treat them as free, and protect them zm his employ as free labor- 
 ers, to the extent of his ability. Ifthe law interferes, on others the 
 responsibility will rest. But the friends of free labor at the South, 
 for they are certainly numerous, might combine on the plan of a 
 mutual pledge, like the temperance pledge, to abstain from treating 
 their fellow men as property, to advocate their indefeasible claim to 
 liberty under law, and to open to them the field of knowledge. This 
 must be done, or human nature must be left to right itself by puy- 
 SICAL FORCE. Slavery cannot exist forever. If the slaves were all 
 free to-day, 1t would be as vain to expect that they could be rooted 
 up from the soil with their own consent—without an act of direct 
 oppression—as it would be to expect the fish to betake themselves 
 to the mountains. But unless the emigration is altogether free, a 
 God of justice will not aid us. If we would have his favor, we must 
 go for immediate emancipation upon the soil. 
 
 After all, many well-meaning people cannot, for their lives, see 
 why emancipationists and colonizationists should not go together. 
 This is merely because they do not see things as they are. JL must 
 be allowed to tell them a story. 
 
 * See Appendix D. 
 
THE-TWO DOGS. 
 
 A Fable. 
 A shepherd, whose flock was intel ed nightly by a wolf, pro- 
 cured a spaniel to defend it. This dog, who seemed remarkably 
 
 affectionate and obedient in presence of bis master, was of little 
 service to the poor sheep; for, though he barked furiously while 
 the wolf was in the inclosure making his insidious attack, he ‘no 
 sooner saw him fairly off with the prey, than he ran to him and 
 fawned upon him, id even at length received and devoured small 
 bits of the torn flesh, and, to save appearances with his master, 
 brought back ia his rrouth some of the pieces which the wolf had 
 thrown away, and laid them down in the inclosure. 
 
 Grieved to see his flock still molested, the shepherd procureda 
 mastifi—a dog of much fiercer countenance, and of unflinching 
 mettle. His first growl agitated the wolf exceedingly, whereupon 
 that old robber offered a large reward out of his plunder to any one 
 who would bring the mastiff bound to his den. ‘The spaniel, hear- 
 ing of this, lamented the imprudence of the mastiff, and expressed 
 his regret that any thing should be done to exasperate so fero- 
 cious an enemy as the wolf, ‘The mastiff, however, was not to be 
 intimidated. Expressing the sturdiest indignation, both against 
 the wolf and his ee. us apologist, he set out to attack the 
 robber in his den. At this moment the spaniel, seeing the reso- 
 Jute countenance and lofty bearing of his fellow, whined ina very 
 soothing tone, why can we not go together ? BECAUSE, growled 
 the mastiff, you have been fora dos’ s age the protector of this 
 flock, and have never had a price set upon your head! 
 
 FINIS. 
 
APPENDIX. 
 
 eae cated 
 
 (A.) See page 22. 
 
 Extract from the speech of the Hon. Mr. Archer, of Virginia, at the fifteenth 
 annual meeting of the American Colonization Society. (‘Bound up with” the 
 Fifteenth Annual Report !) 
 
 “Mr. Archer said, that he was not one of those, (however desirable it might be and 
 Was, 1n abstract speculation,) who looked to the complete removal of slavery from 
 
 among us. If that “consummation, devoutly to be wished,” were to be considered 
 feasible at all, it was at a period too remote to warrant the expenditure of any re- 
 
 source of contemplation or contribution now. But a great benefit, short of this, ~ 
 
 was within reach, and made part of the scope of operation, of the plan of the So- 
 ciety. The progress of slavery was subjected to the action of a law, of the ut- 
 most regularity of action. Where this progress was neither stayed, nor modified 
 by causes of collateral operation, it hastened, with a frightful rapidity, disproportion- 
 ed, entirely, to the ordinary law of the advancement of population, to its catastrophe, 
 which was repletion. If none were drained away, slaves became, except under pe- 
 culiar circumstances of climate and production, inevitably and speedily redundant, 
 first to the occasions of profitable employment, and as a consequence, to the faculty 
 of comfortable provision for them. No matter what the humanity of the owners, 
 fixed restriction on their resources must transfer itself to the comfort, and then ‘the 
 subsistence, of the slave. At this last stage, the evil in this form had to stop. To 
 this stage (from the disproportioned rate of multiplication of the slaves—double that 
 of the owners in this country) it was obliged, though at different periods, in differ- 
 ent circumstances, to come. When this stage had been reached, what course or 
 remedy remained? Was open butchery to be resorted to, as among the Spartans 
 with the Helots? Or general emancipation, and incorporation, as im South Ameri- 
 ca? Or abandonment of the country by the masters, as must come to be the case 
 in the West Indies ? Either of these was a deplorable catastrophe. Could all of 
 them be avoided, and if they could, how? ‘There was but one way, but that might 
 be made effectual, fortunately! It was to provide and keep open a drain for the 
 excess of increase beyond the occasions of profitable employment. 'This might be 
 done effectually by extension of the plan of the Society. ‘The drain was already, 
 opened. All that was necessary would be, to provide for the enlargement of the 
 channel, as occasion might demand.” 
 
 (B.) See page 28. 
 At the last meeting of the American Colonization Society, on motion of the Hon. 
 
 Mr. Chambers, it was 
 
 Resolved, That the Society view, with the highest gratification, the continued efforts of the 
 State of Maryland to accomplish lier patriotic and benevcient system in regard to her colored po- 
 pulation, and that the Jate approptintion by that State, of two hundred thousand dollars in aid of 
 African colonization, is hailed by the friends of the system, as a bright example to other states. 
 
 In support of this resolution, Mr. C., among other things, said, 
 
 “ Sir, I reside in a slave State, alive to all the jealousies which a consideration of 
 this kind must excite. No other State would be more sensitive at the slightest 
 
 effort to withdraw from its own peculiar cognizance, the exclusive and entire con- 
 
 trol of all questions touching this species of property ; none will go farther to sus- 
 tain her right to such exclusive jurisdiction ; and no citizen of the State would vin- 
 dicate that claim with more untiring zeal and firmness, than the individual now 
 before you. But, sir, the apprehension is groundless—your Constitution avows, 
 and your whole history proves that no such purpose exists. ‘This Seciety interferes 
 with the rights and interests of no one. Who has ever claimed for the Society or 
 
 for the National Government, operating through its agency, the right to interfere 
 
‘5h 
 
 with, or control State legislation on the subject of slavery ? There may be individu- 
 als in this Society, as there are out of it, who intemperately urge the subject of 
 emancipation, and would desire to see it advance quite beyond the limits of pru- 
 dence and safety. Such enthusiasts may be willing to make any Institution, So- 
 ciety, or Government, auxiliary to their wild and mischievous projects ; but the 
 Colonization Society, is not responsible for these intemperate fanatics: nor does it 
 countenance or encourage their schemes :——It interferes in no way with the rights or 
 the interests of owners of slaves. ‘That in the prosecution of its legitimate opera- 
 tions, and by aflording the prospect of comfort and respectability to the man of 
 color, it may exert an influence altogether of a moral nature favorable to eman- 
 cipation, with a view to colonization, may be admitted. It imposes no restraints, 
 makes no demands,.assails no man’s rights, nor seeks to invade the volition which 
 he indulges, or to disturb the enjoyment of what the laws secure to him’ Its sole 
 and single object is the colonization of the free, and with their full consent.” 
 
 It will be plainly seen by the following extract from the Maryland Act, how.the 
 “fall consent” of the “free” culored people is to’ be obtained. The most “‘ benevo- 
 lent” thing in the law appears to be this: it gives the slave the alternative of re- 
 maining in bondage if he does not consent to be an exile from his native land! 
 
 “or in case the said person or persons shall refuse to be so removed, 
 then it shall he the duty of the said board of managers to remove the said person or 
 pees to such other place or places beyond:the limits of this State, as the said 
 
 oard shall approve of, and the said person or persons shall be willing to go to, and 
 to provide for their reception and support at such place or places as the said board 
 may think necessary, until they shall be able to provide for themselves out of an 
 money that may be earned by their hire, or may be otherwise provided for that 
 purpose, and in case the said person or persons shall refuse to be removed to any 
 place beyond the limits of this State, and shall persist in remaining therein, then 
 it shall be the duty of the said board to inform the sheriff of the county wherein 
 such person or persons may be, of such refusal, and it shall thereupon be the duty of 
 the said sheriff forthwith to arrest or cause to be arrested the said person or persons 
 so refusing to emigrate from this State, and transport the said person or persons 
 beyond the limits of this State; and all slaves shall be capable of receiving manu- 
 mission, for the purpose of removal as aforesaid, with their consent, of whatever 
 age, any law to the contrary notwithstanding,” 
 
 (C.) See page 45. 
 
 The following extract from the speech of Mr. Archer, before referred to, reveals 
 ‘the reason why the free blacks at the South are “ worse off” than the slaves. It 
 seems that those who have heretofore emancipated, have neglected to employ and 
 educate ; they have “turned loose ;” they have thrown the emancipated, while 
 liberty was in the bud, directly beneath the influence of that system which blasts 
 like the Upas! It is not the air and sunshine of liberty which has done this mischief 
 to the freedman, but the porsoN TREE, which must be torn out by the roots! 
 
 But where were the free blacks to find occupation in the slave-holding States, 
 in which they abounded the most? In the other States, they might be ab- 
 sorbed to some extent, in domestic or mechanical service. ‘This could take place 
 to no extent, that deserved to be named, in the slave-holding States. ‘There all 
 the avenues of occupation were filled. Even were there space, A NECESSARY AND 
 OBVIOUS POLICY RESTRAINED THE INTERMIXTURE OF THE SEVERAL CASTS IN OC-_ 
 cuPpATION. ‘I'he free blacks were, therefore, destined, by an insurmountable barri- 
 er—a fixed pale of social law to the want of occupation—thence to the want of 
 food—-thence to the distresses which ensue that want--thence to the settled depra- 
 vation which grows out of these distresses, and is nursed at their bosoms: and this 
 coudition was not casualty, but fate. ‘The evidence was not speculation in political 
 economy——it was geometrical demonstration. 
 
52 
 
 (D.) See page 48. 
 It is cried that abolition is a party question—that it belongs to politics, not to re- 
 ligion. 1 cannot better reply to this, than by quoting a passage from the London 
 Christian Observer, directed against the same cry in England. . 
 
 “ But he [the Quarterly Reviewer] is averse to their system of diffusing a-know- 
 ledge of the real nature of slavery through the land; nay, ‘ he decidedly reprobates 
 it.” And why does he reprobate it ? ‘The reason is curious: ‘ We do not object,’ he 
 says, ‘ in the slightest degree, to a deep rooted hatred of slavery, or a thorough 
 knowledge on that or any other subject.’ This is precisely the preface to be ex- 
 pected when a man is about to defend slavery, or to plead against diffusing a know- 
 lege of it. He, therefore, proceeds—‘ But we protest against this thorough know- 
 ledge, or deep rooted hatred, being confounded with_religious feeling, or employed 
 for party purposes.’ ‘There is really something ludicrous in this sort of protest. 
 Does the‘Reviewer mean that we are not to decide the question of slavery on reli- 
 gious grounds? ‘That in this case alone we are not to try our conduct by the im- 
 mutable principles of right and wrong, which are laid down in the word of God? 
 That in this case alone we are not to appeal to the Christian maxim of ‘ doing to 
 others as we would that they should do unto us?’ That here alone we are not to 
 bring into operation that divine charity, which seeks to relieve our fellow creatures 
 from temporal misery and oppression, from mental degradation, and. from spiritual 
 death ? And what, again, does he mean by party purposes? Is it that the energies 
 which are enlisted in favor of the freedom and happiness of mankind, in favor of 
 the oppressed against his oppressor, are to be likened’ to a scramble for place, or 
 ‘some paltry question of party politics? -* * * * Party politics! Yes, the purposes 
 of truth, and justice, and humanity—the promotion of the universal freedom of 
 man—the cause of morality and religion—the cause of their country—the cause of 
 
 ~God! May the people of England, young and old, be ever found devoted to such 
 purposes ! the zealous, unswerving, unshrinking partizans of such a cause !” 
 
 [Vol. 24, p. 576. 
 
 ? 
 
 An extract from the address of Bolivar to the legislature of Peru, or Bolivia, on 
 the formation of their constitution in 1826. 
 
 ‘‘T have left untouched that law of laws—equality, without which all other gua- 
 -rantees perish, as well as all other rights. ‘To her we are bound to make sacrifices. 
 I have jaid prostrate at her feet the infamous state of slavery. 
 
 “ Legislators !—slavery is the infringement of alllaws. A law having a tenden- 
 cy to preserve slavery, would be the grossest sacrilege. What right can be alleged 
 in favor of its continuance? In whatever view this crime is considered, J] am«per- 
 suaded that there is not a single Bolivian in existence so depraved, as to pretend 
 that such a signal violation of the dignity of man can be legalized. Man to be pos- 
 sessed by his fellow man—man to be made property of! The image of the Deity to 
 
 _be put under the yoke! Let these usurpurs show us their title deeds ! The coast of 
 Guinea has not sent them to us; for Africa, devastated by fratricide, exhibits 
 nought but crimes. After these relics of African tribes are transported hither, 
 what law or power can sanction a dominion over these victims 2 The act of trans- 
 ‘¢mitting, proroguing, and perpetrating this crime, with its admixture of executions, 
 forms the most shocking outrage. A principle of possession, founded on the most 
 serious delinquency, could not be conceived without overturning and upsetting all 
 the elements of right, and without a perversion of the most absolute notions of duty.” 
 
 Have Protestant Christians of North America no blush ? i 
 
 CORRIGENDA. 
 Page 10, line 10, for house read home. 
 ee tt dine 29, for are few read are a few. 
 17, line 17, for clink read clank. 
 93, from the bottom, line 10, after nyght-born insert innocence. 
 
INFORMATION 
 
 CONCERNING THE 
 
 - SLAVE-TRADE. 
 
CONTENTS, 
 
 Rerorr of the Committee Bae die Wistleals aru oS Vite ae coe. Page 1 
 Information on the French Slave-trade ........ Se hinig oe ee ee 
 Seeeeevesere on the Spanish Slave-trade Coeeeore ec eoeeseoen es eee 20 
 
 eevesseees On the Portuguese Slave-trade Cece eceecec uses Lh 
 eteeeees...0n the Dutch Slave-trade si aieh Mu hh os aoe 
 seersseee. on the Trade on the East Coast of Africn 0...) OV ak 
 Address of the House of Commons to Ce RIN ies ae, ie 
 Minute of the Committee .....0...eeeeececcececc. 0 46 
 
 Account of Subscriptions « sisi v's tis 4 Wake bw Mui oe sie" viata eg ib. 
 
Inrormarion concerning the Stave-Trave, printed 
 by order of a Committee acting under the direction 
 of the Yearly Meeting of the religious Society of 
 Friends, to aid in promoting the TOTAL ABOLITION 
 of that iniquitous traffic. 
 
 or 
 
 YEARLY MEETING, 1821. 
 
 The following Report has been brought in and read; and 
 this Meeting, continuing to feel a lively interest in the Abolition 
 of the Slave Trade, desires the Meeting for Sufferings to print 
 and circulate the same in the respective Quarterly Meetings, 
 together with such other information as the Committee of that 
 Meeting on the subject, may think it desirable to communicate. 
 
 REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE. 
 
 “SINCE the appointment of this Committee, much 
 distressing information has been received of the progress 
 made in the prosecution of. the barbarous traffic in the 
 lives ‘and liberties of our fellow-creatures on the coast 
 of Africa, not only by the subjects of Portugal, but also 
 by those of France, Spain, and Holland; and though, by — 
 the laws of these latter countries, the infamous trade has 
 been formally abolished, yet, for want of proper exer- 
 tions by their respective governments, especially by 
 that of France, it is still carried on; and with agora- 
 vated horrors, on account of the concealment which, in 
 many instances, those who.pursue it are: induced to 
 practise. In the mean time, the government of this 
 country is using its influence in foreign courts, to render 
 the abolition general and effectual. It 1s however 
 
 A 
 
o REPORT. 
 
 believed, that the public mind in some of the principal, 
 nations on the continent is not sufficiently enlightened 
 on the * subject, or sufficiently aware of the horrible 
 ” nature of the Slave-trade; and it therefore still appears 
 to the Committee, that one means by which Friends 
 might very consistently render essential assistance in 
 the great cause of the total abolition of the Slave- 
 trade, would be to aid in promoting translations, 
 into the French, Spanish, Dutch, and Portuguese 
 languages, of suitable tracts describing the nature 
 of the trade, pay for the printing of the same, and 
 take such measures as may appear likely to promote 
 _ their circulation.” | 
 
 “The African Institution has facilities of obtaining 
 information on the trade, and of devising means for 
 detecting and exposing its enormities, far beyond 
 those which this Committee is likely’ to possess; and 
 as the Committee is informed, that, although the 
 funds of that. institution do not at present amount 
 to £.100, the managers of it. have sanctioned the trans- 
 - lating mto the Portuguese language, of a pamphlet, , 
 which is an abstract of ‘Thomas Clarkson’s history of the 
 abolition, and: printmg 1000 copies of the same; and 
 the printing of 1000 copies of another pamphlet, written 
 principally by William Wilberforce, exposing the nature 
 of the trade; the Committee has agreed to present 
 them with one hundred pounds, to be applied ex- 
 clusively towards defraying the expense of the abeve- 
 mentioned two pamphlets. 
 
 A sub-committee of the African Institution is now 
 publishirig an abstract from the papers lately laid 
 upon the table of the House of Commons, which. 
 
REPORT. Nie 3 
 
 develope great enormities still practised in Africa 
 and upon the persons of its inhabitants, by the sub- 
 jects of different European powers: (so much of 
 these documents as relates to the several countries 
 implicated, being translated into their respective lan- 
 guages:) in connexion with which abstract, a pamphlet 
 is about to be printed, as well in English as in the 
 lancuages above alluded to, namely, French, Spanish, 
 Portuguese, and Dutch; adapted to the present cir- 
 cumstances of this iniquitous trade. And it is ap- 
 prehended by the Committee, that if the eontents 
 of these publications should, on examination, be ap- 
 proved by it, some pecuniary aid towards the expense 
 of printing and circulating them will be a suitable ap- 
 propriation of a further portien of the money intrusted 
 to its care.” 
 
 “The Committee hope that, when these pamphlets 
 are published, they may be able to print cheap 
 editions, or extracts from them, for their own circu- 
 lation on the continent, through such channels" as 
 may appear proper and safe; but the existing re- 
 strictions on the press in France, render it difficult 
 widely to disseminate, in that country, any accounts 
 of the present state of the French slave-trade.” 
 
 “Tt is the design of the Committee. to print some 
 extracts from the information contained in the papers 
 already alluded to, and transmit them to Friends in 
 the country, in the course of the present summer.” 
 
 London, the 18th of 5th Month, 1821. 
 
) 
 In conformity with the last paragraph of the foregoing Report; 
 the Committee proceed to furnish the Society with the information con= 
 tained in the following Extracts *. 
 
 FRANCE. 
 
 - “Tr appears certain that,-in the year 1820, the French slave-trade 
 had’ swelled ‘to a more enormous extent than at any former period: 
 During the first six or seven months of that year, the coast of Africa’ 
 is described as having actually swarmed with French slave-ships. A 
 distinguished officer of the British. navy, who was himself an eye- 
 witness of the fact, writing on the subject with deliberation, and after 
 his attention had been called to a careful recollection of what he had 
 seen, uses this remarkable expression: ‘'The number of Frencli slave- 
 ships now on the coast is something incredible.’ The naval officers on 
 that station had examined between twenty and thirty vessels trading, 
 for slaves on the coast, which were ascertained to be French ; and 
 one of those officers afterwards found, in the harbour of the Havannah,. 
 a still greater number of vessels bearing the French flag, which either 
 had cargoes of slaves on board, brought thither for sale, or were fitting. 
 eut for fresh slave-voyages. +” 
 
 ‘* This view of the extent of the French slave-trade on the coast of 
 Africa during-the past year, is confirmed by Sir Charles Mac Carthy,. 
 the governor of Sierra Leone, who returned last .year to England; 
 and who states, that at the time of his leaving that colony in July 
 last, he had received unquestionable information, that no fewer than 
 five vessels, bearing the French flag, were then engaged in procuring 
 slaves at the Gallinas, a place situated about 100 miles to the south, 
 of Sierra Leone.” ' | 
 
 “If these statements.are correct, and the authority on. which they 
 rest, seems to leave no doubt upon the subject, then it will follow, — 
 that, during the first six or seven months of the last year, from fifty 
 to sixty vessels, bearing the French flag,* were actually ‘seen engaged 
 in the slave-trade. But as it cannot be supposed, considering) the 
 Re a ee le OR OR ante ACM RECS A a a 
 
 * Chiefly from the Fifteenth Report of the African Institution, and the: 
 
 Supplement to that report. 7 
 . '  * Report, page 12. 
 
¥YRANCE. 3 
 
 wast extent of the African coast, and of the ocean which extends 
 thence to the West Indies, that all the vessels so employed could have 
 been met by our cruisers; or have come under the observation of 
 Governor MacCarthy’s informant, it would seem to be no more than 
 a fair inference from the facts which have been adduced, that the 
 French slave-trade must have grown to an unprecedented magnitude 
 during the past year. And yet it is remarkable, that so uninformed 
 does the French ‘government appear to have been of the fact, that, in 
 the month of June last, the minister of the marine assured the legisla- 
 ture, and reiterated that assurance about the same time to the British 
 government, that the French slave-trade was at length extinguished.” 
 
 * But it is not necessary to rest this inference .on general’ state- 
 ments, however conclusive. Particular confirmatory details’ might 
 easily be produced.” | Sis 
 
 ** Among the Fr ench slave-ships met by our-cruisers on the coast of 
 Africa, most of which were suffered to. pass unmolested, two were 
 supposed to have committed acts which justified their detention.’ 
 Their names were La Marie and La Catharine. The slaves which: 
 they had on board were landed at Sierra Leone, and the vessels sent 
 to Senegal, to be disposed of by the French authorities there.” 
 
 “ A.third-case'merits a more detailed exposition. On the 4th of’ 
 March, 1820, after a long chase, a vessel was boarded by the boats 
 of his majesty’s ship Tartar, commanded by.Sir aes Collier, which 
 proved to be La Jeune Estelle, of Martinique, M. ‘master. 
 On being boarded, the declared that he had been plundered of his 
 slaves, and that none remained on board. His agitation’ and alarm, 
 
 lrowever, excited suspicion, and led to’ an examination of the vessel’s 
 hold. During this examination, a sailor who struck a cask, which’ 
 was tightly closed up, heard a faint voice issue from it, as of a crea- 
 ture expiring. The cask was immediately opened, when two girls, of 
 about twelve or fourteen years of age, in the last stage of suffocation, 
 were found to be enclosed in it, and by this providential interposition 
 were probably rescued from a miserable death.” 
 
 “« These girls, when brought on the deck of the Tartar, were re- 
 cognised by a person on board, who had been taken prisoner in ano- 
 ther slave-ship, as having been the property of the captain of a schooner 
 belonging to New York. An investigation haying taken place, it 
 appeared that this American contrabandist had died at a place on the 
 
 . 
 
6 FRANCE, 
 
 coast called Trade Town, leaving behind him fourteen slaves, of 
 whom these two girls formed a part; and that, after his death, the 
 master of the vessel had landed his crew, armed with swords and 
 pistols, and carried these fourteen slaves on board the Jeune Estelle. 
 Sir George Collier, conceiving that the other twelve slaves, who had © 
 been procured. by this piratical act, might still be secreted in that - 
 vessel, ordered a fresh search, The result was, that a Negro man, 
 not however one of the twelve, was rescued from death. A platform 
 of loose boards had been raised on the water-casks of the vessel, so as 
 to form an entre-pont, or between-decks, of twenty-three inches in 
 height, which was the only space allotted for the accommodation of 
 this unfortunate cargo of human beings, whom M. intended 
 to procure and carry from the coast. Beneath this platform, one of: 
 
 the boards resting on his body, jammed between two water-casks, 
 appeared the above wretched individual, whom it was a matter of 
 astonishment to find alive. Sir George Collier was inclined to re- 
 move him on board the Tartar, as he had done the two girls; but 
 M. 
 by him for eight dollars’-worth of brandy and iron, Sir George did 
 
 having proved that the poor African had been bought © 
 
 not feel himself authorised to do so; although, had the vessel been 
 capable of beating up to Senegal, he would have sent her thither for 
 judgment, as he had done the two former ships.” 
 
 '« With respect to the other twelve slaves taken by force from 
 Trade Town, no distinct. information could be obtained beyond the: 
 assertion of M, , that he had been plundered of them by a 
 Spanish pirate. But i it was recollected, with horror, by the officers 
 of the Tartar, that when they first began the chase of La Jeune 
 Estelle, they had seen several casks floating past them, in which they 
 now suspected that these wretched beings might have been enclosed, 
 
 having been thrown overboard by this man, toelude the detection of his 
 piratical proceedings. It was now impossible, however, to ascertain. 
 the fact, as the chase had led them many leagues to leeward; and _ 
 even after they had consumed the time which would have been ne- 
 cessary, by beating to windward, to, reach the place where the chase 
 commenced, there were many chances against their again seeing the 
 casks, and not the slightest probability that any of the slaves enclosed 
 in them, if they were so enclosed, would be found still alive.” 
 
 “ Tt was distinctly aflirmed by the minister of the French marine, 
 
FRANCE, | e 
 
 in a speech made to the Chamber of Deputies in the month of June 
 last, that the slave-trade had then ceased at Senegal; yet, on the - 
 4th of October last, a vessel was found by an officer of the customs, | 
 to have made, in the night-time, the harbour of St. John's in Antigua, 
 ‘which vessel proved to be a French brig called La Louise, of the - 
 burden of 120 tons, having on board 128 slaves, bound from Senegal 
 to Guadaleupe, fer which island Antigua was mistaken. Her 
 Negroes were in a miserable condition when landed ; but they seon 
 recovered, when taken care of and well fed and clothed. They were 
 generally young, chiefly females, two of whom had infants at the 
 breast; and another, after being brought on shore, was delivered of 
 still-born twins. ‘This ship was consigned to two slave-factors of 
 Guadaloupe, and has been condemned at Antigua; but the directors 
 ave not learned what were the specific grounds of her condemn 
 ation.” ae 
 
 “As a further proof that the statement of the cessation of the 
 French slave-trade at Senegal and its neighbourhood is not correct, 
 it may be added, that when Governor Mac Carthy visited Bathurst,. 
 in the river Gambia, in the menth of August last, in his way to 
 Europe, he learnt, upen undoubted authority, that the slave-trade 
 was at that time carried on with great activity by various ‘merchants. 
 both of Senegal and Goree. These persons were pointed out to 
 him; and it was added, that they had established agents for this pur- 
 pose at a small village called Albreda, in the river Gambia, about 40 
 miles above its mouth. AlbredA was formerly a French factory de- 
 pendant on Goree. By the treaty of 1783, it will be seen that 
 France relinquished all right to its occupation. Indeed, by the-terms 
 of that treaty, which has not since undergone any modification, it 
 clearly appears that the river Gambia was as effectually and un- 
 ~vreservedly ceded to Great Britain, as the river Senegal was to 
 -France*.” , “Ss 
 
 « The vast extent to which the slaye-trade on the west coast of 
 Africa continues to be carried on, is further proved by accounts. 
 received from the river Bonny, dated in July and August; in the last. 
 year ; from which it appears, that from March to July in that year 
 
 ~ 
 
 * Report, page 1419 
 
 ? . 
 
\ ; / 
 
 i 
 
 8 FRANCE. | 
 
 there had usually been in the Bonny from nine to sixteen slaving: 
 vessels, of all descriptions, at the same time, each capable of carrying 
 from 300 to 700 slaves ; and that two of these vessels, which were 
 there in March, and had then sailed to the West Indies, had returned 
 in July, and were engaged in their second voyage. During the 
 above period of five or six months, 120 sail of French, Spanish, and 
 Portuguese vessels had visited the river Bonny, for the purpose of 
 procuring slaves; in consequence of which, the preparation of palm- 
 oil is said to have been totally neglected by the natives.” 
 
 “ An account received from a gentleman on board the Cyane, an 
 American sloop of war, which was sent to cruise on the coast of 
 Africa, for the purpose of suppressing the American slave-trade, 
 dated in April last, states, that since passing the river Sherbro, that 
 - vessel had detained ten slave-ships, four of which were sent in for 
 adjudication; but the others, being well covered by fabricated papers, 
 were given up. The number of vessels engaged in this inhuman 
 traffic, the writer says, was incredible: he supposed that not fewer 
 _than 200 sail were on the coast at the date of his letter, all of them 
 fast sailers, well manned and armed, and many of them owned by 
 Americans, though under foreign flags. The Cyane had been con- 
 stantly chasing, night and day, since her arrival upon the coast, and 
 sometimes had several slave-ships in sight at the same time*.” 
 
 The following Extracts from two Letters, written on one of the 
 West India islands, describe the shameless manner in which the traffic 
 in slaves ts carried on there. 
 
 “ Guadaloupe, 13th December, 1820. 
 rf, es September, an American pilot-boat-built schooner, landed 
 sixty Africans at Rambouillette, Port Louis. They were debarked by 
 the same person as before-mentioned. It appears that this schooner 
 met some interruption on the coast, having lost her cables and 
 anchors there, and was obliged to come away without a full cargo ; 
 besides, she brought back a part of hid murdering cargo carried to 
 
 “ Report, pages 24, 25. 
 
FRANCE. 9 
 
 Africa to barter for the natives, which was also landed. at Ram- 
 bouillette. -J saw these-articles: they consist of muskets, cutlasses, 
 kegs of gunpowder, iron pots, bolts with padlocks, flints, &c. 
 
 ** It is said that Messrs. Segond, Ferrand, and Rancé, are me, 
 interested parties of this adventure. 
 
 “« The planters:of St. Anne equipped a schooner, which was built 
 at St. Rose, sent her to Africa, and succeeded in a return-cargo of 
 Africans. A ship which was expected here, was captured by a pri- 
 vateer of South America, when near Deseada, situate to the wind- 
 ward of this island, with 330 slaves on board. She was conducted 
 to the’ neighbourhood of St. Thomas, among the Keys or small islands 
 there, and her cargo was disposed of at forty dollars per head. This 
 ship is named the Proteus. I. saw her lying at Pointe-a-Pitre, she 
 having been given up to her captain after the cargo was disposed of. 
 I am informed that she is consigned to Mons, Rézel. 
 
 “ T have information that another privateer’ carried a parcel of 
 Africans to Martinique, where she sold them at eighty-five dollars 
 per head. Sixty Africans, which are a part of them, were sent to 
 Monsieur Delisle, of Pointe-d-Pitre, to be disposed of. 
 
 “ On the 20th of October,a sale of new Negroes took place at a little 
 bourg called Gozier, situated immediately above the entrance of the 
 harbour of. Pointe-a-Pitre. These are supposed to ‘be the cargo of 
 the Thetis, which vessel entered Pointe-d-Pitre, a few days preced- 
 ing the sale, in ballast. 
 
 « All the vessels mentioned to you before, which were consigned 
 to, or owned by, Messrs. Segond, were again equipped and sent to 
 Africa in February last, or soon after. The Thetis mentioned 
 above is, I believe; one of those of which you were then informed. 
 All the others have again made the same successful voyage as the 
 Thetis, except the brig Fox, which has not yet returned. On the 
 29th following, another cargo of 209 Africans, (there being 217 
 taken on board in Africa, eight having died,) landed from the ship 
 L’Adéle Aimée, Captain Bouffier, was sold at St. Frangois: they 
 were disposed of at about 3000 livres, or 150/. currency, per head, 
 on an average calculation. The arrival of L’Adéle Aimée_ at 
 Pointe-A-Pitre, after being absent for several months on the well- 
 known intention of bringing slaves, preceded the sale. This is one 
 
10 FRANCE. 
 
 of Messrs. Segond’s vessels. On the 3d of November, the schooner, 
 L’Atalante, Captain Boulemere, arrived at Pointe-a-Pitre. She also 
 touched at St. Frangois; but the owners, {as she belongs to the same 
 
 house) having had so recent a sale as the cargo of L’Adéle Aimée at 
 
 St. Frangois, and it being inconvenient for the planters who reside 
 on what is called the Gaudaloupe shore te go over to the bays at 
 Grand Terre, they determined to choose St. Marie Capisterre to be 
 the mart for the cargo of L’Atalante, At this place, therefore, a 
 
 landing of her cargo took place, the night before the day on which 
 
 she entered Pointe-a-Pitre ; sand the sale took place the Sunday fol- 
 owing. | She took in at the coast 210, thirteen whereof died: 197 
 were therefore safely landed. On the 18th following, the schooner 
 L’Eugenie, Captain Cramponniere, arrived. at Pointe-a-Pitre, having 
 also landed her cargo at Capisterre. She was immediately advertised 
 for sale, and was accordingly sold the 22d following. I do not know 
 the number she Janded, but she is of the same size as L’Atalante. 
 
 “ There can be nothing else which prevents the seizure of these 
 
 vessels and their cargoes, but a good understanding with the col- 
 
 lector and other officers of the custom-house, or, as some scruple not 
 to allege, the private instructions which the governor has received ‘to 
 
 favour this criminal traffic. St. Marie is so nearly situated to 
 
 Pointe-a-Pitre, that [ am induced to attribute the not seizing these 
 two last-mentioned vessels to the foregoing reasons. I knew when 
 L’Atalante touched at St. Frangois, and that her cargo was intended. 
 to be landed at St. Marie’s; and could I have calculated on the sup- 
 
 port of the government of this island,-I could have had that vessel. 
 
 with her cargo of slaves confiscated. But of what avail would my 
 denunciation be? Instead of being attended to, it would prove very 
 nustble to my commercial interests here, whilst detection of my in» 
 terference would most assuredly subject me to assassination: at. all 
 events, if my life escaped, I should at least be banished from the 
 
 country never to return; which circumstance would: be very des 
 
 structive to my present prospects, without the chance of my being 
 able to effect. the desired liberation of the captives so. unjustly 
 dragged from their houses, in defiance of the laws of God, and of the 
 “decrees of that nation whose subjects are now so successfully cinployed 
 in introducing into this island thousands of Africans. 
 
 ~ 
 
 - 
 
f 
 FRANCE. PEs 
 
 “« L’Atalante took in her cargo at Bonny. When she quitted it, 
 she left there the brig Fox in a leaky state, having a part of her cargo 
 on board. A sloop also took in her cargo at Bonny when L’Atalante 
 was there She (the sloop) arrived also at St. Frangois with 100 
 slaves, and effected her landing there. As soon as the vessels arrive. 
 at Pointe-a-Pitre they are sold. L’Adéle Aimée, L’Atalante, and 
 L’ Eugenie, no sooner arrived there than they were sold, after being 
 advertised in hand-bills. nits | 
 
 “© T enclose herein extracts from Le Journal Politique et Coms 
 mercial of Pointe-d-Pitre, wherein you will discover the time of their 
 arrival. A hand-bill also enclosed will show how soon L’Eugenie 
 was sold after her arrival: so it was with the others. I need not 
 incur expense of postage in enclosing to. you all the hand-bills of the 
 other vesels; one will suffice, no doubt, to. go in corroboration of my: 
 statement *.”’ 
 
 “ The reason that the vessels are all put up for sale immediately 
 after their arrival, and that the name of Messrs. Segond are so often 
 mentioned, is, that they are the ostensible persons combined with 
 Messrs. Rancé and Co., and are the chiefs of a kind of association or. - 
 company of slave-traders here. It appears that each expedition is: 
 fitted out on the account and risk of a certain’ number of actionnaires. 
 Each subscribes what he is inclined to risk, and shares in proportion 
 to the amount of his advances. ‘The business is then conducted by: 
 the chiefs. ‘The vessel therefore being estimated at a certain price 
 when taken into the trade, is immediately sold at auction, on her 
 arrival, to the highest bidder. When I contemplate the means thus 
 acquired to carry on this barbarous and unchristian-like commerce, I 
 need not wonder at its continuance, because, on every expedition, a. 
 new set of actionnazres can be easily found, and thus the fund is in= 
 exhaustible. 3 
 
 —_ 
 
 * The following is a copy of the hand-bill:—““ VENTE puBLIauE. Mer- 
 credi prochain, 22 du courant, il sera procédé, devant le magazin de MM. 
 Victor Rancé et Co., 4 11 heures du matin, a la vente publique de & 
 Gotktte Eugénie,telle qu'elle se poursuit et comporte, sans aucune reclama- 
 tion quelconque. Les conditions de la vente sont de payer comptant, et ce, 
 avant la mise en possession de l’adjudicataire, et en cas d’inexécution, la 
 Goélette sera recri¢e le lendemain 4 sa folle enchére. 
 
 “& Pointe-X-Pitre, Guadaloupe, le 18 Novembre, 1820.” 
 
12 : FRANCE. 
 
 “Very early on the morning of 7th November, about ten waiters 
 (douaniers ) belonging to Pointe-a-Pitre landed at that town. ‘It ap- 
 pears that they were sent, during the night before, to the north of La 
 Riviere Sallée, under pretence of visiting the different bays situated 
 in that part of the island, whilst Messrs. Segond were afforded an 
 opportunity of landing Afrieans in the very town of Pointe-d-Pitre; 
 because, on the night of the 6th of the same month, when the waiters 
 were absent, they landed sixty of the unfortunate captives in the . 
 town aforesaid. They are, no doubt, the remainder of the cargo of 
 L’Atalante. On the evenings of the 18th to 20th November, the 
 custom-house officers were at the north entrance of La Riviere 
 Sallée, embarrassing small fishing and passage-boats. One would 
 suppose that those officers were doing their duty ; but no—it was to 
 allow Messrs. Segond an opportunity of landing the remainder of 
 L’Eugenie’s cargo from St. Marie Capisterre through the port of 
 
 _ Pointe-a-Pitre, which opens to the south. This appearance’seems - 
 supported by the real fact ; because, on the 20th, a St. Marie’s sloop- 
 boat, (well known as belonging to St. Marie,) arrived. - She went 
 near Messrs. Segond's wharf, when a pistol was fired as a signal of 
 debarkation; whereupon twenty-two unfortunates were, one by one, 
 conducted like criminals to the store of Messrs. Segond: when they’ 
 
 - were all landed, the pistol was again fired, upon which last signal a 
 custom-house officer went on board to visit the said sloop-boat!11 
 
 “I saw the captain and crew of a slave-ship or brig landed at Port 
 Louis from Antigua, ina smail schooner-boat. The vessel and cargo 
 were seized at Antigua for entering there. It appears that they 
 must have taken that island for this. This vessel was bound here. 
 Mons. Rancé is the merchant whose name is mentioned as the owner 
 
 or consignee. 
 
 « T’Adéle Aimée took in her slaves +t old Calabar, situated (as I 
 am informed) to the south-east of Bonny. The native chief, Duke 
 Ephraim, supplied L’Adeéle Aimée with her cargo of slaves, at twenty- 
 two to thirty-five bars cach. Whilst L’Adéle Aimée was at Old 
 Calabar, L’Atalante, L’Eugenie, brig Fox, (and other vessels be- 
 longing to this island,) were loading at Bonny. L’Adéle Aimée had 
 “four guns when she went to the coast ; two of which, being brass 
 six-pounders, were sold to Duke Pee. who has sent offers to 
 
FRANCE. 13 
 
 Messrs. Segond to continue the trade. -He has sent a boy, a rela- 
 tion of’his, to this island, with a servant to wait on him, for the 
 purpose of receiving education. A vessel which was at Bonny, and 
 could not succeed there on account of the number of vessels pur- 
 chasing cargoes, arrived at old Calabar when L’Adéle’ ‘Aimée was: 
 there, and reported that the number of slaye-vessels she left at 
 Bonny was twenty. i 
 
 ‘“ Seamen have great temptation to. go.on the African slave-trade. 
 Men before the mast get from 25 to 30 dollars a-month: thus some 
 of the crew of the vessels which arrived at Pointe-’-Pitre had to re- 
 ceive 200 dollars each, balance of wages.. L’Atalante has ‘been 
 equipped again, and has sailed from Pointe-a-Pitre, no doubt with 
 the intention to prosecute another voyage to the coast ; although the 
 captain, on account of his cruel treatment to his sailors, could not 
 get a crew at Pointe-a-Pitre for the voyage; but it is said that she 
 has gone to Martinique to collect seamen. - Her departure is marked: 
 on one of the enclosed extracts, under the head, 23d to 30th Novem- 
 ber. You will find also by the enclosed extraets that each vessel 
 (coming from Afriea) reports in ballast from St. Bartholomew’s. 
 
 “Slaves are now’ imported so openly into. this island, that those 
 landed at Pointe-a-Pitre from St. Marie, by Messrs. Segond, are by 
 them employed carrying stones, &c. for a large building lately com 
 menced by these merchants, without any fear of their being seized. 
 The Louisa, aschooner which I mentioned’ in my letter of February 
 last, being a remarkably fast-sailing vessel, is re-built entirely anew. 
 She is, I am told, to. be equipped for the slave-trade, and will be 
 ready shortly. 
 
 “I cannot conclude my present communication without expressing: 
 the horror and indignation which: have seized me, when I have to. 
 relate that the Sabbath is the day on which, generally speaking, a 
 sale of the different cargoes landed on this island takes place, because: 
 it is on that day all the planters assemble at the different bourgs to- 
 go to church, &e. 
 
 «The schooner L’Atalante is the same which I mentioned to you 
 in my letter of February last as La Talente. The mistake happened. 
 from my not then seeing the name written.” 
 
Sade , ** Guadaloupe, 5th March, 1821. 
 
 « In addition to my last communication, under date of 13th Des 
 cember last, I have to furnish you with the painful account of. the 
 arrival of the brig Fox, from the coast of Africa, with a cargo of 
 slaves, after an absence of a year. She took in her cargo at Bonny ; 
 and when she left it, there were about twenty-eight vessels, large and 
 small, then lying there for the purpose of procuring similar cargoes *. 
 I am informed by the crew, that the chief is named King Pepper, and 
 is the person who supplies the slaves at Bonny. The Fox arrived off 
 Port Louis the 23d ult. and remained until this day ; during which 
 time, the debarkation and sale of the unfortunate Africans took 
 place. As soon as she appeared off, her signal was well known by 
 the agent of Messrs. Segond, with whom instructions about her in- 
 tended arrival off Port Louis were lodged, several months back: 
 whereupon a boat, with the agent’s clerk, ‘was sent off to the brig to 
 communicate, after which’ she approached and anchored off Port 
 Louis, about two o’clock in the afternoon, in presence of all the peo- 
 ple, and also of the custom-house officer stationed there, whilst the 
 custom-house boat, with waiters from Pointe-a-Pitre, was at the 
 north mouth of La Riviere Sallée, who must have seen this brig ap- 
 proaching ‘Port Louis. On her arrival, the Bourg of Port Louis im- 
 mediately resounded with noise of the arrival ofa Guinea-man. A — 
 boat was immediately dispatched to Messrs. Segond at Pointe a 
 -Pitre, through La Riviere Sallée, with the captain of the brig 
 Fox. At about nine o’clock at night, she returned with. the captain 
 and the chief clerk of Messrs. Segond: thus you find that the captain 
 fearlessly showed himself at Pointe-d-Pitre before the slaves were de-= ’ 
 ‘barked. They immediately began to concert on measures for the 
 debarkation of the cargo ; and it was proposed to wait until about 
 three o’clock the next morning, when they would be favoured with 
 moonlight, whilst they had engaged two large canoes for the purpose. 
 However, the captain being sick and fatigued, did not commence to 
 debark at that hour. The debarkation, therefore, commenced later, 
 
 * « This account will be found exactly to correspond with that received 
 from the river Bonny itself, and inserted in this year’s Annual Report, 
 p- 24."—See page 8 t 
 
FRANCE. 15 
 
 and was not ended before seven to eight o’clock on Saturday morn- 
 ing, the 24th February. They weve put into an old store-room at 
 Rambouillette, (Port Louis,) so that they could be seen by every 
 body. The custom-house officer stationed there was seen by me 
 going to look at them with other persons. I went also and witnessed 
 the cruel sight. I went to be convinced and to deplore. ‘There 
 were about 300 miserable beings, without distinction of sex, packed 
 close together in the above-mentioned store-room, upon the bare 
 earth, without even planks to serve as beds. They had no coverings 
 for their bodies, except some of them, who had only a piece of cloth 
 to cover their middle. Some were sick, and a few presented the 
 human shape in a most dreadful form, being reduced to mere skele- 
 tons. But generally speaking, the greater part appeared to be in’ 
 good health. They are of the Eboe nation; and I am ‘informed 
 that king Pepper got them from the interior. He supplied them 
 very slowly, which accounts for the long detention of the Fox. She 
 took in 328 at Bonny, whereof about twenty-eight died, some of 
 whom jumped overboard and drowned themselves, and, I'am told, 
 with the erroneous hope of getting back to their own country. 
 Three hundred must have been landed, because, at the sale, there re- 
 mained 294, a few having died since their arrival. Circulars were 
 sent to the different planters of Grandeterre, and to those residing on 
 the Guadaloupe shore, to invite them to the sale yesterday, being 
 the Sabbath-day! It accordingly took place, and was numerously 
 attended by people from all quarters. They were sold, (except about 
 -eighty,) upon an average, at about 3000 livres, or £.150 currency, 
 per head: among them were a good many boys and girls. The re- 
 mainder was taken off this day, on board of a sloop, which was or- 
 dered round from Pointe-a-Pitre for that purpose. I saw her after- 
 wards quit: she steered westerly. Iam informed that they are sent 
 to Porto Rico. . The brig Fox sailed for Pointe-d-Pitre the same day 
 she landed her cargo. Before she sailed, I went on board of her, 
 and saw the platforms erected, and every thing indicative of her 
 having had a cargo of slaves on board. In this condition she must. 
 have arrived at Pointe-4-Pitre. She was set up there, and sold the 
 1st instant at vendue, like the other slave-vessels of Pointe-d-Pitre, 
 to close the account of the actionnazres interested in this voyage. 
 
 “ The Louisa, which-you were informed was getting ready for sea, 
 
 ~ 
 
16 " FRANCE. 
 
 has since sailed. Sheisa remarkably fast-sailing Vessel. L’Eugenie 
 has also sailed again. " 
 
 “JT am informed, and verily believe, that these slave-vessels get 
 their arms and ammunition from the public arsenal at Pointe-a-Pitre. 
 They all go out armed. “There are no private stores where arms 
 and ammunition are sold; and therefore the account which I have 
 received, that the local government facilitates these expeditions, is 
 very credible. As for the particulars respecting the: arrival of the 
 Fox, &c. it rests not upon idle reports, or what is generally believed 
 to be true. My information comes from what I have seen myself. 
 
 “Cold and unfeeling indeed must be the heart of that man, if, 
 situated as I am, he did not feel some indignation. . When I con- 
 sider that his Most Christian Majesty has. signed solemn treaties, 
 and ordained sclemn decrees against this inhuman traffic, and that 
 his subjects are unblushingly and successfully carrying it on, (with - 
 all the semblance of protection from the colonial government,) I can- 
 not do otherwise than feel for this act of injustice—this open viola- 
 tion of a solemn treaty! Could his Most Christian Majesty have 
 been present, as well as his ministers, at the debarkation of the cargo 
 of the Fox, I think that the tear of sympathy would start from their 
 eyes, unless they had before visited the colonies, and were tainted 
 by colonial prejudice; or unless they could not be convinced of this 
 truth—that these Africans were fellow-creatures. I think that his 
 ‘Most Christian Majesty would be sunk in amazement, (if he is not 
 yet in the secret of what is going on in this island,) after witnessing 
 such a scene, and learning that some of his officers afford every fa- 
 cility to the introduction of these Africans into Guadaloupe. 
 
 “ For my part, I think the present manner in which slaves are in- 
 troduced into Guadaloupe, is more favourable to the slave-trader, 
 than if the introduction was openly allowed by law; because, at most, 
 he now pays about 600 dollars of a douceur, &¢.: but there no 
 doubt would be a heavy duty, if the trade was permitted. Say 
 then, that if only five per cent. ad valorem was demanded, the cargo 
 of the Fox, if she paid that duty, and if the slaves were valued only 
 at £.100 currency, would have to pay about £ 1470, or 3266 dollars, 
 as the total amount of duty.” 
 
 | Ld a7 . 
 “‘ Such is the account of an eye-witness of many of the scenes which 
 he describes. And here it ought not to be forgotten, that Guada- 
 
FRANCE. ; 17 
 
 Joupe was ceded to France by Sweden, under the mediation of this 
 country, subject of course to the condition under which this last 
 power had received it from Great Britain, namely, that no slave- 
 trade should be allowed to exist there. This condition, however, 
 it will be admitted, has been most flagrantly violated *.” 
 
 S 
 
 After reading these melancholy statements-of the callous insensibility 
 of Slave-traders, who are a disgrace to humanity, and much more so 
 to a people professing the Christian name, it is cheering to meet with 
 one honourable exception, in General Milius, governor of Bourbon; 
 although, in reading his letters, we find a fresh instance of the bar- 
 barity and cruelty which this iniquitous traffic produces. 
 
 *‘ The following is an account of the piratical habits produced by 
 the slave-trade, given by General Milius himself, in a letter to the 
 Minister of the Marine. After observing that the ‘ barbarous and 
 inhuman expeditions which our slave-traders are so frequently en-_ 
 gaged in at Bourbon, in defiance of the extreme severity by which I 
 endeavour to oppose them,” are also frequent at the Mauritius, and 
 _attended by circumstances still more atrocious, he proceeds to state, 
 that he had been applied to by the governor of the Mauritius,’ to 
 deliver up a criminal of the name of Lemoine, whose conduct had 
 confirmed all his former observations respecting the ‘inhuman cru- 
 elty, sordid avarice, and callous barbarity of those who engage in the 
 slave-trade,’ but that he had failed to trace him. The facts of the 
 case are thus stated by governor Milius. | 
 
 “In the month of September last, the Sieur Lemoine, master ad 
 owner of the schooner |’Espoir, or the Bamboche, left the Mauritius 
 under English colours, shaping his course towards the coasts of 
 Madagascar and of the Mozambique. _ He fell in with a Portuguese 
 vessel, laden with negroes and gold-dust. An eagerness and thirst 
 of gain seized upon his soul: he ran along-side of the Portuguese 
 vessel, and immediately killed the mate by a musket-shot. Having 
 boarded her, he soon obtained possession of the vessel thus attacked ; 
 and his first quéstions were addressed to a Portuguese colonel, aged 
 
 al 
 
 * Supplement to the 15th Report, page 125—135, 
 B 
 
48 FRANCE. 
 
 50, of whom he enquired where the money and gold-dust were depo- 
 sited. After. this short interrogatory, Lemoine purposely stepped 
 aside, and a man named Reineur,. who was behind him, with a. -pis- 
 tol blew out the unfortunate colonel’s brains. But these crimes were 
 not enough to satisfy their savage inhumanity. The master of the 
 captured vessel, alarmed by the rapid succession of these massacres, 
 threw himself overboard, in order to escape a more immediate death. 
 Vain hope! the fury of Lemoine and his accomplices was not yet al- 
 layed. They pursued him ina boat, and, having soon overtaken 
 him, they cut him on the head witha sabre. The unfortunate man, 
 feeling himself wounded, caught hold, in order to support himself, of 
 the boat in which his murderers were, who, profiting by this last ef- 
 fort of despair, had the dastard cruelty to run a sword into his 
 throat, the point of which came out at the side of their victim: the 
 body disappeared, and they returned .on board fatigued, but not sa- 
 tiated with murders!. They shut up, in the hold, the remaining 
 Portuguese sailors, and after having taken off the rich cargo, they 
 scuttled the ship, and sunk her with the crew they had thas 
 shut up. 
 
 “T own, Monseigneur, that such horrid acts of er ueley would be 
 too painful to relate, were they not seldom found to be accompanied 
 by such frightful details. ! 
 
 “¢ After this infamous expedition, Lemoine went to Mahé, which 
 he soon left for the Mauritius ; leaving one Basset, his second in com- 
 mand, in charge of the schooner at Seychelles. 
 
 “‘ On his arrival at the Isle of France, Lemoine ordered Basset | 
 to sell his vessel at Mahé, which was done through the means of the 
 Judge of the Admiralty. But, when Basset ee the amount of 
 the sale, the indiscretion of his crew had given rise to suspicion : 
 the rumour of the murders was generally spread, and Basset was 
 taken up. Having, by confession, obtained the clearest evidence of 
 the crimes committed by Lemoine: and the crew of I’Espoir, the 
 Commandant of Seychelles sent them to the superior court at the 
 Mauritius, where proceedings are now going on against them. 
 
 “But the ends of justice will only be half attained: the most 
 guilty person has escaped, and every circumstance confirms the pre- 
 sumption that he has left the two colonies. 
 
 N ° . ° ° . 
 ‘¢The foregoing is, Monseigneur, a faithful narrative of the horrors: 
 
FRANCE. 19. 
 
 practised by a slave-trader. To these lengths will an eager avarice 
 urge on those who can traffic in human flesh. I shall not venture 
 to add a single reflection ; the heart and understanding of your Ex. 
 cellency will furnish the best inference to be deduced from this coms 
 munication *.” | 
 
 Str George Collier, the commander of the British ships of war, 
 stationed on the coast of Africa, to enforce the abolition laws, and the 
 éreaties entered into between Great Britain and the other powers of 
 Europe, to promote the termination of the Slave-trade, in a letter, 
 dated “ the 16th of September, 1820,” says : | 
 
 ‘‘ France, it is with the deepest regret that I mention it, has coun 
 tenanced and encouraged the Slave-trade, almost beyond estimation or 
 belief. France is engrossing nearly the whole of the Slave-trade; and 
 she has extended this traffic beyond what can be supposed, but by one 
 only who has witnessed it. In truth, France now supplies the foreign — 
 colonies, north of the Line, with Africans. I exaggerate nothing in 
 saying, that thirty vessels, bearing the colours of France, have, nearly 
 at the same time, and within two or three leagues of distance, been 
 employed slaving. I will add, that in the last twelve months, not less 
 than 60,000 Africans have been forced from their country, princi- 
 pally under the colours of France ; most of whom have been distri- 
 buted between the islands of Martinique, Guadaloupe, and Cuba. 
 France has certainly issued her decrees against this traffic, but she 
 has done nothing to enforce them. On the contrary, she gives to 
 the trade all countenance short of public, avowal.” 
 
 The Appendix to the last Report of the African Institution con- 
 tains clear proof that the British ministry have not been backward in 
 representing to the French government the flagrant violations on the 
 part of its subjects, of the laws by which tt should be bound, f ihe 
 treaties to which it had been a party. 
 
 Towards the close of the year 1820, Lord Castlereagh addressed a 
 long letter to the British ambassador at Paris, to be communicated. to 
 the French ministry, containing important information and judicious 
 
 * Supplement to the 15th Report, page 144—146, 
 B2 
 
 ‘ 
 
20 { SPAIN. 
 
 reflections on the continuance of the trade by the subjects of France. 
 The reply to this document is also printed, but the committee of the 
 African Institution have made long comments on its contents, in which 
 the arguments contained in the reply are ably refuted. 
 
 SPAIN. 
 Towards the close of the year 1817, a decree was issued by the 
 hing of Spain, for the restriction and ultimate abolition of the Slave- 
 
 trade; carried on by subjects of Spain. The first and third articles 
 of this decree are as follows: — 
 
 “ Art. i. From. this day forward, I prohibit all my subjects, both. 
 in the Peninsula and in America, from going to. buy negroes on the 
 coasts of Africa, north of the Line. The negroes who may be 
 bought on the said coasts shall be declared free, in the first port of my 
 dominions at which the ship in which they are transported shall 
 arrive. The ship itself, together with the remainder of its cargo, 
 shall be confiscated. to the royal treasury, and the purchaser, the 
 captain, the master, and pilot, shall be irrevocably condemned to 
 ten years’ transportation to the Philippines. 
 
 *“ Art. iil. From the 30th of May, 1820, I equally prohibit all 
 my subjects, as well in the Peninsula as in America, from going to 
 purchase negroes along those parts of the coast of Africa which are 
 to the south of the Line, under the same penalties imposed in the 
 first article of this decree: allowing likewise the space of five months 
 from the above date to complete the voyages that may be undertaken 
 
 before the above-mentioned 30th of May, in which the traffic in | 
 
 slaves shall cease in all my dominions, as well in Spain as in 
 7 ° » 1 
 America. 
 
 AE RIEA WOVE e 
 
 The following extracts from the letters of one of the Commissioners 
 
 of the British government, stationed at the Havannah, to enforce the 
 abolition lams, indicate great indifference on the part of Spain, to 
 
 give them their due effect. 
 
 “ On the 6th of February,1820, Mr. Kilbee acquaints Lord Castle= 
 
 reagh, that ‘the slave-trade continues to. be very brisk,. and that 
 
SPAIN. : j me | 
 
 almost daily there are arrivals from, and: departures to, thé coast of 
 Africa.’ 
 
 ** On the 29th of June, 1820, the same gentleman writes, that on 
 the 30th of May, the very day on which, by treaty, the Spanish 
 slave-trade was to cease, every where and for ever, and during a few 
 days before, about twenty vessels sailed from the Havannah to the 
 coast of Africa for slaves, their owners having been led by the 
 Spanish authorfties there, to believe that there was no risk of capture 
 in the case of vessels clearing out for southern Africa, on or before the 
 30th of May, even although they should not complete their voyages 
 in the five months allowed by the treaty for that purpose ; and this, 
 notwithstanding the clear and express terms in which their own mu- 
 nicipal Jaw, as well as the treaty baad ‘Great Britain, limits the 
 period. 
 
 “On the 31st of August, 1820, Mr. Kilbee informs Lord Castle- 
 reagh as follows: ‘ No vessel detained in virtue of our slave-trade 
 treaty with Spain, has yet reached this port for adjudication. I 
 stated upon a former occasion that, many of the slave-ships that ar« 
 rive here obtain their cargoes on the coast of Africa north of the 
 Line. For some time after the mixed Commission was declared to 
 be opened, these vessels were in the habit of landing their negroes at 
 Batabano, or some other of the smaller ports in the island; fearing 
 that if they came direct to the Havannah, where one of the British 
 Commissioners was resident, their papers could be examined, and 
 that they would be liable to the penalties stipulated by treaty. 
 Finding, however, that such as did reach this port were not subject- 
 ed to any ‘special examination in consequence of the treaty, either on 
 the part of the mixed Commission, or on that of the authorities of his 
 Catholic Majesty, they have latterly come direct to the Havannah, 
 and make’no mystery of ieee proceeded from the coast of Africa 
 north of the Line.’” 
 
 “ Every slave thus illicitly introduced is, by the treaty, most clearly 
 entitled to his freedom ; and the British government. have, besides, 
 a right to half the a elsaal of eyery vessel employed in introducing 
 them. “It. seems, therefore, scarcely to admit of doubt, that such 
 manifest violations of the engagements of Spain, and such gross neg- 
 ligence, to say the least, on the part of the local authorities, might 
 have formed a proper subject, not less of the official denunciations of 
 
QQ - SPAIN, 
 
 our Commissioners, than of the pointed remonstrances of our 'g0- 
 vernment*.” 
 
 “ The last letter from Mr. Kilbee is dated November 8, 1820. It 
 
 _states, that on the 30th of October, the term allowed by treaty for 
 completing the voyages of Spanish slave-ships, had expired; but that 
 on the 6th inst. the brig Tellus, Don Juan Botel, master, consigned 
 to Messrs. Pelegrin, Marquez, and»Co. had entered that port with 
 176 negroes from the coast of Africa, and was admitted and allowed 
 to land her cargo. Mr. Kilbee represented the matter to the go- 
 vernor; but on his part it was alleged, that this vessel having cleared 
 out before the 30th of May, must be allowed time to finish her. voy- 
 age, five months not being sufficient for that purpose; and, it was 
 contended, that the penalties were only meant to attach to such as 
 should commence their voyages subsequently to the 30th of May. 
 He would, therefore, he said, admit vessels, under such circumstances, 
 until he should receive further orders from his government 3 and, in 
 the mean time, security would be taken for the value of their car- 
 goes, from the owners of vessels arriving subsequently to the 30th of 
 October, until the decision, of the two governments should be 
 known t. 
 ' «The Spanish government applied several times to Lord Castlereagh 
 for an extension of the period of five months allowed for completing 
 the slave-voyages begun before the 30th of May, 1820; but this ap- 
 plication his lordship uniformly and strenuously resisted. An able 
 note addressed to the Spanish Charge d’Affaires, on the 11th of 
 June, 1820, affords a comprehensive and most satisfactory view of 
 the whole of his lordship’s argument... The following extract fr om it 
 will sufficiently show its general bearing, so eee ay 
 
 “The argument used, in M. d’ Usoz’s note, founding the present 
 demands on the known impossibility of vessels being able to com- 
 mence and complete an expedition in slave-trading, within the pe- 
 riod between-May and October, 1820, so as to insure to the mer- 
 chants the safety of their cargoes, is a position not to be denied; but 
 | the undersigned considers it as peculiarly corroborative of the spirit 
 and intention of the article i in question, which was to discourage, ra- 
 
 * Supplement to the 15th Report, page 29—31. + Ditto, page 32. 
 
 4 
 
 ~ 
 
‘SPAIN. . 23 
 
 ther than to fciluee the commencement of such enterprises, at so 
 late a period as the last day of the term in which the virtual suppres- 
 sion was to take effect. In fact, such an integral change in this part 
 of the treaty, can only be considered by the undersigned as pro tanto 
 defeating the very object for which it was framed ; which object cer- 
 tainly was no other than the final. abolition of the slave-trade by 
 Spain, at as early a period as the interests of its subjects, upon due 
 notice, would permit, and to which interest so large a sacrifice in 
 money was, at the time, made by Great Britain, in reliance on the 
 good faith of the Spanish government in carrying into effect the artie 
 cle which itis now proposed to defeat, by the solicitation of a still 
 longer period ; ‘and as the treaty was made public as far, back as the 
 year 1817, the undersigned does not see how Spanish mierchants 
 can plead ignorance of the provisions of the treaty, or entertain any 
 expectation of an alteration in one of its most important articles. 
 
 *< If there be any speculators, whose love of enterprise and thirst 
 for lucre shall have led them into risks thus wilfully, not,to say 
 
 blameably incurred, such traders must abide by the penalties which 
 
 they knew to be impending over them ; nor can they in justice. claim 
 the protection of their government, after. the timely notice given to 
 them.” 
 
 * On receiving Mr. Kilbee’s last letter, Lord Castlereagh witrcsed 
 a dispatch to Sir Henry Wellesley, dated, the. 16th of F ebruary, 
 1821, repeating many of the arguments he had before employed, 
 and desiring him to require of the Spanish government an exact, per- 
 formance of the stipulations of the treaty. ‘ His Majesty rests. his 
 full assurance upon the well-known honour of Spain, that the govern- 
 ment will give orders for acting up. to the treaty, There is every 
 reason to believe that an additional and forced trade in human beings 
 has been founded on the prospect: of its termination, both by sending 
 more ships than could be loaded on the coast of Africa within the or- 
 dinary time of trade ; and by multiplying ships’ papers, so as to 
 allow of their being used at.a future time. .And it appears, from. the 
 instance more immediately referred.to, (that of the Tellus,) that ves- 
 sels take their clearances from one settlement, and make their 1m- 
 portations into another ; thus making it doubly inexpedient to admit 
 of any alteration of the treaty, since it would be impossible to esta- 
 blish any effectual check against such evasions.’ He concludes with 
 
94 PORTUGAL. 
 
 desiring Sir H. Wellesley to call upon the Spanish government to 
 issue immediate orders to the authorities at the Havannah and else- 
 where, and to their commissioners at the Havannah and Sierra 
 Leone, to act faithfully up to the stipulations of the treaty. The re- 
 sult of this communication does not appear from these papers *,” 
 
 PORTUGAL. 
 
 The documents printed in the Supplement Srom which the last ex 
 tracts are taken, unequivocally prove the continuance of the Slave-trade 
 by the Portuguese, in a way which indicates great indifference to tts 
 
 abolition on the part of that government, as the following statements 
 show. 
 
 « In various communications from Mr. Chamberlain, his Majesty’s 
 Chargé d’Affaires at Rio de Janeiro, are given some interesting 
 statements respecting the extent of the Portuguese Slave-trade. 
 
 “ On the 2d of October, 1817, he writes, that during the two pre- 
 ceding months the slave-trade from Rio de Janeiro had suddenly and 
 Jargely increased. ‘Twenty-seven vessels had sailed thence in that 
 
 time, capable of carrying 9450 slaves, a number amounting to nearly 
 
 half the supply of any former year; and several more were pre- 
 
 paring. Of these twenty-seven vessels, as many as twenty-one had 
 cleared out for Cabenda, which Mr. Chamberlain attributes, with 
 great appearance of probability, to the immediate vicinity of that 
 place to the prohibited district, and the consequent facility of ates 
 slaves thence. 
 
 “From the Ist of January, 1817, to the Ist of January, 1818, 
 6070 slaves, the same gentleman states, were imported into the cap- 
 taincy of Bahia from the coast of Africa, in sixteen ships. 
 
 “© The number imported in the same time into Rio de Janeiro, in 
 - forty-two ships, was 18,033. A much larger number, viz. 20,075 
 had been embarked, but 2042 had died in the Middle’ Passage. 
 
 * Supplement to the 15th Report, page 34—-36. 
 
PORTUGAL. 985° 
 
 ‘One vessel, the Protector, had taken on board 807 slaves at "iin 
 bique, of whom 339 died during the voyage. 
 
 “On the 9th of May, 1818, Mr. @hamberlain writes, that the 
 slave-trade had now increased beyond all former example; twenty- 
 five vessels having arrived since the beginning of the year, none 
 
 bringing less, and many of them more, than 400 of these unhappy _ 
 
 beings, which made the importation at least, 10,000 ined the pre- 
 ceeding four months. 
 
 _ “The number of slaves imported into Rio de Prey from Janu- 
 ary 1to December 31, 1818, was 19,802. The number embarked 
 had been 22,231, in fifty-three ships, of whom 2429 had died on the 
 passage. One vessel, the Perola de Norta, from Mozambique, lost 
 161 out of 421; another the Uniao Feliz, from Mozambique, lost 
 
 229 out of 659, a third, the St. Jose Diligente from Kilimane, lost 
 
 238 out of 464. 
 
 “It is to be regretted that this account has not been pontianed and 
 also that the importations into the other captaincies of the Brazils 
 should not have been mentioned. 
 
 *‘ The third article of the treaty concluded with Portugal on the 28th 
 of July, 1817, for repressing the illicit slave-trade, stipulated, that 
 within two months after the exchange of the ratifications, which was 
 to take place on or before the 28th of November, 1817, his Mast 
 faithful Majesty should promulgate a law, prescribing the punishment 
 to be inflicted’on such of his subjects as should in future participate in 
 the illicit traffic of slaves; and renewing the existing prohibition to 
 import, slaves into the Brazils, under any other flag than that of 
 Portugal ; in which law his Most Faithful Majesty further engaged 
 to assimilate as much as possible the legislation of Portugal to that 
 of Great Britain. In compliance with this stipulation, such a law 
 should have been promulgated on or before the 28th of January, 
 1818. Repeated applications were made on this subject by Mr. 
 Chamberlain, his Majesty’s Chargé d’ Affaires at the Court of Brazil; 
 but it was not till the month of May that the law was communicated 
 to him, or even printed*.” 
 
 * Supplement to the 15th Report, page 36—38. 
 
 ¢ 
 
26 PORTUGAL. 
 
 This law contains the two following articles : 
 
 “‘ Art. i, All persons, of whatsoever quality or Condition, who 
 shall proceed to fit out or prepare vessels for the traffic in slaves, in 
 any part of the coast of Africa lying north of the Equator, shall in- 
 cur the penalty of the loss of the slaves, who shall be declared free, 
 with a destination hereinafterwards mentioned. ‘The vessels engaged 
 in the traffic shall be confiscated, with all their tackle and appurte- — 
 nances, together with the cargo, of whatever it may consist, which 
 shall be on board on account of the owners or freighters of such ves- 
 sel, and of the owners of such slaves. The officers of such vessel— 
 to wit, the captain or master, the pilot and, supercargo—shall be 
 banished for five years to Mosambique, and each shall pay: a fine 
 equivalent to the pay or other profits which he was to gain by the ad- 
 venture. Policies of insurance cannot be made on such vessels, or 
 their cargoes ; and if they are made, the assurers who shall knowingly 
 make them, shall be condemned in triple the amount of ‘the ‘stipu- 
 lated premium. | 
 
 “Art. ii. All persons, of whatever rank or condition, who shall 
 import slaves into Brazil, in foreign vessels, shall incur the same 
 penalty of the loss of the slaves, who shall become freemen, and be 
 provided for as hereinafter directed *.” 
 
 -« This law,” the Committee of the African Institution rein Ariel “if 
 properly followed up, would doubtless do much to repress'the illicit Por- 
 tuguese slave-trade ; and it might have been expected that the Court 
 of Brazils, being really anxious to carry it into effect, ‘would have 
 given authority to the Portuguese judges of the mixed Commission 
 Court at Sierra Leone, ‘to have taken cognizance of any infractions 
 of it which might be brought under their. view. So far, however, » 
 was this from having been done, that in June, 1820, eighteen months 
 after the date of the law, those judges, having before them a clear 
 and undoubted case of illicit slave-trading, not only permitted the 
 parties to depart, with their vessel and her targo restored to them, 
 but assigned to them a ‘full indemnification, to be paid by the captor t. 
 
 “The Board will recollect, that at the Congress of. Aix-la-Chapelle, 
 the powers assembled there agreed to make a solemn and joint ap 
 
 * Supplement, to the 16th Report, page 38, 39... + Ditto, page 42. 
 
 \ 
 
PORTUGAL. : O7 
 
 / 
 
 peal to the King of Portugal, to induce him entirely to abolish the 
 slave-trade. . The letters of those different powers having been pre- 
 sented to him; on the 21st of August, 1819, he addressed a letter to 
 his Majesty, in reply to one received from him, in which he states 
 that he had caused his subjects to observe the stipulations of the 
 treaty, for abolishing the slave-trade to the north of the Line, and 
 that he had given to that traffic ‘ the direction which was most con- 
 formable to these stipulations, without risking a general commotion 
 in the Brazils, in order to substitute ‘white colonists for a black po- 
 pulation, from whom rude labour alone can be expected, without 
 either industry or activity’ in such labours. ‘It is extremely dis- 
 agreeable,’ he adds, ‘to be thus placed between two evils, one of 
 which would prevent the increase of industry in general; whilst the 
 other, by opposing the prejudices of two centuries, would be revolt- 
 ing to the opinions of the proprietors, and perhaps inflame the minds 
 of the slaves. In this crisis I have preferred indirect means: the 
 traffic has already much decreased ; and I hope that in time you will 
 have the satisfaction of seeing your views realized.’ 
 
 *€So far as this letter is intelligible, it appears intended to postpone 
 the abolition of the Portuguese Slave-trade to an indefinite period. 
 The only facts asserted in it—namely, that the king had caused his 
 subjects to observe the stipulations of the treaty, abolishing the slave. 
 trade north of the Line, and that the trade had much decreased— 
 are contradicted, it is to be feared, by incontrovertible evidence. 
 
 “Our government has not limited its efforts to induce Portugal 
 entirely to renounce the slave-trade, to the above communication. 
 There appear in these papers several urgent applications to the Portu- 
 guese minister, calling upon him to fulfil the pledge given at the Con- 
 gress of Vienna, that in eight years, at most, from that time, the 
 Portuguese Slave-trade should cease*.” | 
 
 “Sir George Collier, in 1819, had detained two slaving vessels, 
 which were found to be the property of the governor of Prince’s, on 
 the coast of Africa; and the Nova Felicidade, whose case is mentioned 
 above in the proceedings of the mixed Commission Court at Sierra 
 Leone, and’ which,’ though only eleven tons burden, had seventy- 
 
 * Supplement to the 1éth Report, page 43. 44. 
 
28 NETHERLANDS. «s 
 
 one human beings, crowded into her hold, is stated to have belonged 
 to the same person... Lord Castlereagh preferred a complaint against 
 him to-the Portuguese government, urgently requesting ‘ that no 
 time may be Jost in instituting an inquiry into his conduct ; and that 
 as there are the strongest reasons to believe that he has been deeply 
 implicated in the abuses which have been practised on that coast, in 
 carrying on the slave-trade, in. violation of the treaty between the 
 countries, he may be removed, without further delay, from the com- 
 mand of that island?’ He presses it also upon. that government, 
 ‘ how eminently it becomes their character, as directing the affairs 
 of-a: civilized nation, :and how important to their fair name, at a mo- 
 ‘ment when the continuance of the Negro slave-trade is a’subject: of 
 general abhorrence in every civilized country, with the single ex- 
 ception of the Brazils, that they should adopt the most decisive and 
 vigorous measures to arrest the progress of an evil which appears to 
 be increasing, rather than to diminish, in its most horrid character.’ 
 ‘The documents,’ his lordship adds, afford’ ‘ample proof of the 
 horrid and disgraceful manner in which this ddious traffic-is still car- 
 ried on by his Most Faithful Majesty’s subjects; how in its. most 
 illicit form, it is encouraged and connived at by the Portuguese 
 
 authorities; and how seriously it becomes the duty of every govern- © 
 
 ment, and of every individual friend of humanity, to do all in shen 
 power to put an end to such unjustifiable outrages.’ 
 
 ‘* The papers do not state what was the actual result of these spi+ 
 rited representations *,” | 
 
 NETHERLANDS. 
 
 It seems “pr oper lo introduce the account of the ti ‘ade carried On 
 by the subjects of the ling. of the Netherlands, by pr inting the following 
 lan. 
 
 “On the 20th of November, 1818, the following law, entitled a law 
 ‘ denouncing penaltie#in order to prevent and check the slave-trade, 
 
 ¢ 
 
 tr —_ 
 
 # ‘Supplement to the 15th Report, page 46, 47, 
 
NETHERLANDS. 2G 
 
 was promulgated by that government, and a copy of it reached Eng- 
 Jand on the 4th of March, 1819. , 
 
 ‘We, William, by the grace of God, King of the Netherlands, 
 Prince of Orange Nassau, Grand Duke of Luxemburg, &e. &e. &e. 
 
 ‘ Having considered our decree of June 15, 1814; likewise article 
 eight of the treaty concluded” August 13,1814, between our king- 
 dom/and that of Great Britain ; as also article one of the treaty dated 
 the 4th of May, of the same year, all relative to the abolition of the 
 slave-trade ; and article sixty of the fundamental law; and being’ 
 solicitous to prevent a traffic so disgraceful to humanity, we, on the 
 proposal of our minister for justice and foreign affairs, and ante : 
 hearing the council of state, have decreed and do decree:— 
 
 “Arti. No one, of whatever description, in our West India 
 colonies and settlements, or on the coast of Guinea, shall be per- 
 mitted to carry on the slave-trade, or to be directly or indirectly 
 connected with that traffic, whether by fitting out ships or vessels for - 
 that purpose, or by having an interest in the fitting out, to that end, 
 of national or other ships and vessels, and by designedly letting 
 them by contract for such object, or by shipping, buying, selling, bars 
 tering, and openly or surreptitiously importing, or causing to be im~ 
 ported, Negroes as slaves, into any Netherland or foreign eolony or 
 settlement out of Europe, on pain, to transgressors and their accom 
 plices, of incurring a penalty of five thousand florins, besides being 
 declared infamous, and imprisoned for the period of five years. 
 
 ‘ Art. ii. To the same punishment shall be liable all foreigners, 
 who, subsequently to April 1; 1819, shall have carried to, or im- 
 ported, or attempted to import, into our above-mentioned colonies 
 and settlements, one or more Negroes, and who shall be apprehended 
 in our said colonies and settlements: and any ships and vessels: 
 ~ Jaden with Negroes, which, previous to that period, may put into any 
 of the Netherland harbours in those parts ae the world, shall imme-= 
 diately be warned off. | 
 
 ‘ Art. iii. Penalties similar to those specified in article i. shall be 
 inflicted upon all masters of vessels, steersmen, and supercargoes, 
 whether Netherland or foreign, who shall have lent their assistance 
 towards the carrying on of the prohibited traffic in slaves, and shall, 
 in consequence, after the above period, have carried to, or imported 
 
30 NETHERLANDS. — 
 
 into, or attempted to carry to, or import into, the said colonies or . 
 settlements, any cargo of Negroes. : 
 
 ‘ Art. iv. Sailors, and other seafaring men, who shal be appre- 
 hended in our colonies on a' charge of having deliberately entered 
 into the service of ships or vessels, knowing them to be engaged in 
 the slave-trade in general, or in the importation of slaves into our 
 above-mentioned colonies and settlements, shall, by way of punish. 
 ment, be imprisoned for two years; and those who discover it after- 
 wards, shall immediately stand discharged from their service, and 
 take the first opportunity, unattended with danger to themselves, to 
 quit the same, on pain, in the contrary case, of incurring the punish- 
 ment alluded to. | 
 
 ‘ Art. v.. The above denunciations of punishment, however, shall 
 no way apply to slaves now existing in the colonies, or to their chil- 
 dren, whether born or that may be born, respectively, who shall be 
 transferred to and from any Netherland colony in the West Indies, or 
 to and from any foreign colony, or any portion thereof ; and we ex- 
 pressly declare, that no one whosoever shall, on that account, be 
 ‘suffered to be ‘at all molested ; inasmuch as such importation and 
 transfer does not come within the meaning of the prohibited slave- 
 trade. | 
 
 ‘ Art. vi. Neither shall the punishments threatened by the present 
 law be made applicable to those who shall save and succour any slave- 
 vessel in distress, or who may have transshipped from such vessel any 
 slaves, provided the commander give due information of it within 
 fourteen hours of his putting into the first port he shall make. 
 
 ‘ Our ministers of justice and public instruction, of national in- 
 dustry and the colonies, are directed, each according to his depart- 
 ment, to see the above carried into execution; and the latter shall 
 cause the present decree to be proclaimed and affixed, as ustial, in the 
 before-mentioned colonies and settlements; and copies of the present 
 decree shall likewise be communicated to our ministers: for foreign | 
 affairs, and to the council of state, for their information: 
 
 “ The fifth article of the above law, it will be obvious, goes far, by a 
 kind of side-wind, to nullify the whole. of the. preceding enactments, 
 ‘as well as the entire effect of the treaty which it professes to enforce; 
 for that article permits the unrestricted import and export of slaves 
 
NETHERLANDS. 8l 
 
 between the Dutch colonies in the West Indies reciprocally ; and be~ 
 tween those colonies and the colonies of all other nations. | 
 
 “ It ought not, perhaps, to excite any surprise, that the evasive 
 nature of this provision should not have immediately arrested the 
 attention of his majesty’s government... _It appears, indeed, to have 
 been overlooked, until the practical evils which might naturally be 
 expected to flow from it called loudly for, interference. 
 
 “ On the 12th of January, 1819, the above law was proclaimed at 
 Surinam. aa ss 
 
 “On the 23d of November, in that year, his majesty’s commission- 
 ers at Surinam, for carrying the treaty into effect,.C. E.: Lefroy, Esq. - 
 the commissary judge, and T.S. Wale, Esq. the arbitrator, inform- 
 ed Lord Castlereagh, that ‘ under the fifth and sixth articles’ of that 
 decree, of which they inclose an official copy, “a trade, in slaves with 
 the West India islands does exist ; that two vessels, one from Guada- 
 loupe, the other from Martinique, under the French flag, but con- 
 signed to inhabitants of this colony, are at the present time discharg- 
 ing their cargoes of slaves in the river Surinam; and that a ship 
 under the Netherland colours has sailed from hence for the purpose 
 of purchasing slaves at: Pernambuco.’ nih: 
 
 ** Again, on the 27th of December, 1819, the same eltlomsahle in= 
 formed Lord Castlereagh, ‘ that the trade in slaves under the French 
 flag, is carried on in great vigour, and.that the majority of the slave- 
 cargoes admitted under that flag are recent importations from Africa. 
 Every circumstance of appearance and language of the Negroes, and 
 even the admission both of buyers and sellers, render this a fact too 
 notorious to permit us to conceal it from your lordship,’ 
 
 On the Ist of April, 1820, these gentlemen further stated: 
 
 ‘We are extremely sorry to report, that fresh arrivals of slave- 
 vessels under the French flag have taken place; and that, as nearly — 
 as we can compute upon the whole, since the publication of the de- 
 _ cree, of which we had the honour to.inclose your lordship a copy in 
 our dispatch of the 23d of November last, no less a number than 
 2800 slaves, (the greater part recently from Africa,) have lately been 
 introduced into this colony. We have had some conversation with 
 the captain and officers of a Dutch frigate, the Comet, which is coms 
 missioned under the treaty to cruise upon this station; but they do 
 not think their authority extends to an interference, in any case, with 
 
§2 ; NETHERLANDS. 
 
 the French flag, or with the interception of slaves imported underits 
 protection. Our official colleagues, Messrs. Changnier and Graafland, 
 are likewise of the same opinion ; and that neither the letter nor the 
 spirit of the authority with which the mixed courts are at present in- 
 vested, comprehends any means of repressing or controlling this me= 
 thod of evading the object of the treaty. 
 
 “‘ Under these circumstances, it will be manifest to your lordship, 
 that unless in compliance with the last clause of the first article of the 
 treaty, the Dutch government repeals the permission, contained in 
 the decree to which we have before had occasion to refer, of impor- 
 ’ tation from ‘ friendly colonies,’ whose vessels have not been subject, 
 by any express treaty, to the right of search, or has recourse to some 
 further measures, your lordship’s efforts in this great cause will be, in 
 part at least; defeated.” 
 
 ** Again, on the 6th of April, 1820, they wrote as follows :— 
 
 “Although we had so recently the honour of addressing you, a 
 circumstance has occurred since we made up our last dispatch, of 
 which we think it our duty to put your lordship in possession—viz. 
 the arrival of a vessel, under Dutch colours, with not less than four 
 hundred and eighty slaves on board, (with papers professedly from 
 a ‘friendly colony,’ under the authority of the decree of the Dutch 
 government, accompanying our dispatch of the 23d of November, 
 but which papers, from the appearance, manners, and every circum- 
 stance attending both the vessel and her cargo, we can feel no doubt 
 to have been collusive,) without the least obstruction either from the 
 Dutch ships of war in the river, or from the governor or local autho- 
 rities in this place.” ‘ah | 
 
 “‘ His majesty’s commissioners at Surinam, on the 14th of August, 
 ~ 1820, again addressed Lord Castlereagh to the following effect : 
 
 ** When we had before the honour of addressing your lordship, we 
 communicated the circumstance of the French and Dutch flags being 
 made covers to the importation of slaves into this colony, evidently 
 _ new comers from Africa, though perhaps alleged to have been pro- 
 cured immediately from neighbouring colonies: since then, we have 
 seen the Portuguese colours also employed in a similar service ; and 
 in the course of the last week, three vessels under the flag of France, 
 apparently direct from the African coast, have discharged their care 
 goes of slaves i in this port.” 
 
NETHERLANDS, $5, 
 
 The only remaining communication from these gentlemen is 
 dated so late as December 12, 1820, and is as follows :— 
 
 ‘We beg leave to inform your lordship, that the importation of 
 _ slaves into this colony, which has been the subject of our former: let~ 
 ters to your lordship, is still continued, and that in a recent instance, 
 a slave-vessel with her cargo, prize to, and brought in by a South- 
 American privateer, has been admitted by this government to the 
 market.’ ) . ; , 
 
 “ It is obvious that, according to the stipulations of the treaty, all. 
 the slaves who have thus been introduced into Surinam ought to 
 have been emancipated, the ships to have been confiscated, and ther 
 parties concerned to have undergone the punishment prescribed in 
 the decree of the king of the Netherlands*.” 
 
 =e 
 
 These statements did not fail to claim the early attention of the 
 British government, and through the ambassador at the court of the 
 Netherlands, strong remonstrances were made. They did not, how 
 ever, meet mith that diligent attention which the case demanded. : At 
 length, in the course of last spring, nine months afterwards, a decree 
 was issued by the king, the substance of which is as follows: 
 
 “We, William, by the grace of God, king of the Netherlands, 
 &c. &c. considering that, according to reports which have been 
 received, slaves are now and then imported into the colony of 
 Surinam from ‘certain foreign colonies, where the slave-trade with 
 Africa direct is still permitted,—referring to the treaty concluded 
 between the Netherlands and Great-Britain on the 4th of March, 
 1818; referring to the law of the 20th of November, 1813; having 
 examined the reports of our ministers for foreign affairs and justice, 
 public instruction, national industry, and colonies; by the advice 
 of our privy council—have thought fit and determined to prohibit 
 the importation of slaves into the colonies of our kingdom, and 
 especially into that of Surinam, from those colonies where the direct 
 slave-trade with Africa is still permitted, as we do by these-presents, 
 
 “ Supplement to the 15th Report, page 48—54. 
 
 C 
 
34 NETHERLANDS. 
 
 and under the same penalties as are denounced against the importa- 
 tion of prohibited goods there.” 
 
 On this decree, the commiltee of the African Institution make the 
 following just reflections: : 
 
 “‘ This decree was, doubtless, intended: by its framers to satisfy the 
 just and pressing demands of our government. The committee are 
 nevertheless compelled to say, that however honourable may have 
 been its intention, as it now stands it is a mere evasion of them ; for 
 ‘it prohibits the importation of slaves inte Surinam, only when it is 
 made from those colonies where the direct slave-trade with Africa is 
 permitted. But there is no such colony in the West Indies. The 
 prohibition, therefore, if not perfectly nugatory, may be regarded as 
 giving a legal sanction to what was formerly at least not admitted, 
 namely, the right to import slaves into Surinam from all the other 
 colonies in the West Indies. ‘Take the case, for example, of an im- 
 portation from Martinique, or Guadaloupe, or Cayenne, or Porto 
 Rico, or the Havannah: in none of these is the direct slave-trade 
 with Africa still permitted, to whatever extent it may ¢llécitly subsist. 
 From all of them, therefore, notwithstanding this decree, nay, even 
 under its implied sanction, may slaves be imported into Surinam 
 without restriction. But this was the very abuse against. which our 
 government had remonstrated. The government of the Netherlands 
 professed to yield to. our remonstrances ; “and in fulfilment of that 
 
 profession, it promulgates a decree which not only leaves the abuse . 
 
 complained of wholly untouched, but seems to render it legal. Our 
 government, it cannot be doubted, has already pointed out this dis- 
 appointment of the humane expectations which the appearance of the 
 decree must have raised, and has called for a measure more conso- 
 nant to the letter and the spirit of our existing treaties: a measure, 
 to use the words of our treaty, “ calculated in THE MOST EFFECTUAL 
 MANNER fo prevent aLu.their respective subjects from taking ANY 
 SHARE WHATEVER in this nefarious traffic.” It is lamentable to see 
 with what tenacity this Christian power clings to every remnant of 
 
 this execrable commerce, to which the special pleadings-of its colonists 
 
 can give any colour of consistency with its engagements. 
 “ Then, as to the punishment denounced by this new law, while it 
 places a human being, or a cargo of human beings, on a level with a 
 
EAST COAST OF AFRICA. 35 
 
 keg of gin or a firkin of butter, is it not a relaxation, instead of an 
 aggravation, of the penalties already affixed to slave-trading, namely, 
 “a penalty of 5000 florins, besides being declared infamous, and 
 imprisoned for the period of five years?’ Tf the undefined penalty 
 attached to the importation of prohibited goods be, as the com- 
 mittee apprehend, one of less severity, then the measure assumes 
 a still more reprehensible character. But be it so, or not, the decree 
 is still a most inefficient and unsatisfactory fulfilment of the solemn 
 engagements of the king of the Netherlands, and of the just expecta= 
 tions of the British government*.” 
 
 EAST COAST OF AFRICA. 
 
 OBSERVATIONS on the SLAVE-TRADE carried on ait 
 ZANZEBAR. 
 
 “ The slave-trade is carried on along the whole extent of the east 
 coast of Africa, wherever there is a harbour, or an anchorage, in which 
 vessels can traffic with safety; but I select one spot as peculiarly 
 calling for the attention of the African Institution, and the British 
 government. 
 
 “The island of Zanzebar, or ait tothe (as it is called by the 
 natives,) is situated between the latitudes of 5 deg. 40 min. and 6 
 deg. 30 min. south, and between 39 and 40 deg. east longitude. It 
 lies in a direction nearly N.N. E. and S.S:W. and is distant from 
 fifteen to twenty miles from the continent. 
 
 ‘“* There is an abundance of all the vegetables of tropical climes, 
 which, with the fruits, are so bountifully supplied by nature, and re« 
 quire so little assistance from man, that the agriculture of the island 
 is chiefly confined to clearing the ground from an exuberant vegeta- 
 tion not alimentary. Poultry is plentiful and cheap, a Spanish dollar | 
 being the price of sixteen large fowls. The harbour and coasts of the 
 island yield abundance of delicious fish of great variety. 
 
 * Supplement to the 15th Report, page 66—68. 
 c 2 
 
8 
 
 . 
 
 86 EAST COAST OF AFRICA. 
 
 “The population is computed to be 200,000, consisting of natives, 
 Negro slaves, and Arabs; the last not amounting to more than 2000, 
 the slaves to about 150,000; some considerable Arab and native 
 landholders possessing each from 200 to 400 of these unfortunate 
 beings. It is comparatively happy for them, when their lot is cast 
 in the service of an Arab, who is justly famed for his mild treatment 
 of his slaves. He allows him a small habitation on his estate, exact- 
 ing from him moderate labour, while the fertile soil yields him ample 
 means of subsistence with little trouble. ‘The poor Negro, therefore, 
 under an Arab master, appears to enjoy ease and content. Numbers, 
 unhappily, are differently situated ; and the account given by Captain 
 Smee, of the East India Company’s marines, who visited the island in 
 1811, is sufficient to harrow the hardest heart. 
 
 «‘ A considerable number of merchants from Cutch and Scind occu- 
 py the best houses in the town of Zanzebar, engross the greatest part 
 of the slave-trade, and form the most opulent part of the community. 
 The slaves are brought to the market-place early in the day; but the 
 principal exhibition commences about three or four o’clock in the 
 afternoon. They are ranged in a line, composed of both sexes, and 
 all ages, beginning with the least and increasing to the rear, according 
 to their size. To set them off to the best advantage, their skins are 
 cleaned and burnished with oil, their faces painted with red and white 
 stripes, their woolly hair plastered and filled with a yellow powder, 
 esteemed among the poor creatures as a mark of beauty and ele- 
 gance, their hands and feet ornamented with rings and bracelets, and. 
 round their loins is wrapped a new striped or plain colcured cloth. 
 At the head of the file stand sthe proprietor, and on each side two or 
 three of his domestic slaves armed asa guard. Thus arranged, the 
 procession begins, and passes through the market-place and principal 
 streets; tlie owner, in a sort of a song, sounding the good qualities 
 of his slaves, and proclaiming the prices that he had been offered for 
 them. 
 
 “« When one of them strikes a spectator’s fancy, the line is halted ; 
 and an examination ensues, which, for minuteness, is not equalled in 
 any cattle-market in Europe. The purchaser first ascertains that 
 there is no defect in the faculties of speech or hearing, and takes the 
 assurance of the seller, that the slave neither snores nor grinds his 
 
EAST COAST OF AFRICA. . on 
 
 teeth in his sleep, which are deemed great objections ;, and. then he 
 proceeds with his examination. The mouth and teeth are inspected, 
 and afterwards every part of the body in succession, not excepting 
 those parts which a sense of decency in the most savage tribes con- 
 ceals from view, and which perhaps the very slave so mspected would 
 not expose without a blush, which the lighter cheek of his future mas- 
 ter could not display. After this, he is made to run; and.if there be 
 no defect in the limbs,.and no indication of any disease, the bargain is 
 concluded. At the close of the day, the wretched beings who have 
 been sold are stripped of their decorations, and sent to the houses of 
 the purchasers. Women with infants hanging at their breasts, and 
 others feeble from age, are thus seen marshalled and driven about the 
 streets. Some groupes had been so ill fed, that their bones appeared 
 as if they would penetrate the skin. Children of six years’ old were 
 sold for four, five, and six dollars. The value of a prime slave was 
 about fifty, and that of a young girl sixty dollars. Women with in- 
 fants did not fetch so high a price as those without them. 
 
 “ When a slave dies, his body is often allowed to putrify.on the 
 beach ; not a rag of cloth or handful of earth being laid over it. In 
 consequence of this disgusting and revolting practice, the stench 
 about the town is intolerable 3 and, co-operating with the noxious 
 effluvia arising from decayed vegetable matter, which floats down. the 
 stream in the rainy season, together with the filthiness of the low 
 shouses and narrow streets, tends to produce fevers and dysenteries, 
 which make dreadful ravages among the inhabitants. In this, may | 
 not the hand of Providence be seen rendering the very objects of their 
 cupidity the means of their destruction? 
 
 “ The various tribes of slaves brought annually to Zanzebar for 
 sale, (and of which 10,000 are supposed to be sent annually to India, 
 Muscat, Bourbon, and the Isle of France,) could not be accurately de- 
 scribed. They are brought from the ccntinent, some, three months’ 
 journey from the coast: these are called Mechmacries, and their 
 country furnishes ivory and gold. The Meechcoos are two months 
 in coming. The Mee-a-hoo, fifty days. The Mee-geer-doo, one 
 month. The Gooroo, fifteen days. The Doai, ten days; and,are 
 said to be cannibals. The Jiggiea, four days; and the Morjeeir-bana, 
 three. These are only a few of the different tribes who inhabit the 
 country, directly inland from Zanzebar; the interior of which is 
 
38 EAST COAST OF AFRICA» 
 - 
 
 represented to be extremely fertile, and abounding with cattle and 
 elephants. 
 “The town of Zanzebar is situated on the south-west side of the 
 ‘island: it is large, and chiefly composed of huts. The few store- 
 houses which are seen, belong to the merchants of Cutch, Seind, and 
 _ the Arab residents. The fort, which was of Portuguese construction, 
 is a square building, with a tower at each corner, and a battery in an 
 outwork towards the sea; in which are mounted four or five guns of 
 large calibre, and of French manufacture. The harbour of this beauti- 
 ful island is capacious and excellent. The tides rise between two and 
 three fathoms; and, at a small expense, docks might be constructed, 
 capable of admitting ships of the largest burden. The sovereignty of 
 the island belongs to the imaum of Muscat, who appoints at pleasure 
 the hakeem or governor, his vizier, and three or four officers, who col- 
 lect the customs, but maintains no description of military force. 
 “The hakeem’s slaves, amounting to about 500, are all armed, and 
 serve as soldiers. He himself is an eunuch-slave of the imaum. His 
 ruling passion is the love of power ; for the preservation of which he 
 lives like a beggar: his savings and éxtortions being transmitted to 
 Muscat as the price of his situation. The people who live under his 
 government despise and detest him. } 
 
 . The trade here, (as in most of the ports on the east-coast of 
 Africa,) is chiefly in the hands of the Arabs from Muscat and 
 Maculla, and of adventurers from Scind, Cutch, and Surat. The 
 prineipal imports are Surat and Cambray cloths, to the value of 
 twelve lacs of rupees annually ; cotton, beads, sugar, grain, iron, and 
 lead. ‘The exports consist of slaves, ivory, rhinoceros’s hides and 
 horns, cowries, wax, turtle-shells, &c. The valueof the duties annu- 
 ally collected, were computed to be 150,000 dollars; and the rate 
 paid is five per cent. 
 
 me THe ordinary annual nett revenue derived by the imaum from 
 this possession, is 60,000 dollars ; but levies of money are frequently 
 made upon the inhabitants, on various pretences: and when Captain 
 Smee was there, a ship arrived from Muscat, with a demand of 
 25,000 dollars, for the avowed purpose of enabling the imaum to 
 resist the encroachments of the Wahabees; hut the real object was 
 supposed to be, to purchase a cargo for the very ship that brought the 
 demand. An additional tax was immediately imposed; and the 
 
EAST COAST OF AFRICA. 39 
 
 principal men of the district were ordered to collect it, and held 
 responsible for its payment, at a stated period, under pain of impri- 
 sonment. ‘The Surat traders were on this occasion called upon to 
 contribute 3500 dollars as their quota; but Captain Smee very pro- 
 perly afforded them that protection to which they were entitled from 
 a British officer, and remonstrated with the hakeem on the injustice 
 of demanding any thing from these peaceable traders beyond the 
 established duties of the port. 
 
 “In March, 1811, when that officer was at Zanzebar, sith two of 
 the East India Companys cruisers, there were lying in the harbour, 
 for the purpose of commerce, 59 vessels of different sizes, containing 
 about 10,000 tons. ; 
 
 ‘* In addition to these, numerous small coasting craft are continue 
 ally arriving’ and departing. In some seasons 100 large dowhs 
 have arrived there from India and Arabia. It must be very 
 evident, from what has been already stated, that the slave-trade is 
 not necessary to the prosperity of this island; that the com- 
 mercial spirit of the place, if rightly directed, would find its best 
 interest in the pursuit of other objects. The articles of import 
 and export, of which a part has been enumerated, abundantly show 
 that a very lucrative commerce might be prosecuted, untainted by the 
 guilt of that nefarious and inhuman traffic. Along the whole range 
 of the eastern coast, there will not be found a port, by its many ad- 
 - vantages, so inviting to commercial enterprise. 
 
 “ It ought then to excite equal astonishment and regret, that an exe 
 tensive and populous island, so richly gifted by nature, and so ad» 
 mirably adapted for commerce, the great and successful means of 
 civilization, should be subjected to the dominion of a petty Moham- 
 .medan state, which, at the distance of 2000 miles, rules it with a 
 contemptible band of slaves, whilst it is unable to defend its own 
 territories and commerce from the attacks of its neighbours in the 
 Persian Gulf. 
 
 “ But the first object which calls for attention, and which, sinhky to 
 engage the consideration of the British government in the East, is 
 the abolition of the slave-trade ; a measure which, I am confident, is 
 easy of accomplishment. The imaum of Muscat is an old and steady 
 ally of the East India Compiny, and, of late years, has been indebted 
 for his existence as a sovereign to their protection. His principal 
 
40. EAST COAST OF AFRICA. 
 
 ship for war and commerce was recently built in the company’s dock 
 yard at Bombay ; and all his applications for supplies from the arse- 
 nal are immediately granted. Indeed, the intimacy between the 
 imaum and the Bombay governor has been such, and the confidence 
 of this Mohammedan in Christian benevolence so great, that he has, 
 (contrary to all usage,) been in the practice of sending his sister, to 
 whom he was much attached, annually to Bombay with a large suite, 
 there to pass some months for the benefit of her health. The British 
 government, therefore, have only to express to the imaum their de- 
 sire that the slave-trade at Zanzebar should cease; and I am confident . 
 that he would readily enter into a treaty with them for that purpose, 
 and as readily agree, that the East India Company’s vessels of war 
 should enforce its execution. At all events, the trial should be at- 
 tempted, and a beginning made to free the eastern coast of Africa 
 from the dreadful scourge with which it continues to be afflicted*.” 
 
 od 
 
 The Board of Directors of the African Institution communicated 
 the above Memoir to the Court of Directors of the East India Com- 
 pany, who, in a dispatch to the governor of Bombay, dated 11th of 
 4th mo. 1821, write in the following terms: 
 
 ““We lately received from the president, vice-presidents, and 
 directors of the African Institution, a letter and memoir respecting 
 the slave-trade carried on at Zanzebar, on the east coast of Africa, a 
 copy of which we transmit. 
 
 ‘“‘We take the earliest opportunity, in drawing your attention to 
 this communication, of expressing our most cordial concurrence in the 
 benevolent views entertained. by the respectable members of that 
 Institution, and of communicating to you our directions, that every 
 means of persuasion may be exerted by you, with the imaum of 
 Muscat, to induce him to abolish this inhuman traffic within his pos- 
 sessions ; and consent to such of his subjects, as may afterwards en- 
 gage in it, being considered and treated as:piratest.” 
 
 * Hifteenth Report of the African Institution. Appendix, page. 52—58. 
 + Ditto, 63. 
 
 + 
 
ADDRESS, TO THE KING. Al 
 
 To these melancholy reports on the SLAVE-TRADB, as carried on by 
 the subjects of European powers, may be properly subjoined the follow- 
 ing AppReEss to the K1n@, which passed the Houst or Commons on 
 the 27th of the 6th month, 1821; the substance of which had been 
 voted the preceding day, as a similar address from the House or 
 Lorps:— 
 
 ““ RESOLVED, NEMINE CONTRADICENTE, 
 
 « That an humble address be presented to his majesty, represent- 
 ing to his majesty, that in the various documents relative to the 
 slave-trade, which, by his majesty’s command, have been laid before 
 the house, we find a renewed and most gratifying proof of the per- 
 severing solicitude with which his majesty’s government has laboured 
 to meet the wishes of this house, and of the nation at large, by ef- 
 fecting the entire and universal abolition of that guilty traffic:—that 
 we learn from them, however, with the deepest regret, that his ma- 
 jesty’s unwearied efforts to induce various powers to perform their 
 own solemn engagements, have not been more successful : 
 
 “‘ That, notwithstanding the deliberate denunciation by which the 
 slave-trade was branded with infamy at the congress of Vienna, as a 
 crime of the deepest,dye, and notwithstanding the solemn determi- 
 nation there expressed by all the great powers of Europe, to put an 
 end to so enormous an evil; nevertheless, that this trade is still car- 
 ried on, to an extent scarcely ever before surpassed, by the subjects, 
 and even under the flags, of some of the very powers which were 
 parties to those declarations:—A dispatch of a more encouraging 
 tenor, from his majesty’s commissioner and the chief criminal judge 
 at Sierra Leone, has indeed been very recently communicated to 
 this House, but we have too much reason to fear that the hopes ex- 
 pressed in that communication are far too sanguine, and even the 
 papers previously in our possession contain intelligence of a ‘most 
 painfully opposite nature: | | 
 
 “That the trade, faithful to its malignant character, is still pro- 
 ductive of the same destructive effects as heretofore:—nay, though | 
 in the conduct of this detested traffic, every form of inhumanity 
 might be supposed to have been already exhausted, yet of late it had 
 been attended with unprecedented enormities : 
 
42 ADDRESS TO THE KING, 
 
 “ That we lament deeply our not having experienced the cordial 
 co-operation which we might on every ground have so reasonably 
 expected from the court of the Netherlands :—-We have witnessed, 
 however, with great satisfaction, the strenuous and able exertions 
 with which the king’s ministers at that court has followed up the 
 instructions of his majesty’s government, in contending for the just 
 construction of our treaties with that power:—And we cannot but 
 hope that commercial nation will feel the duty and necessity of adopt- 
 ing a policy more consonant at once to the principles of justice and 
 humanity, and to the dearest obligations of good faith towards her 
 most ancient and steady ally : 
 
 ** That we have seen with extreme regret the slave-trade carried 
 on of late years by Spain to an extent. before unparalleled ; and also, 
 that the local government of the Havannah has shown an evident 
 indisposition to employ the means recently stipulated for its re- 
 pression; but the time having at length arrived when Spain solemnly 
 engaged that all Spanish slave-trade should cease absolutely and for 
 ever; that. high-minded people, we cannot but feel confident, will 
 prove faithful to their engagement, and will be induced. cordially to 
 unite with us in promoting the effectual and universal extinction of 
 the trade, by every civilized power: 
 
 «That we cannot contemplate the conduct of the court of Portue 
 gal, with respect to the slave-trade, without the deepest concern :— 
 That court, indeed, though not calling in question the true nature 
 and effects. of the slave-trade, forbore, even at Vienna, complying 
 with the earnest request of all the other European powers, that she 
 would name some fixed period for the termination of the trade: 
 Even the treaty by which she engaged to abolish the slave-trade to 
 the north of the line has been little regarded ; and to this day, though 
 every form of entreaty has been exhausted by the great European 
 powers, not the smallest hope is held out to us of the total abolition 
 of the trade :—-Under these circumstances, we cannot but think 
 that both Great Britain, and the other powers assembled in congress 
 at Vienna, would not be faithful to their high obligations and. en- 
 gagements, if they were any longer to rest satisfied with mere 
 entreaties and remonstrances, which experience compels us to believe 
 would be of no effect ; and we are necessarily led to revert to the 
 suggestion which was countenanced by the high contracting powers 
 
FROM THE HOUSE OF COMMONS. 43 
 
 at the negotiation at Vienna, ‘of excluding, from commercial inter- 
 course with their respective dominions, any state which should per- 
 tinaciously refuse to abolish the slave-trade, after it should have 
 been prohibited by all othér nations:—We are impelled, however, 
 reluctantly to entreat his majesty to endeavour to induce those 
 powers to carry the above suggestion into effect, and at least to 
 prohibit the importation into their dominions of the produce of any 
 colonies belonging to the crown of Portugal, so long as she shall con 
 tinue thus to set herself in direct opposition to the moral feelings.and 
 concurrent wishes of all the Christian powers, and to defeat every 
 hope of the civilization and improvement of Africa: 
 
 “* That we contemplate with far different feelings the conduct of 
 the United States of America: not only have their cruisers been 
 actively employed, in co-operation with our own, in suppressing the 
 slave-trade on the coast of Africa, but an act has been passed by 
 congress, which places the slave-trade in the list of piracies, and 
 subjects to capital punishment all citizens of the United States who 
 shall be found to engage in it; that in witnessing the conduct of the 
 legislature of the United States on this occasion, we are led to re~ 
 flect with grateful exultation ‘on our common origin, and on those 
 common laws and institutions, whose liberal spirit has prompted our 
 American brethren to be among the very foremost in thus stamping 
 on a traffic in the persons of our fellow-creatures its just character 
 and designation:—And we cannot ‘but express our earnest hopes, 
 that not only we ourselves shall speedily follow so honourable an 
 example, but that the day is not far distant when, by the general 
 concurrence of all civilized nations, this detestable traffic. shall be 
 pronounced to be piratical, to be an offence against all human kind, 
 which all are intitled and bound by duty to suppress: 
 
 ‘That from the gratifying contemplation of the zeal manifested 
 by the United States to promote the cause of humanity, we turn 
 with feelings of the most painful disappointment to France, by some 
 of whose subjects the slave-trade has been for some time carried on 
 to an unprecedented extent, along the whole range of the western 
 coast of Africa ; and whose flag not only protects her own subjects 
 in their criminal enterprises, but serves to protect the subjects also 
 of other powers, who engage in this commerce, but who are: pres 
 
44 ADDRESS TO THE KING, 
 
 vented by the vigilance of British cruisers from finding any shelter 
 
 under the flags of their own countries: 
 
 “That we are bound by every consideration of duty and feeling 
 to take an especial interest in the fate of those countries, now pos- 
 sessed by France on the African continent, which were restored to 
 her dominion by Great Britain :—And we cannot reflect without the 
 deepest pain, that whereas while under our protection they not only 
 enjoyed a temporary respite from their miseries, but were beginning 
 to enjoy the security and comfort arising from the exercise of a 
 peaceful industry, and of a legitimate commerce; the renewal of the 
 slave-trade, which almost immediately followed their cession to 
 France, bas utterly blasted these delightful prospects, and has again 
 consigned these unhappy countries:to rapine and anarchy, to barren- 
 ness and desolation: —That we cannot believe, if the opprobrious facts 
 of the case were fully known in France, that.so great and gallant a 
 people, blessed by the bcunty of Providence with all that can render 
 a nation powerful and prosperous, would tolerate the prostitution of 
 its flag to such base and flagitious purposes, or would stoop to take 
 up and proseeute a traffic which so many other powers had indig- 
 nantly abandoned on account of its incurable wickedness and cru- 
 elty :—more especially when its real nature and effects have been 
 ‘unquestionably established ; when the French legislature has decreed 
 the entire abolition of the trade; and when their sovereign himself, 
 under his own hand, has solemnly pledged himself to join with his 
 majesty in effecting the extinction of a traffic, which, to use his own 
 emphatic language, ‘ tends to the destruction of mankind;’—That 
 notwithstanding the sacred obligations thus contracted by France, 
 so numerous and so flagrant have recently been the unpunished 
 violations of her engagements, that, but for the confidence we wish 
 ever to repose in the upright intentions of those who administer her 
 affairs, we should find it very difficult to believe that these viola. 
 tions could have taken place without’ their knowledge and con- 
 nivance: and we must have been compelled to suspect, that some 
 
 partial interests, or some mistaken views of policy, had interfered to 
 
 prevent the faithful performance of duties, to the fulfilment of which 
 they are solemnly bound, not only by the most sacred obligations 
 
 aa 
 
 of religion and morality, but by the pledged faith of their govern-, — 
 
 ment, and even by the personal honour of their sovereign ; 
 
 a 
 
FROM THE HOUSE OF COMMONS. AG 
 
 “* That we therefore enfreat his majesty seriously to represent to 
 the court of France, how deeply the credit’ and reputation of the 
 French government are involved in these transactions, and that 
 his majesty will be graciously pleased to renew the most earnest 
 efforts, to induce them to make good their various solemn engage-~ 
 ments on this subject, and in particular, to fulfil the promise re- 
 cently given, to employ new and more efficient restraints, and call 
 into action fresh penal sanctions, in order effectually to prevent. 
 the carrying on, by French subjects, of this odious and disgraceful 
 traffic: 
 
 “ That while we thus entreat his majesty to concert with other 
 powers the means of carrying into complete effect this great cause, 
 we are not merely prompted by a sense of what is due to the general 
 obligations of justice and humanity :—we cannot but feel that to 
 Africa we owe a debt which conscience and honour oblige us to 
 repay :—And though we congratulate his majesty on the generous 
 zeal which Great Britain has manifested, and the costly ‘sacrifices 
 she has made, in vindicating in this instance the rights and happi- 
 of our fellow-creatures, yet we cannot reflect without remorse that 
 we ourselves were too long among the very foremost in carrying on 
 this guilty commerce : 
 
 s¢ Since we are now aware of its real character, it becomes us 
 to be earnest and incessant in our endeavours to impress the 
 truth on others who may have been misled by our example:— 
 And as we contributed so largely to prolong the misery and 
 barbarism of the Africans, we should now be proportionably 
 earnest in using the means with which Providence has endowed 
 us, for promoting their civilization and happiness.” 
 
46 ; SUBSCRIPTIONS: 
 
 . 
 
 Tue following Minute of the Committee, with the subjoined states 
 ment, may suitably close the present communication to the Subscribers :— 
 
 Minute of the Committee of the Meeting for Sufferings, , 
 12th of 11th Mo. 1821. 
 
 The Committee may embrace this opportunity of 
 informing the Subscribers, that they have been en- _ 
 gaged in considering various ways by which the object 
 of their appointment may be answered. Among these 
 is the printing for their own distribution, an edition, 
 in French, of the “ Cries of Africa,” as that pamphlet 
 is now printed in the French language. They are also 
 about to make a selection of a few striking facts, ex-- 
 hibiting the cruelties of the trade, and to form them 
 into a tract to be translated into“ French. They pro- 
 pose to procure, as early as possible, a translation of 
 Thomas Clarkson’s tract into Spanish; and they are 
 endeavouring to diffuse information on the continent, 
 through the medium of the foreign newspapers and 
 journals. 
 
 Amount of Subscriptions hitherto received. 
 
 ay 
 
 3 Lic 
 Bedfordshire and Herts Quarterly Meeting .....0... 28 7 O 
 Peres ond OxOn ditto ..iaiiuesercibisec cs 0 v.c'c 0 oe siniels eee Oe 
 Bristol and Somersetshire ditto ...seeceecees cation aoa. seme 
 ‘Buckinghamshire ditto ..ccesevssescer o'a'e 6 wighieieig | AeO oem 
 
 Carried forward 44... 233 17 6 ; 
 
SUBSCRIPTIONS. 
 
 Brought forward 233 17 
 
 Cambridgeshite and Huntingdonshire Quarterly Meeting 
 Cheshire and Staffordshire ditto 
 SPI WEN, LOU RIs Sid' ee oe cvors 0 o's a clatetats Uivlels Wels 6 o.0i% 
 Derbyshire and Notts ditto ..... 
 Devonsmernto 6. Wh On. oo oo a, 
 Dorset and Hants ditto. 
 
 Shaftesbury and Sherborne Monthly Meeting .. 
 Durham Quarterly Meeting ... 
 Pi SSES OG are hs aie e's «0/0 
 Gloucester and Wilts ditto ........cc0. Beg die einl's 
 Herefordshire and Worcestershire ditto 
 ee Oi ee a 
 Lancashire ditto ....cecee.s 
 
 @e0aeeveeee 2eo020 0 2208 @ 
 9 
 
 eooeesve7eee2e2e298 0800 
 
 eseeoveesveenee eee ee 
 
 eeceoooveeve vee 9 
 eeoeveveaosv ee eer O08 eco @ 
 
 e® -ooceoeeoreooeeeeoeroorn @ 
 
 Lincolnshire ditto. 
 Gainsborough Monthly Meeting . 
 
 PAGER COU GILG oss 56 5 5 <a! Wie cine sco Mitts 
 London and Middlesex Quarterly Meeting ........-. 
 Pirro and NOPWICh GittO 26. sek eee a Ses odes 
 Northamptonshire ditto...... Sls siviciahee a ules weal 
 pT CLUE ait ra «NW cMltic's 9 yl 0.0 0) 0!'s bo 05 sip dinie coe 
 
 Sussex and Surrey ditto .........ee00- wieicieims eas 
 
 Warwickshire, Leicestershire, and Rutland ditto ...... 
 
 . Westmorland REELGs Frets vin alerts 
 
 MIME TETEEIS (15. 5'\c loin 4 o'e'es 4,01 ols ofslee omlerd a dcnibian une 
 Wales. 
 
 Shropshire Monthly Meeting ...... 913 O 
 
 Carmarthensh. and Glamorgansh.ditto 1010 O 
 
 eeeoe eevee e eee 86 
 
 A Friend, per George Jones...... 
 A ditto, per William Allen ose mole ss apse maisiale old ¢ 
 sundry smaller Subscriptions ....seesccgecesecees 
 
 @eee 828 P@eeveevaneeee 
 
 £. 
 
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 Be snd 
 
 6 
 10 16 6 
 12 @).0 
 23 11 6 
 12 18 @ 
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 67 
 
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 4 4 @ 
 8. 4058 
 2908 7 6 
 49 14 0 
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 3 48.0 
 65.1 o% 
 20 19 6 
 205 17 6 
 20 3 2 
 10 0 0 
 5 0 @O 
 $8 5 0 
 1450 3: 7 
 
 SS ee 
 
48 SUBSCRIPTIONS. 
 
 N. B. The Committee have reason to believe, that some of the 
 subscriptions sent up were designed to be donations; but that the 
 greater part were raised as annual subscriptions : the distinction can~ 
 not be readily ascertained, 
 
 _ Of the foregoing sum, £.100 has been appropriated as stated in 
 the Report of the Committee, (see p. 2.) Of the balance, £.1000 is, 
 at present, placed out at interest. 
 
 / 
 
 THE END. 
 
 Game 
 
 Printed by Harvey, Darton, & Co. 
 Gracechurch-Street, London. 
 
oe 
 YEAR OF JUBILEE; 
 
 BUT NOT TO AFRICANS + 
 
 @ Discourse, 
 DELIVERED JULY 41s, 1825, 
 
 BEING THE 497TH ANNIVERSARY OF AMERICAN INDEPENDENGE,, 
 meee Eee a 
 
 BY NATHANIEL S. PRIME, 
 
 ¢ 
 
 Pastor of the F rat Presbyterian Church, in Cambridge, N.Y. e 
 
 SALEM, N. ¥. 
 PRINTED BY DODD AND STRYENSON, 
 
 1825, 
 
TO THE READER. 
 
 : 7 Hictnpti no apology for the present publication, or for the form in which it appears, 
 will be attempted, yet it may not be improper or uninteresting to state a few facts relating 
 
 to its origin. 
 
 _ | The author has been in the habit, for a number of years past, of celebrating the an- 
 niversary of our Independence with public worship in his own congregation. Previous to 
 the last 4th of July, notice to that effect was given, and at the same time it was stated that 
 the subject of discourse would be—not. American Liberty, but—American Slavery : in coti- 
 nexion with which, the object and operations of “* The American Colonization Society’ would 
 be brought into view, and its claims upon publick patronage defended and urged. A similar 
 notice was sent to the other congregaticns in this place with an invitation to attend. 
 
 To a very respectable audience, thus convened, the following discourse was delivered, 
 and a contribution taken up in aid of the Colonization Society. 
 
 At the close of the service, a meeting was organized, of which the following are the 
 minutes: 
 
 * The Hon. John M‘ Lean, was chosen Chairman, and Gerrit Wendell, Secretary. 
 
 os The following resolutions were then unanimously adopted. 
 
 “ Resolved, That u ts expedient and proper, in the view of this mecting, hereafter to 
 celebrate the anniwersary of our [Vational Independence nith religious exercises. 
 
 * Resolved, That Messrs. Joun Ashton, Sidney Wells and Dr. Matthew Stevenson 
 be a commuitee to make arrangements for the neat anniversary, aby designating the place ef 
 meeting, and procuring a speaker for the occasion.” 
 
 ** On motion of Mr. Ashton. seconded by Sidney Wells,—Resolved that the Rev. Mr. 
 Pave be requested to furnish for ihe press,.a copy of the Address delivered by him this day, 
 and that the above mentioned committee be authorized to adopt the necessary measures to pro- 
 
 cure its publication” 
 
 Although the proposal of the last resolution was'totally unexpected to the author, 
 yet he is willing frankly to ‘acknowledge that its adoption was extremely grateful to his 
 feelings; not only as an explicit approval of the sentiments which had been delivered, 
 
 expressed by many of his own congregation and others, whose judgment he highly reveres ; 
 
 but also as affording the sanction of their authority in proclaiming them tothe world. And, 
 that it might have the full infiuence of that authority, the address is printed, with the ex- 
 ception of afew verbal corrections, and the addition of two notes, precisely as it Was de- 
 livered. 
 
 The author cannot say that the views exhibited are the result of any new eanrdions 
 in his own mind. ‘Though he was familiar with slavery from his birth, yet from his earliest 
 recollection, it was revolting to his feelings; and the first emotion of humanity that left an 
 indelible’ impression on his memory, was that of commisseration for the degraded condition 
 of a negro child about two years younger than himself; and from that moment, he never felt 
 at rest on the subject, till the last vestige of the evil was.removed from his parental dwel- 
 ling. The same sentiments with respect to the universal guilt, and consequent danger of 
 
 the American people, he has entertained ever since he became acquainted with the institu- 
 tious of his country, and has oceasionally exhibited them ; but» he acknowledges himself 
 highly censurable in not having more frequently, and pointedly urged them. He therefore 
 presents this address to the publick, not only in compliance with the wishes of those whom 
 he cannot refuse, but as a small atonement for having so often negleeted_to employ. his per, 
 and raise his voice against an ae 0 extensive in its operation, and so alarming in its conse- 
 quences. “8 
 
 gles ae oe 1925, ’ : ae 
 
 a 
 
 dy 
 
» 
 
 A DISCOURSE, &. 
 
 THE words from which [ propose to address you, 
 on this occasion, you will find recorded in “The DEcLA-_ 
 RATION of the INDEPENDENCE of the UNITED STATES Of 
 America ;—the first clause after the preamble. “, 
 | 7 & 
 The words are these : Be 
 
 « We hold these truths to be self-evident ; that all men 
 are created equal ; that they are endowed by their Creator 
 with certain unalienable rights; that among these are Fife, 
 
 Laberiy, and the pursuit of Happiness.” ao 
 
 Man, considered as a rational and ebctal being, oc 
 cupies a variety of important relations in the universe 
 of God. in the first wna he tangy related to that ag, 
 
 Lise 
 
 the exercise of eternal reverence, love and arate 
 However indifferent he may feel, in his present fallen 
 state, to the demands of heaven, and however negligent 
 he may be of the duties which result from those de- 
 mands, it is an incontrovertible truth, that the service of 
 God has the first and highest claim. Hence, the first 
 and greatest commandment of the law i is declared, by 
 the divine Saviour to be this; “ Thou shalt love the Lord 
 thy God mith all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and 
 mith all thy mind, and with all thy strength” Mark xii. 
 30. An immediate and constant compliance with this 
 precept should be the first object of every human being. 
 But although this is the first, it is not the only du- 
 ty ofman. He occupies other relations, and, of course, 
 is subjected to the authority of other duties. Passing 
 over all the other subordinate connexions of man, as” 
 foreign from our present purpose, I shall here notice 
 only ‘his relation to his own species, and the obligenoms 
 which result from that relation.” All men are formes 
 by the same hand, born inte the same world, under the : 
 Same circumstances, and are bound by considerations — 
 both of duty and interest to respect each other’s rights, 
 and to promote each other’s happiness. ‘These duties” 
 
 are next in importance to those which relate to God. 
 
4 
 
 Therefore, our blessed Lord, after declaring the pre- 
 cept already quoted to be the first commandment of 
 the law, adds, * And the second ts like” to it, “ Thow 
 Shalt love thy neighbour as thyself’ He then declares, 
 with respect to both, “There is no commandment grea- 
 ter than these.’ Here then we have a concise, but 
 complete exposition of man’s duty in relation to his 
 own species. It is applicable to all the possible cir- 
 cumstances of life ; and at the same time, so plain, that 
 the smallest share of intellect is sufficient to understand 
 and apply it. [t accords precisely with that golden 
 rule which the Saviour delivered, in his sermon on the 
 mount; “ All things whatsoever ye would that men should 
 do to you, do ye even so to them ; for this is the law and 
 the prophets.” Matthew vii. 12. That is, all the duties 
 which God has ever required of man in relation to his 
 own species, either in the law or the prophets, are com- 
 prehended in this singie precept, Do lo others just as you 
 gvould nish them to do to you. Did this principle regu- 
 Yate the conduct of all men, the earth would instantly 
 resume the first bloom of Eden. Not only would war, 
 and murder and rapine cease to desolate the earth, but 
 animosities and contention and oppression of every 
 kind and degree would instantly disappear. Adventi- 
 tious circumstances might still produce distinctions in 
 the relative situations of men; but pride, that fiend of 
 hell:and enemy of happiness, would be banished from 
 the human breast ; and one more prospered of heaven 
 than his fellows, would look down upon them, not to 
 despise their poverty, nor to rejoice in their misery, 
 nor to deprive them of their fiberty ; (the last earthly 
 blessing that mancan lose ;) but to compassionate their 
 necessities, to console them under adversity, and to ad- 
 minister to their relief. ‘The whole human family would 
 be bound together by the sense of a common nature, 
 and the bonds. of sincere ‘affection: in a word, they 
 would feel that they were bone of cach other’s bone ; and 
 flesh of each other’s ficsh ; and in all cases, and under all 
 circumstances, they would act like brethren. 
 
 » From these remarks, you will perceive that the 
 words of my text, althous) they are nota B Part of the» 
 
3 
 
 inspired volume, contain sentiments in perfect accor- 
 dance with the divine declarations. This consideration 
 
 therefore is sufficient to entitle them to the highest re-— 
 
 spect. But, in this favoured land, they do not need this — 
 
 argument to give them authority. They are the words — 
 
 of our fathers ; not spoken by the fireside, or in the clo- 
 
 set, while they rested quietly in the midst of their do- — 
 mestick circles, without a witness of their declarations ; — 
 
 but proclaimed and published to the whole world, while 
 they stood in jeopardy of their lives and all that they 
 -held dear on earth; and with a solemn appeal (oe ihe su- 
 PREME JUDGE of the world for the rectitude of leita! n- 
 fentions. Nay, more; some of them sealed this decla- 
 
 ration with their own blood, and voluntarily laid down 
 
 their lives, to deliver their posterity from tyranny and 
 oppression, and to procure for them tbe blessings of h- 
 
 berly and self-government. Confining ourselves to this 
 
 view of the subject, we should pronounce that native 
 American unworthy of his parentage and the name 
 which he bears, who would not revere the words of his 
 
 father, uttered under such circumstances. Nay, that. 
 
 man, let him be who he will, and let his circumstances 
 
 be what they may, is unworthy to tread American soil 
 and breathe American air, who does not cheerfully and _ 
 
 sincerely adopt the words of my text, as containing the 
 sentiments of bis heart, “ 4// men are created equal, and 
 
 are endoned by their Creator with certain unalienable 
 rights, among which are life, liberty and ihe Hehe of 
 
 happiness.” 
 
 When this declaration, partic aay this clause of 
 
 it, was reported in heaven, (and I presume to believe 
 
 that the sun had not set on tbe fourth of July, 1776, be-. 
 fore the transactions of the American Coiiiress were | 
 published to the celestial bosts,) what think you were 
 
 the expectations of angels and the spirits of just men _ 
 made perfect, with respect to. the state of, things which — 
 
 would succeed in this nation ? Doubtless, thet former, 
 in whose respective ranks liberty and equality are not 
 : only professed but) practised, expected, upon their first 
 
 mission to this lower world, to see the American peo- | 
 
 ‘pie, without distinction of Complexion er circumstan- 
 
6 a 
 
 ‘ces, enjoying the blessings: of fréedom. And with e- 
 qual probability may we imagine, that those happy 
 souls who bad been redeemed from the earth, and who 
 had here witnessed, with their own eyes, the oppres- 
 sions of man exercised upon his own species ; some of 
 whom had, perhaps, themselves been personally guilty 
 in this matter, and had found, from their own ex- 
 _ perience, that the last pollution, from which a Saviour’s 
 blood can wash the human soul, is the sweat or blood 
 ofa black man’s body ; I say, we may safely imagine, 
 that, among these, there was one universal shout of Joy. 
 ‘They rejoiced to hear, that, in one nation at least of 
 this fallen world, after the lapse of almost 6600 years, 
 ‘THE RIGHTS OF MAN were at last understood, and a so- 
 lemn resolution to respect them had been unanimously 
 adopted: that universal emancipation had been pro- 
 claimed to three millions of the human family. 
 
 In view of these considerations, could angels and 
 redeemed souls have reasonably expected or believed, 
 af there is any sincertiy in man, that from the benefits of 
 this solemn declaration, adopted under all the solemn 
 circumstances just mentioned, and with the most so- 
 _lemn appeal to heaven, every sixth man was excluded, 
 and doomed to perpetual slavery ; and that, for no other 
 reason, than because the God of nature had caused 
 them to be born ina torrid clime, where the sun had 
 burnt their skin and crisped their hair, and they had 
 been transported against their will, to a land inhabited 
 by white men? 
 
 And if the celestial hosts were then restrained from 
 an universal clamour of disapprobation, by the conside- 
 ration that such an exception was rendered necessary 
 by the existing circumstances of the country, and the 
 impossibility of emancipating 500,000 slaves while our 
 shores were invaded by a foreign foe; could they have 
 been persuaded to believe, that, after heaven had espou- 
 sed the cause of America, and God himself had fought 
 her battles, and victory had crowned her arms, the A- 
 merican people would permit almost half a century to 
 roll away in the enjoyment of . unexampled liberty, 
 
 “prosperity and happiness, while slavery would be per 
 
be 
 
 é 
 
 mitted to increase with the increase of their wealth and 4 
 population? Could they expect that this solemn de- — 
 
 claration of Independence would be annually read the ~ 
 50th time, accompanied with the roar of cannon, the dis- _ 
 
 play of banners, and shouts.of joy, and that thousands _ 
 
 and hundreds of thousands of dollars would be expen- 
 
 ded on every return of this anniversary in feasting and _ 
 dissipation and tumult, and yet ne year of Jubilee be — 
 
 proclaimed to the oppressed sons of Africa? 
 
 But such is the fact. This day commences the 
 0th year of freedom to: American white men, and 
 yet a million and a half of our fellow men, within our 
 own dwellings, are this moment groaning under the 
 
 chains of bondage. ‘Tell me not, as it 1s often iold by. 
 the advocates of slavery, that they are incapable. of 
 
 providing for themselves ; and are therefore happier in 
 their present dependent condition, than if they were 
 immediately emancipated. J cheerfully admit that the 
 little feathered songster that was hatched in a cage or 
 
 incarcerated before his wings were fledged, may be ig- — 
 
 norant of most of the sw eats of liberty ; “and after being 
 
 long accustomed to have his food provided by his own-. 
 
 er’s hand, might be incapable of finding it, in equal pro- 
 fusion, in the fields and forests; but does this prove that | 
 
 he has.not a nature adapted to the enjoy ment of lber- 
 ty, and equally entitled to the privilege with othes 
 birds 2 
 
 But on this pein reasoning is needless. I apa 
 
 peal to my text. “ Arn men are created equal,” said 
 our forefathers, “and are endowed by their Creator with 
 certain unalienable rights ; among these are life, LIBERTY 
 
 and the pursuit of happiness.” ‘For the space of fifty 
 years we have been reiterating the same maxim and at 
 
 the same time declaring, that it is “aselfevident truth.” 
 Now, I say, let us aim at consistency of character... Let 
 
 us reduce the principle to practice, and prove tothe — 
 
 world that we believe what we say, or blot it out from the - 
 
 declaration of our rights and privileges. — We may ab- 
 hor the tyranny of kings and. emperors, and commise- 
 _ tate the degraded state of their oppressed subjects, but 
 a greater inpongruity. cannot be found in any nation 
 
 . ae 
 
& 
 
 than that which exists in our own. In one hand we 
 hold the protestation that all men are equal, and enti- 
 tled to the enjoyment of life and liberty ; and in the 
 other, we firmly grasp the chains of slavery and wield 
 the goads of correction. We proclaim to the world 
 that we are the only nation of freemen on earth, and 
 yet daily practise the most absolute despotism. It is 
 frequently the case that the same publick newspaper 
 which unblushingly asserts the equality of our rights, 
 and the justice of our institutions, advertises a whole 
 village of human beings for sale. Again I say, let us 
 aim at CONSISTENCY: either acknowledge to the world 
 that we are tyrants and despots, or act according to our 
 professions. 
 
 That my text contains a correct assertion, I am 
 not disposed for a moment to question: and I should 
 surely be employed to no purpose in attempting to 
 prove to others, what they have asserted for half a cen- 
 tury, to be “aself-evidenttruth.” Ifthen, all men are, 
 by their birth, entitled to the same natural rights and 
 privileges, they can be divested of them only by the au- 
 thority of Him who has the power of life and death in 
 his hands, The God of nature has a perfect right to 
 authorize one nation to subjugate another, as he deli- 
 _vered the Canaanites into the hands of Israel. But sure- 
 ly this isno argument in favour of American slavery. 
 When we have found a “ Thus saith the Lord” for the 
 subjugation of Africans, then, and not till then, shall we 
 have a right to make them our slaves. 
 
 A man may also forfeit his liberty, and even his life, 
 by the commission of crimes against the interests of so- 
 ciety. And in all such cases, every nation on the globe 
 has a.charter from the King of heaven to inflict merited 
 punishinent. But surely no man of common sense will 
 pretend that this.authorizes any individual or common- 
 wealth to reduce to perpetual bondage, and entail the 
 
 same on their posterity, those who have never violated — 
 
 a single law of the land. | 
 The time has been when the event of war has been 
 
 supposed to confer on the victorious party the right of | 
 
 enslaving the vanquished.” But this is now ow universally 
 
 Ai eee 
 
DB 
 
 acknowledged tobe a principle of barbarism, and “iat 
 
 abandoned “by. the civilized world. Where then is our 
 
 charter for the oppression of our fellow men? | 
 
 2? Perhaps the most plausible argument in support of | 
 
 American slavery, (and it Is one that has been newly. 
 
 discovered, for it was first introduced into Congress on 
 
 the Missouri question,) i is, that the New-Testament dis- | 
 tinctly recognises without any mark of disapprobation, 
 the relation of masters and servants, and St. Paulin his — 
 
 Epistles explicitly enjoins on the latter the duty of re- 
 
 ( spect, obedience and fidelity. This argument has been : 
 triumphantly urged as presenting Divine authority for 
 slavery.. But pray tell me, are there no servants but 
 slaves? Is there no such thing as the relation of mas- 
 ter and servant unless where slavery exists? If so, tell 
 Great. Britain to blot the. word from her vocabulary, 
 that it has no meaning in the English language, and is 
 exclusively of American origin and use. 
 
 « But,” says the advocate. of slavery, “this argu- 
 ment is not to be got rid of in this way. This is mere 
 quibbling. St. Paul speaks not only of servants, but 
 of bond-men; and he actually enjoins iton every man 
 to abide in the same calling, or condition, wherein he — 
 is called. \ And he specifies particularly that if any 
 one is called being a servant, he is to rest contented 
 with the assurance that he is the Lord’s free man. 1 Cor. 
 Vil. 20—22. Nay, in his Epistle to Philemon, he hada — 
 fair opportunity to put this question at rest for ever ;_ 
 but instead of rebuking the master for holding slaves, 
 he returned the runaway to his service.’* On this. 
 ground, it has been asserted, that-those who hold slaves 
 are more obedient to the Scriptures than those who do 
 not. 
 
 If 1 am not greatly mistaken in regard to the nature 
 of this argument, 1 could prove, in the same way, that 
 tyranny and despotism are approved of.God; and that 
 those who submit to such a kind of governinent, live In 
 greater conformity to the Scriptures than the citizens 
 ofarepublick. ». , 
 
 The manner in which T would argue is this. St. 
 
 -— 
 
 wh * This whole argument, in all its partal was once urged with amamng zeal, on the 
 _ floor of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church, ohio 
 
1G 
 
 Paul, in his Epistle to the Romans, says, “ Let every 
 soul be subject unto the higher powers; for there is no 
 power but of God, the powers that be, are ordained of 
 God. Whosoever, therefore, resisteth the power, re- 
 sisteth the ordinance of God; and they that resist shall 
 receive to themselves damnation.’—Rom. xii. 1, 2. 
 Now this solemn injunction, under this awful sanction, 
 was imposed by inspiration upon the Christians of 
 Rome, at the time that the crown of that empire was 
 worn by Nero, one of the most cruel and blood-thirsty 
 tyrants that ever disgraced a throne. By his own di- 
 rection the city was set on fire, which raged for nine 
 successive days, spreading desolation and ruin; and 
 
 then to furnish himself a pretext for persecuting the 
 
 Christians, he laid the crime to their charge, and fierce- 
 
 ly commenced the bloody work. “Some were wrap- 
 
 ped in the skins of, wild beasts, and torn in pieces by 
 dogs ; some were crucified, and others, clothed in gar- 
 ments covered with piteb, were set on fire; while the 
 cruel monster calmly sat'in the window of bis palace 
 and-enjoyed the scene of his own barbarities.”’ And 
 yet this is the man, whom the apostle commands the 
 Christians to revere as “ the minister of God ;” the re- 
 sistance of whom is threatened with damnation. Was 
 not Paul then the advocate of tyranny and oppression? 
 Just as clearly as he was the advocate of slavery. — 
 
 In the same manner I| think it can be shown that 
 polygamy is approved by St. Paul, at least among the 
 Gentiles. He expressly ordained that “a bishop or 
 deacon must be the husband of one wife.” 1 Tim. in. 2, 
 12. Now the inference is fair, that all other men might 
 
 -have more than one. Private members of the church 
 are not restricted in their inclinations in this respect, 
 only the officers of the church are not indulged. I see 
 no way to avoid this conclusion. How then shall we 
 reconcile these apparent inconsistencies ? 
 
 In my view, the solution is plain and easy. Upon 
 the first introduction of the gospel into any pagan land, 
 there always will be many evils existing, which are so 
 completely, wrought into the customs, interests and in- 
 
 stitutions of soc iety, that it is impossible to correct | 
 
 them at once. Nay, if it were possible, the. sudden re- 
 
 4 
 1 
 
ii 
 
 Peluso would instantly produce unspeakable misers 
 Take, for instance, the last mentioned case: Suppose, 
 ina nation where polygamy is extensively practised, e- 
 very man could be induced to repudiate all his wives. 
 but one; how many thousands of helpless women and 
 children would be turned on the wide world, without 
 the means of support, exposed to inevitable wretched- 
 ness and want! he sudden adoption of the true Chris- 
 tian principle, under these circumstances, would be pro- f 
 ductive of vastly greater misery than is now experien- 
 ced from this horrid pagan practice; and the Caan 
 religion would be execrated as a system of cruelty. — 
 
 What then is to be done?) Must Christianity s: Sa- 
 crifice its holy principles at the shrine of pagan impu-. 
 rity? Must we be satisfied to have men embrace the 
 faith of the fespel: while they retain their own ungodly 
 practices? No! But wisdom is profitable to direct.— 
 Some method must be adopted by which these deeply- 
 rooted evils may be branded with disgrace, and 
 thus gradually but effectually eradicated For this 
 purpose St. Paul, or rather the Holy Spirit, ordain- 
 ed in those countries where polygamy was common, 
 that “a bishop or deacon must be the busband of one 
 wife.” A\man that sincerely embraced the gospel, 
 might be admitted to the privileges of the church with- | 
 out first turning half a dozen women out of dvors; but 
 he never could arise to any dignity, or be capable of 
 holding any office in the church. Now you plainly- 
 perceive that the necessary operation of this simple re- 
 gulation, was to abolish gradually, but effectually, this 
 vile practice ; not however, by sovereign authority or 
 absolute force, but by the voluntary consent of the par- 
 ty concerned. 
 
 Thus it appears to be the genius of the gospel to 
 tolerate an evil for a while, where the immediate and 
 total abolition: would be .productive of greater mise- 
 ries and crimes; while, at the same time, it requires the | 
 use of all prudent.and effectual measures for its ultimate | 
 extirpation. 
 
 I humbly conceive that it is on this ground alone, 
 _ that the Scriptures, in certain cases, alludeito despot- 
 _ ism, slavery and many other evils without a distinct ex- 
 
4% 
 
 “pression of disapprobation. Had the evangelists and 
 apostles explicitly denounced the tyranny of Rome, 
 
 and declared that slavery was contrary to the law of 
 nature, and the law of God, they would bave_ been 1n- 
 stantly slain, or driven, at the point of the sword, from 
 every province of the Roman empire. 
 
 On this account every argument founded on such 
 Bate of Scripture in support of slavery, is of no more 
 ‘weight than the dust of the balance. 
 
 ~~ That slavery is an evil is generally acknowledged 
 in those parts of our country where the least of it ex- 
 ists; and of course, where the most of its horrours are 
 unknown. And there are undoubtedly many in the 
 slave- -holding states who deplore the evil, and would 
 gladly remove it, if there was no obstac le j in the way. 
 But it is a matter of deep regret that there are thousands 
 _of our countrymen, claiming the style of republicans, 
 who are the unblushing advocates of slavery. . And 
 what is worse than all, and what renders the extirpa- 
 tion of this evil the more hopeless, is, that when our nor- 
 thern citizens remove to the south, many of them be- 
 come not only the owners of slaves, but in many in- 
 » stances, the warmest advocates of the principle of sla- 
 sivery. This amazing change in sentiment and feeling, 
 tam unwilling to ascribe so much to what is often al- 
 \teged, that they find the evils of slavery far less than 
 they expected, and the subjects of it contented and 
 /happy ; as to the fact, that familiarity with any vice 
 ‘blinds the human mind to its enormity. 1 doubt not 
 that the most enthusiastick republican of our country, if 
 he found it for his interest to reside under the most des- 
 -potick government of Europe, would, after a number of 
 years, return with the report, that the subjects of that 
 country were much better contented, and vastly more 
 happy than he had anticipated; and it would not be 
 strange if his zeal for democracy, and hatred of mon- 
 | archy were equally diminished, But this would ney- 
 er prove to me, that the subjects of a despotism are as 
 happy as they would be, if they were placed in a situa- 
 tion, and prepared, to enjoy the blessings of a free g0- 
 vernment.» , 
 That this is the true reason of this change, ] _ 
 
think is evident from the fact, that our northern men, 
 after they become familiar with slavery, can calmly in- 
 dulge themselves in that kind of treatment of slaves, — 
 which would previously have made them shudder. In. | 
 this connexion I will mention @ fact, which for the cre- 
 dit of New-England, and the honour of religion, Il would | 
 gladly conceal to the judgment day, if: the circumstan- ae 
 ces of the case had not been publicly displayed through 
 this region of country. ‘T'wo years ago a native of — 
 Vermont, and a minister of the gospel too, who has re- 
 sided some years at the South, passed with his family, : 
 through this town and put up for the night within the 
 sound of my voice where I now stand. They were at- 
 tended by a servant-girl, who was not permitted to eat 
 at a table or sleep ona bed, though in the true spirit of _ 
 northern feeling, both were kindly proffered by the — 
 landlady. She spent her night on the naked floor, with 
 
 no other pillow than her bundle of clothes ; and set out 
 
 in the morning in an open waggon, to endure the heat 
 of asunimer’s sun, with no other covering for her head 
 than the woolly fleece which nature gave. Such kind 
 of treatment, for aught | know, may be deemed neces- 
 sary at the south, awd understood, it was then alleged, — 
 to keep the blacks from being “ exalled above iheasuren 
 yet surely it cannot be witnessed, without sentiments " 
 of indignation, in a noribern clime., And for the hon- 
 our of humanity, to say nothing of the gospel ministry, i 
 I pray God, that my own eyes may. never again witness 
 a similar scene. 
 
 But Jet the plea be reiterated as often as it may, 
 that the slavery which exists in our couniry is not so 
 appalling as northern men suppose ; it is still an evil, 
 that exists contrary to the law of nature and ‘nature’s 
 God, and im the face too, of American rights and privi- 
 jeges. And beyond this, it stands necessarily connec- 
 ted with other evils, which are more shocking to the — 
 feelings of humanity, than slavery itself. Take for ex- 
 ample, these simple facts. By the laws of some,of the 
 slave-holding states, no man can emancipate his own 
 slaves ; and. any person is liable to the barbarous and 
 disgraceful punishment of being whipped on the naked 
 back, if convicted of teaching a slave to read. ‘Thus 
 
14 
 
 the poor Africans are not only Ueprived of their liber- 
 ty, but are completely cut off from almost the only 
 ‘means of information, with respect to their duty to God 
 and their fellow men, and of preparation for the eter- 
 nal world; of the only means that can alleviate their 
 sorrows and enliven their solitude. By these laws, a 
 
 pious and benevolent master, who has inherited a hun- 
 
 dred slaves, and who would gladly deliver them from 
 bondage, or, at least, alleviate, by every means in his 
 power, the miseries of their condition, 1s compelled, a- 
 gainst every feeling of bis heart, not only to hold them 
 bah servitude, but to keep them in absolute ignorance. 
 _ Although these laws are founded neither in humani- 
 ie nor Christianity, yet evidently in good policy ; 
 _ and they are necessarily connected with slavery, in the 
 extent to which it exists. The pbysical power of the 
 black population, in many districts of our country, 
 bears such an alarming proportion to that of the whites, 
 that nothing is wanting on their part but information, to 
 enable them to assert and maintain their rights. Only 
 let them know what they are, and of what they are ca- 
 pable, and in one month’s time the Tragedy of St. Do- 
 mingo would be re-acted on this side of the Gulf- 
 Stream. 
 
 By this time, my hearers, | presume you have be- 
 gun to inquire for the remedy of this “ legion of evils:” 
 and some of you may have drawn the conclusion, that no- 
 thing short of the immediate and absolute emancipation 
 of all the slaves of our country would satisfy my mind. 
 But this is not the fact. However highly my feelings 
 _ may be wrought on this subject, they have not got the 
 better of my understanding. Iam perfeetly satisfied 
 that it is one of those evils which cannot be removed 
 
 by a single stroke. The immediate emancipation of — 
 
 all the slaves, would doubtless be attended with conse- 
 quences, both upon themselves and the whites, vastly 
 
 more terrible and distressing, than all the horrours — 
 
 of slavery. And if St. Paul himself were now on 
 earth, and consulted on the subject, I doubt not he 
 
 would disapprove of such a measure. It has been al- | 
 ready shown that there are evils existing in the pagan — 
 world, which are directly opposed to Christianity ; and - 
 
aa 
 
 yet the genius of the gospel, upon its first introduction, 
 
 does not demand their immediate and entire abolition. 
 
 And although this country is not strictly speaking a 
 
 pagan country, yet the practice in question isa pagan 
 praetice ; and so effectually wrought into the habits 
 
 and feelings and institutions of our land, that its com- _ 
 plete extirpation must necessarily be the work of time. _ 
 —But here let it be particularly observed, that, in all — 
 
 such cases, we have no licence for the toleration of any 
 sinful custom, a single moment, without the adoption of 
 wise and prudent measures calculated ultimately to 
 abolish it. 
 
 This, it appears to me, is the cae course that can _ 
 be adopted in this country for the annihilation of slave-. : 
 ry ; and in this point of view, I introduce to your no- | 
 tice, the object and operations of the “ American Colo-" ‘i 
 
 nization Sociely.” 
 
 This association was formed, at the city of Wash 
 ington, in the beginning of the year 1817; and is pa- 
 tronized by many of the most distinguished officers of 
 the general government. The Chief Justice of the U- 
 
 nited States has been, from its first formation, the pre- | 
 sident of the Society. Its object is the transportation / 
 
 to Africa of the free people of colour, who are willing 
 to go, and the establishment of them in a colony, or co- 
 lonies, under all the advantages of civil and religious 
 privileges. ‘I‘hough its incipient measures were attend- 
 
 ed with some adverse providences, yet it has progressed 
 
 with as much success, and with as flattering prospects 
 as could possibly have been anticipated. A district of 
 fertile territory on the Western Coast of Africa has 
 been purchased of the natives, and a flourishing colony 
 planted there, under the direction and control of resi- 
 dent agents. Schools are organized, and the means of 
 grace established among them. The plan has been 
 eountenanced, though not explicitly approved, by the 
 government of our ‘country ; ; and it has been distinctly 
 recommended by the supreme judicatories of several 
 of the most numerous and respectable denominations 
 of Christians to the patronage of their members, espe- 
 cially on this interesting occasion. 
 
 As this Society, since its organization, has met 
 
» a aE wy 
 16 
 
 with considerable opposition, I feel it to be my duty to 
 present a few considerations in support of its claims.» 
 
 : If the slaves of our country are ever to enjoy all 
 the blessings of freedom, it must evidently be, ina state 
 ef total separation from the white population. Such 
 are the present feelings of our citizens, and so firmly 
 are they fixed in their breasts, that we need never ex- 
 pect to see the blacks amalgamated with the whites in 
 all the social connexions of life. In what district of 
 ‘our country will the latter become willing to connect 
 themselves with the former in the relations of the do- 
 mestick cirele? What legislature will be willing to ad- 
 mit the negro to equal privileges and powers with the 
 white. man, on the floor of the senate chamber? What 
 
 | University will hold forth the same advantages and ho- 
 nours to our own children and the descendants of Afri- 
 cans? But until all these things are realized, if ney 
 must live together in the same territory, the negro’s 
 mind will for ever be depressed to the dust with a sense 
 of conscious inferiority, and can never aspire to those 
 _ elevated distinctions of which it is capable. And this 
 isthe grand reason of all that present dulness and stu- 
 pidity, which are frequently adduced, as evidence that 
 negroes are a race of beings but. little elevated above 
 the brutal creation. If. therefore universal liberty 
 should be proclaimed through our land, and the Afri- 
 can race still be permitted to live in the midst of us, 
 disfranchised by our feelings and customs, if not by our 
 laws,* of the rights of freemen, we have no reason to 
 suppose that they would be essentially improved or 
 benefited by their freedom. Ht is therefore most. pal- 
 pably manifest, that if our slaves are ever to enjoy all - 
 the blessings of liberty, they must not only be libera-_ 
 ted from the chains of bondage, but at the same time, — 
 be placed in a situation in which they may aspire to all 
 the advantages and distinctions of civilized life. 
 
 of the rights of citizens. To the eternal disgrace of our own state, the despotick principles y: 
 of our Constitution have been multiplied instead of being diminished by the late Convention. — 
 
 -. By the old Constitution, only one class of citizens were divested of certain natural rights — 
 without having committed any crime to forfeit them. But by the present Constitution there _ 
 are two. And the reasons in both cases are very similar; inthe one, wearing a black coat, 
 and i in the other, a black skin. But the operation of these regulations i is much more oppres- ‘ 
 sive in the latter, than in the former case. The colour of a man’s dress depends on his own 
 will ; but, “ the Mthiopian cannor change his skin,” if he would. 
 
 l 
 . 
 A 
 § 
 In some of the states, even where slavery is abolished, the blacks are disfranchised ' 
 
17 
 This is the immediate object of the Colonization — 
 Society. Nor is it a mere mattér of doubtful experi: — 
 ment. A similar attempt has long since been made — 
 by the British nation, at Sierra Leone, and the result has — 
 fully proven to the world, that the minds of black men — 
 are as capable as the whites, when placed under equal © 
 circumstances of improvement. The same results are — 
 beginning to be realized in the infant colony planted by | 
 ‘our own countrymen at Cape Mesurado. And nothing 
 is wanting, but the patronage of our own citizens, to ex- 
 tend the same advantages to hundreds and thousands of 
 the degraded and oppressed sons of Afri ica, who are 
 still in our land. oe 
 
 In further confirmation of tha same views, it may 
 be observed, that in the slave-halding states there are — 
 many owners of slaves who would gladly emancipate — 
 them, but are expressly prohibited. [1 is impossible, 
 therefore, for them to proclaim “liberty to the captives,” 
 unless they can transport them without the limits of the 
 state. What then can such benevolent masters do with 
 their slaves? To turn them out into our western wilds, | 
 would be to expose them to certain staryation; or ifany 
 survived, they would be hunted down as wild beasts, by 
 a herd of brutal kidnappers, and carried back and sold 
 to less merciful masters than they served before. To 
 transport them toa foreign shore, if any individual were 
 able to incur the expense, without any concert of ac- 
 tion, would be to expose them to immediate death by 
 barbarous hands. [tis therefore impossible to afford 
 those who are disposed, an opportunity to emancipate 
 their slaves, without such a concert of action as shal! 
 protect the colony in its infantile state, till if shall ac- 
 quire strength and ability to defend itself. Such is the 
 ‘object of the Colonization Society. 
 
 Let not tbis effort of beneficence be paralized by 
 the plea, that it isan insignificant undertaking com- 
 pared with the magnitude of the evil intended to be re- 
 moved. .Did you never see a cloud, no bigger than a 
 man’s hand, at its first appearance, finally overspread © 
 the whole horizon and pour a copious blessing on the 
 thirsty earth? What plan of benevolence, in this fallen 
 world, was not small at its commencement? Even the. 
 
18 
 
 kingdom of God was once Hke a grain of mustard seed ; 
 but it has gradually increased and will continue to grow 
 till it fills the world. The Herculean labour of abol- 
 ishing the slave-trade, with all its bloody horrours, was 
 
 commenced, within our recollection, by a single indi- 
 vidual, in the legislature of a single nation, amidst the 
 clamours of a host of opposition; and yet that individ- 
 ual has lived, and we have lived, to see the horrid traf- 
 fick proscribed, not only by that nation, but by the ci-- 
 vilized world, and the practice declared piracy by sev- 
 
 eral nations. What influence then can a consideration 
 
 _ of the smaliness of the means, compared with the end, 
 have upon the benevolent mind in relation to this sub- 
 ject. [t may indeed stimulate to increased exertion, 
 but it surely can produce no discouraging effect. 
 
 - But even admitting that the efforts of this Society © 
 aoute never ultimately accomplish the object of its 
 aim, dhe entire abolition of American slavery, there is one 
 important result which it cannot fail to produce. Be- 
 sides securing the blessings of freedom and self-govern- 
 
 - ment to some of those who had previously groaned un- 
 der the chains of bitter servitude, it will afford a ready 
 
 — introduction of the blessings of civilization and the ZOs- 5 
 pel to the benighted tribes of Africa. It ts recorded’ 
 in God’s sure word of prophecy, that “ Ethiopia shall 
 stretch forth her hands to God,” while “the isles of the 
 sea shall wait for his law2” In view of the numerou 
 and simultaneous efforts of the Christian world to ex- 
 tend the blessings of the gospel to the ends of the earth, 
 we may justly consider the exertions of the American 
 Colonization Society as ultimately, though not directly, 
 aiming at the same object ; and we may with propriety 
 regard the Institution as one Important wheel in that 
 vast system of moral machinery which, under the bles- 
 sing of heaven, is destined to regenerate a fallen world. 
 
 In this view of the subject, T cannot but indulge in 
 what some may call the flights of fancy, but what [ fond- 
 ly persuade myself is the reality of vision. O Africa, 
 
 long oppressed and degraded Africa! Heaven has wit-_ 
 nessed thy bittersufferi ings, and the long black catalogue 
 of thy wrongs is laid up in store against the day of retri- 
 bution. But I see the Sun of righteousness arising upon 
 
thee, with healing in his wings. I see the shades of 
 inore than Egyptian darkness dispelled by his resplen- 
 dentrays. [see thy wounds, which have been bleeding 
 for ages, instantly staunched and healed. I see the fero- 
 city of the tyger exchanged for the meekness of the 
 lamb. I hear thy groves and plains resounding with 
 the shouts of joy and gladness, and the still sweeter 
 song of redeeming grace and love. I see “thy wilder- 
 nesses and solitary places made glad, and thy desert re- 
 joicing and blossoming as the rose. Thy parched ground 
 has become a pool, and thy thirsty land springs of water. 
 In the habitation of dragons, where each lay, there is 
 grass with reeds and rushes. Anda high way ts there, 
 and a way that is called the Way of Holiness : the un- 
 clean shall not pass over it: but it shall be for thee; 
 the way-faring men, though fools, shall not err therein. 
 No lion shall be there, nor any ravenous beast shall go 
 up thereon, it shall not be found there; but the redeem- 
 ed shall walk there. And the ransomed of the Lord 
 shall return and come.to Zion with songs and everlast- 
 ing joy upon their heads: they shall obtain joy, and 
 gladness ; ; and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.” I- 
 saiah-xxxv. 1—10. These blessed results I see effect- 
 ed by the instrumentality of America, the author of all 
 thy wrongs. And though thy sweat and tears and blood 
 have, for ages, been crying to heaven from the ground, 
 for vengeance on her devoted head; yet now I hear thy 
 voice, in the true spirit of gospel forgiveness, intreating 
 pardon for thy guilty murderers. ‘O remember not a- 
 gainst them their former iniquities.” I see a tide of pi- 
 ous joy and gratitude, flowing from thy streaming eyes, 
 sufficient, if aught but a Saviour’s blood were sufficient, 
 to wash away their crimson stains. O happy, happy 
 Jand, once wretched and forlorn! Thy mother’s chil- 
 dren shall no longer be angry with thee, because thou 
 art black, because the sun bath looked upon thee—they 
 shall no longer make thee keeper of their vineyards, 
 while thine own vineyard lies waste. Thy complexion 
 js indeed black, but comely ; and thy soul has been 
 washed in the fountain of redeeming grace, as white 
 and as pure as the redeemed of any other clime ; and’ 
 
 thou canst now chaunt as high a note of praise to the 
 eae “ 
 
30 
 
 God of thy salvation; and though here thou hast been 
 excluded from the rights of freemen, and the society of 
 white men, yet in heaven thou shalt mingle, without 
 discrimination, among the blood-bought throng, and 
 there occupy as high a throne, and wear as bright a 
 crown, | 
 
 In urging the claims of this subject, it is necessa- 
 ry that I should obviate an objection which is frequent- 
 ly made in this section of the country. It is said that 
 «this is a matter in which we have no concern at all—. 
 ihat it belongs exclusively to the southern states.” If 
 this plea were founded in fact, are we willing to admit, 
 that the citizens of the northern states are so selfish, 
 that they have no sympathy for the sufferings of hu-. 
 manity, if they are only out of sight? But I am bold 
 to assert that this objection is utterly groundless; and 
 that there is not asingle native or naturalized citi- 
 zen in the United States but is verily guilty in this 
 matter. It is a well known fact, that in every original 
 state in the union, excepting one, slavery has been sane- 
 tioned; and that it still exists, to a greater or less ex- 
 tent, in all the states and territories with the exception 
 of five. Now it is useless for a man to plead nol guilty 
 io the charge of murder, because he has taken the-life 
 of only one individual, while others may have slain their 
 thousands. It is the princeple we are concerned with, 
 and the principle of slavery has been as firmly sanction-.. 
 ed in most of the northern states, as in any part of the 
 union; though our citizens have never found it for their 
 ‘interest to carry it as far. But for this single cireum- 
 stance, | presume every farm in this region ‘would now 
 be cultivated by the labour, and watered by the sweat 
 of negroes. With what an ill grace then can any, who — 
 have implicitly or explicitly sworn allegiance to the in- 
 stitutions of their respective states and the general goy- 
 ernment, especially those'who have been, or still are — 
 the owners of human flesh and blood, hold up their 
 heads and say, “ We are pure from the blood of Afri- 
 al | 
 —* . But my perils L have not yet Predeaied this sub-- — 
 ject in the light of its most appalling darkness; nor ap- 
 plied the sharpest point of its universal bearing. Phe - 
 
union of these Siates was originally purchased at the price re 
 of the blood and groans of Africa; and all our citigens — 
 from the north and the south, from the east andthe 
 west, gave their consent to the barsain. “One section of — 
 ‘the constitution of the United States was written, like 
 the laws of Draco, in lines of blood; the blood of Af — 
 ricans.* By it, all the borrours of the slave trade, th 
 whole root and stock and branch of which. slavery. is 
 the bitter fruit, were firmly sanctioned for thirty te- 
 dious years. During this gloomy period, unde 1 
 sanction of the charter of freemen, and of freemen t 
 who, in the days of their emancipation from the chains 
 of despotism, appealed to heaven for the sincerity o 
 their intentions, while they declared to the world “that 
 all men are created equal, and endowed by their Crea- 
 tor with an unalienable right ito life, liberty and the pur , 
 suit of happiness ;” under the sanction of such a ehar- 
 ter, adopted by such men, and under such circumstan- — 
 ces, thousands and tens of thousands of harmless Afri- 
 cans, who were born free as the air of heaven, or. the 
 streams of the fountain, were forcibly dragged fro n 
 {heir native shores, bound with massy chains, crowded oe 
 into the filthy hold of a floating dungeon, without 7 ow- 
 er to rise or room to stand ; and when multitudes had | 
 been swept off by wasting pestilence, and found a wa- + 
 tery g grave, the wretched remnant, emaciated with fa- 
 mine maid worn down with disease, were sold under the 
 hammer into perpetual bondage. Without the sanction & 
 of all these horrours, the union of. these states would 
 never have been effected. And in consenting to this 
 measure, the northern states became volt untarily parta- 
 kers with those of the south, in all the guilt of the bar- « 
 barous slave-trade and all its horrid consequences. Pst ae 
 
 -O my country! what atonement canst thou mak “igs , 
 for such bloody crimes? What fountain, but ibat whic : 
 flows from Calvary, can wash aw ay iby crimson sti ins 
 In vain wouldst thou offer“ many thousands 6f rams, 
 ten thousands of rivers of oil. The blood of thy firs 
 born would not expiate thy transgression, nor the fr uit 
 of thy body, the sin of thy soul.” Mic. A ee Thoxgtr 
 thou wash thee with nitre, and take thee much S08 < ; 
 
 ea wig wet 
 
 SER A, y Cee ay - eae 
 
22 
 
 thine iniquity is marked before me, saith the Lord 
 God.” Jer. 11. 22. I beseech thee, do not aggravate 
 thy guilt, and provoke anew the wrath of heaven, by 
 justifying thy deeds or pleading innocent of the charge. 
 “ For thy sin is written with a pen of iron, and with the 
 point of a diamond; it is graven on the table of thy 
 heart, and” if not “upon the horns of thy altars,” it is 
 inscribed in the archives of thy cabinet, and whilst thy 
 children shall read the legacies of their fathers they 
 shall remember and bear witness of thy crimes, to the 
 latest posterity. Fly, O fly, in the first place, to the 
 fountain of a Saviour’s bleeding veins, and there be 
 _ washed from all thy pollution: and then, as a testimo- 
 ny of thy gratitude, that much, very much is forgiven 
 iy summon all thy energies to’ repair the injuries 
 thou hast done. “ Proclaim liberty to thy captives; 
 say. to the prisoners, go forth; and to them that are in 
 ‘darkness, show yourselves.” Isa. xlix.9. Restore them 
 to “the land of their fathers’ sepulchres,” and let them 
 once more peacefully enjoy the inheritance of their 
 ancestors. Wherever they may have been born, Afri- 
 ca is their home. ‘Though transported to the most dis- 
 tant countries, and situated in the most temperate re- 
 gions of the globe, and transmitted through a series of 
 generations, they still retain in the constitution of their 
 _ frames, and on the whole surface of their bodies, the ti- 
 _ tle of heaven to those torrid climes. ‘The God of na- 
 ture has evidently determined, that they shall never be 
 divested of their original inheritance. Though “the 
 descendants of Cush can never change their skin,” yet 
 _ the time will come when their souls shall be made white 
 _ in the blood of the Lamb; and then, in their own land, 
 _ which God allotted to their progenitor, they shall streteln 
 _ forth their hands to God, and under their own vine and 
 fig-tree enjoy the fruit of their labours, without any to 
 molest or make them afraid. 
 _ Where is one consideration more, by which I would 
 oye the claims of this subject. If the people of the 
 ; United States cannot be extensively aroused to under- 
 take the redress of African wrongs, from motives ol 
 “humanity, and a sense of duty, the apprehension of pel 
 sonal danger may with propriety be awakened in thei 
 
($5, x ort 
 23 be 
 
 minds. God deals with nations, in this world, on a aa 
 ferent principle from what he deals with individuals.— 
 The wicked man is often permitted to prosper in Hie 
 sins, and to die without pain; because the righteous re- 
 tributions of justice await him in the eternal world.— 
 But wicked nations exist, in their national capacity, © 
 only in this life. Therefore, if national sins are ever 
 visited with the indignation of heaven, it must be in the | 
 present world. Hence, we may draw the conclusion, _ 
 that if American slavery is offensive to God, the judg-— a 
 ments of heaven are now impending over this guilty 1 na- 
 tion. And in what form they will descend, we need not 
 the pp of ee. to prognosticate. In several oe 
 
 S49 
 
 iduch 3 in their favour, that, in the course ofa few years, 
 
 they will be far the most numerous. During heer 
 od of ten years intervening between the last United 
 States’ census and the preceding, the following was the 
 
 rallo of increase 1n several states: soale 
 In Kentucky, the blacks increased 57 per cent, whites only 37 per cent. a aoe 
 Tennessee, n - - 80 - 57 | baer 
 Georgia, “ - 40k: & ~ 30 
 North-Carolina, - 22 - = 11 
 South-Carolina, - 26 - > 
 
 And in. Louisiana as early as 1810 there were 5 blacks to every four white men. 
 
 It is obvious, that, at this rate, in the course of a few years, those 
 districts of our country will be covered with a black population ; in 
 comparison with which, the whites will appear as grasshoppers before 
 them. Now I ask, in such a state of things, what can hinder the blacks . 
 from arising, and after avenging all their wrongs, by slaying their oppo- | Gh 
 sers, taking possession of those very lands as the reward of their own 
 and their fathers’ labours? Do you say, their minds are incapable of |. 
 such an enterprize ? Look at St. Domingo; what has been effected | 
 there by the African race, in as ignorant and degraded a state as is any 
 where. witnessed in our own country! And what will our blacks nee 
 but a few resolute spirits to concentrate their efforts and direct th as 
 energies? And if the genius of negroes is so far debased in our own 
 country, that nature cannot produce them here, they can easily e fur- | 
 nished from the kingdom of Hayti. ‘Though that little empire isnew _ 
 at peace with us and the world, yet black men have always a peculiar 
 sympathy for their own colour. Besides this, many of our nai ae 
 blacks have already gone, and many more will still go to. that island, to 
 enjoy all the blessings of liberty, civilization and science; leaving many 
 of their brothers and children and connexions in bondage among us.—_ 
 And do you think that a black man’s memory is so treacherous,.or. his — 
 heart so callous, that he can forget, or not feel for the wrongs of his — 
 own flesh and blood? Depend upon it, my hearers, on the sho re of that # 
 
sea-beaten isle, many a champion will stand, and while he looks to the 
 
 “north and rejoices in the privileges which he is permitted to enjoy, he 
 
 _will long to impart them to those he has left behind ; and if nothing is 
 
 done, on your part, to redress the wrongs of Africa, before you are a- 
 ware, the alarm of war, the din of arms, and the rage of conflagration 
 will have Jaid in ruins the fairest portions of our land.* 
 
 Do [ hear the inhabitants of the north say, ‘‘ If such events should 
 be realized, the desolation will not come nigh us; and we will not in- 
 terfere to avenge the slaughter of slave-holders!’’ And are you then 
 prepared to perjure yourselves ? You have sworn to maintain the union 
 
 _of these states, at the price of your treasures and your lives ; and are 
 
 “yeu now meditating treason and rebellion in your hearts? You have 
 become a party to the guilt or slavery, and will you desert your friends 
 
 “4vhen the contract on the part of heaven is to be fulfilled ? 
 
 But if you are verily guilty in this matter, do not imagine that you 
 
 can evade the punishment of such a crime. It is the righteous God of 
 of battle may not be laid at your doors ; though the fiercest wrath may 
 be poured out upon those portions of our country where slavery has 
 existed in its most extensive and cruel forms; yet the hand of justice 
 will, in some way or other, mete out to every district the full tale of its 
 desert. Let us hear no more then of local jealousies and feelings, but 
 
 -as the sin has involved us in a common guilt, let us aim at a common 
 
 _and timely expiation. The path of present duty lies open before us, and 
 
 it is only by diligent and faithful perseverance therein, that we can ex: 
 pect to escape the indignation of heaven. | 
 
 This is a concern in which every citizen of the country is interest- 
 
 _ ed; whether he is now or ever has been aslave-holder or not: and 
 there is something for every one todo. The sympathies of every heart 
 must be aroused ; the patronage of every purse must be secured in fa- 
 vour of these incipient measures to remedy the evil ; publick attention 
 must not only be aroused by an occasional effusion, but be kept awake 
 ly frequent communications ; the general government must be convin- 
 
 _ ced that it is not enough to countenance, they must approve and aid this 
 
 - humane undertaking—that the fountain of guilt springs from the founda- 
 
 _ tion of our Capitol, and that the principal remedy must be applied there ; 
 
 our state legislatures must be made to feel that they also have imbrued 
 
 _ their hands in African blood, and that not a moment is to be lost in wash- 
 ing away the stain. Every motive that can interest the philanthropist, 
 thejpatriot, the Christian and the Christian Missionary is presented in 
 
 this sabject, afd he that can be insensible of its influence is unworthy 
 to occupy a place in human society, unless in the capacity of “‘a servant ~ 
 
 of servants.” e 3 
 . May the voice of timely warning arouse us, before the sword of — 
 sleepless justice smite our souls. | 
 
  . _*If any are disposed to style this mere conjecture, be it so: but it is no more than 
 what has already occurred, and may oceur again. “The revolution in St. Domingo origina- 
 
 . ted in France, and was planned by a Society called Amis de Noirs, or Friends of the Blacks, — 
 organized in Paris for the express purpose of aiding the begroes in recovering their liberty ; 
 
 . of which Ia Fayette and other distinguished’ citizens were the patrons. And the first sable f 
 vidual that drew his sword, was a mulatto who had been educated in Paris, and sent to his 
 _ native isle Co deliver bis coloured brethren from bondage. : te 
 v Dy aan ? wa ae . 
 
 oe 
 
 if 
 
THE SPEECH 
 
 OF 
 
 THE EARL OF MULGRAVE, 
 
 Ger OC. Ye. 
 
 DELIVERED AT FREEMASONS’ HALL, 
 
 ON FRIDAY, THE ist OF AUGUST, 1834. 
 
 AT A~PUBLIC DINNER OF THE ANTI-SLAVERY 
 SOCIETY IN CELEBRATION OF THE DAY. 
 
 LONDON: 
 HATCHARD AND SON, 187, PICCADILLY. 
 
 eee 
 
 1834. 
 
LONDON: 
 PRINTED BY SAMUEL BAGSTER, JUN+, 
 14, Bartholomew Close. 
 
Tue following powerful and most impressive address was de- 
 livered by Lord Mulgrave, at the dinner at Freemasons’ Hall, on 
 the Ist of August, 1834, in commemoration of the Abolition of 
 Colonial Slavery, on which occasion his Lordship presided. It is 
 published by the British and Foreign Society for the Abolition of 
 Slavery. The Committee of that Society requested his Lordship’s 
 permission to publish it, from a persuasion that it will not only be 
 very satisfactory to the Anti-Slavery public to receive this high 
 testimony to the truth and justice of that great cause, which by 
 God’s assistance their energy carried, but most useful in the pro- 
 secution of the same important work in other countries, by bring- 
 ing conviction home to the minds of all reflecting men, that slavery 
 is a state incapable of amelioration, and most prejudicial even to 
 the temporal interests of every state where it obtains. 
 
 To this request his lordship kindly acceded in the following 
 terms :— 
 
 Dear Sir, 
 
 It is impossible for me to refuse to comply with your request, when you 
 state your belief and that of the Society, that by acceding to it, [ may even 
 now still further extend my career of usefulness in the good cause. 
 
 I the more readily consent, because I am not conscious that in what I 
 then stated, there was one word calculated to hurt the feelings of any 
 individual, or indeed of any setof men. It was certainly, on every account, 
 my desire on that occasion to avoid doing so. I should indeed have been 
 an unworthy witness if I could have been lukewarm in the expression of my 
 abhorrence of the system of slavery, and of my conviction of its inevitable 
 evils. But not only do I retain a grateful recollection of the justice done to 
 my motives at the time of my departure from Jamaica, by most of those to 
 whom my proceedings had necessarily been unpalatable, but I also gladly 
 availed myself of this public occasion to acknowledge the invaluable assist- 
 ance I had derived from some persons there whom I highly esteem ; and I 
 could not impress upon those who heard me, more strongly than I feel it, 
 the importance that for the future we should take that course most likely to 
 ensure the cordial co-operation of all classes, on the spot, in promoting the 
 success of the great measure. 
 
 Tam, dear Sir, yours very faithfully, 
 Clarendon Hotel, August 2nd. _ Muterave. 
 
 To George Stephen, Esq. 
 Chairman of the British and Foreign Society for the Abolition of Slavery. 
 
4 
 
 It never can be forgotten, that of all the difficulties with which 
 the abolitionists had to contend, their greatest was the seeming in- 
 credibility of their case. ‘‘ You prove too much,” was the constant 
 answer of every superficial disputant: a predisposition to distrust 
 was thus created by the very magnitude of the atrocities that were 
 quoted to excite feelings of sympathy and obtain co-operation. 
 Their colonial opponents took advantage of this incredulity, in two 
 ways. 
 
 They denied in toto the crimes that were charged upon them, 
 and they affected a cheerful disposition to concede the necessity 
 of removing all minor grievances. By this ingenious system 
 of tactics they worked powerfully upon that love of moderation 
 and fair play for which our countrymen are proverbial; they 
 contrived to represent themselves as men who were unfairly treated 
 and cruelly traduced ; hence many “ took their part,” and repro- 
 bated what they were pleased to term ‘‘the pious hypocrisy” or 
 ‘<intemperate zeal” of their plain-speaking antagonists. 
 
 So successful were these West Indian manceuvres, that they too 
 often entangled some of the sincerest abolitionists in a timorous 
 and over-cautious policy : it was at one time a favourite position, 
 that general principles of policy and humanity were the only 
 weapons which could be conveniently used; and hence all political 
 opponents, and all who considered that the rights of property, 
 however equivocal its character, were to be preferred to the claims 
 of humanity, ranged themselves, as of course, on the colonial side. 
 
 It was not until the appointment of the Lords’ Committee that 
 the truth began to discover itself to the country : it then gradually 
 came out that as this system of slavery was one of unqualified 
 horror and oppression, so the representations by which it was upheld, 
 were a tissue of lies, unscrupulously sustained by perjury ; it was 
 not by anti-colonial evidence that this was made apparent—it was 
 established on the spontaneous, well-arranged, and preconcerted 
 testimony of the West Indians themselves: they volunteered ex- 
 amination, they courted inquiry, and they audaciously appealed 
 to the country at large to try the issue; out of their own mouths 
 they were condemned as lying prophets. 
 
 But still it is long before the morning mist leaves the horizon 
 clear; comparatively but a few gave themselves the trouble of 
 
5 
 
 analyzing the colonial evidence, and stubborn even to the last, the 
 colonial body reiterated their self-convicted falsehoods, upon the 
 hustings and in parliament; it may be doubted, even after the 
 Abolition Bill had passed the legislature, whether the country was 
 entirely satisfied of the honesty and truth of the abolition party. 
 Thanks to the noble Lord, the author of the following speech, that 
 point is set at rest for ever. Justice has been eventually, if not 
 immediately done, by the legislature to the slave, and now his 
 Lordship has secured equal justice to his advocate. 
 
 It is not, however, for the sake of exultation that it is felt to be 
 right to give these pages to the world, nor merely to do grateful 
 justice to the eloquence with which Lord Mulgrave has vindicated 
 the anti-slavery character ;—we are entitled to infer from. our 
 experience, that recourse will be had elsewhere to the same in- 
 sidious means which so long retarded success with ourselves; the 
 abolitionists in all countries will be stigmatized and belied by the 
 slave-holder; facts will be distorted, cruelties will be suppressed, and 
 a disposition to ameliorate will be affected, whenever and wherever the 
 emancipation of the slave becomes a question of popular discussion. 
 In this view his Lordship’s testimony is more valuable than if it had 
 been given while the controversy was pending: it is a confirmation 
 of anti-slavery truth, necessarily divested of all interested or party 
 ‘character. A Cabinet Minister, not less respected for his private 
 than his public worth, gifted with no ordinary portion of discern- 
 ment, and not committed at any time by previous pledges or 
 avowed prejudices, himself an eye-witness of the system, under 
 circumstances the most favourable for observation, and bearing the 
 strongest testimony of the equity, liberality, and honour, of his 
 colonial administration, in returning from it with the love and 
 respect of all classes subject to his government, presents him- 
 self on the first convenient occasion to the British public, as a 
 ‘witness to the truth, that slavery admits of no amelioration, and 
 must be absolutely and entirely abolished by all who wish well to 
 their country and themselves ; that it may be safely abolished with- 
 out hazarding property or endangering life; that the slaves them- 
 selves, even in their degraded condition, and before the bonds are 
 loosened from their limbs, are capable of appreciating as the most 
 
6 
 
 ‘valued fruits of liberty, respect to their females and instruction to 
 their offspring ! 
 
 We do indeed gratefully and rédpesttalle thank his Lordship for 
 the justice which, as abolitionists, he has done ourselves ; but yet 
 more grateful do we feel for the manliness and the liberality with 
 which he has done justice to the Negro character, and for the 
 powerful assistance which he has thereby given to the cause of 
 emancipation throughout the world. 
 
 After the usual toasts had been given, Mr. Buxton requested 
 his Lordship to communicate to the company the results of his 
 colonial experience on the question of emancipation, when he 
 spoke as follows, under frequent interruptions of acclamatory 
 applause, which for more convenient reading we have omitted. 
 
 Havine been called upon by my honourable friend near 
 me to detail to you any facts bearing upon the success of the 
 great measure we are this day met to celebrate, which may 
 have come under my observation during my residence in 
 Jamaica, I must at once state, that if I am in any respect an 
 unwilling witness, it is only that | am at this moment thus 
 obliged to interrupt the pleasure which you must always 
 derive from listening to my honourable friend; and must thus, 
 at least for a short time, postpone that enthusiasm with which 
 I am sure you will all receive the toast which he has an- 
 nounced it to be his intention to propose. 
 
 ’ Before, however, I proceed to endeavour, as shortly as 
 possible, to execute the task my honourable friend has im- 
 posed upon me, I think that in the first place, considering 
 the intense interest I have always felt in this question, 
 and the part I was allotted to bear in all its earlier stages, 
 some explanation is necessary why I am here to-day. 
 Being in England, it is indeed natural that I should be most 
 anxious to pass this day in the midst of those with whose 
 joyful feelings I can most cordially sympathize, as to that 
 glorious event which must ever endear it to our recollections ; 
 but, having in the most important of our colonies conducted, 
 
7 
 
 up to a certain period, all the preliminary measures, and 
 ensured their adoption, why did I not prefer passing this day 
 amongst those glad and grateful countenances which now 
 are beaming for the first time with the new light and glorious 
 life of freedom, only reflected here in the borrowed rays of 
 sympathetic benevolence? But the fact was that the choice 
 was not in my own power. I had no alternative. I do not mean 
 that the government wished my return—quite the contrary ; 
 but that labour and anxiety in that enervating climate, had 
 reduced me to such a state of broken health as imposed upon 
 my medical attendants the responsibility of urging my imme 
 diate departure, and convinced me of the necessity of yielding 
 to their advice. I do not say, considering the personal sacri- 
 fices of every kind which a residence there entails, that I would 
 even otherwise willingly have remained much longer, after 
 having effected the great object which had induced me to 
 undertake the government; but I would certainly at least 
 have staid till this great epoch had passed. Thankful as I 
 am to Providence that my health is now sufficiently restored, 
 to enable me to share in your festivities and to participate in 
 your feelings, I feel that when you are met here, as free-born 
 Englishmen, to celebrate one of the proudest days in the 
 annals of your country, that you have a right, considering 
 how peculiarly situated I have been, to expect something from 
 me beyond the usual set phrases of an after dinner address. 
 My honourable friend has called upon me as a witness of 
 what I saw in Jamaica; not that Iam here to state any act 
 of my own as governor, whilst I remained in that island, but 
 as a witness of important events which were passing there— 
 as a witness also of the feeling which I saw then exhibited by 
 the black and white population, | may be permitted to give 
 my testimony. I think also you would like to know what my 
 opinion is with regard to the great experiment which is now 
 for the first time about to be tried in the West Indies, and 
 more particularly with reference to that important portion of 
 our colonial possessions there, over which I was appointed to 
 
8 
 
 preside, and as to the moral and political situation of which I 
 may fairly be presumed to be in some degree acquainted. As I 
 before said, there are many circumstances which I witnessed 
 in Jamaica on which it is not my intention to dwell, because 
 I consider it would be unwise at the present moment to revive 
 topics of an unpleasant or exciting nature. I must, however, 
 be permitted to observe, that notwithstanding all that has 
 been said by the supporters of slavery, as to the improved 
 condition of the slaves under what was called the ameliorated 
 system, | am bound to declare that up to the passing of the 
 Bill the condition of slavery was revolting to the sight, and 
 harrowing to the feelings, tending alike to corrupt the 
 nature of the owner, and degrade the character of his 
 human chattels; and such, in spite of humane regulations 
 on the part of many influential individuals, were the abuses 
 practised, that any partial enactment which the legislature 
 of this country might have devised, would have been wholly 
 inadequate to eradicate the evils arising inevitably from 
 the very nature of the system. Take this then as the deli- 
 berately formed, but the uncompromising opinion, of one 
 who will at least claim for himself the character of a patient 
 inquirer, an anxious observer, an impartial eye-witness, that 
 slavery is incapable of any really beneficial amelioration short 
 of utter extinction. I will say further, that if by any unfor- 
 tunate circumstances, the great and comprehensive measure 
 which the Parliament in their wisdom and their justice have 
 passed, had been defeated or even deferred, confusion and ruin 
 would have ensued in the colonies. Indeed I feel morally 
 assured, that the state of things which I witnessed on my 
 arrival in Jamaica, two years ago, could not have continued 
 without some violent commotion, which recent events have 
 happily averted. 
 
 But before I proceed to allude to what was the condition of 
 that fine island but two years ago—(which I shall doas lightly 
 as possible, and merely to derive additional hope from that 
 alteration which has since taken place, almost as much, I 
 
9 
 
 - think, in the feelings of the Whites as in the condition of the. 
 Blacks)—I would in the first place state to you how the 
 announcement of the projected change was received by the 
 Negroes whom I addressed on the subject, on various occa- 
 sions, during a tour undertaken for that purpose seven months 
 since. My object was, of course, to explain to them—who 
 had been so often deceived as to make suspicion almost an 
 invariable characteristic amongst them—the nature and extent 
 of the new law. It was my principal endeavour to make its 
 provisions as intelligible as I could to their capacities, by 
 explaming to them, first, when their freedom would com- 
 mence—a point on which the greatest anxiety was manifested 
 —and then pointing out to them the various advantages they 
 would enjoy under the new state of things. During three 
 weeks occupied in this way, I every day addressed different 
 bodies, varying in number, but certainly amounting in all to 
 considerably above fifty thousand of the adult population of the 
 island ; and never shall I forget the feelings J experienced in 
 witnessing the deep and breathless attention with which the 
 dark and motionless mass of human beings by which I was 
 surrounded, stood stretching forward to catch every word that 
 fell from my lips—till, as I proceeded in my statement, their 
 countenances brightened up, as their hopes of liberty grew 
 stronger; at length the whole mass, as one body, was swayed 
 about with pleasurable emotion, and their joy burst forth in 
 one universal smile. 
 
 I think it but justice to them to detail the particular por- 
 tions of my explanation which always gave the greatest 
 satisfaction; as I think from this you will derive additional 
 proof of the state of intelligence at which the Negroes have 
 arrived, and that they are no longer to be considered as mere 
 beasts of burden. There were these circumstances in the 
 statement I made to them which seemed to excite the greatest 
 interest. The first was when I announced to them the utter 
 and immediate extinction of the power of corporal punishment 
 of women. This was always hailed with lively expressions of 
 
10 
 
 gratitude from all my auditors of both sexes. The next was, 
 that though they themselves were still for a certain term to be 
 subject to limited restraint, their young children were at 
 once absolutely free. This I am the more glad to explain, as 
 there had previously been some misapprehension of its effect 
 in England. But not only did they rejoice at this, but were 
 particularly pleased with the reason I gave for it, that their 
 offspring would be thereby fitted by early education for their 
 new state of freedom. The third point to which I would allude 
 was the intelligent manner in which they comprehended, and 
 the gratitude with which they received the promise, that 
 though a certain number of hours were still given to the 
 masters, in return for their houses and grounds, which was 
 the footing on which I found it best to put it, still they 
 might, by working for wages at other times, themselves 
 advance the period of their perfect freedom. 
 
 Now as to the general state of feeling in the colony when I 
 left it, I have the pleasure to state, that during the last six or 
 seven months of my stay there, public feeling had undergone 
 a considerable change for the better; and in my endeavours 
 to promote a good understanding between all parties, in order 
 to prepare them for the great crisis about to take place, I 
 received the most prompt, cordial, and valuable support, from 
 those amongst the most influential people there, who might 
 have been supposed to be unfriendly to any alteration in the 
 system of slave government acted upon in the West India 
 islands. This I shall be always not only ready, but anxious 
 to acknowledge. 
 
 With a view not only to understand the value of the 
 present state of things there, but to shew at the same time 
 how impossible it was that they should have. remained as they 
 were-—that if they had not improved, they must have become 
 so much the worse as to lead to a complete disorganization of 
 society—I must now allude, though but slightly, to what was 
 the state of things but two short years since—that is, when I 
 first landed in Jamaica, now four days more than two years 
 
ll 
 
 ago. ‘To give you some idea of what but recently had been the 
 condition of the island,—in my first tour, in passing through 
 some of those solitary forests that crown the centre of the island, 
 the only marks of human occupation were the exposed and 
 bleaching bones of the misguided Negroes, executed after the 
 rebellion ; whilst the thriving sea-ports were disfigured with the 
 mouldering remains of the violated chapels ; sad, but too con- 
 vincing proofs of impotent desperation, leading to the gibbet, 
 on the one side—of fear-inspired frenzy, provoking to sacri- 
 lege, on the other. Such was the relative position of these 
 two classes at that time. I could give a less serious, but a 
 singular proof of how little men’s minds were then prepared 
 for the change which has since happened ; and I am the rather 
 mclined to do so, as it is creditable to the discernment of my 
 noble predecessor. Lord Belmore had always been popular 
 amongst the colonists, not only for his amiable disposition 
 and the easy nature of his government, but from an impression 
 that he entertained, what was then and there considered to 
 be a just view of the Slavery question; when, therefore, he 
 was about to quit the island, a complimentary address was 
 voted to him. In his reply thereto he introduced a sen- 
 tence, in which I need not say that I cordially concur. His 
 Lordship told them, “ that the resources of that island. would 
 never be developed till slavery was abolished.” I say I need 
 not repeat that I cordially concur in every word of this,—that 
 it would at any time, and by almost any society, within these 
 walls, have been hailed with responsive feelings. But how 
 was it then and there received? In a moment disappeared all 
 the well-earned popularity of the noble Earl; and upon my 
 arrival nothing was talked of but this, his, as they thought, 
 strange and inconsistent sentiment. 
 
 My Hon. Friend near me (Mr. Buxton) will recollect that in 
 almost the only interview I had with him before my departure, 
 which was of course merely of a private and friendly nature, the 
 only wish I expressed was, that I might not be hurried into action 
 
12 
 
 upon my first arrival there—that those who thought with him 
 - upon this subject, might not by any immediate demonstration of 
 public feeling, have forced me to take any decided step before 
 { had time to inform myself of the real state of things there. 
 He was pleased to assure me in reply that he hoped and be- 
 lieved that all who thought with him, would be disposed to 
 place every confidence in me—and I have now to express my 
 eratitude for the fulfilment of that expectation during the 
 whole of the time of my government. Circumstances, how- 
 ever, over which no one on this side of the water had any 
 control, forced me into action very soon after my arrival. It 
 was not six weeks after I had landed in Jamaica, that I was 
 obliged to hasten across the country to check an attempt, 
 which the Custos of the parish announced to me as imminent 
 on the part of the militia, to force the jail on the day of their 
 muster, and to rescue some Colonial Unionists, who refusing to 
 give bail, under the expectation of a rescue, were confined upon 
 a charge of pulling down a house in which a Baptist minister 
 was sheltered. I wish not more particularly to allude either 
 to this or to the other proceedings which followed in the 
 early part of the year 1833, when open resistance to the 
 King’s proclamation in favour of religious toleration, was 
 attempted to be organized in the shape of armed associations 
 of militia, regularly enrolled as such, by their officers. If 
 I do not enter into any details on this subject, it is not that 
 I the least regret the strong measures I felt myself obliged 
 to take, but I do not wish to revive the recollection of 
 transactions, of which I believe many of the other actors in them ° 
 now sincerely repent. I therefore at once refer with pleasure 
 to the altered state of things which I have lately left. Not 
 only was the great measure passed by the local legislature in 
 the shape desired by the government, and a better under- 
 standing between all classes happily established, but upon my 
 quitting Jamaica, I received addresses from almost every parish 
 in the island, thanking me for the general course of my adminis- 
 
13 
 
 tration, and for the manner in which, with due regard for 
 their safety, I had carried through that very question, the mere 
 mention of the possibility of which, had been so detrimental 
 to my predecessor’s deserved popularity. 
 
 One circumstance I cannot help alluding to more distinctly : 
 this is the possession on my part of a document for which | 
 shall always be grateful to Providence. It isthe united address 
 of the missionaries of every denomination there—the Church 
 missionaries—the Scotch—the Baptist—and the Moravians: 
 the Wesleyans would have joined these, but they had already 
 presented a separate address in the same spirit ; and all these 
 combined to thank me, not for intentions, for these they never 
 doubted, but for having actually succeeded in restoring to them 
 religious toleration. Toone who hasall his political life, been 
 a consistent, if not an important advocate of civil and religious 
 liberty, there is ndeed, during the two years passed in Jamaica, 
 special reason to be grateful for the Divine aid which crowned 
 with suecess his humble endeavours in so good a cause. 
 
 Now I come to another part of the subject, on which it is 
 most desirable to explain myself; because even the most 
 sanguime cannot be entirely without apprehension, that by 
 some means or another, for which perhaps, blame may attach 
 to no one, there is a possibility of disappomtment in the 
 perfect success of so momentous and novel an experiment. It 
 is therefore important that it should be known as the opinion 
 of an eye-witness, that it was impossible the old system either 
 could or ought to have lasted. As I said before, but cannot 
 repeat more emphatically than I think it, the state of slavery 
 was incapable of improvement. It admitted of no remedy 
 short of extinction. In spite of humane intentions—of pe- 
 riodical interference on the part of the superior authorities, I 
 tell not you only, but I told the Legislature of Jamaica, as 
 the result of my own experience, that the inseparable conco- 
 mitant of slavery was flagrant abuse of power. No one is 
 better testimony on such a subject than an esteemed friend 
 of mine, Lord Seaford, one of the most amiable of men, and 
 
i4 
 
 a great proprietor in Jamaica. He had been to visit his 
 property between twenty and thirty years ago; he returned 
 at the same time I did; and I heard him say publicly in 
 society there, that he did not find in the interval that there 
 had been that improvement in the condition of the Negro 
 which he had been led to expect. And why was this his 
 opinion? he, as well as myself, was ready to do justice to 
 the efforts of many men whom we valued, in mitigation of its 
 evils, but the system was incapable of improvement ; and what 
 is more, while it lasted as the law of the land, no man, be he 
 whom he might, could effectually control its abuses. I dare 
 say many here think that the execution of my task carried its 
 own reward. It sounds well to be appointed the avenger of un- 
 deserved wrong, the guardian of unprotected innocence; but no 
 such proud and gracious office was mine. I was frequently 
 made to feel the helplessness of my position. During the whole 
 of my residence in Jamaica, as is known to my young friend 
 opposite (Mr. Sheridan), who was with me on almost every 
 occasion, I never refused to hear any complaint myself, that 
 any Negro wished to make direct to me,—a privilege of which 
 they largely availed themselves. I always heard their story 
 to the end. I have listened to a tale of truth from their lips ; 
 I have seen the hope of redress beaming on their brow, and I 
 have felt a painful conviction of what must be my answer, and 
 the unexpected despondency it must cause. They saw me to 
 be active, they felt me to be kind, they believed me to be 
 almost omnipotent. Alas! they knew me not to be utterly 
 powerless. However apparently cruel must have been the 
 infliction, I was obliged to ask the fated question, Could 
 they say that the legal number of thirty-nine lashes had been 
 exceeded ? In vain they answered, how in such a state of suf- 
 fering could they count the number of the stripes. The driver 
 probably was the creature of the inflictor; evidence if obtained 
 would probably be discredited ; and I was often obliged, when 
 I thought them wronged, to advise that they should not press 
 my interference on a point which would probably only entail on 
 
15 
 
 them on another occasion, a repetition of a punishment within 
 these limits uncontrollable because irresponsible. Oh! it was 
 asad anda strange sight of unparalleled occurrence in any 
 other state of society, to see these poor creatures struggling 
 between the confidence they were disposed to place in me as 
 an individual, and the apparent impossibility of the truth of 
 what I was stating. They saw me surrounded by all the out- 
 ward emblems of power; they felt that those of whom they 
 complained were bound to treat me with formal respect. 
 They could not understand, why, whilethey were subjected to - 
 the unrestrained power of those they knew to be my inferiors, 
 I could not myself cure that injustice which I could not deny. 
 [ have at length convinced them that the law must be obeyed 
 by me as well as another; and with a weight at my heart, 
 which even now would upon recollection oppress me beyond 
 bearing, if | was not at the same time able to thank God, that 
 the power of arbitrary punishment is this day at an end,—with 
 such painful feelings as I cannot attempt. to describe, I saw 
 them return to the place of their sufferings, muttering blessings 
 on him, who they were at length persuaded, had the wish, but 
 not the power, to serve them. And then indeed have I felt 
 how incompatible were the forms of the British constitution 
 with the substance of slavery ; and how little to be respected, 
 that rigid regard for the rights of property which says, a man 
 shall do what he likes with his own, when his own is his 
 fellow man. 
 
 It was but too necessary that I should be cautious in my inter- 
 ference; that should sometimes seem cold, really to be kind ; 
 for in some cases, on the part of low and violent overseers, I 
 know it as a fact, that whilst the punishment has been inflict- 
 ing, he has cried out to the driver, “ Do not spare him, that 
 he may have something to shew to the Governor next time he 
 complains.” Such is the demoralizing nature of the system, 
 necessarily leading to cruelty, that some of the worst cases I 
 knew were in the instances of domestic slaves, when the cause 
 of the punishment was rather caprice and personal feeling, 
 
16 
 
 than incitement to industry. More than once [ have heard 
 of unspeakable cruelty inflicted by women on those of their 
 own sex from motives of jealousy—and some instances have 
 been reported to me, though I trust these are rare, of punish- 
 ment, partaking of the character of torture, perpetrated by 
 monsters in the shape of men, on the uncomplying objects of 
 their disappointed passions. 
 
 But as these cases are past, let them also be forgotten; and in 
 looking to the futtire let us recollect that the interests of all par- 
 ties are now the same—that for the welfare of the slaves them- 
 selves, nothing is now so desirable’as local co-operation; and 
 that we must never forget that the West India proprietors 
 have made some sacrifice, and incurred no small risk, in 
 acquiescing in the triumph of that sacred cause which we are 
 this day met to celebrate. Let our united efforts, therefore, 
 be directed to make its success permanent and complete ; 
 towards securing which, let us always bear in mind that edu- 
 cation is a primary and indispensable ingredient. Lo this I 
 am sure my Right Hon. Friend on my right, will direct his 
 early attention. 
 
 And now, in conclusion, let us recollect in proud thankful. 
 ness, that we are all—from you who represent the sentiments 
 of the whole people of England, to the humble individual 
 who now addresses you,—we are all but instruments in the 
 hands of a higher and a holy Power. It pleases Him to ap- 
 portion human means to effect human objects, and in this 
 instance the God of mercy has called into operation a stupen- 
 dous engine worthy of the sacred cause. The embodied 
 will of a mighty nation, enforcing the irresistible dictates 
 of justice, humanity, and religion, achieved the abolition of 
 slavery, and has enabled me now with pride and with pleasure, 
 to join heartily with my Hon. Friend in the expression of our 
 wishes for the health and happiness of the “ emancipated 
 
 Negro.” 
 
 London: Printed by S. Bagster, Jun., 14, Bartholomew Close. 
 
ADDRESS 
 
 TO 
 
 THE PEOPLE OF COLOR, 
 
 IN THE 
 
 CLIY, OF NB Wety-O-R kK. 
 BY MEMBERS OF THE 
 
 EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE OF THE AMERICAN ANTI-SLAVERY SOCIETY. 
 
 NEW-YORK: 
 S. W. BENEDICT, & CO. PRINTERS, 162 NASSAU-STREET. 
 
 oeaseesvonseens 
 
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 Yah 
 
 te a PAGES Nis 
 
 POV Ada Pe ARMA BED TO ore TOD, AVIS ER 
 ee Si Me Tih f a ie hace ud ila ve Pe gear ayer ae, 
 
 . 
 
ADDRESS 
 
 TO THE PEOPLE OF COLOR OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK. 
 
 FELLow CiTIzENs :— 
 
 Outraged as you were but a few weeks since, by an infuriated 
 mob—Y our persons subjected in many instances to fearful violence— 
 Your property wrested from your hands—Your dwellings desolated, 
 and your churches made the scenes of sacrilege, pillage and ruin ; 
 by wonderful forbearance, and peaceful endurance, you secured the 
 sympathy and ‘respect of the public, and encouraged your friends to 
 exertion, for your advancement in knowledge, virtue and respectabil- 
 itys This state of things presents a most favorable opportunity for 
 you, by appropriate efforts, to secure all those rights and immunities 
 
 which you are entitled to,as men and as citizens, under the Constitu- ° 
 tion of this state. 
 
 By reference to the Constitution of the American Anti-Slavery 
 Society, you will see that one of its prominent objects, is the improve- 
 ment and civil elevation of the Free People of Color; regarding 
 this object of vast importance, not only in reference to your own 
 happiness, but as eminently calculated to remove public prejudice, 
 and various obstructions, to the emancipation of two millions of our 
 
 countrymen in bondage at the south. 
 
 The Phenix Society of this city, the Board of which is composed 
 of colored and white persons, to which many of you belong, is aiming 
 to promote your improvement in morals, literature, and the mechanic 
 arts, and thereby to secure to you all other important privileges. We 
 eannot too strongly recommend this most valuable institution, as 
 worthy of your highest affection and support. 
 
4 
 
 Personal effort you perceive is absolutely necessary to attain these 
 objects. If we would be good, we must strive for that character. If 
 we would acquire knowledge, we must apply ourselves to study, as 
 often as our circumstances permit. If we would secure all our civil 
 privileges, we must take the steps prescribed by law; and if we 
 would acquire property, we must put ourselves diligently to business, 
 with reference to that end. The efforts which many of you have 
 made, and are now making to support religious worship, to improve 
 your minds, to educate your children, and to acquire property and 
 
 all your civil rights, are worthy of high commendation. 
 
 The prejudices of society against your complexion, which 
 sometimes is evidenced by persecution, are often checked or sur- 
 mounted by you. It cannot be denied that a vast amount of ignorance, 
 vice and misery, exists in this city; and although we are not of the 
 number who underrate the virtues of the colored people, and magnify 
 their faults, but on the contrary would repel the constant slanders 
 brought against them, it would be folly in us to deny that there are 
 numbers of colored persons, who are helping to swell the amount of 
 degradation, infamy and ruin, which so fearfully abounds in this 
 great city. It is no part of real friendship, to hide the causes of 
 human wretchedness, but to point them out and also their remedies, 
 
 Intemperance has certainly found as few practical advocates 
 amongst the colored. people, according to their comparative number, 
 as among the whites. We perceive however, with great pain, several 
 Porter Houses and dram shops, not a few of which are open on the 
 Sabbath, and are kept by colored persons, which are resorted to by: 
 many of the youth and other persons of color. The number of these 
 places appears to increase with the population of thecity. The awful 
 consequences attending such establishments, to youth, to families, and 
 to the community, cannot be described. It is lamentable that any 
 persons who profess any respect for themselves, should enter these 
 
 gates of destruction. 
 
 We have noticed with sorrow, that some of the colored people are 
 
 purchasers of lottery tickets, and confess ourselves shocked to learn 
 
5. 
 
 that some persons, who are situated to do much good, and whose ex- 
 ample might be most salutary, engage in games of chance for money 
 and for‘strong drink. A moment's thought will show the folly, as. 
 well as wickedness of their course. .Gambling strikes at the very. 
 vitals of society, and surely the laboring but rising classes of the 
 community, have no time to waste, nor money foolishly to 
 hazard. All persons of color who are keepers of places for dram 
 drinking, gambling, lewdness and other infamy, should be faithfully 
 remonstrated with; and continuing their practices should be regarded 
 as the most injurious of all your enemies, Itis in vain for any man 
 to pretend in this age to be worthy of respect, who is engaged in any 
 of these ruinous practices. No excuse can justify wrong doing— 
 To labor is honorable, but to resort to dram selling, and other iniquity 
 for support, can no better be justified than common robbery or man- 
 stealing. ‘T'o rob our neighbor of property, cannot, certainly, bemore 
 heinous, than to rob him of reputation, health, and life, by tempting 
 him to the indulgence of ruinous passions and appetites. It is said 
 that many well disposed, industrious laborers, cannot find employment 
 in the city. We think such instances are rare,—and if it be true 
 that the city is over stocked with laborers, the country is large, and 
 
 there are multitudes of farmers, and others all over the land, who 
 will give employment to the industrious‘of any complexion. There 
 
 are considerable numbers of colored persons in this state, who are 
 respectable farmers and mechanics; of the latter class, we are happy 
 to find several in this city who are superior in their several depart- 
 ments. A little effort and enterprize, might secure for persons not. 
 sufficiently employed and for their children, real advantages, whilst 
 by resorting to petty and dishonorable traficking, and other injurious 
 pursuits, all may be ruined. We cannot too strongly urge the im- 
 portance of securing for your children the knowledge of some me- 
 chanic art, and if there are difficulties in the way, make great efforts to 
 
 overcome them. 
 
 When the providence of God plainly indicates that the time for the 
 improvement, and the moral and civil advancement of the colored. 
 
6 
 
 people is come—when white and colored persons of benevolence, 
 are acting with!new energy to promote these important objects,—is it 
 not a crime of great magnitude, for any one to oppose, by vice or by 
 alluring others into vice, so excellent a design? We would urge 
 you to union a3 a people, to fellow-feeling and Christian benevolence; 
 but you will be doing injustice to yourselves and your families to 
 give currency to evil persons, however well they may appear, by 
 treating them as persons entitled to confidence and esteem, but who 
 like the spider with her subtle web, live by the life blood of their un- 
 suspecting victims. ‘The boldness of impiety is manifest, where indi- 
 viduals appropriate the Lord’s Day to such labors of destruction. 
 From these men and their snares turn away; and on the Sabbath 
 
 be present with your families in the house of the Lord—God’s judg- 
 
 ments rest upon Sabbath breakers. 
 
 Itis scarcely less certain, that he who neglects Divine worship and 
 profanes the Sabbath, will eventually be degraded and without respect 
 in a Christian community, than that he will lose his soul, and be 
 
 covered with contempt in eternity. 
 
 Children brought up by Sabbath breakers, and who are not encour- 
 aged to go to church, and to Sabbath School, are almost certain to be 
 
 disobedient, “ reprobate children, ” and a curse to society. 
 
 The age in which we live, is one of hope to the world. All persons 
 may hope except they be vicious. With all the obstacles in the way 
 of the people of color in times past, many have acquired moderate 
 property by their industry, economy and skill. Do you say it te- 
 quires more virtue and effort, for a colored person to succeed, on ac- 
 count of the prejudices of this country against them? This is true; 
 but is it not blessed to be excellent, and industrious, and even to make , 
 
 extraordinary efforts to attain so important an end 2 
 
 In most of the free states, colored men may secure the privilege of 
 voting for rulers, and in some instances have been elected to town and 
 state offices. In several of the states, colored men become voters on 
 
 the same terms as white men; property not always being necessary. 
 
vA 
 
 This is tae case in the state of Maine ;their vote is of much eonse- 
 quence in the city of Portland, and they are from this and other cir- 
 
 cumstances, treated as worthy of much consideration. T'wo of their 
 number were recently invited to attend a Convention at Augusta, the 
 
 capital of the state, for the nomination of the Governor, and other im- 
 
 portant business. 
 
 They were received, deliberated with the Convention, and dined at 
 the same table with other delegates, on terms of perfect equality. And 
 on board the steam boat, going and returning, were treated with the 
 
 same respect as other delegates. 
 
 In this state and city, considerable numbers of colored citizens, by 
 acquiring a moderate property in real estate, have become voters. 
 $250 worth of property in real estate is necessary for a colored man 
 to become a voter. It is for the respectability of your whole people, 
 that you should secure this privilege. You will yet be admitted as 
 voters in this state, no doubt, on the same conditions as white citizens, 
 No one should be disheartened who will be virtuous, and useful to his 
 country. By means of education, industry, and plety, with a due 
 sense of your individual and collective responsibility, you will attain 
 at an early day, every desirable object for yourselves and your pos- 
 terity. You will exert a most happy influence upon the emancipation 
 of your and our enslaved brethren—cause the hearts of your friends 
 to rejoice, and be amply rewarded in your own peace and prosperity, 
 God will smile upon all the work of your hands and make you and 
 your ehildren blessed. , 
 
 With a hearty desire to co-operate with you, in attaining these 
 great benefits, we are your friends and fellow citizens, 
 
 ARTHUR TAPPAN, JOHN RANKIN, 
 WILLIAM GREENE, Jr. LEWIS TAPPAN, 
 JOSHUA LEAVITT, S. S. JOCELYN, 
 A. L. COX, E, WRIGHT, Jr. 
 
 Menor of the Executive Committee 
 of the American Anti-Slavern y Society. 
 New York, October, 1934, 
 
 * 
 
OBJECTS OF THE PHG@NIX SOCIETY OF NEW YORK. 
 
 _ Tms Society will aim to accomplish the following objects. To visit 
 every family 1 in the ward, and make a register of every colored person in it 
 —their name, sex, age, occupation, if they read, write and cypher,—to in- 
 ‘duce them, old and young and of both sexes, to become members of this 
 Society, and make quarterly payments according to their ability,—to get 
 the children out to infant, Sabbath and week schools, and induce the adults 
 also to attend school and church on the Sabbath,—to encourage the fe- 
 males to form Dorcas Societies to help clothe poor children of color if they 
 will attend school, the clothes to be loaned, and to be taken away from 
 them if they neglect their schools; and to impress on their parents the 
 importance of having the children punctual and regular in their attend- 
 ance at school,—to establish circulating libraries formed in each ward for 
 the use of people of color on very moderate pay,—to establish mental 
 feasts, and also lyceums for speaking and for lectures on the sciences, and 
 to form moral societies,—to seek out young men of talents, and good moral 
 character, that they may heassisted to obtain a liberal education,—to report 
 to the Board all mechanics who are skilful and capable of conducting 
 their trades,—to procure places at trades and with respectable farmers for 
 lads of good moral character—giving a preference to those who have 
 learned to read, write, and cipher,—and in every other way to endeavor to 
 promote the happiness of the people of color, by encouraging them to im- 
 prove their minds and to abstain from every vicious and demoralizing 
 practice. 
 
LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT 
 
 OF 
 
 WILLIAM TURPIN, 
 
 FORMERLY OF CHARLESTON, S. C., LATE OF NEW-YORK, 
 
 WHO DIED, JAN, 21st, 1835, IN THE 81st YEAR OF HIS AGE. 
 
 NEW-YORK: 
 
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 No. 261, Pearl-street. 
 
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The People of the State of Wew-Kork, 
 
 To all to whom these Presents shall come or may Concern, 
 
 SEND GREETING: 
 
 — Kiwow pe, That we, having inspected the 
 Records of our Surrogates Court, in and for the 
 County of New-York, do find that on the twelfth 
 day of March, in the Year of our Lord one thou- 
 sand eight hundred and thirty-five, before JAMES 
 CAMPBELL, Esq. our Surrogate of said county, 
 the last Will and Testament of Witutam TURPIN, 
 of the City of New-York, deceased, was duly 
 proved, approved, and registered, as a Will of 
 Real and Personal Estate. And on the eleventh 
 day of April wm the Year aforesaid, by said Sur- 
 rogate, the adnunstration of all and singular the 
 Goods, Chattels, and Credits of said deceased, or 
 any way concerning his Will, was granted unto 
 Francis Depau, Morris Robinson, Barnabas 
 Bronn, Peleg Brown, and Wilham Turpin, 
 jumor, five of the Executors in saad Will named, 
 they having been first duly sworn, faithfully and 
 honestly to discharge the duties of such Executors 
 according to Law. Which sad will is im the 
 words following, to wit :— 
 
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THE 
 LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT 
 
 OF 
 
 WILLIAM TURPIN, ESQ. 
 
 1, WILLIAM TURPIN, of Charleston, South 
 Carolina, citizen of the United States, now 
 residing in the city of New-York, being in sound 
 health of body and mind, knowing the uncer- 
 tainty of this life, do therefore ordain, publish, 
 and declare, this to be my last Will and Testa- 
 ment, the same being written with my own hand 
 on this 20th day of April, 1833, and subscribed 
 with my name. 
 
 If I should owe any just debt at the time of 
 my death, that must be instantly paid; at this 
 time I do not owe one cent to any person what- 
 ever. 
 
 All my negroes in South Carolina are free. 
 I request my executors in South Carolina to 
 protect them in their freedom. ‘Those now living 
 in South Carolina, is Will, Jenney, all her chil- 
 dren and grand children; Lund, Juda, Leah, 
 Abram, Ben, Boston, Cesar, Hector, Mary, Hid- 
 ward, Tom, March, and Feb. 
 
 Items: 
 Ist. 
 
 2d. 
 
3d. 
 
 y Will. 
 
 Elizabeth You is wrote 
 on an erasure b 
 
 Turpin. 
 
 5th, 
 
 6 
 
 I give and bequeath to my freed black woman 
 Jenney, her heirs, and assigns, forever, all that lot 
 of land, conveyed to me by deed from Christian 
 Belzer,together with the two story brick house,and 
 all otherimprovements thereon. Said lot is situate 
 in Charleston, South Carolina, on the south side 
 of Federal-street, now called Society-street, 404 
 feet front and rear, and 109 feet deep, bounded 
 east on Cox lot, to the south on my lot, to the 
 west on to the north on Society-street. 
 I reserve one room in this for my black man 
 Will, during his natural life, Jenney’s children 
 is to mherit, as her legal heirs without any regard 
 to her being legally married to their fathers, as 
 negroes’ marriage cannot be easily proved. 
 
 . Igive and bequeath to my freed black people, 
 Tom, March, Feb, Mary, and Edward, during their 
 natural lives, all that lot of land conveyed tome by 
 deed from Elizabeth You, together with the two 
 Story wooden house, and all other improvements 
 thereon, situate on the north side of Magazine- 
 street, in Charleston, South Carolina; said lot is 
 70 feet front and rear, and 105 feet deep; bounded 
 east on Wilson’s lot, north on Wolf’s lot, west on 
 Mackinfer’s lot, south on Magazine-street. I give 
 Sarah Gray, daughter of Henry Gray, the use 
 during her life, of one tenement in this house, on 
 condition only,that she shallreside therein, and act 
 as guardian and protector to these coloured people. 
 I give and bequeath to the two nieces of my be- 
 
ber 
 ‘ 
 
 loved wife, say to Mary Yeadon, and Sarah Gelzer, 
 equally to each of them, and to each of their 
 heirs and assigns forever, all that lot of land 
 
 conveyed to me by deed, from their mother Eli- . 
 
 zabeth You, in the state of South Carolina, 
 situate on the west side of Meeting-street, Ham- 
 steed, one mile from Charleston, 274 feet front, 
 270 feet deep; bounded to the east on Meeting- 
 _ street, south on Sprine-street, west on the heirs 
 of Thomas and Elizabeth You, to the north on 
 Columbus-street. 
 
 Likewise all that lot of land conveyed to me 
 by deed, from Elizabeth You, situate on the east 
 side of King-street, Hamsteed, one ,mile from 
 Charleston; the lot is 91 feet 6 inches front, 237 
 feet deep, bounded to the west on. King-street ; 
 on all other sides on the heirs of Thomas and 
 Elizabeth You. 
 
 I give and bequeath to Mary Yeadon and 
 Sarah Gelzer, and to their brother John You, 
 equally one-third to each of them, and to each 
 of their heirs and assigns forever, all that house 
 and lot of land conveyed to me by deed by Eli- 
 zabeth You; situate on the north side of Lynche’s 
 Lane, corner of Zigzag Alley, in Charleston : 
 said lot is 53 feet front, and 80 feet deep; for a 
 more perfect description, refer to Elizabeth You’s 
 deed to me, recorded in Conveyance Office in 
 Charleston. 
 
 [ give and bequeath to Edward B. Weyman’s 
 
 6th. 
 
 7th. 
 
 8th. 
 
Will. Turpin. 
 
 9th. 
 
 10th. 
 
 8 
 
 three children, say Lydia Catherine Weyman, 
 Elexander Edward Weyman, and Mary Rosilla 
 Weyman, equally to each of them, their heirs 
 and assigns forever, all that lot of land conveyed | 
 to me by deed from Elizabeth You; situate on 
 the north side of ‘T'rot-street, now called Went- 
 worth-street, in Charleston: the lot is 32 feet 
 front, and 102 feet deep; bounded south on 
 Wentworth-street, east on Langstaff, north on 
 my lot left to Jenney, to the west on Miller’s 
 lot; on this lot there is a wooden two story house 
 and other improvements. I appoint their grand- 
 mother, Catherine Weyman, in trust for them, to 
 receive the use and rent of said house and lot, 
 until the youngest of these children attain the 
 age of twenty-one years. 
 
 I give and bequeath to Samuel Augustus 
 Maverick, and equally to his sister Lydia Ann 
 Maverick, and to each of their heirs and assigns 
 forever, all that three story brick house and lot 
 of land conveyed to me by deed from Erasmus 
 Rathmaler; situate on the east side of King- 
 street, Wragsboro, near Charleston: lot is 63 
 feet 6 inches front, and 160 feet deep, bounded 
 west on King-street, on all other sides on land 
 lately owned by the heirs of John Wrage. 
 
 I give and bequeath to Hannah Turpin, my 
 brother’s widow, during her natural life, the in- 
 terest on the bond due to me from her son Wil- 
 liam Turpin, Jun. The bond is for safety kept 
 
9 
 
 im the hands of her daughter Catharine Wey- 
 man, in Charleston. 
 
 I give to William Turpin, Jun., and to his 
 heirs, his bond for $2784, on condition only that 
 he shall continue punctually to pay the interest 
 to his mother during her life. 
 
 I give and bequeath to my brother’s son, Wil- 
 liam ‘Turpin, Jun., his heirs and assigns forever, 
 all that lot of land conveyed to me by Charles 
 James Air’s deed; situate on the west side of 
 King-street, near Boundary-street, in Charleston, 
 with the three story brick house, and other great 
 improvements thereon: the lot is 50 feet front, 
 and 222 feet deep; bounded to the east on King- 
 street, north on Gennerick’s lot, west on Mave- 
 rick’s lot, south on Cunningham’s lot. William 
 "Turpin, Jun., or his heirs, to take possession of 
 this lot after the death of his sister Catharine 
 Weyman ; as during her life, I give her, the said 
 Catharine Weyman, the use, rent, and profit of 
 the said house and lot, and all the improvements 
 on the same. 
 
 I give and bequeath to William Turpin, Jun., 
 his heirs and assigns forever, all that farm on 
 Charleston Neck, conveyed to me by deed of 
 Isaac ‘Teasdale, containing sixteen acres and one 
 quarter, 24 miles from Charleston; bounded 
 east on King-street, north on land lately held 
 by John M. Errick, west on Delamotta’s land, 
 
 south on land formerly Osborn’s: for a more 
 2 
 
 11th. 
 
 12th. 
 
 13th. 
 
14th. 
 
 15th. 
 
 16th. 
 
 Will. Turpin 
 
 10 
 
 perfect description refer to Teasdale’s deed to 
 me. William Turpin, Jun., or his heirs, to take 
 possession after the death of his sister, as I give 
 her, the said Catharine Weyman, during her life, 
 the use, rent, and profit of the same. 
 
 I give and bequeath to my two nephews, Sam- 
 uel Maverick, and William Turpin, Jun., and to 
 my niece Catharine Weyman, equally one-third to 
 each of them, and to each of their heirs and as- 
 sions forever, all that tract of land, containing 
 three hundred and eighty-six acres; situate on 
 Brook’s mill creek, Spartanburgh district, South 
 Carolina; including Little David’s Mountain, the 
 gold mine and iron-ore bed: said tract was granted 
 by governor Pinckney to Wadsworth and ‘Turpin, 
 on the third day of March, 1788: for full de- 
 scription, refer to Samuel H. Dickson’s plat of 
 re-survey, 3d March, 1804; also refer to Wm. 
 Benson’s plat to the original grant annexed. 
 
 I give and bequeath to my two nephews, 
 Samuel Maverick and William Turpin, Jun., to 
 be equally divided between them, their heirs 
 and assigns forever, all the residue, remainder, 
 and reversion of my real estate, of houses and 
 lands that lays within the state of South Ca- 
 rolina. , 
 
 I do hereby make, constitute, and appoint, 
 Catharine Weyman, Samuel Maverick, and Wil- 
 liam Turpin, Jun., executrix and executors to 
 all that part of my estate that lays within the 
 
11 
 
 state of South Carolina, and in no other place 
 whatever. Here ends the disposing of my estate 
 in South Carolina. 
 
 All my coloured people in the state of New- 
 York are free; say, Joseph Thomas Turpin, 
 Lund Turpin, Lucy Bates, and her children, 
 these I recommend to the kind protection of my 
 executors, and Juda Jackson to their particular 
 care: but Charles Augustus, Martin Luther, and 
 John Piper, are absent. 
 
 I give and bequeath to my faithful friend, my 
 freed black man, Joseph Thomas Turpin, his heirs 
 and assiens forever,all that lot of land conveyed to 
 me by deed by —— Hamilton, master in chancery, 
 im the city of New-York, known as No. 18, South- 
 street. The lot is 28 feet front and rear, and 130 
 feet deep ; bounded to the west on land formerly 
 James Lent’s, east on Isaac Clayson and Stephen 
 Whitney, in the rear by Elbert Rosevelt; for a 
 more perfect description refer to Hamilton’s deed 
 tome. Ihave given a long lease of this lot to 
 William and John James, at $900 a year; and Ido 
 give Joseph Thomas Turpin full power to demand 
 and receive the first quarter’s rent that may come 
 due after my death. I likewise give and be- 
 queath to Joseph Thomas Turpin, his heirs and 
 assions forever, all that certain dwelling-house 
 and lot of land in the city of New-York, on the 
 east side of the Bowery, known as No. 271; the 
 lot is in breadth twenty-two feet and two inches 
 
 17th. 
 
 18th. 
 
 18th. 
 
18th. 
 
 19th. 
 
 12 
 
 front and rear; in length on both sides, seventy- 
 eight feet ; bounded N. W. on the Bowery, S. E. 
 in the rear on the estate of David Marsh, S. W. 
 by land lately held by John Ferris, N. E. by lot 
 formerly the estate of David Marsh, said lot was 
 conveyed to me by deed, by Effingham W. 
 Marsh; refer to that deed for a more perfect de- 
 scription thereof. I give Joseph 'T. ‘Turpin full 
 power to take possession of this house and lot, 
 and to demand and receive the first quarter’s 
 rent that may come due after my death. I give 
 and bequeath to Joseph Thomas ‘Turpin, his 
 heirs and assigns forever, all that lot of land 
 conveyed to me by deed from David Lydig, the 
 lot is twenty-two feet nine inches front on South- 
 street, and in depth one hundred and forty-two 
 feet to Front-street; bounding twenty-two feet 
 three inches on Front-street, together with the 
 four story brick store No. 159, South-street, and 
 the three story brick house No. 253, Front-street ; 
 for a more perfect description refer to the plat 
 annexed to Lydig’s deed tome. ‘The lot is next 
 to the corner of Dover-street; bounded to the 
 east on Lydig’s lots, to the west on Delaplaine’s 
 lot. I give him full power to demand and re- 
 ceive the first quarter’s rent due after my death. 
 
 I give to Joseph Thomas Turpin forever, all 
 my wearing apparel, including shoes, hats, hand- 
 kerchiefs, &c. I give him one silver middle-. 
 sized tea-pot, one small coffee-pot, one middle 
 
13 
 
 sized sugar-dish, one quart bowl, one tankard, 
 one plated milk-pot. 
 
 I give and bequeath to Juda Jackson, my 
 freed black girl, and equally to her brother Ed- 
 ward Butler, to their heirs and assigns, forever, 
 provided they both live to the age of twenty-one 
 years, or to the survivor, if only one of them 
 should live to attain that age, all that lot of land 
 conveyed to me by deed by Elbert Anderson, 
 situate on the west side of Broadway, near 
 Franklin-street, known as No. 371, Broadway ; 
 in breadth twenty-five feet front and rear, and 
 one hundred and fifty feet deep; bounded east 
 on. Broadway, south on Fowler, west on an alley, 
 north on » for a more perfect descrip- 
 tion, refer to Anderson’s deed to me. ‘This lot 
 is leased to Luke Kip, at four hundred dollars a 
 year, to be renewed by valuation. Doctor Kis- 
 sam now owns Kip’s lease. If Juda and Kd- 
 ward both die, leaving no child, or children, in 
 that case I leave and give the whole of this lot 
 to my freed black woman, Lucy Bates, her heirs 
 and assigns forever; I appoint Charles Collins, 
 and his son, George B. Collins, guardians to Ju- 
 da Jackson and Edward Butler, with full power 
 to demand and receive the rent of said lot, and 
 after deducting 5 per cent. for their commissions, 
 they shall, during the life of Lucy, pay her, the 
 said Lucy Bates, one hundred dollars a year, to 
 be paid her quarterly $25: the whole balance 
 
 20th. 
 
 Will. Turpin. 
 
Ast 
 
 22d. 
 
 14 
 
 of the rent shall every quarter be paid to Juda 
 Jackson, to be by her applied to her own support 
 and the support of her brother Edward. 
 
 I give and bequeath to my sister’s son, Samuel 
 Maverick, and to my brother’s son, William Tur- 
 pin, Jun., equally, and to their heirs and assigns 
 forever, all that four story brick store No. 178, 
 South-street, together with the lot of land convey- 
 ed to me by deed from I. M. Macdonald, master in 
 chancery; the lot is 17 feet 10 inches front on 
 South-street, and 19 feet 9 inches in the rear, 
 and in depth 65 feet 2 inches on the 8. W. side, 
 and 62 feet 2 inches on the N. E. side: for a 
 more perfect description, refer to Macdonald’s 
 deed to me. 
 
 I likewise give and bequeath to Samuel Ma- 
 verick and William Turpin, Jun., their heirs and 
 assigns forever, all that lot of land conveyed to 
 me by William Clark’s deed, together with the 
 four story brick store, No. 174, South-street, ad- 
 joining the lot and store No. 173, above described: 
 bounding on South-street 17 feet 10 inches, and 
 in the rear 19 feet 9 inches: in depth on the N. 
 E. side 59 feet 4 inches, on S. W. side 62 feet 3 
 inches: the two stores and lots form the whole 
 front on South-street, of the original grant to John 
 Agnew, by the mayor and aldermen of the city of 
 New-York, on the first day of December, 1817, 
 and is bounded to the N. E. on Hitchcock’s store 
 and lot corner of Rosevelt-street, and in the rear 
 
15 
 
 on Oakley’s lot, that being part of Agnew’s grant; 
 for a more perfect description, refer to Mac- 
 donald’s deed, and Clark’s deed to me; and to 
 the original grant to John Agnew: this gift of 
 these two stores and lots is on condition only, that 
 Maverick and Turpin shall pay to Catharine Wey- 
 man one-third part of the neat rent or income of 
 said stores and lots every year during her life. 
 
 I give and bequeath to Mary Flandrau, her 234 
 heirs and assigns forever, all that two story 
 ~ brick house, known as No. 386, Pearl-street, and 
 lot of land conveyed to me by John Lenacree’s 
 deed; situate on the south east side of Pearl- 
 street, near Oak-street; 19 feet 6 inches front, 
 and 18 feet 4 inches in the rear, and 100 feet 
 deep; bounded N. E. on land formerly Frank- 
 lin’s; other side and end on Mount’s land; for 
 further description, refer to Lenacree’s deed to 
 me. I give and bequeath to Mary Flandrau, 234. 
 her heirs and assiens forever, all that lot of land 
 now leased to James Flandrau, containing about 
 two acres as it is now enclosed within his fence; 
 situate on the road leading from Westchester to 
 New Rochelle landing, extending back to high- 
 water mark, bounded to the east on my farm 
 sold to Catharine Weyman ; south on the marsh, 
 west on Coutant’s land. I likewise give her one 
 small silver tea-pot, one small sugar-dish, one 
 small milk-pot, all of these silver. 
 
 I give and bequeath to my mother’s brother’s 4th. 
 
25th. 
 
 Wil. Turpin. 
 
 16 
 
 son, Barnabas Brown, and equally to his sons 
 Peleg Brown and William Turpin Brown, one- 
 third to each of them, and to the survivors of 
 them, and his heirs and assigns forever, all that 
 lot of land conveyed to me by Jacob Stout’s 
 deed ; contaming 25 feet front on Greenwich- 
 street; contimuing that width to and across 
 Washington-street, to the channel of North River, 
 together with the three story brick house No. 62, 
 Greenwich-street, and the three story brick store 
 No. 63, Washington-street, and all other improve- 
 ments thereon; refer to Jacob Stout’s deed to 
 me, that will clearly show the dimensions, butt- 
 ings, and boundings thereof, the whole contained 
 in that deed is here given. 
 
 _ I give and bequeath to my brother’s grand-son, 
 William Peter ‘Turpin, his heirs and assigns forev- 
 er, allthattwostory brick house No. 416, Broome- 
 street, and lot of land conveyed to me by Robert 
 Pearsall’s deed, situate in the city of New-York, 
 on the N.E. side of Broome-street, corner of Elm- 
 street, 25 feet front,and 26 feet in the rear, bounded 
 S. W. on Broome-street, east on Elm-street, west 
 on McCrady, and is 100 feet deep. I also give 
 him, the said William Peter Turpin, his heirs 
 and assigns forever, all that lot of land conveyed 
 to me by Robert Pearsall, inthe rear, adjoining the 
 before-mentioned lot, and is 15 feet front and rear, 
 and 75 feet deep, with a two story brick house 
 thereon ; lot bounded north on Lorillard’s land, 
 
if 
 
 west on Addison, south on McCrady, and on the 
 above-named Broome-street lot, N. 4. on Elm- 
 street. : 
 
 I give to William Turpin, and to his heirs in. 
 
 the male line, and to his heirs forever, my large 
 bible, containing our family record, and list of 
 slaves set free under my protection. I likewise 
 give into his charge all my books of accounts, 
 all the papers, receipts, letters, and other papers, 
 the whole relating to business in South Carolt- 
 na; also a mahogany chest, containing deeds of 
 land in South Carolina, &c.; also one trunk of 
 books and papers of company business where I 
 have been a partner; one trunk of books and 
 papers relating to estates where [ have been 
 executor, all which it is necessary should be kept 
 in South Carolina. 
 
 My executors in New-York must carefully 
 save out all the deeds, bonds, mortgages, re- 
 ceipts, rent book, and all papers relating to pro- 
 perty, or in any wise necessary in the state of 
 New-York. 
 
 I give and bequeath nine hundred dollars to be 
 paid to either of my executors in South Carolina, 
 or to Richard Yeadon of Charleston; either of 
 their receipts shall be a complete discharge to 
 my executors in New-York, this, at the request 
 of my (late) wife, is to be paid one hundred and 
 fifty dollars to the heirs of Tucker Harris; one 
 
 hundred and fifty dollars to the heirs of Alexan- 
 D 
 
 26th. 
 
 27th. 
 
 28th. 
 
29th. 
 
 30th. 
 
 3l1st. 
 
 32d. 
 
 33d. 
 
 34th. 
 
 18 
 
 der Alexander; two hundred dollars to the Fel- 
 lowship Society; two hundred dollars to. the 
 Medical Society ; two hundred dollars to Mount 
 Zion Society in Charleston. 
 
 I give and bequeath to William Fuller, of 
 Graves county, Kentucky, to his assigns forever, 
 for the sole use of his wife and children, two 
 thousand dollars, to be dealt out by him at his 
 own discretion, for his own comfort, and their 
 support forever. 
 
 I give to Mary ‘Turpin Ghewehee her heirs 
 and assigns forever, five hundred dollars. 
 
 I give and bequeath to my most beloved friend, 
 Rachel Malin, (if living to receive it,) to her 
 heirs and assigns forever, six thousand dollars, 
 to be carried by Barnabas Brown, or Peleg 
 Brown, as quick as possible, and paid to her 
 at her house, in Jerusalem, Yates county; if 
 she is not then living, he shall pay the money 
 to James Brown for his own use in the same 
 house. 
 
 I give to my freed black man, Lund Turpin, 
 (a methodist preacher) to his heirs and assigns 
 forever, one thousand dollars. 
 
 I give Henry Drayton a full discharge for the 
 debt he owes me. 
 
 I give and bequeath eight thousand dollars to 
 the twenty-one slaves set free by the will of my 
 partner, Thomas Wadsworth, in the year 1799, 
 to their heirs and assigns forever, as a proper re- 
 
19 
 
 muneration for their services, when slaves to 
 Wadsworth and Turpin. My executors are au- 
 thorized to pay this money to any one of the persons 
 hereafter named, and a receipt from any one of 
 them shall bea complete discharge to my execu- 
 tors, he promising to pay the money to those 
 free people in South Carolina, after deducting 
 12! per cent. for his expenses in paying at the 
 houses where each family resides. My execu- 
 tors shall pay it to Samuel Maverick, or to. Wil- 
 liam Turpin, Jun., or to Samuel Augustus Mave- 
 rick, or to Charles Collins: the person that un- 
 dertakes to go on and pay those free people, must 
 divide the money into twenty-one equal parts, 
 and pay one part to each family; say to seven 
 families now living in Newberry district; 1st 
 family, James and Bets; 2d family, Priss and 
 three children; 3d family, Jenny and three 
 children; 4th, John and two children; Sth, 
 Betty and four children ; 6th family Mike » 
 7th, Fanny and two children, to 2 families in Ab- 
 _beville district; 8th family, Let and five chil- 
 dren; 9th, Rachell and children to 11 families in 
 Laurens district; 10th family, Sarah Kain Jones 
 and eight children; 11th family, Liz and seven 
 children; 12th family, Line ; 13th, Cloe 
 and five children; 14th family, Philis - 
 15th, Charlotte and two children; 16th family, 
 Thomas and ; 17th family, Edmund —; 18th 
 family, Miley ; 19th, Martha ; 20th, Rubin 
 
36th. 
 
 37th. 
 
 38th, 
 
 383th. 
 
 39th, 
 
 AOth. 
 
 de HB Ui jilite 
 “£ 
 
 - 403th. 
 
 Alst. 
 
 401th, 
 
 20 
 
 and 
 
 ; one family in Union district; 2Ist, 
 Silvey and two children. 
 
 I give Edward B. Weyman a full discharge 
 for all the debt that he owes me. 
 
 I give and bequeath to Mary Rosilla Weyman, 
 her heirs and assigns forever, five hundred 
 dollars. 
 
 I give to Joseph T. Weyman, his wife Eliza- 
 beth Weyman, and Robert Howard Weyman, 
 one cent to each of them. 
 
 I give to Phebe Johnson, her heirs and assigns 
 forever, five hundred dollars. 
 
 I give to Jane Ward, her heirs and assigns 
 forever, five hundred dollars. 
 
 I give to Benjamin Lunda, editor of the paper 
 called the Genius of Universal Emancipation, 
 his heirs and assigns forever, fifteen hundred 
 dollars. 
 
 I give to William Loyd Garrison, editor of 
 the Liberator, his heirs and assigns forever, five 
 hundred dollars. 
 
 I give and bequeath to Charles Collins, his 
 heirs and assigns forever, one hundred shares in 
 the Mechanics Bank, in New-York. 
 
 I give to Peleg Brown, his heirs and assigns 
 forever, one hundred shares in the Mechanics 
 Bank in New-York. 
 
 I give and bequeath to Doctor William Beach, 
 the medical reformer, his heirs and assigns for- 
 ever, five hundred dollars. 
 
21 
 
 [ give and bequeath to Theodore Dwight, edi- 
 tor Daily Advertiser, his heirs and assigns for- 
 ever, one thousand dollars. 
 
 Igive, and my executors are requested to pay, 
 six hundred dollars to Charles Collins, or to his 
 son George B. Collins, to enable them to have 
 printed in pamphlet form, 600 copies of this 
 Will and Schedule, properly certified ; one copy 
 thereof they are requested to send to each and 
 every person herein named. ; 
 
 I give and bequeath to Jesse Torrey of Phila- 
 delphia, if living, personally to receive it, four 
 thousand dollars, and a bundle of papers sealed. 
 up and directed to him, then this gift is to him, 
 his heirs and assigns forever; if he is not then 
 living, this gift is null and Aside 
 
 I give and bequeath to Barnabas Brown, and 
 equally to his sons Peleg Brown, and William 
 Turpin Brown, and the survivor of them, his 
 heirs and assigns forever, silver, one pint bowl, 
 one large tea-pot, half-dozen table-spoons, half- 
 dozen tea-spoons. 
 
 I give to William Turpin, Jun., equally to his 
 son William Peter Turpin, the -residue of my 
 silver ware. 
 
 I give to my black man, Joseph Thomas Tur- 
 pin, his heirs and assigns forever, (books) 
 Buchan’s Family Physician, Gordon’s history of 
 Greece, Laws of South Carolina, Laws of New- 
 York. 
 
 In this item the word 
 six hundred dollars is 
 
 AQd. 
 
 43d. 
 
 interlined by Will. 
 
 Turpin. 
 
 44th. 
 
 45th. 
 
 46th. 
 
 47th. 
 
48th. 
 
 49th. 
 
 50th. 
 
 503th 
 
 5ist. 
 
 52d. 
 
 53d. 
 
 54th. 
 
 22 
 
 I give to William Turpin, Jun., and equally to 
 his son William Peter, the remainder of my 
 library and books. 
 
 I give my household and kitchen furniture, in- 
 cluding every article of necessary use therein, to 
 be divided by valuation, one-half part to William 
 Peter Turpin, one-fourth part to Mary Flandrau, 
 one-fourth part to Joseph Thomas Turpin. - 
 
 I give to Peter Williams, church minister, 
 (black man) five hundred dollars. 
 
 I give and bequeath to Arthur Tappan, and 
 Israel Coarse, two hundred shares in Mechanics 
 Bank, in trust and confidence that they shall 
 give and transfer them to such society or insti- 
 tution, as in their opinion will best promote the 
 
 education and welfare of the descendants of 
 
 Africa. 
 
 I give to Peter A. Jay, Thomas Hale, and 
 Charles Collins in special trust and confidence, 
 one hundred shares in the Mechanics Bank, to 
 be conveyed and transfered to the New-York 
 Society for promoting manumission of slaves, 
 for the benefit of the African free school. 
 
 I give to Peleg Brown four thousand dollars, 
 I lent him that sum, and took his bond. 
 ~ I give to William Mower two hundred dollars, 
 to be divided between his two daughters. 
 
 I give and bequeath to Willet Hicks, one 
 thousand dollars. I give to Morris Robinson 
 two thousand dollars. I give to Isaac Lawrence 
 
23 
 
 one thousand dollars: this gift to Hicks, Robin- 
 son, and Lawrence, who I shall name. as co- 
 executors, is on condition that they are living at 
 the time of my death. Such of them that is not 
 living at that time, this gift to him, of course, is 
 null and void. 
 
 The residue and remainder of all my estate, 
 both real and personal, owned by me on the day 
 of my death, after all the legacies before men- 
 tioned, (or hereafter to be added) are paid, must 
 be appraised at its worth in cash, then divided 
 into four equal parts; no part of my estate is to 
 be sold by my executors, except so much as may 
 be necessary to pay cash legacies, executor’s 
 commissions, and to equalize the residue in 
 dividing it into four equal parts. _ 
 
 I give and bequeath one-fourth part of the 
 residue and remainder of my estate, both real 
 and personal, to my six cousins: to Thomas Wil- 
 jiam ‘Turpin Bicknal, to his brother George A. 
 Bicknal, to his sister Almira Wheeler, to the 
 widow Mehitable Atwell, to Angeline Post, to 
 Anna Dunlap, to my friends George B. Collins, 
 and to Mary Flandrau. I authorize Calvin W. 
 Howe, Stephen Man, and Jotham Post, to re- 
 ceive the above fourth part, and they to divide 
 the same between the eight legatees above named, 
 their heirs and assigns forever. 
 
 I give and bequeath one-fourth of the residue 
 and remainder of my estate, both real and per- 
 
 55th. 
 
 56th. 
 
 57th. 
 
Will. Turpin 
 
 58th. 
 
 59th. 
 
 60th. 
 
 24 
 
 sonal, to my cousin Barnabas Brown, his son 
 William Turpin Brown, to my friends Charles 
 Collins and Rachel Malin, one-fourth part to each 
 of them, their heirs and assigns forever, they to 
 divide the same between themselves. Barna- 
 bas Brown and Peleg Brown is directed to take 
 Rachel Malin’s part and pay to her or James 
 Brown, at her house in Jerusalem, Yates equnty, 
 at their discretion to aid poor friends. 
 
 I give and bequeath one-fourth part of the 
 residue and remainder of my estate, both real 
 and personal, to my old friend Francis Depau, 
 his heirs and assigns forever. 
 
 I give and bequeath the remaining one-fourth 
 part of the residue and remainder of my estate, 
 both real and personal, to my sister’s son, Sam- 
 uel Maverick, to my brother’s daughter, Catha- 
 rine Weyman, and her brother William Turpin, 
 Jun., one-third part to each of them, and to each 
 of their heirs and assigns forever, they to divide 
 the same between themselves. My executors 
 will please to notice that there is no person liv- 
 ing, of equal degree of kindred to me, as the 
 three last named ; say Samuel Maverick, Catha- 
 rime Weyman, and William Turpin, Jun. 
 
 I do hereby make, constitute, and appoint, 
 Francis Depau, Morris Robinson, Willet Hicks, 
 Isaac Lawrence, my cousin Barnabas Brown, 
 of Chenango, his son Peleg Brown, and my 
 brother’s son, William Turpin, Jun., of South 
 
25 
 
 Carolina, to be executors to this my last Will 
 and ‘Testament, hereby revoking all former Will, 
 by me made. I now resign my soul to rest in 
 the divine love of God, and Christ my Saviour 
 and universal Friend, to the endless ages of 
 eternity. 
 
 This Will contains seven pages, written with 
 my own hand, and every page signed with my 
 name, in witness whereof I have hereunto set 
 my hand and seal, in the city of New-York, on the 
 14th day of May, in the year of our Lord, 
 one thousand eight hundred and_ thirty-three. 
 Sioned, sealed, published, and declared, by the 
 said William Turpin, as in, and for, his last Will 
 and Testament, in presence of us, who at his 
 request, and in his presence, and in the presence 
 of each other, subscribed our names as wit- 
 nesses. 
 
 WILL. TURPIN. (1.s.) 
 
 Isaac BELL, 
 
 All of the City 
 
 Mies R. BuRKE, > or New-York. 
 
 C. BoLTon. 
 
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Recapitulation by William Turpin, for the convenience oj 
 his Executors; this Index refers to every Item in the 
 
 Will ; also, a full estimate of his property. 
 
 Real Estate} Personal 
 
 Items. SOUTH CAROLINA. ea va-| Estate. 
 Ue. 
 No Debts, if any, must be instantly paid. 
 2° My Negroes in South Carolina are 
 all free. 
 3° Jenney and Will, two story brick 
 house in Society-st., Charleston, | $1,600 
 4% March, Feb, Tom, Mary, and Ed- 
 ward and Sarah Gray, two tene- 
 ments Magazine-street, . 2,000 
 5" 6 Mary Yeadon and Sarah Gelzer, 
 2 lots at Hamstead, 20,000 
 tie Mary Yeadon, Sarah Gelver. and 
 John You, house Lynches-lane, 3,000 
 8" Edw. B. Weyman’s children, house 
 in Wentworth-street, ; 2,000 
 9* Samuel A. & Lydia Ann Maverick, 
 house in Wragsboro, . 10,000 
 10" Hannah Turpin, yearly interest on | 
 
 Wm. Turpin, jun.’s bond, $196. 
 11" 12%13" | Wm. Turpin, jun., his bond, house 
 
 in King-street, farm on Charles- 
 
 ton Neck, 20,000 | $2784 
 14" 15" 16" | Wm. Turpin, jun., one-third Little 
 
 David’s Mountain, one-half resi- 
 
 due in S. C., executor in S. C., 6,000 
 14" 15" 16" | Samuel Maverick, one-third Little 
 
 David’s Mountain, one-half resi- 
 
 due, executorin S.C... : 6,000 
 12".13" 14" | Catharine Weyman, rent of house 
 
 in King-street, and farm, one-third 
 
 Little David's Mountain, execu- 
 
 trix in §, C, 
 
 nn ee ee 
 
 $70,600 
 
28 
 
 STATE OF NEW-YORK. 
 
 17" My coloured people in N.Y. are free. 
 18* Joseph Thomas Turpin, store, 18, 
 South-st., house, 271, Bowery, | 23,000 
 House, 253, Front-st., store, 159, 
 | South-street, . : : 
 47 49" 19""| Clothes, silver plate, one-fourth part 
 of house and kitchen furniture, 
 
 13,000 
 
 300 
 
 and books, : . i : 
 20" Juda Jackson, Edward Butler, and 
 Lucy Bates, lot, 371, Broadway, | 12,000 
 23° 49" 56" Mary Flandrau, house, 386, Pearl- 
 street, two acre lot at New Ro- 
 chelle, ‘ ‘ . A 10,000 
 Silver plate, one-fourth of house and 
 kitchen furniture, part of residue, 70 
 25" 46" | Wm. Peter Turpin, house, 416, 
 Broome-st., house on Elm-st., . 15,000 
 48" 49" | Silver plate, books, one-half house 7 
 and kitchen furniture, —. : 500 
 30" Mary Turpin Champney, cash, . 500 
 38" | Phebe Johnson, cash, $500, er) 500 
 384" - | Jane Ward, cash, ; : 4 500 
 32! Lund Turpin, cash, . : 1000 
 33° Henry Drayton, note, $100, forgive 
 the debt, : ; F ' 100 
 34% | Slaves set free in South Carolina, to 
 be paid to either Sam. Maverick, | 
 or to. Wm. Turpin, jun. or to’ 
 Samuel Augustus Maverick, or to 
 (Ls Ghpvleset Golding, 4.10y-aatttee 8000 
 35"  |Edward B. Weyman’s debt to me | 
 forgiven. 
 36" Mary Rosilla. Weyman, cash, >. | : 500 
 5 be Joseph T. Weyman, Mary Eliz. 
 Weyman, Robert H. Weyman, 
 1 cent to each, 3 , ; aay 
 39% Benjamin Lunda, Editor of the Uni- be 
 | versal Emancipation, cash,  . 1500 
 40" Wm. Loyd Garrison, Editor of the 
 ei Liberator, f : , ; 500 
 41* Doctor Wm. Beach, the medical 
 reformer, cash, : ‘ : 500 
 42° Theodore Dwight, Editor Daily 
 Advertiser, cash, : f ».. 1000 
 
 $73,000 | $18,254 
 
4 4‘ 
 50% 
 503" 
 
 51* 
 
 53" 
 Qsth 
 219 223 
 26% 46% 4g 
 59% 
 
 31* 57. 
 
 43° 
 56" 
 57" 
 402" 
 22? 
 
 5gth 
 21" 22 
 59" 
 
 24 
 
 4 5th 
 
 29 
 
 Jesse Torrey, jun., of Philadelphia, 
 if living, cash, 
 
 Peter Williams, (a black man,) 
 minister, 
 
 Arthur Tappan, ‘and Israel Coarse, 
 and Charles Collins, for relief of 
 Africans, 200 shares in the Me- 
 chanic’s Bank, New-York, 
 
 Peter A..Jay, Thomas Hale, and 
 Charles Collins, 100 shares do., 
 for African School, 
 
 William Mower, for his two daugh- 
 ters, 
 
 Richard Yeadon, or either of my 
 South Carolina executors, cash, 
 Wm. Turpin, jun., half of stores, 
 
 173 & 174, South-street, 
 
 Wm. Turpin, jun. books, silver eae 
 and library, 
 
 Wm. Turpin, jun. one-third of one- 
 fourth part of residue, suppose will 
 be $7000. 
 
 Rachel Malin, cash, $6000, and one- 
 
 eighth part of one-fourth of resi-— 
 
 due, $ to be added, 
 
 | Charles Collins, and ae B. 
 
 Collins, cash, . 
 
 | George B. Collins, one- e-eighth part 
 
 of one-fourth of residue. 
 
 Charles Collins, one-fourth part of! 
 
 one-fourth of residue. 
 
 Charles Collins, 100 shares in Me- 
 chanic’s Bank, ; 
 
 Catharine Weyman, one- third rent 
 of 173 & 174, South-st. to be paid 
 by Maverick & Turpin. 
 
 Catharine Weyman, one-third of 
 one-fourth of residue. 
 
 Samuel Maverick, half of 2 stores, | 
 
 173 & 174, South-street, . x 
 
 Samuel Maverick, one-third of one- 
 fourth of residue. 
 
 Barnabas Brown, Peleg Brown, 
 Wm. Turpin Brown, 62, Green- 
 wich, 63, Washington-street, 
 
 Barnabas Brown, Peleg Brown, 
 Wm. Turpin Brown, silver plate, 
 
 10,000 
 
 10,000 
 
 22,000 
 
 4000 
 
 500 
 
 5000 
 
 2500 
 
 200 
 900 
 
 300 
 
 6000 
 600 
 
 2500 
 
 50 
 
30) 
 
 403" 52° | Peleg Brown, $4000, 100 shares in 
 Mechanics’ Bank, $2500, ; 6500 
 57" Barnabas Brown and Wm. Turpin 
 Brown, one-fourth each of one- 
 fourth of residue. 
 54" Hicks, $1000, Robinson, $2000, 
 Lawrence, $1000, . : 4000 
 60" Executors Depau, Hicks, Robinson, 
 Lawrence B. Brown, P. Brown, 
 and Turpin. 
 55" Divide residue in four equal parts. 
 56% Thos. Wm. Turpin Bicknal, George |, 
 A. Bicknal, Almira Wheeler, 
 Mehitable Atwell, Angeline Post, 
 Anna Dunlap, one-eighth part 
 each of one-fourth of residue, 
 
 58” Francis Depau, one-fourth of residue, 
 suppose $20,000. 
 heoe Wm. Fuller, of Graves County, Ky. 2000 
 + jay Executors must cull out all papers 
 
 relating to New-York, Samuel 
 Maverick and William Turpin, 
 Examined, . 1s ali 
 15th May, jun., must take all other papers 
 and keep them in Carolina. 
 
 ewe Gem) eee pee 
 
 $53,304 
 LIST OF PERSONAL PROPERTY. 
 10,000 New Haven 53 perct. Stock, | 10,000 
 20,000 New- York Canal 5 per cent. 
 Stock, : : 20,000 
 5,000 Ohio 5 per cent. Stock, ; 5,000 
 3,800 N. Y. City5 per cent. Stock, 3,800 
 ————/ 38,800 
 
 10,000 Scribner & Hitchcock, bond 
 
 and mortgage, . ; : 10,000 
 10,000 three Hitchcocks, } 10,000 
 6,000 Edmund Pendleton, . : 6,000 
 11,000 Benjamin M Vicker, ! 11,000 
 6,000 Andrew S. Barker, . : 6,000 
 8,000 Owen Ejvers, . : 2 8,000 
 4,000 Peleg Brown, bond, 4,000 
 
 2,784 Wm. Turpin, jun., bond, left 
 with Cath. Weyman, in Charleston, 2,784 
 5,000 Sam. Suet ean and mort- 
 page, |). 5,000 
 ———| 62,784 
 
3L 
 
 102 Shares United States’ Bank, 10,200 
 
 507 Mechanic’s Danis : : 13,000 
 
 200 Chemical Bank, ; ; 5,000 , 
 ee — 1 ees, SOO 
 
 Furniture and silver, . ; 1,000 
 
 Deposit in Banks, : 13,320 
 
 May 17th, 1833, | W. ($144,104 
 
 Dr. U. S. Bank, bal. $10,376 | ¢ 2.2 
 Mechanics’, 294 | B23 
 Merchants’, 825 | 5g 5 
 Manhattan, 1675 | s3” 
 Chemical, 150 | $8.8 
 
 —_————| On. 
 $13,320 | 5284 
 
 All of which we have caused by these presents to be exempli- 
 fied, and the seal of office of the Surrogate of the County of 
 New- York to be hereto affixed. 
 
 Witness, James CampBELL, Surrogate of said County, at 
 the City of New- York, the thirteenth day of April, in the 
 year one thousand cioht hundred and thirty-five. 
 
 JAMES CAMPBELL, Surrogate. 
 
4 
 
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