LECTURES 
 
 GEORGE THOMPSON, 
 
 WITH A FULL REPORT OF THE DISCUSSION BETWEEN MR. THOMPSON 
 AND MR. BORTHWICK, THE PRO-SLAVERV AGENT, HELD AT 
 THE ROYAL AMPHITHEATRE, LIVERPOOL, (ENG.) AND 
 WHICH CONTINUED FOR SIX EVENINGS WITH UN 
 ABATED INTEREST : COMPILED FROM VARIOUS 
 ENGLISH EDITIONS. ALSO, A BRIEF 
 
 H I S T O R Y -Q F H I S G Q N N E C T I O N 
 
 WfTH 
 
 ANTI-SLAVERY CAUSE 
 
 N ENGLAND, 
 
 BY WM. LLOYD GARRISON. 
 
 BOSTON: 
 PUBLIHSED BY ISAAC KNAPP. 
 
 183G. 
 
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1836, by 
 
 ISAAC KNAPP, 
 In the Clerk s office of the District Court of Massachusetts. 
 
 PRINTED BY ISAAC KNAPP. 
 
MR. THOMPSON IN ENGLAND. 
 
 IN the spring of 1833, I was sent to England as the 
 representative of the New England Anti-Slavery Socie 
 ty, to undeceive the philanthropists of that country, (who 
 had been misled by Elliot Cresson,) in relation to the 
 character and designs of the American Colonization 
 Society, and to enlist their moral energies for the ex 
 tinction of American slavery. Convicted of double- 
 dealing, cowardice, and imposture, Mr. Cresson soon 
 afterward left England in disgrace, and returned to 
 a country, whose prejudices and oppressions enable 
 him to pursue his mischievous work with more facility 
 and success. Most happily for my mission, I found on 
 my arrival in London, a large body of anti-slavery dele 
 gates, the elite of the cause, assembled from various 
 parts of the kingdom, to watch the progress of the 
 Emancipation Bill through Parliament. A majority of 
 this body were highly influential members of the Socie 
 ty of Friends among whom it will suffice to name 
 Josiah Forster, William Allen, Robert Forster, James 
 Cropper, Joseph John Gurney, William Forster, Rich 
 ard Barrett, Richard Ball, Emanuel Cooper. Joseph 
 Cooper, Joseph Sturge, Joseph Eaton, and Arthur 
 West, as specimens of the elevated character of the 
 whole body of delegates. Associated with these dis- 
 
IV MR. THOMPSON 
 
 tinguishett pljTilantbtOjfi^tsfaiJd pure minded Christians, 
 was, QEPRG^ THOMPSON, esteemed and beloved by 
 them, Efllj.ttnft ;tking;a; conspicuous part in their deliber 
 ations and discussions the champion of liberty, who, 
 in this country, has been branded as a miserable crea 
 ture, a scoundrel/ an incendiary, a cut-throat, c a 
 foreign emissary, and a fugitive from justice ! The 
 acme of calumny was attained when it was said of 
 the immaculate Redeemer, that he was l a wine bib 
 ber and a glutton," and that he had a devil : all sur 
 prise may cease, therefore, at the defamation of others, 
 however virtuous and upright. It was in London that 
 MR. THOMPSON was thus honorably associated, thus 
 highly esteemed, and thus signally popular the very 
 city from which, it is said, by the unutterably base 
 journalists of this country, he fled in disgrace to these 
 shores ! Although the pro-slavery party were as hos 
 tile as selfishness, prejudice and hatred could make 
 them to the cause and the friends of emancipation, 
 and although they particularly dreaded the unrivalled 
 abilities, irresistible eloquence, and unexampled success 
 of MR. THOMPSON as a public lecturer, yet not a whis 
 per was heard against his reputation, not the least stain 
 was thrown upon the resplendent brightness of his 
 career. No : calumny was dumb, effrontery stood 
 abashed, and malice was powerless. It was left for the 
 \ human hyenas and jackalls of America, who delight to 
 j listen to negro groans, to revel in negro blood, and to 
 batten upon negro flesh, to rend a character as fair as 
 uprightness, and as lovely as benevolence itself. They 
 vainly supposed, that the billows of the Atlantic would 
 hide their malice from detection, and that distance 
 
IN ENGLAND. V 
 
 would allow them to be ferocious with impunity. The 
 folly of their conduct was as great as its enormity. It 
 was perpetrated, too, for a diabolical purpose to 
 perpetuate the worse than Egyptian thraldom of more 
 than two millions of their own countrymen, who are by 
 law and usuage transformed, with their offspring, from 
 rational, accountable, immortal beings, into goods and 
 chattels, and implements of husbandry ! 
 
 MR. THOMPSON had just returned from a tour through 
 the kingdom, which was followed by the most brilliant 
 results in favor of the immediate abolition of colonial 
 slavery. His lectures had been every where thronged 
 to overflowing, and the enthusiam of his audiences was 
 boundless. The West India party had sent into the 
 field against MR. THOMPSON, a person by the name of 
 PETER BORTHWICK, well skilled in artificial oratory, 
 fluent in debate, stoically self-possessed, of considerable 
 tact and ingenuity, with a face of bronze, and a heart of 
 stone, and a faithful copyist of him who was a liar from 
 the beginning. The combatants met repeatedly, for 
 public disputation, in Liverpool, Manchester, Glasgow, 
 Edinburgh, and other places. The interest that was 
 excited in these discussions arose to a high degree of 
 intensity, but the victory was never for a single moment 
 dubious. BORTHWICK was met and foiled at every 
 point, with amazing celerity and overwhelming effect ; 
 and in a short time he as studiously shunned, as he had 
 sought, a contest with his superior opponent. Yet the 
 former was no mean antagonist, either in adroitness 
 or ability. 
 
 MR. BORTHWICK had confidently declared, that he 
 would follow MR. THOMPSON from city, to city, from 
 
VI MR. THOMPSON 
 
 village to village, and from one end of the kingdom to 
 the other; but he relied too much upon simple lying 
 and gross fiction,* and was comparatively ignorant oi 
 
 * The following anecdote, related to me by a friend in London, who 
 ivas an eye-witness of the scene, is given as a specimen of BORTH WICK S 
 effrontery. One evening, he was holding forth upon colonial slavery to 
 a large audience in Edinburgh or Glasgow, wholly unaware of the pres 
 ence of MR. THOMPSON, who sat taking notes in a remote corner of the 
 hall. In the Course of bis lecture, he boldly asserted, that, by a law of 
 Jamaica, if a slave should testify that his master had maltreated him, his 
 naked declaration would suffice to cause the master to be heavily fined, 
 although the accusation should be groundless ! To confirm his statement, 
 he said he held the law in his hand, which he would read to the 
 assembly, if any one present should call for it. He then paused, as if to 
 aflbrd an opportunity for the request to be made, and was about to pro 
 ceed, when MR. THOMPSON audibly said, Read the law! Though 
 taken by surprise, BORTHWICK immediately recognised his opponent, and 
 coolly replied : The honorable gentleman cries Read the law ! Does he 
 rioubt my readiness to read hi 1 will read it, if he should again urge his 
 request: if not, I will proceed with my lecture. Again MR. THOMPSON 
 responded more emphatically, READ THE LAW! The audience now be 
 came considerably agitated. BORTHWICK himself was dashed, (for lie 
 had no law to read,) and turning to MR. THOMPSON imploringly said, I 
 aopeal to the honorable gentleman, whether it is fair to interrupt the lec 
 ture, and to agitate this meeting, by pertinaciously insisting upon the read- 
 in" of the law. Have I not declared that I hold the law in my handl 
 Have I not referred distinctly to its provisions ? I pledge my word that it 
 shall be given to the public. Ought not this to satisfy the gentlemanl I 
 throw myself upon his courtesy and kindness: will he allow me to proceed 
 without further interruption 1 Once more, in a clear tone, Mu. THOMP 
 SON responded, READ THE LAW! The pro-slavery portion of the 
 audience, seeing the terrible dilemma into which their champion was 
 brought, and true to their character all over the world, now raved and 
 stormed at Mr. T., and vehemently cried out, Down, sir! down, sir! Out 
 with him! out with him! The chairman, too, was rampant with vexa 
 tion, and ordered Mr. T. to be silent, or he would call for the police offi 
 cers to take him out of the house BORTHWICK, all the while, looking un 
 utterable things. During this extraordinary hubbub, MR. THOMPSON 
 stood with much calmness and dignity, and turning to those around him, 
 said determinately, f Turn him out ! Who will turn me out? Will you, 
 
IN ENGLAND. VII 
 
 the intellectual and moral strength of his formidable 
 opponent. On his part, the aspect of the conflict was soon 
 changed from offensive to defensive. The last attempt on 
 the part of MR. THOMPSON, to confront MR. BORTH- 
 WICK before a public audience, was made while I was 
 in England. The cities of Bath and Bristol were the 
 strong holds of the pro-slavery party, and they contribu 
 ted liberally to the support of MR. BORTHWICK. A 
 splendid service of plate had just been presented to him 
 
 sir? or you, sir? or you, sir! Then as they recoiled, addressing himself 
 to the chairman, he continued It looks well in you, sir, to talk of forc 
 ing me from this hall! Have you so soon forgotten that to me you are in 
 debted for having been saved from a violent expulsion, a few evenings since, 
 in this city, for your turbulent conduct, at one of my lectures! When some 
 of my auditors exclaimed, Turn him out! I said, No let him remain ; 
 nay, let him be heard. If he is thrust out, /shall also leave. And now, sir, 
 regardless of this timely interference in your behalf, you threaten to expel 
 me from this assembly ! And why! Have I behaved disorderly! No. 
 Have I taken a liberty that was not proffered 1 No. MR. BORTHWICK 
 said that his statement concerning certain features of West India slavery 
 was derived from a law that he held in his hand, which, if any were skep 
 tical, he would read. Confident there was no such law in existence, I re 
 peatedly requested him to read the law. This is the head and front of my 
 offending. If he had fulfilled his promise, there would have been no dis 
 turbance. If he has the law, why does he not read it! The audience must 
 now be satisfied that MR. BORTHWICK has promised more than he is able 
 to perform ; and, consequently, that his glowing description of the happy 
 condition of the enslaved negro is drawn from his imagination, rather than 
 from the statute-book. If he shall finish his lecture without reading the law, 
 he will have succeeded by his labors this evening in bringing condemnation 
 upon himself and his cause. To give him a chance, therefore, to rescue 
 both, if possible, for the last time I call upon him to READ THE LAW. 
 The whole of this scene cannot be adequately described. Order was 
 at length restored poor BORTHWICK was confounded, and wound up his 
 lecture as speedily as possible, still persisting that there tons such a law, but 
 he had unfortunately mislaid it. It t-houl.l certainly be forthcoming at 
 another time. That time never came! 
 
VIII MR. THOMPSON 
 
 in the former city, for his advocacy of colonial slavery, 
 and Bath was now his chosen place of residence, in 
 which he was ignobly figuring as the ( lion of the day. 
 MR. THOMPSON had long been anxious to deliver a lec 
 ture in that city, although he was aware of the disadvan 
 tages under which he must labor as the advocate of 
 emancipation. Having made his arrangements accord 
 ingly, we left London together, in the stage-coach early 
 in the evening, and rode all night, and just as morning 
 dawned entered Bath, experiencing the bodily depres 
 sion usually arising from a sleepless night and a long 
 journey. As we rode through various streets, large 
 placards upon the walls met our eyes, informing the 
 public that MR. GEORGE THOMPSON would reply to 
 MR. BORTHWICK S lecture at 12 o clock of that day. 
 MR. THOMPSON had not seen the lecture alluded to, and 
 it was with difficulty he obtained a copy of it in season 
 for perusal, before he went to the place of meeting to 
 reply to it! Thus fatigued, and thus unprepared, he 
 was called to stand up, for the first time, before a severe 
 ly critical and highly intellectual assembly in the 
 Athens of England ! He had scarcely finished his brief 
 exordium, before his physical depression was changed 
 to vigorous action ; and for more than three hours, an 
 affluent stream of eloquence, widening and deepening in 
 its course, was poured from the exhaustless fountain of 
 his mind. His auditors were evidently taken by sur 
 prise. They went (very many of them at least) to cavil, 
 not to applaud to depress the orator by their coolness, 
 not to animate him by their enthusiasm. But their half 
 equivocal ejaculations of hear ! hear ! at the com 
 mencement, were soon succeeded by loud cheers. As 
 
IN ENGLAND. IX 
 
 he rose to the climax of his powers, the house rang with 
 thunders of applause. In the course of his lecture, he 
 paused repeatedly, and thanking them for their very flat 
 tering reception, which he ascribed to their interest in 
 the great cause of human rights, intimated that he would 
 hring his remarks to a close, lest he should trespass 
 upon their time and patience. But the cries of No! 
 no ! Go on ! go on ! were unanimous, and encouraged 
 him to proceed. At length, nature demanded relief: 
 the powerful and long-continued action of his mind shat 
 tered its fleshly tabernacle, and he could speak no 
 longer. It was, in truth, a masterly effort. 1 cannot 
 conceive how he could have improved it by long 
 deliberation, either in the delicacy of its satire, the 
 force of its reasoning, or the splendor of its declamation. 
 MR. BORTHWICK was challenged to discuss the subject 
 of slavery in Bath, but wisely declined. 
 
 The qualifications of MR. THOMPSON, as a lecturer,^ 
 filled my mind with admiration. His person was tall 
 and graceful ; his social manners captivating; his voice 
 of great compass, and very pleasant in its lower tones ; 
 his action natural at times vehement yet generally 
 governed by oratorical rules ; his elocution beautiful, 
 spontaneous, irresistible. Especially did he excel in 
 debate : he could do more for himself and his cause 
 with MR. BORTHWICK, than without him : and he 
 always preferred to have an antagonist, if one could be 
 found. He had the faculty of thinking on his legs 
 faster than any other speaker I had ever heard. But 
 it was not his quickness of perception, nor his fluency 
 of speech, nor his brilliancy of retort, upon which he 
 placed reliance. He felt that the cause which he es^X 
 
X MR. THOMPSON 
 
 poused was invincible, inasmuch as it was based upon 
 the rock of TRUTH, supported by the pillars of JUSTICE 
 and MERCY, and patronized by GOD. He was strong 
 in faith that faith which is as an anchor to the soul, 
 both sure and steadfast that faith which has so often 
 overcome the world. His appeals were made to the 
 CHRISTIANITY of Great Britain. He depicted slavery 
 as a comprehensive system of soul-murder. If he 
 alluded to the physical sufferings of the slaves, he did so 
 rather in confirmation of his charges of animal cru 
 elty against the planters, than to excite the highest 
 indignation of his audience. He knew that he was ad 
 dressing a professedly moral and religious people ; and 
 he rightly judged, that they would regard an outrage 
 done to the intellect and soul of a human being, as 
 transcending every other in enormity. It was his great 
 aim, therefore, to establish the equality, exalt the value, 
 and vindicate the immortality of the slave. For that 
 despised and fettered victim, the heavens nnd the earth 
 were created, as much as for patriarchs, prophets and 
 apostles. For him, equally with the rest of mankind, 
 God said, <LET THERE BE LIGHT. For him, the sun 
 and the moon and stars were ordained to shine in the 
 firmament. For him, God commanded the earth to 
 bring forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, 
 and the tree yielding fruit after his kind; the living 
 creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and 
 beast of the earth, after his kind. For him, God said, 
 Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving crea 
 ture that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the 
 earth. To his dominion were subjected the fish of the 
 sea, the fowl of the air, and every living thing that moveth 
 
IN ENGLAND. XI 
 
 upon the earth. And, finally, for him the Lord of 
 glory descended from heaven, was scorned and buffet 
 ed, and crucified upon the cross, to redeem him from 
 the thraldom of sin, and make him an heir of God, and 
 a joint heir with himself. It was thus that this distin 
 guished advocate lifted up the down-trodden slave to an 
 equality with the highest of the human race : and when 
 he vividly portrayed the awful guilt of those who were 
 plunging him into an abyss of degradation, depriving him 
 of knowledge, and ruining his soul by a systematic pro 
 cess, a Christian audience could not be otherwise than 
 moved to tears, roused to indignant remonstrance, and 
 inspired to labor for his deliverance. I trust it will be 
 remembered, throughout the mighty struggle that is now 
 going on in this country, that it was upon the shoulders 
 of Christianity, the anti-slavery cause was carried tri 
 umphantly to the goal of emancipation. 
 
 As the bill for the abolition of Colonial Slavery had 
 passed both houses of Parliament, previous to my em 
 barkation for the United States, and as the long pro 
 tracted contest in England was about drawing to a close, 
 it occurred to me, that if I could succeed in inducing 
 MJR. THOMPSON to visit America, and co-operate with 
 the little band of abolitionists who were there struggling 
 against wind and tide, my mission would be crowned 
 with the highest success. 
 
 One day as I was dining at the house of THOMAS 
 FOWELL BUXTON,* in London, our conversation natur 
 ally turned upon the state of the abolition question in 
 the United States. In the course of many inquiries, he 
 
 * The successor of WILBERFORCK in Parliament. 
 
3CII MR. THOMPSON 
 
 kindly remarked, that, as the friends of negro emancipa 
 tion in England had nearly accomplished their work in 
 the Colonies, they would soon be enabled to give their 
 sympathies and aid to their brethren in America, in a 
 more direct and efficient manner than they had hither 
 to done ; and he was sure they would readily do what 
 they could, consistently with duty, the relations that 
 ^subsisted between the two countries, &c. i In what 
 Kvay, then, Mr. Garrison, he inquired, c can we best 
 assist your cause? By giving us George Thompson, 7 
 I replied. But, he asked, would not there be strong 
 prejudices excited against him, on account of his being 
 an Englishman ? Do you think he could obtain a fair 
 /hearing before the American people? Would not the 
 j slaveholders, especially, and their violent adherents, 
 I endeavor to inflame the jealousy of the nation, and 
 ^misrepresent the real object of his mission? To these 
 questions I replied, that the coming of MR. THOMPSON 
 among us would undoubtedly stir up the bile of all 
 those who were opposed to the abolition of slavery ; that 
 he might expect to encounter severe ridicule and bitter 
 denunciation ; that it would not be safe for him (as it 
 was not safe for any New-Englander who was an abo 
 litionist) to travel and lecture in the slave States ; and 
 that he would have to take* his chance probably an 
 v unequal chance with the rest of us who were proscrib- 
 >\ed for our abhorrence of the slave system. Still, I be 
 lieved he would find opportunities to speak in public, 
 especially in New-England, as often as he could desire ; 
 and 1 felt confident, that whenever and wherever he 
 should succeed in making himself heard, he would dis 
 arm prejudice, extort admiration, and multiply converts 
 
IN ENGLAND. XIII 
 
 to our cause ; and that he would finally remove every 
 obstacle in his path, arising from his transatlantic origin. 
 As to his personal safety in New-England, I did not 
 think there would be any hazard. How little did I then 
 imagine, that ; such was the ferocious spirit which 
 slavery had generated among the sons of the pilgrims, 
 MR. THOMPSON would soon be compelled to secrete 
 himself from the daggers of a people, boasting contin 
 ually of LIBERTY and EQUALITY, and proudly living with 
 in sight of Bunker Hill, for simply inculcating the self- 
 evident truths contained in their own Declaration of 
 Independence I How little did I then anticipate, that,^ 
 even in Boston, the wealthy and respectable portion of 
 the community would riotously assemble together, at mid 
 day, in the broad sunlight of heaven, to tar and feather, 
 and perhaps barbarously put to death, a foreign philan 
 thropist, whose only aim was to assist them in driving 
 the monster oppression from their shores ! How im 
 possible was it for me then to suppose, that the time 
 was rapidly approaching when Bostonians would be so 
 recreant to the character of their patriotic forefathers, so 
 lost to all sense of shame, so greedy of the gain of un 
 righteousness, and so destitute not only of the princt- 
 ples of justice, but even of the common instincts of hu 
 manity, as to rush en masse into Faneuil Hall, their old 
 CRADLE OF LIBERTY, and there, in the delirium of 
 passion, brand the advocates of universal emancipation 
 as traitors to their country, eulogize the robbers cf the 
 poor and needy as patriotic citizens, and cheer the 
 memory of WASHINGTON, because he ivas a slaveholder^/ 
 Little did I imagine, that the time was speedily coming 
 when the freedom of speech and of the press would be 
 
XIV MR. THOMPSON 
 
 deemed a treasonable offence ; when the U. S. mail 
 would be plundered by a committee of respectable and 
 affluent citizens in the open daylight of heaven, not 
 only with impunity, but with the -approbation of the 
 people ; when large rewards for the abduction of north 
 ern citizens would be offered in all parts of the south ; 
 when applications would be made by Governors of 
 southern States to those of northern States, to deliver 
 up individuals who were neither fugitives from justice, 
 or guilty of any misdemeanor, that they might be put 
 to an ignominious death ; when northern citizens at the 
 south would be arrested and condemned illegally, on 
 suspicion of being opposed in principle to slavery, and 
 cruelly scourged or lynched/ (i. e. gibbeted by a mob, ) 
 and the murderers suffered to go unmolested by the 
 courts ; when the President of the United States would 
 urge upon Congress the duty of passing another ALIEN 
 AND SEDITION LAW, for the perpetuity of the slave 
 system ; and when a Bill w 7 ould be reported in the 
 Senate, making it an offence worthy of fine or impris 
 onment in any postmaster in a slave State, who should 
 knowingly deliver or circulate any letter, newspaper, 
 tract or pamphlet, containing sentiments hostile to sla 
 very ! No : corrupt and despotic as I knew my coun 
 try to be, and thoroughly infected with the poison of 
 negro oppression as was her entire system, yet I had no 
 anticipation of the occurrence of events so dreadful and 
 scuicidal as these. 
 
 MR. BUXTON pleasantly remarked, that, if I thought 
 they could obtain a hearing at the north, we might have 
 not only MR. THOMPSON, but all their abolition lec 
 turers, if desirable. He also said, that it was his inten- 
 
IN ENGLAND. XV 
 
 tion to address a letter to the people of the United 
 States upon the subject of slavery, which I urged him 
 to write without delay. 
 
 At my next interview with MR. THOMPSON, I frankly 
 stated to him my views and feelings. Novel and start 
 ling as was my proposition, it made at once a deep im 
 pression upon his benevolent mind, and he promised to 
 give it all that consideration which its importance merit 
 ed. It was an extraordinary sacrifice which he was in 
 vited to make a sacrifice of personal comfort, safety, 
 emolument, reputation, home, relations, friends, and 
 country. What trust in God, what love for the human 
 race, what sympathy for the outcasts and the dumb, did 
 it require ! How few, how very few, even among the 
 professed followers of Christ, are prepared to make a 
 much smaller sacrifice ! Ye who love your native 
 country, say, is it a small matter to be exiled from her 
 shores ? Ye who feel and sing, that there is no place 
 like home, be it ever so humble, tell me, is it nothing to 
 be severed from it by a boundless ocean, and to have all 
 the fibres of your affections torn asunder ? Ye who are 
 holding continual intercourse with kindred and friends, 
 and enjoying the delightful satisfaction of meeting in 
 your daily walks familiar countenances and native forms 
 declare, how many pangs would it cost you to absent 
 yourselves from their society, and sojourn in a strange 
 land where you would be alike unknowing and un 
 known? Ye who, as the darkness of night deepens and 
 spreads over your abodes, lie down at ease and in safety, 
 with none to molest or make you afraid answer, would 
 it be pastime voluntarily to surround yourselves, your wives 
 and your little ones, with afflictions, necessities, distresses, 
 
XVI MR. THOMPSON 
 
 tumults, and to be in perils of waters, in perils of robbers 1 -, 
 in perilsof tyrants, in perilsof a foreign land, in perilsin the 
 city, and in perils among false brethren ? Ye who pos 
 sess an honorable reputation, and swim upon the full 
 tide of a well-earned popularity, and hear the voice of 
 panegyric every where vocal in your behalf is it easy ? 
 even in obedience to the promptings of duty, to turn your 
 backs upon the scenes of your triumphs, and the ap 
 plauses of a grateful people to seek a land in which 
 you shall instantly become of no reputation, and be 
 ranked among the offscouring of the earth, and be brand 
 ed with every hateful epithet, and hunted as a wild beast 
 by a blood-thirsty populace ? Yet such were the sacri 
 fices and perils which MR. THOMPSON was invited to 
 encounter : and what but THE LOVE or CHRIST CON 
 STRAINING HIM could have induced him finally to take 
 up so heavy a cross as this? How many plausible ob 
 jections might have been started to the mission, if he 
 had been disposed to shrink from its perils, or evade its 
 mortifications ! He was a foreigner ; the experiment 
 was a novel one ; it might needlessly jeopard the hap 
 piness and safety of his family; his advocacy might do 
 more harm than good ; there were many important 
 moral enterprises in England which needed his efforts ; 
 there was no lack of talent or zeal enlisted in the anti- 
 slavery cause in the United States, &tc. &c. Minds of 
 little faith, and of great timorousness, might start such 
 difficulties in favor of themselves or of others ; but 
 GEORGE THOMPSON never once thought of sheltering 
 himself behind such coverts. It was not the hardship 
 of exile, passionately attached as he was to his native 
 country ; nor the pain of separation from bis kindred ; 
 
IN ENGLAND. XVII 
 
 nor the Joss of reputation and comfort ; nor the perils of 
 the great deep; nor the certainty of encountering the 
 scorn and persecution of a proud and oppressive peo 
 ple ; that made him pause, and deliberately consider the 
 proposition which was made to him, in behalf of the friends 
 of the slaves across the Atlantic. Was the cause, which 
 he was invited to espouse, of greater moment than 
 any other which presented itself? Could he hope to be 
 more useful in it than in a subordinate enterprise ? 
 Would such a mission be in accordance with the spirit 
 of the gospel of Christ ? Was he qualified to sustain 
 it ? These were the great questions which occupied 
 the thoughts of MR. THOMPSON, and which, in his view, 
 included all other considerations. 
 
 The first question he could readily answer in the 
 affirmative. There was no conceivable interest, apper 
 taining to a human being, either for time or eternity, 
 either affecting his body or soul, which was not bound 
 up in the cause of the slave. Slavery was the transfor 
 mation of man, with all his faculties and powers, into a 
 beast, a machine, an article of merchandize. It was 
 full of mortal woe, and the wreck of immortality. It 
 was the entire subversion of the moral government of 
 the universe, the frustration of God s design in the cre 
 ation of man, the daily crucifixion of Jesus Christ. 
 Slavery was practically a state of atheism on the part of 
 the masters, and of heathenism as it regarded the slaves. 
 If the whole man was ruined by it, what other cause 
 contemplated the rescue of more than the whole man ? 
 Invention science the arts letters self-government 
 progressive improvement domestic happiness pri 
 vate and public safety national union honor and re- 
 2* 
 
XVIII MR. THOMPSON 
 
 nown freedom of conscience, of speech, of the press, 
 of choice, of locomotion individual liberty the sa 
 cred relations of life the circulation of the scriptures 
 the triumph of the gospel all these depended upon 
 the extinction of slavery. No other cause embraced so 
 many particulars. 
 
 The astonishing success which had already crowned 
 his labors in Great Britain, and his familiarity with the 
 subject of slavery, in all its legal, physical and moral rela 
 tions, authorised him to believe, that his usefulness could 
 not be enlarged by the prosecution of an inferior enter 
 prise, however excellent in itself. He was now better 
 qualified than ever to renew the warfare against slavery, 
 inasmuch as his experience and knowledge were greater 
 than when he first enlisted in the service. 
 
 The third question was affirmatively answered by his 
 heart and his understanding, as soon as it was propound 
 ed. His mission would be, physically and spiritually, 
 intellectually and morally, the identical mission of the 
 Son of God to bind up the broken-hearted, to preach 
 deliverance to the captive, and the opening of the pris 
 on doors to those who were bound. It was authorised 
 by the command of the risen Saviour l Go ye into all 
 the w r orld, and preach the gospel to every creature. 
 Lo, T am with you ahvay, even to the end of the world. 
 An English Christian may as properly visit America, 
 and labor for the subversion of slavery, as an American 
 Christian may go to India, and toil for the downfal of 
 idolatry : so Jesus Christ determines. His gospel is 
 aggressive, and it disregards all territorial distinctions, 
 all national peculiarities, and all human prohibitions. A 
 Christian is authorised to conflict with sin wherever he 
 
IN ENGLAND. XIX 
 
 finds it. There is no place so remote, no station so lofty, 
 no power so great, no government so peculiar, as to 
 shield sin from rebuke and exposure. Yet proud and phar- 
 isaical America is enraged to madness, because she is 
 admonished for her bloody crimes by a Christian stran 
 ger; and her priests and her churches (with some signal 
 exceptions) artfully strive to inflame her hatred, and join 
 in the sanguinary cry, * Away with him ! crucify him ! 
 crucify him ! his blood be upon us, and on our children ! 
 
 The last question, whether he was qualified to sustain 
 so important an agency, was one which, sincerely dis 
 trusting his own abilities, he referred to the considera 
 tion and decision of the most discreet friends of the 
 colored race in Great Britain. As soon as the mission 
 was suggested to them, whatever may have been their 
 opinion of its suitableness or feasibility, they unanimous 
 ly agreed, that GEORGE THOMPSON was pre-eminently 
 qualified to prosecute it. Nor did they throw up any 
 obstacles in his path : on the contrary, they generously 
 proffered all needful assistance. 
 
 Having ascertained the views of his numerous friends, 
 MR. THOMPSON gave me the joyful assurance, a few 
 days before my departure, that Deo volente, he would 
 visit America, and cast his lot among the proscribed ad 
 vocates of injured humanity. But he must first per 
 form an important work in England. It was proposed 
 to organize a Society in London, for the abolition of sla 
 very and the slave trade THROUGHOUT THE WORLD ; 
 under whose auspices, Mr. T. would embark for the 
 United States. To accomplish this noble object, MR. 
 THOMPSON travelled through the kingdom, lecturing in 
 the principal towns and cities, and stimulating afresh the 
 
XX MR. THOMPSON 
 
 compassion and benevolence of the colored race uni 
 versally. The parent society was soon organized in the 
 metropolis, and several auxiliary associations were also 
 formed in various parts of the country. In Scotland, 
 particularly in Edinburgh, MR. THOMPSON was received 
 with every demonstration of respect, affection and de 
 light. The enthusiasm of his crowded audiences was 
 boundless. 
 
 Here I may pause, to notice some of the many 
 ridiculous charges which were brought against MR. 
 THOMPSON, after his arrival in this country. 
 
 First. He was taunted with being a ( Scotchman, the 
 Scotch emissary, <^c. This sneer is as false in fact, as 
 it is puerile in reason, and worthy of those whose na 
 tivity the most degraded tribe on earth should be loath 
 to claim. Surely, to be born in Scotland is no more 
 justly reproachful, than to be born in the United States, 
 and, indisputably, is quite as honorable and praisewor 
 thy. Contempt of other nations belongs to barbarism, 
 and is generally a proof of personal or domestic inferi 
 ority. Still, if we may lawfully enslave men because 
 they or their ancestors were born in Africa, we have an 
 unquestionable right to contemn those who originated in 
 Scotland. To this grave charge, that he was a foreign 
 er, MR. THOMPSON used playfully to reply, that he had 
 no choice, or control, in selecting the spot upon which 
 he first drew the breath of life ; that if he could have 
 made an election, at the time of his birth, perhaps he 
 might have chosen Boston, or New York, or Philadel 
 phia, in America, as the place of his nativity ; and that, 
 if any mistake had been committed, he had done what 
 he could to rectify it, by leaving England for America ! 
 
IN ENGLAND. XXI 
 
 Jt is proper to state, not to relieve Mr. T. of any odi 
 um, but for the sake of accuracy, that he was born in 
 Liverpool, and must therefore relinquish the satisfac 
 tion of belonging to renowned and enlightened Scot 
 land. 
 
 Again. It was partly alleged, that MR. THOMPSON 
 was sent out to this country, by a small number of an 
 tiquated spinsters, in Glasgow or Edinburgh : 
 
 As to THOMPSON, the foreign vagrant, who has attempted with impu 
 dent zeal to create excitement, he has been hooted from every place where 
 he has recently attempted to hold forth. He will soon find it most expedi 
 ent to return to his own country, and give an account of his mission to the 
 silly women who squandered their money for his support. [Boston Cen- 
 tinel] 
 
 < The ethics ofthe abolitionists, as expounded by their imported mouth 
 piece, THOMPSON, in the employment ofthe Glasgow philanthropistisses, 
 appears to be gaining some ground in the Slave States. Several murders 
 have recently been perpetrated, and God willing, as these murderous hypo 
 crites have it, we suppose several more will be committed, &c. [New 
 York Courier and Enquirer.] 
 
 < What ! the Cradle of Liberty [Faneuil Hall] in little more than half a 
 century to become its coffin ! The place where the Adams s and the Otis s 
 have so often uttered, in burning eloquence, the matchless value of our in 
 stitutions, to echo with the raven croakings of such creatures as Garrison ! 
 the mad imbecilities of Stow, the flatulent dogmatisms of the fanatic 
 Birney,from Kentucky, and the theatritcal contortions ofthe mouthing and 
 noisy driveller, acting as the stipendiary of the Glasgow seamstresses 1 . 
 the poor creature, who, having been found too dishonest for employment 
 by men, has tied himself to the apron-strings of some canting old women, 
 and derives his only power of purchasing his daily bread and butter from 
 the scanty savings ofa few Scotchftmales. This is one of the scoundrels, 
 we have no mealiness of phraseology for incendiaries, sent here with 
 lighted torches in their hands to set fire to our social fabric, &c. [Idem.} 
 
 * England entailed this curse [slavery] upon our land; and now some 
 maiden ladies in England send forth two mad missionaries to preach trea 
 son to our Constitution, and inculcate upon us * a labor of mercy to 
 wards our black population ! We shall not attend the meeting in question 
 
XXII MR. THOMPSON 
 
 but if we did, it would be to aid in tarring and feathering the impudent 
 foreign pretenders, who have thus dared to present themselves among us, to 
 sow the seeds of discord and disunion. Let them beware of the experi 
 ment they have attempted. [Idem.] 
 
 * Thompson the Scotchman. This most impudent of itinerant mounte 
 banks, represents Miss Lucretia M" 1 Tabb and a bevy of old maids at 
 Glasgow, who pay him board, wages and travelling expenses, to lecture 
 the citizens of the United States on their domestic duties; one of the most 
 urgent of which is, to lodge him in Bridewell, until he give security to keep 
 the peace after which, he ought to be packed up like a quintal of cod-fish 
 and sent back to the Caledonian damsels who exported this vagabondizing 
 interloper. [Idtm.] 
 
 What renders the conduct of these instigators of treason, robbery and 
 massacre, still more outrageous and indefensible, is the fact of their having 
 imported more than one organ of mischief from England, to assist in sowing 
 the live coals of ruin and desolation over a large portion of this prosperous 
 land. Not content with the agency of the wretched libeller of his country, 
 the exclusive friend of all the human race, they have associated in their 
 righteous race, an imported incendiary, who left his country for his coun 
 try s good. That this apostle of the old pussy cats of Glasgow, this tool 
 of Tappanism, has hitherto escaped the Bridewell, transportation, or some 
 other species of modern martyrdom, is a proof either that our laws are de 
 fective, our magistrates neglectful, or our people the best natured in the 
 world. We hope and trust that his next attempt in this city will end in a 
 transfer to the Penitentiary, as a common disturber and enemy lo society, 
 and would earnestly recommend to the superintendent of that society, a sol 
 itary probation, le.sthe might corrupt the morals of his pupils. [Idem.] 
 
 Occasionally, the bevy of old maids at Glasgow 
 would be made to give place to the British Government, 
 which was charged with having sent MR. THOMPSON to 
 this country for the express purpose of destroying the 
 American Union ! The same individuals, almost in the 
 same breath, would bring these ridiculous and contra 
 dictory allegations. Occasionally, the ridicule of con 
 tempt would be followed by the toscin of alarm, thus : 
 
 * Sir, these doctrines and that language, to which I have felt it my duty to 
 advert, tending as they do to the disruption oftheUnion, the prostration of Gov 
 
IN ENGLAND. XXIIJ 
 
 eminent, and to all the horrors of a civil and servile war, have attained their 
 greatest prevalence and intensity within the past year. Since a certain noto 
 rious foreign agent first landed upon our shores, who comes here not to unite 
 his fate with ours, not as other foreigners who would make this their home, 
 and whom we cordially receive to the participation of all the immeasurable 
 blessings of free institutions ; but he comes here as an avowed emissary , 
 sustained by foreign funds, a professed agitator upon questions deeply, pro 
 foundly political, which lay at the very foundation of our Union, and in 
 which the very existence of this nation is involved. He comes here from 
 the dark and corrupt institutions of Europe, to enlighten us upon the rights 
 of man and the moral duties of our own condition. Received by our hos 
 pitality , (/ /) he stands here upon our soil, protected by our laws, (. /) and 
 hurls fire-brands, arrows and death into the habitations of our neighbors, 
 and friends, and brothers ; and when he shall have kindled a conflagration 
 which is sweeping desolation over our land, he has only to embark for his 
 own country, and there look securely back, with indifference or exultation, 
 upon the wide spread ruin by which our cities are wrapt in flames, and our 
 garments rolled in blood !!* Speech of Hon. Peleg Sprague, at the 
 pro-slavery meeting in Faneuil Hall, Boston, August 21, 1835. 
 
 * Circumstances combine to give to this extraordinary phillippic, the ma 
 lignancy of the spirit of murder. Its author has a large reputation as a 
 statesman; his assault upon MR. THOMPSON was made at a time when 
 the public mind was absolutely in a state of phrenzy, and an infatuated pop 
 ulace stood ready to abduct, or tar and feather, or assassinate, as opportu 
 nity might offer, this noble philanthropist ; it was a powerful stimulus to 
 lawless violence, administered, too, in the Old Cradle of Liberty, which 
 operated on the 21st of October, by exciting a lawless mob of five thousand 
 gentlemen of property and standing in Boston, who endeavored to snake 
 out and lynch MR. THOMPSON, accord ing to Upmost approved mode of tor 
 ture and murder at the South. This philippic was not less cowardly than 
 sanguinary, inasmuch as it was uttered at a time, and under circumstances, 
 and in a place, which rendered it impossible either for MR. THOMPSON or 
 any of his friends to be heard in reply. 
 
 Our English brethren may feel curious to see c those doctrines and that 
 language of the abolitionists, which MR. SPRAGUE declares tend to the 
 disruption of the Union, the prostration of Government, and to all the hor 
 rors of a civil and servile war. Mr. Sprague represents them to be these: 
 Tell the abolitionists this; present to them in full array the terrific con 
 sequences of their attempts at immediate emancipation, and they meet all 
 by a cold abstraction (!) They answer, We must do right regardless 
 of consequences. They insist that it is right that they should urge their 
 
XXIV MR. THOMPSON 
 
 If it were true, that the ladies of Glasgow or Edin 
 burgh deputed MR. THOMPSON to this country, and 
 wholly defrayed the expenses of his mission among us, 
 the fact would be disgraceful, neither to them nor to 
 
 doctrines For the conviction of the South. [What a dangerous heresy !J 
 4 They insist upon immediate, instantaneous emancipation. By thus in 
 sisting that the continuance of slavery, under any circumstances, is necessa 
 rily of the same moral character as its original, voluntary introduction, that 
 it is equally criminal, they come to the conclusion, that no laws that sanc 
 tion or uphold it can have any moral obligation. Friends of humanity in 
 England, behold the head and front of the offending of American abolition 
 ists ! Are not their doctrines your doctrines 1 Yet it is alleged that they 
 * tend to all the horrors of a civil and servile war ! ! 
 
 MR. SPHAGUE is guilty of misrepresentation, in several instances. // is 
 not true, that MR. THOBIPSON came here as/an avowed emissary, or 
 as * a professed agitator, ia a pernicious sense. It is not true, that 
 die question of slavery is exclusively or pre-eminently a political one: 
 k is a mcr<al and religious question, which every moral and relig 
 ious being on earth has a right to examine and discuss, on these shores, 
 atnd throughout the world. The sneer at * the dark and corrupt institutions 
 of Europe manifests a large share of effrontery, in this connexion ; for the 
 institution of AMERICAN SLAVERY is incomparably more dark and cor 
 rupt. than any that exi-sts in Europe. MR. SPHAGUE exhibits, moreover, 
 a superfluity of indignation, because an Englishman * comes here to enlight 
 en tts, upon the rights of man, and the moral duties of our condition. 
 Surely, the people uho make merchandise of more than one-sixth of their 
 whole number, and declare that such brutal conduct is divinely sanctioned, 
 or, at least, is not prohibited by Christianity, need to be enlightened up 
 on the srtbject of inalienable human rights, and upon moral duties, more 
 dian any other people on the face of the globe. Surely, the man who 
 could desecrate FA> EUIL HALL by a speech in favor of American tyrants, 
 and by lauding WASH IN GTO is because he was ^slaveholder, (thus convert 
 ing a damning stain inu> a badge ofhonor,) may be taught something on the 
 score of liberty even by a NICHOLAS, much more by a free-born En^- 
 iishtnan. 
 
 By the British Constitution, no slave can breathe the air of England. 
 
 What does MR. SPRAGUE assert of the American Constitution, in approv 
 ing terms 1 < It recognizes and provides for the continuance of the relation 
 of mast er and slave. It does sanction, it does UPHOLD, slavery. There 
 
IN ENGLAND. XXV 
 
 him, but honorable to all parties. It is, unquestionably, 
 the duty of women to seek the universal elevation of 
 their sex from moral and physical degradation, by at 
 tempting, for instance, to extirpate the practice of self- 
 immolation in Hindonstan, or Turkish polygamy, or 
 American slavery. If a million females are held in 
 beastly thraldom in this country, is it unbecoming any 
 portion of the women of England, Scotland or Ireland, 
 to send forth and sustain an eloquent and gifted agent 
 to plead the cause of their down-trodden sex ? No. 
 
 is no pretence that the provisions of the Constitution, in relation to slavery, 
 were inserted by accident or inadvertence. Few parts of the Constitution 
 were more carefully and deliberately weighed. Has not every American 
 cause to blush at the contrastl 
 
 But MR. THOMPSON was received by OUR hospita lily !! says MR. 
 SPRAGUE. This is sufficiently impudent and false. It was the hospitality 
 of the wolf to the lamb, seeking to devour the victim. Our hospitality* 
 caused MR. THOMPSON, his wife, and little ones, to Ire thrust out of a 
 hotel in New York city, soon after he landed in this country. Our hospi 
 tality provided for him rotten eggs, brickbats, tar and feathers, halters, dag 
 gers, &c. &c. Our hospitality at last compelled him to return hastily 
 to England, in order to save his life. It was the hospitality* offered by 
 PELEG SPRAGUE in Faneuil Hall, which prepared the way for the great 
 mobocratic entertainment that was made in October for MR. THOMPSON ! 
 
 Protected by our laics // says MR. SPRAGUE. When, where, and 
 howl Our laws do not protect native abolitionists. Our laws, too, 
 must be singularly defective, if they give protection to a man who is guilty 
 of hurling fire-brands, arrows and death into the habitations of our 
 neighbors, and friends, and brothers. But this charge of PELEG SPRAGUE 
 against MR. THOMPSON is worthy to go with the accusation against the 
 apostles, that they were pestilent and seditious fellows, turning the world up 
 side down and with the charge against the Saviour, that he had a devil. 
 It was a charge well calculated, at the time of its utterance, to stimulate a 
 host of assassins against Mr. T s life : it was certainly a blow aimed at his 
 reputation, and not only so, but an impeachment of the humanity, patriot 
 ism and piety of the whole body of abolitionists who supported MR. THOMP 
 SON, both in this country and in England. 
 
 3 
 
XXVJ MR. THOMPSON 
 
 Such an act would be more truly glorious than a thou 
 sand victories won upon the tented field. But the 
 reader has been already apprised, that MR. THOMP 
 SON was invited to come to this country by the NEW ENG 
 LAND ANTI-SLAVERY SOCIETY, and to accept an agency 
 in its behalf. He complied with the invitation, but 
 came also under the sanction, and to some extent, un 
 der the direction as well as co-operation of the British 
 and Foreign Society for the Abolition of Slavery and 
 the Slave Trade throughout the world. He was also 
 countenanced and supported by other anti-slavery asso 
 ciations in various parts of the United Kingdom. It is 
 true, that in Glasgow and Edinburgh a special inter 
 est was taken in the mission of MR. THOMPSON by 
 some of the most estimable and philanthropic ladies in 
 those cities, as well as by ladies in Liverpool, Birming 
 ham, and other places, and that they contributed to 
 wards its prosecution just as pious females in our 
 country assist in sending missionaries to other lands 
 humbly, subordinate!/, conjunctively. Yet this inci 
 dental co-operation (worthy as it is of the admiration of 
 the wise and good in every country) has been made the 
 occasion of much scurrility and falsehood, as preceding 
 quotations abundantly prove. It has been made a 
 subject of ridicule, in a house of worship, before a 
 crowded audience in New York. At a colonization 
 meeting in the Rev. Dr. Spring s church last May, the 
 Rev. GEORGE W. BETHUNE made a frothy and theat 
 rical speech, of which the following is an extract, as 
 reported in the New York Observer : 
 
 MR. BETHUNE observed, that he was sorry not to see some of our 
 English friends present, (i. e. Messrs. Cox and HOBY,) and while speak- 
 
IN ENGLAND. XXVII 
 
 ing of them, he could not help thinking what sortofa reception the agent of 
 the Edinburgh ladies, (MR. THOMPSON,) would meet on his return to his 
 constituents,* and what sort of a report he would probably make on the sub 
 ject of his mission. He could not but picture to himself the fair lady Presi 
 dent inquiring 
 
 And pray MR. THOMPSON, what did you do in America 1 
 
 To this he thought he heard.the Agent responding, Why, ladies, I made 
 speeches there : for which one part of my audience loudly applauded me, 
 and another part as loudly hissed me. 
 
 And pray, where did you make speeches, MR. THOMPSON ? Did you 
 go to that part of the country where slavery prevailed, and tell them how 
 wrong it was 1 
 
 * Oh no ! if I had, they would have hanged me ! But I went to the 
 Northern States, ladies, and I told them what wicked people they were 
 at the South. 
 
 But, MR. THOMPSON, had the people of the North any power to eman 
 cipate the slaves of the southern holders 1 
 
 * The London Christain Advocate of Feb. 1st, informs us what sort of 
 a reception the constituents of MR. THOMPSON gave him in Glasgow on 
 his return : on Monday he met the Emancipation Committees, male and 
 female, in the Friend s Meeting-house, when, after he had briefly recited 
 his adventures, a unanimous vote of thanks, congratulation and confidence 
 was passed and presented to him. The meeting likewise pledged itself 
 anew to the cause of universal emancipation. On Tuesday evening, and 
 again on Friday evening, MR. THOMPSON addressed large assemblies of 
 the members and friends of the Emancipation Society in DR. WARDLAW S 
 Chapel. Rev. Dr. HEUGH took the chair, and opened the proceedings 
 in a short speech, highly commendatory of MR. THOMPSON. Mr. T. 
 made a very lengthy address. On Monday night, (says the Glasgow Journal 
 of Thursday,) the soiree in honor of MR. GEORGE THOMPSON was given in 
 the large and splendid hall of the Montieth Rooms, Buchanan street. The 
 usual refreshments provided on such occasions tea, coffee, fruits conserves, 
 &c. &c. were amply and tastefully distributed. A series of resolutions 
 was moved and carried by acclamation, in the course of the evening, and 
 the movers and seconders of these addressed the assembly in excellent 
 speeches. MR. CUNNINGHAM S band in the gallery filled up the intervals 
 between the addresses, with alternately gay and solemn strains. It was 12 
 o clock ere the assembly broke up. MR. THOMPSON, who was the last to 
 address them, was warmly cheered and encouraged to go on in his last 
 speech. Rev. Drs. KIDSTON and HEUGH officiated as chaplains. 
 
XXVIII MR. THOMPSON 
 
 Oh no ! No more, ladies, than you have yourselves. 
 Indeed ! and then, MR. THOMPSON, why did you not stay at home, and 
 make your speeches to us 1 
 
 [These queries and replies were constantly interrupted with bursts of en 
 thusiastic applause, mingled with long and uncontrolable laughter.] 
 
 The foregoing miserable attempt a twit is a specimen 
 of the colonization spirit in this country. The school 
 boy sophistry of MR. BETHUNE is based upon a glar 
 ing falsehood, which, when overthrown, buries its au 
 thor in the ruins of his own folly. MR. THOMPSON did 
 not, and could not, go to any part of our nation in 
 which slavery does not virtually exist. A very large 
 amount of capital, belonging to the northern States is 
 vested in plantations and slaves at the South. There is 
 not a State in the Union in which slaveholders do not 
 reside. There is not an inch of territory in the United 
 States which affords the least protection to a runaway 
 slave the people of every state regarding themselves 
 as obligated by the Constitution to return him to his 
 tyrannical master, and to suppress every insurrection for 
 liberty among the slaves. Slaveholders are allowed 
 a large slave representation in Congress. The inter 
 course between the North and the South is as intimate 
 as between members of the same family, and their 
 inhabitants are constantly marrying or giving in marriage 
 with each other. The existence of southern slavery 
 puts in jeopardy the liberty of every free colored citizen 
 in the non-slaveholding States. It has destroyed the 
 freedom of speech and of the press, and the right of 
 peaceably assembling together to consult upon the pub 
 lic good, and the liberty of locomotion, i. e. to the citi 
 zens of the free states, (all guarantied by the Constitu- 
 
IN ENGLAND. XXIX 
 
 tion,) in that portion of the Union in which it princi 
 pally obtains, and threatens to subjugate to a servile 
 condition the white citizens of the North. Its blight 
 ing influence spreads over the whole country. Besides, 
 slavery is sustained in a national capacity at the Seat of 
 Government, in the District of Columbia, and in the sev 
 eral Territories belonging to the Union, and under the ex 
 clusive jurisdiction of Congress. Again: When MR. 
 THOMPSON visited us, the moral power of the free states 
 was almost wholly enlisted on the side of southern slav 
 ery, either by palliation or direct support. It was es 
 sentially necessary, therefore, that that lost moral pow 
 er should be recovered, and turned against the slave- 
 system for, enlightened, consolidated, and skilfully 
 directed, it is adequate to its overthrow. Let the pub 
 lic sentiment in the free states become thoroughly abo- 
 litionised, and slavery will speedily be crushed by its 
 mighty pressure. Hence it is that such desperate 
 efforts are made, on the part of southern states, to 
 suppress the freedom of speech at the North, by mobo- 
 cratic violence ; hence the offer of large rewards for the 
 abduction of anti-slavery editors and lecturers ; and 
 hence the demand of the South, that the liberty of the 
 press, on the subject of slavery, shall be put down at 
 the North by penal enactments. These items of intel 
 ligence serve to show the wisdom of MR. THOMPSON, 
 and the folly of MR. BETHUNE. The latter assumes, 
 most falsely, as has been proved, that it is as useless, 
 and as much out of place, to assail southern slavery, in 
 New England, as it would be in Old England ; and that 
 the people of the North have no more connection with 
 southern slavery, and can no more effect its overthrow, 
 3* 
 
XXX MR. THOMPSON 
 
 than the ladies of Edinburgh ! Mark what MR BETH- 
 UNE says respecting the murderous spirit of the south 
 ern slaveholders ! The question is supposed to be pro 
 pounded to MR. THOMPSON { Did you go to that part 
 of the country where slavery prevailed, and tell them 
 how wron; it was ? MR. BETHUNE makes the follow- 
 
 O 
 
 ing reply for Mr. T. Oh no ! if I had they would 
 have hanged me ! i. e. for simply being told that slave 
 ry was wrong, they would have lynched MR. 
 THOMPSON, without judge or jury, and in defiance 
 of every just law, whether human or divine. What 
 proud and blood-thirsty oppressors, according to the rep 
 resentation of the Rev. GEORGE W. BETHUNE ! And 
 yet MR. THOMPSON was taunted as a coward, for not 
 rushing needlessly and rashly into the jaws of these hu 
 man tigers, although he had a mighty and all-important 
 work first to perform in the Northern states, even if he 
 could have lectured with safety at the South ! But I 
 dismiss the reverend jeerer, who trembled while he af 
 fected to laugh at the powerful speeches of Mr. T. 
 
 With regard to the other charge that was sometimes 
 brought against MR. THOMPSON that he was an emis 
 sary of the British Government as it was never very 
 seriously urged, and is too ridiculous to require refutation, 
 I shall let it pass without comment. There is a third 
 allegation which is more plausible, but not less false 
 that he was sent out to this country, to do a work of 
 mischief, by the enemies of our republic by those 
 who desire to see our Union dashed into atoms ! Since 
 the world was made, whoever heard of foes attempting 
 to bring a nation to repentance for its sins, in order to 
 destroy itl Do they not always assail that which is good 
 
IN ENGLAND. XXXT 
 
 and precious, and aim to extend licentiousness and 
 crime ? The truth is, the abolitionists of England, as a 
 body, constitute the republican, the genuine reform 
 party of that country. - They are the sincere, disinter 
 ested, ardent friends of American liberty and union; 
 they wish to see our country purged from every stain of 
 blood ; they desire her prosperity and improvement ; 
 they love and cherish those civil and religious institu 
 tions which we value most highly ; they admire the 
 theory of our government ; they are in truth our coun 
 trymen, our brethren, our neighbors, in feeling, in pur 
 pose, in Christian love and sympathy. They will ulti 
 mately abolish the unholy union of Church and State 
 in England. The extortionate tithe-system the 
 House of Lords landed monopolies, &c. &tc. But 
 they are retarded in their noble efforts at reform, by the 
 inconsistency and oppression of this republic. All our 
 divisions and tumults are seized upon with avidity by 
 the tories, and ascribed to our form of government* 
 whereas, that form is the most rational, and therefore 
 the most substantial, of all human governments, and 
 whereas it is well known among ourselves that the divi 
 sions and tumults alluded to are the fruits of slavery, 
 exclusively and comprehensively. They are freedom 
 clashing with oppression, light with darkness, free labor 
 with slave labor. If our slave system were abolished, 
 the union of our great nation would be perfect. If it be not 
 speedily removed, strong as we are, it will overcome and 
 destroy us. The tories in Europe do not desire its re- 
 
 * Seethe speech of Sir Robert Peel, at Farnworth. 
 
XXXII MR. THOMPSON 
 
 movaL They desire the downfal of this republic. 
 They would gladly assist in mobbing GEORGE THOMP 
 SON, for his republican labors among us. American 
 slaveholders and aristocrats belong to their party, and 
 hate liberty and equality for all the people, as sincerely 
 as the autocrat of Russia, or the Duke of Wellington, 
 or Sir Robert Peel. The tory party in England were 
 against the abolition of the foreign slave trade, and the 
 emancipation of the slaves in the British dependen 
 cies. They always have been, and always will be, 
 as tories, in favor of both white and black slavery. It 
 was the friends of America the friends of universal 
 liberty who sent GEORGE THOMPSON to our shores, 
 without cost to ourselves, that he might labor for the 
 destruction of our worst foe the foe of free and right 
 eous government the foe of God and man. 
 
 It is necessary to bring this brief sketch to a close. 
 Having made all suitable arrangements for bis departure, 
 MR. THOMPSON, with his family, bade adieu to his na 
 tive land, August 17, 1834, on board the ship Cham- 
 plain. When one week at sea, he wrote the following 
 stanzas : 
 
 PRAYER AT SEA. 
 
 Eternal Father ! God of love ! 
 
 Lord of the sea, and earth and sky ; 
 O raise my heart to things above, 
 
 And let my soul on thee rely. 
 
 To traverse now the mighty deep, 
 
 Far from the regions of my birth; 
 The rushing waters by me sweep, 
 
 And bear me from my native earth: 
 
IN ENGLAND. 
 
 But not from Thee ! Thy spirit dwells 
 
 With man, howe er his course may change; 
 
 Where verdure springs, where ocean swells, 
 Thy power, Thy providence doth range. 
 
 Delightful thought ! though tempests frown, 
 And waves uplift their crests on high ; 
 
 A Father s glance thou sendest down, 
 Thou hearest still thy children s cry. 
 
 Storms, lightning, thunders, all are thine; 
 
 All ministers to do thy will; 
 Thou dost their power, and course define, 
 
 They hear thy mandate, Peace, be still ! 
 
 Then let me in thy care confide, 
 
 Long as the voyage of life shall last; 
 Nor be this humble prayer denied 
 
 * Father be mine when life is past ! 
 
 MR. THOMPSON arrived safely at New York, Sep 
 tember 20, 1834. The event created much sensa 
 tion in the city, which soon spread throughout the 
 country. T shall trace his career among us in a Preface 
 to the second volume of his Speeches and Letters. 
 
 WM. LLOYD GARRISON. 
 
 Boston, April, 1836. 
 
XXXIV MR. THOMPSON 
 
 The following graphic description of MR. THOMPSON S 
 person and oratory is copied from the Manchester 
 (Eng.) Times : 
 
 MR. THOMPSON. 
 
 The following is the substance of a correspondent s reply, who \vas ask 
 ed his opinion of Mr. Thompson, as a public speaker, and which we here 
 subjoin to our report of his speech. 
 
 * With his person, you are acquainted about five feet ten inches slen 
 der, yet firm a little Roman about the nose a deep, dark, keen eye rud 
 dy, though not the delicate hue of the rose a frame, in short, in which 
 health appears to have taken up its abode with the apparent agility of a 
 racer. Uis manner is always easy, though not in every instance graceful, 
 and invariably natural. His actions correspond with his eye, varied and 
 quick ; and though redundant, never palling, and never offensive by being 
 awkward. It is impossible to pronounce him a finished speaker, and yet 
 there is that about him which at once disarms criticism, and prevents you 
 from finding fault. There is an energy which often entrenches on violence, 
 but it is not energy throughout ; it is not the torrent over the wide and 
 inclined campaign, which sweeps on with one continued force; it belongs 
 more to the flood among the mountains, rolling over tremendous heights, and 
 in proportion to the depth of its falls, again tossing its spray upward with 
 breaks and pauses among the rocks and then murmuring along the plainer 
 portions of the country and rarely ever, in its loudest roar, its boldest 
 dashes, distracting to the ear of the by-stander. The secret of this is, 
 Mr. Thompson is never vehement, never impassioned, except incases where 
 truth from its strength, and fact from its atrocity and other pecu 
 liar characteristics, require it; then, and then only, is he energetic 
 powerful overwhelming almost oppressive. His voice is, upon the whole, 
 sound though not like the bell ; it is varied, full equally adapted to the 
 colloquial, the sarcastic, the ironical, the pleasant, the oratorical in each 
 of which he indulges ; affording the same variety to the ear, which a rich 
 landscape exhibits to the eye. If his energy were brought to bear upon 
 that of Dr. Chalmers, the difference would be found to exist in the cir 
 cumstance of the latter giving out at greater lengths what the former lets 
 out at intervals ; in the one, the disturbed air comes in more frequent and 
 unexpected gusts; in the other, the tempest is of longer continuance yet 
 both moving leaf, twig, branch, and stem, of the human forest, over which 
 
IN ENGLAND. XXXV 
 
 the voice is permitted to pass. With considerable acuteness, is combined 
 great strength of intellect; and though Mr. Thompson s is nut a mind that 
 would delight to enter into the various subtleties and niceties of an ar 
 gument pursuing it through all its intricacies, doublings, and bearings 
 ferreting it out of all its lurking places and* keeping close to its heels to 
 the very last, like hounds in the chase; yet he possesses what is infinitely 
 better for his purpose and for the occasion and this, by the way, is no bad 
 proof of the sagacity of the Anti-slavery Society in the selection they have 
 made a ready perception of evil, and a masculine grasp. The facts are 
 too glaring the subject too atrocious, for a profuse expenditure of logic. 
 He proceeds to work, therefore, like the eagle, who, on perceiving his prey 
 never for a moment, busies himself in examining the plumage, the bill, the 
 head, or the tail of the bird upon which he is about to pounce, but views it 
 as a whole makes one fell swoop clutches it at once and bears it up, 
 writhing in very agony, till last for ever to the gaze of the spectators. 
 There is no delicacy in his handling a mode of proceeding that ought to 
 have been commenced much earlier; it is prey that he has to deal with 
 prey, to be destroyed not for its value but because of its odiousness, hav 
 ing been hurtful to the life and property of others and in the destruction 
 of which the multitude are induced to revel. This is the man for the work. 
 If there is a naked point, it is seen; and though bare before, it is still laid 
 more bare to the public eye. If deception has been resorted to, it is expos 
 ed. If cruelty has been practiced, the branding iron is applied. He goes 
 about the business somewhat in the manner of our friend Taylor, of Old- 
 field lane. The case has been in the hands of others it has been tamper 
 ed with it has now become desperate life is at stake. There is no cere 
 mony rank never once occurs to the mind health is the object a few 
 twinges and writhings in the patient are observed, so intently is the eye 
 fixed upon the grand object to be attained health, perfect health. Never, 
 never, did man, take captive an audience sooner or more effectually, on the 
 slave question, than did Mr. Thompson. He bore his hearers along with 
 him, after first drawing them to him relieved them every now and then frora 
 an intensity of feeling, under which was manifested the stillness of the tomb, 
 the fixed eye, and the palpitating heart, by some lighter, but more graphic 
 picture presented to the imagination, breaking out as suddenly as a gleam 
 of sunshine, or coming upon them as unexpectedly as a beautiful, yet pic 
 turesque scene, in a lovely valley, invisible to the tourist, till he is brought 
 in his rambles to the verge of the elevated ground in the vicinity. He is 
 as good a painler as he is a powerful declaimer, and is logician enough for 
 the subject in hand ; and modest as was the designation of an address, 
 which he gave to the remarks that were made, it would have pressed with 
 the weight of a severe lecture upon the hearts and upon the understandings 
 of the least susceptible, and the least intellectual, of the anti-abolitionisls, 
 
XXXVI MR. THOMPSON 
 
 had they been present on the occasion; and what was doubtless more 
 agreeable to others, he did not* read them a lecture. 
 
 In speaking of Mr. Thompson s argumentative powers, it is by no means 
 insinuated that there is any essential defect in the manner, the process, or 
 the result of his reasonings. He sustains no injury when it is affirmed that 
 he is not a Locke, not a Reid, not a Beattie, not a Dugald Stuart. There 
 are many gradations of intellect between a person of respectable talents 
 and the first of these masters. He may not reach any of these, and yet sur 
 pass millions of the human species. His is not the long and even thread of 
 the finest spun cotton, but a logic of points and angles, shooting out in un 
 expected directions, and excessively annoying to the persons against whom 
 it is directed. It is the logic, not of the study, but of the market, the ex 
 change, and the counting-house ; the logic, not of the few, but of the mul 
 titude. It is, in short, the logic of the lightning, whose stroke is death to 
 the objection of his opponent, whose flush is conviction to the observer.* 
 
THE SUBSTANCE OF A SPEECH, 
 
 Delivered in the ^Veslcyan Methodist Chapel, Irwell 
 Street, Salford, Manchester, (Eng.) on Monday, Au 
 gust V3t/i, 1832: by George Thompson, Esq., being a 
 Reply to Mr. Bortlncick s statements on the subject of 
 Slavery. 
 
 MR. GEORGE THOMPSON, who had been delivering lec 
 tures on Colonial Slavery in Manchester and the neighbor 
 ing towns, appeared in the Wesleyan Chapel, Irwell street, 
 on Monday, August 13, in order to give a reply, agreeably 
 to advertisement, to Mr. Borthwick, a pro-slavery gentle 
 man. The moment Mr. Thompson was recognised, walk 
 ing along the aisle towards the vestry, a burst of applause 
 immediately proceeded from the auditory. Precisely at 
 seven o clock he ascended the pulpit, accompanied by 
 the Boroughreeve, William Hill, Esq. ; Mr. Peter Clare, 
 one of the Secretaries of the Anti-slavery Society, and by 
 Mr. James Everett, one of the members of the Committee. 
 To the latter was assigned the office of arranging and 
 handing to the speaker the documentary papers requsite to 
 support the great cause of humanity. The large and 
 beautiful chapel was crowded with a highly respectable 
 auditory ; and never was a speaker more enthusiastically 
 received more attentively heard more feelingly respond 
 ed to. Mr. Borthwick and his friends sat immediately 
 below the speaker. 
 
 MR. HILL. Before I introduce the gentleman who is to 
 address you this evening 1 have one observation to make. 
 A party o-f gentlemen have done me the honor to address 
 a note to me, inquiring whether the discussion will be 
 confined to the gentleman who is to address you. As I 
 have not had the opportunity of a personal interview with 
 these gentlemen, I beg leave to state, that the discussion 
 here will be confined to Mr. Thompson alone, and if any 
 gentleman has any thing to say, afterwards, I shall be 
 happy to see him either in the vestry, or at my house. 
 With these few observations I beg to introduce to you 
 4 
 
38 LECTURE 
 
 George Thompson, Esq., the advocate of the Anti-slavery 
 Society. 
 
 MR. THOMPSON here stepped to the front of the pulpit, 
 and was again received with deafening cheers. As soon as 
 these had subsided, he addressed his audience as fol 
 lows : 
 
 I think I may assume that all here are fully acquainted 
 with the circumstances under which we are met this even 
 ing. This is the fifth time I have had the honor of ap 
 pearing before a Manchester and Salford auditory. For 
 1 1 months previously to my coming here, I had been rapidly 
 travelling through the south-western and other parts of 
 England, and I think I may safely leave it to you, whether 
 or not I am a friend to the safe and immediate abolition of 
 slavery. I came to Manchester humbly and zealously, 
 but sincerely and upon Christian principles, to discuss the 
 great, the momentous, the high moral question, whether 
 slaverywhether British colonial slavery shall continue, or 
 whether there is humanity enough, self denial enough, 
 zeal enough, sufficient Christianity in British bosoms, and 
 sufficient security in British arms and British religion, to 
 do our duty, to open the door of the prison house, and bid 
 the oppressed go free. How I have discharged my duty 
 you are all witnesses. 
 
 I have caluminated no man. When I opened my mis 
 sion I simply contended that slavery was an evil in the 
 sight of GOD, and that therefore it ought to be immedi 
 ately and forever abolished. It has been laid to rny 
 charge that I have spoken of the absent. I confess it. 
 I have spoken of the 755,000 distressed human beings 
 who are absent, and cannot therefore plead their own 
 cause; who are distant, and have no meansof making their 
 complaints heard across the wide Atlantic ; who have no 60 
 or 70 members in the House of Commons to represent 
 their interests, (cheers ;) who have no paid agents, (great 
 cheering) in Berkley square, in Cavendish square, and in 
 Whitehall place ; who have no one that can drive down 
 in his carriage to Downing street, and threaten the minis 
 ter, if he do not do this or that, he will withhold his in 
 fluence and support from him. (Cheers.) They have no 
 friends like these. Their friends are they who are influ 
 enced alone by religion, by humanity, by a sense of duty. 
 
AT SALFORD. 39 
 
 and by a remembrance of that day which to all is fast ap 
 proaching, when they will be called upon to say how they 
 have conducted themselves towards these unfortunate 
 beings. (Cheers.) The time is fast coming when, having 
 crossed the river of death, there will be none whose suffer 
 ings you can mitigate, no sick to relieve, none to whom 
 you can give advice and consolation ; then for ever will 
 the destines of man be fixed, and he who is unholy will 
 be unholy still. 
 
 But peradventure, with this good cause before us, we 
 may not live in vain ; we may perhaps still do something 
 to relieve our country from the foul stain that avarice and 
 despotism have brought upon it; and so discharge our 
 duty, as to receive from the lip of our friend the approv 
 ing words, Well done thou good and faithful servant. 
 
 I have done all in my power to induce this feeling, and 
 I have been well received ; but it was reserved for me to 
 visit Manchester before I found out my real importance. 
 Here I found myself of such consequence as to be visited 
 by three hired advocates from the West India planters, who 
 came, strangely came, with West India money in their 
 pockets, to do what? To be convinced, forsooth. 
 (Laughter.) This is a strange occurrence, than which I 
 never met with a stranger, that they should send their 
 three principal agents to be convinced by George Thomp 
 son. Bat it is hard to find the way to a man s understanding 
 through his breeches pocket; it is like a man s coming to 
 be convinced, who, if he be convinced, shall have his ra 
 tions stopped. However, if it should come to pass that 
 they are convinced, and that they write to St. James 
 street, and say they are converts to the opinions of the vast 
 majority do I speak truly or not? (cheers,) of the 90 
 out of 100, or of 999 out of 1000; why then, I say, it would 
 be noble ; and let them trust for their porridge to the mercy 
 of Providence, or trust to the eleemosynary bounty of man 
 kind for means to prevent the necessity of their having oc 
 casion to do such dirty work, as to endeavor to perpetuate 
 the system of negro slavery. (Applause.) But this was 
 not sufficient ; by some hocus-pocus, I suddenly find my 
 self visited by an old friend from Nottingham, in the char 
 acter of a West India planter, and by the merest acci 
 dent/ no doubt, by two or three gentlemen from Liverpool, 
 
40 LECTURE 
 
 who, with most, stentorian lungs, made a very beautiful and 
 hearty chorus, by calling out, ever and anon, hear, hear, 
 hear, hear. (Laughter.) 1 say by the strangest acci 
 dent/ by the strangest combination of circumstances that 
 ever I met with, I suddenly find myself visited by the Sec 
 retary of the West India Association; by two other gen 
 tlemen, by a planter from Nottingham and by several gen 
 tlemen from Liverpool, but how many deponent sayeth not. 
 However, thanks to the railroad, these gentlemen hear of 
 my lecture in Manchester, and, by the power of steam, are 
 here in a pig s whisper. (Laughter.) Then come the 
 eventful scenes of the lecture night, and I am asked by 
 Mr. Borthwick, ; If there be any thing in your address to 
 which I object, may I have the liberty to reply ? to 
 which I answered, I had no objection; but I said that 
 the room was engaged, and the meeting called for a spe 
 cific purpose. I said, however, that, he had power to do 
 as I had done, if he could find friends to meet him. Well, 
 I delivered that lecture, and received an intimation that a 
 reply would be given ; that my lecture was not liked ; and 
 that the individual would really, and truly, and clearly 
 make a reply to it. But out of the nine distinct portions 
 of that lecture one only was touched upon and the rest for 
 gotten. Certainly in this age of accidents this was very 
 natural, particularly when the gentleman had come all the 
 way from London, one hundred and seventy miles, to de 
 liver a speech which had been retailed there, I don t 
 know how many times. But the great charge against me 
 was, that I dared to caluminate absent individuals, the 
 West India planters, the merchants and the mortgagees of 
 West India property. I call upon all who heard me then, 
 to say if that charge be true. I stand here not to calum 
 niate a single individual, not to vituperate a single indi 
 vidual ; but I stand here to discuss, without animosity to 
 any man, the great question of British Colonial Slavery. 
 However, in defiance of truth, it was assumed that I had 
 calumniated absent individuals, and that he would not else 
 have been there. Is that charge true ? I merely took the 
 position, that slavery is an evil in the sight of GOD, and 
 ought to be immediately and forever abolished. To this 
 no distinct reply was given. You all remember the theo- 
 ological portion of his discourse. I shall shortly come to 
 
AT SALFORD. 41 
 
 speak of him as a theologian. The next position I took 
 was, that we ought to love our neighbor as ourselves; that 
 we ought to apply the golden rule, of doing unto others 
 as we would that others should do unto us ; and that we 
 ought to remember those that are in bonds as bound with 
 them. Has this been replied to ? It has only been glanc 
 ed at ; and you will perceive, that by the merest acci 
 dent/ all the rest of my discourse was forgotten. There 
 was no reply ; yet REPLY was the largest word in his 
 placard calling the meeting. There was also a quotation 
 of scripture on his card. I like the gentleman s going to 
 the Bible for quotations. His quotation is : He that is 
 first in his own cause seemeth just; but his neighbor com- 
 eth and searcheth him. Why then did he not do his duty? 
 I charge him with a gross dereliction of his duty, he has 
 not searched me ; would that he had, instead of delivering 
 those stale and trumpery arguments in palliation of slavery, 
 which have been delivered from time immemorial, and en 
 deavoring to render our industrious artizans discontented 
 by allusions to the four parlors and the saloon of the 
 negro. However, we will forgive this if he will mend his 
 manners, and go on with his duty of searching me. If he 
 chooses to go to Proverbs I could remark that we were not 
 the first in the cause. No, it was the man stealer, the 
 blood-thirsty money-getting British merchant. They were 
 the first ; and we are come to search them. However, I 
 will make no further comment upon that portion of scrip 
 ture, but refer him to another in the same book, Proverbs, 
 1st chapter 10th to 16th verses : 
 
 * My son if sinners entice thee, consent thou not. 
 
 If they say, Corne with us, let us lay wait for blood, let us lurk privily 
 for the innocent without cause: 
 
 Let us swallow them up alive as the grave , and whole, as those that 
 go down into the pit: 
 
 We shall find all precious substance, we shall fill our houses with spoil : 
 
 Cast in thy lot among us ; let us all have one purse. 
 
 My son, walk not the in the way with them; refrain thy foot from 
 their path: 
 
 For their feet run to evil, and make haste to shed blood. 
 
 I Well then, the conclusion I drew, from the premises 
 already stated was, that if there was in our minds any re 
 cognition of the authority of the scriptures, and in our 
 hearts any disposition to adopt them as principles of human 
 conduct, then all worldly considerations ought to sink 
 4* 
 
42 LECTURE 
 
 into insignificance, while interposing between us and a 
 paramount duty. Has this been refuted ? No; it has not 
 been noticed. Again; I went on to explain the objects 
 of the meeting, which were to seek the immediate and to 
 tal extinction of slavery ; not, observe, the destruction of 
 the planters, not the spoliation of property, not the injury 
 of commerce, not to deprive the widow and the fatherless 
 of their pittance, but the accomplishment of a plan of re 
 demption, both for the oppressor and the oppressed ; of the 
 former from the demoralizing influence of the system upon 
 him, and of the latter from the degredation and misery in 
 separable from a state of abject servitude. Was this im 
 proper? has its impropriety been shewn in the way of 
 reply ? No. The gentleman declared again and again 
 that he agreed with me, and yet we are at dagger s points. 
 He took precisely the same ground as I did, except that 
 abolition should not be immediate. That it should be 
 done, BUT NOT NOW. I am an abolitionist. He is an 
 abolitionist ; and yet, though we differ on so few points, 
 I will pursue you, s^id this very man, from place to 
 place like your evil genius. But there appears to be a 
 whole host of genii. My cry is, a clear stage and a fair 
 hearing, and then come on, come on, come on ! (Loud 
 cheers.) Ay, though you have the whole of the West 
 India committee at your heels, come on! With this book 
 (the Bible) in my hand with slavery and chains, and 
 Christians for the slave s masters, I shall never fear the 
 issue of the contest. What was my next point! I de 
 nounced slavery as unjust and iniquitous in its origin, 
 its progress and present operations, and 1 appealed to Jer- 
 emie. And here let me get my friend to put down that 
 word. Jeremie, Jeremie, Jeremie. But not a word of 
 Jeremie did we hear from him. I appealed to Jeremie s 
 Essays on Colonial Slavery, pages 5, 6, 7 and 8, and has 
 any reply been offered by way of invalidating the testi 
 mony of an eye and ear witness! No. I appealed to the 
 same testimony, page 102, in reference to West India 
 insurrections : has this been disproved? Have you 
 met with a reply ? No. What did I glance at next ? I 
 spoke of the massacre of about 2,000 negroes, of the de 
 molition of chapels, of the persecution of missionaries, of 
 Church Colonial Unions for the banishment of all sectari- 
 
AT SALFORD. 43 
 
 ans, of the conduct of white magistrates, white planters, 
 arid white militiamen, who engaged in those bloody trans 
 actions. I spoke of the treatment of Mr. Knibb s deacon, 
 who was flogged and ironed for praying that GOD would 
 support his Christian minister. I referred to extracts from 
 Jamaica papers, particularly the Christian Record, a 
 Jamaica periodical. And was I replied to? No. After 
 all the ferocious conduct of these Jamaica individuals, not 
 one of these disinterested West Indian agents, not one 
 of these friends to the abolition of slavery, has lifted up 
 his voice to denounce these infernal proceedings in the 
 Island of Jamaica. This speaks volumes. Believe them 
 if you will ; believe that they are with the negro ; believe 
 that they would give their whole heart and hand to the 
 abolition of slavery, when not one of them has lifted up his 
 voice against the wanton destruction of the negro, or the 
 fiend-like persecution of the missionary ! 
 
 On the practice of slavery, I spoke of five negroes who 
 had been flogged for picking grass, and would have expos 
 ed themselves to the same punishment if they had diso 
 beyed orders; a case published in the Christian Record. 
 Has this been answered 1 No : he spoke only of the four 
 parlors and saloon of the negro. There he stuck, and 
 never went beyond its confines in his speech. I read 
 part of thirty-four advertisements for runaway negroes, 
 and he spoke of the condition of English laborers. I spoke 
 of brand-marks, of sabre-rnarks, of flogging, and of the 
 loss of fingers and toes, and challenged him to produce 
 any portion of the community to exhibit appearances like 
 these. Was there any reply to this 1 Not a syllable was 
 granted to me. I stated next that the argument of danger 
 was fallacious. I said they saw no danger in building 
 ships, in manning them with British seamen, in paying for 
 them with British money no danger in burning towns, 
 stealing the inhabitants, throwing them into the sea, pack 
 ing them up in hogsheads, and in continuing the system of 
 Colonial Slavery ; but they profess to see dangers in liber 
 ating the slave, though protected by British troops, a pow 
 erful militia, a numerous and loyal free black popula 
 tion, British laws, a British Governor, a House of Assem 
 bly, and all the encouragement and protection which 
 humanity, justice, and religion can afford. Was there any 
 
44 LECTURE 
 
 reply to this ? Not a word. I stated that compensation 
 was the ground of their opposition ; that the planters 
 wished to make a market of slavery ; that those concerned 
 were determined to sell it as dear as possible ; and that 
 they were now striving to wring from the humanity of 
 the people of England a last price for the abandonment of 
 the system. Has there been any reply to this ? No. 
 
 I will presently show that this representative of the 
 West India body absolutely put the members of that body 
 beyond the pale of compensation ; proved that they would 
 be infinite gainers by emancipation, and that they would 
 be dishonest and avaricious in the extreme, if they should 
 claim indemnification for the liberation of those whom this 
 advocate declared were already a cause of loss to their 
 owners. But I will tell that gentleman why his party asks 
 compensation. They know the people of this country 
 anxiously desire the extinction of slavery ; they know that 
 the humane, and the benevolent, and the pious, would not 
 hesitate to make some pecuniary sacrifice to get rid of the 
 odious blot, and therefore they have determined to make the 
 best feelings of our nature subserve the gratification of their 
 cupidity. We all know that the most virtuous and amiable 
 of men are frequently made the dupes of the designing, that 
 honest men are the soft easy chusions on which knave, 1 ? 
 repose and fatten ; and acting upon this, they will seek 
 to make the awakened feelings of your bosoms in behalf 
 of the captive, add to the weight of their unhallowed purse. 
 My opponent thought proper to give a bill payable on 
 Tuesday evening last. That bill was seen upon every 
 wall in the neighborhood, duly accepted and made paya 
 ble at the Town Hall, Salford; but lo ! when the time 
 came, and a large auditory assembled to witness the hon 
 oring of the draft, there were no effects, although the 
 acceptor was surrounded by many friends ; yet in the time 
 of need they could not muster enough of the needful, to 
 save their West India advocate from insolvency, and he 
 now appears before you to take the benefit of the act. 
 (Immense cheering and laughter.) 
 
 I had divided my address upon the previous evening 
 into several distinct and independent. branches, and there 
 by afforded them an opportunity of dividing and subdivid 
 ing the work of reply amongst them, if it were found too 
 
AT SALFORD. 45 
 
 gigantic for one. And, if they have read Adam Smith 
 upon the advantages to be derived from a division of labor, 
 it is wonderful they did not avail themselves of his philoso 
 phy on the night of reply. The task might then, perhaps, 
 have been accomplished. To Mr. Borthwick might have 
 been assigned the theological divsion, together with the 
 less grave, and more grateful duty of complimenting the 
 ladies ; Mr. Peart might have undertaken to show the 
 practice of slavery in the Colonies; Mr. Saintsbury a vin 
 dication of the purity, piety, and perfect disinterestedness 
 of the St. James street Committee; Mr. Shand, the claims 
 of the shipping interest of Liverpool, and Mr. Franklin 
 might have closed the evening s entertainment by the ex 
 hibition of a pro-slavery panoramic illustration of the 
 principal events in the history of the system from the 
 time of Elizabeth downwards. I was careful to give the 
 gentleman my definition of immediate emancipation, and 
 stated it distinctly not that it was a freedom from law 
 not that it was a freedom from labor not that it was 
 a freedom to destroy each other, and to unite to destroy 
 their masters that I pleaded only for a legislative enact 
 ment, abolishing the unnatural right of property in the 
 bodies and souls of men and their posterity, and a substi 
 tution, at the same time, of public, judicial, and responsi 
 ble authority, for private, arbitrary, and irresponsible 
 control. That was all I asked, and all, 1 contend, we 
 mean by immediate abolition. They are now governed 
 by the planters, than whom, to govern, there is not a more 
 unfit class of men in the world. Is there no wisdom in 
 the House of Commons is there no wisdom in the House 
 of Assembly can none but planters govern the negro ? 
 I contend that neither a Wilbeforce, nor a Howard ought 
 to have arbitrary control or power over his fellow-man ; 
 that no man should be allowed, at his caprice, to scourge 
 his servant. What is the security of our property and our 
 lives, but that men shall not be judges in their own cause, 
 (hear, hear,) that they shall be compelled to appeal to an 
 unpacked jury to prove their innocence or guilt? Cut, 
 in the West India islands, there are planters for judges, 
 planters for magistrates, planters for juries, and planters 
 for witnesses ; all lords of the ascendant. Yet it was 
 Asserted by JVJr. Borthwick the other night, that there \va. 
 
46 LECTURE 
 
 an equal law both for the slave and the planter, and it 
 seems I acted contra bones mores in crying No, No, No ! 
 Now for my reply. I will not do as he did, forget the 
 discourse I am professing to reply to. I will track him 
 close through every lane step by step. I will begin at 
 the beginning, and will not leave off till I get to the end. 
 I shall have anticipated some portions of this reply, but I 
 will begin. He said, I appear here as the representative 
 of a large and influential body. Some one inquired 
 what body he did represent? and he replied, The West 
 Indian body. He said that the planters had been calum 
 niated. I had said, emphatically, it was against the sys 
 tem only that I raised my voice my desire was to raise 
 the slave, whose immortal destiny is like my own that 
 Christian men should have fellowship with him that they 
 should sympathise with him, and that no slave should be 
 found in the British dominions. (Cheers.) The next 
 assertion of my Hon. Opponent was, that it was not a 
 question of passion, but of policy. With them it is a ques 
 tion of policy, unmixed policy. We commence with 
 duty they commence with policy. Then, again, he said, 
 it was not a question of imagination, but a question of re 
 ligion. We shall presently come to the religious part of 
 the question. He said also it was a question of right be 
 tween man and man. I like that position uncommonly 
 well. We will take it for our motto, and inscribe it on 
 our banners, which shall be waved in England, Ireland, 
 and Scotland, < RIGHT BETWEEN MAN AND MAN. 
 (Cheers.) Let it be so discussed. But here we are at 
 issue on the question of rights, for they plead for the 
 right to do as they like with their fellow-beings. But a 
 greater man than I, or that gentleman has said and 
 when you have applauded the sentiment I will tell you the 
 name of the author : 
 
 Tell me not of rights talk not of the property of the planter in his 
 slaves. I deny the right I acknowledge not the property. The princi 
 ples, the feelings of our common nature, rise in rebellion against it. Be 
 the appeal made to the understanding or to the heart, the sentence is the 
 Fame that rejects it. In vain you tell me of the laws that sanction such a 
 chum ! There is a law above all the enactments of human codes the same 
 throughout the world, the same in all times such as it was before the dar 
 ing genius of Columbus pierced the night of ages, and opened to one world, 
 sources of power, wealth and knowledge ; to another, all unutterable woes; 
 such it is at this day : it is the law written by the finger of God on the 
 
AT SALFORD. 47 
 
 heart of man; and by that law, eternal and unchangeable, while men des 
 pise fraud, and loathe rapine, and abhor blood, they shall reject with indig 
 nation the wild and guilty phantasy, that man can hold property in man ! 
 In vain you appeal to treaties, to covenants between nations. The cove 
 nants of the Almighty, whether the old covenant or the new, denounce such 
 unholy pretensions. To those laws did they of old refer, who maintained 
 the African slave trade. Such treaties did they cite, and not untruly; for 
 by one shameful compact you bartered the glories of Blenheim for the traffic 
 in blood. Yet, in despite of law and of treaty, that infernal traffic is now 
 destroyed, and its votaries put to death like other pirates. How came this 
 change to pass! Not assuredly by Parliament leading the way ; but the coun 
 try at length awoke; the indignation of the people was kindled; it descen 
 ded in thunder, and smote the traffic, and scattered its guilty profits to the 
 wind. Now then, let the planters beware let their assemblies beware 
 let the government at home beware let the Parliament beware ! The same 
 country is once more awake, awake to the condition of negro slavery; the 
 same indignation kindles in the bosom of the same people; the same cloud 
 is gathering that annihilated the slave trade: an;l, if it shall descend again, 
 they, on whom its crash may fall, will not be destroyed before I have warn 
 ed them: but I pr. iy that their destruction may turn away from us the 
 more terrible judgments of God. 
 
 And now for the author Lord Brougham. (Loud and 
 Jong continued cheering.) Ay, the man who, from his 
 early days, has been ardently attached to civil and relig 
 ious liberty, and who had said, 
 
 If you place in my hands the sacred trust of representing you in the 
 Commons House of Parliament, you arm me with power to complete the good 
 work which we have begun together, nor will I rest from my labors until, 
 by the blessing of GOD, I have seen an end of the abuses which bind Eng 
 land to the ground, and the mists dispersed from the eyes of the ignorant, 
 and the chains drop from the hands of the slave! 
 
 That man is still alive. Cheer him on to victory hold 
 up his hands strengthen his heart give him PUBLIC 
 OPINION (tremendous cheering) as his fulcrum, and upon it 
 he will move the odious and detestable fabric to its foun 
 dation ; but when it tumbles to the ground, I hope that 
 not one of the gentlemen from St. James s street will fall 
 beneath its ruins. My Hon. Opponent ventured forth an 
 other maxim, and what was that? A question of mercy, 
 forsooth, to the slave! What! is it mercy to annihilate 
 the slave is it mercy to keep him in slavery, though you 
 are told, in an accent of mercy, that he has got four par 
 lors and a saloon ? (Cheers.) Is it mercy to let him 
 now so live that his whole race shall be extinct in 
 fifty years in a condition in which they are dying so 
 fast, that, in half a century, not one of the descendants 
 of the present generation will be found ? Is this mercy ? 
 I again ask, though we are told, with so much emphasis, 
 
48 LECTURE 
 
 that the slave has four parlors and a saloon ? Mr. Borth- 
 wick asserted that the master could have no possible mo 
 tive for flogging his slave. He appeared quite panic- 
 struck at the mere idea that the master could flog his slave 
 to death. Now I will give this gentleman a few facts. 
 If the slaves are not murdered by any other means, they 
 are murdered by what is very properly called economical 
 oppression. Had he been at my former lectures he would 
 have heard me prove that the planters cannot be humane 
 if they would that they cannot in all cases clothe and 
 sustain the slaves, and that it is impossible in the present 
 condition of the colonies to do them justice. He would 
 have heard that the majority of them lodge in miserable 
 cabins: if he does not know it, he ought to know it, and 
 it is a pity that a deputation from St. James s street should 
 come to Manchester to learn how the slaves in the West 
 Indies are treated. (Cheers.) I will quote this gentle 
 man s own words : It is not rational to believe that under 
 any circumstances a master would flog his slave to death. 
 It would be the destruction of his own property, and an 
 act of wantonness and folly not conceivable, and yet im 
 mediately afterwards, to show, if possible, that the charac 
 ter of slavery has changed for the better, he makes quota 
 tions which completely subvert his own argument. He 
 (Mr. Borthwick) alluded to a pamphlet which I now hold 
 in my hand. Here are these boasted authorities ; and out 
 of thy own mouth will I condemn thee. (Cheers.) First, 
 therefore, he calls upon us to reject the notion, that a mas 
 ter under any circumstances can be induced to destroy a 
 slave, and yet shows, that in one establishment, 400 slaves 
 were put to death for the fault of one.* (Applause.) The 
 gentleman may take all the advantage of this, The case 
 I am now about to quote has never been mentioned by me 
 before. It is the celebrated case of the Mosses, and since 
 the honorable gentleman cannot conceive any circum 
 stance which could induce a master or mistress to flog a 
 slave to death, he shall have the benefit of it. I quote the 
 
 * Mr. Thompson here referred to a pro-slavery pamphlet, quoted by Mr. 
 Borthwick, entitled British Colonial Slavery compared with the Slavery 
 of Pagan antiquity. 
 
AT SALFORD. 49 
 
 words of that amiable man, Mr Huskisson, whom, I have 
 no doubt, you all admired and deplored. In a communi 
 cation to the Colonies he says, 
 
 Kate was a domestic slave, and is stated to have been guilty of theft ; 
 she is also accused of disobedience, in refusing to mend her clothes and do 
 her work, and this was the more immediate cause of her punishment. On 
 the 22dof July, 1826, she was confined in the stocks, and she was not re 
 leased till the 8th of August following, being a period of seventeen days. 
 The stocks were so constructed, that she could not sit up and lie down at 
 pleasure, and she remained in them night and day. During this period she 
 was flogged repeatedly, one of the overseers thinks about six times, and red 
 pepper was rubbed upon her eyes to prevent her sleeping. Tasks were given 
 her which, in the opinion of the same overseer, she was incapable of perform 
 ing; sometimes because they were beyond her powers, at other times be 
 cause she could not see to do them on account of the pepper having been 
 rubbed on her eyes : and she was flogged for failing to accomplish these 
 tasks. A violent distemper had been prevalent on the plantation during 
 the summer. It is in evidence, that on one of the days of Kate s confine 
 ment she complained of fever, and that one of the floggings which she re- 
 cived was the day after she had made this complaint. When she was 
 taken out of the stocks she appeared cramped, and was then again flogged. 
 The very day of her release she was sent to field-labor, (though heretofore 
 a house servant,) and on the evening of the third day ensuing was brought 
 before her owners as being ill and refusing to work, and she then again 
 complained of having had fever. They were of opinion that she had nont- 
 then, but gave directions to the driver if she should be ill to bring her to 
 them for medicines in the morning. The driver took her to the negro- 
 house, and again flogged her; though, at this time, apparently, without or 
 ders from her owners to do so. In the morning, nt seven o clock, she was 
 taken to work in the field, where she died at noon. 
 
 [During the reading of the above extract, the strongest 
 possible indignation was manifested by the auditory.] 
 
 Mr. Borthwick says, if a man steals in this country 
 you hang him ; but if he steals in the Colonies, he is flog 
 ged ay, he is treated as Kate was. I did not introduce 
 this case. It was my friend s case, and he brought it un 
 der your notice to show that there is the same law for the 
 master as for the slave. Now what should have been the 
 charge preferred against the perpetrators of this crime? 
 Murder. But a Grand Jury could not be found in the 
 Island to return a bill^ and they were therefore indicted 
 for a misdemeanor, and on that charge they were tried 
 a misdemeanor, for putting a poor girl in the stocks for 
 seventeen days for rubbing capsicum in her eyes and 
 for flogging her till she died ! 
 
 I will now give Sir James Mackintosh s view on the 
 subject, in reply to Mr. Irving, the Member of Bramber, 
 and the would be Member for Clitheroe. (A laugh.) 
 5 
 
50 LECTURE 
 
 The Honorable Member had had recourse to a species of argument respect 
 ing the case Mosses, which he remembered was used at the beginning of the 
 debates on the proposed aboliton of the slave trade. A great West India 
 proprietor said, on the occasion to which he had alluded, that the house 
 might as well judge of the morals of England by the records of the Old 
 Bailey, as to judge of the character of the West India planters from a few 
 occurrences selected for the purpose of making an unfavorable impression 
 on the public. To this Mr. Fox replied I do not wonder that the slave 
 trade should remind the honorable gentleman of the Old Bailey. Nothing 
 can be so congenial as the two subjects. Nevertheless, I will point out to 
 the honorable gentleman a contrast between them. At the Old Bailey we 
 hear of crimes which shock our moral feelings; but we are consoled by the 
 punishment of the criminals. We read of crimes as atrocious in the West 
 India Islands, but our moral feelings are shocked at hearing not only of the 
 impunity of the criminals, but of their triumph. In adverting to the case 
 of the Mosses, the honorable member had, most unfortunately for his argu 
 ment, alluded to the case of Mrs. Hibner. The contrast which these cases 
 presented between the moral feelings of the Bahamas, and the moral feel 
 ing of this country, was much more striking than the contrast to which Mr. 
 Fox had formerly called the attention of the house. The offenders in the 
 Bahamas having not only committed a murder, but committed it in the most 
 barbarous manner possible, had been condemned to five month s imprison 
 ment. What followed 1 A memorial had been presented to the Colonial 
 Secretary, signed by what were called the most respectable persons in the 
 colony, attesting that the character of these cruel murderers was generally 
 one of great humanity, and praying for a remission of their punishment. 
 That was the manner in which this atrocious crime was viewed in an 
 island, the inhabitants of which were in no way demoralized, than as the 
 possession of unbounded and irresponsible power always corrupted the 
 heart of man. Nay, more, a public dinner, as a matter of triumph, was 
 actually given by the chief persons in the colony, to the criminals who had 
 barely escaped the most condign punishment for their offences. What was, 
 on the other hand, the case in London when a criminal of the lowest order, 
 this same Mrs. llibner, whose crime was not aggravated by the considera 
 tion that she was possessed of information which ought to have taught her 
 better, committed a similar offence ? He was not the apologist of the vin 
 dictive feeling exhibited by the populace on the occasion ; but it was well 
 known, that they departed from the humanity which they usually exhibited 
 towards the unfortmm^e persons who underwent the last sentence of the law. 
 They could not conceal their horror at a crime, which, however, was far 
 less atrocious than that which had been committed by the respectable 
 Mosses; and even rent the air with shouts of triumph when they witnessed 
 the payment of the dreadful penalty. In justice, however, to the people of 
 London, he must observe, that he remembered only three instances in which 
 they had thus deviated from their usual feelings of commiseration for suffer 
 ing criminals ; and those were all cases in which the punishment of death 
 had been inflicted for the crime of murder, accompanied with circumstan 
 ces of peculiar cruelty. Thus, even in their errors, the generosity which 
 belonged to their general character was strongly evinced. 
 
 This is the same law for the master as for the slave ; 
 and yet these inhuman monsters were sentenced only to 
 five months imprisonment, the whole of what are called 
 the respectable inhabitants of the Bahamas having prayed 
 for a remission of punishment. Ay, and Mr. Irving, the 
 
AT SALFORD. 51 
 
 would-be Member for Clitheroe, absolutely vindicated the 
 conduct of the Mosses, because Esther Hibnerhad recent 
 ly behaved ill to some children in London, and had been 
 executed for the crime. 
 
 I refer to Lord Brougham once more : 
 
 c Mark the refinement of their wickedness ! I nowise doubt, that to 
 screen themselves from the punishment of death due to their crimes, these 
 wretches will now say they did indeed say on their trial that their hap 
 less victim died of disease. When their own lives were in jeopardy, they 
 found that she had caught the fever, and died by the visitation of God. 
 But when the question was, Shall she be flogged again 1 ? Shall she, who has 
 for twelve days been fixed in the stocks under the fiery beams of a tropical 
 sun, who has been torn with the scourge from the nape of the neck to the 
 plants of her feet, who has had pepper rubbed in her eyes to ward off the 
 sleep that might have stolen over her senses, and for a moment withdrawn 
 her spirit from the fangs of her tormenters shall SHE be subjected by 
 those accented fiends to the seventh scourging ? Oh ! then she had no sign 
 of fever ! she had caught no disease ! she was all hale, and sound, and fit for 
 the lash ! At seven she was flogged at noon she died ! and those execra 
 ble and impious murderers soon found out that she had caught the malady, 
 and perished by the visitation of God ! No, no ! I am used to examine 
 circumstances, to weigh evidence, and I do firmly believe that she died by 
 the murderous hand of man ! that she was killed and murdered ! It was 
 wisely said by Mr. Fox, that when some grievous crime is perpetrated in a 
 civilized community, we are consoled by finding in all breasts a sympathy 
 with the victim, and an approval of the punishment by which the wrong 
 doer expiates his offence. But in the West Indies there is no such solace 
 to the mind there all the feelings flow in a wrong course perverse, pre 
 posterous, unnatural the hatred is for the victim, the sympathy for the tor 
 mentor ! I hold in my hand the proof of it in this dreadful case. The 
 Mosses were condemned by an iniquitous sentence; for it was only to a 
 small fine and five months imprisonment. The public indignation followed 
 the transaction ; but it was indignation against the punishment, not the 
 crime, and against the severity, not the lenity of the infliction. 
 
 And now at the present day, these gentlemen tell you 
 that slavery exists by the visitation of God they take up 
 this book (the Bible) and maintain that slavery exists, 
 with its sanction and by its authority. I give these gen 
 tlemen joy of their case of the Mosses. Well, I will now 
 give them Lord Goderich s opinion, having offered to them 
 the authorities of Fox, Mackintosh, and Lord Brougham, 
 In the Parliamentary papers I hold in my hand is the case 
 of a slave belonging to Mrs. Wildman. She trusted a 
 white man with one of her pigs. Well, she went to be 
 paid : was there any thing wrong in that? What did he 
 do? He ordered her to be flogged, and PICKLE was after 
 wards rubbed in her back. Mr. Taylor, the manager, did 
 all he could to bring the planter to justice, and yet he 
 could not find justice enough in that blasted, wasted, 
 
52 LECTURE 
 
 sunken, withered, impious, infernal island where GOD S 
 temples are demolished from which holy missionaries are 
 banished and where 20,000 converted slaves are depriv 
 ed of a place in which to worship Goo^-there was not 
 justice to be found in the Island of Jamaica for a poor 
 black woman, upon whose body was barbarously inflicted. 
 200 lashes. Finally, Mr. Taylor wrote to Lord Goderich ; 
 and his Lordship after examining the evidence, con 
 cludes; 
 
 Thus erer} r effort was abortive, and thus it has been proved, that an 
 attorney for an absentee proprietor may for months persevere in his attempt 
 to obtain redress for an act of oppression committed on a slave under his 
 charge, but unavailingly. The strong impression made upon my mind by the 
 conduct of the Clarendon magistracy, coupled with similar proceedings m 
 other parochial authorities, is, that Councils of Protection are a mockery, 
 and that where slave evidence is rejected by law, the slave has scarcely the 
 shadow of protection from ill treatment. 
 
 I trust this documentary evidence will be deemed con 
 clusive, and I hope the worthy deputation will state with 
 what facts we illustrate the nature and practice of their 
 darling system. They will send intelligence to St. James s 
 street of this night s proceedings, arid I fancy I see the 
 conclave now assembled. Two sheets of letter post, 
 closely written on both sides, is read. Irwell street Chap 
 el crowded great deal of the intelligence of the town 
 present three gentlemen in the pulpit besides the lectur 
 er the lecturer s friend attending with a blue bag filled 
 with Parliamentary papers. (Laughter.) 
 
 I will now refer to a case which occurred on Lord 
 Combermere s estate. And who is his Lordship 1 He is 
 a large owner of West India property a most humane 
 man, and who selected his servants on his slave estates 
 with the greatest care; yet what did his manager do? 
 Why, he slaughtered the slaves on the estate by wholesale, 
 so that in ten years, according to his system, the whole of 
 them would have become extinct. The man was accused 
 of being guilty of twelve murders some of them were 
 called manslaughters; yet there was not to be found in 
 Nevis, or St. Kitt s, a jury who would find a bill against 
 this man, that he might be put upon his trial. Lord Com- 
 bermere at length heard of his atrocious conduct, and 
 wrote to Lord Goderich on the subject. He says, 
 
 I have to thank you very much for your letter of the 20th instant, to 
 gether with papers relating to the abominable conduct of Mr. J. Walley, a 
 
AT SALFORD. 53 
 
 manager upon my estate at Nevis. Upon my return from the East Indies 
 I received letters from Governor Maxwell, and from Mr. Swindall, (who 
 manages my St. Kitt s property, and is agent also for that in Nevis,) detail 
 ing the oppressive and inhuman conduct of Mr. Walley towards the ne 
 groes, and informing me that Mr. Swindall had, immediately the facts came 
 to his knowledge, turned Mr. Walley away from the management of the 
 Stapleton estate. I do assure you, my dear Lord, that this circumstance 
 -gave me considerable pain, and occasioned me much surprise; for when I 
 was Governor of Barbadoes I visited my estates in St. Kitt s and Nevis, and 
 placed new people in the management of them. I contributed the use of 
 the plough and wheel-barrow for manual labor, and gave strict orders that 
 the slaves should not be hard worked, and that they should be well clothed 
 and fed, and all their comforts attended to. It was most gratifying to me, 
 after my return from the East Indies, that my instructions had been implic 
 itly obeyed, and that no estates in those islands were in such fine order as 
 mine, or the negroes so contented and happy. The gross and inhuman con 
 duct of Mr. Walley, has given me much pain ; and your Lordship may be as 
 sured that no expense or trouble on my part shall be spared in order to as 
 sist in bringing this criminal to justice : but I fear we cannot expect a jury 
 at Nevis or St. Kitts to do their duty. Your Lordship knows me too 
 well not to feel confident that every thing was done by me to bring this man 
 to punishment, when I heard of his misconduct; but unfortunately I did not 
 return from the East Indies till after his trial had taken place. I hope 
 something will now be done in order to make an example of such a miscre 
 ant, and I have only again to assure you, that I have nothing so much at 
 heart as the welfare and happiness of the negroes upon my estates, and Gov 
 vernor Maxwell and Mr. Swindall well know how anxious I have been re 
 specting their treatment, &c. I need not add, that every effort shall be used 
 by me for guarding against a recurrence of " such bad treatment of slave? 
 upon my estates." 
 
 That s the same law for the master as the slave ! (Hear, 
 hear.) We shall see presently what is the law for the 
 slave. Mr. Borthwick talked of the planters wives, and 
 of the planters daughters, and he panegyrized the ladies 
 of England, and talked of their virtue and beauty, but his 
 compliments fell silent to the ground. He was doing that 
 which never will succeed he never will flatter the wo^ 
 men of England into an approbation of slavery. (Tre 
 mendous cheering, mingled with shouts of bravo. ) 
 There were ladies in the West Indies/ he said, as fair 
 as you, who have hopes, and fears, and sympathies in comr 
 mon with your own. And is there not, I would ask, a 
 negro heart, a negro s home, and a negro s wife ^ Has 
 not the negro hopes, and fears, and sympathies? Women 
 of England ! I will never celebrate your beauty, your sym 
 pathy, your virtuous endearments, until you grant to me, 
 that a negro s wife is as fair in the eyes of her husband as 
 you are in yours. (Loud applause.) A planter said to a 
 boy, the son of a slave, is your mother beautiful? Mark 
 
54 LECTURE 
 
 his reply. Can a mother be anything but beautiful in 
 the eyes of a son 1 (Loud cheers, and a cry of one 
 cheer more. ) Ought we not, Mr. Borthwick observes, to 
 proceed so as to secure safety for the slave and the interest 
 of the master? Yes, Mr. Borthwick, we ought to save 
 the slave from the inhuman fiends in the Bahamas, from 
 the whips, the pegs, the field-stocks, the collars of St. Lu 
 cia save the slaves from the bullets of Col. Grignon, and 
 from the fangs of the magistrates of Jamaica. (Applause.) 
 It was recommended to the Governor of Jamaica by the edi 
 tor of the Jamaica Courant, to accept of a cargo of blood 
 hounds from Cuba, to hunt down the negro. Save him 
 therefore from this sanguinary editor and the fangs of his 
 blood-thirsty agents ! 
 
 I shall presently call Mr. Borthwick to an account on 
 the subject of manumission. I ask for safety for the slaves 
 when they are engaged in the worship of GOD I wish 
 protection for the missionary I desire to save Mr. Knibb s 
 deacon from the scourge. The interest of the planter ! 
 What is he now ? A bankrupt. What has he been for 
 years? A pauper. What have we, the people of Eng 
 land, done for him? We have given him more money, in 
 hard cash, for his support, than is subscribed for all our 
 missionary, bible, and tract societies, and all our private 
 and public benevolent institutions, if their amount were 
 doubled or trebled. And yet Mr. Borthwick says, that we 
 don t care for the planter. Ungrateful man ! Not care for 
 the planter? We nourished and brought him up, and in 
 so doing, we corrupted him. Mr. Borthwick talked of 
 slavery dying a natural death. Yes, it might have done, 
 years ago, had we withheld our money. We suckled the 
 monster, and are still sustaining him at the cost of mil 
 lions annually. That gentleman knows, or ought to know, 
 that it is not in the concentrated wisdom of Parliament, 
 to legislate for the Planters, unless slavery be abolished. 
 We can only pluck him from ruin by extinguishing the 
 system, and restoring commerce to its uncorrupted and 
 legitimate foundations. 
 
 The system has been proved to be a ruinous one, and 
 how is that ruin to be avoided ? Hear the remedy, ye wise 
 men of St. James s street ! Lord Goderich tells you not 
 to despair, but to retrace your steps. In a despatch to the 
 Earl of Belmore, dated Gth June, 1831, he says, 
 
AT SALFORD. 55 
 
 The existence of severe commercial distress amongst all classes of society 
 connected with the West Indies is unhappily but too evident. Yet what is 
 the just inference from this admitted fact ? Not, certainly, that the pro 
 prietary body should yield themselves to despair, and thus render the evil in 
 curable; but that we* should deliberately retrace the steps of that policy 
 which has had so disastrous an issue. Without denying the concurrence 
 of many causes towards the result which we all so much deplore, it is ob 
 vious that the great and permanent source of that distress, which almost every 
 page of the history of the West Indies records, is to be found in the institu 
 tion of slavery. It is vain to hope for long continued prosperity in any 
 country in which the people are not dependant on their own voluntary in 
 dustry for their support; in which labor is not prompted by legitimate mo 
 tives, and does not earn its natural reward; in which the land and its culti 
 vators are habitually purchased and sold on credit; and in which the 
 management of that property is almosjt invariably confided by an absent 
 proprietary, to resident agents or to mortgagers, who are proprietors only 
 in name. Without presuming to censure individuals for the share they may 
 have taken in maturing this system, I cannot but regard the system itself 
 as the perennial spring of those distresses of which, not at present mere 
 ly, but during the whole of the last fifty years, the complaints have been so 
 frequent and so just. Regarding the present Orders as a measured and 
 cautioned, but at the same time, a decided advance towards the ultimate ex 
 tinction of slavery,! must, on that account, regard it as tending to the cure 
 of the pecuniary embarrassments which it is said to enhance. 
 
 Iii our friend s reply he distinctly staled, that it was not 
 the wish of the planters to maintain slavery an hour beyond 
 the time when the slaves were fit for freedom. If they were 
 to consult economy, he said they would do it instantly. 
 They acknowledge that slave labor is unprofitable. And 
 now I will pin down my honorable opponent on this point. 
 On the score of economy, they would manumit their 
 slaves, because two thirds of them are children or aged, 
 and therefore unable to work : WHAT THEN BECOMES OF 
 
 THEIR CLAIM TO COMPENSATION? (Loud cheers.) But 
 
 why do they not liberate the population ? Hear it my friends 
 and believe it if you can, they retain them from motives of 
 the purest humanity. Compassion for the infant sympa 
 thy and tenderness towards the aged and infirm, are the 
 reasons why they defend the system. Hear it ye British 
 matrons! Ye know not the duties of the nursery. Ye 
 could not, or ye would not, train up your piccaninnies in 
 the way they should go. They would starve if they were 
 f ree. The negro mother would forget her sucking child, 
 she would not have compassion on the son of her womb, 
 and therefore the West India Committee feels constrained, 
 from principles of heavenly charity, to care for these in 
 fant outcasts. (Tremendous applause.) Hear it ye mo 
 dern philanthropists ! Yours is a misguided benevolence. 
 
5(> LECTURE 
 
 Ye know not what ye do. Slavery is based upon humani 
 ty. The old would want wine. Wine did I say ? Mr. 
 Borthwick told you they had wine. But I suppose this 
 wine is to be found in the spacious habitation the same 
 gentleman described. (A loud laugh.) A dwelling con 
 sisting of four parlors and a saloon (renewed laughter;) 
 and when instead of the destitute cabin of the slave, you 
 find this delightful and commodious retreat, then, and not 
 till then, will you find the negro regaling himself with wine, 
 supplied him by his most amiable master. (Great cheer- 
 
 learned opponent then proceeded to a discussion on 
 the sinfulness of slavery, and you recollect how hard he 
 labored this part of his argument. He went to the 25th 
 chapter of Leviticus, and hung his whole defence of the 
 abstract principle, upon the 45th and 46th verses. 
 
 Moreover of the children of the strangers that do sojourn among you, of 
 them shall ye buy, and of their families that are with you, which they begat 
 in your land ; and they shall be your possession. 
 
 And ye shall take them as an inheritance for your children after you, to 
 inherit them for a possesssion ; they shall be your bondmen for ever : but, 
 over your brethren the children of Israel, ye shall not rule one over an 
 other. 
 
 Now he knows, or ought to know, that this slavery has 
 ceased, and has not lasted for ever. He knows that the 
 Jews have riot slaves now. If they now retained the 
 Canaanite and the Hittite in slavery, he might found 
 an argument on the passage. But he who gave the 
 command, at the same time knew when their dispensation 
 would end ; and he provided in its stead a dispensation of 
 love. (Great cheering.) But my opponent did not quote 
 other parts of that law. Why did he not also quote this 
 passage from the xxi. chapter and 16th verse of Exodus? 
 
 And he that stealeth a man and selleth him, or if he be found in his 
 hand, lie shall surely be put to death. 
 
 (Great cheering followed the reading of this passage.) 
 He knows, or should know, that according to his own 
 argument, there ought to be no slavery but by the express 
 command of GOD. Let him, then, quote his authority for 
 our holding the negroes in slavery. (Applause.) Let 
 him not ground his advocacy on the state of servitude in 
 Judea. As fared the master so fared the slave. If the mas 
 ter had white bread the slave was not to have brown if 
 the master had old wine the slave had not new^-if the one 
 
AT SALFORD. 57 
 
 had a soft bed the other had not a hard one. In our colo 
 nies is this the case 1 Is there any comparison between 
 the table of the planter and the table of the slave 1 What 
 has the slave? What are his yams, his plantains, his rot 
 ten herrings, his horse beans to sustain life in comfort? 
 There is evidence in this chapel that the deficiency even 
 of this sort of food compels them frequently to go out to 
 pilfer; and in Antigua the planters having no credit to im 
 port provisions, actually permit their slaves to go out to 
 rob ! In Jamaica, where provisions are abundant, the 
 slaves all keep themselves and their masters besides. Yet 
 you are told that if the slaves were manumitted they would 
 starve ! 
 
 Our friend here knows, too, that the Jews had a law 
 which he had not ventured to quote. He knows that if a 
 Hebrew slave behaved well he had his freedom at the end 
 of seven years. He knows, too, that there was the year of 
 jubilee (hear, hear,) when the slave became free, and 
 went out of the house of his master laden with liberal gifts. 
 (Hear, and loud cheers.) I appeal to you as Christians 
 I appeal to him, if the trump of jubilee was ever heard in 
 the West India Islands. (Great applause.) He knows 
 it never was heard. Then, after quoting the Jewish law, 
 he tried to bring the precepts of Christianity to his aid, 
 but it will be in your recollection how 7 he bogghd, as the 
 Yorkshireman would say, at the injunction do-do-do unto 
 all men as you would they should do unto you. Yes, and 
 he might have boggled in that way till eternity dawned, 
 before he could have found a sanction for that horrid sys 
 tem in the Christian volume. How was this holy religion 
 announced, Glory to GOD in the highest, and on the 
 earth peace, good will to men. (Enthusiastic cheering.) 
 Oh, but, says he, St. Paul sent back Onesimus to Phile 
 mon ! (Laughter and applause.) The SAVIOUR came to 
 preach deliverance to the captive, and said, All things 
 whatsoever you would that men should do unto you, do ye 
 even so to them. Yes, but St. Paul sent Onesimus back 
 to Philemon ! (Renewed laughter and cheers.) And to 
 the question Who is my neighbor, what was the answer ? 
 Here it is from the 10th chapter of St. Luke : 
 !*- But lie, willing to justify himself, said unto Jesus, And who is my 
 neighbor! 
 
58 LECTURE 
 
 And Jesus answering said, A certain man went down from Jerusalem to 
 Jericho, and fell among thieves, which stripped him of his raiment, and 
 wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead. 
 
 And by chance there came down a certain priest that way : and when he 
 saw him he passed by on the other side. 
 
 And likewise a Levite, when he was at the place, came and looked on 
 him, and passed by on the other side. 
 
 But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was: when he 
 saw him he had compassion on him, 
 
 And went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and 
 set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him. 
 
 And on the morrow when he departed, he took out two pence, and gave 
 them to the host, and said unto him, Take care of him: and whatsoever 
 thou spendest more, when I come again, I will repay thee. 
 
 Which now of these three thinkest thou, was neighbor unto him that fell 
 among thieves 1 
 
 And he said, He that showed rneicy on him. Then said Jesus unto him, 
 Go, and do thou likewise. 
 
 [Loud cheering followed every passage.] 
 
 Yes ! resumed Mr. Thompson, this is all very beauti 
 ful : but then St. Paul sent Onesimus back to Philemon! 
 (Great laughter.) Well then about this Onesimus. In 
 the first place, does the gentleman know that this Onesi 
 mus was a slave in the sense that the negroes in the West 
 Indies are slaves ? Second : Did Philemon possess a pro 
 perty in his life and limbs, as the West India slave owners 
 say they have in the life^and limbs of the negroes? He 
 should have proved this before he justified slavery, because 
 St. Paul sent Onesimus back to Philemon. W T e find in 
 the 18th chapter of Matthew, that a certain king would 
 take account of his servants. Now the word doulos trans 
 lated servant there, is the same which is translated servant 
 in the epistle to Philemon ; and we find there, that one un 
 faithful doulos owed his master ten thousand talents. How 
 could an abject slave owe ten thousand talents ? But 
 mark the conduct of his master. He orders the slave and 
 his family to he sold, that he may be repayed. He sells 
 his own property to pay himself? I may perhaps illus 
 trate the folly of this conduct, supposing doulos to mean 
 slave, by a homely simile. A horse in a stable slips his 
 halter, and eats some beans out of a sack, and the master 
 says, Oh thou wicked and ungrateful horse ! did I not 
 give thee hay enough, and yet hast thou broken loose and 
 ate up this sack of boans ? Though thou art mine, and 
 though thou hast cost me fifty pounds, I will punish thee 
 for this, I will sell thee to-morrow, though I should lose 
 
AT SALFORD. 59 
 
 by thee, that I may repay myself for the beans thou hast 
 eaten. (Great laughter.) 
 
 Suppose this doulos this slave according to the West 
 Indian translation, runs away, and becomes a convert to 
 principles that he knew not before that he is recognised 
 and sheltered, as St. Paul kept Onesimus, and that he is 
 sent back with a message, I send you back your runa 
 way. In such a case no doubt the slave owner would say, 
 Ay, to be sure, let me have him ! But what does St. 
 Paul say. Does he bid Philemon take Onesimus and treat 
 him as the poor boy was treated for running away with his 
 own naked body 1 No ! Does he say take him and 
 hang him 1 No ! Does he say flog him ? No ! Does 
 he say chain him ? No ! Does he say put a collar on 
 him? No! He says receive him not as a servant, but 
 as a brother. (Long continued cheering.) He bids him 
 to esteem him as more than a servant as a brother be 
 loved. 
 
 But the St. James street gentlemen like to quote the 7th 
 chapter of Corinthians. It is a favorite passage with them, 
 and I wonder why our friend missed it the other evening. 
 It is said, Let every man abide in the same calling where 
 in he was called. Now were I talking to the slave, I 
 would say, be patient, submit to the wrong, care not for 
 the chains, but wait. Stand still, and see the salvation of 
 God, and I will go to England and represent your case 
 there, and endeavor to affect such an alteration of the law 
 as may procure your redress. But will any man libel the 
 character of St. Paul, by saying that when he uses such 
 language to the slave he exhonorates the master 1 No: 
 he says, art thou called being a servant ? care not for it. 
 This implies a wrong, but does not justify it. So and so has 
 wronged me, says one. Well care not for it, advises 
 another. Bear in mind that there is no slavery with God. 
 But if you must be free it must be in a higher state, and 
 use your servitude rather to subserve this greater end. Ye 
 are bought with a price, and in this sense ye cannot be 
 the doulos the slave of any man. (Cheers.) 
 
 I now come to a very important part of the gentleman s 
 lecture. He said, that as the representative of the West 
 India proprietors, he would say that he would give free 
 dom to the slaves as soon as they are in the condition that 
 
60 LECTURE 
 
 Onesimus was. Then I claim it for the Methodist 
 converts. (Applause.) In the name of those who wor 
 ship in this place In the name of GOD I claim it for the 
 Methodist converts in the West Indies in the name of 
 the venerable George Marsden (who was present^ I claim 
 it for them. There are many Onesimuses there. Many 
 whose names, though they are recorded on the parchments 
 of men as their property, are written in the book of life. 
 I have them, says their GOD and our GOD, and their 
 names are written on the palms of my hands. I claim 
 it for the Baptist converts. (Cheers.) I claim it for Mr. 
 Knibb s communicants. I claim it for Swiney, whose 
 back was scourged for praying for the safety of his 
 master. (Great cheering.) I claim it for the Mora 
 vian converts I claim it for the Church converts 
 I claim it for all who love the LORD JESUS CHRIST. (En 
 thusiastic cheering.) Are they free ? Perhaps our friend 
 will reply to that. But I came not here to enter into dis 
 quisitions of abstract rights, but to put an end to real in 
 justice real infamy. I came not here to discuss abstract 
 metaphysical questions, but to endeavor to put an end to 
 the debasement of the sufferers, and of those who are par 
 ties to its continuance. 
 
 Then he gave us a very beautiful quotation from Ju 
 venal ; to show you that slavery should exist now, he shows 
 you the cruelties practised many years ago ; that ancient 
 cruelty should justify modern crime. Behold this tree ; 
 it never has brought forth good fruit. Make ancient sla 
 very a thousand times worse if you will, there is no secu 
 rity in modern slavery ; and though one only may be slain 
 to-day, 400 may be slain in one establishment to-morrow. 
 And this quotation is made in a Christian country. If this 
 be done in the green tree, what shall be done in the dry? 
 Shame to the St. James s street conclave, that they can 
 not find better arguments ; but they shall see presently, 
 that slavery in 1832 is a hundred times worse than it was 
 in the days of the Romans. One of my opponents, who, 
 judging from appearances, was apparently pot-valiant, said 
 I suppose Mr. Thompson has never been in the Colonies. 
 What is his inference from that? Why, that my evidence 
 ought not to be received ; but I never gave him any evi 
 dence of my own. I believe his friend has never been in 
 the Colonies, if so, the same reasoning will apply to him. 
 
AT 6ALFORD. 61 
 
 It was wrong in him thus to attack his friend by a side 
 wind. It has been very justly said, Heaven protect me 
 from my friends. I can take care of my enemies myself. 
 Send me no Mr. Franklin to help me. But to return. 
 The gentleman was dishonest as an argumentative speak 
 er. He alluded merely to horrors said to have been com 
 mitted and not fit to be told in that assembly, but he never 
 gave us one proof of their truth. I will give you proofs, 
 however, from the St. James s Chronicle, and from the 
 Morning- Post. These proofs are contained in a letter 
 dated Feb., 1832, without name, and the part of Jamaica 
 from whence it came not alluded to at all, addressed to a 
 physician in Glasgow, who is not named, and written by 
 a person, who had been six weeks on the island during all 
 which time martial law had existed against the negroes. 
 He stated that 14 women were found amongst a party of 
 negroes in the woods by a body of soldiers sent in pursuit 
 of them, and two of them were in a most horrible state with 
 their thighs broken. Can such things be believed ? The 
 writer of this letter, who, bear in mind, has been six weeks 
 on the island, goes on to state the difference in the con 
 dition of the slaves in that country and the laboring popu 
 lation in this. The slaves there, he says, have horses of 
 the best quality to ride upon, not donkeys, nor mules, but 
 horses of the best description. They dress superbly, says 
 .he, not neatly, not comfortably, but superbly. They have 
 also, says he, domestic animals of every description. When 
 Mr. Franklin got up, as if from amidst the thunder of his 
 friend s eloquence, a flash of lightening had come forth 
 aad annihilated his memory, and cried out the man who 
 says that the negro is in a degraded, demoralized and de 
 based state, utters a premeditated falsehood. He had for 
 gotten what his friend had said on the subject. (Hear, 
 hear, hear.) If this was the truth, he had better have 
 kept it in ; he might have spared his friend ; he might have 
 refrained from giving him the lie direct in a public meet 
 ing. To illustrate the credit due to them, who would 
 grant abolition, BUT NOT NOW, I will read an extract from 
 the Jamaica Courant, a paper edited by a member of the 
 assembly, a paper avowedly the organ of the planters. 
 The Courant says, in relation to the Baptist Missions, he 
 hoped they would have justice done them ; and what was 
 
D LECTURE 
 
 this justice t We hope they will be hanged in the woods 
 ofTrelavvney ! 
 
 * Our primary ardor has been unabateJ. We have never allowed these 
 deluded wretches lime to rest; night and day have we been at them, and 
 have made terrible slaughter among them. And now. at the end of a six 
 weeks s campaign, we are neglected not thought of, because the Govern 
 or must have a little fun with Tom Hill and his yacht. The few wretches 
 that are now out, are hiding in the cane-pieces, and we occasionally get 
 a bullet or two at them. On Sunday morning five were shot, who were 
 fallen in with and attempted to escape. 
 
 Miserable wretches, shot at for attempting to escape 
 from Christian men on a Sabbath morning ! 
 
 I shall not consider that we are safe, although all this havoc has been 
 made among the rebels ; although they may have now found the inutility 
 of opposing the strong force which can be opposed to them, until we can 
 fall on some plan of getting rid of the infernal race of Baptists, which we 
 have so long fostered in our bosoms, and demolishing their bloody pande 
 moniums. 
 
 This is Jamaica attachment to the cause of freedom ! 
 
 * I cannot allow the post to start, without saying that I have remained 
 long enough at Falmouth to see the Baptist and Methodist Chapels pulled 
 down This good work was accomplished this day, by the troops after 
 their return conquerors from the seat of war. Lots of groans as you may 
 imagine, from the Saints and their followers. It is impossible for me to 
 give you a description of the appearance of our brave Militiamen on their 
 arrival in this town. The poor fellows cut a miserable appearance : you 
 could not actually tell whether they were black, white, yellow, or any other 
 color. 
 
 Let Bruce know that the great and glorious work has commenced. It is 
 now ten o clock, and all hands at work, demolishing the Baptist and Wes- 
 leyan Chapels. The Methodist Chapel is down, and the men are hard at 
 work at the Baptist s. The roof of the latter is not yet off, but ao much 
 injured, as to make it as well off as on. It is standing, true, but supported 
 by a few posts only. The men have gone for fire hooks to complete the 
 work they have undertaken. There is the devil to pay here to day (as you 
 may suppose) among the Saints and their followers. Weeping and wailing, 
 and gnashing of teeth wringing of hands, and groans, interrupted at times, 
 with curses and imprecations on the soldiers. 
 
 Here are the victorious troops of Jamaica. You have 
 heard of the Duke of Wellington and his armies amidst 
 the pealing of organs, kneel down and return thanks to 
 GOD that the arms of our country have been victorious. 
 Here are the Jamaica troops. Do they behave thus? Do 
 they thus enter the hallowed place? With hands reeking 
 with the blood of their fellow-creatures, they instantly set 
 on and pull down the houses of GOD. (Shocking.) 
 
 I trust there will be no occasion for apology in a stranger addressing 
 you, as no doubt you will feel the same pleasure in purging this as I did in 
 witnessing the act which forms the subject of my communication. 
 
 We have heard from those gentlemen the danger of 
 emancipation. If the negroes had learned to pull down 
 
AT SALFORD. 63 
 
 churches, they would have been fit for freedom if they 
 could come with their hands reeking in human blood, and 
 tar and feather a holy man, they are fit for freedom, but 
 no, not yet, they are not fit for freedom ; they are not yet 
 sufficiently assimilated with these blood-thirsty beings. 
 
 I write in the hope of this reaching you through the way-bag, as the 
 post office lias long since been shut. Some true-hearted Jamaicans have 
 truly ennobled themselves this night, by razing to the earth that pestilential 
 hole, Knibb s preaching shop. Verily, friend, they have not spared Box s 
 also. He no more will be able to beat the roll-call to prayers, nor the ta- 
 too upon the consciences of the subscribers of macs our poor deluded 
 slaves. In plain English, not one stone has been left standing nav, not 
 even the corner one ; and I hope that this goodly example will be followed 
 from Ncgril to Morant. 
 
 Here is a blasphemous allusion to the chief corner stone, 
 that, which, if it shall fall upon a man shall crush him 
 to powder ; but I forbear. I could go on with a number 
 of these extracts from the Courant. I have numbers of 
 them, but I will read only one. 
 
 Between seven and nine o clock on Saturday evening, the 7th (April, 
 3832,) a.a the Rev. Mr. iJleby, a Wesleyan minister, and his lady, were 
 sitting to tea at their hired residence in Falmouth, a band of white and 
 one or two colored ruffians rushed into the house and seized him, using ex 
 tremely violent and abusive language, calling him a d d preaching villain, 
 &c. &c.; they then forced Mr. B. to the opposite side of the room, four 
 or five holding him whilst one struck him violently on the head they were 
 all armed with bludgeons. One of the ruffians brought a keg of tar into 
 the room, and, whilst some held him, others spread the tar with their 
 hands over his head, face, breast, and clothes. Whilst this brutal assault 
 was going on, the fellow named Dobson, who struck Mr. Bleby, attempted 
 to set Mr. B s pantaloons on fire, but was prevented by one of the gang. 
 He immediately after applied the candle to the tar on B s breast, but Mrs. 
 Bleby seeing it dashed the candle from his hand, and it went out. In at 
 tempting to interpose between the ruffians and Mr, B., Mrs. Bleby was 
 seized by one of them and dashed violently on the floor, the effect of which, 
 our informant affirms, she still severely feels. Two of the gang attempted 
 to lock her in the pantry, but she managed to elude their intention. By 
 this time the alarm having been given, some people came to Mr. and Mrs. 
 Bleby s assistance, and commenced an attack upon the villains who were 
 below stairs ; this so alarmed those that were employed above, that they 
 left Mr. Bleby and hastend to the assistance of their fellows, and eventu 
 ally made their escape, but not until two or three had received the drub 
 bing which they richly deserved one so much so as to endanger his life. 
 About this time Mrs. Bleby with her child escaped, through the crowd, 
 without her bonnet and one shoe, the villains having first bedaubed her and 
 her child (about five months old) with tar ! ! Mr. B.,vho was guarded 
 by a party of colored and black young men, took shelter in a neighboring 
 house. Mr. Miller, with a party of the 22d regiment, soon after arrived 
 on the spot, to whom Mr. B. stated what had occurred, and claimed pro*- 
 tection at their hands. Mr. B. was taken to the barracks for the night, 
 and Mrs. B. was kindly sheltered byJVlrs. Jackson, the lady of the Clerk of 
 the Peace, who offered her all requisite assistance. On Sunday the attack 
 
64 LECTURE 
 
 was to have been renewed, but it did not take place. A a specimen of 
 Falmouth justice, the young men who went to Mr. Bleby s assistance were 
 disarmed, by authority, and are to-day to be tried by a court martial for 
 the crime of protecting a Missionary, his wife, and harmless infant ! ! ! 
 
 But I need not dwell longer upon these facts. Again 
 the Courant states. 
 
 There is no longer a hive for the drones; the bees have beat them 
 away, and destroyed their hives; no longer have they a shelter to collect 
 maccaronies in, and away they must go. With wlia t pleasure did I wit 
 ness the conduct of the brave and intrepid men of the St. Ann s Regiment, 
 while performing that which ought to have been done by the Trelawney 
 Regiment demolishing the Baptist and Methodist Chapels. This work 
 commenced at eight o clock, and is still going on ; by morning there will not 
 be a stone left standing. I trust the example thus set in Trelawney, will 
 be followed throughout the island: with this difference, that the inhabitants 
 of every parish will do their own duty, and not require others to perform i(. 
 It was highly amusing to see the "Cobbler s" flocks in the streets, groan 
 ing and wondering where their preachers would now get money to build 
 other Chapels. 
 
 Is it to come to this, that when the clanger is supposed to be over, that 
 the preachers of all denominations, who found it prudent to quit the coun 
 try, should assemble in Kingston, and pretend to be instructors of each oth 
 er, and point out how they are in future to conduct themselves? Their 
 treason to the country has been discovered, and by a slio\v of .ibout tliij iy 
 vagabond preachers, who dare not show their noses out of Kingston, they 
 are endeavoring to excite a sympathy for their sufferings ! The time has 
 past, and their conduct is now understood, and none but those who encour 
 age rebellion would, for one moment, countenance the conduct they are pur 
 suing. If they really are the servants of the Lord Jesus, what have they 
 to be afraid of? Their master performed many miracles, but alas ! he was 
 crucified a consummation which we devoutly pray his pretended servants 
 may experience; and as we intend shortly to publish an almanac, we shaH 
 be happy to canonize these gentry, by placing their names as Saints, in 
 black letter. Now for the oration. The Rev. bawler addressed his thir 
 teen culprits, and asked them if their mission was not one of peace 1 The 
 poord Is, of course, nodded assent. He then remarked, with a degree of 
 energy which we are sorry was not exerted in a good cause Are you not 
 ambassadors from Godl Another nod ! Then said the preacher, perse 
 vere here he made a pause of a few seconds, and then told the criminals 
 again to persevere in maintaining peace and good order! ! ! ! These men 
 are very kind, and no doubt preach peace on earth, and good will towards 
 all men ! The dear babes, how we love them ! Merely because we know 
 they love us!! We are, however, not bigots, either in politics or religion, 
 and if they could point out the same number of good men among them as 
 would have saved Sodom and Gomorrah, we would like LOT "beg for 
 them," but as we know that such a number could not be found, we hope 
 they may be ordered to " march " at a moment s warning, without sus 
 taining a loss equal to that which poor LOT experienced. 
 
 He that has ears to hear, let him HEAR ; * and if Mr. 
 Borthwick replies to this, I shall have a minute of it; if 
 he does not, it is because he cannot. (Cheers.) 
 
 Since our last, we have received accounts of the destruction of every 
 one of those pandemoniums of insurrection and rebellion, the Baptist 
 preaching shops, from Savanna-la-Mar to Brown s Town, in St. Ann s. 
 
AT SALFORD. 65 
 
 They have been destroyed partly by the Militia and partly by some of their 
 own followers, who have had their eyes opened by recent events, which 
 have taught them that ihe Baptist Parsons were not the Sovereigns of Ja 
 maica. Several of the Wesleyan Chapels have also been either totally or 
 partially destroyed; a fit but trifling retribution for the loss these men have 
 caused to the proprietors of those estates that have been burnt by the incen 
 diaries, who were instigated to commit the crimes, for which so many ef 
 them have suffered by these preachers. We can only say in the words of 
 the Reformer, John Knox To get rid of the Rooks effectually you must 
 destroy their nests. As to the rooks the preachers we would recom 
 mend the advice ofourstaunch friend JAMES M QuEEN, to be observed to 
 wards them : Tar and feather them wherever you meet them, and drive 
 them off the island, excepting always those who may merit a greater eleva 
 tion a more exalted distinction. 
 
 I have only one more extract to give you. It is a des 
 patch from Colonel Grignon to Sir Willoughby Cotton, da 
 ted Montego Bay, January 2d, 1832. Colonel Grignon 
 was one of the foremost of them who at a meeting in July 
 1831, called on the planters to resist the orders in council, 
 even to blood. He is the manager of Salt Spring estate 
 for a gentleman in London. The extract runs thus : 
 
 * On ths 29th, I received information that a large body of negroes were 
 assembled at Chester Castle, and I proceeded with a detachment of the 
 regiment to that place, having first given directions to the officers command 
 ing the Westmoreland, to meet me therewith one company. The negroes 
 had, however, fled, and I saw nothing of the Westmoreland detachment. 
 On my return to quarters, I observed the negroes at Montpelier new works, 
 assembled in a large body, setting fire to the trash houses. 
 
 Setting fire to trash houses. This was the head and 
 front of their offending. Does the gallant Colonel exhort 
 them to disperse ? No. Does he threaten them ? No, 
 Does he fire blank catridges over their heads? No. You 
 shall see what he does. 
 
 * / immediately ordered the detachment, who were all mounted, to 
 dash into the mill yard, and the rebels were all dispersed. In this attack 
 I understand, from information received, that there were two of them 
 killed and one wounded. Upon this occasion I have to notice that En 
 sign Reanie, with a small advanced detachment was extremely active, and 
 throughout the whole duty which the regiment had to perform I was ably 
 supported by this officer. 
 
 What a piece of courteousness this, to compliment the 
 gallant officer, for his activity in driving away a few un 
 armed negroes, who might have been dispersed by a con 
 stable s staff! But it is upon the old principle of * You 
 tickle me and I ll tickle you. (Great laughter.) 
 
 Upon my arrival at quarters I found the company of the St. James s 
 regiment had arrived, under the command of Captain Ewart, at about five 
 o clock. At about seven the rebels advanced upon us in four 
 columns. 
 
 What! were these rebel negroes so soon martialized as 
 6* 
 
66 LECTUKE 
 
 to march down upon them in four columns? Men who 
 knew no more of military evolutions than a pig knows of a 
 fortnight! Coming down upon them, tramp, tramp, 
 tramp, in four columns! (Laughter.) This is what I call 
 making up a story, and if you wish to see a specimen of 
 the art of making up a story, read the Manchester Covricr 
 of Saturday last. (Cheers.) If there be any spark of 
 honor, truth, or honesty in the gentlemen who are opposed 
 to me, they will give the lie to that Courier. (Tremendous 
 cheers.) Who gained a hearing for that opposition on 
 Monday? I did. (Cheers.) Who gained them a hear 
 ing again on Tuesday ? I did, or they never would have 
 been heard. (Great cheering.) And yet, what does this 
 veracious journal say 1 It says, Mr. Borthwick was again 
 interrupted in his argument by an uproar, compared to 
 which the scenes we have frequently witnessed on Peter- 
 loo amongst an assembly of radicals of the lowest grade 
 were perfectly calm and decorous. I say if the genlle- 
 men have any spark of truth about them, they will give the 
 lie to that Courier (Cheers, while a person in the gallery 
 shouted out, Let us groan, and several groans were 
 heard.) But enough of that, let us return to the Colonel. 
 
 * They came down upon us in four columns. 
 
 I am afraid my friends you are thinking I am alluding 
 to four columns of the newspaper. (Laughter.) 
 
 They came down upon us in four columns. The first body moved upon 
 the trash houses. 
 
 Their greatest hostility seems to have been against these 
 trash houses. 
 
 " The first body moved upon the trash houses, to one of which they set 
 fire, and became engaged with Captain Evvart s company, and picqnet 
 guard of the Western interior, under Ensign Gibbs. The officers and 
 men behaved in the most gallant manner, and shortly dispersed the 
 enemy. This division from the statement of Captain Ewart, consisted of 
 40 men. The three other divisions, attacked the main body of the West 
 India regiment, who had been formed into a solid square, and kept up a 
 considerable firing of musketry upon them. 
 
 Does he remonstrate with these men ? Does he advise 
 them to disperse ? Does he entreat them ? No ; he or 
 ders his men to fire upon them. They kept up a very 
 rapid fire. This is West India slavery. (Murder.) 
 
 The regiment reserved the fire until the rebels had advanced with 
 in thirty or forty yards, when they commenced a very rapid fire, which 
 continued for about 20 minutes, when the enemy dispersed in all di 
 rections. The body of the enemy who attacked by the main road, could 
 not have consisted of less than two hundred men. The number in the 
 
AT SALFORD. 
 
 67 
 
 other division I could not judge of, as they were covered by a stone wall 
 fence, and the Hill house, but both divisions appeared to have many firearms. 
 When all behaved with so much gallantry, it would be invidious to 
 name any individual; at the same time, I cannot omit mentioning Mr. 
 Rhodes Evans (a gentleman residing in the West Interior district, 
 and u-ho had volunteered his services,) and 1 am under great obliga 
 tion for his able assistance. I must also state that I am much indebted 
 to Captain Balme for his suggestions to me during and after the engagement. 
 I regret to add that in this encounter we had one man killed, and forty 
 wounded; and Major Kings and Sergeant Sewells 
 
 Had their throats cut ? No. Their brains blown out? 
 No. Mortally wounded ? No. They had their HATS 
 SHOT THROUGH. (Tremendous cheers, with laughter.) 
 
 This is the first time I ever heard of such a gazette as 
 this. It is a complete proof that they had nothing impor 
 tant to write about. Where are these hats ! would that 
 we had them here. They ought to be sent down to pos 
 terity along with the memorials of Blenheim, Nile, and 
 Waterloo. (Cheers.) They ought to be hung up in 
 Westminster Abbey along with the trophies of their great 
 victories, and the name of Colonel Grignon go down to 
 glory with the illustrious names of Malborough, Howe, and 
 Wellington. (Tremendous cheering.) 
 
 Their huts shot through, but they received no injury. I could not learn 
 the exact number of the killed and wounded, but I understood afterwards, 
 that they admitted they had lost ten men killed, and twety-five wound 
 ed. The company of St. James s regiment, together with the West India, 
 lay under arms the remainder of the night. 
 
 So much for the nature and the operations of a West 
 India campaign ! 
 
 Special objection was taken and special indignation ex 
 pressed at my assertion, that a slave could not call his 
 life his own, his liberty his own, his wife, or his children 
 his own. This was met only by a bare denial, and 
 an attempt to prove that the slaves have liberty of con 
 science. Now, although I never said any thing about lib 
 erty of conscience, I am quite willing it should become a 
 topic of discussion, because upon no one point will my 
 opponent find himself more at a loss for facts than upon this. 
 Have they liberty of conscience, I ask, when their chap 
 els are pulled down? Has that man liberty of conscience, 
 who, because he only says, LORD JESUS, save my mas 
 ter ! is thrown down and flogged, and then loaded with 
 an iron collar, fettered to a felon, and forced to work on 
 the highways? Is that liberty of conscience? A long 
 letter, written by the Rev. George Bligh was then read by 
 
68 LECTURE 
 
 Mr. Borthwick ; but the testimony of that gentleman was 
 set against a thousand proofs that no liberty of conscience 
 was enjoyed in the West Indies. On the subject of liber 
 ty of life and limbs, I wiH quote from a work entitled 
 West Indies as they are ; written by the Rev. R. Bick- 
 ell, a clergyman of the established church, a member of 
 Cambridge a most singular coincidence this, as the gen 
 tleman recently in London, in the course of a debate de 
 scribed himself as having been schooled at Cambridge, to 
 whom the testimony, therefore, of a brother Cantab must 
 be peculiarly grateful late naval chaplain at Port-Royal ; 
 sometime curate of that Parish, and previously of the city 
 of Kingston. 
 
 * The distress and terror among a gang of negroes, \\hen the marshall s 
 deputy, with his dogs, and other assistants, ccn.es to levy in a large way, 
 cannot be conceived by those who, happily for themselves, have never been 
 spectators of such scenes, and can scarcely be described by those who have 
 witnessed them. I was once on a coffee mountain (stay ing for a few days with 
 a brother clergyman, who had permission to reside there) en whrch were 
 about seventy or eighty negroes, the proprietor was much in debt, and was 
 aware that one or two of his largest creditors had for seme time wished to 
 make a levy on his slaves to pay themselves ; but by keeping his gates locked, 
 and the fences round the dwelling house and negro-houses in good repair, he 
 had hitherto baffled die Argus-eyed deputy and his deputies. The night 
 after I arrived on the property, however, I was awaked, about an hour before 
 daylight, by a great noise, as of arms, with cries of wcinen and childi en ; I at 
 first scarce knew what it was, but in a few minutes a pri\ ate servant, who did 
 not belong to the properly (and who was in the yard, beyond the reach of the 
 seizors) came to my window and informed me that it was the marshall s de 
 puties making a levy on the negroes, and that the noise proceeded from the 
 clashing of weapons ; for some of the slaves, he said, had stoutly resisted. 
 I then alarmed my friend, being nearer to the scene of action than hewn?, 
 and we determined to go cut to fee that no improper use was made of ihe 
 tremendous power given to these Cereberuscs. By the time we arrived at 
 the negro-houses the resistance had ceased; for the wgroes being divided, 
 had been overcome by the myrmidons of the law, they being eight or ten in 
 number. One poor fellow, however, was being dragged along like a thief by 
 a fierce and horrid looking Irishman, who had been one of M Gregors free 
 booters, and who, when we came near, grasped his victim more tightly, and 
 brandished his broadsword over the poor creature with the grin and growl 
 of a demon, as much as to say, you dog, I will annihilate you and them too, 
 if they attempt to interfere; though, of course, we had not the least inten 
 tion of interfering; we were only quiet spectators. 
 
 So much for liberty of life and limb. Take a specimen, 
 in that state of happy freedom, of food, raiment, &c. 
 
 Children also in many ins-lances are allowed to go quite naked, and I have 
 seen boys and girls, seven or eight years of age, in a state of nature, running 
 about some houses, who for the sake of common decency ought to be clothed ; 
 and it is very common to see black boys and girls, twelve or thirteen years of 
 age, almost men and women, in nothing but a shift ov shirt, waiting at table; 
 so little are the decencies of life observed towards them. 
 
AT SALFORD. 
 
 69 
 
 What can be more absurd than to hear it constantly reiterated, that (he 
 negroes in our colonies are better fed and better clothed than the British 
 peasantry 1 
 
 None but a bigoted and low-minded planter, or some interested profes 
 sional resident, who cannot return to reside in this country, would compare 
 the coarse yams, and cocoas, and the stringy indigestible plantains, with a 
 few bad or rotten herrings, to the wholesome bread of this country, and to 
 potatoes and other fine vegetables, with a small portion of fresli meat or 
 bacon, which the English cottager enjoys. I have seen a good deal of the 
 state of the English poor, having served curacies in Somersetshire, Glou 
 cestershire, Monmouthshire, and Wiltshire, besides having an intimate ac- 
 uaintance with Devonshire; and I can conscientiously say, that I never 
 saw any one, even a pauper, who lived in the mean, hoggish way that the 
 slaves in the West Indies do. 
 
 I can assert with much truth, that the coarsest Irish potatoes, with a little 
 milk and salt, are preferable to the negro yams and green plantains, at least, 
 I would sooner have them; and I think most of the British poor would ap 
 prove of my taste, had they an opportunity of judging. 
 
 The English poor are also much betteY clothed ; for where is there a poor 
 cottager that has not a decent cloth of fustian coat, of any color he pleases, 
 with other parts of his dress suitable, independent of good and warm stock 
 ings, and sound shoes to keep his feet from the gravel and dirt ? But what 
 has the slave 1 He has for his best (from his master., as I before observed,) 
 a large baize surtout, which hangs about him like a sack, and would as well 
 fit any person you please as himself; and, moreover, a pair of coarse trowsers 
 and coarse shirt of Oznaburgh, which, with the coarsest kind of hat is hia 
 whole wardrobe; for this is the general livery or badge of slavery. The 
 
 female slaves arp rlntluul aa much inferior to our poor women, antlhotli ne- 
 
 gro men and women are without stockings and shoes, and generally go in a 
 half-dressed state, viz: without coats or gowns; the womens petticoats up 
 to their knees; and very often before fresli supplies are given out, many of 
 them are in a ragged state, and some almost in a state of nudity ; and yet it \ 
 said, they are better off than the poor in Great Britain ! 
 
 What does my opponent now say to the blessings of Sla 
 very what becomes of his four parlors and saloon now 
 his wine for the old and infirm and his thousand com 
 forts, about which the English peasant knows nothing ! 
 
 He next artfully appealed to the money-getting propen 
 sities of the people of England, and said the emancipation 
 of the slave might lead to a diminution in the manufac 
 tures of this country, and stop the sale of British calicoes. 
 In proof he instances the island of Hayti. I will now 
 quote an article extracted from the Parliamentary paper, 
 No. 178: 
 
 HAYTI. < In a bulky Parliamentary document of last Session, numbered 
 578, entitled, " Papers relating to the American Tariff," we have discovered 
 the following facts respecting the trade of Hayti with the United States. 
 The exports from the United States to Hayti appear to consist of fish, oil, 
 naval .stores, cheese, flour, lumber, carriages, hats, saddlery, beer, shoes, 
 iron, copper and brass ware, gun-powder, &c. ; and the paper to which we 
 refer, (p. 178,) states, that in the last year, (1826,) " The export trade with 
 Hayti, despised Hayti, in domestic products, amounted to 1,251,910 dollars, 
 
70 LECTURE 
 
 equal to the whole of our exports to Russia, Prussia, Sweden and Norway, 
 Denmark, Spain and Portugal." And yet this is but a portion of that Hay- 
 tian trade, which Mr. Mackenzie lias labored so assidiously to deprecate. 
 
 Be not deceived abolition would greatly increase our 
 exports the slaves are already fond of finery, and if re 
 munerated for their labor would not be satisfied with the 
 9s. 6d. suit now supplied them by their owners ; but would 
 require from England such supplies of our manufactures,, 
 as would vastly benefit the country generally and those dis 
 tricts in particular, in which such manufactures are con 
 ducted. But admitting the truth of what the gentleman 
 asserts, I would ask, What ! is it come to this, that we are 
 to continue the foul abomination, from a fear that we 
 should spin less yarn, or weave less calico? No, the 
 people of England are not such worshippers of mammon. 
 If you witness an attempt to palliate slavery, by an appeal 
 to the pocket, repudiate it, despise it; would you with 
 hold liberty from the captive, that you might make a little 
 more money by keeping him in bonds 1 Will you, who 
 have just obtained the elective franchise, determine the 
 question of liberty to others by a reference to the amount 
 
 of your exports ? The exports of Hayti wore alluded to, 
 
 but I would ask, if the poor Irish had all they want at 
 home, would they send so much abroad ? I refer confi 
 dently to the history of St. Domingo, and they who know 
 that history will concur with me, that it affords an irre 
 fragable proof of the safety of abolition. Not a stronger 
 proof of the blessings of emancipation could be given, 
 than that the population has doubled in twenty years. 
 (Cheers.) In the West India islands there has been an ab 
 solute decrease of 50,000 in the population in ten years 
 and a half. St. Domingo never rebelled until an attempt 
 was made to bring its inhabitants back into bondage. The 
 island is not blessed as our islands are with religion. No; 
 they are better off without religion than our islands are 
 with it. There are no religious slave owners there to 
 drive Christianity into their backs with whips twelve feet 
 long. If I am challenged to the proof, it shall be forth 
 coming. 
 
 Mr. Borthwick alluded to Sierra Leone, and said that 
 every experiment there had utterly failed that nothing but 
 slothfulness, vice, and immorality prevailed ; he broadly 
 
AT SALFORD. 71 
 
 asserted that the best conditioned of the free negroes 
 there were worse off than the most abject slave in the 
 West Indies, and that the happiest free man there was 
 more miserable than the most wretched slave in Jamaica. 
 I tell him it is a falsehood, and he knows it. (Tremen 
 dous cheers.) He knows it to be a base, fabricated false 
 hood. I know not whether it was sent to him from St. 
 James s; but if his employers so informed him, let him 
 tell them that they have been furnishing him with lies. 
 What, I now ask, constitutes a man s happiness ? Is it 
 herrings, yams, plantains, horse-beans, or a horse-whip? 
 No ! If he dares to reiterate his assertion respecting Sierra 
 Leone, he shall have the whole history of that colony. 
 (Hear, hear.) He says that the slaves should have relig 
 ious instruction, and that is an argument also which 
 is continually in the mouth of the Marquis of Chandos ; 
 but let him tell me if there is one single instructor of 
 Christianity on the Marquis of Chandos s estates in the 
 West Indies? 
 
 I implore you to look at the other side of the question 
 the danger of delaying emancipation. Can the West In 
 dia islands be in a worse condition than now prevails? 
 Colored men are butchered, without the semblance of a 
 trial the frame-work of society is dissolving, and chaos 
 is coming again. If we do not grant emancipation, they 
 will liberate themselves. I shall conclude my reply with 
 the remarks of a great man now deceased. He says, 
 
 Shame ! that any should have been found to speak lightly of liberty, 
 whose worth is so testified whose benefits are so numerous and so rich. 
 Moralists have praised it poets have sung it the Gospel has taught and 
 breathed it patriots and martyrs have died lor it. As a temporal blessing, 
 it is beyond all comparison and above all praise. It is the air we breathe 
 the food we eat the raiment that dollies us the sun that enlightens, and 
 vivifies, and gladdens, all on whom it shines. Without it, what are honors 
 and riches, and all similar endowments ? They are the trappings of a hearse 
 they are the garnishings of a sepulchre; and with it the crust of bread, 
 and the cup of water, and the lowly hovel, and the barren rock, are luxuries 
 which it teaches and enables us to rejoice in. He who knows what liberty 
 is, and can be glad and happy when placed under a tyrant s rule, and at the 
 disposal of a tyrant s caprice, is like the man who can laugh and be in 
 merry mood at .the grave, where he lias just deposited all that should have been 
 loveliest in his eye, and all that should have been dearest to his heart. What 
 i slavery, and what does it do ? It darkens and degrades the intellect it 
 paralyses the hand of industry it is the nourisher of agonizing fears and 
 of sullen revenge it crushes the spirit of the bold it belies the doctrines, it 
 contradicts the precepts, it resists the power, it sets at defiance the sanctions 
 of religion it is the tempter, and the murderer, and the tomb of virtue and 
 
72 LECTURE 
 
 either blasts the felicity of those over whom it domineers, or forces them to 
 seek for relief from their sorrows in the gratifications, and the mirth, and 
 the madness of the passing hour. 
 
 This extract is from the pen of the late Dr. Andrew 
 Thompson, of Edinburgh. 
 
 Having now occupied your attention for three hours and 
 twenty minutes, I beg once more, for the fifth time, most 
 cordially to express to you my thanks for the attention 
 which you have afforded to me. I have explained the na 
 ture of the emancipation we seek ; and the safety and 
 justice of emancipation ; the advantage of a system of free, 
 in preference to one of compulsory labor. 
 
 All that I ask is liberty for the captive ; a release from 
 arbitrary and irresponsible control and that he should 
 henceforth be governed by equal laws administered by 
 judicial and responsible officers. 
 
 Let it no longer be objected, that we are surrounded by 
 miserable and starving beings at home, and therefore 
 ought to confine our attention within the circle of our 
 own neighborhood. Let ours be a more enlarged philan 
 thropy, which, while it forgets not the object which is near, 
 goes out after the wretched children of oppression, now 
 groaning for help in the Colonies. Far be it from me to 
 be an unmoved spectator of the ills of those immediately 
 around me ; but while I gaze upon the most abject of the 
 inhabitants of this island, I cannot help remembering that 
 here the cup of misery goes round, and he who drinks it 
 to-day, passes it to another to-morrow. The starving and 
 the houseless of to-day are not the starving and houseless 
 of to-morrow. Here hope animates all the wheel of for 
 tune is ever revolving the scene is ever shifting, and the 
 eye that weeps to-day, may sparkle with joy to-morrow. I 
 only ask that this may be the condition of the slave that 
 he may exchange a state of abject slavery, in which his 
 labor is exacted by the whip, for a state of naked freedom, 
 in which, under the influence of the ordinary motives 
 which stimulate men,. he may become a cheerful and in 
 dustrious peasant; a skilful artizan ; or, an enterprising 
 merchant. And shall I ask in vain? Shall I this night, 
 appearing as I do, the advocate -of 800,000 human beings 
 to whom we owe a migty debt, crave in vain the bless 
 ing of homeless pennyless FREEDOM. It is impossi- 
 
AT SALFORD. 73 
 
 ble ! the appeal to MEN to ENGLISHMEN, and to CHRIST 
 IANS, cannot be ineffectual. 
 
 I have done. Once more let me thank you for this 
 lengthened attention, and assure you, that I shall be ready 
 to hear what more my opponent can say in defence of 
 slavery, and should he fail to convince me, you may con 
 sider me pledged to give a second refutation, and to do 
 again what I trust I have done to night scatter to the 
 winds of heaven the sophistries by which it is sought to up 
 hold a system which insults the God of heaven, and de 
 grades His image upon earth. 
 
MR. THOMPSON S LECTURE. 
 
 Report of the Proceedings at the meetings of Messrs. Thomp 
 son and Borthtoick held at the Royal Amphitheatre, 
 Liverpool, on the Evenings of August 28, 29, 30, 31, 
 and September 6, 1832. From a Supplement of the 
 Liverpool Times. 
 
 IT was announced last week, that MR. GEORGE THOMP 
 SON, one of the advocates of the Anti-Slavery Societies, 
 who has been lecturing in London, Manchester, and sev 
 eral other places, on the evils of slavery, would deliver a 
 lecture on the same subject, at the Royal Amphitheatre, 
 in this town, a place admirably suited, by its extent and 
 accommodations, for the thousands who might naturally be 
 expected to assemble together on a question of such vital 
 interest and importance. We seldom remember to have 
 seen so much interest excited on any subject, as has been 
 exhibited by our townsmen within the last few days. As 
 it was deemed desirable that both sides of the question 
 should be laid before the public, after some negotiation 
 between the West India body and the committee of the 
 Anti-Slavery Society, it was arranged that Mr. Thompson 
 should lecture on Tuesday evening ; that Mr. Borthwick 
 should speak on Wednesday, on the opposite side ; that 
 Mr. Thompson should be heard in reply on Thursday, 
 and that the admission on all the three nights should be by 
 tickets, equally distributed by both parties, in order to se 
 cure a select assemblage, and prevent, as far as possible, 
 the recurrence of those scenes of clamor and tumult 
 which have taken place elsewhere. Upwards of 8,000 
 tickets were so distributed, and even then, almost up to 
 the time of the meeting the greatest anxiety was exhibited 
 to procure them, and hundreds of persons who applied 
 were obliged to go away disappointed. At half past six 
 
LECTURE. 75 
 
 on Tuesday night, the hour fixed for the commencement 
 of the proceeding, the Amphitheatre was crowded in every 
 part, from the pit to the gallery, with a numerous and 
 most respectable assemblage, the speaker, and several gen 
 tlemen of both committees, taking their station on the 
 stage, where ample accommodations was provided for them, 
 and for the gentlemen connected with the press. 
 
 With these few introductory remarks, we shall proceed 
 to our summary report of the discussion. 
 
 MR. ADAM HODGSON, in taking the chair, said he felt 
 himself called to a situation of great delicacy and difficul 
 ty, being, on the one hand, a member of the Liverpool 
 Anti-Slavery Society, and on the other, and in some de 
 gree, the representative of the West Indian body, bound 
 to secure a fair and impartial hearing for both parties, 
 without any reference to his own individual feelings and sen 
 timents, which had been long before the public, and which 
 nothing could induce him to abandon. He should endeav 
 or to perform the duties of his station with firmness and 
 impartiality, trusting to the support of the meeting ; and he 
 hoped that both parties would behave with the utmost or 
 der and decorum, abstaining from all manifestations of ap 
 plause and disapprobation, and remembering that no cause 
 whatever could be served by clamor, but might be materi 
 ally injured by it. (Hear, hear.) After some further ob 
 servations to the same effect, Mr. Hodgson concluded by 
 saying that Mr. Borthwick would reply to Mr. Thompson, 
 from the same place, on the following night, and by re 
 questing for that gentleman the same patient and attentive 
 hearing as that which he solicited for Mr. Thompson. 
 
 MR. G. THOMPSON then came forward, and said that,, 
 after an absence of twenty years from his native town, he 
 trusted that he would not be deemed altogether a stranger 
 where he appeared as an advocate of the great cause he 
 was called upon to plead, and that, as an Englishman and 
 fellow-townsman, he would not be denied a calm, patient,, 
 and attentive hearing. He did not come to discuss the 
 wonders of the heavens or the beauties of the earth, or to 
 lecture upon any subject of science, nature or art, such as 
 those to which other lecturers had called their attention ; 
 it was his painful and responsible duty to lay before them a 
 
76 MR. THOMPSON S 
 
 theme of sorrow, of misery, want, woe, and degradation, 
 of injustice, cruelty and oppression, as exhibited in the his 
 tory, progress, and principles, and character of British co 
 lonial slavery ; to point out the actual condition of 800,- 
 000 human beings now in a state of degrading bondage ; 
 and to ascertain what it was their duty, as Englishmen 
 and as Christians, to do on this great and momentous ques 
 tion. That question was simply, whether, in the year 
 1832, there was justice enough, courage enough, piety 
 enough, in the British nation, to declare, at once and for 
 ever, that the system of slavery should be abolished, a 
 question involving the interests and welfare of all men who 
 were held in slavery throughout the world. (Applause.) 
 Christianity taught that they were to do unto others as 
 they would that others should do unto them, and that they 
 should remember those who were in bonds, as if they 
 themselves were in bondage too. If they observed these 
 divine precepts, if they were disposed to yield obedience 
 to the high behests of heaven, all wordly considerations 
 must sink to nothing in their eyes before those sublime 
 and all-comprehensive passages of Holy Writ. (Hear.) 
 Religion taught them to consider all mankind, without ex 
 ception, as their brethren and friends; and the time would 
 come when even the oppressor of the negro would be com 
 pelled, with fear and shame, to own his victim as a broth 
 er, and to give an account of the wrongs and injuries that 
 had been heaped upon him. (Hear, hear.) 
 
 Not only has the negro been denied the enjoyment of 
 civil rights not only has he been doomed to hew wood 
 and draw water for the white man ; but the benefits of 
 religion have been denied his teachers have been perse 
 cuted and banished the house in which he worshipped 
 his God, and in which he was taught to lift his eyes in 
 hope and confidence to one common Father that house 
 has been razed to its foundation ; thus particularly, even 
 in the present da ?/, -has his right to hope for immortality 
 been denied, and he has been consigned to ignorance and 
 vice, to the labor and treatment of a brute on earth, and 
 the destiny of a brute hereafter. Yet his pale oppressor 
 has proudly claimed immortality for himself, and has con 
 templated that immortality without dread of the judgment 
 
LECTURE. 77 
 
 awaiting him for his ruthless conduct towards his sable 
 victim. But (arid I thank Heaven) a title to immortality 
 is not the exclusive prerogative of the white man ; they 
 must both die the same death both mingle with the same 
 earth both be resolved into the same element both be 
 judged at the same tribunal by the same rule both ad 
 mitted to the same heaven, or banished to the same hell. 
 Yes ! let the oppressor die ! let men bear his corse to the 
 tomb decked with the trappings of an earthly splendor ! 
 let them write his epitaph on marble, and celebrate virtues 
 which he never had, and let them say, high on his escutch 
 eon, RESURGAM, RESURGAM, RESURGAM ! I shall rise again ; 
 and I will visit the grave of the lowly negro, the enslaved, 
 insulted, degraded, and lacerated negro, and I will write 
 upon the sod that covers his remains, RESURGAM, RESUR 
 GAM, RESURGAM ! /shall rise again. 
 
 He was not there to vilify any party ; he was not there, 
 as had been most falsely represented, to make an attack 
 upon property and vested rights ; but he stood there 
 on Christian principles, only to claim for the negro 
 equality of rights; to elevate the negro from that 
 state of degradation in which the avarice of mankind 
 had placed him ; to bestow upon him not merely 
 civil liberty, but, under the blessing of God, that more 
 hallowed, more glorious, and more eduring liberty, which 
 senators or magistrates could not give, and all the powers 
 of earth nor hell take away. 
 
 A liberty unsung 
 
 By poets, and by senators unpraised, 
 Which monarchd cannot grant, nor all the powers 
 Of earth and hell confederate take away : 
 A liberty, which persecution, fraud, 
 Oppression, prisons, have no power to bind ; 
 Which whoso tastes can be enslaved 110 more. (Applause.) 
 
 He took his stand upon the broad and immutable princi 
 ples of justice and mercy, truth and love, and asked 
 whether Englishmen, on these grounds, would not open 
 the prison doors and bid the oppressed go free ; would not 
 
78 MR. THOMPSON S 
 
 vindicate their love of liberty before the whole world, and 
 thus free themselves from the guilt of fostering, within the 
 very heart of their dominions, the foulest system that had 
 ever denied the earth or insulted Heaven. (Applause.) 
 He demanded immediate and total emancipation for the 
 negro; not an emancipation from the restraints of law 
 and justice to which Englishmen themselves were subject ; 
 but emancipation from the whip ; emancipation from that 
 odious and impious system which gave man the right of 
 property in the bodies and souls of his fellow-men, and the 
 substitution of public and and recognised authority, for 
 private and irresponsible power, He asked only for such 
 an alteration of the law as would best promote the inter 
 ests of all parties ; as would secure to the negro the pos 
 session of all his rights ; give safety to the planters, and 
 provide for the proper cultivation of the soil. If he of 
 fended, that was the head and front of his offending. 
 (Applause.) He had not then time to trace the history 
 and effects of slavery. Were he to do so he would have 
 to carry them back 340 years, when Columbus first dis 
 covered those beautiful isles, now constituting the British 
 West Indies, standing out like emerald spots in the waste 
 of waters the innocent and amiable inhabitants of which 
 imagined Englishmen to be visitors from heaven, until they 
 found how grievously they had been deceived ; he should 
 have to tell the horrid barbarities perpetrated by the Span 
 iards, and how, after having stained the earth with the 
 blood of their victims, and almost depopulated the land, 
 they were obliged to procure fresh victims to minister to 
 their avarice and cupidity, and he should then come to the 
 commencement of that odious and abominable traffic, in 
 which this town had, unfortunately, so large a share, the 
 African Slave Trade. It might be alleged that this was 
 the crime of a former age ; he admitted it ; they might if 
 they would, make him the representative of all the guilt 
 incurred, but he begged, he implored them to allow him 
 to make all reparation in his power to the sons and daugh 
 ters of the oppressed, whilst it was in his power whilst 
 the colonies yet existed, whilst the victim still breathed. 
 (Hear, hear.) 
 
 Sir J. Hawkins who first introduced this trade, told 
 Queen Elizabeth, with consummate deception, that the 
 
LECTURE. 79 
 
 slaves had been removed with their own free will, and that 
 the object of the merchants in removing them, was, for 
 sooth, that they might be converted to Christianity. The 
 Queen had her misgivings on the subject, and told Haw 
 kins that if the slaves were dragged away from their homes 
 without their own consent, he would bring down the ven 
 geance of heaven upon the country, and fearful would be 
 the consequences of the crime. (Hear, hear.) He had 
 not now time to describe the scenes since transacted on 
 the shores of Western Africa, in the prosecution of this 
 horrid traffic the ravaged towns, the smoking villages, 
 the desolated plains, the deserts covered with victims, 
 fainting, bleeding and dying by the way ; he had not time 
 to describe that floating hell a slave ship from whence 
 continually proceeded the sounds of weeping, wailing and 
 gnashing of teeth or the soul sickening scenes of the 
 sl.ave market the passing of money from hand to hand, 
 followed by the transfer of human and immortal beings, 
 bought and sold like beasts of burthen or to recapitulate 
 the insults and wrongs, toils and woes, heaped on the heads 
 of successive generations from that time even until now. 
 For all these purposes the time would utterly fail, and he 
 therefore came to that portion of the subject with which he 
 had now more immediately to deal namely, the present 
 condition of the 800,000 human beings, now in bondage 
 within the confines of the British dominions, and the duty 
 of Englishmen towards this long injured portion of the 
 human family. After adverting to the writings of the Rev. 
 Mr. Godwin, Richard Baxter, the eminent nonconformist, 
 Dr. Peter, Bishop Warburton, and Dr. Samuel Johnson, 
 against slavery and the mission of JohnWoolman, and An 
 thony Bcnnezet, through the United States, endeavoring to 
 persuade the planters to give freedom to their slaves, 
 Mr. Thompson called the attention of the meeting to the 
 facts that the Society of Friends had long ago declared 
 slavery to be inconsistent with Christianity, that they had 
 given up all their property in slaves and that the holding 
 of a single human being in bondage, was sufficient to ex 
 clude any man from their communion. (Applause.) 
 Would to heaven, he said, that all denominations of 
 Christians had imitated that holy and praiseworthy exam 
 ple ! He would not then have had to appear before the 
 
80 MR. THOMPSON S 
 
 meeting to discuss the subject of slavery, nor would those 
 who wished to gloss over the system have had the trouble 
 of following him, to use the polite words of one of them, 
 like his evil genius, thwarting his endeavors, and endeav 
 oring to show that his Christianity was not the Christian 
 ity of the Bible. 
 
 But, Sirs, you are my judges : have I libelled Christi 
 anity ? Do I misstate its principles, its genius, its ten 
 dency, its doctrines, its precepts, its examples, when I say 
 that they all conspire to teach me that I should love my 
 neighbor as myself, that I should feel the kindlings of 
 charity toward all mankind, and that I should do unto 
 others as I would that others should do unto me ? I ask 
 myself, should I like to be a SLAVE ? I look upon the 
 thousands around me, and I ask, Is there one here who 
 would wish to be a SLAVE ? And the answer which comes 
 to me from every heart and every tongue is, No. Well, 
 then, if liberty be good for me, if it be good for you, 
 if it be good for our brothers, our friends, our wives, our 
 children, our neighbors, and our countrymen ; if it be the 
 wholesome atmosphere we breathe, if without it we 
 should become diseased, and wretched, and despised 
 then is it good for every man ; and I claim it for the 
 negro. If you say he knows not his own value, nor 
 the value of liberty, I answer, he can never learn their 
 worth in slavery. Freedom alone can restore him to the 
 full dignity of his nature. Charge not his present degra 
 dation upon his Creator ; say not he is the descendant of 
 Ham, and therefore debased. Give him liberty give him 
 kindness give him education ; treat him with love, and 
 own him as a brother, and he springs at once from the 
 earth, and grows into the full stature of a rational, account 
 able, and immortal being. 
 
 Mr. Thompson, in adverting to the famous decision of 
 the Judges in Westminster, obtained by Granville Sharpe, 
 that the moment a slave set his foot on English soil he be 
 came free, remarked that the slave thus enfraachised by 
 the fiat of the laws, might be the most abandoned, degra 
 ded, and worthless of his race, and quoted the beautiful 
 lines from Cowper s Task, 
 
 * We have no slaves at home then why abroad 1 
 And they themselves, once ferried o er the wave 
 
LECTURE. 81 
 
 That parts us, are emancipate and loose. 
 
 Slaves cannot breathe in England ! if their lungs 
 
 Receive our air, that moment they are free ! 
 
 They touch our country, and their shackles fall ! 
 
 That s noble ! and bespeaks a nation proud 
 
 And jealous of the blessing : spread it, then, 
 
 And let it circulate through every vein 
 
 Of all our empire, that when Britain s power 
 
 Is felt, mankind may feel her mercy too. (Immense cheering.) 
 
 After a brief history of the struggles which led to the abol 
 ition of the slave trade in 1807, and an eulogium on Wes 
 ley, Clarkson, Wilberforce, Fox, Burke Sheridan, and 
 other philanthropists who took part in those struggles, Mr. 
 Thompson said that they were now met together to say 
 whether something more did not remain to be done before 
 England could be thoroughly purged from the guilt of sla 
 very, and whether that something more was not the entire 
 annihilation of slavery in the colonies. They were as 
 sembled to discuss the evils of slavery, and he begged the 
 particular attention of those who were to reply to him, 
 whilst he endeavored to show that slavery was contrary to 
 the principles of humanity, the precepts of reason, and the 
 dictates of a sound and just policy. One of the evils of 
 slavery which met him on the threshold, was, that it inva 
 riably cursed the soil on which it existed, with sterility; 
 he need not, he was sure, tell the inhabitants of Liverpool 
 that the incessant- reaping of ripe crops from the same 
 soil must necessarily produce that sterility. Another of its 
 evils was, that it had been the origin of the slave trade 
 in all ages of the world. Another evil was, that it doom 
 ed an infant, even before it came into the world, to inter 
 minable slavery. They were told that the only reason for 
 withholding freedom from the negro was, that he was not 
 yet fit to receive the blessing ; but how did this apply to 
 the unborn child 1 Could he not be trained for liberty ? 
 (Loud applause.) Pharaoh pleaded the same excuse for 
 detaining the Israelites till the judgments of God compel 
 led him to release them ; and Pharaoh s reason was of the 
 same nature as that of modern slave owners, he wanted 
 more bricks, and they wanted more sugar. (Laughter and 
 applause.) He asked liberty for every infant born in the 
 
82 MR. THOMPSON S 
 
 British colonies. Tell him not of the alleged inhumanity 
 of negro mothers tell him not that planters and drivers 
 were the best nurses for children. Did not the raven, the 
 tigress did every brute beast provide for their young ; 
 and could it be said that the negro mother would not pro 
 vide for hers? (Applause.) Did the planters know how 
 much responsibility they were creating for themselves in 
 taking possession of an immortal soul ? At the last awful 
 day would they be able to answer the question why they 
 had enslaved their fellow-man 1 What might that child 
 have become had he not been doomed from the womb to till 
 the ground as a slave, under the infliction of 
 
 Stripes that Mercy, with a bleeding heart, 
 Weeps when she sees inflicted on a beast 1 
 
 Another evil of slavery is, that it depresses the body by 
 excessive labor, while it takes from the slave all the or 
 dinary motives of exertion. Mr. Thompson here gave a 
 very beautiful exposition of the motives and incentives 
 which induce the English laborer to pursue his toils with 
 cheerfulness and contentment. The statesman, the sol 
 dier, the sailor, and every class of persons who engage in 
 laborious pursuits, either mental or bodily, are actuated by 
 similar motives. But why toils the negro? Toils he for 
 a wife ? He may say with Othello, 
 
 Alas ! I have no wife ! 
 
 While engaged in his task he might hear the shrieks of 
 his wife in some adjoining field, laid down by the com 
 mand of some cruel overseer, and writhing beneath the 
 murderous lash. She is not his wife, for she is the pro 
 perty of another. Toils he for children? Toils he for 
 liberty for himself, or that he may transmit the boon of 
 freedom to his posterity? Toils he for remuneration, for 
 fame, for promotion, or any of the other rewards of labor? 
 No. Then why does he toil ? The whip is behind him ! 
 Fear is the only impulse which urges him to continue his 
 degrading and laborious task. Slavery entailed on the 
 slave all imaginable suffering. There was no species of 
 misery, or wretchedness, or oppression to which he was 
 
LECTURE. 83 
 
 not exposed and subjected. If this were denied, he would 
 load the table, and overwhelm his opponents with evidence 
 of the fact. They might, perhaps, be told, as he had been, 
 that the slave had four parlors and a saloon in the middle ! 
 (Laughter.) He could prove that the privations and suf 
 ferings of the slave were extreme, even in the best regula 
 ted colonies, and under the most humane masters. 
 Among the evils of slavery were poverty, nakedness, star 
 vation, imprisonment. If this were denied, he could refer 
 to a Parliamentary report which he had in his hand, 
 and which it was declared by the West Indians them 
 selves, that they had not a sufficiency of food for their 
 slaves. Such therefore was the * economical oppression 
 of the system, as it had been appropriately termed, 
 that the slaves even of the best masters were exposed 
 to poverty and starvation. As for imprisonment, the 
 bailiff, with his marshal and his dogs, might come in 
 the middle of the night, seize the slave in his cabin, and 
 sell him by auction next morning to the highest bidder, for 
 the payment of his master s debts. To this the slaves of 
 the kindest master were liable; even the master, by un 
 usual kindness to his slaves, might bring himself to prema 
 ture ruin. It was said that there was slavery here. But 
 he would affirm that there was no slavery in Britain at all 
 approximating to the West Indian slavery. Could they 
 produce a man or woman, the poorest and most wretched 
 in the land, whose names were engrossed on parchment 
 and mortgaged to a money lender ? Could a man be seiz 
 ed during the night by a civil officer, and sold by auction 
 for his master s debts? Or could they find in the coun 
 try a man so poorer so miserable that he would exchange 
 his condition for that of the negro ? (Cries of Not one 
 thousands not one. ) Another evil of slavery, and 
 he begged that it might be noticed in the reply, was the 
 fearful decrease in the slave population. In our sugar 
 colonies, with one exception, the slave population were 
 dying off so fast, that in something better than half a cen 
 tury they would be extinct. Mr. Thompson here broke 
 into an eloquent denunciation of those who wished to de 
 lay the emancipation of the slaves who would coolly wait 
 until slavery and death had done their work, till desolation 
 had overspread the colonies, and the slaves had become 
 
84 MR. THOMPSON S 
 
 extinct, and till, when at length they would be merciful, 
 there would be none to receive their mercy. Why should 
 they wait? What! wait? arid let weeping mercy plead 
 in vain ? and let insulted justice demand her rights in vain ? 
 Wait? and let ignorance, and vice, and cruelty, brooding 
 o er the colonies, do their soul destroying work ? Wait ? 
 Ay, WAIT? and magnanimously charge it upon our pos 
 terity to do that which we are either ashamed or afraid to 
 do. But will tortures wait ? Will the whips wait ? Will 
 the money-lender wait ? Will danger wait ? Will Heaven 
 wait? (Applause.) Humanity and reason, and mercy 
 and justice, and truth, and love, and religion every thing 
 on earth that was worth prizing, or in heaven that was au 
 thoritative united in saying, Let them go. 
 
 Another evil of slavery was the inequality of the laws. 
 In every island there was one law for the master and another 
 for the slave. Another evil, was the mode of administering 
 of justice, as it was called, even under these laws, unequal 
 as they were. He had been taunted by being shown a 
 West Indian code for the protection of the slave. But on 
 examination it was found to be not the code of Jamaica, 
 but some other document got up by the West India body 
 in the form of an act of the legislature, for the purpose of 
 deception. A law indeed had been passed, and was cal 
 led, a law to restrain arbitrary punishment; but that 
 law allowed any driver, overseer, or bookeeper to inflct 39 
 lashes with a cart-whip of Jamaica at his own discretion. 
 What was a Jamaica cart-whip ? Let them ask Mr. Bar 
 ret, a member of the colonial legislature, and he would 
 tell them that 39 lashes of a cart-whip might be made to 
 inflict as much punishment as 500 lashes with a cat-o- 
 nine-tails. Let them ask Mr. Barret, the missionary. He 
 saw a man driving some mules, and he asked a negro 
 driver who was passing with his whip around his neck, to 
 apply it to one of the mules. The driver did so, and with 
 one cut of the whip laid the flank of the animal open. 
 Let them ask Mr. Knibb, the missionary, who had lately 
 been exposing in this town some of the evils of slavery. 
 (He, Mr. Thompson) asked him at Manchester, what sort 
 of instrument a Jamaica cart-whip really was. Mr. Knibb 
 replied that a skilful driver, with 39 lashes need not leave 
 an ounce of flesh on the back of a negro. (A voice from 
 
LECTURE. 85 
 
 the boxes That s a d n lie, great uproar, \vith 
 
 cries of Turn him out. ) Mr. Thompson appealed for the 
 truth of his statement to a friend behind him, Mr. Peter 
 Clare of Manchester, who at once stated that he heard Mr. 
 Kuibb make the observation referred to by Mr. Thomp 
 son. Mr. Thompson then resumed, and observed that he 
 advanced the statement he had made in the full knowledge 
 that he was to be replied to on the following evening, and 
 he must say that the gentleman in the boxes paid his 
 champion a poor compliment in thus anticipating him. 
 Another of the evils of slavery was the difficulty which 
 the slave found in obtaining redress. It was notorious 
 that more punishments were inflicted for what were term 
 ed, frivolous and vexatious complaints on the part of slaves, 
 than for all other causes whatever. A slave who came to 
 complain of ill-treatment generally went back with ten, 
 twenty, or thirty lashes on his back for his presumption. 
 Another evil was the inadmissibility of slave evidence. 
 Another was the inveterate distinction of caste which 
 was kept up in the colonies, and which placed the free man 
 of color, as well as the negro, below the level of the whites. 
 Another evil is the ignorance which is the universal con 
 comitant of slavery. Another was the loss of self res 
 pect sustained by the slaves ; for it was well observed by 
 an old English writer, that the moment you make any one 
 a slave you extinguish half the man within him. Another 
 evil was the pride, self-complacence and despotism, which 
 were engendered in the mind of the master. The polite 
 ness of a planter to his friend, was no proof of his human 
 ity to his slaves; and he, (Mr. Thompson) contended, 
 that not even a Wilberforce, or a .Howard, was capable of 
 being entrusted with unlimited and irresponsible control 
 over five hundred of his fellow creatures. Another evil 
 was the licentiousness, immorality, and sensuality which 
 were the consequence of the master s control. Another 
 was the danger of slavery. He would lay it down as an 
 undeniable position, that no danger was so great, as the 
 danger of wrong doing. No danger could possibly result 
 from doing right, so great is the danger of doing wrong. 
 There was the danger arising from insurrection, from 
 conspiracy, the danger of being assassinated, and the dan 
 ger of Heaven interfering in behalf of the oppressed. Why 
 8 
 
86 MR. THOMPSON S 
 
 did the slaves rebel 1 It was not for yams or clothing. 
 It was not for the houses or wives *>f the planters. It was 
 for liberty. The wonder was not there were so many in 
 surrections, but that there were so few. Another evil was, 
 persecution in all its forms. Let the demolished chapels, 
 the proscribed missionaries, the tortured slaves, all attest 
 this. Another was, the disregard of religion, for how can 
 the upholder of slavery possibly regard that religion which 
 teaches the doctrines of universal benevolence. Anoth 
 er was, the desecration of the sabbath. Another evil 
 was, that the continuance of slavery tended to destroy all 
 friendly intercourse between the colonies and Britain. 
 Could any cordiality subsist between those who advocated 
 slavery and those who urged its abolition ? Could any 
 compromise take place ? Could the Anti-Slavery Society 
 be put down ? Who were the Anti-Slavery Society ? 
 They were ninety-nine out of every hundred of the pop 
 ulation of the British Kingdoms. They were the reli 
 gious, the humane, the enlightened, the benevolent all 
 throughout the kingdom. Among the other evils, were the 
 insecurity arising from slavery, its impolicy, and its expen- 
 siveness. The champion of the planters admitted that 
 free labor would be cheaper than slave labor, and said 
 that the masters only held the slaves from motives of hu 
 manity (laughter) that the masters would be gainers by 
 the change, but as they did not want the young ones to 
 perish, or the old ones to want a friend, therefore they 
 kept up slavery. (Great laughter.) Slavery was unlawful, 
 because the laws of the colonies were not consonant with 
 the spirit of the British laws. Mr. Thompson then pro 
 ceeded rapidly to expose the inconsistency of slavery with 
 religion, and to denounce the cowardice of talking of the 
 danger of abolition. He also exposed the meanness of 
 the system which took advantage of the docile and sub 
 missive character of the African negro to enslave him. 
 They dare not trample on the strong or the wise ; they 
 dare not go to New Zealand, or North America for slaves. 
 The slaves, when they resisted the iron sway of their 
 oppressors, were assailed by Sir Willoughby Cotton, and 
 the John Hull, and the Morning Post, and Blackwood, 
 and M Queen, with every abusive epithet, and were called 
 rebels, and ruffians, and infamous wretches. How 
 
LECTURE. 87 
 
 did they speak of the Poles and the French, and the 
 Greeks, and other brave nations which were struggling 
 for freedom ? How did they speak of Tell, and other 
 heroes and patriots, who had achieved for themselves an 
 imperishable name on the records of Fame ? Were they 
 rebels ? Were they ruffians ? Yet the same thirst for 
 liberty animated both. And how were the insurrection 
 ists of Jamaica answered? With the gibbet. When a 
 slave was brought before a court martial in Jamaica, the 
 only question was, Was he taken in arms? 3 If the re 
 ply was Yes/ c then, said the president, take him and 
 give him instant manumission! 1 and he was forthwith led 
 off to the scaffold without the form or pretence of a trial. 
 Mr. Thompson then alluded to a mean, lying, anonymous 
 pamphlet, entitled Hints for those who propose attending 
 the meeting at Exeter Hall, on Wednesday, the 15th of 
 August. The writer of that pamphlet tried to fix all the 
 blame of the insurrection on the devoted and praiseworthy 
 missionary. The only proof offered is the confession of 
 certain condemned negroes, taken in their cells by the 
 planters, and published by the planters; and upon this 
 evidence the writer says Nobody who reads these con 
 fessions can doubt that they were misled by mischievous 
 sectarian preachers, especially the Baptists. As for charg 
 ing it on the missionaries, they might as well charge it oa 
 the Archangel Gabriel, or on the Christian ministers who 
 now surrounded him. There was no man so much enti 
 tled to their esteem as the West Indian missionary. What 
 had he done ? He had soothed the negro s fears and ele 
 vated his hopes, and led him to the altar of our common 
 father, and taught him to join in that heavenly anthem, 
 We praise thee O God, we acknowledge thee to be the 
 Lord. These were the men of whom the editor of a Jamai 
 ca paper said that he would rejoice to see them hanging in 
 the woods of St. James s and Trelawney, that they might 
 diversify the scene ; nnd of whom a member of the House 
 of Commons had spoken in terms little less ferocious, 
 We owed the possession of our colonies to the missionaries. 
 Mr. Thompson then, after alluding to the selfishness of 
 slavery, referred to the question of compensation, and said 
 he should like to compute what was due to the negro, and 
 what to the planter, and to strike a balance between them 
 
88 MR. THOMPSON S 
 
 The advocates of slavery, if not planters themselves, most 
 ly had an interest in the property of planters, and many 
 of them held mortgages over their slaves. They were dab 
 blers in the system, and their eloquent invocations of feel 
 ing in behalf of the planter and his family were thus re 
 duced to mere empty, heartless, hypocritical declamation. 
 Mr. Thompson finally alluded to the impiety and guilt of 
 slavery, but observed that time did not permit him to illus 
 trate these He concluded a long, eloquent and impas 
 sioned address, of nearly two hours and a half, in the fol 
 lowing words : 
 
 * Ladies and Gentlemen, I must now conclude. On an 
 other occasion, if I have the strength and opportunity, I 
 shall say something more of the impiety of slavery, and the 
 guilt of slavery. I think I have already said enough to 
 give my friend on the other side an opportunity to reply. 
 I have supplied him with a text, I have drawn out the 
 skeleton of the discourse, I have been his pioneer, and it 
 is for him to travel in the road which I have marked out. 
 Much joy I wish him on his journey. If he can bring you 
 to say that slavery is right, that slavery is politic, that sla 
 very is necessary, nay, even that it is expedient, then I 
 say that, common sense, is not common sense, justir.p 
 is not justice, piety is not piety, religion is not religion, 
 mercy is not mercy, love is not love. I leave this 
 task to him. I cordially, and from my heart of hearts, 
 thank you for the patient attention with which you have 
 heard me ; and there being many here who do not per 
 fectly agree with me, I the more thank them for the gentle 
 manly, patient, and forbearing manner in which they have 
 listened to sentiments that do not accord with their own. 
 I charge and entreat those who do agree with me, not to 
 hiss or attempt to interrupt the advocate of the West In 
 dia body, when he addresses them to-morrow night from 
 this place, but to give him as patient and attentive a hear 
 ing as that which has been granted to me. (Much cheer 
 ing and clapping of hands.) 
 
 Mr. Hodgson, the chairman, after expressing his hearty 
 concurrence in Mr. Thompson s concluding observations, 
 declared the meeting to be dissolved. The audience then 
 slowly withdrew. A collection was made at the doors to 
 defray the expenses of the evening. 
 
MR. BORTHWICK S LECTURE. 
 
 On Wednesday evening, at the same hour, the Amphi 
 theatre was again crowded with a numerous assemblage 
 to hear the reply of Mr. Borthwick, the agent of the 
 West Indian body in this country. 
 
 Mr. ADAM HODGSON was again called to the chair, and 
 after a neat and appropriate address, expressed a hope that 
 the same order and decorum which had characterized the 
 proceedings of the first night s discussion, would be exhib 
 ited on the present occasion. 
 
 Mr. BORTIIWICK then stood forward and said, that the 
 gentleman who lectured on the preceding evening was the 
 agent of the Anti-Slavery Society, a body of men whose 
 object was to obtain what they called immediate emanci 
 pation, but which, after all, they defined not to be imme 
 diate emancipation, but the substitution of what they cal 
 led responsible and public authority, for private and irres 
 ponsible authority. It was his object to show that, in the 
 first sense, immediate emancipation was not attainable in 
 the present state of things ; and as for the second sense, 
 that did not seem to him to posses any determined or de 
 finite meaning. He had sufficient experience of Mr. 
 Thompson as a lecturer to know that that gentlemen would 
 not be satisfied if he merely attacked principles, and thus 
 overthrew, or attempted to overthrow, the arguments found-, 
 ed upon them, unless he also went through every indivii 
 dual argument or illustration, and overthrew that also. 
 This would be his (Mr. B. s) object to do in the first in 
 stance, and, in the second place, to introduce a few ar 
 guments, totally unconnected with last night s lecture, in 
 order to show the impracticability, the danger, the immor 
 ality, and the sin of any attempt immediately to emanci 
 pate, unconditionally, the slave of the West Indian colo 
 nies. Before doing so, he must congratulate himself, Mr, 
 Thompson, and the cause, on the very different tone which 
 Mr. Thompson had now assumed. Mr. Thompson did 
 not now, as he did at Manchester, tell them that the Wes| 
 8* 
 
90 MR. BORTHWICK S 
 
 Indian merchants were inhuman or wholesale butchers, 
 that those who came forward in defence of the West In 
 dian body were fools uttering what they knew to be false 
 hoods, and he congratulated Mr. Thompson on this de 
 sirable consumation. Mr. Thompson had enumerated no 
 fewer than twenty-six evils as arising from the system of 
 slavery many of those twenty six-evils he had barely as 
 serted without advancing any thing in the shape of proof, 
 and, therefore, it was not without reason, he observed, that 
 the gentleman who followed him would be obliged to have 
 recourse to a sort of rail-road travelling, which, however 
 new it might be in logic, would be absolutely necessary 
 to follow Mr. Thompson in the course which he had adopt 
 ed. He agreed with Mr. Thompson that it was a matter 
 of perfect indifference to the question at issue, who were 
 the parties to whom the guilt of first setting on foot the 
 slave trade was attributed but he was prepared to show 
 that the planters were not the persons to whom the guilt 
 was chargeable. The first, evil, which, according to Mr. 
 Thompson, was to be found on the threshold of slavery, 
 was that it cursed with sterility the land where it existed ; 
 but did not the same sterility prevail wherever there was 
 excessive cultivation of the land, even where there were 
 no slaves, and if it did, how could sterility, arising from 
 such a cause, be deemed one of the special and peculiar 
 characteristics of slavery ] (Applause.) He recommend 
 ed the gentlemen to include this head in a lecture on the 
 evils of excessive agriculture, not in one on the evils of 
 slavery. (Laughter and applause.) The second evil was, 
 that slavery gave rise to the slave trade ; that was a most 
 extraordinary mode of putting the cart before the horse in 
 deed. For twenty-five years no slave had been brought 
 into the colonies, and how could it be said that slavery 
 necessarily produced and fostered the slave trade 1 (Ap 
 plause.) The third evil alleged was, that slavery doom 
 ed the infant to the same condition as its father, that 
 was, it made the child a slave because its father and moth 
 er were slaves too. But was there any thing peculiar to 
 slavery in that ? Did it not universally happen that the 
 child was born to the condition of its father? (Much his 
 sing and applause.) [The Chairman earnestly, desired a 
 patient and uninterrupted hearing for the speaker.] It 
 
LECTURE. 91 
 
 was true that children endowed by heaven with greater 
 talents, frequently raised themselves to a height which 
 their fathers never knew ; he might mention an Eldori and 
 a Brougham, and many others in illustration, and he 
 was prepared to prove that this might be the case, and had 
 been the case even in a slave country. (Hear, hear.) In 
 the colonies, the infant negro was born to the condition of 
 a slave, just as the infant of a peasant, a king, or a lord, 
 was born to the condition of a peasant, a king, t)r a lord, 
 in other countries ; but being born in any of those con 
 ditions, he was not necessarily confined to one. The gen 
 tleman had drawn a comparison between the present con 
 dition of the slaves he sought to emancipate, and the con 
 dition of the Jews under their Egyptian bondage, alleging 
 that the same selfish motive which influenced Pharaoh in 
 duced the West Indian colonists to retain their slaves in 
 bondage. There was no possible analogy between the cases. 
 The Jews had gone into Egypt at the special invitation of 
 the government, and resided there under its special pro 
 tection : and did Pharaoh keep them there because he 
 wanted more bricks? No; but because he was afraid 
 that the Jews would become a mighty people, stronger 
 than himself. Pharaoh resisted an express command of 
 the Almighty to let them depart to worship God in the 
 wilderness, and therefore he and his people perished in 
 the Red Sea. Were the slaves in the West Indian colo 
 nies over-worked as the Jews were over wrought by Pha 
 raoh, or treated in the same unjust manner as the Jews? 
 He should show, before he concluded, that they were not, 
 and, therefore, he contended that there was no resem 
 blance between them and the Jews. For twenty-five 
 years, the religious, moral, and physical improvement of 
 the negroes had been proceeding, and that by the exclu 
 sive agency of the planters themselves ; he would under 
 take to show that the slaves were gradually approaching 
 to the condition of freemen, and that, by and by, if the 
 good cause were not impeded by some such cumbrous help 
 as that tendered by the Anti-Slavery Society, (laughter, 
 disapprobation and applause,) if it were not so impeded, 
 the good work which every religious and humane man 
 wished to see, freedom for the slave, with security to 
 the master, would soon be accomplished. (Applause.) 
 
92 MR. BORTll\VlCK 5 z 
 
 What was the meaning of the passages of Scripture which 
 had been quoted? What did St. Paul mean when he told 
 those who had been newly converted to Christianity, to 
 remember those who were in bondage as if they were bound 
 with them ? Simply that being one in hope and faith with 
 those who were suffering all imaginary cruelties, liable 
 to be torn to pieces by wild beasts, they ought to feel and 
 do for those fellow Christians, what they would expect to 
 be done for themselves under the like circumstances. 
 That was the simple and literal meaning of the passage, 
 however it might suit Mr. Thompson to use it, ad captan- 
 dum, on the other side of question. (Hear, hear.) But 
 again, remember those that are in bonds as if you were 
 bound with them : were the slaves, in any sense, in bonds? 
 The people of England were told that the negroes were 
 absolutely worked in chains, but that was only the case 
 with convicts, and the same thing might be seen in En 
 gland, with the difference, however, that the chains of the 
 negro convict were not half so heavy as those worn by 
 free Englishmen. (Applause.) The fourth evil of West 
 Indian slavery was said to be that it oppressed the body 
 with more labor than any other system without affording 
 the ordinary motives to labor ; he contended that even 
 according to Mr. Thompson s showing, the slave had 
 double motives to labor, for he also had a wife and child, 
 and it was but natural that he should exert himself early 
 and late to accumulate wealth, in order that he might 
 purchase their freedom. The fourth evil, therefore, seem 
 ed almost to be a positive good. Were there no instances 
 in which masters had given freedom to slaves in requital 
 for their zealous and faithful services? Mr. Borthwick 
 then related an anecdote told him by a gentleman who had 
 resided twelve years in Jamaica, to the effect that a negro 
 came to him with the plan of an estate of forty or fifty 
 acres, which the negro was about to purchase, in order 
 that he might place his wife and child upon it, he himself 
 determining, however, to remain a slave, because as he 
 alleged, he was better provided for as a slave than he 
 would be if he was free. (Loud laughter and applause.) 
 The fifth and sixth evils attributed to slavery all imagi 
 nary sufferings poverty, nakedness, imprisonment, and 
 he knew not what all ; no proof had yet been attempted ; 
 
LECTURE. 93 
 
 but if it were proved, he was prepared to show that the 
 same, if riot a greater degree of distress and imprison 
 ment, existed in every county of free and happy England. 
 (Applause.) But when he has proved this, would the 
 proof be any argument for a sudden change in the whole 
 frame work of English society, in the face of that maxim 
 of the soundest political writers, that it was better to en 
 dure even an evil than to exchange it suddenly for good ? 
 (Hisses and applause.) The maxim was none of his ; it 
 was that of Paley, and of all the soundest political writers. 
 What would be the consequences of immediate emancipa 
 tion to the slaves themselves? Two thirds of them were 
 individuals not able to work, either on account of sickness, 
 infancy, or old age; their owners were now compelled by 
 law to provide for them, and it would be a strange mode of 
 improving their condition to turn them out with no such 
 dependance. (Applause.) In England there were poor 
 laws and workhouses, yet the poor often perished for want 
 in the streets; but did any one ever hear of such an oc 
 currence amongst the slaves in the West Indies ? (Cries 
 of Never, never, and much applause.) The seventh 
 evil was, that human beings might be mortgaged to money- 
 
 Icnclcra, mcan iii", Ijc ou jjpu.-?c,d , that ccpaiation of Families 
 
 of which they were told so much. He admitted that it 
 was an evil, the only one out of the seven that had been 
 enumerated, that families might be seized by law, separ 
 ated, and sold to pay the debts of their master. (Hear, 
 hear.) This did occasion great pain in the negro families, 
 but he had shown that in the other six instances the negro 
 had the advantage over the peasant in this country, nnd 
 that was sufficient to counterbalance the evils in their 
 comparative conditions. (Much disapprobation and ap 
 plause.) The peasant incurred many more chances of 
 imprisonment, than the negro of changing masters without 
 his own choice, a circumstance which hardly ever hap 
 pened, though he admitted it was possible. (A person in 
 the pit here exclaimed, with great unction and emphasis, 
 Beelzebub. ) The eighth evil was the alleged decrease 
 of the slave population. Now, what were the facts? Be 
 it remembered that the colonies were peopled from Africa, 
 by avaricious men, according to Mr. Thompson, and the 
 more avaricious they were, the worse for Mr. Thompson s 
 
94 MR. BORTHWICK S 
 
 argument ; for they would naturally buy males rather than 
 females, and the natural consequence of the inequality of 
 the sexes thus produced, must be a sudden decrease of the 
 population, until the sexes become equal, society would not 
 become progressive, as it was in all the world beside. It 
 was also said that the free population increased at the same 
 time ; and how could it be otherwise, when constant 
 manumisions were taking place, and the negroes taken 
 from the slaves were added to those who were free, and 
 counted twice over by the Anti-Slavery Society, for the 
 sake of producing an effect ? From the Jamaica Almanac 
 it appeared that the decrease amongst the slaves was just 
 7J per cent per annum; he thought he had sufficiently 
 accounted for it ;. he maintained that the slaves were not 
 under-fed, or over-worked, and he appealed to any medi 
 cal gentleman who had resided in the West Indies, to say 
 whether they were or not. (Cries of They cannot say 
 so, They cannot doit. ) The ninth evil was an alleged 
 inequality of law and right ; by the Consolidated Slave 
 Act, passed in March 1831, and allowed by the the British 
 government, the master was subject to a fine of twenty 
 pounds for not complying with its conditions; and if that 
 
 not woo not pneoed for the protection of tho olavo agamet 
 
 the master, he left Mr. Thompson to solve the purpose for 
 which it was intended. Mr. Borthwick, after reading from 
 Mr. Hibbard s pamphlet a description of the negroes huts, 
 remarked that he (Mr. Borthwick) had called the middle 
 apartment a saloon, and that Mr. Thompson had laughed 
 at him for it. By a saloon, he meant the large airy apart 
 ment for the purpose of lounging in, call it by what name 
 they would, and he would leave it to Mr. Knibb himself 
 to say, whether that was not an accurate definition of the 
 apartment which was always found in the middle of a slave 
 hut. Mr. Hibbard had understated the comforts of the 
 negro hut : if he (Mr. B.) were disposed to draw a picture 
 for Mr. Thompson s entertainment, he could speak of 
 mahogany tables and sideboards, fruits and wines, and 
 treats prepared for the Baptist leaders, who were so active 
 in the late rebellion. (Here there was a tremendous burst 
 of disapprobation, followed by applause and clapping of 
 hands, which continued for some time.) 
 
 The CHAIRMAN earnestly exhorted the meeting to list- 
 
LECTURE. 95 
 
 en to Mr. Borthwick with the same patience and attention 
 that Mr. Thompson had met with the preceding night, 
 and reminded them that the statements made by the 
 speaker would be answered at the proper time. 
 
 Mr. BORTHWICK, in continuation, said that he was not 
 there to advance gratuitous accusations against any indi 
 viduals, or any sect whatever : he had been repeatedly 
 challenged to say and read all he knew on the subject, and 
 at the proper stage of the proceedings he would do so. 
 (Applause.) He hoped that Mr. Thompson when next he 
 spoke upon the subject, would give them his description of 
 the negro hut that he would abandon empty declamation, 
 and come to facts, that he would no longer gallop round 
 and round the lists and strike the shield with a blunted 
 spear, but enter at once into close combat, leaving de 
 clamation for real argument and description. (Applause.) 
 He had once honorably challenged Mr. Thompson to ap 
 pear before an audience half-hour and half-hour in time, to 
 discuss this question fairly, and have the point settled by 
 the judgment of the audience, the expense to be defray 
 ed by the West Indian body, and that challenge be it 
 remembered, Mr. Thompson declined. 
 
 Mr. THOMPSON, from the boxes. No, no ! The in 
 terruption was followed by cries of Shame, shame/ 
 Chair, chair, and a storm of mingled hissing and ap 
 plause. 
 
 The CHAIRMAN again earnestly requested that Mr. 
 Borthwick might have a patient hearing without interrup 
 tion from Mr. Thompson or any other gentleman. 
 
 Mr. BORTHWICK, in continuation, Mr. Thompson said 
 that he did not decline the challenge ; he (Mr. B.) had 
 been told by what he thought official authority, that he did 
 decline it. ( Oh, oh! hisses and confusion.) If Mr. 
 Thompson did not decline the challenge, then the arrange 
 ment might still be made, and the argument might still be 
 heard at Manchester. ( Hear, from Mr. Thompson.) 
 He (Mr. B.) had been accused of wishing to excite cla 
 mor and uproar wherever he went; he denied it, and 
 challenged contradiction. He wished to conduct this dis 
 cussion in a calm and Christian spirit ; no man could say 
 that he ever evinced any other, and yet Mr. Thompson 
 himself was the first to interrupt him. ( Beelzebub! ) 
 
96 MR. BORTHWICK S 
 
 He only hoped that Mr. Thompson would not forget his 
 present challenge, and would not attempt to slip out of it, 
 as he had once already done, by saying that the last im 
 pression on his mind was that something else was meant. 
 The tenth evil of slavery, according to Mr. Thompson, 
 was, that there was no equal administration of justice in 
 the colonies. Mr. Thompson had advanced no proof of 
 this; when he did it should be answered. In the mean 
 time it was mere assertion, and he would meet it with the 
 assertion, that the laws of England were not administered 
 in all cases according to their spirit. How many cases 
 were there in which there could be no doubt of the prison 
 er s guilt on the minds of those who heard the evidence, and 
 yet there was not sufficient legal evidence to convict him? 
 The assertion that this was an evil peculiar to slavery, 
 therefore, went for nothing ( Interested persons ought 
 not to be on the jury. ) I thank the Jew for teaching 
 me that word. (Laughter and applause.) It was almost 
 impossible that in many instances the Jury should not be 
 prejudiced by their position ; and that which occurred in 
 the colonies might occur in England also. The tenth evil 
 might well have been included in the ninth ; this also was 
 a mere assertion, and it was hard to prove a negative. Mr. 
 Thompson had produced twenty-six heads, merely announc 
 ing some of them : and the next time he proposed a text, 
 he hoped that Mr. Thompson would give him something 
 more than the naked skeleton of an argument, and then 
 require it to be disproved. The twelfth evil was an alleg 
 ed distinction in caste or color ; he was at a loss to know 
 the meaning of this since colored men were HOW admit 
 ted as members of the House of Assembly, and were re 
 ceived in society on the same terms as the whites. The 
 thirteenth evil quoted by Mr. Thompson was ignorance. 
 He called on Mr. Thompson to show how that was the 
 consequence of slavery. Were not the planters doing all 
 in their power to instruct the negroes? He would now 
 prove, from the mouths of the missionaries themselves, that 
 so far from suffering persecution, every aid was afforded 
 them for the instruction of the negroes. Mr. Borthwick 
 then read from .the appendix to Barclay s View of the 
 State of Slavery in the West Indies, a series of resolu 
 tions adopted at a meeting of Wesleyan Methodist mission- 
 
LECTUKE. 97 
 
 aries held at Kingston on the 6th September, 1824. 
 These resolutions were drawn up and adopted in conse 
 quence of certain misrepresentations having been circulat 
 ed, respecting their conduct and motives. After recapit 
 ulating these alleged misrepresentations, the missionaries 
 proceed to declare their belief that Christianity does not 
 interfere with the civil condition of the slaves, as regulated 
 by the laws of the British West Indies; that the doctrines 
 taught by them did not tend to excite rebellion among the 
 slaves ; and that the members of the Methodist church, so 
 far from being guilty of rebellion, had defended the plant 
 ers in the time of danger. [Mr. Borthwick here observed 
 that every person in Jamaica acquits the Wesleyans and 
 Moravians of using any direct or indirect influence in ex 
 citing the late rebellion.] The resolutions went on to 
 state that if the designs of the emancipationists were car 
 ried into immediate effect, they would prove injurious and 
 ruinous to the colonies as well as the slaves themselves, 
 and occasion the effusion of human blood ; that they had 
 no connection with the African institution, nor could they, 
 by their rules, correspond with any institution on questions 
 relating to Colonial Slavery ; that their labors had tended 
 to produce quietness in the island, wherever their ministry 
 had been permitted; that if the views of the abolitionists 
 were carried into effect, they believed, their own lives and 
 the property under their care would be in danger ; that 
 they had received or extorted no money from the slaves, 
 but that their salaries were provided out of the allowance 
 granted by their society, and the sums contributed by the 
 proprietors of the slaves, and from other sources ; and, fi 
 nally, that they acknowledge their thanks to be due to the 
 magistrates and gentlemen of the island, for their good 
 will towards the spread of morality among the lower class 
 es. These resolutions were signed by John Stevenson, 
 Secretary of the meeting, and by George Morley, Richard 
 Watson, and John Mason. Mr. Borthwick contended 
 that these resolutions clearly proved that the missionaries 
 received no obstruction from the planters in the education 
 and instruction of the slave population ; but that, on the 
 contrary, they provided them with money, lodging, and 
 opportunities of addressing the slaves in every possible 
 way. The fourteenth evil adduced by Mr. Thompson was 
 9 
 
08 MR. BORTHWICK S 
 
 the loss of self-respect sustained by the slave. In many 
 instances where the cat-o-nine-tails was employed for the 
 punishment of the negroes, they spoke with the utmost 
 contempt of the buckra or English soldiers and sailors, as 
 if they felt it a degradation to be put on the same level with 
 them. (Laughter and hisses.) He appealed to the West 
 Indian gentlemen present if this was not true ; and, if true, 
 it was a complete answer to Mr. Thompson s argument. 
 The fifteenth evil was the pride and arrogance of the mas 
 ters. How should it produce pride and arrogance in a 
 master to know that he possessed slaves for whom he was 
 bound to provide, and to regard as his own children ? 
 Every medical man who had been in the West Indies 
 knew that medicines and wines, from the simplest to the 
 most expensive, were at the service of the negroes when 
 required. How should this engender pride, &c. ? The 
 sixteenth evil stated by Mr. Thompson was called by him 
 promiscuous intercourse/ which he (Mr. Borthwick) 
 supposed was intended to refer to the illicit connexion of 
 the sexes. He would leave Mr. Thompson to prove some 
 thing on the subject. As yet, he had merely stated the 
 evil. With respect to the morality of the negroes, how 
 ever, he would read an extract from the Morning Journal 
 of the 5th November, 1828. Mr. Borthwick then read an 
 article furnished by an an anonymous correspondent of that 
 notorious print, in which twenty-four ladies of Clapham, 
 who had formed themselves into an Anti-Slavery Socie 
 ty, were held up to ridicule, and which then went on to 
 detail the amours of an old negro of fifty years of age, who, 
 after being torn from his wife and children on the coast of 
 Guinea, joined himself to a negro woman in the West In 
 dies, by whom he had two children, and on being separ 
 ated from her engaged with a third wife. Here was a 
 Turk for them! bigamy and trigamy with a vengeance! 
 From this anecdote, which excited great merriment among 
 one portion of the meeting, and called forth expressions of 
 disgust from ti*e rest, Mr. Borthwick drew the inference 
 that immorality did exist among the slaves ; but how it 
 was a concomitant of slavery did not appear. 
 
 The eighteenth evil, which was that of persecution, rela 
 ted to the late insurrection in Jamaica, and to that he 
 have occassion to refer by and by. The twenti- 
 
LECTURE 
 
 99 
 
 eth was the desecration of the Sabbath. To this Mr. 
 Borthwick replied, that in the West Indies the Sabbath 
 was given to the slave. The law prevented any mill being 
 turned from Saturday night till Monday morning. Here, 
 therefore, a provision was made in behalf of the slave, 
 which did not exist for the benefit of free labor. The 
 twenty-first evil was the existence of enmity between Eng 
 land and the colonies. It was paying England a poor 
 compliment to say that it was at enmity with the colonies. 
 Mr. Thompson should have first proved that slavery was 
 contrary to English feeling and humanity ; he had not done 
 so, and he (Mr. Borthwick) therefore put the argument 
 aside as a mere begging of the question. The twenty- 
 second evil was called * In security no validity. No ex 
 planation of this evil had been given, and in itself it was 
 not intelligible. The twenty-third was the impolicy, and 
 the twenty fourth the expensiveness of slavery. Evils now 
 came so thick upon Mr. Thompson that it was impossible 
 for him to do more than name them, and they therefore 
 did not call for any reply. 
 
 Having disposed of Mr. Thompson s argument seria 
 tim, he would now give them as a whole a more substan 
 tial and satisfactory reply, by showing what was the real 
 state of the question, and by striking at its root. The 
 question was one which affected not only our commercial 
 interests, but our character as a nation. He would divide 
 the subject into two parts ; the first religious, the second 
 political. He put the religious part of the question first, 
 because, it could be shown that immediate abolition was 
 required by religious duty, then all political considera 
 tions must be set aside, and he was prepared to give up 
 the whole question at once. The question was not wheth 
 er slavery in the abstract was bad, but whether we are 
 bound by our standing, as a nation, to emancipate the slaves 
 in the West Indies immediately. The proposition which he 
 meant to assert, was, that it was not only consistent with 
 religion that we should continue to hold the slaves for a 
 considerable period longer, but that it would be contrary 
 to humanity and religion, and to the example of Almighty 
 God himself (great disapprobation) to emancipate them 
 sooner. The first point he had to prove was, that slavery in 
 the abstract was not sinful. For proof of this he would 
 
100 MR. BORTHWICK r S 
 
 quote a passage from the Old Testament, which he must 
 distinctly state he applied not to the Christian system, but 
 to the Jewish dispensation. Mr. Borthwick then read a 
 passage of some length from the 25 chapter of Leviticus, 
 commencing with the 39th verse ; but as our readers pos 
 sess the means of reference to the passage itself, it is un 
 necessary here to transcribe it. Here, said Mr. Borth 
 wick, we had a law which governed the slavery of the 
 Jews. The Israelites who fell into slavery, were to be 
 restored every fiftieth year, but others from amongst the hea 
 then were to be their slaves for ever. If slavery in the 
 abstract was sinful, then Almighty God could never have 
 given it his express sanction and command. God had 
 winked at times at ignorance, (he used language of the New 
 Teslament)but never could an instance be brought in which 
 God had given a command to commit express sin. If so* 
 then had he proved that slavery in the abstract was not 
 
 sinful. 
 
 The next question was whether the West India colonies 
 were in such a state as to authorise us, as Christians, for 
 some time to come to continue slavery. He declared him 
 self, as a Christian and a Briton, a friend to abolition. He, 
 as well as every West Indian of whom he knew any thing, 
 were desirous of the coming of the time when it would be 
 a mercy to the slaves and to their masters that the former 
 should be free. Justice must rise up from the earth, ere 
 it could meet the mercy that came down from heaven. 
 This was the true spirit of Christianity, and he would now 
 show that it afforded an argument in favor of his position. 
 It was admitted on all hands, that Christianity points to a 
 better state of things than the slavery which existed in the 
 West Indies, or the starvation which prevailed in Eng 
 land. How long did God think it fit that men should con 
 tinue in a state of preparation before the Christian system 
 was fully revealed to them ? 4,000 years ; and this at a 
 time when ignorant fallible men were not their instructors, 
 but God himself, and the prophets whom he inspired. Did 
 this afford an argument for immediate abolition ? But that 
 was not under the New Testament system. To that he 
 would now come. In what state was the earth at the time 
 of Christ s coming with respect to slavery ? Was West 
 Indian slavery to be compared with the predial slavery 
 
101 
 
 which existed in Greece an^I; Rome .?, N6,: certainly, All 
 who were acquainted with* the .history of that period knew 
 that it was much worse than the system of the West Indi 
 an slavery. Mr. B. here referred to a pamphlet, entitled 
 British Colonial Slavery compared with that of Antiqui 
 ty, published by Ridgway, in 1830. What were the pre 
 cepts which Christ and his apostles gave to the slaves and 
 their masters ? although Mr. Thompson had attempted to 
 prove, that the Greek word translated servant did not mean 
 slave. They enjoined the slave to be obedient to their 
 masters, and masters to be kind to their slaves, because 
 they also had a master in heaven. Did this warrant the 
 language which had been used towards the slave proprie 
 tors of the present day, who had been represented as ne 
 cessarily devoid of the feelings of humanity, as butchers, 
 and greedy, and bad-hearted men? But it was said that 
 the agents of the Anti-Slavery Society, although they told 
 the slave that the master had no right to hold him in sub 
 jection, nevertheless advised the latter to be quiet. Was this 
 following the example of Christ, who directed slaves to be 
 obedient to those whom it was their duty and their happi 
 ness to serve as masters? He would ask Mr. Thompson 
 to show him a single passage, or the shadow of a passage s 
 ghost, (a laugh) in the whole Bible which would favor the 
 sudden change his party pleaded for. Such they could 
 not adduce, and therefore the only argument which they 
 brought forward was drawn from the general principle, 
 What ye would that men should do unto you, do ye so to 
 them. This was the only argument that was used, and 
 the lecturer applied it by saying, Would you wish to be a 
 slave ? If not, then emancipate the slaves. Now there 
 was a wide discrepancy between the cases. Would you, 
 with your present liberty, your intelligence, your connec 
 tions, and your possessions wish to be a slave ? No. But 
 if he were to say to the slave, would you wish to be the 
 king of England, or a lecturer of the Anti-Slavery Society, 
 or any other thing for which he was utterly unqualified, 
 why then the slave would say no, I would rather be as I 
 am. (Disapprobation.) Each was fitted for his own sta 
 tion. He believed that the individuals now present would 
 cut as poor a figure in attempting to discharge the duties 
 of the slaves as they would do in attempting to discharge, 
 9* 
 
,, - 
 
 102 MR. BOIITHWICK S 
 
 our,*:, :(A,:Jaugb.) .If,: (sukl Mr.,-Borthwick, addressing 
 the meeting,.) yae were slaves, .wwild you wish to be free 
 to-morrow? (Cries of * Yes, yes, and a great uproar.) 
 Before any one could take it upon him to answer that 
 question he must first know the condition of the slave. It 
 was this. He is provided for in sickness and in old age. 
 If you make him free you deprive him of these advanta 
 ges. Instances could be quoted in which slaves being 
 made free, had requested to be taken back into a state of 
 slavery. (Disapprobation.) Who hisses ? exclaimed Mr. 
 Borthwick, I am only stating a fact. (Name, name.) He 
 would name Mr. Senior, who was for many years an overseer 
 in Trinidad, and was now a resident of Liverpool. He 
 could prove that six negroes being made free, entreated 
 that they might be taken back as they had no one to provide 
 for them ; and one of them pathetically said, If we die, 
 who will make our coffin. If it were once proved that 
 the slaves wished to be free, then it would be right to 
 emancipate them. But it had not yet been proved to be 
 for the benefit of the slaves themselves. How did Chris 
 tianity abolish slavery in England and elsewhere ? By the 
 gradual, meek, and gentle progress which had marked its 
 course ali over the world. Christianity does not take the 
 heart by storm. She is beautiful and God-like in her 
 march. What better evidence could they have of the di 
 vinity of Christianity than the change which had taken 
 place in England from the time of her first introduction. 
 He would point to the good effects which Christianity had 
 produced in the West Indies during the last twenty-five 
 years, since the abolition of that foul traffic which the 
 planters had been the first to decry the slave trade. A 
 great change had taken place in the condition of the slaves, 
 and to what was it to be attributed? To Christianity, un 
 der the fostering, nursing, able, and willing protection of 
 the slave masters. Due discrimination was no doubt ne 
 cessary as to the persons who were to teach the slaves. 
 Would it not be absurd in a person to attempt to lecture 
 on Homer who knew nothing about Greek ? It was ne 
 cessary, therefore, for the planters to see that the persons 
 who came to teach Christianity should know something of 
 its nature and history, and should, in fact, be learned 
 theological scholars. The only men who were refused 
 
LECTURE. 103 
 
 permission to teach the slaves and read the confessions of 
 Liriton and other convicted leaders in the rebellion, to 
 show that the negroes had been misled by the publications 
 of the Anti-Slavery Society, and particularly by the Bap 
 tist Missionaries, into the belief that the Lord and the 
 King had given their freedom, but that it was kept from 
 them by the white gentlemen in Jamaica. The Baptist 
 preachers had taught the slaves that they could not serve 
 two masters. You see from this, (said Mr. Borthwick) 
 that the insurrection had its foundation in religion : (great 
 disapprobation) he meant in a perversion of religion. The 
 rebellious slaves indulged not only in cruelties to their 
 masters ; but the most horrid cruelties were perpetrated 
 on English women, young, fair and good, as the youngest, 
 the fairest and the best now before him. These cruelties 
 were practised, hear the word, (exclaimed Mr. Borthwick,) 
 and hiss not! (much laughter) by leaders in the Baptist 
 churches. (Hear, and cries of No, no, followed by pro 
 digious uproar.) When order was restored, Mr. Borth 
 wick proceeded to read the examinations of the gentle 
 men on the island, and to refer more minutely to the con 
 fessions of the slaves in support of his accusation against 
 the Baptists. It was alleged that the ringleaders among 
 the revolted negroes took the same rank in the rebel army 
 as they held in the Baptist church. Mr Borthwick de 
 nounced the missonaries as ignorant or interested men. 
 (Renewed uproar.) The scenes of the rebellion proved, 
 either that the Baptist Missionaries were incompetent to 
 explain the scriptures, or that the negro was incapable of 
 understanding them, when the simple declaration of our 
 Lord respecting the serving of two masters had been so 
 grossly perverted. In the latter supposition the negro was 
 clearly unfit for freedom. Mr. Borthwick then alluded to 
 the motives of the missionaries in going to Jamaica, and 
 denied that they were entitled to the praise of disinterest 
 edness. He also quoted the confession of one of the con 
 verted rebels, that if they had all the money they had 
 given to Mr. Burchell, they would have had something 
 handsome. It was unfair in Mr. Thompson to say that 
 the planters opposed all instruction, because they objected 
 to the Baptists. They did not object to the Wesleyans or 
 the Moravians, or to the missionaries from the Established 
 
104 MR, BORTHWICK S 
 
 Churches of England and Scotland. The Rev. George 
 Blyth, a Scotch missionary, who was now in Edinburgh, 
 had published a letter in the Liverpool Mercury, in which 
 he stated that he found no obstruction in teaching the ne 
 groes, and that the proprietor of a mill had caused it to 
 stop for half an hour, while he addressed the slaves. He 
 (Mr. Borthwick) put the question to any man who had 
 been in the West Indies, whether, if he asked a slave, do 
 you want your freedom, he would not receive an answer 
 No, Massa, me no want any more. Free labor was 
 cheaper than slave labor, and it was therefore the interest 
 of the master to promote emancipation ; but as there was 
 no poor laws, it was inconsistent with the views he (Mr. 
 T.) had given of humanity and religion to grant immedi 
 ate emancipation. From the state of starvation, described 
 by Mr. Thompson, they would fall into complete destitu 
 tion, and from a state of comparative ignorance they 
 would relapse into total barbarism. In St. Domingo, when it 
 was a slave colony, the export of sugar had been very con 
 siderable, but since free labor was introduced they were 
 actually obliged to import sugar for their own consump 
 tion. The free slave of St. Domingo was decidedly infe 
 rior in mental attainments to the negro in a state of slavery. 
 This proved, he trusted, that instead of conferring a moral 
 or religious boon on the slave by giving him emancipation, 
 they were conferring a moral infliction that drove him back 
 to the state of barbarism in which he existed in his native 
 land. After some further observations, Mr. Borthwick 
 said, that now the question was fairly before them, they 
 would perceive it was not a question between immediate 
 emancipation and perpetual bondage, as the planters 
 wished for the emancipation of the slave as soon as it 
 could be granted with safety. He had not time to enter 
 on the question of emancipation. But he might ask who 
 would compensate the negro ? Would the Anti-Slavery 
 Society do so? When he said that the planters were the 
 best friends of the slave, he referred in proof of the fact 
 to the abolition of the slave trade, to the slave acts of Ja 
 maica and other islands, and to the contributions of money 
 for the instruction of the slave. The chief anti-slavery 
 advocates who had been possessed of slaves did not 
 emancipate them, but sold them, and pocketed the hard 
 
LECTURE. 105 
 
 cash. (Loud applause.) Tell me not, continued Mr. 
 Borthwick, of the Jamaica cart-whips. They are nothing 
 at all ! Mr. Thompson had said that one of them laid 
 open the flank of a mule. He would give Mr. Thomp 
 son a challenge. He would give him liberty to lay open 
 the calf of his (Mr. Borthwick s) leg with a Jamaica cart- 
 whip, on condition that if he failed he should pay out of 
 the funds of the Anti-Slavery Society, to the public chari 
 ties of the town, the sum of c200. (Tremendous cheer 
 ing and laughter.) Mr. Borthwick concluded by thanking 
 the meeting for the attention with which they had heard 
 him, and by soliciting the same attention for his opponent 
 on the following evening. 
 
 Mr. Borthwick s address lasted three hours and twenty- 
 five minutes, 
 
( 106 ) 
 
 MR. THOMPSON S REPLY. 
 
 MR. THOMPSON made his reply to Mr. Borthwick on 
 Thursday night, at the Amphitheatre, to a most numerous 
 and respectable audience. 
 
 SAMUEL HOPE, Esq. was called to the chair. 
 
 MR. THOMPSON commenced by observing that never had 
 a speech been delivered so completely vulriernable in all 
 its parts a speech more disgraceful to the heart as well 
 as to the head of the man who spoke it, than that deliver 
 ed by Mr. Borthwick, the agent of the West India body, 
 on the preceding evening. He meant nothing personal 
 to Mr. Borthwick in this observation ; he merely alluded 
 to the speech, and that was his property Mr. Borthwick 
 had given it to him, and he had a right to tear it limb from 
 limb. (Applause and hisses.) Mr. Borthwick complain 
 ed heavily of being charged with having uttered what he 
 knew to be a falsehood, and the meeting should see how 
 the charge was made out. Mr. Borthwick asserted, in 
 Manchester, that the happiest of the happy, amongst the 
 free negroes in Sierra, Leone, was more miserable than 
 the most miserable slave that breathed in the West Indies ; 
 and was not such an assertion as that a most gross and 
 evident falsehod on the very face of it? (* Yes, yes, 
 * No, no! Cheers and disapprobation.) He would again 
 and again aver that the statement was a falsehood since 
 it was contrary to history, contrary to observation, contra 
 ry to human nature, reason, and common sense. [Ap 
 plause.] In speaking of the frightful decrease in the slave 
 population, he had referred to Parliamentary documents to 
 prove the truth of what he advanced, and then Mr. Borth 
 wick turned round upon him and questioned the truth of 
 those documents, though Mr. Borthwick well knew that 
 they were founded on returns furnished by his friends, the 
 planters, on OATH. What was that but charging the plan 
 ters with perjury ? [ No, no, Yes, yes. ] Those docu 
 ments proved a decrease amongst the slaves of 52,000 in 
 
LECTURE. 107 
 
 ten years and a half; but Mr. Borthwick asked if manu 
 missions were not constantly going on, which might ac 
 count, in some degree, for that decrease. [Hear, hear.] 
 But did not Mr. Borthwick know that the manumissions 
 were duly noted in the returns of the planters, that de 
 ductions were made on that account, and that after such 
 deductions had been made, the nett decrease was 52,000 
 in ten years and a half? [Cheers and disapprobation.] 
 At Manchester Mr. Borthwick had told him that he came 
 to the meeting merely by accident, anxious to be convinc 
 ed, though at that very moment, he [Mr. T.] had a letter in 
 his pocket warning him of Mr. Borthwick s approach; and 
 though Mr. Borthwick afterward told him that he was paid to 
 follow him from place to place, like his evil genius, Mr. 
 Borthwick s very words. [Cheers, hisses, and cries of Ques 
 tion ! ] That was the question ; it tended to show the spirit 
 of candor and fairness exhibited by Mr. Borthwick. He also 
 begged to make another remark ; last evening he [Mr. 
 Thompson] had called out No, because when a state 
 ment was made against an alleged matter of fact, affect 
 ing the character and veracity of an individual, before 
 3,000 persons, many of whom might not have an opportu 
 nity of hearing the contradiction, it behoved that individ 
 ual at once to contradict it. He had not declined the 
 challenge of Mr. Borthwick ; he was rather anxious to 
 accept it but he had a more important work on hand 
 than following the motions of Mr. Borthwick. 
 
 The letter I alluded to I produced at that meeting, and 
 read an extract containing the announcement of Mr. 
 Borthwick s approach, and the object of his mission ; and 
 T believe that Mr. Borthwick himself, so far from contra 
 dicting me, will bear me out in the declaration that I do 
 not allude to a letter which has no existence. It was un 
 der these circumstances that I spoke, and, if I was warm 
 on the subject, was it not sufficient to warm me to be told, 
 when in the prosecution of a good work, that I should be 
 followed about from place to place as by an " evil genius?" 
 a prophecy which has been in part fulfilled, after having 
 been informed by Mr. Borthwick that he came by acci 
 dent, merely to be convinced. Was it strange that I 
 should be warm after hearing such contradictory assertions, 
 and being the subject of such a threat? 
 
108 MR. THOMPSON S 
 
 Before passing from these rather irrelevant observations, 
 allow me to make one further remark on the proceedings 
 of last night, with reference to my own conduct on that 
 occasion. I called out " No," because there was a state 
 ment regarding a matter of fact, personally affecting my 
 own character and veracity, made before 3,000 persons, 
 many hundreds of whom, perhaps, would not have an op 
 portunity the following evening of hearing a true state 
 ment of the case, on whose minds, therefore, an impres 
 sion to my prejudice would have been produced, if the 
 assertion had been passed by without contradiction. It 
 was said by Mr. Borthwick, that he gave me a challenge 
 in Manchester, and that I declined it: I never did decline 
 that challenge ; I was rather anxious to accept it ; but know 
 ing the object Mr. Borthwick had in view, viz. to circum 
 vent my design to prevent my fulfilling my pledge to go here 
 and there, rousing the public attention to this question, 
 [and I have gone here and there, at the sacrifice of health, 
 and almost life,] was I to remain at Manchester, and at a 
 particular time accept the challenge of Mr. Borthwick, 
 leaving the object of my mission in part unaccomplished ? 
 I am at any time ready to defend the positions I occupy, 
 and I will defend them until they are successfully des 
 troyed ; but I am not bound to accept a particular chal 
 lenge from Mr. Borthwick. I may say with Nehemiah, 
 "The work is great and large, and we are separated upon 
 the wall, one far from another. In what place, therefore, 
 ye hear the sound of the trumpet, resort ye thither unto 
 us; our God shall fight for us." I cannot be delayed by 
 matters of minor importance, when I have proved to nine 
 ty-nine out of every hundred of my hearers, that colonial 
 slavery is a crime in the sight of God : and, therefore, th.it 
 the negro ought to go free, and the bonds to fall from the 
 limbs of the oppressed. [Applause and disapprobation.] 
 
 He now came to Mr. B s reply ; that gentleman had 
 gone over his list of evils, and said there was nothing in 
 them ; but he defied Mr. Borthwick, with the West Indian 
 body at his back, to drive him from one of those positions. 
 Mr. Thompson then recapitulated the evils which he had 
 attributed to the system of colonial slavery the preceding 
 evening, and contended that not one of them had been 
 touched by his opponent. He had said that general licen- 
 
REPYL, 109 
 
 tiousness was one of the evils of slavery,* Let him have an 
 audience of males only, and he would tear the veil even 
 from the eyes of West Indian proprietors ; he would prove 
 it even from the evidence furnished by planters themselves., 
 or he would consent to be branded as a quack, .and to let 
 Mr. Borthwick triumph over him, [Applause and disappro 
 bation.] Did not Mr. Borthwick know that in almost every 
 house in Jamaica ail the men from the book-keeper up to 
 the ma ster himself, had a concubine? Did he not know 
 that the marriage of a white man with a female possessing 
 the slightest tinge of negro blood, entailed upon him almost 
 entire expulsion from civilized society? Mr. Borthwick, it 
 seemed, did not know what was meant by the instability 
 of slavery, but was he riot sufficiently acquainted with the 
 history of the world to know, that no state of society found 
 ed upon slavery could be otherwise than insecure. Mr, 
 Borthwick had not said a word about the cowardice of ne 
 gro slavery the meanness of taking advantage of the do 
 cility ofthe negroes to enslave them, when no such advan 
 tage had been taken of more bold and rugged races, 
 the savages of New Zealand, or North America. Mr. 
 Thompson then denounced the selfish spirit of slavery, and 
 quoted a passage from Mr. [now Lord] Brougham s speech 
 to the electors of Yorkshire, in which Mr. Brougham elo 
 quently condemned the spirit of monopoly which would 
 keep the blessing of freedom to itself, arid declared that if 
 he were sent to Parliament, he never would rest from his 
 labors till he had uprooted the tree, under whose dead 
 ly shade life died death lived and brandished it over the 
 heads of its supporters in triumph. [Cheers.] Mr. Borth 
 wick had said nothing of the guilt of slavery. Mr. Borth 
 wick denied that slavery necessarily entailed the curse of 
 sterility on the soil where it existed, and he [Mr. Thomp 
 son] would now quote the authority of a greater man than 
 either himself or Mr. Borthwick to show that it did. Mr. 
 Thompson then quoted a passage from the works of J. Jer 
 emy, Esq., late Chief Justice of St. Lucia, showing that 
 the constant succession of crops and excessive cultivation, 
 rendered necessary by the system of slave labor, had, in 
 many instances, within his own knowledge, rendered the 
 most fertile and fruitful lands a desert. Mr. Borthwick 
 denied that the slave trade was a necessary consequence of 
 10 
 
110 
 
 slavery, but if there vvere no slavery in the West Indies, 
 in the Spanish colonies, or Brazil, would the slave trade be 
 any longer carried on ? [Applause.] He then read offi 
 cial accounts of the atrocities perpetrated in Spanish slav 
 ers, captured by his majesty s crusiers, off the western coast 
 of Africa, and contended that the only sure and effectual 
 mode of extinguishing this horrid traffic was to abolish 
 slavery. He had spoken of the infant being doomed ta 
 interminable slavery, even from its mother s womb and 
 how heartless and inhuman was Mr. Borthwick s reply. 
 Because, forsooth, children were generally born to the con 
 dition of their parents, therefore it was no evil that infant 
 negroes were born to bondage. Mr. Thompson then read 
 several extracts from the writings of the Rev. Mr. Gilgrass, 
 the Rev. Mr. Drew, and others, showing the scenes of 
 misery and distress which they had witnessed from the sep 
 aration of families, and then quoted the 5th clause of the 
 consolidated slave code of Jamaica, of February, 1831, to 
 show that though it was provided therein that when whole 
 families were seized by the Marshal they should not be sold 
 separately, there was nothing to prevent individuals from 
 being seized for their master s debts, and sold husbands 
 from their wives mothers from their children sisters 
 from their brethren. Then with regard to the slaves being 
 compelled to endure excessive labor, without any of the or 
 dinary motives to labor how heartless how cruel how in 
 human was it in the advocates of gradual emancipation, to 
 say the slave had double motives, first to labor for his master, 
 and then for his freedom. From Parliamentary documents 
 quoted by Mr. Stephen, in his admirable work on the state 
 of the colonies, it appeared that throughout the year the slave 
 had to labor, upon an average, 16 hours and 40 minutes 
 per day, for-his master, and yet he was to be told after this 
 that the slave had double motives to labor. Mr. Borthwick 
 denied that there was any suffering amongst the slaves, and 
 said that brands, and whips, and collars, and chains were 
 all chimeras. If they were so, what was the meaning of a 
 statement in the Jamaica pnper he held in his hand, that 
 there were one hundred negroes walking the streets with 
 from one to eight brand-marks upon their bodies? Did he 
 know how runaway negroes were described ? By the lash 
 es, the flogging marks, every thing that could torment the 
 
REPLY. Ill 
 
 human body and deform it, upon them ? Mr. Thompson 
 then quoted from the Christian Record, a Jamaica period 
 ical, for October, 1830, a statement of the case of five 
 negroes, who had been sent out by their mistress to stea] 
 grass from the neighboring estates, taken to the protector, 
 and severely flogged, though it appeared that all they did 
 was by command of their owner, under fear of punishment 
 if they disobeyed. He then again quoted from Mr. Jere 
 my s work,, passages showing the difficulty Mr. Jeremy 
 experienced in abolishing the use of the whip, chains, and 
 collars, at St. Lucia, and the ingenuity shown by the planters 
 in devising other instruments of punishment. Mr. Jere 
 my s work had been published for twelve months, it had 
 been reviewed by the Edinburgh, and other liberal jour 
 nals ; and Blackwood, Frazer, M Queen, and the Morning 
 Post were silent upon the subject. Was not that a convinc^ 
 ing proof of the truth of its statements? (Loud cheers.) 
 He would mention another instance quoted by Mr. Jeremy, 
 A civil action was brought in the court over which Mr. Jere 
 my s predecessor in office presided as chief justice, in which 
 the steward or bailiff of a planter, sought to recover a sum 
 .of money alleged to be due to him ; the master pleaded a 
 set off, and what was that? Why, that the bailiff had 
 flogged two slaves to death ; that their value was 700 dol 
 lars, and that the demand ought to be reduced by that 
 amount. (Hear, hear.) It was so reduced, and the price 
 of murder was allowed. Mr. T. mentioned several similar 
 instances of cruelty in Trinidad, Martinique, and other 
 West Indian colonies, and asked what chance the sjave had 
 for justice, under a system rotten to its core, with slave 
 owners for legislators, slave-owners for magistrates, and 
 slave evidence inadmissible. ( None, none ! Cheers and 
 disapprobation.) He now came to another part of the 
 subject, being the most important part of Mr. Borthwick s 
 speech, he referred to the recent insurrection in the is 
 land of Jamaica. (Hear, hear, hear applause and disap 
 probation.) Why was he hissed? Was it merely because 
 he referred to that insurrection ? First, with regard to 
 insurrections generally, how were they spoken of ? When 
 they took place in the West Indies, they were called rer 
 bellions, and the actors were stigmatized as rebels tra> 
 Jtors wretclxes^y agabonds demons^ 
 
MR. THcrMPscm f s 
 
 How were the Poles or the Greeks spoken of when they 
 rose against their oppressors 1 (Hear, hear.) If they had 
 heard of an insurrection of their own countrymen who 
 were once slaves at Algiers, to escape from the tyranny of 
 the Dey, would they have called it a rebellion would they 
 have designated their countrymen as wretches and vaga 
 bonds ? (Cheers.) How did they speak of the champions 
 of liberty in other countries, a Tell in Switzerland, a 
 Byron in Greece a Bolivar in Columbia a Brutus at 
 Rome a La Fayette in Paris! As heroes. How of the 
 negro leaders of the rebellion in Jamaica a people more 
 insulted a people a thousand times more deeply wronged 
 than even the people of Swrterland, Greece, Columbia, 
 Rome or France had ever been ? As wretches and vaga 
 bonds. (Applause and disapprobation.) Mr. Borthwick 
 had last night Showed a disposition to curry favor with 
 the Wesleyans and Moravians at the expense of the Bap 
 tists. (Hisses and cheers.) He (Mr. Thompson) liked 
 to call things by their proper names, and therefore he 
 repeated that Mr. Borthwick showed a disposition to cur 
 ry favor with the Methodists. The planters loved the 
 Methodists, he said; did they so? Then why did the 
 planters pull down their chapels at Barbadoes ? (Immense 
 cheering.) They loved the Methodists, then why did 
 fhey .imprison Mr. Shrewsbury, why did they persecute 
 Mr. Whitehouse, why did they imprison Mr. Box, why 
 did they pull down the Methodist chapels at Kingston ? 
 (Applause.) Mr. Thompson then drew a beautiful picture 
 of the disinterestedness of the Christian missionaries, and 
 their readiness to go to any quarter of the world ; whether 
 on the pestilential banks of the Gambia, or the frigid re 
 gions of the Pole. The planters, it seemed, loved all 
 missionaries except the Baptists; why then did they mar 
 tyr Smith at Demerara ? Where was Duncan where was 
 Young? (Applause.) Mr. Thompson then alluded to 
 the resolutions quoted on the preceding evening by Mr. 
 Borthwick, and showed that the names of George Morley, 
 Richard Watson, and John Mason, which Mr. Borthwick 
 read as signatures to the resolutions, were in reality, the 
 names of the three resident secretaries in London, to whom 
 the resolutions were addressed by the secretary Shipman. 
 .Mr, Watson had written an eloquent reply to those reso- 
 
ftEPLY. 113 
 
 lutions, strongly condemning the sentiments they contain 
 ed. Mr. Thompson tken read a report on the subject of 
 these resolutions, adopted by the Wesleyan Missionary So 
 ciety, in which they disclaim the sentiments uttered in 
 their name, and express their utter detestation of the slave 
 system. The great body of the Wesleyans concurred in 
 the same opinion. (Hear, hear.) What did the Jamaica 
 Courant, the organ of the planters, say of the missiona 
 ries? why, that there was fine hanging woods in Trelaw- 
 ney, and that the bodies of the missionaries would diversify 
 the scene, and this he spoke of all the sectarians all the 
 sectarians, mind^ without exception in favor of any sect, 
 and the editor of that ferocious paper, as Mr. Borthwick 
 well knew was a member of the house of Assembly. He 
 would now read a letter from another senator, a son-in-law 
 of a peer, a member of the House of Commons in this 
 country, and a large slave proprietor, to show how fit he 
 was for the office of a British legislator. In the month of 
 February, 1832, a short time after the news came of the 
 insurrection in Jamaica, Mr. Thomas Pringle, the secre 
 tary of the Anti-Slavery Society, who had been accustom 
 ed to send him the Anti-Slavery Reporter, received the 
 following letter. Mr. Thompson then read the letter whic.b 
 was nearly to the following effect : 
 
 Sir, I have often had packets from the Anti-Slavery Society, forwarded 
 over-weight to me in the country. I have a great aversion to all canting 
 hypocrisy, but it is doubly detestable when it is made a cloak for mischievous 
 purpose?. I therefore beg you. not to send me anymore papers. I shall 
 only add my most earnest hope, that the Commander-in-Chief in Jamaica vvi.Il 
 hasg every missonary in the Island ; and if the same com se were adopted here 
 with the gentlemen who present their petitions on the subject, a considerable 
 benefit would arise to the community at large, and most particularly to the 
 House of Commons. I have the honor to be, \our most obedient servant. 
 SPENCER "HORSEY KILDERBEE. 
 
 If they wanted to know more about this gentleman, he 
 was a member for Oxford, in the County of Suffolk, a 
 borough now in schedule A. Was that man fit to be $ 
 legislator 1 Were not the beautiful lines of Sir Walter 
 Scott, applicable to that selfish, heartless individual. Mr. 
 Thompson then repeated as applicable to this gentleman, 
 the beautiful and forcible lines of Sir Walter Scott, con> 
 
 Breathes there the man with soi so dead, &C, 
 
 10* 
 
114 
 
 He more particularly applied to him, however, the follow 
 ing passage : 
 
 < If such there "be, go mark him well, 
 For him no minstrel raptures swell, 
 High though his title, proud his name, 
 Boundleshis wealth as wish can claim, 
 Despite those titles power and pelf, 
 The wretch, concentred all in self, 
 -.Living shall forfeit fair renown, 
 And doubly dying shall go dowe 
 To the vile dust from whence he sprung, 
 Unwept, unhnnored, and unsung! 
 
 l\lr. Borthwick had objected to the missionaries because 
 they did not understand Greek, because they were unac 
 quainted with the oriental tongues, because they had 
 not travelled over Palestine ; but did he forget that Christ 
 chose ignorant, unlearned fishermen for his apostles, and 
 that God himself declared that he <ihose the weak and fee 
 ble things of the world to overcome the strong the fool 
 ish to -eonfound the wise. (Applause.) Mr. Borthwick 
 had spoken of ladies who .had been arbused and murdered ; 
 torn linrb from limb" where -was tire proof of the fact? 
 Liriton s confession? It said not a word about it. Mr. 
 Thompson then entered into several staiernenis relative to 
 the demolition of Baptist chapels in Jamaica, amounting 
 in value to twenty-three thousand two hundred and fifty 
 pounds currency, and then said, he called upon the Wes- 
 feyawsj Church-of-England-men, and Moravians, upon 
 all who were Christians and men, to come forward and 
 make common cause with the injured, the calumniated., 
 the murdered Baptists, against the white ruffians of Jamai 
 ca. [Immense cheering, followed by disapprobation.] He 
 was sure that he had the hearts and consciences of the 
 meeting with him; and recommended JVIr. Borthwick i& 
 future not to feel the pulse of the audience in such a man 
 ner as he had recently done, and in order to save him the 
 trouble he would say ; Let thos that believe that slavery 
 is incompatible with Christianity, and ought to be abolish 
 ed, hold up their hands. [A vast majority of the meeting 
 responded to the call, by holding up their hands, and this 
 manifestation of feeling was hailed with the most enthu- 
 -plastic cheering.] Let those who thought otherwise ho!4 
 
TtfiPLY. 115 
 
 tip their hands. None? Then none have I offended. 
 lie denied that the planters had stopped the slave trade, 
 although Jamaica and Virginia had petitioned against it, 
 when they found they were overstocked with slaves, and 
 wished to prevent their neighbors from getting a fresh 
 supply. The planters, in fact, had never made any con 
 cession to which they had not been goaded. Had they 
 not opposed Mr. Wilberforce, and divided, repeatedly, both 
 Houses of Parliament against proposed ameliorations of 
 the negroes condition ? Yet Mr. Borthwick said they wish 
 ed for the abolition of slavery. 
 
 And Borthwick was an honorable man, 
 So were they all all honorable men. 
 
 To him however, it was passing strange, that they should 
 show their love for abolition by resisting it, as they had 
 shewn their love to religion by burning the chapels and 
 persecuting the missionaries. [Cheers.] *If this was love, it 
 was the love of madmen, who were said to destroy what they 
 loved the best. [Cheers and laughter.] Mr. Thompson then 
 alluded to the extract read by his opponent from the Morn 
 ing Journal, and showed that the immorality of the slave 
 had been caused by slavery, and by his forcible separation 
 from the objects of his early attachment. The morning 
 Journal abuses four and twenty ladies of Clapham, and 
 tells an anecdote of a man who in the first place was torn 
 from Africa where he had taken a wife, severed from her 
 and his children and brought to the West Indies. Was 
 not that a crime, I ask ? (Hear, hear.) In the West In 
 dies he takes another wife, and then the Morning Journal 
 and Mr. Borthwick charge him with bigamy ; but what 
 caused the bigamy ? The slave trade and slavery. (Loud 
 applause.) He was again dragged from his second wife 
 and children, and taken to America, where he took a third 
 wife, and then he is charged with trigamy. What is it that 
 occasions trigamy in the man who is torn from one wife 
 .in Africa, and from another in the West Indies, and takes 
 ft third in America? Slavery! (Applause, and cries of 
 True, true. ) Here is one woman left desolate in 
 Africa; is the.*e no evil inflicted on her ? Another is 
 left desolate in the West Indies ; is there no evil inflicted 
 on her ? The fatherless children, too ; is no suffering and 
 misery entailed upon them by sp foul a crime? (Ap 
 plause.) If Mr. Borthwick were wise he would keep such 
 
116 MR. THOMPSON S 
 
 things as these in the back ground. (Hear, hear.) Joy go 
 with him and his bigamy and trigamy too. (Laughter.) If 
 he goes on in this way, he, at least, will stand little chance 
 of committing either bigamy or trigamy. (Much laughter.) 
 He will not allow me to call the planters names, why then 
 does he call Pharaoh a tyrant 1 ? because he was a slave 
 owner. Why does he call ancient tyrants names, and not 
 allow the same names to be applied to tyrants of modern 
 times. O, says he, you must be very gentle, you must be 
 very lamb-like, when you speak of modern slave-owners. 
 If you speak of Pharaoh, you may call him tyrant ; if .you 
 speak of Nero, you may call him tyrant; if you speak of 
 the Goths and Vandals, you may call them tyrants ; if you 
 speak of the ancient feudal system in England, you may 
 call the lords of the soil tyrants, if you will ; but don t call 
 the West Indian planters tyrants when you are pleading 
 the cause of the negroes ; don t call them names, but be 
 very calm, peaceable, and polite. I am reminded of an 
 anecdote of Demosthenes, the celebrated orator, and will 
 relate it, as some sort of excuse for iny being a little warm 
 occasionally, and to show why I perspire so much, why I 
 am not so cool as Mr. Borthwick, who, you observe, never 
 wipes the perspiration from his brows, but always keeps 
 himself cool and comfortable. (A laugh.) As Demos 
 thenes was one day silting in his study, a person came to 
 him and said, * I want you to undertake my cause. 
 What do you complain of ? said the orator. Why, 
 replied his client in a very cool and calm way, why, down 
 the street, a man struck me, spat upon me, and reviled me, 
 and I am come to you to obtain redress. * I don t believe 
 you, said Demosthenes ; I put no faith in your story ; 
 you don t look like an injured and insulted man ; I can* 
 not credit what you tell me. * Not believe me ! exclaim 
 ed the man ; what! not believe me ! when I tell you that 
 he struck me a foul blow, laid me.on the earth, spit and 
 trampled upon me? Not think ie an injured man V 
 Hold, hold, said Demosthenes, * now I believe you. I 
 see it in the fire of your eye, in the quivering of your lip, in 
 the agitation of your frame. Now I believe you, and will 
 undertake your cause. (Applause.) And shall we, when 
 we plead the cause of eight hundred thousand human beings 
 now breathing, shall we, when we plead the cause of 
 

 REPLY. 117 
 
 the millions who no longer breathe, when we speak of 
 the rnen and women burnt in the villages and towns of 
 Africa, that died in the pathway of the desert, that 
 were thrown overboard to the sharks of the Atlantic,- 
 that perished by disease occasioned by the seasoning;- 
 shall we, when we speak of these victims to human ava 
 rice and depravity, becalm and cool, and say, Pray, Mr. 
 Borthvvick, pray, Mr. Kilderbee, pray Mr. any body 
 else, oblige ns by considering the subject? No; if we 
 love liberty ourselves ; if we would die to defend it when 
 invaded on our own shores, let us not pause till we obtain 
 a complete and glorio.us triumph over colonial oppression. 
 (Loud cheers.) 
 
 Mr. Thompson then exposed, in a tone of the bitterest 
 satire, the inconsistency of Mr. Borthwick, in represent 
 ing the negro as perfectly contented with his condition, 
 and desiring no further freedom. 
 
 Mr. Borthwick is a great admirer of the missionary, yet he 
 kept throwing dirt upon him at every step ; Mr. Borthwick is 
 a great admirer of the negro, yet he describes him as a 
 complete beast in Africa and something worse in the West 
 Indies ; he is a great admirer of freedom, but he says that 
 the negro is not fit for freedom ; he loves religion, but he 
 said that the insurrection in Jamaica had its first founda 
 tion in religion. (Cries of No, no. ) The audience, 
 however, stopped him short, and then he said perversion 
 of religion ; for he 
 
 c Can turn, 
 And turn, and turn again, and still go on. 
 
 No man knows how-to slide off in a beautiful curve better 
 than Mr. Borthvvick. (Hisses and applause.) Then he 
 said something very beautiful about the happiness and 
 contentedness of the negro, which would be very elegant, 
 if it were true ; but the misfortune is, that most of the things 
 he says are not true, in fact. That he believes them to be 
 true, I must not question. He says that the negroes do 
 not care for freedom, that they set no value upon it, that 
 if you go round amongst them, and put the question to 
 them, they will say, No, Massa ; me very happy, me 
 want no more, me get all me care for; that, in fine, they 
 would not have their freedom if they could get it. Would 
 they not? Then why are the newspapers filled with ad- 
 
118 MR. THOMPSON S 
 
 vertisements of runaway negroes? Why are the prisons 
 filled with runaway negroes ? Why are the mountains 
 peopled with runaway negroes? Why is the bush filled 
 with runaway negroes ? Why is a standing army kept to 
 force shivery down the throats of the negroes, if they are 
 in love with it? (Loud applause.) Does the mother hold 
 a rod over the child s head to force it to eat apple tart? 
 (Laughter.) Did Adam and Eve run out of Paradise? 
 If the negroes like slavery, then withdraw the troops, and 
 save us the trouble and expense, the loss of life and money 
 needlessly incurred, if the negroes are contented with their 
 condition. (Loud applause.) But they like slavery, and 
 do not wish for liberty ; and Mr. Borthwick exclaims they 
 shall not have liberty now, because they do not know its 
 value; but shall man be kept in slavery, because he does 
 not know the value of liberty ? See the pitiful dilemma 
 into which Mr. Borthwick has brought himself; the ne 
 groes do not like what nil men sigh for, what they would 
 bleed and die to defend, what they would give house 
 and lands, friends and reputation to obtain; and here is 
 the dilemma, if it be so, then planters and proprietors, 
 upholders of slavery, he defends and maintains a vile and 
 brutalizing system, which has extinguished in man the most 
 noble and generous quality which distingushes him from 
 the brutes. (Loud cheers.) What! because men do not 
 like liberty, if it be true that they do not like it, are we 
 not to try to make them like it ? Mr. Borthwick tells us 
 that the negroes are very happy and contented, that they 
 want no more ; and then he tells us of a man, a most mis 
 erable man, if ever there were so very a wretch, that 
 bought fifty acres of land, and then said he did not want 
 his own liberty. I should like to see the man who was 
 thus in love with going round and round his tub. Noi 
 like liberty for himself! why, then, did he want it for his 
 wife and children ? Mr. Borthwick tells us that he might 
 cail them MY OWN (Loud cheers.) Mr. Borthwick 
 tells us that when asked the question, the man replied, I 
 want to call them mine ; and I beg Mr. Borthwick to re 
 member that word mine. Not like liberty ! Suppose I go 
 with Mr. Borthwick to a lunatic asylum ; (I do not mean 
 any thing invidious I do not think that either Mr. Borth 
 wick or myself are fit to be permanent residents in a luna- 
 
REPLY. 119 
 
 tic asylum ;) but suppose that we go as accidental visitors, 
 just as he came to see ine at Manchester. (A laugh.) Sup 
 pose we go into a ward, and see a man weaving a crown 
 of straw, putting it on his head, and then walking up and 
 down the ward, with his miserable rags trailing behind 
 him, wielding his sceptre over an imaginary world, Uto 
 pian princes bowing at his footstool. I say to Mr. Borth 
 wick, Is not that man happy 1 He never implores for 
 liberty ; he fancies himself clothed in regal splendor,, with 
 crouching slaves around him ; is he not happy ? Mr. 
 Borthwick would shake his head, be silent and turn grave. 
 Then lue might see another man chalking ludicrous figures 
 on the wall, or stringing together senseless rhymes, and 
 humming them the livelong day; and I might say, Is 
 not this man happy ? He is always smiling ; he is fully 
 satisfied with himself ; he never sends a wish beyond his 
 prison walls ; is he not happy ? Mr. Borthwick would 
 still be silent. Then I might show him a beautiful female 
 singing love ditties all day long, an eternal smile play 
 ing on her countenance ; and I might say, Look up 
 on this being and say, is she not happy 1 Are not all 
 these happy? And then Mr. Borthwick, with a sigh, 
 would answer, No, they are not happy ; see what a wreck 
 of mind ; see reason dethroned ; see all the bright facul 
 ties of the soul gone astray! Oh ! save them from this 
 place, 
 
 Where kjtlghter is not mirth, nor thought the mind, 
 Nor words u language, nor e en men mankind. 
 
 Let us strive to bring them back to society and to rational 
 being; let them, if it must be, taste its sorrows and its 
 bitterness , but let them know what are its joys, its hopes, Us 
 anticipations ; let them live to mingle with mankind, and 
 fit themselves for immortality. And I reply, Yes, let 
 us try to save them ; let all human means be used to save 
 them from this place ; and when you have dropped the tear 
 of sympathy over degraded reason here, go to the West In 
 dies, preach that doctrine to the slaves, and see whether, 
 in their present prostration there is any reason why they 
 should not have awakened in their minds a love of liberty, 
 if it be not already there, why they should not be raised 
 from that hateful system by which they are now enthrall 
 ed, and brought to the enjoyment of perfect freedom. 
 (Cheers.) 
 
120 MR. THOMPSON S 
 
 But lam prepared to show that slaves (Jo value freedom 
 and long to possess it, notwithstanding Mr. Borthwick s 
 declaration to the contrary. I hold in- my hand two doc 
 uments, the first is a proclamation from Governor 
 Ross, published in the Antigua Register of March 29, 
 1831: 
 
 ANTIGUA. 
 
 c By his Excellency Sir Patrick Ross, Knight, Commander 
 of the most distinguished Order of St. Michael and St. 
 George, Major-General in the Army, Governor, and Com- 
 mander-in-(Jhief in and over his Majesty s Islands of Anti 
 gua, Montserrat, and Barbuda, Chancellor, Vice-Admiral, 
 and Ordinary of the same, &c. &c.- &c. 
 Patrick (L.S.) Ross. 
 
 * WHEREAS by my proclamation bearing date the twenty-first clay of 
 this present month, I did, by and with ihe advice of His Majesty s Privy 
 Council, offer a Reward-of One Hundred Pounds to the Person or Persons, 
 (except the actual offender) who should give such information as would lead 
 to the conviction of the offender or offenders, who set fire to several cane 
 pieces on this Island, and also a free pardon to an accomplice or accomplices, 
 on conviction, by their means, of the actual perpetrator of such diabolical acts. 
 Now, therefore, I do further, in compliance with the joint advice of both 
 Houses of the Legislature, offer 
 
 FREEDOM TO ANY SLAVE, 
 
 who by his or her exertions and evidence, may bring to justice any of the 
 incendiaries who have been destroying the canes in various parts of the In 
 land. 
 
 * Given under my hand and seal at Government-house, this 
 Twenty-second day f March, One Thousand Eight Hun 
 dred and Thirty-one, and in the First Year of His Majesty s 
 Reign. 
 
 God save the King. 
 By His Excellency s command, 
 
 CHARLES TAYLOR, Private Secretary. 
 
 Duly published this Twenty-third day of March, One Thousand* Eight 
 Hundred and Thirty-one. 
 
 MARTIN N ANTON Deputy Provost Marshal. 
 Weekly Register, Antigua, Tuesday, March 29, 1831. 
 
 Now, Mr. Borthwick, when Governor Ross means to 
 offer the highest reward which it is in his power to con 
 fer, what is it that he docs offer ? A few more yams, a 
 little more rum, or a little more clothing ? No ; but lie offers 
 the slave the highest boon which the island can grant, he 
 offers him freedom. (Loud cheers.) Another proclama 
 tion to the same effect was issued in Jamaica during the 
 late insurrection. 
 
 Freedom, Mr. Borthwick, is the highest boon that gov 
 ernors and generals can bestow ; and to-day I have been 
 informed, by a gentleman now on this platform, that whilst 
 
HEPLY. 121 
 
 he was on the island of Nevis, a few years back, the in 
 habitants were alarmed by a tremendous storm, and found 
 that a vessel had been wrecked, the crew of which were 
 in danger of perishing. The planters stood on the beach, 
 beholding the desolation on the waters, but they could not 
 induce any person to launch a boat and go to the assist 
 ance of the persons in the wreck. At last, the planters 
 offered freedom to any slaves who would put off to the as 
 sistance of the shipwrecked mariners,and immediately these 
 men, who are said to care nothing about liberty, rushed 
 into the boat, and risked their own existence to save those 
 who were in danger of perishing. (Cheers.) In the year 
 1794 there was what was termed the Maroon war in Ja 
 maica : and who were the Maroons? Runaway negroes! 
 And where had they run from ? From the four parlors 
 and a saloon. What did they run from? From the light 
 work, the beautiful clothing, and abundance of food ; from 
 the kind care and culture of the planters. And where did 
 they run to from all this comfort and happiness? To the 
 bleak and desolate mountains, to the fastnesses of Jamaica. 
 Ay, to the desolate mountain, from the four parlors and a 
 saloon. And what did they do there ? Why, whilst the 
 negro of Jamaica was enjoying his four parlors and a sa 
 loon, drinking his wine, and revelling in all the luxuries 
 of slavery, like another Sardanapalus, the negroes in the 
 mountains were getting strong, increasing and multiplying, 
 and at last down they came upon the whites, and threatened 
 to exterminate them. The whites met together to consider 
 how they might best resist the aggressions of the Maroons : 
 the standing troops were called out, and found to be insuffi 
 cient, and. with the militia added the.y were still thought 
 insufficient, and the arming of the negroes was talked of: 
 but somebody said, How do you know, when you have 
 armed the negroes, that they will fight for you ? How do 
 you know that they will not make common cause with the 
 Maroons? You must find some motive sufficiently strong 
 to induce them to fight. And what was that motive ? 
 Was it food, house, a provision ground ? No : they prom 
 ised the slave liberty! (Loud cheers.) And with liber 
 ty in their hearts, liberty their watchword, and liberty their 
 expected reward, they went to the battle plain, they fought 
 ^d bled, and even many of them died, whilst the living 
 
122 MR. THOMPSON S 
 
 returned victorious, not to pull down chapels, not to injure 
 innocent men, but to clasp to their bosoms their wives and 
 their children, to stretch out their free hands to Heaven 
 and say, Now, indeed, we are men and brethren. 
 (Hear that, Mr. Borthwick.) I beg my friends will not 
 make any remarks; Jet them leave that to me, for lam 
 exceedingly jealous of my privileges. (Much laughter.) 
 
 And now, Mr. Borthwick comes to Hayti; he thinks he 
 has a fine specimen of the dangers of emancipation at 
 Hayti ; and he measures the happiness of the inhabitants 
 of that island by the amount of their exports. But this is 
 false philosophy, Mr. Borthwick. Suppose the people of 
 Ireland were to ship less of their produce, less corn, fewer 
 cattle, and fewer potatoes to foreign countries than they 
 now do, and eat it all themselves, would any person assign 
 this as a reason why they should be worse off than they 
 were when they did export a larger quantity. (Cheers.) 
 Mr. Borthwick ought not to measure the comfort and hap 
 piness of a people, by the amount of their exports. Would 
 he argue, because the stage-proprietor did not carry so 
 many passengers, and therefore did not run his horses so 
 frequently, that the horses were worse off than they were 
 before. (Loud cheers.) Would he argue that the ox was 
 in a worse condition because he trod out less corn than he 
 did before? How does it happen that the Hayiians have 
 not cultivated so much sugar as they did formerly. Why 
 did they cultivate so much formerly ? Because of the 
 whip, to please their masters, not to please themselves. 
 (Loud cheers.) What is the fact now ? A gentleman 
 who is now here is willing to come forward, and state it 
 firmly, fearlessly, and openly. (Cheers.) After a twelve 
 years residence in Hayti, where he kept a regular account 
 of exports and imports, and investigated the manners, 
 motives, and desires of the inhabitants, he is ready to tes 
 tify that the commerce of Hayti is prosperous, and that the 
 peasants of Hayti are as happy as any portion of the hu 
 man family. (Loud cries of Name, name. ) Mr. Shiel. 
 (Loud and reiterated cheering.) 
 
 Mr. SHIEL then stood upon the table, and said Ladies 
 and Gentlemen, called upon as I have been by the gentle 
 man who has already addressed you for upwards of three 
 hours, I do not come forward to make any long oration, I 
 
REPLY. 123 
 
 merely come forward to say that the facts stated by that 
 gentleman, with regard to Hayti, are perfectly correct, 
 and that 1 have witnessed them. I know that the people 
 of Hayti are free, independent, comfortable, and happy. 
 (Cheers.) There is also another point which I wish to 
 notice ; a point which has never yet been laid before the 
 British public : I allude to the revolution which occurred 
 in Hayti in 1822, when the Spanish part of the colony 
 threw off the yoke of slavery. That revolution was effect 
 ed by the people, without a single act of violence even of 
 the most trifling character. (Cheers.) The masters, it 
 is to be observed, were Spaniards a people who never mal 
 treated their slaves. (Hear, hear.) The slaves declared 
 themselves free, shook off the Spanish yoke, and joined the 
 republican part of Hayti, without a single act of violence 
 or the slightest destruction of property. [Loud cheers.] 
 Mr. THOMPSON then resumed, and after eulogising the 
 condition of the free negroes in Sierra Leone, in compari 
 son with the West Indian, he said he would come to Mr. 
 Borthwick s leg. [Laughter.] He wished he could come 
 down from where he then was [Mr. B. was in front of the 
 side boxes] and show them his calf, that he might see what 
 he had to work upon [a laugh] although he suspect 
 ed that there was calf higher when he gave that challenge. 
 [Great laughter.] However he would reply to Mr. Borth 
 wick s challenge, by giving him a counter one. He [Mr. 
 T.] never said that he could lay open the flank of a mule 
 with a Jamaica cart-whip. What he said was, that a skil 
 ful athletic slave driver had actually done so, in the pres 
 ence of Mr. Coultart, the missionary. Now, if Mr. Borth* 
 wick could make a coat to fit him [Mr. Thompson] as 
 well as the one which he then had on, he would give him 
 two hundred pounds. [Cheers and laughter.] And if 
 Mr. Borthwick could not make a coat, how could he ex 
 pect him [Mr. Thompson] to lay open the calf of his leg, 
 which he begged to assure him he would not do for the 
 world, even if he could. Mr. Thompson then proceeded 
 to combat the arguments of Mr. Borthwick in reference to 
 the danger of emancipation. He quoted the example of 
 Sir Stamford Raffles in Java, and of Bolivar, in Mexico, 
 who abolished slavery by a dash of the pen, with the hap-, 
 piest results. He further observed, that after deducting from 
 
124 MR. THOMPSON S REPLY. 
 
 the slave population the females, the aged, the infirm, and 
 the children, those who had been converted to Christianity 
 by the missionaries, and those who were attached to their 
 masters, the remnant of the disaffected or revengeful 
 would be too trifling to occasion alarm, even were they dis 
 posed to resist the mild and kindly influence of British 
 laws and British mercy. The cry of danger was a mere 
 bugbear to enhance the price of compensation. We are 
 not fed by slavery, said Mr. Thompson, in conclusion, we 
 are taxed by slavery ; ours is the cause of humanity, theirs 
 of interest ; ours of religion, theirs of tyranny. 
 
 Mr. Thompson concluded a lecture of four hours dura 
 tion by returning thanks for the attention with which he 
 had been heard. The meeting then dispersed. 
 
125 ) 
 
 MR. BORTHWICK S REJOINDER. 
 
 On Friday evening the Amphitheatre was again filled at 
 an early hour, to hear Mr. Borthwick s reply to the address 
 of Mr. Thompson on the preceding evening. 
 
 CHARLES HORSFALL, Esq., was invited to take the 
 Chair. 
 
 Mr. Borthwick then stood forward to address the meet 
 ing, but was loudly called upon to mount the table. This 
 call he for some time resisted, but the vociferation contin 
 uing, he at length yielded to the persevering solicitations 
 of the audience, and was then permitted to proceed. After 
 some introductory observations he proceeded to say that 
 the appearance of himself and his opponent before the 
 public at the present moment, was, to say the least of it, 
 rather premature, since two committess, one of the House 
 of Commons, and the other of the House of Lords, were 
 now sitting to examine the very matters under discussion ; 
 the former having been appointed on the petition of the 
 abolitionists, and the latter in answer to the prayers of the 
 West Indian body. The sitting of these committees must 
 afford some security to both of those parties, at whose insti 
 gation they were appointed, that the question would at last 
 receive due consideration, and that justice would ultimate 
 ly be done. It was, therefore, premature in the Anti-Sla 
 very Society to be sending their agents to .arid fro over 
 England, to urge upon the people the necessity of the im 
 mediate abolition of slavery. If the object was to get the 
 House of Commons packed by abolitionists, then he ap 
 pealed to every reformer who was present if this mode 
 of influencing the electors of Great Britain was not as 
 bad as the the much repudiated influence of the borough- 
 mongers. These appeals would no doubt be followed by 
 the proposal to require pledges from their future represent 
 atives, that they would vote for the immediate and uncon 
 ditional abolition of slavery. He begged them, however, 
 to suspend their judgment until they heard the evidence 
 laid before parliament. This (said Mr. Borthwick) is the 
 11* 
 
126 MR. BORTHWICK S 
 
 sum of my request ; and this will appear [A voice from the 
 gallery By and by great laughter.] Mr. Borthwick 
 then proceeded to reply to the charges of falsehood and 
 folly, brought against him by his opponent, and to justify 
 himself for referring in his former lecture to the published 
 speech of Mr. Thompson, at Manchester. The statement 
 respecting the free negroes at Sierra Leone, that the most 
 happy of them were more miserable than the most miserable 
 West Indian sfave, he advanced on the authority of the 
 Aid-de-Camp to General Turner. Mr. Borthwick then 
 ridiculed the statement of Mr. Thompson, that like Nehe- 
 miah, he had a great work to do, to accomplish whrch he 
 must go hither and thither without stopping to carry on a 
 discussion with Mr. Borthwick. The great work which Ne- 
 hemiah had to do, was to build up the city of his fathers, the 
 work of Mr. Thompson was to pull down. (Great uproar.) 
 He rather resembled a certain person who, on one occa 
 sion, presented himself where the sons of God were met 
 together, and who was said to go to and fro over the face 
 of the earth. Mr. Thompson had replied to his former 
 speech by recapitulating his twenty-six evils. He ought 
 to have shown that these were peculiar to slavery in gen 
 eral, and to British colonial slavery in particular. This, 
 however, he had failed to do. He had failed to prove that 
 his first evil, the sterility of the soil, was peculiar to slave 
 ry. He had failed to refute the objection to the second 
 evil, the enslavement of the children of slaves. He ad 
 mitted that the child of the English peasant might rise to 
 the highest distinction, and obtain the dignity of Lore? 
 Chancellor, a fact, which there were two splendid in 
 stances now living to prove. That the child of the slave 
 might become a member of assembly was equally true. 
 Hopkinson, Esq. the son of a female ?lave, who now re 
 sided in Liverpool, was so elected. With regard to the 
 principle, that the sins of fathers might be visited upon 
 their children, it was recognised by the express declara 
 tion of God himself. Mr. Borthwick then alluded to some 
 of the other evils quoted by Mr. Thompson, and repealed 
 many of his former arguments in refutation of these. He 
 then, before proceeding further, read to the meeting a 
 letter he had received that afternoon from Mr. Win. Smith, 
 in reference to an anecdote quoted by Mr. Thompson the 
 
REJOINDER. 127 
 
 evening before, from the Christian Record, respecting the 
 punishment of five negroes for trespassing and plucking 
 grass upon the estate of a Mr. Wildman. Mr. Smith stat 
 ed that his father was the magistrate before whom the ne 
 groes were examined, and that no proof was adduced 
 that the mistress of the slaves had participated in their of 
 fence, by directing the mto commit the trespass. Lord Gode- 
 rich had directed, through Lord Belmore, that an investi 
 gation into the circumstances of" the case should take place, 
 when Mrs. Clarke, the owner of the slaves was fully exon 
 erated from any blame. After commenting upon this let 
 ter Mr. Bbrthwick proceeded to inform the audience, that 
 on the evening of his last lecture Mr. John Cropper, who 
 was standing behind the boxes, said to the persons near 
 him Hiss the scoundrel down. This statement occa 
 sioned the greatest sensation and uproar in the meeting, 
 during which Mr. Adam Hodgson got upon the table and 
 attempted to address the audience. He was strongly op 
 posed, however, particularly by the gentlemen who were 
 placed upon the stage; and finding it impossible to be 
 heard, he again resumed his seat. Mr. Hodgson afterwards 
 made a second attempt to be heard, and mounted the table 
 for that purpose, but was again compelled to descend with 
 out effecting his purpose. Mr. Borthwick, however, ulti 
 mately succeed in obtaining for him a hearing. 
 
 Mr. HODGSON having a third time ascended the table 
 said that he had too much respect both for the meeting 
 and for the chairman to have taken a place upon the table 
 without his permission. He wished the gentlemen on the 
 stage behind him to know this fact. (Hear.) He did not 
 stand there to disavow the fact just stated by the gentle 
 man, or to extenuate that fact. It was an error, a very 
 great error an error so great, that had he, as chairman, 
 heard Mr. Cropper utter these words, he would have felt 
 it his duty to send an officer to take Mr. Cropper under 
 his charge. (Hear.) He then read a communication 
 which Mr. Cropper had addressed to him in the expecta 
 tion that the subject might be publicly alluded to that even 
 ing, and which was nearly to the following effect : 
 
 I exceedingly regret that from a want of self-control, and from a momen 
 tary impulse of feeling, I gave utterance to a very unjustifiable expression of 
 feeling for which I am to blame. I made the very earliest apology to Charles 
 
128 MR. BORTH WICK S 
 
 Ilorsfall, and as it was made in thy presence, and to thy satisfaction, I 
 shall ieel obliged by thy communicating the same to the meeting. I am thine 
 truly. JOHN CROPPER. 
 
 [We understand that the occasion on which Mr. Crop 
 per inadvertently gave utterance to his feelings, was that on 
 which Mr. Borthvvick charged the Baptist missionaries 
 with having instigated the slaves to rehellion.] 
 
 Mr. HORSFALL briefly stated that Mr. Cropper did call 
 on him on the following morning, and made an apology in 
 the way he had described. 
 
 Mr. BORTHWICK then resumed his lecture, and in allusion 
 to the alleged cowardice and meanness of slavery, observed 
 that this would form a good argument against the slave 
 trade, but had no force in reference to the present condi 
 tion of British Colonial Slavery. The word cowardice 
 reminded him of the circumstance of Mr. Thompson de 
 clining to lecture before a chairman, whose name was a 
 synonyme for all that was noble in the character of a Brit 
 ish merchant, and honorable in that of a British gentleman. 
 But before such a gentleman, because he was connected 
 with the West Indian Association Mr. THOMPSON (in a 
 loud voice) Read the letter (cries of shame turn 
 him out throw him over break his neck and great 
 uproar, in which many of the gentlemen on the stage heart 
 ily joined. [We observed a number of young lads who 
 formed the back row of the stage to be particularly vocif 
 erous.] 
 
 When order had been partially restored, which was not 
 until the lapse of some time, the CHAIRMAN addressing Mr. 
 Thompson said, he must be well aware of the improprie 
 ty of his conduct ; he must be well aware of the effect of 
 the example he had set ; he trusted there would be no more 
 interruption ; but if there was, either Mr. Thompson or 
 any one who occasioned it, should be taken out of the 
 house. (Prodigious uproar.) 
 
 Mr. THOMPSON immediately rose from his seat which he 
 occupied in the front of one o/ the side boxes, and waving 
 an adieu to the audience, retired from the house. The 
 friends who surrounded him at the same time rose, and sev 
 eral of them accompanied him out of the box. 
 
 Mr. BORTHWICK then re-mounted the table and attempt 
 ed to address the house, but it was some time before he 
 could obtain a hearing, so great was the sensation produ- 
 
REJOINDER. 129 
 
 ced by the occurrences which had taken place, and the 
 indignation felt by the friends of Mr. Thompson, at the 
 cause which had led to his retirement or expulsion from the 
 house. By the exertions of Mr. Edward Cropper, however, 
 and the other gentlemen in Mr. Thompson s box, Mr. 
 Borthwick, at length, obtained a hearing. He said that 
 although Mr. Thompson had made allusions to him more 
 difficult to be borne, than any he had used in return, he 
 had offered no interruption. Was it then consistent with 
 decency that he should be so interrupted. Mr. B. then 
 replied to Mr. Thompson on the evils of the depopulation 
 of the colonies, arid the licentiousness which prevailed. 
 He also contended that Mr. Thompson had given no re 
 ply. to his theological arguments. Mr. Thompson had giv 
 en some imitations of his voice and manner. He confessed 
 he had not so much stage trick as Mr. Thompson; that 
 he did not wipe his brow or perspire so much. (Uproar.) 
 After a variety of other observations, during the delivery of 
 \yhich a good deal of interruption took plac?, Mr. Borth- 
 vvick alluded to the state of Hayti, and invited Mr. Frank 
 lin, a gentleman who had resided in that island, to des 
 cribe its present condition. 
 
 Mr. FRANKLIN then mounted the table and after stamp 
 ing his foot several times, said he was glad to find that the 
 table was firm ; at which he was not surprised, since the 
 Castor and Pollux of the Anti-Slavery Society had been on 
 it last evening. Mr. Franklin then gave some statistical 
 details respecting Hayti for the purpose of showing that its 
 inhabitants were sunk in indolence, and that the amount 
 of its exports and imports had vastly decreased. 
 
 Mr. Borthwick then resumed his place on the table, and 
 was received with great cheering mingled with a few hiss 
 es. He observed that he had now proved from the testimo 
 ny of a gentleman who had resided on the island of St. Do 
 mingo, that the free, ay, .the FRKE laborers of St. Domin 
 go, were forced to labor at the point of the bayonet ! Which 
 of the two did they prefer ? (Cheers arid hisses.) Oh, but 
 they werefrec and happy! What! free and happy under 
 such treatment ? Were there any such things in the West 
 Indies ? ( Ay, and worse. No, no. Cheers and disap 
 probation.) He had promised before sitting down to give 
 place to his friend Mr. Franklin to say a few words to 
 
130 MR. BORTHWICK S 
 
 them about interest; he would now do so. What would be 
 the consequence if West Indian sugar and other articles 
 of tropical produce, could not be brought into the market; 
 and it had been shown that it could riot be brought into 
 the market by free labor ; a point which was perfectly 
 indisputable in the present condition of the negro mind. 
 What if British colonial slavery was done away with, and 
 the colonies thereby reduced to the same condition as St. 
 Domingo! Why, that sugar would not be grown, in those 
 colonies any more than in St. Domingo, and what must 
 be substituted for it ? Why East India sugar to be sure. 
 [Cheers.] Now was it not well known that the opposite 
 party were deeply interested in East India produce? 
 [Great cheering and clapping of hands.] He had got them, 
 then, completely on the hip. [Cheers and hisses.] How 
 then was the article cultivated in the East Indies? By 
 free labor it was said, but he would show that the lower 
 classes in the East Indies were in an infinitely worse con 
 dition thnn the slaves in the West Indies. Mr. Borthvvick 
 then read an extract from the Gentoo Code, declaring the 
 punishment of cattle stealing to be death in time of war, 
 and maiming in time of peace, for reading the Shaster, 
 by certain of the lower castecs, to be pouring molten lead 
 into the ears of the offenders, whilst by the same code 
 the punishment for stealing a man of low caste, was only 
 a fine of thirty-two shillings. [Cheers.] Mr. Borthwick 
 then read a pnssage from the work of Sir Wm. Jones, the 
 eminent orientalist, giving a shocking account of domes 
 tic slavery, as it exists in Madras and quoted similar pas 
 sages from Dr. Buchanan and other writers of acknow 
 ledged authority, relative to the abject condition of the 
 lower castes in Hiudostan, and the arbitrary and cruel 
 treatment to which they were subjected. So much for 
 free labor sugar, the disinterestedness of the Anti-Slavery 
 Society! and the humanity of the twenty-four ladies of 
 Clapham, who would not use West Indian sugar, because, 
 forsooth, it was grown by slaves. [Immense cheering.] 
 This affected humanity reminded him of an anecdote which 
 he would relate to the meeting: A Polish Jew riding 
 through a forest, on a fine horse, was met by a Cossack, 
 who dismounted him, and took possession of the horse. 
 The Jew complained of the theft before a magistrate, but 
 the Cossack denied having stolen the horse, and said that 
 
REJOINDER. 131 
 
 he had found it in the forest ; Found it, exclaimed the 
 Jew, why, was not I upon its back T Why, yes, said the 
 Cossack, I found you too, but was in no want of a Jew, 
 so I left you and kept the horse. [Laughter and cheers. 
 Go it, my little un. Well done, my little un. ] Mr. 
 Thompson had said that the 5th clause of the Jamaica 
 Slave Code, relative to the separation of families, was the 
 climax of West India legislation in favor of the slaves, 
 that this was the kindest thing done for the slaves by West 
 India legislators ; now they should see what truth there 
 was in the assertion. What did the law of the Bahamas 
 say on this subject 1 Why it expressly declared the separ 
 ation, child or children, under 14 years of age, to be 
 illegal, any sale, either judicial or private, under such 
 circumstances, to be null and void, and forbidding execu 
 tors to execute any legacy to that effect, under a penalty 
 of e^lOO per each offence. Mr. Borthwich read similar 
 enactments from the slave codes of Granada, Nevis, To 
 bago and Dominica, the latter of which, passed in 1829, 
 not only prohibited the separation of families, but enact 
 ed that the slaves should not be removed from the estate to 
 which they belonged. What then became of the truth of 
 Mr. Thompson s assertion that the 5th clause of the Jamai 
 ca slave code was the demon of West Indian humanity. 
 A good deal had been said of Mr. Jeremy, the dear, 
 delightful Jeremy, and the island of St. Lucia. But St. 
 Lucia was a French colony ; it had only been recently in 
 possesion of Great Britain when Mr. Jeremy went out as 
 Lord Chief Justice. There was hardly a person on the 
 island who could speak the English language, and the 
 laws which Mr. Jeremy sought to amend, were French 
 laws,- not those of Great Britain, or of the British West 
 Indian colonies. Because the French were cruel to the 
 slaves, what was that to the great body of the West Indian 
 colonies ? Even in St. Lucia, things were growing bet 
 ter, but what proportion did St. Lucia bear to the rest of 
 the West Indian colonies? Its population was only 13,- 
 661, not one sixtieth part of the West Indian colonies. 
 Mr. Borthwick then referred to the authority of Mr. Book 
 er, now resident in Liverpool, to show that the missionary 
 Smith, about whose death in Demerara so much had been 
 said, had been ill of a consumption long before the break- 
 
132 MR. BORTHWICK S 
 
 _. 
 
 ing out of the rebellion, and that his death was in iio de* 
 gree accelerated by his imprisonment. Mr. Thompson 
 had complained that during the insurrection in Jamaica, 
 the judge had sat with his head hidden in his hand, and 
 simply asked whether the slaves brought in were taken with 
 arms in their hands and if answered in the affirmative, 
 ordered them out to immediate execution. But did not Mr. 
 Thompson know the nature of the rebellion that was then 
 raging in the island ? That the wives and daughters of 
 the families were subjected to the most horrible atrocities ? 
 Mr. Thompson had given a beautiful description of the 
 wretched inmates of a lunatic asylum, but would Mr. 
 Thompson in his tender mercy, give them immediate em 
 ancipation,- would he turn them adrift? ( No, no, 
 cheers and hisses.) If not, why then Mr. Thompson 
 would keep them in salutary confinement, and that was 
 exactly what he (Mr. Borlhwick) said of the slaves. It 
 would be the greatest possible unkindness to give immedi 
 ate freedom to the slaves- for if they were so liberated, 
 they would be exposed to the villany and deceit of every 
 one whom they met with. (Hisses and cheers.) The 
 slaves were now provided for, and how did Mr. Thomp 
 son mean to compensate them for depriving them of the 
 comforts they now enjoyed? (Cries of give them free 
 dom cheers and hisses.) Freedom, ay, they heard 
 much of freedom. (A burst of disapprobation followed 
 by cheers.) They were told that freedom would make up 
 for every thing ; what was freedom? Was it to be coerc 
 ed at the point of the bayonet ? (Hisses and cheers.) 
 Let the anti-slavery society show that the liberated negroes 
 in St. Domingo were happier or better in consequence of 
 their freedom, or that there was no slavery in the East 
 Indies and they would do something for their cause 
 but until they did so, they had better be silent. He had 
 now noticed more, a great deal more in Mr. Thompson s 
 lecture than wa even in the shape of argument. lie had 
 not contradicted Mr. Thompson in the course of his lec 
 ture; but Mr. Thompson and his friends had interrupted 
 him repeatedly in the course of his, and every such inter 
 ruption, he (Mr. Borthwick) regarded as an admission of the 
 weakness of their cause. (Cheers and disapprobation.) 
 Mr. Borthwick then read an extract from a letter written 
 
REJOINDER. 133 
 
 by the late Mr. Huskisson, stating that the history of the 
 world did not present an instance of such rapid improve 
 ment, as that exhibited by the West India colonies. (Cries 
 of Oh ! oil ! and much laughter and cheering.) He then 
 again accused his opponent of unfairness and ungentle- 
 manly conduct, and asked the meeting what they thought 
 of the constant interruptions he had experienced, the pro 
 priety of Mr. Thompson s putting the question to a show of 
 hands, and of a chairman, who, when such question was 
 put, held up both his hands in support of it. (Cheers and 
 hisses.) It had been shown that free habor was not prac 
 ticable in the West Indies ; it had also been shown by 
 sufficient testimony that it was inconsistent with the con 
 dition of things in the East Indies in the present condition 
 of the human mind, that free labor should produce the 
 tropical fruits of the earth. Would they throw away colo 
 nies which produced seven millions annually to the reven 
 ue in direct taxation ? Would they refuse all intercourse 
 with the planters who took their goods at a rate of from 
 55 to 60 per cent, dearer, than they could get them 
 elsewhere? ( Oh! oh! ) How did it happen that the 
 Anti-Slavery Society, who were such friends to morality, 
 religion, and humanity, exulted in the late rebellion, dur 
 ing which such atrocities had been committed ? (Cheers 
 and hisses.) Why did they compare the rebels to the 
 Bolivars, the Brutuses, and the Napoleons, (laughter) and 
 the Tells ? The opposite party had opposed nothing to 
 his arguments but ridicule and clamor, and every inter 
 ruption was a proof that their cause was beaten. (Cheers 
 and hisses.) Mr. Thompson had said in reference to the 
 report of the Wesley an Missionaries of Jamaica, that the 
 Rev. Mr. Young had repudiated that report, but Mr. 
 Young had affixed his name to it, and if he said one thing 
 in Jamaica and another in London, that was sufficient to 
 prove what credit was due to Mr. Young. Mr. Borthwick 
 then admitted that the burning of the Baptist chapels in 
 Jamaica was very wrong, and could not be justified, but 
 excused it on the ground of momentary irritation, excited 
 by the universal belief that the Baptists had been chiefly 
 instrumental in the rebellion. He then accused Mr. 
 Thompson of impiety in mixing up passages of Scripture 
 with quotations from Byron and Shakspeare, and in hken- 
 
 12 
 
134 MR. BORTHWICK S REJOINDER. 
 
 ing himself to the Messiah, when he offered to take upon 
 himself all the guilt of England from the time of Elizabeth 
 down to the present day ; and concluded by challenging 
 Mr. Thompson, or any agent of the Anti-Slavery Society, 
 to a public discussion, each speaker half an hour at a 
 time, the question to be decided by the audience at the 
 conclusion of the debate, and all the expenses to be de 
 frayed by the West Indian body. 
 
 Mr. BORTHWICK concluded his lecture at half-past ten 
 o clock, and the meeting separated soon afterwards, hav 
 ing previously attempted to raise cheers for Mr. Ewart, 
 Lord Sandon, and other individuals. 
 
( 135 ) 
 
 MR. THOMPSON S THIRD LECTURE. 
 
 Extracts from Mr. Thompson s third Lecture in reply 
 to Mr. JEtorthwick. 
 
 On Thursday evening, September 6, Mr. G. THOMPSON 
 delivered his third lecture on the Evils of Colonial Slavery, 
 in the Amphitheatre, Liverpool, to an audience as numer 
 ous and respectable as that on any previous evening, at 
 half-past six o clock. 
 
 S^MTTTTT. HOPE, Esq., took the chair, and exhorted the 
 meeting to give their paiiem, v, an JM. and silent attention. 
 As an additional motive for their indulgence towards Mr. 
 Thompson, he stated that that gentleman had been labor 
 ing for some time under severe indisposition, not unattend 
 ed with alarming symptoms, a fact which he (the chair 
 man) stated on his own responsibility, not having consult 
 ed with Mr. Thompson himself on the subject. 
 
 Mr. THOMPSON then rose, and was received with much 
 applause. He spoke to the following effect, Ladies and 
 Gentlemen, in appearing once more before you on the 
 present occasion, I beg to announce that I have determin 
 ed on the adoption of a line of conduct to-night, which I 
 trust will be at once as agreeable to you, and equally cred 
 itable to myself, as that which I adopted when I had last 
 the honor of appearing before you. I have thought since 
 that night, that it is not justice to the injured negro, whose 
 cause I have the honor to plead, that it is not just to the 
 various and momentous topics involved in the considera 
 tion of the question now before us, that it is not just to SO 
 large nnd intelligent an auditory as that now before me, or 
 those which I have had the honor of seeing before me on 
 former occasions, nor is it just to myself, constantly to 
 discuss this question in reference to particular individuals 
 who may from time to time stand forward as advocates of 
 other views than those which I felt it my conscientious 
 duty to adopt. I, therefore, shall to-night, with your kind 
 permission, leave out of sight both myself and the gentle* 
 
136 MR. THOMPSON S 
 
 man who on two several occasions, has advocated the other 
 side of the question, and come at once to the discussion 
 of those topics which I think of deeper interest and 
 higher moment than any thing that can concern me, a 
 humble individual, or any thing that can possibly affect 
 the gentleman who appears on the other side. (Applause.) 
 However, Ladies and Gentlemen, hefore I come to that 
 line of argument, which I have marked out for myself to 
 night, I shall just glance at one or two statements, made 
 on Friday night, for the purpose of clearing the way before 
 us. It was then stated that we ought to leave this great 
 question to the Committees of the House of Lords and 
 the House of Commons, whose reports are not yet before 
 the public. Now I humbly submit that we have had quite 
 enough experience of the efficiency of rpprvrto c--nt forth 
 by the House rf fWimuns, and by the House of Lords ; 
 quite enough of such committees. Parliamentary speech 
 es and reports, and their efficiency, call upon us most im 
 peratively not to waste a moment, either whilst the commit 
 tees are sitting, or the reports printing and circulating, 
 knowing that the great measure of emancipation has never 
 been advanced a single step by any thing like a voluntary 
 movement of Parliament, but always in obedience to the 
 impulse of public opinion. (Hear, hear.) We have had 
 quite sufficient experience to guide us on the present oc 
 casion, without any such delay ; with volumes upon vo 
 lumes before us, touching the character and operations of 
 slavery, why should we waste a single moment till these 
 reports are laid before the British public 7 [Applause.] 
 Surely it will not be contended, even by the most zealous 
 supporter of slavery, that we have yet to learn what slavery 
 is? On the showing of my friend himself, we can learn the 
 ancient history of slavery from the Scriptures ; we can 
 learn the modern history of s-lavery from every one who has 
 been in the West Indies ; and yet, with this accumulation 
 of evidence from past and present ages, we are called upon 
 to delay expressing our opinion on the subject, until the 
 House of Commons and the House of Lords have put us 
 in possession of fresh information ! We shall be glad to add 
 that to our stock of information ; but surely we are not to 
 wait till that information is laid before us. [Applause.] I 
 beg to make another remark in reference to an illustration; 
 
THIRD LECTURE. 137 
 
 which was given of the possibility of a negro infant, rising 
 from the condition in which he was born to fill one of the 
 highest stations in the colonies. That illustration was, 
 that a slave in the colony of Demerara eventually became 
 a member of the House of Assembly in that island. I beg 
 to remind Mr. Borthwick, (though I am sure it was an 
 unintentional mistake on his part,) that there is no House 
 of Assembly in Demerara; he might, however, have be 
 come a member of the Council ; it is true that that gen 
 tlemen was the child of a slave mother, but who was the 
 known and avowed parent of that child 1 A West India 
 planter, a gentleman residing in that colony, who, happen 
 ing to adopt a line of conduct which I wish every planter 
 under similar circumstances would adopt, acknowledged 
 his son, brought him up as such, and raised him to the same 
 rank in society which he himself held. (Hear, hear.) 
 It was only in consequence of that father being a freeman 
 that the child of a slave raised himself to that eminence, 
 which is so boldly adduced, by the gentleman on the other 
 side, to prove that there is nothing in slavery which dooms 
 the child of a slave to interminable bondage. (Cheers.) 
 
 I shall not attempt to reply to the comparison which the 
 gentleman drew between me and a certain notorious indi 
 vidual, who, when he came among the sons of God, and 
 was asked whence he came, said, From going to and fro 
 in the earth, and from walking up and down in it. I may 
 so far resemble that personage that I have come here from 
 walking up and down upon the earth ; but unless that gen 
 tleman can show that our objects are similar, I do not 
 think the comparison will serve his purpose. (Laughter 
 and applause ) 
 
 One word in behalf of the missionary Smith. I learn 
 ed from the report published in the \Chronicle, (for I was 
 not there myself,) that Mr. Borthwick said that the death 
 of the missionary Smith was in no way accelerated by the 
 treatment to which he had been subjected in the colony of 
 Demerara. I hold in my hand the substance of two debates 
 in the House of Commons, on the 1st and llth of June, 
 ]S24,on a motion submitted by Mr. (now Lord) Brougham 
 on the subject of the Rev. John Smith, late missionary 
 in Demerara. I be^ to refer to page 8 of the substance of 
 12* 
 
138 MR. THOMPSON S 
 
 the debate in Parliament. Mr. Brougham, in the course of 
 opening the subject, said, 
 
 * It appears that Mr. Smith officiated in the colony of Dcmerara for seven 
 years. He had maintainerWuring his whole life a character of the most un 
 impeachable moral purity, which had won not alone the love and veneration 
 of his own immediate flock, hut had procured him the respect and consider 
 ation of almost all who resided in his neighborhood. Indeed, there was not 
 a duty of his ministry that he had not discharged with fidelity and zeal. 
 Thanh?? was his character i evident even from the papers laid upon the 
 table of that House. These documents, however, disclose but a part of the 
 truth on this point. Before I sit down I ehall have occasion to advert to 
 other sources, which show that the character of Mr. Smith was such as I 
 have described it ; and that those who were best qualified to form an opinion, 
 had borne the highest testimony to his virtuous and meritorious labors. Yet 
 this Christian Minister, thus usefully employed, was dragged from his house, 
 three days after the revolt began, and when "it had been substantially quelled, 
 with an indecent haste (hat allowed not the accommodation even of those 
 clothes which, in all climates, are necessary to human comfort, but which, 
 in a tropical climate, were absolutely essential to health. He was dragged 
 too from his home and his family, at a time when his life was attacked by a dis 
 ease which, in all probability, would, in any circumstances, have ended in hi* 
 dissolution but \\hich the treatment he then received powerfully assisted in its 
 fatal progress, lie was first imprisoned, in that sultry climate, in an nnti htJo 
 gome fetid room, exposed to the heat of tun This situation was afterwards 
 changed, and he was conveyed to a place only suited to the purposes of tor 
 ture, a kind of damp dungeon, where the floor was over stagnant water, visi 
 ble through the wide crevices of the boanls. 
 
 If we are told that Mr. Smith was laboring under a con 
 sumption, that only makes the matter worse for those who, 
 seeing him in such a state, dragged him from his home 
 without even a change of clothes, so necessary in that sultry 
 climate; it is only the worse for those who plunged a man in 
 the last stage of consumption, first into an uncovered room, 
 and then confined 1iim in a place where the atmosphere 
 was perfectly impure ; where filth and stagnant water were 
 seen through the boards of the floor. (Hear, hear.) Let 
 it not be said that Mr. Smith was hale and strong, let 
 it not be said that he was a healthy man when he went 
 into prison, and was really killed by the treatment he re 
 ceived there ; let us acknowledge that he was under (he 
 influence of a wasting consumption at the time ; and then 
 in what light do the authorities of Demerara appear when 
 they plunge a man, whose guilt is not yet established, into 
 a place so likely to accelerate denth, a place so unfit for 
 his accommodation, if the hand of disease were already 
 upon 4iim 1 Fcr a period of five or six months was this ho 
 ly man confined in a noisome prison, and then he was 
 
THIRD LECTURE. 139 
 
 manumitted. He left oppression and cruelty in Demerara, 
 for that land of liberty, life, and love, where he is now en 
 joying that beatific vision of which the authorities in Dem 
 erara and in the other colonies would deprive those who 
 are now being taught the way of life and salvation. % 
 
 Another word with regard to Hayti. I do not know why it 
 is that Hayti is for ever brought upon the tapis to scare the 
 English nation from doing their duty towards the slaves in 
 the British colonies. Why is Hayti thus .spoken of 1 I had 
 the honor to introduce before you, on Thursday evening, a 
 gentleman who had resided for twelve years in the Island 
 of St. Domingo, who declared the peasantry of that island 
 to be the happiest he had ever met with, and that gentleman 
 has travelled much, both in Europe and America, and 
 who told you it was utterly false that the negroes were 
 made to cultivate the soil at the point of the bayonet. 
 On the face of it, this mode of coercion appears to be 
 perfectly impossible. Will any body on the other side 
 describe to us the amount of the discipline inflicted on the 
 negroes in St. Domingo, as we can describe the discipline 
 on cane pieces in the West India colonies? It is easy to 
 imagine a gang of thirty slaves on every such cane piece, 
 men, women, and children, under the management of the 
 athletic driver, leading them on to labor by the cruel whip, 
 stimulating their languid frames by the whip, and sup 
 plying motives to the rnind by torturing the body ; but 
 here, in St. Domingo, there are a thousand motives for 
 exertion free from personal coercion, and I am sure no one 
 can point out how a mode of discipline like that general 
 ly spoken of by the opposite pnrty, as existing in St. Do 
 mingo, can be maintained. How can men be kept to labor 
 by the point of the bayonet ? The gentleman who address 
 ed you lived for twelve years on the island ; he travelled 
 over its length and its breadth, again and again ; he has gone 
 from one end of it to the other, with mules laden with trea 
 sure, and slept, night after night, in open places, and nev 
 er met with the slightest molestation ; he had been present 
 at all descriptions of labor, and he never saw any thing 
 like coercion used to obtain the products of the earth. 
 Ho likewise declares that never was greater industry dis 
 played in the world than may be seen about the docks and 
 quays of that island, and this, too, in the absence of all coer- 
 
140 MR. THOMPSON S 
 
 cive measures. He himself saved 50 per cent, in wages 
 in one year by introducing a graduated scale of task work, 
 instead of paying the laborers by the day, as before ; and 
 he declares that he never saw men put forth greater ener 
 gies, or work with more willingness than those employed by 
 himself and other persons in the island in this manner. 
 
 Now with regard to East India sugar, and West India 
 sugar ; it cannot be shown that the produce sold here, as 
 the produce of free labor, is the produce of slave labor ; it 
 cannot be shown that the slavery of the East Indies bears 
 any resemblance to the slavery in the West Indies. It has 
 been shown, by a gentleman now on this platform, that the 
 two systems are not comparable in atrocity, and it is well 
 known that the anti-slavery \vorld are most willing to en 
 ter into the details of this part of the subject. But even 
 if what is called the East India slavery were all that it is 
 said to be, will Mr. Borthwick vindicate the continuance 
 of slavery on that score? Will two blacks make a white ? 
 two wrongs a right? Will our friends on the other side 
 never leave off palliating one crime by reference to anoth 
 er crime? (Applause.) One word more with regard to 
 Mr. Jeremie : not one of his facts has been impugned ; 
 it has not been shown that he has erred in one single cir 
 cumstance which he has stated ; and the only mode of de 
 fence, or rather the only mode of opposition adopted 
 against those invaluable documents, the * Four Essays on 
 Colonial Slavery, is the assertion that St. Lucia was a 
 French Colony, and that we are not answerable for the 
 abominations and crimes committed on that island which 
 but recently came into our possession. But Mr. Jeremie 
 went to St. Lucia in 1826, and remained there till 1829, 
 and that island was ceded to us in 1815, so that, there was 
 quite sufficent time to introduce improvements if any had 
 been intended. 
 
 Looking at the line of defence which has been adopted 
 on this occasion, I do not admit that the appeals you have 
 heard from Mr. Borthwick can be called any thing but 
 a defence of colonial slavery. Let every thing, therefore, 
 be called by its proper name. We are seeking to obtain 
 the emancipation of the negro ; how ? by fair and man 
 ly means. On what principles? on Christian principles. 
 To whom do we appeal? to unpacked audiences of 3000 
 
THIRD LECTURE. 141 
 
 of our countrymen ; half collected by the West India body, 
 half by ourselves. (Applause.) We appeal to your judg 
 ments ; for authority we appeal to the Scriptures; for ar 
 gument and illustration to the wrongs and woes, the sighs 
 and groans of captives for centuries, of the men and women 
 in the colonies, whose natural rights ever have been, and 
 still are, as sacred as our own. (Loud applause.) What then! 
 this being our object, this being our glorious goal, whilst we 
 are patiently and steadily pressing on ward towards that goal, 
 who comes across our path ? Men who call themselves evil 
 genii; men who come to hunt the advocates of this mea 
 sure on these principles, like an evil genius ; and yet we 
 are called upon by them to say, nud to ^belie^^, tkai-tJ*^j-an-Tr- 
 working in the same vine^rd-wTtlT ourselves ; that they are 
 sowing for the same harvest with ourselves ; fighting for 
 the same glorious conquest with ourselves. (Applause.) 
 If they be, why, then, vituperate us; why defame our so 
 ciety ; why revile and desecrate our principles? \vhy thwart 
 our benevolent views ? If our objects be one ; if our wish 
 es be one, why are we thwarted ? I say, to defend slavery. 
 (Cries of No, no/ and Yes, yes. ) I repeat it to de 
 fend British colonial slavery. No other object can those 
 have who would resist or thwart measures which have for 
 their object the safe, equitable, and righteous settlement 
 of this long-debated question. (Loud applause.) What! 
 do they fear lest we should run too fast in the race of hu 
 manity ? Do they fear lest the system should come to 
 the ground too soon ; that the slave should rise to the con 
 dition of a free and happy peasant too soon 1 Would they 
 wait till the last Ethiopian stretched out his hands to God, 
 before they granted the boon of freedom ? Would they 
 have us refrain from lifting up our voices, like the sound 
 of the ram s horn, before we bring down the walls of their 
 infernal Jericho, and leave not a stone standing? (Loud 
 applause.) It is declared that the only difference between 
 us is, the difference between to-day and to-morrow. What ! 
 all this fuss about to-day and to-morrow, we wanting to 
 do it to-day and they to-morrow : we wanting to do it im 
 mediately and they gradually ? Why, do they not remem 
 ber that ours teas a society to procure gradual emanci 
 pation for the negro ; that ours was a society for the grad 
 ual abolition of slavery ? And were they less hostile to 
 us then than they are now ? When we were professing 
 
142 MR. THOMPSON S 
 
 the very principles which they now profess, did they la 
 bor with us ? Did they subscribe to the funds of our so- 
 society ? No : they were as hostile to us as they are now ; 
 but now the only part of the political machine which serv 
 ed their interests, being about to be done away with in a 
 reformed Parliament, they find it necessary to make up the 
 deficiency by an active agency, like that which I have had 
 the pleasure of witnessing in this place. (Applause.) 
 They tell us that they were friends to the abolition of the 
 slave trade ; whence then arose the necessity for the un 
 ceasing and protracted labors of aClarkson, a Wilberforce, 
 and a Granville Sharpe 1 How was it that when Granville 
 Sharpe, in this very town, was collecting evidence on the 
 subject of the slave iradc, HP wa s nearly pushed from the 
 pier into the sea, to be buried beneath the wuieia? Why 
 was that deadly hostility continued up to the very hour 
 that the diabolical traffic was destroyed ? Those who de 
 fended the slave trade then, are those who defend slavery 
 now; the same class of men, filling the same situations in 
 society, having the same interest in the system, and many 
 of them identically the same persons. (Hear, hear.) 
 They can now have only one of two motives in view ; let 
 them take their choice. They are either acting on the mo 
 tive I have described, namely, a desire to perpetuate the 
 system, or they want to come in at the death with us, and 
 share our triumph ; a very dastardly piece of conduct this. 
 (Laughter.) No ; it shall not be allowed, unless they will 
 manfully say, We have been in the wrong, and you are 
 in the right. Let them do this, and then we will give 
 them the right hand of fellowship, and walk onwards to 
 gether UHtil the last stone of this horrible fabric tumbles to 
 the ground; but. while they insidiously profess to support 
 emancipation, at the same time calumniating, thwarting, 
 and opposing us, they are the friends of slavery, and not 
 of its abolition. (Loud applause.) 
 
 I am accused of unjustly and improperly interfering in 
 electioneering matters; will the honorable gentleman say 
 that the interference of the boroughmongers in past times, 
 sending seventy or eighty members to the House of Com 
 mons, who held their seats on the simple condition of de 
 fending slavery, was just and proper? What! is it im 
 proper in an Englishman to speak on this subject before an 
 
THIRD LECTURE. 143 
 
 audience of 3000 of his fellow-countrymen, in his native 
 town ? What ! is it improper to appeal to their judgment as 
 to the manner in which the elective franchise ought to be 
 exercised 1 What! is it improper and unjust to endeavor 
 to inform their judgment when the franchise must be ex 
 ercised properly, in proportion as the judgment is inform 
 ed, and the conscience awakened? Is this any thing like 
 the influence exercised by the boroughmongers? If it is, 
 where is the point of resemblance? None; there is no 
 resemblance whatever. It is competent to that man it 
 is competent to me it is competent to any one, to express 
 an opinion on the subject ; you cannot prevent it. 
 
 In estimating the array of force against us on this ques 
 tion, we ought never to forget all the family connexions of 
 the planters, their wives Heaven bless them ! and their 
 children, and their brothers, and uncles, and aunts, and 
 all their dear expectant relatives and friends. We ought 
 not to forget either the ladies or the gentlemen, either the 
 young or the old, either the beautiful or the ugly; we 
 ought not to forget the captains, the clerks, and coopers, 
 many of whom can lend a hand if necessary, even in 
 the Liverpool Amphitheatre, for aiding the cause of West 
 India slavery. [Laughter and applause.] Nor must we 
 forget the delightful stories told by individual visitors to the 
 colonies ; ladies and gentlemen who have absolutely seen the 
 West Indies, sate in the house of the planter, and come home 
 to describe Jamaica and the other islands, as so many Para 
 dises, and persuade us that the peasantry of our own coun 
 try are far worse off than the laboring population of the 
 West Indies. And pray, whom did these ladies and gen 
 tlemen go to see, the planter or the slave ? The planter. 
 At whose table did they dine 1 The planter s table. On 
 whose couch did they sleep? The planter s couch. 
 Whose friends were they ? The planter s friends. 
 Whose wine did they drink ? The planter s wine. With 
 whose daughter did they dance ? The planter s daughter. 
 On whose horse did they ride? The planter s horse. 
 In whose ship did they come home? The Liverpool mer 
 chant s ship. And yet these gentlemen who came home, 
 and ladies too for ladies do sometimes plead the cause of 
 slavery these parties think themselves perfectly qualified 
 
144 MR. THOMPSON S 
 
 to draw a correct picture of slavery in the West India 
 colonies. 
 
 Nothing extenuate, nor set do\vn aught in malice. 
 
 And then the delightful patronage of this system ; pop 
 ping of people into nice places, the appointment of gov 
 ernors and their dependants, and the very nice and accom 
 modating births to be filled up, as managers, overseers, 
 and so forth, and so forth, all contribute to the support of 
 the system. Another support is the subornation of the 
 press, the hiring of the press. It is a notorious fact, 
 known to all the world, that a great portion of the press of 
 this country is bribed to uphold the system of colonial slav 
 ery. [Hisses and applause.] I say that the press has been 
 bribed. I know that the conductor of a Glasgow paper 
 has received many thousand pounds, voted to him by colo 
 nial Houses of Assembly, and the West India body at 
 home, for advocating the cause of the planters, and sup 
 porting slavery. Another source from which the system 
 receives support is the ignorance of the British public; 
 and I say that ignorance on this subject is, to a certain 
 extent, crime also. We have been wilfully ignorant on the 
 subject ; we have not opened our eyes to the fact before 
 us; we have not examined into the nature of British colo 
 nial slavery, else our fears would have been alarmed, our 
 humanity shocked, our religion exercised, and, ere this, 
 (but for our ignorance,) we should have got rid of this 
 odious system. Pride has done much, and timidity has 
 
 done more, to prevent its [Hisses.] I hear a hiss : is 
 
 it not as I have said ? He who is not with us is against 
 us. The timid amongst mankind are hanging back, from 
 an apprehension of the danger of emancipation, simply 
 because they will not take the pains to ascertain the truth. 
 Their fears would be removed if they only came to the light 
 to be examined. Compare the danger of the abolition of 
 the system, with the danger of its continuance, and that of 
 abolition will sink to nothing. A great many inconsistent 
 people do not like slavery themselves, and would wish to 
 get rid of it; but they have no pity or concern for the 
 slaves in the West Indies. Charles James Fox, who was 
 as great a friend to liberty as any man, said that to com- 
 
THIRD LECTURE. 145 
 
 pare personal slavery with political slavery was a base im* 
 posture ; they should not be mentioned in the same breath ; 
 and there was no comparison whatever, between the thral 
 dom of the negro and that of the British community. 
 Many are not laboring with us because they do not pro 
 perly estimate their own value in society ; they are for 
 leaving to somebody else with more riches, more power, 
 and influence than themselves, forgetting that this is a per 
 sonal question, that all men are bound to labor in this 
 vineyard ; that they can set an example to others ; and 
 though they deplore their own insignificance, and properly 
 and laudably too ; though they think meanly of themselves, 
 such thoughts ought not to hinder them from doing what 
 they can, remembering that what they do may reprove sin 
 in high quarters, and tend to promote the great work of 
 negro emancipation. [Applause.] Therefore, I say, let 
 no man keep back from an idea of the insignificance of 
 what he can do in this cause, for, as the Westminster Re 
 view has justly observed, every sixpence given by an old 
 woman to promote the emancipation of the negro creates 
 a pang in the heart of the lordly West Indian. [Ap 
 plause.] 
 
 Now, what is the mode of defence set up for the con 
 tinuance of West India slavery? As they allege, slavery 
 should not be touched with a hasty or inconsiderate hand, 
 because it is a very ancient system. This is one of the 
 arguments set up for its continuance; but if crime were to 
 be justified because it was of ancient origin, then we might 
 vindicate murder on the very same principle, for every 
 body knows that Cain was a murderer when he slew his 
 brother Abel. But then, there is the scriptural argument 
 for the system of slavery. The scriptural argument is 
 drawn from these passages : 
 
 Moreover of the children of the strangers that do sojourn among you, of 
 them shall ye buy, :nd of their families that are with you, which they begat 
 in your land: and ihey shall be your possession. And ye shall take them as 
 an" inheritance for your children after you, to inherit them for a possession; 
 they shall be your bondmen forever; but over your brethren the children of 
 Israel, ye shall not rule one over another with rigor. Leviticus xx,45,46. 
 
 These are the oniy passages quoted from the Old Testa 
 ment to show that slavery is not sinful ; but let us take 
 the general tenor of the Old Testament before we come to 
 any decision on that point. I find the state of the argu 
 13 
 
146 MR. THOMPSON S 
 
 ment as drawn from the Old Testament to be briefly this ; 
 slavery was invariably, when sanctioned by Almighty God, 
 a judicial punishment appointed by himself in consequence 
 of the crimes of the people subjected to its rigor. This 
 was invariably the case with regard to all the instances 
 which had in the remotest degree the sanction of Heaven. 
 I should enter more fully into this point if I had time and 
 strength ; unfortunately I have neither ; but I assure this 
 large and respectable auditory, that I have, at a very great 
 sacrifice of comfort and personal health, been at consider- 
 ble pains, since the gentleman mooted this argument, in 
 tracing the history of slavery as given in the Old Testa 
 ment, and I am prepared to prove that the slavery of the 
 Scriptures is invariably a judicial slavery, inflicted on na 
 tions and people who were doomed to death, and that in 
 no one instance is man allowed, without the sanction of 
 the Almighty, to seize upon his fellow man and reduce him 
 to slavery. (Loud applause.) The gentleman will also find 
 that in no one instance was it ever assumed, or ever acted 
 upon, that continuance in slavery for any length of time, 
 rendered the subjects of that system unfit for the enjoyment 
 of liberty. Almost in every instance their Emancipation 
 \ras instantaneous, whenever it was resolved that their 
 crimes had been atoned for^; that when their right to lib 
 erty was acknowledged, it was never assumed, or acted 
 upon, that their continuance in slavery presented any bar 
 to their entrance into a state of liberty. Again, the gen 
 tleman will find that there is a great deal of difference be 
 tween prophecy and permission, between permission and 
 sanction ; a crime prophesied is not therefore a crime sanc 
 tioned, a crime permitted is not therefore a crime approv 
 ed. The gentleman alluded to certain prophecies regard 
 ing slavery, but I think that he will admit with me that 
 the pre-annunciation of any crime is not the permission 
 of that crime ; that the prophecy that Canaan should be 
 cursed, and his children the slave of slaves, was no sanc 
 tion, no permission of that system of slavery which subse 
 quently came into operation. Again, the same Scriptures 
 invariably record God s anger and indignation against all 
 acts of cruelty and oppression, and direct that even in the 
 enslavement of the Canaanites, the paramount doctrines of 
 justice and mercy were to be observed, and in that very 
 
THIRD LECTURE. 147 
 
 prophecy which has been alluded to, it is said that ven 
 geance belongs to God, and He will repay it. He will not 
 allow mortal man to 
 
 Snatch from his hand the balance and the rod, 
 Rejudge His justice be the God of God. 
 
 It appears, therefore, that though man, in this instance, with 
 the sanction of Almighty God, might enslave his fellow- 
 man, as a commutation of the sentence of death passed 
 upon him, he might not oppress him, he might not enslave 
 others without such sanction, and tyranize over them from 
 any inclination or motive of his own. 
 
 Not only is the old Testament appealed to by the defend 
 ers of slavery, but recourse is had to the New Testament 
 to vindicate the present system of slavery in the colonies. 
 The silence of Christianity is pleaded, and the conduct of 
 the Apostles is pleaded, as an extenuation, if not vindica 
 tion, of the continuance of slavery. 
 
 It is sufficient for us to know that all the doctrines, all the 
 principles, and the genius of Christianity, are inimical to 
 the system of colonial slavery, and that the great funda 
 mental maxim of the Christian religion binds us to do unto 
 others as we would that others should do unto us. (Ap 
 plause.) We are not to be guided simply by the precept 
 that servants are to be obedient to their masters, without 
 considering the reciprocal duties which masters owe to 
 their servants. One injunction laid upon him who is struck 
 on the right cheek is, that he turn his left also ; b.ut surely 
 the advice given to the smitten is no justification to the 
 smiter ! Neither is the precept given to the slave any 
 justification to the master for holding his fellow-man in a 
 state of slavery. (Loud applause.) Again, the danger of 
 emancipation is insisted on as a reason for continuing to hold 
 the slaves in bondage. I have endeavored to expose the 
 fallacy of this argument, and to show that the danger is all 
 on the other side. What danger can there be from infants? 
 What danger can there be from women? What danger can 
 there be from the sick, the infirm, the aged ? What danger 
 can there be from the Christianized negroes, or from those 
 who, we are told, are satisfied with their condition, and at 
 tached to their masters by the ties of affection and grati 
 tude ? The great danger arises from upholding a system 
 of outrage and injustice ; the great danger arises from 
 oppression ; the great danger arises from the continuance 
 
J4S MR. THOMPSON S 
 
 in a course of crime and impiety ; and, as I said before,, 
 the danger of doing wrong is always considered greater in 
 a well-regulated mind, than the danger of doing right. 
 [Applause.] 
 
 Then there is the knotty question of compensation ; on 
 this question I have only one word to say. My only ob 
 jection to compensation is, that it should be mixed up with 
 the measure of emancipation. I hold, most sacredly and 
 seriously,, that we should take into consideration the rights 
 of the negro irrespective of the rights of the colonists ; that 
 is, we should first consider the rights of 800,000 living 
 human beings, and then consider the rights of the planters. 
 I have no objection to compensation as an after consider 
 ation ; and as the gentleman on the other side stated that 
 the planters only require compensation if it be found im 
 possible to obtain an equal amount of labor, under a free 
 system, with that which was obtained under the slave 
 system, I am quite willing to grant compensation to the 
 full extent of that principle, whenever a loss can be made 
 out before a committee of impartial individuals. (Ap 
 plause.) But, I fear, the true grounds of their opposition 
 to us on this question are, first, a love of power, inherit 
 ed and cherished by those connected with the West India 
 system; and in the second place, it is very natural that 
 a body of men so powerful and respectable as the West In 
 dian body, should be extremely jealous and irritable with 
 respect to any interference with what they consider their 
 rightful and legitimate property ; from the number of con 
 flicting claims it is, therefore, evident that the planters 
 cannot grant emancipation ; the merchants cannot grant 
 emancipation ; the mortgagee cannot grant emancipation ; 
 the overseers cannot grant emancipation ; and that nothing 
 but a legislative measure on the subject, passed by the 
 British Parliament, can settle this question. (Applause.) 
 
 Now, if we can show that instead of our laws guarding 
 the rights and liberties of the negroe, they absolute 
 ly deprive him of those rights and liberties, why then 
 those laws are no laws to him, they are unrighteous 
 laws, and the slave, when he tramples them under his foot, 
 behaves like an Englishman, and he who gibbets him for 
 it is a murderer and a felon. (Cheers and hisses.) I hear 
 a hiss ; what would the man who hisses, say if he were 
 
THIRD LECTURE. 149 
 
 unjustly imprisoned, deprived of his liberty, his offspring 
 and his life, by laws which never protected him ? (Cries 
 of Serve him right, turn him out. ) If instead of turning 
 him out you would turn him nearer, that we might see him, 
 that we might learn who he is and where he lives, and 
 who it is that pays him his wages on Saturday night. 
 (Laughter and applause.) That we might know what he 
 is made of. That we might look into his heart ; we should 
 find out who are our opponents, whether they deserve to 
 be respected as lovers of their kind, or to be despised as 
 men who would monopolize liberty to themselves, and deny 
 it to the rest of the world. (Applause.) Paley, speaking 
 of the natural rights of men, says, 
 
 * The natural rights of man are, a man s right to his life, limbs, and liber 
 ty ; his right to the produce of his personal labor ; to the use, in common with 
 others, of air, light, water. If a thousand different persons, from a thous 
 and different corners of the world were cast together upon a desert island, 
 they would from the first be everyone entitled to these rights. 
 
 Is there any thing to hiss at here 1 Does not the man 
 who hisses know that if he were in bondage we would plead 
 his cause, we would ask liberty for him? Is it not as meri 
 torious to plead the cause of the African as it is to sympa* 
 thize with the insulted and degraded Poles ? Should not 
 the liberty of Africa be esteemed as much as that of Co 
 lumbia or Mexico ? What, then, is it our duty to do ? 
 
 I come back to the original object which I stated we had 
 in view, which is the immediate and total abolition of co 
 lonial slavery. What do we mean by immediate 1 Why, 
 that immediate steps should be taken for its abolition, in 
 opposition to what is called gradual emancipation, which 
 means no emancipation at all. If I told a builder to-night, 
 to build me a house immediately, should I expect to see the 
 coping stones and chimneys up, to-morrow morning ? No ; 
 but I should expect to see him getting materials, laying the 
 foundation, arranging the scaffolding, and going on, from 
 day today, in the prosecution of the work. If a man were 
 awoke in the Right, and told to go immediately for a phy 
 sician, would he go without putting on his clothes? Would 
 he transport himself by some magical effort to the place 
 whither he was told to go immediately ? No ! In like, 
 manner we would take the necessary steps to secure the 
 abolition of slavery. Others would temporise, propose 
 13* 
 
150 MR. THOMPSON S 
 
 modifications of the system, and do what they can to per 
 petuate it. Wait a little time, say they ; never mind 
 how mercy bleeds, or justice frowns, how the negro suffers, 
 or the Englishman petitions, do it gradually, yes, do it 
 gradually. I wonder what they mean by gradually? 
 When will gradual emancipation arrive 1 I remember an 
 anecdote told of Charles James Fox, who, when in power, 
 was very deeply in debt ; he had a secretary named Hare ; 
 and like master like man, both were up to the ears in 
 embarrassment. Mr. Fox looking one morning out at the 
 window saw coming up the street an old money-lending 
 Jew, to whom both were indebted. Well, Solomon, said 
 he, what are you after this morning ? Are you Fox-hunt 
 ing or Hare-hunting? Why, for the matter of that/ said 
 the Jew, lam both Fox-hunting and Hare-hanting ; I 
 want both ; I want my money. You must wait, Solo 
 mon, said Mr. Fox. I cannot wait, said the Jew ; I 
 want my money : have I not a right to my money ? Cer 
 tainly, Solomon ; you have a right to your money, Sol 
 omon a most undoubted right, Solomon ; but it is in 
 convenient to me to let you have it now ; you can call again, 
 Solomon, come on such a day. The Jew went accord 
 ingly, and again the answer was, Wait, Solomon ; both 
 Mr. Hare and myself are so deeply involved in business 
 that we have not time to attend to the settlement of your 
 account; call again, Solomon. Solomon went again, 
 and still the answer was, Wait, Solomon. I cannot 
 wait, said Solomon at last. I will not wait a day longer 
 than your next appointment. Well, then, said Mr. Fox, 
 suppose we say, Solomon the day of judgment, Solo 
 mon. Oh 1 said the Jew, that will be far too busy and 
 important a day for the settlement of your account. 
 Well, then, said Mr. Fox, still determined to be face 
 tious, suppose, Solomon, we say the day after ! (Laugh 
 ter.) This is exactly the line of argument pursued by our 
 friends on the opposite side Wait till the day of judg 
 ment, wait till the day after but don t do it now ! Why 
 not do it now ! Oh, there are the poor, the infirm, the 
 old, and the young I 1 Well, are not the poor, the infirm, 
 the old, and the young, provided for now? And would 
 there not still be the same fund for their support, though 
 it should come in another shape, and through another ehan- 
 
THIRD LECTURE. 151 
 
 nel? (Hear, hear.) Were the poor of England worse 
 provided for when there were no poor laws, than they are 
 now ? Would it be worse for the planters to maintain the 
 old, the infirm, and the young, than it is to maintain them 
 now ? Is there not wisdom enough in the British Parlia 
 ment to make some arrangement for the maintenance of 
 these poor old men, and old women, and young children ? 
 Are the planters the only persons in the world who can 
 give the negroes four parlors and a saloon, and carry them 
 wine when they want it ? 
 
 My friends, We are warned to do this work ; every 
 motive that can influence the human mind calls upon us 
 to do it, to do it now, not to lose an hour in the performance 
 of this solemn duty. If hurricanes or tornadoes could 
 warn us, we have had them j if insurrections and blood 
 shed could warn us, we have had them ; if the tremen 
 dous mortality amongst the negroes could warn us, that 
 mortality is ever before our eyes ; if the depreciation of 
 West Indian property could warn us, that depreciation w.e 
 have seen and daily see ; and even whilst I speak a blight 
 and mildew cover every part of the system, and nothing 
 but retracing oursteps can bring back peace, security, and 
 prosperity, to the colonies. (Loud applause.) 
 
 Ladies and Gentlemen, I will not longer take up your 
 time to-night. The subject is not yet exhausted, though 
 my strength is entirely gone. As I understand that the 
 gentleman, who has already appeared twice before you, is 
 again to address you, I may ask on his behalf what I asked 
 on my own, that you will hear him patiently. If I myself 
 offered him any interruption, when he last appeared before 
 you, and when he alluded to the philanthrophic gentleman 
 whose name is a synonyme for every thing that is noble in 
 a British merchant and honorable in a man/ remember 
 the impression which that statement was calculated to 
 produce, had it gone forth from this platform uncontradict- 
 ed and unexplained. It was said that I declined to lecture 
 before that gentleman, when, if the truth had been told, it 
 would have appeared that my sole objection to lecturing 
 before a chairman of the West India body, an objection 
 stated in the most handsome terms I could devise, was an 
 apprehension of being compelled to say, in the course of 
 my lecture, what might be thought to do violence to the 
 
152 MR. THOMPSON S THIRD LECTURE. 
 
 feelings of the chairman. (Applause.) As I came to 
 Liverpool uninfluenced by any particular body, I thought 
 I had a right to consult my own feelings on the sub 
 ject, and, therefore, I claimed, for the sake of my own 
 feelings and those of the Chairman, that we might have 
 a disinterested person in the chair. (Applause.) But 
 when T found that persisting in such determination might, 
 in the least degree, disturb the harmony between the two 
 bodies, I instantly acceded to their wishes, and expressed 
 my perfect willingness to lecture with Mr. Horsfall,or any 
 other gentleman as Chairman on the occasion. (Cheers.) 
 This led me to request that the letter might be read; and 
 as the letter was alluded to on this platform in a manner 
 calculated to prejudice me in the opinion of the meeting, 
 I think it might have been read in order that the auditory 
 might be in possession of the facts. (Applause.) And I 
 cannot but accuse the Chairman, on that occasion, of 
 something like reservation in withholding that fact from 
 the audience, when he well knew that it was not. from cow- 
 a dice that I objected to lecture before him, but a regard 
 for his own feelings as a gentleman, whom I honor from 
 the character I have heard of him ; but I still say that to 
 sit in that chair and not give the whole truth to the 
 auditory, was an act of reservation which does little honor 
 either to his head or his heart. (Cheers.) 
 
 Ladies and Gentlemen, I have now done ; I leave the 
 cause in your hands. I believe our treaty with the West 
 India body is nearly at an end. I have only further to say, 
 hear patiently, judge candidly, consider deliberately, and 
 then decide between us ; and say whether the arguments 
 adduced for the continuance of slavery, or mine for its 
 abolition, are the strongest. If mine, speak with one 
 heart and with one voice, and declare it for ever at an 
 end. 
 
 Mr. Thompson concluded his address at a little after nine 
 o clock, amidst the loudest cheering and clapping of hands, 
 and the audience soon afterwards quietly separated. 
 
( 153 ) 
 
 THE SUBSTANCE OF A LECTURE, 
 
 Delivered Thursday evening, September QQth, 1832, in the 
 Wesley an Chapel, Irwell Street, Salford, Manchester, 
 (Eng.) by George Thompson, Esq. This Lecture was 
 delivered by Mr. Thompson scon after Mr. Borthwick, 
 the Agent of the West Indian pro-slavery party, had 
 publicly said that he would follow Mr. Thompson l from 
 place to place, like his evil genius how far the intention 
 of Mr. llorthwick was ejfectcd the result of Mr. Thomp 
 son s labors fully demonstrate. 
 
 On Thursday evening last, Mr. G. THOMPSON, who for 
 the last three weeks has been zealously laboring in the 
 cause of negro emancipation at Liverpool, delivered a 
 lecture in the Wesleyan Methodist Chapel, Irwell-street, 
 Salford. 
 
 The lecture was announced to commence at seven 
 o clock. The admission was by tickets, for which there 
 was an unprecedented demand. As early as five o clock the 
 doors were surrounded by a number of most respectable 
 persons, and by half-past six the chapel was crowded by 
 one of the most respectable auditories ever witnessed either 
 in Manchester or Salford. We observed a considerable 
 number of the Society of Friends present. At twenty 
 minutes before seven Mr. Thompson was recognised walk 
 ing down the aisle, attended by several of his friends, 
 and was greeted with enthusiastic cheers. A few min 
 utes before seven, W. Hill, Esq., the Boroughreeve, enter 
 ed, and was loudly cheered. Precisely at seven o clock 
 Mr. Thompson, accompanied by the Boroughreeve and 
 Mr. Peter Clare, left the vestry and ascended the pulpit 
 stairs. Mr. Thompson came to the front of the pulpit, 
 bowed respectfully to the assembly, and was received with 
 immense cheers, which lasted a considerable time. The 
 Boroughreeve briefly introduced the lecturer, and express 
 ed a hope that during the evening there would be no de- 
 
154 LECTURE 
 
 monstration of feeling inconsistent with the sacred charac 
 ter of the building in which they were assembled. 
 
 MR. THOMPSON said that it was with unfeigned gratifica 
 tion, though with very considerable fear, that he consented 
 to present himself before so very large and respectable an 
 assembly. His gratification was of a very high order, be 
 cause the present was a strong proof that the interest 
 which was awakened on the subject which was that night 
 to engross their consideration, had not become by any 
 means diminished, but seemed rather to have increased. 
 He wished it might continue to be so. He wished that 
 their zeal in so good a cause might continue to increase till 
 victory was achieved, and that, as they proceeded in their 
 career of mercy, they might leave behind them everything 
 which would sully the honor and the character of the strug 
 gle in which they were engaged. He, for one, was more 
 than ever convinced that the cause they advocated required 
 none of the ordinary means of making it popular none of 
 the ordinary means of defending it that it was quite suffi 
 cient to trust in the high and commanding principles which 
 were involved in the discussion, and to rely on those views 
 which truth, unmixed with any other quality, will bear to 
 the mind, rather than connect it with personal considera 
 tions, and make this a conflict for victory in argument rath 
 er than a triumph of mercy over oppression. And he trust 
 ed that whilst on the one hand he should avoid all compro 
 mise of principle, he should on the other avoid the use of 
 those weapons which in some cases might be legitimate 
 and allowable, but which in this were perfectly unnecessary, 
 because the subject, clad in its own character, would make 
 a strong and effectual appeal to the heart. And if he did, 
 when he last had the honor of appearing before an audi 
 tory in that place, under the influence of strong feeling, 
 and from a conviction, which at the present time he must 
 again express, that a most unhallowed and lawless though 
 he believed in the end it would prove to their own cause a 
 most beneficial attempt was in progress to retard the ac 
 complishment of the object dear to all his hearers if with 
 the knowledge of this fact, and being personally involved in 
 the matter, he did give expression to feelings and senti 
 ments not perfectly necessary in the advocacy of the 
 cause let it be recollected that it required no ordinary 
 
AT SALFORD. 155 
 
 measure of Christian charity and self-command to restrain 
 the feelings and check the lips when upon the threshold 
 of giving utterance to sentiments under which men are 
 laboring and when a cause based upon Christianity, and 
 on whose side are enlisted all the attributes of humanity, 
 was attacked by men who professed to have the same ob 
 ject in view with themselves, and who yet, at every step, 
 were drawing deadly daggers and aiming them at the 
 heart of their opponent. (Applause.) The present was 
 a manifestation of friendship which was, he believed, never 
 witnessed till the men who were the direct foes to the ob 
 ject which they had in view professed, when they were on 
 the eve of effecting their object, to take the work out of their 
 hands and when it was accomplished, not by the ener 
 gies of those men but of themselves, would cheat them 
 of their prize and appear before the world as the correctors 
 of those evils which others had seen for years, and in try 
 ing to remove which they had been met at every step by 
 the most determined opposition. 
 
 Mr. Thompson afterwards stated the course which he 
 intended to pursue in his lecture, and said that as his for 
 mer addresses had been directed to shew the general evils 
 of colonial slavery the situation and general character of 
 the slave the mode in which the system was upheld by 
 whom and by what variety of means it was sought to pal 
 liate its dreadful enormities ; so, as that might be the last 
 time he should have the honor of delivering an address in 
 Manchester, he should wish now to do something in the 
 way of summing up the question, by bringing, very concise 
 ly and briefly, before his auditory the principal evils which 
 were embodied in the system, to show that not only the 
 general idea of slavery was bad, but that by taking it to 
 pieces and examining its particular parts they might see 
 it was altogether evil that from the crown of the head to 
 the sole of the foot the monster was nothing but wounds, 
 and bruises, and putrifying sores. (Applause.) 
 
 Slavery, and particularly such slavery as was to be found 
 in the West Indies, cursed the soil upon which it existed, 
 and almost inevitably, wherever it had obtained, whether 
 in our dominions or in the dominions of other powers, had 
 produced barrenness and sterility, and prevented nature 
 from bringing forth her fruits in that measure which other- 
 
156 LECTURE 
 
 wise she would, had the course pursued to obtain them 
 been equitable and just. And how did this result ? The 
 people of England had pursued a course of conduct at once 
 the most unjust and at once the most absurd, in making 
 it exceedingly desirable for the West Indian planter to 
 send, at all hazards, as much sugar into this market as the 
 ground could possibly create. So fond, indeed, were we 
 of slavery, that we did not grudge some millions and a 
 half of pounds yearly, in the way of direct bounty, to foster 
 a system under which women were flogged, children were 
 doomed to slavery from the womb, and to every description 
 of evil by which they could be degraded and destroyed. He 
 begged to direct attention to the main argument used to de 
 lude the public into a notion that they who were endeavor- 
 ing to thwart the efforts of the anti-slavery society, were the 
 best friends of the negro, and that they only held them in 
 bondage to nurture and prepare them for that liberty to 
 which it was their desire to introduce them. If this argu 
 ment was sincere, how did it apply to the infant? Was he 
 not fit for freedom when he came into the world? Must 
 a child be trained in slavery in order to enjoy the bliss of 
 liberty? Was that either a human or a rational course? 
 What had the infant done that even before he came into the 
 world a price was put upon him to render the mother of 
 greater value, and that, from the hour he came into this 
 breathing world, he is consigned to slavery bounded only 
 by that place where the wicked cease from troubling and 
 the weary are at rest. (Applause.) On their own shew 
 ing, he claimed liberty for every infant that breathed. 
 (Loud applause.) The argument of unfitness could not 
 apply to them, and the man who took the infant from its 
 mother s breast, and giving it to another to be fed or suckled, 
 then drove it to work for his profit, his ease or his aggran 
 disement, under the infliction of stripes that mercy wept 
 to see inflicted on a beast, such a man was not a whit bet 
 ter than he who took his ship to the western shores of 
 Africa and burdened it with the wretched villagers whom 
 this dastardly planter, knowing nothing of the perils and 
 toils thus sustained, bought and labored in the colonies. 
 (Applause.) Thus were they told that they must not re 
 mit the negro because he was unfit for freedom, and yet 
 they were daily introducing them into that state which dis- 
 
AT SALFORD. 157 
 
 qualified them from being useful members of society. 
 They incurred an awful responsibility, and his auditors 
 partook of it if they were concerned in taking men from the 
 Jand of their birth, and consigning them to the influ 
 ence of a system which almost forbad improvement, and 
 which never did and never could qualify them for any of the 
 duties or the real and proper pursuits of life. See, (ex 
 claimed the lecturer,) yon tottering slave on the margin of 
 the grave, about for ever to sink from the sight of mortal, 
 and to enter upon that state where no change, as regards 
 character, can be possibly achieved. He is now -sunken, 
 in vice, exhausted and diseased in body, and knowing not, 
 perhaps, whether a GOD reigns, he plunges, almost in the 
 dark into that world where man shall be introduced into 
 the presence of a heart-searching judge. What reason is 
 there to believe that that man might not have been an use 
 ful, perhaps an ornamental, member of society ? (Ap 
 plause.) He might have been trained to embellish the age 
 in which he lived, and the world of which he bad been 
 an inhabitant he might have risen to honor an<i independ 
 ence, and achieved a deathless name ! But see him as lie 
 is degraded and despised, reduced to the level of the brute, 
 he dies unpitied, and the curtain closes upon his history. 
 (Applause.) 
 
 Put it was said that the mother did not regard her off 
 spring that for her it might pine in neglect, or fall a vic 
 tim to the absence of maternal sympathy, whilst in truth 
 the mother was driven to the field to labor, when with the 
 fondness of a parent she should have been rearing her in 
 fant for useful life. How, he asked, did they prove their 
 assertion ? Would a British audience believe it, upon the 
 mere ipse dlxit of the advocate of a wicked cause. Did 
 the raven feed its young, the tigress care for its offspring, 
 nnd all the irrational creation, with few exceptions, invaria 
 bly look with anxiety and care to those whom they brought 
 into existence, and should it be said that the negro mother 
 cared not for her innocent babe ? But if she did not, 
 rather than they should be consigned to the tender mercies 
 of a planter, an attorney, an overseer, or a driver, cast them 
 on the bounty of ETERNAL PROVIDENCE, and let him who 
 sees the sparrow when it falls let him who hears the ra 
 ven when it cries let him who numbers the hairs even 
 14 
 
153 LECTURE 
 
 on the negro s head take up the child when father and 
 mother forsook it, and let it live for ever on the care of that 
 omniscient BEING. (Loud and continued applause.) Slav 
 ery, he contended, depressed the body, whilst it withheld 
 from the mind of the negro all the ordinary motives to in 
 citement. Those by whom he was surrounded knew the 
 thousand claims which they had upon their exertions, and 
 the various demands that were made upon them. They 
 had their wives and children dependent upon them, they 
 looked to the product of their labor for character, and hoped 
 by means of it, to ascend to wealth and honor, and, after the 
 vigor of their days had passed to retire to affluence and 
 ease. Ask the trader (continued Mr. Thompson) why he 
 labors why he rises early and retires late, and eats the 
 bread of carefulness. It is because he perceives in after 
 years a comfortable subsistence for himself, and because 
 lie hopes to provide for his offspring, and to leave them 
 some means of stepping beyond the limit to which he had 
 been born. Ask the sailor why he ploughs the trackless 
 main it is that he may achieve a conquest over his coun 
 try s foes, and return to receive the hard-earned tribute of 
 honor and reward, and retiring to the bosom of his family, 
 go at last from this busy world to one of peace, security, 
 and love. Ask the author why he labors, and he will tell 
 you that he hopes to have his name recorded amongst the 
 celebrated of his age. Ask the statesman why he labors 
 ask any free man why he labors, and you find that neces 
 sity of some description is laid on him sufficiently strong 
 to induce him to undertake it, and sufficiently powerful 
 to support him in its performance. But ask the slave why 
 he toiled, and he challenged his opponent to prove that 
 he was under the influence of one of these motives. 
 
 Mr. Thompson asserted, upon the authority of Mr. 
 Stephen, that the negro was worked sixteen hours and forty 
 minutes in the day. He contended that among the other 
 evils incident to his lot were the facts that slavery entailed 
 on its unhappy victims all imaginable suffering that the 
 slave was doomed to the torture of the cart-whip, the collar 
 and chains, the field stocks, the picketing of St. Lucia, 
 the block and tackle of Jamaica that slavery annihilated 
 the population engaged in it that the negro was doomed 
 to laws, arbitrary in their character and wickedly adminis- 
 
AT SALFORD. 159 
 
 tered that ignorance was the inseparable attendant of 
 bondage that his subjection destroyed the self-respect of 
 the slave, and all consequent moral purity that on the other 
 hand it raised in the breasts of the planters a spirit of pride 
 and arrogance, and even destroyed the softness of the fe 
 male character that the treatment they endured, engen 
 dered in the slaves revenge and all other base passions 
 that slavery endangered the existence of society, and gave 
 rise to conspiracy, rebellion and assassination, and that, 
 above all, it drew upon those engaged in it the wrath of 
 that GOD whose laws were thus trampled upon. 
 
 That slavery endangered the safety of every community 
 in which it existed ; we had, he said, a proof in America. 
 Let them look at the planters of Virginia, Georgia, South 
 Carolina, and other States. They would find that the 
 owners of slaves were sometimes obliged to sleep in their 
 houses with a number of negro infants around them lest 
 the parents should set fire to their dwellings. (Hear.) 
 Should any power desire to attack America, what more 
 had they to do than to arm the negroes, and lift up the 
 standard of liberty among their habitations. They would 
 thus have planted in the heart of their dominions a system 
 fatal to their independence. The opening words of their 
 declaration of independence were, that all men were equal 
 in the sight of GOD, and that to deprive a man of his liberty 
 was one of the foulest crimes of which another could be 
 guilty. (Applause.) This free and independent people 
 had two millions of slaves, and from five to six hundred 
 thousand free people of color, men as deserving as any of 
 their pale-faced tyrants, and yet were they scouted and re 
 pudiated wherever, they bent their steps. So much for 
 freedom so much for patriotism -so much for reform, a 
 term which always meant reform of our neighbors and 
 never reform of ourselves. (Cheers.) This was the love 
 of liberty which meant liberty to do what pleases ourselves, 
 but let nobody else do as he likes. This was the liberty 
 of our brother Jonathan, (Laughter,) and this was the li 
 berty of his father, John Bull. (Laughter.) Worthy son 
 of a worthy sire ! Both must put this abomination from 
 among them, if they would justify their boasted love of liberty 
 before the world, and purge themselves from the stain which 
 slavery had brought upon them. Slavery hated the light r 
 
160 LECTURE 
 
 slavery hated the truth slavery hated knowledge and re 
 ligion. Who would deny that slavery loved darkness 
 that it loved ignorance, that it sought concealment. Light 
 would expose its enormities would make it blush reli 
 gion would denounce it, and reason held it up to the uni 
 versal execration of mankind. (Applause.) 
 
 But it was said that the planters loved religion. They 
 shewed it by pulling down chapels they shewed it by pun 
 ishing missionaries they shewed it by desecrating the Sab 
 bath by snapping all the ties of moral law, and rejecting 
 alt the provisions of the gospel. Yet did they love religion ; 
 and it was proved by their union,, in Jamaica, to sweep every 
 sectarian from the island. He had heard that persons 
 afflicted with a certain species of mania always killed those 
 whom they loved best. (Applause.) The planters laugh 
 ed at religion they banished the missionaries they de 
 molished the churches, and desecrated the altars of God, 
 and they, therefore, were mad. He hoped, in pity, that 
 they were, and if they did not deserve to be in the dun 
 geons of the New Bailey, the best place for them was a lu 
 natic asylum. (Applause.) But it had been said that the 
 missionaries were interested, that they were cobblers and tai 
 lors in their own country, and that they left <30 a-year here, 
 for <2oO abroad. And, if they had ,2250 it would not 
 compensate them. It would not repay them for the burn 
 ing sun the wasting toils the rending anxieties for the 
 scorn and contumely, with which they were treated for 
 the premature arid inglorious graves into which many of 
 them were buried and for the pangs inflicted on their 
 Christian and their faithful hearts. (Loud cheers.) They 
 had been told, too, that if they were the disinterested per 
 sons whom they were represented, they should go to the 
 wilds of Africa, and amidst its deserts and sands should in 
 culcate the divine truths which they preached in the isl 
 ands. And so they did on the banks of the Gambia 
 they were found, long ago, striving in the great cause to 
 which they were devoted, nnd finding a grave upon the 
 banks of that far-famed river. With all the perils of the 
 task, palpable to them, did these holy men set forth, from 
 their native land, to preach the gospel of redemption to the 
 oppressed people of those climes; but the earth had not 
 made its revolution round the sun the season had no,t 
 
AT SALFORD. 161 
 
 gone by, ere, in Western Africa, their remains were gather 
 ed to their fathers, and their spirits went to their reward. 
 (Loud applause) They were to be found with the Lap 
 lander midst his snows if they would go to the plains of 
 Hindostan they would find them there, striving to stay the 
 rolling car of Juggernaut to stop the misguided hand of 
 a parent who was about to offer an unoffending victim, in 
 penitence for an imaginary wrong they might be seen 
 snatching the infant from the waters of the Ganges, or 
 tearing it from the jaws of the crocodile. In the temple 
 of the Brahmin, in the hut of the negro, in the wigwam 
 of the Australian north, east, south and west, they might 
 be found, to convict their libellers of falsehood, of irreligion, 
 and of impiety. (Long-continued plaudits.) Mr. Thomp 
 son contended that the slave-system caused, as they knew, 
 an absence of sympathy between England and her colo 
 nies that it washer se instable that in every way it was 
 impolitic that it was a possitive infraction of the consti 
 tution, and that it was based in cowardice. For where did 
 we seek our slaves ; did we go among the warlike people 
 of the earth, or did we not rather select the most grateful 
 the most peaceable race, thus rendering those very attri 
 butes which should constitutes a claim to our regard, and 
 induce us to throw over them the shield of our power in 
 citements to our cupidity. 
 
 Mr. Thompson then observed : 
 
 There is one branch of this momentous question to which 
 I desire to draw your serious attention : 
 
 1st. Because it has been made the foundation of a de 
 fence of slavery as it now exits in our dominions. 
 
 2nd. Because it appeals to the feelings of that portion of 
 the community which, above all others, I am desirous of 
 seeing among the friends of negro emancipation. 
 
 3rd. Because it involves the high consideration, wheth 
 er unto us belongs a discretionary power to act towards 
 our fellow-men as we are now acting towards our colonial 
 bondsmen; and 
 
 4th. Becau.se it affects the honor and equity of that 
 Being who doeth according to his willin the army of 
 Heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth. 
 
 That part of the subject is this; the abstract sinfulncss 
 of holding men in personal thraldom. In other words, can 
 
 14* 
 
102 LECTURE 
 
 any circumstances justify men in holding their fdlvw-m en 
 in slavery, without incurring guilt liy so doing 1 I answer, 
 tES ; and the existence or non-existence of certain circum 
 stances creates the justification, or occasions the guilt of 
 the man-stealer or the slave-holder. When such circum 
 stances are present he \sjvstrficd. When ihey are abstnt 
 he is guilty. It is argued, by an advocate on the other side, 
 that SLAVERY in the abstract is nut SINFUL; that is to say, 
 to steal a man, and hold him in bondage, IB not prima facie 
 a SIN. I humbly and submissively contend that it is a sin 
 so to do, and I will proceed to give my reasons : * To the 
 law and to the testimonity. In the beginning GOD 
 created the heavens and the earth ; and when he had 
 beautified the heavens and adorned the earth, he said, * Let 
 us make man in our image, alter ecu likeness; and let 
 him have dominion over the fish of the tea, and over the 
 fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, 
 and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the 
 earth. And it was so ; for the Lord God formed men 
 out of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nos- 
 trels the breath of life; and man became a living toul. 1 
 Then started into being that awful that tnysttriovs 
 that inexplicable compound Max that masterpiece of the 
 creation. Man! erect rational pure immortal Man! 
 Man ! the lord of I he creation the monarch of the 
 world the favorite of heaver: the possessor of a death 
 less spirit the heir of an denial destiny. Was he then 
 a slave ? No ! not even to Deity itself ; he held the migh 
 ty power to eternize his being and his bliss; or bring into 
 the fair and spotless world of heaven s munificence the 
 monster death and all imaginable woe. He fell- freely he 
 fell. Behold him where he lies ; a noble pile in ruins 1 
 Yet survey those ruins ; how costly how magnificent 
 how imperishable are the fragments ! That HE might with 
 those fragments build himself a living temple, the Archi 
 tect of the universe did not withhold his Sen, His only 
 Son but gave him up up to death that he might lay in Zion, 
 for a foundation, a a stone a chief corner-stone, elect 
 and precious to give stability, and life and eternal dura 
 tion to the fabric of his everlasting love. Oh ! 
 
 How poor, how rich, how abject, how augntt, 
 Hew complicate, htw wonderful, is Alau ! 
 
AT 8ALFORD. 1 63 
 
 Distinguish d link in being s endless chain ! 
 Midway from nothing to the Deity ! 
 A beam etherial sully d andabsorpt ! 
 Though sully d and dishonor d, still divine ! 
 What can preserve his life 1 or what destroy 1 
 An angel s arm can t snatch him from the grave ; 
 Legions of angels can t confine him there. 
 
 Such a being is Man, find him where you may ; however 
 rude, however wretched, of whatever color, of whatever 
 clime a being born for immortality as precious in the 
 sight of heaven and in the covenant of grace, as the fairest 
 among the sons of men, though he should centre in him 
 self the learing of a Johnson and the genius of a Milton 
 and the philosophy of a Bacon and the imagination of a 
 Shakspeare, a being who may soar as high in heaven, 
 and who will live as long in eternity as the proudest and 
 wisest of the children of men. 
 
 But to return to the argument. before us ; the commands 
 of GOD touching the enslavement of any member of the 
 human family arc explicit. 1st. Thou shalt not steal. 
 This command, which has reference to all descriptions of 
 robbery, must include the stealing of men, which is univer 
 sally allowed to be the worst description of robbery that 
 can be committed. 2d. Thou shalt not covet thy neigh 
 bour s house, wife, man-servant, maid-servant, ox, ass, nor 
 any thing that is thy neighbor s. Now I ask is there be 
 longing to a man any thing more precious than his own per- 
 zon, his own liberty? and if the desire to possess the house, or 
 ox, or ass of our neighbor be sinful, is it not equally so, nay, 
 more so, to covet his/z/e his limbs, his wife, and his child- 
 cm ? 3rd. In Exodus 21st, 6th, we read He that sleal- 
 etli a man and selleth him, or if he be found in his hand 
 he shall surely be put to death. We see here in what 
 estimation the Almighty held the crime of stealing men. 
 Again, Deut. 24th., 7 v., If a man be found stealing any 
 of his brethren of the children of Israel, and maketh mer 
 chandise of him, or selleth him, then that thief shall die : and 
 thou shalt put away evil from among you. Maimonidcs, 
 Jarchi, and the Mis/inic Doctors, interpret these laws in 
 their strictest sense ; with regard to the latter one, they say, 
 that in the term brethren of the children of Israel/ are 
 included the old and the young, the male and the female ; 
 
164 LECTURE 
 
 the Israelite and the Jewish proselyte ; and making mer 
 chandise, as using a man against his will, as a servant 
 lawfully purchased, yea, though he should use his services 
 only to the value of a farthing, or use but his arm to lean 
 upon or support him, if he be forced so to act as a servant, 
 the person compelling him but once to do so, shall die as a 
 a thief, whether he has sold him or not. These passages, 
 I think, clearly point out to us what should be our conduct 
 under ordinary circumstances. They teach us that we are 
 not to steal at all, not to covet at all, and that the stealing 
 of men, the making me rchandise of men, the forcing of men 
 to serve against tlicir will, are crimes considered worthy 
 of DEATH. The passage so often quoted, to prove that 
 slavery is not sinful, is to be found in the 25th of Leviticus, 
 from the 39th to the 46th verses, inclusive. It is, however, 
 upon the 45th and 46th verses that the argument is prin 
 cipally built; they read thus : 
 
 * Moreover of the children of the strangers that do sojourn among you, of 
 them shall ye buy, and of their families that are with you, which they begat 
 in your land : and they shall be vour possession. And ye shall take them as 
 an inheritance for your children after you, to inherit them for a possession; 
 they shall be your possession; they shall be your bondmen forever; but over 
 your brethren the children of Israel, ye shall not rule one over another with 
 rigor. 
 
 In reference to this passage I would observe, that, to 
 me, it appears highly probable that the expression, for 
 ever, in the text before us, does not apply to the bondmen 
 here spoken of individually, but collectively : as the tenth 
 verse seems to promise liberty to ALL, both Jew and Gen 
 tile, at the year of Jubilee. f ; 
 
 And ye shall hallow the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty thrcighcut all 
 the land, unto AM. the inhabitants thereof; and ye shall ietuine\erj man 
 unto his possession, and ye shall return every man unto his family. 
 
 From this passage I infer, that, although the Jews were to 
 be permitted to obtain bondmen from among the strangers 
 who sojourned in the land during the continuance of the 
 Mosaic dispensation, yet at the year of general redemption 
 those who had been reduced to active service were to 
 share the benefit of the proclamation, leaving the Israelites 
 to supply their places by others, who, there is no doubt, 
 might be obtained without any difficulty. Let us for a 
 moment look at this slavery. 
 
 1st. Who were the heathen round about ? the strang- 
 
AT SALFORD. 165 
 
 ers who sojourned in the land 1 They were remnants of 
 nations, who had filled up the measure of their iniquity, 
 and against whom the wrath of God was therefore revealed, 
 even unto death. 
 
 2d. They were the inhabitants of a land promised for 
 many centuries to the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and 
 Jacob. A land that was to be purged from the pollution of 
 idolatry, and the most abounding profligacy, and become 
 the theatre of the most stupendous events, and be pecu 
 liarly characterised by Holiness to the Lord. 
 
 3d. The bond service to which they were subjected 
 was almost, in all respects, perfectly dissimilar to the de 
 grading slavery which now prevails in the West Indies. 
 In the majority of instances being only the payment of 
 tribute, leaving them at liberty to avail themselves of every 
 just means of acquiring wealth ; and only preventing them 
 from becoming possessors of the soil which God had given 
 to his peculiar people. . Purchased servants were to be 
 treated with especia kindness, and seem, in most cases, to 
 have been a superior order of dependants. Hired servants 
 appear to have been among the meanest of those who bore 
 the name of servants among the heathen, and were gener 
 ally employed as hewers of wood, and drawers of water, 
 or, in other words, as the bearers of burdens persons en 
 gaged in the lowest occupations. 
 
 4th. Their treatment as servants was to be invariable 
 distinguished by kindness ; maltreatment entitled them to 
 instant release ; the Sabbath w;is theirs; the court of the 
 Gentiles was theirs; the way of access to all the bene 
 fits temporal and spiritual of the Jewish religion was 
 theirs; as heathens, they were to be treated with uniform 
 justice and tenderness ; as proselytes or converts, in all 
 respects as brethren. I might, if I had time, arid it were 
 necessary, fully show you from the inspired volume, that, 
 so far from magnifying the comforts and privileges of the 
 bond servants, under the Mosaic economy, I have very 
 much curtailed the list of their advantages. I might 
 quote the laws which bound the Israelites, under the heav 
 iest penalties, to observe a course of kindness to the slaves ; 
 I might specify the arrangements made for their instruction 
 and conversion. I might enumerate the threatnings and 
 denunciations of God against their oppressors, when they 
 
166 LECTURE. 
 
 had any, and then, also, the execution of those threats in 
 a variety of awful and premonitory instances ; but I for 
 bear, and earnestly reccommend all present to peruse with 
 care the first five books of the Old Testament, and mark 
 what is written respecting strangers/ strangers within 
 the gate, in coritra-distinction to casual visitors, STRAN 
 GERS THAT SOJOURN AMONGST YOU, servants and bond- 
 men, for under these five denominations are, I believe, 
 included all the bond-servants among the Hebrews, save 
 those of their own nation. 
 
 5th. Having noticed the source from whence the Jews 
 obtained their slaves and the mode of treatment to 
 which they were subjected, I proceed to observe that this 
 institution was by direct appointment of the Almighty, 
 and appears to have been a commutation of a sentence of 
 death originally pronounced upon the Canaanitish and 
 Philistine nations, the previous possessors of the soil 
 let this be well remembered the Divine head of the Jew 
 ish Theocracy, appointed, permitted, regulated, slavery. 
 He was the God and Father and Legislator of the people 
 of Israel. The God also of the heathen round about, 
 though they knew him not nor feared his name re 
 member, too, that he is a being above all law, save those 
 eternal rules which are inseparable from his nature, that 
 He is the source of law to the universe; that revealed 
 codes are for man and not for God and then, I think, you 
 will perceive that slavery might exist among the Jews, and 
 yet not furnish us with an example to be followed, nor do 
 any thing towards establishing our right to be the holders 
 of slaves. The appointment of slavery by God is one of 
 the circumstances which justifies slavery but the mo 
 ment, the sanction of God is withdrawn, the authority of 
 man is at an end, and he is left to regulate his moral con 
 duct by the revealed law, every violation of which is an 
 offence against his Creator. 
 
 Cth. It does not appear that to man was given a discretion 
 ary power to bring into bondage any portion of his fellow 
 men on the contrary the most fearful punishments are 
 assigned to those who are guilty of any infraction of the 
 law in that respect. Had such a discretionary power been 
 ever given in the day when it was so given, the moral law 
 would have been in effect annulled. In all cases, howev 
 
AT SALFORD. 167 
 
 er, the Jews were but agents, instruments, and ministers 
 of vengeance in the hands of the Almighty, and were re 
 peatedly chastised for assuming and exercising a power 
 not delegated to them by their Supreme Head. The Jews, 
 however, were showing their obedience as much in the de 
 struction of the Canaanites as in the offering of appointed 
 sacrifices in the observance of arrangements regarding 
 slavery, as in the performance of any religious service en 
 joined upon them. But what is the use made of the fact, 
 that God commanded the enslavement of the Canaanitish 
 nations ? It is this that therefore slavery is not sinful in 
 the abstract, and therefore we may hold men in -slavery 
 and be guiltless. See, for a moment, where this would lead 
 us. It would lead to the conclusion that the judgments 
 and punishments which God has at any time commanded 
 and authorised his own special people, his avowed and 
 recognised servants, to inflict upon nations arid individu 
 als, may, in strict conformity with religion and morality, be 
 inflicted by men upon their fellow-men at any time at 
 any place, and without any such authority or command. 
 By the decree of the Most High, a father was command 
 ed to sacrifice his son Elijah was empowered to slay the 
 false prophets, and the Israelites were enjoined to put to 
 death some, and to enslave others of the idolatrous people 
 whom they conquered in war, and, therefore, we have a 
 moral and religious right to do any or similar things, with 
 out any similar warrant, sanction, or authority. Excellent 
 logic! Excellent theology! To contend that the en 
 slavement of men is not sinful from the circumstance of 
 its having been permitted by God, in the case argued, is 
 unreasonable, unscripfural, impious, and blasphemous. 
 
 Were the negroes of Western Africa in the same cir 
 cumstances as the Canaanites? 
 
 Is the slavery in the West Indies like the slavery among 
 the Jews ? It is absurd and wicked to denote the two con 
 ditions by the same term. When light becomes darkness, 
 and kindness becomes cruelty, and justice and mercy, in 
 justice and oppression, then name them together, and not 
 before, unless you be found guilty of upholding an abom 
 ination by the prostitution of the word of God. 
 
 Is Africa a land promised to us for a possession, and are 
 we commanded to drive out and utterly destroy its inhabi 
 tants. ? 
 
168 LECTURE 
 
 Has West India slavery the sanction of the Almighty ? 
 
 Can we demonstrate our right to exercise a discretion 
 ary power of enslaving our fellow-men ? 
 
 If British colonial slavery was wrong in its commence 
 ment, can we show at which event, in the series connect 
 ing the first seizure with the present possession, the change 
 from wrong to right took place ? If, however, it is admit 
 ted that colonial slavery was wrong in its commencement, 
 and is still an evil and a sin, what becomes of the ab 
 stract view, and from the deductions made from it ? If it 
 be argued that it must be done gradually where is the 
 scriptural proof? 
 
 Did God ever keep men in slavery to prepare them for 
 freedom ? Do not the Oracles of God declare, Live 
 peaceably with all men. Revenge not yourselves, but 
 rather give plnce unto wrath : for it is written, Vengeance 
 is mine: I will repay it saith the Lord ? Are we, then, to 
 put ourselves on an equality with God 1 Shall we 
 
 Snatch from his hand the balance and the rod, 
 Rejuilge his justice, be the God of God 1 
 
 Let these questions be pondered, let them be answered 
 in the fear of God, and in reference to eternity. 
 
 I will not detain you I might say, insult you, after the 
 addresses I have already delivered in this town, by going 
 into the views of Christianity on this subject. You require 
 no proof to-night that the religion of Christ is a religion 
 of love, and that it never has, it never can, sanction for a 
 moment, so foul, so inhuman, so impious, and murderous 
 a system as that of BRITISH WEST INDIA SLAVERY. 
 
 Mr. Thompson then proceeded to expose the various 
 contradictions of his opponents, proved the absolute ne 
 cessity of IMMEDIATE emancipation congratulated the 
 meeting upon the view recently taken of the question by 
 the leading daily journals in London, read a very power 
 ful leading article from the Morning Chronicle, of Satur 
 day, the 13th instant (which will be found at the conclu 
 sion of this outline,) and conclued as follows: 
 
 And now I would humbly, but earnestly, call upon all 
 present to join in this work of mercy, and labor of love. 
 
 Christian Ministers ! I call first upon you ; ye are 
 
AT SALFORD. 169 
 
 ambassadors for God your God is a God of love, your 
 mission a mission of mercy, your message a message of 
 salvation 
 
 By you the violated law speaks out 
 
 Its thunders, and by you, in strains as sweet 
 
 As angels use, the gospel whispers peace* 
 
 Tn the name of the law, which, by slavery, is dishonored, 
 violated, and trampled in the dust; in the name of the 
 gospel, whose precepts and provisions are by slavery and its 
 abettors despised and rejected ; in the name of that God 
 the giver of that law, and the author and finisher of that 
 gospel of salvation I call upon you to denounce this evil, 
 to lift up your voice against it, to cry aloud and spare not 
 until it ceases to make merchandise of the bodies and 
 the souls of men. 
 
 Philanthropists! lovers of mankind I call upon you, 
 ye who would raise the fallen, cheer the faint, who would 
 lessen the amount of human wretchedness, who would 
 wipe the weeping eye and gladden the sinking heart, who 
 would that our wide-spread race should be a family of love 
 join us in the cause of humanity : Oh, weep with the 
 wretched mother who may not call her offspring her own ; 
 Oh, sympathise with those whom a cruel system would put 
 beyond the pale of our constitution and our faith let your 
 best energies be given to this holy undertaking, nor slacken 
 your endeavors until mercy shall prevail over cruelty, jus 
 tice triumph over oppression and tyranny, and the lovely 
 isles of the west, after ages and centuries of murder, op 
 pression, and woe, shall become the abode of the happy 
 and free peasant, and reverberate with the song of glad 
 ness, and the praises of the true and living God. 
 
 Patriots ! Ye who love your country, to whom its honor, 
 its character and independence are dear, unite with us to 
 rid our beloved country from this foul curse ; let not any 
 portion of its greatness rest upon the degradation of its 
 children ; talk not of victory while this conquest remains 
 to be achieved ; boast not of our constitution whilst its 
 benefits are withheld from the negro; let heroes seek for 
 laurels upon the ensanguined plain, let others strive to 
 exalt their country s greatness by advancing the arts, and 
 adding to our stock of scientific knowledge, do ye unite 
 15 
 
170 LECTURE 
 
 with us to win a bloodless triumph over your country s worst 
 foes the avarice, the despotism and impiety that would 
 sink a nation s fame, and bring upon it the wrath of GOD, 
 to gratify a lust of power, and add to the unhallowed 
 wealth of the tormentor of his species. 
 
 I look around me, and I see many belonging to that com 
 munity whose religious profession amounts almost to a 
 pledge of devotion to this glorious cause. Need I *ay any 
 thing to stimulate your zeal, and dispose you to act 
 worthy your name and connexion ; need I remind you of 
 the struggles, the sacrifices and disinterested ardor of the 
 Friends of past ages, and of the noble endeavors making 
 by many amongst you at the present hour ? No ; I would 
 fain believe that there is not one Friend here who is not 
 self-devoted to the cause of negro emancipation. But still, 
 suffer me to remind you, with all possible respect and love, 
 that the present is a moment demanding even more than 
 wonted zeal. I implore you, by the memory of a Wool- 
 man, and a Benezet, and every champion of this hallowed 
 cause now gathered to his fathers, to aid us at the present 
 juncture, with the full measure of your sympathy, your 
 exertions, and your influence so shall you see the dearest 
 object of your hearts accomplished, and, instead of still 
 mourning over the unredressed wrongs of an injured popu 
 lation, see peace and piety, and intellectual improvement, 
 extending to the many colored tribes of the west, and the 
 fruits of virtue, and knowledge, and religion appearing 
 where only ignorance, and vice, and cruelty once reigned. 
 
 Come, then, ye lovers of peace ye votaries of mercy 
 complete the work begun in ages past, by your uncom 
 promising forefathers, aad soon shall the shouts of ransom 
 ed thousands proclaim the field your own, and the sable 
 child of your adoption, trampling on the rusting chains of 
 his degradation, exclaim with beaming eye and with a 
 bursting heart, NOW I am a man and a brother. 
 
 Christians! I look with confidence towards you ; yours 
 is a religion of love, a religion of liberty; you know that 
 the love of Christ in your own bosoms expands them to 
 embrace all mankind, you desire * that the word of the 
 Lord may have free course and be glorified, even as it is 
 with you; you know that righteousness exalteth a na 
 tion, but sin is a reproach to any people ; you know that 
 
AT SALFORD. 171 
 
 1 to obey is better than sacrifice, arid to hearken than the 
 fat of ranis ; you know that it is written, If tliou forbear 
 to deliver them that are drawn unto death, and those that 
 are ready to be slain ; if thou sayest, Behold we knew it 
 not; doth riot he that pondereth the heart consider it? 
 and he that keepeth thy soul, doth he not know it? and 
 shall he riot render to every man according to his works ? 
 Unite, then, with us to rid the nation and the earth of 
 their most foul and guilt-contracting blot ; let the remem 
 brance of demolished temples, their ruins still upon the 
 earth of desecrated altars of banished missionaries of 
 thousands of meek disciples of Christ, persecuted for their 
 attachment to the truths of Christianity let these recol 
 lections act upon your hearts, your consciences, your 
 hands, your heads, and in your families, and in your con 
 gregations, and in the world be the champions of the dis 
 tressed despised, and almost destroyed so shall the 
 blessing of those who are ready to perish come upon you, 
 and GOD, even your own GOD shall cause his face to shine 
 upon you, and his richest consolations to inhabit your 
 hearts. 
 
 And now, I ask, in this solemn hour, in this sacred 
 place, upon this spirit-stirring and most interesting occa 
 sion who in this assembly is willing to consecrate his 
 service this night unto the Lord? Let all who feel the 
 claims of human misery pressing upon their hearts, who 
 wish to see the monster slavery expire beneath the hand of 
 British Christian benevolence ; let all who have trust in 
 the omnipotence of truth, and confidence in the GOD of 
 everlasting love ; let all who now desiro, and pray for, and 
 would effectuate the instant, total, and eternal overthrow 
 of the accursed system, and are waiting to build upon its 
 ruins a temple of harmony, concord, peace and love, wit 
 ness these their wishes and intentions, before heaven 
 and the world, by holding up their hands. [The call was 
 iwstantly responded to, and a forest of hands was uplifted.] 
 
 Tis done, tis seen, it will be known, it will be record 
 ed in heaven, and on earth ; tis wise ; tis well so to re 
 solve tis still better to act on such resolutions. Patriots! 
 Philanthropists ! Christians of every name ! Ministers of 
 God ! we are now ONE this night beholds the renewal of 
 our pledge, to wage a war of extermination with cruelty, 
 
172 LECTURE 
 
 vice, and despotism in their strong hold. In the name of 
 our GOD, let us set up our banner, and inscribe upon it, 
 Fiat justitia ruat coelum. With this above our heads, 
 let us proceed onwards to the battle victory shall sit upon 
 our helm, heaven shall smile upon our host, conquest shall 
 crown our struggle, and mankind in future ages shall point 
 to the abolition of colonial slavery, as the commencement 
 of an era the most benign and brilliant the world has ever 
 seen. 
 
 Mr. Thompson concluded his energetic, eloquent, and 
 convincing adddress at a quarter past nine, amidst the en 
 thusiastic plaudits of an enraptured audience. Through 
 out the whole of Mr. Thompson s lengthened observations, 
 the most profound and breathless attention was manifest 
 ed, interrupted only by the involuntary bursts of applause 
 which the more splendid and heart-stirring portions of his 
 able speech called forth. One feeling only seemed to per 
 vade the vast assembly, and that, a feeling of hallowed de 
 votion to the godlike cause of negro civilization and re 
 demption. A deep conviction seemed to rest upon all, that 
 the hour had arrived an hour too long delayed for the 
 opening of the prison doors of the oppressed, and the po 
 litical salvation of the deeply injured thousands of our 
 enslaved population. No portion of the lecturer s remarks 
 were more cordially responded to, than those which en 
 forced the justice and necessity of immediate emancipa 
 tion. 
 
 Mr. Thompson seemed considerably exhausted at the 
 termination of his arduous but well-executed task. We 
 understand that Mr. Thompson has received the most flat 
 tering invitations to visit the principal places in all the sur 
 rounding counties. We earnestly hope that his health may 
 be spared to prosecute his valuable labors to a happy and 
 glorious consummation. 
 
( 173 ) 
 NOTE. 
 
 [From the London Morning Chronicle, Sept. 1832.] 
 
 A Jamaica pnper of the 1st of August has been received. 
 In the absence of events, the bitter animosity against the 
 Baptists and other sectarians may deserve a rejrnark. Res 
 olutions were moved and carried at a public meeting, to 
 extirpate them, if possible, from the island ; but notice 
 had been given by the ATTORNEY GENERAL, that several 
 of the resolutions were illegal. However, in order not to 
 be intimidated, all the resolutions were unanimously pnss- 
 ed, and among them, the following atrocious Declar 
 ation : 
 
 We, the undersigned, most solemnly declare, that \ve are resolved, at the 
 hazard of our lives, not to puffer any Baptist or other sectarian preacher or 
 teacher, or any person professedly belonging to those sects, to preach or to 
 teach in any house in towns, or in any districts of the country \\here the in 
 fluence of the Colonial Union extends; and this we do maintaining 
 the purest loyalty to his majesty king WILLIAM the fourth, as well as the 
 highest veneration fir the establi.-hed religion, in defence of social order, 
 and in strict conformity with th^ laws for the preservation of the public 
 peace to .-hiel I this portion of his majesty s island of Jamaica against in 
 surrection and future destruction. 
 
 And this is a sample of what we may expect from the 
 gradual amelioration scheme. The truth is, and it cannot 
 be too often repented, that the hostility of the West Indi 
 ans against the B iplists and other sectarians is, that they 
 perceived that they were in earnest to improve the ne 
 groes. Slavery is not susceptible of amelioration ; for, in 
 the degree iu which the slave s mind is enlarged, his dis 
 satisfaction with his condition increases. There is no medi 
 um between abject prostration and complete emancipation. 
 All the attempts to bolster up slavery, by protectors of 
 slaves and otherwise, only make the matter worse, bjr 
 weakening the authority of the masters over the slaves. 
 The momant the slave ceases to be wholly and entirely in 
 the power of the mister, a source of jealousy betvven them 
 springs up. We hold, therefore, that emancipation, full and 
 complete, is the only way of settling the question. 
 
 The sectarians enjoy the confidence of the negroes, and 
 15* 
 
174 NOTE. 
 
 are deeply interested in their improvement. This is the 
 head and front of their offending, in the eyes of the West 
 Indians. But who are the sectarians? Including the 
 serious part of the Church of England, it may be said that 
 the sectarians are nine-tenths of the population of the 
 country. They are determined, too, not to be trifled with. 
 A man must, indeed, be unable to see the wood for trees, 
 if he do not see, that the partisans of what the West In 
 dians call sectarians, will introduce into the next Parlia 
 ment a sufficient number of representatives, prepared to 
 impose on the government the necessity of bringing the 
 question of slavery to the only issue worthy of a moment s 
 consideration full and complete, and instant emancipa 
 tion, leaving the question of compensation to be afterwards 
 settled. 
 
MR. THOMPSON S SPEECH; 
 
 Delivered at the great Anti-Colonization Meeting, in Exe 
 ter Hall, London, July, 1833. James Cropper, Esq. in 
 the Chair. 
 
 GEORGE THOMPSON, Esq. in rising to move the second 
 resolution said : 
 
 Sir, before I address myself immediately to the resolu 
 tion which I have the honor to submit to this respectable 
 meeting, I must claim permission to comment, for a mo 
 ment, upon what I cannot but designate a cruel and heart 
 less attempt to withdraw our minds from the contemplation 
 of a vast amount of misery inflicted upon 2,000,000 of our 
 fellow beings by the wickedness of man, by directing our 
 attention to the existence of partial and home wretchedness 
 which I am sure we all deplore, and are desirous of mit 
 igating. (Hear, hear.) I will again remind the honorable 
 g entleman (Mr. Hunt) who has acted this unworthy part 
 of what he seems to have forgottten, although pressed 
 upon his observation year after year, that the best friends 
 of suffering humanity at home have ever been the warm 
 and sympathetic friends of suffering humanity abroad. 
 (Cheers.) If he will take his walks along the paths where 
 benevolence and mercy love to linger, that they may min* 
 ister comfort and assistance to the miserable, the destitute, 
 and the bereaved, he will find those ministering spirits to 
 be those who have been the readiest to devote their ener 
 gies to the glorious work of universal emancipation. 
 (Hear, hear, and cheers.) Our honorable opponent has, 
 on other occasions, committed the same offence against 
 honor and good breeding. Instead of calling meetings of 
 his own, to denounce the wrongs and wretchedness of our 
 unfortunate factory children, and thus aiming to do the 
 work he pretends to love, properly and efficiently, he satis- 
 
176 MR. THOMPSON S SPEECH 
 
 fies himself with attending anti-slavery meetings, and seek 
 ing to divert the attention of the British public from the 
 slavery in the \\ e&t Indies or in the United States, by 
 a reference to the oppressed circumstances of a poriion of 
 our juvenile population at home. (Hear, hear.) I must 
 confess, I like not the man whose vision is so circumscrib 
 ed that he cannot see or feel it to be his duly to send hia 
 regards beyond the narrow circle of his own neighborhood. 
 Had he chosen the motto of our esteemed friend, Mr. GAR 
 RISON, My country is the world, my countrymen are all 
 mankind, he would not have been found to-day among 
 those who would thwart the honest and philanthropic pur 
 poses of our heart, nor have himself been doomed to see a 
 resolution of his own unanimously discarded with indig 
 nation and disgust. (Loud cheers.) But the gentleman 
 says he is the enemy of black slavery! Believe it be 
 cause he says so but, that you may believe, it never glance 
 at his deeds. Believe him for his honor; for actions he 
 has none to shew, to prove his hatred of the deed. 
 (Loud cheers.) Was it fair in that gentleman, igno 
 rant as he is of the first principles of the great ques 
 tion upon which our minds are engaged,- ignorant of 
 all the documents upon which we have proceeded, 
 to attempt to overthrow our proceedings? (Hear, hear.) 
 Does he know that a week ago last Wednesday, a public 
 meeting was held for the purpose of forming a British Af 
 rican Colonization Society, for the settlement of free per 
 sons of color or their descendants? Does he know, be 
 sides, that this meeting is convened for the purpose, amongst 
 other things, of exposing the real object sought in the for 
 mation of that Society? I believe, Sir, the gentleman is 
 utterly ignorant of all these matters; and I will therefore 
 venture, with your permission, to inform him and this meet 
 ing, of the minner in which this bold and impudent trick 
 was played off. 
 
 The Society I have referred to, proposes to be a BRITISH 
 (mind! British) African Colonization Society, to effect 
 the following purposes: 1st. To humanize and civilize 
 the rude inhabitants of Western Africa and introduce 
 commerce and the arts of polished life. 2nd. to extend 
 the knowledge and influence of the Christian religion ; 
 and Srdly. To effect the abolitition of the Slave Trade. 
 
 Now, Sir, it is specially worthy of notice, that the per- 
 
AT EXETER HALL. 177 
 
 sons who, above all others, were most likely to feel a deep 
 and lasting interest in the accomplishment of purposes so 
 high and holy, as those which I have specified if those pur 
 poses were to be achieved by holy and honorable means 
 were none of them invited to the meeting, otherwise than 
 by an advertisement in the public papers. Nay, more 
 when a few of them appeared in the room where the meet 
 ing was held, though among them was one of the oldest, 
 ablest and sincerest of the friends of Africa, Mr. MACAULAY, 
 (cheers,) they were regarded as persons likely to frustrate 
 the design of the projectors, and were designated, by the 
 Chairman and others upon the platform, as factious disturb 
 ers. Not one of the leading friends of Africa, or tlie abo 
 lition of slavery, was invited to take a part in the proceed- 
 ings of that day ; though it was held at a time most fa 
 vorable to their attendance, viz : when they were in Lon 
 don from all parts of the Kingdom, on purpose to watch the 
 interests of the black man in the British Parliament. Who, 
 then, called the meeting? An American! (Hear, hear.) 
 Who ended that meeting ? An American ! What was 
 the real object of that meeting, as disclosed in the last re 
 solution ? That England should co-operate with America 
 in transporting her colored population. 
 
 Mr. BUCKINGHAM No, not transporting. 
 
 Mr. THOMPSON Sir, I readily grant the word trans 
 portation was not introduced; but there lies the wilful 
 error there is the deceitfulnes of sin there is the subtle 
 ty of Satan. (Loud cheers.) Now, Sir, when we consid 
 er that that meeting was called by an American that 
 from its proceedings were carefully excluded every known 
 and influential friend to the abolition of slavery and the 
 civilization of Africa that when a few of the friends of 
 Africa went to that meeting, they were treated as oppo 
 nents that those friends, without an exception, felt them 
 selves constrained to oppose the proceedings of that meet 
 ing and when, lastly, although the Chairman had again 
 and again declared that it had nothing whatever to do with 
 the American Colonization Society, the only thing absolute 
 ly proposed to be done by the Society was to co-operate with 
 the American Colonization Society. I am quite sure that 
 the whole affair will appear, in the eyes of a candid public, 
 as a mean, dishonorable and impudent attempt to decoy 
 the benevolent inhabitants of this country into copartner- 
 
J78 Mil. THOMPSON S SPEECH 
 
 ship with a Society, whose principles are so unsound that 
 whenever alluded to by myself on the day of the above 
 meeting, I was invariably checked by the Chairman, and 
 reproved for wandering from the object of the meeting. 
 
 My friend, the honorable member for Sheffield, (Mr. 
 BUCKINGHAM,) must excuse me if I say, that the ground he 
 has assigned lor supporting this new Society was nothing 
 like that of the gentleman behind me, (Mr. ABRAHAMS.) 
 The latter gentleman s argument was all cttttun. (A laugh*) 
 Cotton was the Alpha and Omega of his speech. The 
 planting of cotton trees in Africa is to work the destruction 
 of shivery in the United States. (A laugh.) The argu 
 ment of my friend, the member for Sheffield, is based upon 
 the possibility of a superabundant free colored population 
 in our own Colonies. Looking through the vista of future 
 ages, he thinks he perceives it possible that there may be 
 an overgrown population of blacks in our dependencies, 
 and deems it exceedingly wise to found a British African 
 Colonization Society in the }ear 1833, that three or four 
 millions of \ears subsequently we may be able to send our 
 redundant colored brethren to the land of their ancestors. 
 (Loud laughter.) Now, to show how very early must be 
 the arrival of that period when it will be necessary to fans- 
 port I bea your pardon induce to emigrate, our free co 
 lored population, I may observe that in the island of Ja 
 maica alone, with a population at present of 400,000 in 
 habitants, there are millions of acres which the axe has 
 never cleared, which the spade lias never delved, and 
 which the industry and ingenuity of man have never made 
 contributory -to his wants. (Cheers.) There are, in our 
 Colonies, resources of subsistence and wealth fora popu 
 lation infinitely larger than that which at present exists in 
 them ; and who so worthy to avail themselves ot those re 
 sources as those who have either in their own persons, or 
 the persons of their forefathers, endured th6 rigor of an 
 unjust bondage lor tl.e wealth and aggrandizement .of 
 the whites ? (Loud cheers.) It is well known that a great 
 many of the horrors of slavery take their rise in the small- 
 ness of the slave population, which induces the needy and 
 rapacious planter to overwork his Haves, and apply those 
 coercive measures which have proved so fatal to their hap 
 piness, elevation and existence. (Hear, hear.) A West 
 Indian gentleman, now upon this platform, is prepared to 
 
AT EXETER HALL. 179 
 
 show that the more rational plan would he to promote emi 
 gration from the United States to our Colonies, and that 
 it is the climax of human absurdity to establish a Society 
 for colonizing Africa, when years, ages, and centuries 
 must elapse, ere we can hope to find colored men to give 
 operation, and effort, and accomplishment to the scheme. 
 (Hear, hear.) 
 
 What, then, is it our duty to do on this occasion ? 
 Why, to denounce the American Colonization Society as 
 the enemy to the elevation and prosperity of the people of 
 color in the United States as the friend and supporter of 
 Slavery. It is our duty to regard that Society as the hate 
 ful bantling of a fiend-like prejudice, and boldly to tell 
 brother Jonathan that if he thinks, by means of an agent 
 with a face of brass, to dupe us out ot any more of our mo 
 ney, he is mistaken; that we will speedily send his base 
 metal away, and keep onr own precious coin for worthier 
 and nobler purposes. (Laughter and cheers ) 
 
 A preceding speaker (Mr. ABRAHAMS) has said that the 
 principle of the Society io voluntary emigration. Is he, 
 then, ignorant tint the honorable Mr. Broadnax of Virgin 
 ia, rose in the House of Delegates of that State, and con 
 tended that force was absolutely necessary to the accom 
 plishment of their object; and to talk of finding emigrants 
 without compulsion was a gross absurdity? That this 
 meeting may be in the possession of the views entertained 
 by the people of color upon this subject, I will take the 
 liberty of quoting their own words in various public meet 
 ings held throughout the United States. In Philadelphia, 
 at a meeting held January, 1817, they thus speak : 
 
 Resolve;!, That we view with deep abhorrence the unmerited stigma at 
 tempted to be rast upon ilic reputation of thnfree people of color, l>y the 
 promoters of this measure, " that they arc a dangerous and u^eleps part of 
 community*" when in the state of di^frnni hi.- ement in which they live, in 
 the hour of danger they ceased to remember their wrongs, and rallied round 
 the standard of their country. 
 
 f Resolved, That we never will separate ourselves voluntarily from the 
 slave population of this country ; (Cheers) (hev are our brethren by 
 the ties f consanguinity, of suffering* and of wrong ; and we feel that there 
 is more virtue in suHeriiig privations with the.n, than in fancied advantages 
 for a season. (Cheers.) 
 
 The free colored people of New York thus speak out 
 their sentiments : 
 
180 MR. THOMPSON S SPEECH 
 
 Resolved, Thr.t we view the resolution, calling on the worshippers of 
 Christ to assist in the unholy crusade against the colored population of this 
 country, as totally at variance with true Christian principles. 
 
 { Resolved, That weclairn this country, the place of our birth, and not 
 Africa, as our mother country, and all attempts to send us to Africa we 
 consider gratuitous and uncalled fur. (Cheers.) 
 
 Sir, the gentleman who has this day spoken in favor of 
 the Colonization Society, has more than once called him 
 self one of the descendants of Abraham. Now, Sir, we 
 all know that his brethren in this country labor under many 
 and heavy disabilities, and that at this moment strenuous 
 efforts are being made in the the House of Commons to 
 effect their civil emancipation ; efforts, which IJiope and 
 trust may be crowned with complete success. But, Sir, 
 what would that descendant of Abraham think of me, if, 
 instead of giving my voice and vote to raise them to their 
 rightful station in this the land of their nativity, I were to 
 address myself to his injured brethren and to him, and say, 
 You are a dangerous and useless part of community this 
 is not your home or country away to the deserts of Arabia, 
 or the mountains of Palestine there, in the land of your 
 ancestors, be free and happy or pine and perish, for you 
 shall not pollute these shores , and then, were to come 
 forward, and claim the regard of my countrymen and man 
 kind for having done an act of enlightened justice and hu 
 manity? (Loud cheers.) 
 
 What are the sentiments of the colored inhabitants of 
 Boston 1 Hear them : 
 
 Resolved, That we consider the land in which we were born, and in 
 which we have been bred, our only true and appropiate home and that 
 when toe desire to remove, we will apprise the public of the same indue 
 season. (Cheers.) 
 
 I am rejoiced, Sir, to find my countrymen respond so 
 warmly to sentiments like these. Such language as I have 
 read, is the true and natural language of reason, patriotism 
 and independence ; and he who cannot approve such 
 language, is a being who loves liberty only as the instru 
 ment of tyranny, and deserves to lose the blessing which 
 his selfishness and hateful despotism will not allow him to 
 share with those around him. (Loud cheers.) 
 
AT EXETER HALL. 181 
 
 What say the inhabitants of New-Haven ? 
 
 < Resolved, That we will resist all attempts made for our removal to the 
 torrid shores of Africa, and will sooner suffer every drop of blood to be ta 
 ken from our veins than submit to such unrighteous treatment. (Cheers.) 
 
 Resolved, That we know of no other place t<hat we can call our tru 
 and appropriate home excepting these United States, into which our fathers 
 were brought, who enriched the country by their toils, and fought, bled and 
 died in its defence, and left us in its possession and here we will live and 
 die. (Cheers ) 
 
 The removal of these colored persons has, however, 
 been justified this day by our friend, the descendant of 
 Abraham, on the ground that they are sent as missionaries 
 to a land of heathen darkness, that they may spread the 
 light and sanctity of our divine Christianity. But is it the 
 fact that the Colonization Society is in the habit of 
 transporting missionaries by ship loads to Africa ? A let 
 ter from J. MECHLIN, Esq., Governor of Liberia, to the 
 Ilev. R. R. GrjRLfiY, Secretary to the American Coloniza 
 tion Society, will illustrate this part of the subject. I ex 
 tracted it from No. 94 of the African Repository, Vol. S, 
 for December, 1832. The Letter is dated LIBERIA, Sep 
 tember, 1832. 
 
 With respect to the character of the people composing this expedition,* 
 I regret to be compelled to state, that they are, with the exception of those 
 from Washington, the family of Pages and a few others, the lowest and 
 most abandoned of their class, fr rom such materials it is vain to expect 
 that an industrious, intelligent and enterprising community, can po.-sibly be 
 formed ; the thing is utterly impossible t and they cannot but retard in 
 stead of advancing the prosperity of the colony. I have noticed this sub 
 ject in one of my former communications, and nothing but a thorough con 
 viction that such an influx of vagrants cannot fail of blast ing the hopes which 
 our friends have so long and so ardently cherished, could have induced me 
 again to advert to it. 
 
 Iain induced to be thus unreserved in my remarks, as it is from the suf 
 ferings of people of this stamp, occasioned by their own indolence and stu 
 pidity, that the slanderous reports published in the Liberator have originated ; 
 they h;x\c never, when in the United States, voluntarily labored for their 
 own support, and now, when the stimulus of the overseer s la.*h is remov 
 ed, cannot be induced to exert themselves sufficiently to procure even a 
 scanty subsistence. Indeed, so far from there being any real grounds for 
 the assertions of our enemies, I am at this moment issuing rations to at least 
 one hundred persons, whose six months have expired. Some of these have 
 been prevented by sickness from attending to their farm; the crops of 
 others are not sufficiently advanced to afford them a subsistence ; but by 
 fur the greater number are women and children, who have been sent out 
 without any male person to provide for them; and being unable to gain a 
 
 * Viz : 128 emigrants in the brig America, 15th of September, 1832. 
 
 16 
 
MR. THOMPSONS SPEECH 
 
 livelihood hy tilling the soil or any other occupation, have become a burthen 
 to the Agency. Many in the present expedition are similarly circumstanced, 
 and what to do with them I know not. Our respectable colonists them 
 selves are becoming alarmed at the great number of ignorant and abandon 
 ed characters that have arrived within the last twelve months; and almost 
 daily representations are made by those who have applied themselves to the 
 Cultivation of the soil, of the depredations committed on their crops by the 
 above described class of people, who cannot be induced to labor for their 
 ovvu support. 
 
 Now, Sir, much has been said, both here and elsewhere, 
 of the vast number of intelligent, enterprising and religious 
 persons of color willing to go to Liberia ; and it has, with 
 equal confidence, been asserted that funds only were want 
 ing to enable the managers of the American Colonization 
 Society to make a selection of persons fully qualified to 
 enter, with every prospect of success, upon the great 
 work of civilizing and evangelizing Africa. It appears 
 that during the years 1831 and 1832, efforts were made to 
 ship off a more than ordinary number of emigrants, and 
 that the object was accomplished. But, Sir, were the 
 persons so sent, such as have been all along described as 
 willing to go? Do they answer the description this day 
 given of those missionary colonists, who are to prove such 
 a blessing to Africa? No. The Governor describes them 
 as * the lowest and most abandoned of their class an in 
 flux of vagrants indolent and stupid the greater num 
 ber women and children, without any male person to pro 
 vide for them. He declares that the colonists are alarm 
 ed at the great number of ignorant and abandoned char 
 acters that have arrived within the last twelve months 
 and speaks of daily depredations committed by such per 
 sons upon the crops of the industrious. Now, Sir, what 
 iathe plain inference from these authoritative statements? 
 It is one of the following either that there is no large 
 portion of intelligent and religious persons of color to go, 
 and that, therefore, the representations given upon that sub 
 ject are false or that the managers and auxiliaries of this 
 Society cannot discriminate between the good and the bad ; 
 between those who are likely to retard the interests of 
 the Colony, and those who are qualified to advance 
 them or, that they have wickedly and wilfully poured 
 upon the infant colony a flood of moral corruption, threat 
 ening its very existence,, as an industrious and well con- 
 
AT EXETER HAALL. 183 
 
 ducted settlement. I leave the defenders of the Coloni 
 zation scheme to choose between these natural and neces 
 sary conclusions from the accounts of their Governor, and 
 their own authorized statements. (Loud cheers.) Again, 
 Sir ; the Editor of the African Repository, in introducing 
 Governor Mechlin s letter, observes, respecting the expedi 
 tion of the American : We regret to learn that, in the 
 opinion of the colonial agent, they are little qualified to add 
 strength and character to the Colony ; but/ he adds, 
 those who are now to embark are among the best of 
 our colored population. Now, Sir, admitting that the 
 next ship-load be of this description, I contend that both 
 in principle and policy, such a line of conduct is bad. If 
 they really be among the best of the colored population, 
 why are they, by oppression and unjust treatment, made 
 willing to go? Why are they not encouraged and made 
 happy on their native soil ? As a course of policy, such a 
 proceeding is monstrous. Why send the salt away 1 Is 
 it because they desire to keep an unmixed mass of putrid 
 ity at home? Cannot these best portions of their colored 
 population be beneficially employed at home? Ought they 
 not to ho employed ? But the language of their actions is 
 this We seek not the elevation of the blacks at home. 
 We care not a rush for the improvement of our two mil 
 lions of slaves amongst us we rather wish that they 
 should remain wretched and debased, that we may the 
 more securely rivet upon them the chain of a soul-degrad 
 ing, man-dishonoring, God-defying despotism. Show us 
 an illuminated negro, and away he goes to Liberia I 
 Show us the sublime and noble sight of a black man strug 
 gling into political existence, and away he goes to bless 
 Liberia. Show us the spectacle of one who looks around 
 upon his colored brethren in bonds, with a burning desire 
 to be their liberator, and away with him to the regions of 
 Liberia ! This is not the land for illuminated minds, un 
 less they tenant white bodies. This is not the land for 
 struggles in the cause of liberty, unless it be liberty for 
 the whites. This is not the land for burning desires, and 
 pantings after deeds of deathless fame, unless felt and 
 performed by white skinned men. Away with .nil such 
 colored men to Africa ! There let them burn, and shine, 
 and struggle, and contend ; for here they shall have no 
 
184 MR. THOMPSON S SPEECH 
 
 abiding city. We will cast into their cup the bitterness of 
 scorn and persecution, and calumny and reproach, until 
 nature recoils at the gaily draught, and they cry in the an 
 guish of their spirits We arc willing to go to Liberia! 
 
 The Colonization Society of America has been describ 
 ed, by its Agent in this country, as an abolition Society, 
 and the people of America have been described as general 
 ly friendly to the extinction of slavery. Let us see how 
 far they prove the Agent s assertions. Do their documents 
 confirm such a statement 1 No ! They utterly deny its 
 truth, and declare that slave property is held by a Coloni- 
 zationist to be as sacred as any other description of property. 
 Do they show their hatred of slavery by countenancing the 
 New-England Anti-Slavery Society ? Do they encourage 
 and speak well of its managers and agents ? No ! They 
 are striving, by every possible engine which malice can 
 devise, to crush that Society, because it proceeds upon the 
 Christian principle, that we should do unto others as we 
 would they should do unto us. 
 
 Again : the Colonizationists wish to exempt themselves 
 from the charge of having an unchristian prejudice against 
 color, whilst they justify their proceedings, by asserting the 
 existence of such a prejudice to a very wide extent. Let 
 us see how far they are consistent. For ask them, if this 
 same prejudice cannot be conquered, and they tell you, 
 No it possesses nineteen-twentieths of the inhabitants. 
 You ask them, who are the friends of the Colonization So 
 ciety ? and they tell you Nineteen-twentieths of the inhab 
 itants. (Cheers.) I leave their friend here to extricate 
 them from the charge of being themselves the fosterers of 
 that diabolical prejudice in which has originated, and by 
 which is perpetuated, the degradation of the colored popu 
 lation. (Loud cheers.) 
 
 Permit me, Sir, briefly to refer to a portion of a very 
 eloquent speech delivered by the Rev. Mr. HAMMET, at 
 the American Colonization Society s 16th annual meeting : 
 a quotation which I think will throw considerable light 
 upon the views of the principal supporters of that So 
 ciety. Mark what he says of the prejudice which ex 
 ists, and of the consequent condition of the people of 
 
AT EXETER HALL. 185 
 
 * The evil which this Society proposes to remedy has already spread to 
 a fearful extent, and is becoming more and more alarming every day. That 
 class of the community to whom it affords succor, though nominally free, 
 can in fact never be so in this country. A gloom hangs over them through 
 which they can never hope to penetrate, ami they groan under a weight of 
 prejudice, from which they can never expect to ri^e. 
 
 Indeed, Mr. Hammet! We thank you for your honest 
 truth. Nominally Tree. Must not l expect ur h ope to 
 rise. Base, hypocritical, republican America, to trample 
 on your boasted Declaration of Independence, and wrap 
 in impenetrable gloom the spirit of the man, you have de 
 clared to be equally entitled with yourself to liberty and the 
 pursuit of happiness! Speaking of the patronage the 
 Society enjoys, he says : 
 
 * In almost every State of this Union, the great body of the people arc 
 awakening to a sense of ihe vast importance <>f this tmdeitakmg, &c. &c. 
 and, Sir, the whole religious community of this widely extended republic 
 have declared it worthy their confidence, and have resolved, in their so 
 lemn assemblies, to give it their support. 
 
 Had I been present, I would have asked this Rev. Col- 
 onizationist, whether the whole religious community might 
 not be better employed in praying to be divested of their 
 prejudice, and in seeking to uproot it from American so 
 ciety ? I would have asked him, if he had not himself 
 proved that the gloom, and weight, and prejudice, 
 and nominal freedom, under all of which the people of 
 color groan and despair, were attributable to the whole re 
 ligious community, thus found patronizing the Coloniza 
 tion Society ? He further says : No individual effort, no 
 system , of legislation, can in this country redeem them 
 from this condition, nor raise them to the level of the white 
 man. It is utterly vain to expect it, &c. 
 
 Again AT HOME AMONGST us, scarcely to be con 
 trolled by law, or elevated by religion. (! ! ! !) Monstrous 
 assertion! and impudent as monstrous! and impious as it 
 is impudent ! How could the speaker utter a sentiment so 
 disgraceful to his country, and so libellous upon his faith, 
 without a burning cheek and a faltering tongue ? At 
 home amongst us. Do not these words brand, as hypo 
 critical and base, all the professions of piety and philan- 
 throphy made by the persecuting members of the Coloni 
 zation Society 1 Not only do they confess their own de 
 termination to cherish this hellish feeling not only do 
 
 16* 
 
186 MR. THOMPSON S SPEECH 
 
 they deny the power of legislation to help these people, 
 but actually deny the power of religion U fit them for the 
 privileges of freemen. (Hear, hear.) 
 
 Mr. ABRAHAMS. I deny that it is beyond the power of 
 religion to do it. 
 
 Mr. THOMPSON.: Sir, you do well to acquit yourself of 
 any participation in this blasphemous calumny ; but re 
 member that Mr. Hammet said so in defence of the Colo 
 nization Society ; therefore, strike him off the list of your 
 friends. (Cheers.) And know, also, that the sentiment 
 was uttered with applause in a very large and crowded 
 meeting of the friends of the Society ; therefore, strike them 
 off your list of friends. (Cheers.) And know, still furth 
 er, that 20,000 copies of this speech have been circulated 
 by that Society, and still remains uncontradicted by any 
 friend of the Society but yourself; therefore, free yourself 
 at once from the unholy confederacy, and enrol your name 
 amonst the friends of universal liberty. (Loud cheers.) 
 But although Mr. Hammet denies that they can rise in 
 their native country, he maintains that it is only necessa 
 ry that they should be sent to Africa, to become every thing 
 that is noble and useful, Aladdin s lamp has been spoken 
 of to-day ; but, in my opinion, the change effected upon 
 the characters of these colored people, by a voyage to 
 Africa, is even more wonderful than the exploits of this 
 Hero of Arabian romance. Nothing is necessary but that 
 these pests of society/ these * nuisances/ should be plac 
 ed on board a Colonisation packet, and, presto! they 
 become artizans, statesmen, philosophers and- Christians. 
 (Loud applause.) 
 
 Transported to Africa/ say Oie Rev. Mr. Hammet, * we there LehoM 
 * class of beings who, at home amongst us, could scarcely he controlled by 
 law or elevated by religion, fnuldenly springing info honorable notice ; cul 
 tivating among themselves all the aitd of civilized life, and securing to their 
 families all the blessings of well ordered society. Every day s intelligence 
 only reiterates what we have heard from the beginning that rcacehaimo- 
 ny and contentment are abounding.* 
 
 Then all the elements of civilization, all the elements of 
 harmony, all the elements of contentment, every thing that 
 lifts man from a state of degradation, must be shipped off 
 from America ; for there these elements are at war with 
 peace and contentment, and produce wretchedness ; and 
 
AT EXETER HALL 187 
 
 the native intellectual greatness which raises the man in 
 in Liberia, sinks him to the condition of a brute in the 
 first republic of the world. (Loud applause.) 
 
 Schools are established, continues the Rev. gentleman, (but are there 
 none in America 1) churches are erected, the mechanic arts are cultivated, 
 Agriculture is promoted, and commerce even with foreign nations lias already 
 been embarked in; ar.d by whom, Sir 1 By a class of beings who, while 
 here, hung a dead weight upon the skirts of the country. Sir, with the sub 
 limity and grandeur of the spectacle and prospect before us, calculation it 
 self can hardly keep pace. (Laughter and cheers.) 
 
 If ever there was a piece of self-contradiction, it is 
 this extract .; if ever there was a man who belied re 
 ligion, who belied human nature, who made transcend- 
 ant capabilities a reason for banishing men from their 
 native land, Mr. Ham met has been guilty of it in the 
 passage 1 have read. (Cheers.) But can these free 
 people of color be elevated by religion? At Liberia, 
 the Rev. gentleman adds, the Christian, too, has much to 
 animate his hopes and stimulate his zeal. In America, 
 they contend that religion has not this elevating power ; 
 but here, in Liberia, the Christian has much to animate 
 his hopes and stimulate his zeal. An immense field, al 
 ready white to the harvest, opens before him. The mis 
 sionary of the cross shall enter there, bearing to perish 
 ing thousands the Bread of Life. O, what cant and hy 
 pocrisy is this ! What an insult to the religion that he 
 was lauding. He was obliged to contend, at one moment, 
 that it could not help the black man among his white, 
 christianized, high professing brethren of America ; but in 
 the wilds of Africa, amidst beasts and savages, it could 
 make him a man, a philosopher, and a Christian. (Loud 
 cheers.) 
 
 Africa will receive him ; dun cbe.s will be reared; presses will be estab 
 lished; the scriptures shull be circulated; and the da ik ness of ages, retiring 
 like the shades of night at the approach of the morning sun, shall l;e finally 
 scattered l>y the efiulgent blaze of divine truth. Yes, Sir, (thus ends his 
 speech,) superstition shall be broken down, false | hilcsophy shall be con 
 founded, heathen oracles shall be struck dumb. "The altar and the god 
 thallsmk ioether to the dust" and Africashall ccme forth, " redeemed , re 
 generated and disenthralled." 
 
 Yes, and when Africa shall thus arise in might and ma 
 jesty ; when Christianity shall have made her all that is 
 noble ; even then she shall say, The prejudice that sent 
 forth the missionaries to our country was cruel, anti-chris- 
 tian, inhuman and diabolical. (Loud cheers.) 
 

 188 
 
 What are you called for together to-day ? To counten 
 ance WILLIAM LLOYD GARRISON, the dauntless, the talent 
 ed, the uncompromising, the pledged, the devoted friend 
 of the free persons of color and of slaves in the United 
 States. Let others, with their narrow views, frown in the 
 cruelty of their scorn upon a meeting like this ; but be it 
 yours to welcome, from the regions of America, WILLIAM 
 LLOYD GARRISON, who is fighting the same battle as 
 yourselves. Be it yours to cheer his heart ; be it yours to 
 countenance his efforts ; be it yours to send him back for 
 tified with your blessings and your prayers ; be it yours to 
 hold up his hand amidst these convicted flesh-mongers 
 and kidnappers of their species. (Cheers.) 
 
 Mr. GARRISON has happily succeed in establishing, with 
 no small pains, with no small sacrifice, an Anti-Slavery 
 Society in Boston. What are the motives of the Socie 
 ty he has established? My resolution coines to these, 
 and therefore I will take the liberty of troubling you with 
 them. The whole affair is almost new to a British audience 
 and therefore I will just lay before you, in two or three 
 sentences, the motives of the New-England Anti-Slavery 
 Society, as avowed in their First Annual Report. 
 
 Their motives are not motives of hostility to the inter 
 ests or the persons of slave-owners. Then they go on to say 
 that their desire is to do good to the slave-owner as well 
 as the black ; whilst they expose the injustice of one man 
 holding property in another. Their motives in the second 
 place, are not those of a party character ; they are asso 
 ciated together to maintain, not to destroy the Union, 
 by endeavoring to remove the cause of division. Their 
 motive, in the third place, is to tolerate no compromise 
 of principle. There is no truckling to narrow-sighted ex 
 pediency ; no attempt to empty the ocean, by putting into 
 it the buckets of Colonization philanthrophy. Their de 
 mands upon the holders of slaves are as imperative as those 
 of the book of inspiration : to loose the bands of wicked- 
 nesss, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed 
 go free. (Cheers.) * The purposes of the New-England 
 Anti-Slavery Society, as declared in the second article of 
 its Constitution, are to endeavor, by all means sanctioned 
 by law humanity and religion, to effect the abolition of sla 
 very, to improve the character and condition of the free 
 
AT EXETER HALL. 
 
 189 
 
 people of color, inform and correct public opinion in rela 
 tion to their situation and rights, and obtain for them equal 
 civil and political rights and privileges with the whites. 
 
 Then, Sir, in another part of this document, (the First 
 Annual Report of the Society,) they go on to say what 
 they mean by immediate abolition. * It means, in the first 
 place, that all title of property in the slaves shall instantly 
 cease, because their Creator has never relinquished his 
 claim of ownership, and because none have a right to sell 
 their own bodies or buy those of their own species as 
 cattle. 
 
 It means, secondly, that every husband shall have his 
 own wife, and every wife her own husband, both being 
 united in wedlock according to its proper forms, and plac 
 ed under the protection of law. 
 
 It means, thirdly, that parents shall have the control 
 and government of their own children, and that the child 
 ren, shall belong to their parents. 
 
 It means, fourthly, that all trade in human beings shall 
 be regarded as felony, and entitled to the highest punish 
 ment. 
 
 It means, fifthly, that the tremendous power which is 
 now vested in every slaveholder to punish his slaves with 
 out trial, and to a savage extent, shall be at once taken 
 away. 
 
 It means, sixthly, that all those laws which now prohib 
 it the instruction of the slaves, shall instantly be repealed, 
 and others enacted, providing schools and instruction for 
 their intellectual illumination. 
 
 It means, seventhly, that the planters shall employ their 
 slaves as free laborers, and pay them just wages. 
 
 * It means, eighthly, that the slaves, instead of being 
 forced to labor for the exclusive benefit of others, by cruel 
 drivers, and the application of the la?h upon their bodies, 
 shall be encouraged to toil for the mutual profit of them 
 selves arid their employers, by the infusion of new motives 
 into their hearts, growing out of their recognition and re 
 ward as men. 
 
 It means, finally, that right shall take the supremacy 
 over wrong, principle over brute force, humanity over 
 cruelty, honesty over theft, purity over lust, honor over 
 baseness, love over hatred, and religion over heathenism. 
 
190 MR. THOMPSON S SPEECH 
 
 Then the benefits are stated, which would result from 
 the adoption of this righteous procedure. 
 
 Having thus endeavored to show the wickedness, the 
 absurdity of the Colonization Society; having in the sec 
 ond place endeavored, though feebly, to do justice to the 
 motives and the conductor Mr. GARRISON ; having laid be 
 fore you the principles of the Society which he has had 
 the honor to found ; I have now to move a resolution, which 
 will claim your sympathy on behalf of this gentleman, and 
 which will go to foster and cherish the Society with which 
 he is connected. The resolution is as follow : 
 
 Resolved, That the colored people of the United States, fully aware that 
 the object of the American Colonization Society is not their improvement 
 ami happiness, have declared their detestation of it in the most solemn and 
 public manner; that that oppressed people have our heart-felt sympathy ; 
 and that the principles and efforts of their advocates, the Anti-Slavery So 
 ciety of New-England, have our cordial approbation. 
 
 I trust that this resolution will pass unanimously. I 
 know that all opposition will be fruitless and contemptible. 
 I know that it will but elicit your disgust though disgust is 
 sometimes more acceptable to certain persons than no no 
 tice at all ; but, at all events, I know that I shall have a 
 large majority in favor of the resolution. If there be any 
 one present who does not approve of it, let him move an 
 amendment. (Long and continued cheering.) 
 
 The resolution was carried unanimously. 
 



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