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 LETTER 
 
 FROM THE 
 
 it E V. ,1. MITCHELL 
 
 RELATIVE TO 
 
 COLONIZATION. 
 
 20 
 
 ' 
 
RESOLUTIONS. 
 
 Resolved, That the Itev. J. Mitchell, agent of the American Coloni¬ 
 zation Society, be respectfully requested to furnish to this house, at 
 his earliest convenience, answers to the following questions, viz: 
 
 1st. Should the state of Illinois determine to establish a settlement 
 on the coast of Africa for the accommodation of the colored people, 
 where will be the best point which his judgment would indicate fi*p 
 all the information in his possession for the establishment of such set¬ 
 tlement ? 
 
 2d. What will be the probable cost of procuring an extent of ter¬ 
 ritory sufficient for that purpose ? Its location, health, fertility, nat¬ 
 ural production, and other inducements for such a settlement ? 
 
 3d. What is the character of the soil of Liberia, nature of the 
 climate, character of the inhabitants and government. 
 
 4th. What are the reasons for stimulating emigration to Liberia ? 
 
 5th. How much does it cost to transport emigrants to Liberia ? 
 
 6th. What is the number of the colored people in Illinois, and the 
 probability of prevailing upon them to emigrate, or to what extent, and 
 other suggestions he may see fit to make in relation to the subject of 
 colonization. 
 
 Resolved , That the secretary be requested to furnish Mr. Mitchell 
 with a copy of the foregoing as soon as possible. 
 
tA(cAL 
 
 ii 
 
 CORRESPONDENCE. 
 
 H / . 
 
 Springfield, Ill., January 4, 1855. 
 
 Hon. T. J. Turner, Speaker oj the House of Representatives 
 of the General Assembly of the state of Illinois : 
 
 Sir :— I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of the resolu¬ 
 tion of inquiry, in relation to the subject of African colonization, which 
 was adopted by your branch of the general assembly on the 3d inst. 
 
 , And I herewith respectfully submit an answer thereto. 
 
 Yours with great resnect. 
 
 J. MITCHELL, 
 
 Agent Colonization Society. 
 
 Springfield, January 3d, 1855. 
 
 To the Hon. Speaker and members of the House of Representatives oj 
 
 the state oj Illinois : 
 
 Gentlemen :—I hereby acknowledge the receipt of your resolution 
 of inquiry, in relation to African colonization, communicated by your 
 clerk, and with great pleasure I will attempt an answer to the points 
 found therein. 
 
 1st. You desire to know the proper point on the African coast , to 
 which the attention of your people might be directed, as a location 
 for a new settlement for the benefit of your free people of color, who 
 may be disposed to emigrate to Africa. 
 
 In answer to this we will say that in my opinion Grand Cape Mount, 
 »nd the adjoining country, is the most desirable point on which our 
 western states can expend their labor and attention, in the work of 
 planting settlements. 
 
 This is one of the most prominent points on that coast; the country 
 around is high and rolling, and remarkably well watered, being like- 
 
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wise very fertile. Cape Mount is a bold head land, rising gradually 
 to an elevation of 1,060 feet above the level of the sea ; those high 
 lands are covered with a heavy forest. Within a few miles of the 
 cape the Passou, or Gape Mount river, discharges itself into a smell 
 bay, formed by the projection of Cape Mount on the south and Manna 
 point, eight miles above on the north; into this bay another river, the 
 Sugury, flows. These streams are not of the first class, but they are 
 navigable for boats some distance from the mouth. 
 
 The most western point of this cape is in latitude 6 deg. 44 min. 
 25 sec. north, and in 11 deg. 23 min. 16 sec. west longitude, and it is 
 about 50 miles west north-west of Monrovia the capital of the repub¬ 
 lic of Liberia. 
 
 Grand Cape Mount is generally the first point of land that meets 
 
 the eye of our emigrants as they approach the African coast, on their 
 voyage to Liberia, and from its northern location and natural advan¬ 
 tages^ it must become one of the most important commercial points ir 
 Liberia. Indeed it has always been a place somewhat noted foi 
 trade, and thousands of dollars have changed hands annually at thal 
 point; it beinfr a few years ago a notorious and successful slave mart 
 costing the United States, England, and JFrance much trouble tc 
 watch it. 
 
 Of this country, J. N. Lewis, then secretary of state for Liberia 
 writes in the following strong terms :—“Should we ever succeed ir 
 making a purchase of that country, it will be at a very dear rate; the 
 people are far more intelligent than any of the tribes within our juris 1 
 diction ; their state of living is very expensive, and I am quite certafr 
 that they would charge $5,000 at least for it—and so it will be fo] 
 any of the territories lying between it and the Sherbro river,” (whicl 
 borders the English settlement on the south;) “we cannot say hoy 
 far if extends into the interior, it is a very large and beautiful coun 
 try, and I presume the people near the sea will say that it extend: 
 back a great distance.” 
 
 A few years ago President Roberts negotiated with native chief: 
 for this country, and secured the jurisdiction of all the lands in th< 
 vicinity of the cape. 
 
 Of the above location President Roberts thus writes to us:—“Ther< 
 are several locations within our jurisdiction between this place ano 
 Sierra Leone for settlements, and may be occupied at the shortes 
 notice. I would recommend Grand Cape Mount, which is a fertih 
 and well watered country, and possesses many inducements or natu 
 ral advantages to new emigrants, and the natives are exceedingl; 
 anxious to have an American settlement near them.” 
 
 Mr. J. Ashmon represents the inhabitants of this country as supe 
 rior to their southern neighbors “in intellectual endowments, urbanit; 
 ol manners, profound dissimulation,” and because of “their professioi 
 of the Mohamedan faith, they being the dividing tribe between Mb 
 hamedan and Pagan Africa; he represents them as remarkable fo 
 sobriety, perseverance, activity and avarice, and likewise for extrem 
 jealousy of the interference of strangers, either in their trade or ii 
 their territorial jurisdiction, or their civil affairs.” The name b; 
 
5 
 
 [301 j 
 
 vJiich this tribe is known is the Fey or Vey nation, and their number 
 is about ten or fifteen thousand. A nation called the Day tribe occu- 
 pies the territory between Cape Mount and Monrovia, who are far 
 inferior to the Veys in every respect; they are a Pagan tribe about 
 t£n thousand in number. 
 
 In the time of Ashmon the trade of Cape Mount and country adjoin¬ 
 ing was stated at u Jifty thousand dollars .” 
 
 In addition to the above, we will quote an extract from the report 
 of Rev. J. McKay, the colored agent of the Indiana State Board of 
 Colonization, who visited Liberia last year, and spent eighty-three 
 days in that country, and on his return, his report was published by 
 that board. He says—“The cape and country adjoining appeared to 
 me the most beautiful scene I ever beheld. Like many others I had 
 regarded that country as a barren and desolate waste, but I found 
 myself much mistaken on this point, as the whole country was cov¬ 
 ered with a heavy forest of fine trees, of great variety and excellent 
 quality for timber, springing up from a soil of great fertility.” 
 
 2d. The cost of territory at Grand Cape Mount, is a matter that 
 must be determined by correspondence with the authorities of Liberia, 
 as that country has passed into their hands. 
 
 However, we have no doubt but lands can be procured on the most 
 reasonable terms. The following extract of a letter addressed by 
 President Roberts to the Indiana State Board of Colonization on this 
 subject, may not be out of place : 
 
 “ The government ol Liberia will readily allot a section of land in 
 \he Grand Cape Mount district, for the location of emigrants from the 
 state of Indiana ; and will assign to such emigrants town or farm 
 lots, under existing regulations of this government; which may be 
 increased in quantity, at the pleasure of the Indiana board, by pur¬ 
 chase from the government at the established rates for public lands, 
 or at prices agreed on between this government and the Indiana 
 board, and the title from the government vested immediately in the 
 citizen emigrant. 
 
 u I have now, sir, only to add—waiving the proposition for a grant 
 of land—that the government of Liberia will be most happy to co¬ 
 operate with the Indiana State Colonization Board, in any measures 
 it may think proper to adopt for carrying out its benevolent objects, 
 in reference to securing a home in Liberia for the colored people of 
 that state.” 
 
 No doubt the same line of policy will be pursued, should you apply 
 for a portion of those lands—and it is likely the price will be nominal. 
 
 3d. The third point —the Jertility of the country around Cape 
 Mount—has been fully answered in the above communications of 
 Roberts, Lewis, and McKay, who all concur in representing it as a 
 delightful and desirable country. 
 
 4th. On their evidence, likewise, we must believe it to be a healthy 
 region; and the fact that the native tribes who formerly owned the 
 country, were the most warlike, robust, and intelligent of all tribes 
 on that coast, is strong proof that the climate at that point is con¬ 
 genial to human life, health, and vigor of mind. 
 
6 
 
 [302 ] 
 
 5th. The next point presented is the character of the soil of Libe¬ 
 ria. Liberia, extending as it does, about 700 miles along the coast, 
 from the southern limit of Sierra Leone, to the southern limit of the 
 Cape Palmas, or Maryland colony, must needs embrace quite a 
 variety of soil, differing in appearance, quality, and productiveness. 
 
 That of the uplands, though generally much inferior to that of the 
 lowlands, is better adapted for some articles. The upland soil 
 usually consists of a reddish clay, more or less mixed with soft rocks 
 and stones, containing considerable quantities of iron. There are 
 three kinds of lowland soil, one of which is that on the banks of the 
 rivers, within a few miles of the sea; this consists of a loose, deep, 
 black mould, which is peculiarly adapted to the growth of those kinds 
 of vegetables which thrive best during the dry season. Another va¬ 
 riety is that which is generally found extending back from the banks 
 of the river, further from the sea than the first named; it consists of a 
 light clay, more or less tempered with sand, and is well adapted to 
 almost every kind of vegetables which thrive in tropical climates. 
 The third quality is that of the lowlands, in the immediate vicin¬ 
 ity of the ocean, consisting principally of sand, and it is really 
 astonishing to perceive how well many vegetables will grow in this 
 kind of soil, even within fifty yards of the ocean in some places.” 
 
 The above remarks are drawn from a series of articles, published 
 a short time past by Dr. J. W. Lugenbell, who for many years was 
 the principal physician in Liberia, and likewise acted as American 
 agent for the care of re-captured Africans. His statements on those 
 points are founded on careful and long observation. * 
 
 In addition to these remarks, we will give an extract from a 
 communication of Mr. Ashmun, one of the first agents of the coloni¬ 
 zation society, who spent many years in Liberia, and was the prin¬ 
 cipal instrument, under a wise Providence, in giving stability to the 
 foundations of the colon)'. The communication referred to, is a 
 manual called the Liberia Farmer, or Colonist’s Guide, addressed 
 to the colonists, the truthfulness of which has never been questioned. 
 He says : 
 
 “ The soil of Liberia depends for its quality much on the situation 
 of the lands. The uplands have tw o varieties of soil. The first is 
 that strong and deep mould which is always found where the hard, 
 brown granite rocks are most numerous. This soil is certainly 
 very capable of being turned to a very profitable accouut. Observe 
 everywhere in the beds of those rocks, the thrifty and strong growth 
 of timber. The largest trees are commonly found in such situa¬ 
 tions. This is, however, a wet season soil, and must not be expected 
 to give you a crop in the dry months. I shall call this the strong 
 upland soil. 
 
 “The other species of upland soil is of a much inferior quality. It 
 consists of a reddish, clayey earth, everywhere more or less mixe^d 
 with soft, rust-colored rocks, stone and gravel. The red color of the 
 soil and rocks is caused by the rust of the iron particles mixed with 
 it. Manure may in time render it productive ; but the best mode yet 
 discovered to fertilize this soil is to burn over the surface in clearing 
 
7 r 303 ] 
 
 * the land, and to spread small quantities of ashes or lime over it, after 
 the first crop. I shall distinguish this as the weak upland soil. 
 
 “There are three sorts of lowland soil. The first and richest is 
 , that formed on the sides of the rivers, and from the wash of the up¬ 
 lands it is always wet during the rains, and consists of a loose, deep, 
 black mould, and is entirely free from rocks and gravel. This soil 
 will produce any crop which you choose to plant, but is especially 
 adapted to early rice, and to all those vegetables which thrive in dry 
 seasons. I shall call this the black lowland soil. 
 
 “The second variety of soil in the bottom land I shall name the stiff 
 clayey soil. It consists of a lightish colored clay, sometimes a little 
 tempered with coarse sand. It is the subject of the extremes of wet 
 and drought, but produces good crops, and may be much improved 
 by manuring. 
 
 “ The sandy soil is the third variety found in the level country. It 
 is most prevalent wherever the land has, in course of time, gained 
 t# upon the ocean or channels of rivers. It is a light, warm soil, and 
 will yield only slender crops without manure. Sweet potatoes, beans, 
 cassada, and succulent fruit trees will succeed best in it.” 
 
 In andfcher part of the manual on agriculture, from which the above 
 is taken, Mr. Ashmun thus addresses the colonists : 
 
 “The flat lands around you, and particularly your farms, have as 
 good a soil as can be met with in any country. They will produce 
 two crops of corn, sweet potatoes, and several other vegetables in 
 the year. They will yield a larger crop than the best soils in Ameri- 
 * ca, and they will produce a number of very valuable articles, for 
 which, in the United States, millions of money are every year paid 
 away to foreigners. One acre of rich land, well tilled, will produce 
 you three hundred dollars’ worth of indigo. Half an acre may be 
 made to grow half a ton of arrow root. Four acres laid out in cof¬ 
 fee plants will, after the third year, produce you a clear income of two 
 or three hundred dollars. Half an acre of cotton trees will clothe 
 your whole family, and, except a little hoeing, your wife and children 
 can perform the whole labor of cropping and manufacturing it. One 
 acre of cane will make you independent of all the world for the sugar 
 you use in your family. One acre set with fruit trees and well attend¬ 
 ed, will furnish you the year round with more plantains, bananas, 
 oranges, limes, guavas, pawpaws and pineapples than you will ever 
 gather. Nine months of the year you may grow fresh vegetables 
 every month, and some of you who have lowland plantations may do 
 so throughout the year.” 
 
 The general correctness of the above remarks is thus indorsed by 
 the Rev. R. R. Gurley, who was sent out by President Taylor to ob¬ 
 tain information in regard to Liberia. After quoting, in his report, the 
 above paragraph, he says : 
 
 v “My observations on the banks of the rivers of the republic, (es¬ 
 pecially the St. Paul’s, the St. John’s, and the Sinou,) along both 
 sides of Stockton creek, and among the gardens of Monrovia, and 
 the plantations in its vicinity, confirmed my belief in the general cor¬ 
 rectness of this statement.” 
 
6. Your next inquiry relates to the natural production* of Liberia. 
 We will answer this, partly by quoting the language of Dr. Lugen- 
 beil, and partly that of Ashmun : 
 
 “Nearly all the different kinds of grain, roots and fruits which are 
 peculiar to inter-tropical climates thrive well in Liberia; and many 
 garden vegetables which belong more properly to temperate climates 
 may be raised, in quality not much inferior to the same kind of arti¬ 
 cles produced in climates peculiarly adapted to their growth. But 
 the principal articles of product, and which are destined to be the 
 great staples of that country, are rice, cotton, sugar and coffee ; to 
 which must be added “corn, cassada, yams, sweet potatoes, arrow root, 
 Lima and other beans, peas, cabbages, turnips, beets, carrots, toma¬ 
 toes, cymlings, chiota, ochra, cucumbers, many varieties of pepper, 
 ground nuts, palrna christi, the india rubber tree, the croton oil tree, 
 and the palm tree, and among their fruits the Liberians number the 
 orange, lemon, limes, guava, pine apple, plantain, banana, tamarinds, 
 rose apples, pomegranates, cherries, cocoa nuts, pawpaws, mango 
 plums, alligator pears, patango, bread fruit, arellous, and various val¬ 
 uable vegetables and fruits of the tropics. Most of these have I my¬ 
 self seen growing luxuriantly in the gardens and farms of thl repub¬ 
 lic. 
 
 “According to the late Mr. Buxton, whose researches on the sub¬ 
 ject of the agricultural and commercial resources of Africa were very 
 accurate and extensive, of dye-woods there are an abundance, yield¬ 
 ing carmine, crimson, red, brown, brilliant yellow and blue ; of gums 
 there are copal, Senegal, mastic and Sudan or Turkey gum. The she 
 or butternut is hardly less valuable than the palm nut. The tree pro¬ 
 ducing it is said to extend over a large portion of the continent. Park 
 thought the butter made from it superior to that made from cow’s 
 milk. 
 
 “No country in the world is more amply enriched than this is with 
 the chief productions of the animal and vegetable kingdoms. The 
 ground nut yields a pure golden colored oil of a pleasant taste, and 
 has been sold as high as £50 per ton, (about $240.) The castor nut 
 grows wild on the banks of the Gambia and elsewhere. The ginger 
 of Africa is particularly fine and high-flavored ; it yields about sixty 
 for one, and the people only want method for preparing it for the Eu¬ 
 ropean market. 
 
 “The w r oods of this continent are extremely valuable. Travelers 
 enumerate not less than forty species of timber, which grow, in vast 
 abundance, and are easily obtained, such as mahogany, lignumvitse, 
 rose wood, &e., &c. 
 
 “With few considerable exceptions the whole line of coast in West¬ 
 ern Africa accessible to trading vessels, presents immense tracts of 
 lands of the most fertile character, which only require the hand of in¬ 
 dustry and commercial enterprise to turn into inexhaustible mines of 
 wealth.”— Gurley’s Report. 
 
 The rivers of Liberia are the St. Paul’s, St. John’s, the Junk river, 
 Half Cape Mount, Mechlin, the New Cess, the Grand Cess, the San- 
 guen, the Sinon; and in the new purchase there is the Gallinas, Soly- 
 
9 
 
 r 305 1 
 
 * man, Manna, Sugury and Grand Cape Mount river ; to which we may 
 add the Shebar. The rivers of Liberia are not very large, although 
 some of them are from one-fourth to three-fourths of a mile wide, for 
 t fifty miles or more from their entrance into the ocean. 
 
 A graphic description of the general aspect of the country is given 
 in the following language, by Rev. J. Day, the superintendent of the 
 Southern Baptist Mission, who resides in Bexley, on the St. John’s, 
 and who has explored the interior for seventy or seventy-five miles : 
 
 “From seven to twenty miles the country is beautifully undulating, 
 and interspersed with the most lovely rills of excellent water, clear 
 as crystal, foaming and scolding among the rocks, presenting a thou¬ 
 sand mill seats. The air in that region is salubrious and bracing, the 
 soil deep and rich,, covered with a forest which, for the height and size 
 of the trees, I have never seen equalled. From twenty to thirty miles 
 is a region of small mountains, of from three to five hundred feet in 
 elevation. These mountains are covered with a rich forest, and may 
 be cultivated. I have stood on the summit of one of them cultiv ated 
 to the topj and thence beheld a delightful prospect. Beyond these 
 hills, or mountains, as we call them, the land becomes generally more 
 level to the distance of seventy miles, the extent of my interior tra¬ 
 vels. I am told by the natives that a day’s walk beyond are loftier 
 mountains, which it will require a whole day to ascend, and very 
 steep. If this is the case, the country I speak of is a valley. The 
 soil of the whole distance is rich, water abundant and good, and the 
 cause of disease is no. more apparent than in level regions in America. 
 If our people want health, they may as surely obtain it in the moun¬ 
 tainous region as by trans-Atlantic trips. J have left home in bad 
 health, on preaching tours, of two or three weeks, and returned vig¬ 
 orous and strong. The birds sing more sweetly there, and the flow¬ 
 ers are more beautiful and fragrant than in the marshy region border¬ 
 ing on the sea. The natives are more industrious, honest, happy and 
 hopeful every way in that region. To thousands in that forest-clad 
 region have I preached, while they were as attentive even as congre¬ 
 gations in America. 
 
 “The principal domestic animals in Liberia are cows or black cat¬ 
 tle, sheep, swine, geese, turkeys, ducks and chickens. Horses are 
 plentiful in the interior, within three hundred miles of the coast, but 
 they do not thrive well in the settlements, in consequence, principally, 
 of the want of proper management.” 
 
 7. The climate is congenial to those who inhabit that country, and 
 there is nothing essentially destructive to life or health therein, but 
 the general testimony is that the native tribes and those American 
 settlers who have been acclimated, enjoy good health. 
 
 Mr. Gurley, in his report, says : “From my own experience of 
 two months on the coast of Liberia, I may be allowed to saj r that my 
 impressions of the African climate are more favorable than those I 
 had derived from books ; for although our arrival occurred during the 
 latter portion of what is called the rainy season, and we continued on 
 the coast during most of the transition period from that to the dry 
 season, the weather was generally clear and pleasant, and we were 
 
[306] 
 
 10 
 
 seldom deterred for an entire day from visiting the shore, or from 
 moderate physical exertion, 
 
 “No one can look upon the athletic, finely proportioned and devel¬ 
 oped forms of native Africans, or upon a congregation of the inhabi¬ 
 tants of Monrovia, or of the other towns and villages of the Liberian 
 Republic, and retain the idea that health cannot be enjoyed on the 
 African coast. The general aspect of the people of Liberia is healthy, 
 and I am convinced, from much observation and many inquiries, that 
 the dangers of the climate to colored emigrants are becoming less and 
 less formidable, and that they will, to a good degree, be averted by 
 the cultivation of the soil, an appropriate regimen, and increased med¬ 
 ical experience and skill. 5 ’ 
 
 To the above we will add the testimony of Dr. Lugenbell: 
 
 “On the whole, I regard the climate of Liberia decidedly pleasant, 
 notwitstanding the scorching rays of the tropical sun, and the ‘abund¬ 
 ance of rain 5 which falls during the months of June, July, September 
 and October. So far as the pleasantness of the climate and weather is 
 concerned, I would decidedly prefer a residence in Liberia to one in 
 any part of the United States. 
 
 “The extreme of the thermometrical state of the atmosphere may be 
 set down at 65 degrees and 90 degrees. I have never heard of the 
 mercury in a good thermometer having sunk below the former, nor 
 arisen above the latter point in the shade. The average height of the 
 mercury, during the rainy season, may be set down at about 76 de¬ 
 grees, and during the dry season at 84 degrees. . The mean tempera¬ 
 ture for the year is about 80 degrees. 55 
 
 From these figures it will be seen that th'e heat of Liberia is not ex¬ 
 cessive, nor is it as great as in some points in the south of our own 
 country, where the thermometer frequently stands as high as 90 deg.; 
 add to this the fact that cold winters, cold nights, and the cold and 
 snow of this country are unknown there, and we will be able to 
 comprehend the reason why those who have visited Liberia consider 
 the climate desirable. 
 
 8. As to the character of the inhabitants of a country, we general¬ 
 ly form a correct opinion by examining their institutions ; and if we 
 are thus to judge the Liberians, we must form a high opinion of them; 
 for their institutions, so far as formed, are of the most liberal and en¬ 
 lightened character, and the people themselves have made a very fa¬ 
 vorable impression on the minds of those who have Visited them. In 
 evidence of which I will quote a few extracts: 
 
 “They (the colonists) considered that they had started into new 
 existence, felt proud of their attitude, and seemed conscious that while 
 they were founders of a new empire, they were prosecuting the no¬ 
 ble purpose of the regeneration of the land of their fathers. I was 
 pleased to observe that they were impressed with the importance of 
 education, not only for their own children, but for those of the na¬ 
 tives. That there are'many vast sources yet undeveloped in Liberia, 
 no one can doubt,; and that they will soon be brought forth and made 
 available by the enterprize and intelligence of the colonist, is equally 
 unquestionable. 55 — Capt . Kennedy , U. S. JYavy. 
 
11 
 
 [ 307 ] 
 
 > “Nothing struck me as more remarkable than the great superiority 
 
 in intelligence, manners, conversation, dress, and general appearance 
 in every respect, of the people over their colored brethren in Ameri¬ 
 ca. I saw no intemperance, nor did I hear a profane oath uttered by 
 any one. I know of no place where the Sabbath appears to be more 
 respected than in Monrovia. Most of the settlers appear to be rapid¬ 
 ly acquiring property.”— Capt. Abels ^ Emigrant Ship. 
 
 “The youth of the colonies discover an eager desire for improve¬ 
 ment ; and their progress, considering their opportunities, is almost 
 incredible. Among the men of Monrovia there is a larger proportion 
 of good accountants and elegant penmen, than in any town (Ameri¬ 
 can) of his acquaintance.”— Gov. Buchanan. 
 
 “The character of these industrious colonists is exceedingly cor¬ 
 rect and moral; their minds strongly impressed with religious feel¬ 
 ings ; their manners serious and decorous, and their domestic habits 
 remarkably neat and comfortable. The complete success of this col¬ 
 ony is a proof that negroes are, by .proper care and attention, as sus¬ 
 ceptible of the habits of industry and the improvements of social life, 
 as any other race ; and that the melioration of the condition of the 
 black people on the coast of Africa, by means of such colonies, is not 
 chimerical.”— A British JYaval Officer. 
 
 9. “ The Government of Liberia is based on the principles of re¬ 
 publicanism ; and in every essential particular it may be regarded as 
 a miniature representation of the government of the United States ; 
 the only particular point of difference being in the name of the nation¬ 
 al assembly, which is styled legislature instead of congress, and in 
 the time of service of the principal officers of the government. The 
 president is elected by the popular vote for two years, and he is eligi¬ 
 ble to re-election. The senators, of whom there are two from each 
 county, are elected for four years, and the representatives are elect¬ 
 ed for two years. The only cabinet officers who have yet been com¬ 
 missioned are the secretary of state and of the treasury, and the attor¬ 
 ney general. All the officers of justice are appointed by the president 
 with the consent of the senate. The judicial power of the republic is 
 vested in a supreme court, a court of quarter sessions in.each county, 
 and magistrate’s courts, which meet monthly. No white person is 
 allowed to become a citizen.”— Dr. Lugenbell. 
 
 Such is the country, and such are the institutions of Liberia. 
 
 10. The cost of transporting emigrants and finding them in provi¬ 
 sions for six months, will average about $'60 per emigrant. This has 
 been considered all sufficient to provision them during the voyage, 
 and give them a reasonable start in Liberia. But sound policy will 
 dictate a liberal course in regard to such as go from this state. 
 
 11. The number of colored persons living in Illinois at this time is 
 between five and six thousand. If these people, in connection with 
 the colored people of Indiana, would remove to Liberia, they are suf¬ 
 ficiently strong to lay the foundation of a new state of respectable 
 size; and amongst them they can number some men of decided abili¬ 
 ty, who would control a republic much better than some of our French 
 neighbors. 
 
12 
 
 [ 308 ] 
 
 12. As to the number of colored persons in Illinois who would be 
 willing to emigrate to Africa, we are unimformed. Indeed, we have 
 not the acquaintance necessary to answer this point, in its special ap¬ 
 plication to this state, but we can furnish a few points of general infor¬ 
 mation in answer thereto. 
 
 We discover from several indications and signs, that there is an emi¬ 
 gration movement now in agitation amongst the free people of color, 
 not only in this state, but throughout all the free states, and the result 
 of this agitation has created two parties amongst them. One, resolved 
 to remain in the United States, and struggle for equal rights, civil and 
 social, until success crowns their efforts. The other believes it un¬ 
 wise and impolitic thus to contend against the determination of the 
 white race not to amalgamate with the black—and therefore have re¬ 
 solved to separate from them as soon as possible. The first named 
 party held a convention in Rochester, N. Y., from which they have 
 sent out an address to the American people, and at which they passed 
 resolutions, in which we find the following sentiments :— u We ask 
 that the doors of the school-house, the work-shop, the church, 
 the college, shall be thrown open as freely to our children as to the 
 children of other members of the community 55 —“that the complete 
 and unrestricted right of suffrage, which is essential to the dignity 
 even of the white man, be extended to the free colored man also. 55 
 such are a few of the sentiments of the first named party, which has 
 been stirred into being by the growing disposition of the colored man 
 to emigrate. They have formed a national council, consisting of two 
 representatives from each state, “for the purpose of improving the 
 character, and developing the intelligence, maintaining the rights and 
 organizing a union of the colored people of the free states. 55 
 
 In opposition to this party, the second named is growing into form 
 and taking position, and undoubtedly it will be the successful one in the 
 end. Its great idea or principal is emigration, or a separation of the 
 white and colored races. We find them using the following senti¬ 
 ments. One of their number thus writes : “We have a case that di¬ 
 rectly accords with our condition—that is, the Israelites in the land of 
 ®§yP^* There is no doubt but that the land of Egypt would have 
 sustained that people, and the Almighty could have changed the hearts 
 of the rulers to have ceased to oppress them. But Divine Wisdom 
 had another way to consummate His eternal purposes, and that was 
 by emigration. 55 
 
 This party called a convention to meet in Cleveland, last August, 
 to discuss the question of emigration. From that call we quote the 
 following extract: 
 
 “The question is not whether our condition can be bettered by emi¬ 
 gration, but whether it can be made worse. If not, then there is no 
 part of the wide-spread universe where our social and political con¬ 
 dition are not better than here in our native country, and nowhere in 
 the world, as here, proscribed on account of color. 
 
 “We are friends to, and ever will stand shoulder to shoulder by our 
 brethren and all true friends, in all good measures adopted by them 
 lor the bettering of our condition in this country, and surrender no 
 
13 
 
 [ 309 J 
 
 right but with our last breath; but as the subject of emigration is of 
 vital importance and has ever been shunned by all delegated assem¬ 
 blages of our people as heretofore met, we cannot longer delay, and 
 i will not be farther baffled ; and deny the right of our most sanguine 
 friend or dearest brother, to prevent an intelligent inquiry into, and 
 the carrying out of these measures, when this can be done to our en¬ 
 tire advantage, as we propose to show in convention—as the West In¬ 
 dies, Central and South Africa—the majority of which are peopled by 
 our brethren, or those identified with us in race, and what is more, 
 destiny, on this continent—all stand with open arms and yearning 
 hearts, importuning us in the name of suffering humanity to come, to 
 make common cause, and share one common fate on the" continent. 
 
 “The convention will meet without fail, at the time fixed for assem- 
 bling, as none but those favorable to emigration are admissible; there¬ 
 fore no other gathering may prevent it. 
 
 “We must make an issue, create an event, and establish a position 
 for ourselves. It is glorious to think of, but far more glorious to car¬ 
 ry out.” 
 
 That call was responded to, and a convention was held on the 24th, 
 25th, and 26th of August. The following are a few of the sentiments 
 found in the published reports of its doings : 
 
 “The platform, or declaration of sentiments, sets forth things very 
 much to the point—among them, that the colored people of the Union 
 have been looking, hoping, and waiting in expectation of realizing 
 the blessings of civil liberty, depending upon their ‘white fellow-coun¬ 
 trymen 5 to effect for them that desirable end, but in vain ; ‘instead of 
 which they have met with disappointment, discouragement and deg¬ 
 radation ; 5 ‘that no people can have political liberty without the sove¬ 
 reign right to exercise a freeman’s will; 5 ‘that a people who are lia¬ 
 ble, under any pretext or circumstances whatever, to enslavement by 
 the laws of a country, cannot be free in that country; 5 that, as a people, 
 they will never be satisfied or contented until they are acknowledged 
 ‘a necessary constituent in the ruling element of the country in which 
 they live ; 5 ‘that the liberty of a people is always insecure who have 
 not absolute control over their own political destiny; 5 ‘that they shall 
 ever cherish ‘their identity of origin and race, as preferable, 5 in their 
 estimation, ‘to that of any other people. 5 55 
 
 The “Report on the Political Destiny of the Colored Race, 55 after 
 discussing quite elaborately the condition of that race, here and else¬ 
 where, says : “Having glanced hastily at our political position in the 
 world generally, and the United States in particular—the fundamen¬ 
 tal disadvantages under which we exist, and the improbability of ever 
 attaining citizenship and equality of rights in this country—we call 
 your attention next to the places of destination, to which we shall di¬ 
 rect emigration. They desire it “distinctly to be understood—that 
 in the selection of (their) places of destination—(they) do not advo¬ 
 cate the southern scheme as a concession, nor yet at the will or de¬ 
 sire of (their) North American oppressors, but as a policy by which 
 (they) must be the greatest possible gainers, without the risk or pos¬ 
 sibility of loss to (themselves). 55 They say: “In no period since the 
 
[310] 
 
 14 
 
 existence of the ancient enlightened nations of Africa, have the pros¬ 
 pects oi the black race been brighter than now.” * * * u We 
 
 must take advantage of these favorable feelings, and strike out for our¬ 
 selves a bold and manly course of independent action and position.” 
 
 * * “Can we be satisfied—amid the advantages which now 
 
 present themselves to us—with the degradation and servility inherit¬ 
 ed from our fathers in this country?” * * * “A secondary 
 
 position was all they asked for; we claim entire equality or nothing.” 
 
 * * “No ! neither is it true that the United States is the 
 
 country best adapted to our improvement.” * * * “But 
 
 that country is the best in which our manhood—morally, mentally and 
 physically—can be best developed—in which we have an untrammel¬ 
 ed right to the enjoyment of civil and religious liberty.” * * * 
 
 “When the condition of the inhabitants of any country is fixed by legal 
 grades oi distinction, this condition can never be changed except by 
 express legislation. And it is the height of folly to expect such ex¬ 
 press legislation, except by the force of some irresistible internal po¬ 
 litical pressure. The force necessary to this imperative demand on 
 our part we can never obtain, because of our numerical feebleness.” 
 
 * * * “The rights of no oppressed people have ever yet been 
 
 obtained by a voluntary act of justice on the part of the oppressors.” 
 
 * * * “Where, then, is our hope of success in this country? Upon 
 
 what is it based? Upon what principle of political policy and sagacious 
 discernment do our political leaders and acknowledged great men— 
 coloreu men we mean—justify themselves in telling us—and insisting 
 that we shall believe them, and submit to what they say—to be pa¬ 
 tient, remain where we are; that there is a ‘bright prospect and glo¬ 
 rious future before us in this country . 5 55 
 
 These extracts express the sentiment of the Cleveland colored 
 convention faithfully, and the report inclines to favor the south—Cen¬ 
 tral America and the West Indies ;” but “should any thing occur to 
 prevent a successful emigration” thither, they have no hesitancy, rath¬ 
 er than remain in the United States, should the Canadas still continue 
 separate in their political relation from this country, to recommend to 
 the great body of (their) people to remove to Canada West.” The 
 selection of a location, however, is left to commissioners to be chosen 
 to visit and investigate for them. 
 
 This spirit of emancipation will not subside; for just in propor¬ 
 tion to the increase of refinement and knowledge amongst the free 
 people of color, just in the same ratio will the desire for independence 
 increase; and if the moral improvement of the race is what it should 
 be, a conflict of races will be avoided by a peaceful separation, as 
 proposed in the above report. 
 
 In this light of the subject I have always advocated education for 
 the colored man, not only as a just claim, but likewise as a means of 
 stimulating separation—trusting that an all-wise Providence will ac¬ 
 company this just act with such an amount of moral influence on the 
 hearts of the colored race, and will prompt them to wise and peaceful 
 measures in the attainment of independence, which, according to 
 the best light we now have, will be a separation of the races . 
 
THE POLITICAL ARGUMENT. 
 
 In answering your fourth question, we will give but two general 
 reasons lor stimulating by liberal legislation the removal of the negro 
 
 race fiom this republic to Liberia. The'political and the moral argu¬ 
 ments. ” 
 
 The first is comprehended in the necessity , policy , and justice of 
 separating the white and colored races of this republic. 
 
 It must be admited that a crisis has arrived in the history of this 
 republic, which will torce the question of the relation of the white 
 and colored races therein, more on your attention than it has hitherto 
 received. That man must be blind indeed who will deny the existence 
 of such a crisis, and unworthy the position of an American statesman 
 who will refuse to consider the dangers connected therewith. Long 
 cherished purposes of abolitionism on the one hand, and equally 
 formidable projects of slavery propagandism on the other, have pro¬ 
 duced sectional irritation and angry feelings, which from their age 
 have become cronic; and now give their diseased and sickly tone to 
 the whole legislation and policy of the federal government, and un¬ 
 favorably affect, to a great extent, the local policy of each state in 
 the confederacy; and likewise enters in some form into the qualifying 
 test of all candidates for office. 
 
 What will be the end of this state of things ? becomes a question of 
 importance to political economists; whether they be statesmen in ac¬ 
 tive service, or private citizens who, from their retired position, 
 calmly observe the course of public events—and we trust that this 
 question will receive at your hands, as the representatives of an im¬ 
 portant state, that grave consideration that its merits demand. 
 
 The justice, and policy , together with the necessity , of separating at 
 some future time, the white and negro races of the United States; 
 and the humanity, and wisdom of constructing at some proper point 
 a negro republic—will be the point of this argument. 
 
 As an introduction we will state a few propositions, and amongst 
 them we must rank that noted one, sometimes abused, but nevertheless 
 worthy of the first place in the list— 
 
 All men are created free and equal. 
 
 A separate and independent subsistence for the great families or 
 races of men, is clearly marked out by the Divine ruler. 
 
16 
 
 [312] 
 
 Society is an ordinance of heaven, having for its object the happi- 
 ness, prosperity, and peace of its members. 
 
 Governments are designed to guard the peace, prosperity and hap¬ 
 piness of society, and to remove all political evils. 
 
 A homogeneous population is necessary to the existence of a sound 
 republic. 
 
 Slaves and peasants, deprived of the right of citizenship, and suf¬ 
 fering social degradation, are incompatible with the genius of repub¬ 
 licanism. 
 
 The United States of North America should be a pure republic. 
 
 A family, and that collection ot families which constitutes a repub¬ 
 lic, have the right beyond all organic law to say who shall, or 
 who shall not, be received into their bosom and made members of 
 their society. 
 
 The American people, in the exercise of this right, admitted the 
 white race and rejected the black. 
 
 There is no political salvation for another race that comes in con¬ 
 flict with the European race, but in fusion with it. All others that 
 conflict with it will be borne down by it. 
 
 No two races, kept distinct by the refusal of the stronger race 
 to fuse with the weaker, can dwell together in the same country on 
 terms of social equality. 
 
 The colored population of this country cannot be other than a class 
 of peasants, if excluded from white society. 
 
 Where men are truly religious and moral, the white and black races 
 of the United States do not mix—so the influence of religion will 
 never effect a fusion, or destroy the right of choice in the parties. 
 
 A heterogeneous population, that will not amalgamate, sooner or 
 later becomes a turbulent, restless, and revolutionary population. 
 
 The separation of the races, and the erection of the colored race 
 into an independent and separate commonwealth, are the true and 
 only remedies for the disabilities of the colored race. 
 
 Unfortunately for the United States, we have the elements of much 
 national disturbance and social immorality among us, in the form 
 of two incompatible races, whose interests must forever clash so 
 long as they remain distinct races, and there is no likelihood that 
 their present relation will change, or that they will become blended 
 into one people. 
 
 However, the great mass of the colored race in this land are held 
 as slaves, and with this relation of master and slave, the inhabitants 
 of free states are pledged not to interfere—and we should sacredly 
 observe our pledges—but whilst man thus sacredly keeps his pro¬ 
 mises to his fellow man, what may not Providence do with this insti¬ 
 tution. In the coming age of revolutions that must sweep over our 
 globe with terrific and renovating power, it will be impossible for 
 our country to escape the lightning’s flash and thunder’s stroke, with 
 such a colossal attraction and conductor as the institution of Ameri¬ 
 can slavery in our midst, which rears its head amongst the gathering 
 clouds that portend the coming storm. Oh, no! slavery will be modi¬ 
 fied by a series of providences before many years, and it is likely 
 
17 
 
 « i^] 
 
 that tens of thousands will be emancipated ; and in the course of a 
 few ages all will be set free. But this act ot emancipation, when 
 consummated, \yill leave that large mass of our fellow-beings in a 
 %tate of serfdommr social slavery. For white society will refuse to 
 receive them intd its bosom, or in other words, the white race will not 
 amalgamate with the blacks. Therefore, the stronger must be the 
 rulers still, and the weaker the servile ones. 
 
 A heterogeneous population, that will not amalgamate, sooner or 
 later becomes a turbulent population,- and civil war and bloodshed 
 follow as a matter of course. This has been the past history of those 
 nations which are cursed with a differerice of race, and what has been 
 true of other countries will be true of the United States, unless we 
 apply a remedy to the evil that afflicts us. 
 
 With the opponents of the remedy of separation, we agree that 
 “all men are created free and equal but we cannot believe that it 
 follows, as a consequence, that all men should inhabit the same state 
 or territory, or dwell in the same city. But, on the contrary, we 
 believe it to be in keeping with sound policy, and the morality of a 
 peaceful religion which we profess as a nation, to apply the remedy 
 of separation to conflicting families or races of men, whose interests 
 are constantly clashing, and who cannot be reduced to a state of so¬ 
 cial equality. Such we believe to be the state of the white and col¬ 
 ored races of the United States. 
 
 Separation is 41 compromise for the sake of peace ; to avoid the 
 divisions of society into political factions, of which color would be 
 J the line ; to enable the colored man to enjoy uninterruptedly all the 
 rights, and exercise the franchise of a freeman. Is not such a com¬ 
 promise right, if it can be effected ? Is it not justified by the spirit 
 tof Christianity ? We think it right and just, and give as an illustra¬ 
 tion of this compromise the cam of Abraham and Lot, who were the 
 controllers of large households, and became the fathers of nations. 
 On one occasion, their families, or rather their retainers and servants, 
 quarreled about the right to the soil or domain; and these two good 
 men found it necessary to settle this quarrel by a compromise, and 
 the result was, they separated their families and became the occu¬ 
 pants of distant and different lands. 
 
 Nor will it do to put off the application of this remedy too long, for 
 already the spirit of strife, from this very question of a difference of 
 race, has commenced this cruel work of disorganization. Like & 
 demon of great malignity he has entered the ecclesiastical and civil 
 councils of the land, and sowed the seeds of strife there, and that seed 
 is rapidly ripening, and has produced strife and disunion in many 
 cases. Religious men, who were bound by the strongest bonds , have 
 been rent asunder, and arrayed each other in a hostile attitude, and 
 are now at war with such weapons as they dare to use. Whilst the 
 statesmen of the land, and the great political bodies, are now survey¬ 
 ing the field of future conflict; calculating their strength ; choosing 
 their positions; and preparing for a war of more than words, and 
 ^although a friend to “compromise,” yet we fear that the elements of 
 trouble are not removed by the compromise, nay we know they are 
 21 
 
18 
 
 [ 314 ] 
 
 not removed—for as yet no practical remedy has been applied to 
 slavery, the great root of the evil. 
 
 Nor will it do to say that the mere abolition of slavery will remove 
 the evil-—indeed it leaves the evil complained of untouched—for two 
 distinct races will remain in the land to curse the country with their 
 strife for social pre-eminence ; and just in proportion as the light 
 which has been withheld too long from the colored population is 
 poured in upon them, in the same proportion will their demand for 
 social equality become bold and threatening, until considering for¬ 
 bearance no longer a virtue, they will make their demand at the 
 point of the sword. Soldiers may laugh at such a prospect, and glory 
 in such sport as crushing the servile armies might afford. But men 
 of peace love not such things, * and deprecate such times, although 
 afar off. 
 
 There are but two remedies for the evil, a fusion of the races , or 
 a total separation . The application of the first remedy always de¬ 
 pends on the choice of the stronger race. And the exercise of the 
 choice for or against involves no moral quality, so that a refusal on 
 the part of the white race to blend with the black cannot be considered 
 a sin. And so long as the right of choice remains to man and is un¬ 
 touched by lav/, human or divine, so long white men, who are honor¬ 
 able and virtuous and fear God and regard his law, will choose white 
 company to the rejection of black. Nor is this criminal in them. Nor 
 can you compel the American people to act otherwise, unless you can 
 show a clear law that will coerce to fusion. 
 
 Hence those who are resting their hopes on the future influence of 
 the gospel, are cherishing a false hope. For the influence of the gos¬ 
 pel is to make morals pure. And whenever morals are pure then the 
 races never fuse, but the line between them is well defined. The white 
 man being a dignified and upright superior , and the colored man being 
 a moral and respectable inferior. Nor can the colored race escape 
 from this inferiority in society; nor can those of us who would save 
 him from it do so as long as he remains in contact with white men. The 
 poor colored man is like the sickly tree that stands in the grove, he is 
 overshadowed by a stronger race that shoots up to the heavens and 
 spreads its branches to the light—casting a destructive shade on all 
 below-—a transplantation is the only salvation in either case. 
 
 The enthusiast may preach a different doctrine, and tell us that he 
 makes no difference on account of color—he tells us that which is 
 false, his actions and the company he keeps contradict his words, the 
 companions of his children and associations of his domestic circle are 
 standing witnesses against him. Compel him to choose between two 
 young men of equal moral worth, equal talents and equality of wealth, 
 but differing in color, one being white and the other black—compel 
 him to choose one of the two for a kinsman, and his choice will fall on 
 the white man, and because of color even he will make a difference. 
 
 So, unless we choose , the colored man cannot become our social 
 equal. But the American people do not choose to make him a social 
 equal, and there is no law that can compel them to do this. The con¬ 
 sequence is the colored man must stand far below par because of his 
 
19 
 
 [315 j 
 
 color, and from this disability lie can never escape ; he carries it with 
 1 / him wherever he goes, and colored men are compelled to take a se¬ 
 condary place in society and remain in a lower grade, which classifi¬ 
 cation of citizens in grades is incompatible with the genius of this re- 
 y public and will sap the foundation of democracy. 
 
 This being the unpleasant state of things in the United States, a 
 peaceful separation of the races should be devised and carried out as 
 soon as possible, for the good of both; and upon this separation an in¬ 
 dependent commonwealth of colored people should be formed in which 
 the colored race might be free from our dictation and control. 
 
 Many of the most intelligent and independent colored men of the 
 northern states are now convinced that a peaceful separation of the 
 races is the most religious way of disposing of this vexed question. 
 Hence we find them advocating continental colonization. 
 
 It is clear to the calm observer that the colored race of North Ame¬ 
 rica have been in a state of pupilage amongst us, and our great crime 
 is not the work of holding the colored man in bonds as an apprentice 
 or a scholar, but we have held him as a slave, and withheld the instruc¬ 
 tion which lie should have received-—this lias been the crime of the 
 south. However, the effect of the connection which the colored man 
 has had with the white race, has been to school him, and bring him 
 forward to a state of intellectual maturity. But the days of his ma¬ 
 jority have arrived, and it is time to make provision for a suita¬ 
 ble home. This is the duty, we conceive, of the stronger and guardian 
 race. 
 
 We have no sympathy for that class that can curse the colored man 
 i in their heats, and then for political purposes cry down the inhumanity 
 of the separationists; and we have very little with those superficial 
 philanthropists who would retain the colored man in this land, that he 
 may be used as a servant. We would give him all the rights of man— 
 but this the abolitionists will not, cannot do, in evidence of which read 
 the following extract from “ Jay’s Inquiry. 
 
 “ One of the designs falsely imputed to them, (the abolitionists,) is 
 that of bringing about an amalgation of colors by intermarriages. In 
 vain have they again and again denied any such design; in vain have 
 their writings been searched for any recommendation of such amalga¬ 
 mation. No abolitionist is known to have married a negro, or to have 
 given his child to a negro; yet has the charge of amalgamation been 
 repeated and re-repeated, until many no doubt honestly believe it. 
 
 “No one, in the possession of his reasoning faculties, can believe it 
 to be the duty of white men to select black wives ; and the abolition¬ 
 ists have given every proof the nature of the case will admit, that they 
 countenance no such absurdity. It has been found expedient to ac¬ 
 cuse it of aiming at social equality. He must be deeply imbued with 
 fanaticism, or rather insanity, who contends that because a man has a 
 dark skin he is therefore entitled to a reception in our families and a 
 t place at our tables. We all know white men whose characters and 
 habits render them repulsive to us, and whom no consideration would 
 induce us to admit into our social circles, and can it be believed that 
 abolitionists are willing to extend to the negroes, merely on account 
 
[ 316 ] 
 
 20 
 
 of their color, courtesies and indulgences which in innumerable instan¬ 
 ces they withhold, and properly withhold, from their white fellow cit¬ 
 izens.” 
 
 Here is tlm prejudice well stated and well defended r , by a champion 
 of the abolition cause; to meet and obviate which the separation of 
 the races was devised by the colonization society. 
 
 The free man of color can never be a man so long as he remains 
 amongst white men, they will permit him to be a servant or vassal, but 
 no more. About this kind of philanthropy there is a spice of selfish¬ 
 ness that reminds us of some fine plantations owned by very benevolent 
 men , but cultivated by half-starved free negroes. 
 
 But before we dismiss this point we will say one word to the man 
 of color into whose hands this may fall ; sir, you cannot change the 
 state of things that now exists, without a revolution, you will, there¬ 
 fore, act unwisely to rear up a family to be menials, when you can se¬ 
 cure for them the lot and rights of freemen by removal. But if de¬ 
 signs of ulterior revolution prompt you to remain in this country, with 
 such designs good men can have no sympathy. Your duty is to meet 
 this difficulty in the spirit of peaceful compromise, and demand a re¬ 
 moval which our wise and benevolent statesmen will grant, not in an 
 unkind spirit, but in the spirit that actuated the ancient patriarchs 
 Abraham and Lot. 
 
 It is time the free people of color were constituted an independent 
 commonwealth, for they have advanced so far in the work of improve¬ 
 ment that they are fully able to conduct the state machinery of a na¬ 
 tion. 
 
 If it were possible to erect a respectable and truly independent 
 commonwealth of colored men en the continent, we should do so 
 without delay. But we fear the thing is impracticable at this time, 
 and we fear that the future will not be more favorable, because the 
 grasping disposition of the Anglo-American race claims the whole 
 North American continent as the field of his future enterprise and ex¬ 
 pansion. Nor will the jealous and haughty south tolerate the erection 
 of a commonwealth of colored men on American soil. It is with sor¬ 
 row that we express our conviction that there is no rest for the inde¬ 
 pendent colored man on this wide continent. The Mexican and In¬ 
 dian are more warlike than he, and yet they have not been able to 
 maintain their independence, or to preserve their lands from viola¬ 
 tion ; and it would require a standing army of many thousand men 
 to protect the border of a colored nation. And again, it would ever 
 be a sickly plant in the shade of our gigantic Anglo-American repub¬ 
 lic It is doubtful whether it could maintain its independence as a 
 sovereign nation. In short, it must forever be a contemptible thing in 
 ..contrast with the United States. 
 
 Viewing this subject as we do in the light of religious truth, we will 
 say, in a word, that we think Divine Providence needs the colored 
 people of this land elsewhere, and requires not their national estab¬ 
 lishment in this continent for the purpose of carrying out His plans. 
 
 This view of the subject constitutes our moral argument: 
 
MORAL ARGUMENT, 
 
 For, although statesmen may plan, and fanatics may rave, yet God 
 reigns, and will rule and overrule all things to this end—the conver¬ 
 sion ot the world to the religion of Christ, and the overthrow of kings, 
 thrones and nobles ; to the establishment of a pure Christian republi¬ 
 canism, in which men shall be governed by principles and not by 
 power, in which they shall acknowledge no king but God, and no creed 
 but His law. 
 
 So far as the renovation of this country is concerned, the Anglo- 
 Saxon race can effect the work without the aid of other races. 
 
 But it is not so with Africa, for it is forbidden ground to our race, 
 else its wealth would have attracted us long ago, for Africa has long 
 been noted for its wealth; its mountains abound with gold, and its 
 productions are of the most valuable character. But God has re¬ 
 served that land for the colored man, and the finger of Providence 
 points to its shores as the future home of our American colored men. 
 
 God requires our schooled,'converted and enlightened colored men, 
 that they may scatter the leaven of Christianity and republicanism 
 amongst a population of over one hundred million souls ; and already 
 has the work been begun ; a few thousand noble-souled and indepen¬ 
 dent colored men have taken their lives in their hands and gone forth 
 on their mission, and under the fostering care of their Divine Guide, 
 they have been instrumental in planting the foundation of a Christian 
 commonwealth on the continent of Africa, which now looms up from 
 the dark horizon of that benighted land as a bright star of promise to 
 the sons of Africa, and which is destined to be their polar guide 
 through all their future struggles and stormy conflicts. 
 
 And such will be the attractive power of the young republic of Li¬ 
 beria, that in a few years its enemies will not be able to turn the 
 growing stream of emigration away from it—but it will swell and 
 spread until it has embraced the whole colored population of our land 
 within its influence. 
 
 An African commonwealth is no longer a theory, but it is a fact. 
 There stands Liberia! the glory of all her friends, and the standing 
 rebuke of all her slanderers. 
 
 We must admire the wisdom of that Providence which spread a 
 cloud over African colonization, and enshrouded the young colony in 
 
22 
 
 [ 318 ] 
 
 doubts for a few a years. But now, that God has taken away the veil, 
 we can see the reason of this strange providence. For we discover 
 that the handful of pioneers stationed on the coast of Africa were 
 learning how to act and govern. God was teaching them the difficult " 
 lesson of self-dependence and self-government. And, looking back 
 over their history, we can see each successive step in this noble work, 
 until at last they stand forth before the world graduated republicans, 
 who have acquired such self-confidence that they can now receive 
 thousands of raw emigrants, and guide them safely in the same diffi¬ 
 cult work of self-dependence, self-government. The foundation of 
 their nation being settled, and their institutions being planted, they 
 are ready to co-operate with the friends of the African in this land in 
 the great work of separating the races. 
 
 The work of transporting the colored people of this land to a dis¬ 
 tant home can be effected, provided both races are agreed on the sub¬ 
 ject. And the western coast of Africa is the most convenient point 
 that can be reached. A few lines of transports plying regularly be¬ 
 tween the above point and this country would make the removal easy 
 and pleasant—much more pleasant and agreeable than a trip to Cali¬ 
 fornia, and not attended with as much labor, danger, or expense. The 
 sum of $60 will carry a man from this land to Liberia, and furnish 
 him with six months 3 provisions. The above sum will hardly buy the 
 California mover a good horse. As to the labor and danger of the 
 two trips, the balance is largely in favor of Liberia, lor the constitu¬ 
 tion will suffer more wear and tear, by two fold, in a California expe¬ 
 dition than it will in a Liberian expedition, arid it cannot be doubted 
 that twice as many die in going to California as die amongst the Libe¬ 
 rian emigrants. 
 
 If the people will demand of the general government that the At¬ 
 lantic be bridged with a few lines of transports, tens of thousands oi 
 free colored men will pour across to their new home. And the slave 
 states, ashamed of their folly and oppression, will surrender their 
 slaves into the hands of government agents, who shall set them free 
 on the coast of Africa, and thus for a few millions of dollars, this land 
 may be saved from the scourge of civil war, and millions of our fel¬ 
 low men restored to all the rights of men. 
 
 Much has been said about the impossibility of carrying off all the 
 colored people of our land. We would to God that the day of their 
 exodus had come; it would then be seen whether the American people 
 have energy to effect the work. We know they can do it if they will^ 
 and that man pays but a poor compliment to the character of his race 
 that doubts its ability on this point. The colored people of this land 
 are not four millions in numbers; and yet four millions, if free, and at 
 the disposal of the friends of colonization, could be transported to 
 Liberia for a sum equal to that paid out for the Mexican war, which 
 we suppose to be one hundred n illion dollars, and yet this sum has 
 been paid, or nearly so, without our being sensibly the poorer—few 
 men being able to tell when, where, or how they paid their part of 
 that bill. And if we are not mistaken, the American people are ready 
 
V 
 
 23 f 319 ] 
 
 to vote any sum to effect a peaceful separation of the races, and will 
 rejoice in the opportunity. 
 
 In the meantime, whilst waiting for the national exodus of the sons 
 of Africa, a separation of interests and institutions tends most to the 
 peace and morality of the races. Of this, the more intelligent color¬ 
 ed persons are convinced; hence, we find them advocating separate 
 schools, separate churches, separate neighborhoods, and,’ in short, 
 separate society; and, although, they seem blind to the manifest ten¬ 
 dency of this movement, yet it is carrying them on with irrisistible 
 power to the sure destiny of the reasonable and conservative portion 
 of the colored race, which we fondly hope and believe will be a sepa¬ 
 rate national existence —and which we hope will save them from the 
 horrors of the lot that awaits those of the race who are bent on revo¬ 
 lution. 
 
 If this last point is considered too meagre, I herewith transmit the 
 manuscript of an address made by me to the joint meeting of the Illi¬ 
 nois State Colonization Society and the ministers of the Methodist 
 Episcopal Church, during the session of said conference, held in 
 Springfield, Oct. 16th, 1854, and place it at the disposal of the com¬ 
 mittee to whom this shall be referred. 
 
 Respectfully submitted, 
 
 J. MITCHELL, 
 
w 
 
 1 
 
ADDRESS. 
 
 African colonization is a creature of the nineteenth century, and will be one 
 of its greatest glories when all its events are committed to the record of his¬ 
 tory. As an enterprise, it has for its mainspring or motive power, Christian be¬ 
 nevolence, which aims at doing the greatest amount of good to the greatest 
 number. We believe that as an enterprise it has been called into being by the 
 providence of God to meet a great want in the instrumentalities required to ra¬ 
 pidly civilize and evangelize the heathen world ; and however the political 
 economist may be disposed to regard it as a mere question of policy, the man 
 of faith can see the hand of the Great Ruler therein moulding and directing all 
 its movements and developments to the great end of his administration—the 
 renovation of the earth, and the universal dominion of his Son. 
 
 It is this view of the subject that gives it all the interest with which Chris¬ 
 tians regard it, and it is this consideration that enables the American Coloni¬ 
 zation Society to claim the sympathy and advocacy of the good in all sections 
 of the land. 
 
 In advocating colonization, we advocate a thing neither new nor evil. Colo¬ 
 nization was the refuge of the Pilgrim Fathers when they felt the pressure of 
 superior power. It made the wilds around the strands of Plymouth vocal with 
 prayer and praise—it has cut down your forests and peopled your wilderness—■ 
 it is even now giving new states and territories to our confederacy. Nor is it 
 claiming too much to maintain that what European colonization has done for the 
 continent of America, African colonization will do for the continent of Africa. 
 However, in advocating African colonization, we do not advocate a foray with 
 brand and blade into the defenceless country of a neighbor, but we advocate a 
 system that would quench the fire of savage war and turn the sword into an 
 implement of husbandry. We have no crusade to preach against Turk or Pa¬ 
 gan, but we would send the peaceful armies of a Christian civilization among 
 the habitations of cruelty to teach the arts and blessings of peace ; our great 
 object is to benefit Africa and the African by transplanting a portion of our 
 Christian civilization into that continent; to effect which, Providence has plaeed 
 abundant material at our disposal, and laid a political and national necessity on 
 us to make this transplantation. 
 
 By a singular providence, that we could not control and for which we are not 
 responsible, a number of Africans were placed amongst the colonists of the 
 New World as slaves ; those Africans have grown in number and importance 
 until in this day their state and relation to society has become the great ques¬ 
 tion in American politics, and will continue to be the greatest question in the 
 
26 
 
 [ 322 ] 
 
 councils of the state and of the church, until Providence presents a solution of 
 its difficulties. We say, that we, in this age, are not responsible for the pre- 
 sence of those people amongst us—they were brought here by others in past 
 years,—but we are responsible for their state and condition in this day, and 
 that state should cause searchings of heart and resolutions to act in their 
 behalf. 
 
 . If man may reason on the providential events and circumstances which trans¬ 
 pire in the history of a race or nation, we may, with becoming modesty, draw 
 a few inferences from the history of the negro race which will justify the per¬ 
 mission of negro slavery as found amongst the English and American people. 
 We say justify the providence of God in the case, but not the cupidity of the 
 men who founded the slave-trade and entailed the evil of negro slavery on us. 
 
 The first consideration that will justify this providence is the state of Africa, 
 which, for centuries has rested under the judicial displeasure of Heaven, be¬ 
 cause of the gross apostacy of their fore-fathers, who, when “they knew God 
 glorified him not as God; they glorified him not as God, neither were thank¬ 
 ful, but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was dark¬ 
 ened ; professing themselves to be wise they became fools, and changed the 
 glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and 
 to birds, and four-footed beasts and creeping things ; * * who changed 
 
 the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than 
 the Cieator. This is the scriptural history of Pagan blindness and supersti¬ 
 tion, and amongst others the negro race became the subjects of the divine rep¬ 
 robation, and their land the land of darkness. 
 
 This land is a wonderful land. For ages it has reposed in the midst of the na¬ 
 tions, covered with a deep gloom that has proved impenetrable to the strongest 
 rays of light; and, although encircled with the agitations and waves of civili¬ 
 zation, which have laved her shores on every side, not one ripple has been 
 created on the broad expanse of her interior barbarism ; there, yet she lies 
 unknowing and unknown. Nor is this want of knowledge the result of indif¬ 
 ference on our part, for effort after effort has been made to penetrate the inte¬ 
 rior, with but partial success, for the few explorers who periled their lives were 
 men of neive rather than men of science, so that little reliable information has 
 been committed to the record. 
 
 But of one thing we are assured, that Africa is a land of moral death, and 
 her “habitations are habitations of cruelty.” Captain Forbs, of the English 
 navy, made several explorations in 1850, and among other points he visited the 
 kingdom of Dahomey at the time its king was preparing to water the graves of 
 the royal ancestors with blood, in keeping with the usual custom of the country. 
 In this annual sacrifice hundreds of human victims have been known to suffer 
 death, and on this occasion he saw no less than twenty-three persons sacrificed 
 in the most barbarous and cruel manner. 
 
 Fiom the same work from which we derive the above information, we quote 
 the following extract in reg'ard to the trade of Dahomey in the commodity of 
 slaves . ‘The king, by murderousincrusions against his neighbors, seized about 
 nine thousand victims annually. He sold about three thousand of those di¬ 
 rectly on his own account and gave the rest chiefly away to his troops who sold 
 them , a duty of five dollars being paid on each slave exported, afforded him 
 altogether a revenue of about three hundred thousand dollars.” 
 
 The British officer, who visited his court to persuade him to abandon the slave 
 trade, had a serious matter to argue against. The king stated his case strongly. 
 “The form of my government” said he, “cannot be suddenly changed without 
 causing such a revolution as would deprive me of my throne and throw the 
 kingdom into anarchy. I am very desirous to acquire the friendship of Eng- 
 

 27 [ 323 ] 
 
 land. I and my army are ready at all times to fight the queen’s enemies and 
 to do anything the English government may ask me, except to give up the 
 slave trade. No other trade is known to my people. Palm oil, it is true, is 
 ^ engaging the attention of some of them, but it is a slow method of making 
 money and brings only a very small amount of duties into my coffers. The 
 planting of cotton and coffee has been suggested, but that is slower still; the 
 trees have to grow and I may be in my grave before I reap any benefit from, 
 them, and what am I to do in the meantime ? Who will pay my troops ? Who 
 will buy arms and clothes for them ? And who will give me supplies of rum, 
 gunpowder and cloth for my annual customs ? I hold my power by the obser ¬ 
 vance of the time honored customs of my forefathers. I should forfeit it and 
 entail on myself a life full of shame and a death full of misery by neglecting 
 them. The slave trade has been the ruling principle with my people. It is the 
 source of their glory and their wealth ; their songs celebrate their victories, and 
 the mother lulls the child to sleep with notes of triumph over an enemy reduced 
 to slavery. Can I by signing such a treaty change the sentiments of a whole 
 people ? It cannot be done.” 
 
 Such is Africa, and such being the general state of the customs and people 
 of Africa, it will be unwise to question or quarrel with that providence which 
 took a handful of the hundred million souls and placed them under the direc¬ 
 tion of the Anglo Saxon race, not for purposes of perpetual service, but for 
 purposes of mercy, by their instruction in the arts and institutions of civiliza¬ 
 tion. Where, let us ask, can he find the best school to answer his ends ? In 
 this selection will he not be regulated mainly by the purity of the national 
 faith of the parties chosen ? We think that this is the rule that determined the 
 choice of the national seminary. Nor is it claiming too much to maintain that 
 Protestant England and her noble coadjutor, the United States, present Chris¬ 
 tian institutions and civilization of the purest type and greatest promise, and 
 such in the order of Providence have mainly been made the instructors of those 
 degraded strangers from Africa. In taking this position, we must not be un- 
 v derstood as in any sense justifying the cupidity of those.who founded the slave 
 trade ; but we would illustrate the wisdom of that Providence which overruled 
 
 that cupidity for good. . ■ ) 
 
 The negro race are here in a state of pupilage ; this is the mildest view we 
 dare take "of American slavery. But, while we admit this, we claim that the 
 days of their majority are at hand, and that it is time they were separated from 
 us and constituted an independent people. In this connection may we not ex¬ 
 press the hope that that modern view of slavery which, we believe, is confined 
 to a few designing men at the south, which claims a perpetuity xoi slavery as 
 a blessing and a thing that should be extended as such over lands uncursed 
 with this & blight. The time has come for us to throw up the embankments of 
 calm opposition to the overflowing scourge, and in the language of decision to 
 say “thus far shalt thou come but no farther.” It is useless, it is unwise to 
 parley with this question; slavery must and will be removed by the generous 
 impulses of a free and enlightened people. The question will come home to 
 us with more force, what will we do with the freed men ? what can be done 
 with them ? We answer in a word, form them into an independent nation 
 aid them in removing to a separate home— a home on this continent, or a home 
 r in Africa. We believe that the providential indications are in favor of the lat¬ 
 ter inasmuch as more good can be performed by the freed men on the latter 
 than on this. The Anglo American race are equal to the regeneration of Africa. 
 By their removal you transplant your own ever-living, ever-working system of 
 * Christian civilization into African soil. And this Christian civilization is a sys¬ 
 tem of enginery wonderful in its structure and singularly powerful in its work- 
 
[ 324 ] 
 
 28 
 
 tags. Its motive power is composed of mingled cupidity and benevolence ;, 
 like all things earthly it is thus composed of good and bad, but such as it is, ; 
 this enginery of American civilization works with fearful force and produces 
 great results. It receives the most heterogeneous elements from abroad and 
 grinds them into a homogeneous mass. It receives the subjects of kings, em- 
 perors and lords deeply scared and marked with the imprint of caste, and with 
 one sweep of its enginery effaces every mark and token of their former state 
 and places the stamp of republicanism on them. They come with their time 
 honored notions of religion and corrupt theology, and before they are aware of 
 the process of transformation, going on their errors have been swept away by 
 the friction of evangelical truth. Such are the workings of your Christian civ¬ 
 ilization ; it goes on digesting nation after nation and overspreading the land, 
 making all tribes, not positively repulsive to you, one people and one power. 
 It is this system we propose transfering to Africa by our scheme of colonization, 
 knowing that the good elements thereof will work for the glory of God, and the 
 grosser ones will be held in check by his power. 
 
 It will plant witnesses of civilization and religious truth on that continent 
 such as will confound the enemies of the African race in all lands, and will 
 prove their capability for self-government, and their susceptibility for religious 
 improvement. 
 
 In the work of successful colonization the Anglo-Saxon race has been honored 
 above all other modern races. France has failed in every attempt, although 
 such attempts have been frequently made. She first settled the Canadas, like¬ 
 wise Louisiana and most of the West India islands, but her colonies have given 
 place to others ; and, if we may infer the future from the past, we presume the 
 colonies on the northern shore of Africa, in the Barbary States, will likewise 
 fail. Providence wills not her success, for successful French colonization would 
 be an extension of French infidelity and lax morality, 
 
 Nor has Spain, once the powerful and wealthy colonizer of the New World, 
 been more successful. It is true, there is more of God, more of divine faith 
 in the gross religious system of Rome, as held by Spain, than in the rational¬ 
 ism of France ; yet there is too little of either in Spanish colonization to pro¬ 
 cure for it the favor of heaven, or that divine blessing which will cause national 
 institutions to take root. The reverse is true of English and American coloni¬ 
 zation ; with expansive power it covers country after country, and wherever it 
 takes permanent root grows up a witness for the Lord. God and his truth 
 are in English and American colonization. Yes, God and his truth are in the 
 colonization system now practiced by the American Colonization Society, and 
 through the divine blessing we have succeeded in rearing on African soil a na¬ 
 tional witness of all that is good and valuable in our own nation. 
 
 Thirty-three years ago Liberia was founded by the labors of some of the 
 best men of that day. Her advent was hailed with joy by the ministers of 
 Christ and the church of God. Much faith and much confidence were exer¬ 
 cised in regard to the final result, which faith has not been in vain, and which 
 confidence has not been misplaced. That little colony has grown to be an inde¬ 
 pendent people, covering by their jurisdiction a line of African coast seven 
 hundred miles long, and extending their laws over two hundred and fifty thou¬ 
 sand natives, and with their laws and rule Christianity becomes extended like¬ 
 wise. 
 
 In a report made by Mr. McKay, a colored man, who lately visited Liberia 
 as an agent of the Indiana State Board of Colonization, we find the following 
 statement in regard to the character of the Liberian : 
 
 “The inhabitants are contented and happy, and while many of them are 
 quite wealthy, they are, as a general rule, doing well. They are decidedly a 
 
29 
 
 [ 325 ] 
 
 We therefore ask of all good men 
 regard to Liberia. 
 
 in 
 
 , Religious people ; a greater proportion of them being adherents of the different 
 ' ^lurches than is usually found in any other community. And the state of 
 morals is superior to that of any other place I have ever been in. I heard no 
 ^Urofane swearing among them, nor did I witness any intemperance.” 
 
 ® Such are the people coming into power and notice, and our conclusion, drawn 
 I from this wdiole subject is, that Liberia is worthy of the sympathy and support 
 of good men ; she should have their prayers for final success ; she should have 
 their gifts to foster her in her hour of weakness ; and she should have her in¬ 
 fluence in the halls of legislation to secure national support. Until good men 
 throughout our nation are of one mind on the subject of Liberia, men in power 
 will not do justice to that infant republic, 
 that they become of one mind—have but one purpose 
 And surely wdth great propriety may we make this request of the ministers of 
 Christ and those who are actuated by Christian principles. 
 
 Some misapprehension exists in regard to the origin of Liberian colonization 
 and the intentions of its projectors, which w T e consider it our duty to correct. 
 Shortly after the w T ar of independence, the English found themselves encum¬ 
 bered with a few r thousand fugitive slaves, who had ran away from their mas¬ 
 ters during the war and had joined the British army. Those accompanying 
 the fragments of the British forces on their return to England became an en- 
 cumbrance to British society, to remedy which, the colony, Sierra Leone, was 
 formed and settled. And the actors in this case were none other than Clark¬ 
 son, Sharp, and such men as are known to us as the advocates of West India 
 emancipation. From this, it appears that England set the example twenty-five 
 years before Liberia was founded; but like causes will produce like effects. 
 The freed men of the United States becoming numerous under the process of 
 the system of gradual emancipation adopted by the older states, good men 
 in this land sought a remedy for the evils of two conflicting races by the sepa- 
 * ration and the colonization of the sufferers. Thus African colonization origin¬ 
 ated. The best of men in the United States have fostered it, and Liberia is the 
 only nation wdiich can claim to be the offspring of Christian benevolence. Min¬ 
 isters of Christ dug the foundations and laid them deep with prayers and Chris¬ 
 tian hope. Ministers of Christ have reared the superstructure and watched 
 with deep solicitude as stone after stone settled to its place in the fabric.* 
 
 Christian ministers still have prayers and gifts, and. a word of advocacy for 
 Liberia, and we pity the narrow mind, though found in a minister, whose range 
 of thought does not comprehend the value of that republic to the cause of Chris¬ 
 tianity. And we must regard the antagonism to colonization as an antagonism 
 to Christian expansion and the extension of Christ’s kingdom. We maintain 
 that no Christian, no republican should oppose Liberia or the friends who are 
 in honesty laboring to foster her. 
 
 In 1822, Monrovia, the capital of the republic, was founded on Cape Me- 
 feinada, the site of a slave factory, from which thousands of slaves had beeu 
 annually shipped. From that period the progress of the settlement has been 
 onward—onward has the freed man passed from one degree of self-improve¬ 
 ment to another until he has become independent of the white race in all 
 things—the people of Libei ia are independent men, and the only truly inde¬ 
 pendent men of the negro race on the earth. 
 
 There was a wisdom in that providence that cast a cloud over Liberia for a 
 time and made colonization unpopular; during that time the pioneers on the 
 
 \V—---- ‘ ' ‘ 
 
 *Dr. Robert Finley, Dr. Alexander and Bishop Mead, were among the projectors of che American coloni¬ 
 st:. nation Society And in laying the foundation of the settlement on the African coast, Rev. . 1 . J« Miller, Rev. 
 ■m. Bacon, Rev. Mr. Andrus, Rev. H. Session and the Rev. Mr. Holton, were among the martyrs to the cause 
 African independence and the elevation of the negro race. 
 
[ 326 ] 
 
 30 
 
 ¥ 
 
 coast of Africa were learning to think, act and be self-dependent; and where 
 they had thus learned, and the foundations of society in their young state had 
 - settled, God removed the cloud and they now stand forth before the world, a y 
 state worthy of the country which reared them. Of Liberia, America will , 
 never be ashamed. 
 
 But Liberia is yet young and. feeble, and her settlements are widely scattered ’* 
 along a coast of seven hundred miles, yet infested with the slavers and cursed 
 by the cupidity of the white man. The lastest accounts show the slave trade to 
 be yet active and prosperous and requiring further check, What shall we do ? 
 Shall we- abandon Liberia? Shall we withdraw the fostering hand at the time 
 she needs it most? Oh, no! Let us renew our efforts and be more liberal in 
 the plans we devise for the redemption of Africa, for the suppression of the 
 slave trade, and the spread of our American civilization. There is work enough 
 here for a nation, and it is a work worthy of a nation’s hand. Our nation, as 
 such, should become the patron of this enterprise, and each state in the confed¬ 
 eracy should select some point on the African coast on which to bestow labor 
 and "attention. Your sister state, Indiana, has made colonization state policy, 
 and we ask the same favor of Illinois, not only in view of the wants of your 
 own free people of color, but because we require your moral power and influ¬ 
 ence as a state in the halls of congress. We, therefore, respectfully suggest 
 that plans for action be now laid down, and express the hope that they will be 
 vigorously prosecuted. 
 
 j