GbSO
2

YALE UNIVERSITY
LIBRARY

AT THK
liAWE SEMINARY, CIJVCIJVNATI.
or
JAMES A. THOME, OF KEIVTUCBIY,
DELIVERKD AT THE
ANNUAL MEETING OF THB AMERICAN ANTI-SLAVERY SOCIETY,
Stay 6, 1834.

mn^^ism

REV. DR. SAMUEL H. COX,

AGAINST TRE

AMERICAN COLONIZATION SOCIETY.

BOSTON:
PUBLISHED BY GARRISON & KNAPP,
Ko, 11« DIoroIiantK' HtUl.
/•....*. 
1834.

PREFACE.

The result of the great debate in the Lane Seminary, in relation to
Slavery and the American Colonization Society, presents one of the no
blest exhibitions of the power of truth upon the hearts and consciences
of man, that the world has ever witnessed. The letter of Mr. Stanton,
giving the particulars thereof, is remarkable for its simplicity, ingenuous
ness, and moral excellence. The Rev. Dr. Beecher is the President of
Lane Seminary ; and the institution itself is second in importance to no
other in the United States.
The speech of Mr. James A. Thome has made a veyy powerful impres
sion upon the public mind. This young gentleman is the son of a slave
holder in Kentucky; and the attitude assumed by him, therefore, is truly
sublime. The abominations of the slave system which he discloses, are
of the most painful and dreadful character, and clearly show that there
is no other remedy for them than the immediate and utter, overthrow of
slavery. Great weight will be given to the Rev. Dr. Cox's letter, inasmuch as
he is one of the most distinguished clergymen in this country, and was
for many years the steadfast though mistaken advocate of a Society,
which he now utterly repudiates.
This pamphlet merits a wide circulation ; and it is hoped that the
friends of bleeding humanity will assist by their means in putting it into
everj family.

GREAT DEBATE AT LANE SEMINARY.

Last Sr.miN.Ar.Y, Wolnut Hill,
near Ci>\cinnati, Ohio, M.ircli 10, isijl.
Brother Leavitt — Many of your read
ers arc undoubtedly interested in whatever
concerns tliis rising institution. Therefore,
I send you the following. Slavery and its
proposed remedies — immediate abolition and
colonization, 'irve been subjects of occasion
al remark among the students, since tlie
commencement of the late term (June). A
flourishing Colonization Society has existed
among us almost from the foundation of the
institution. Our interest in these topics in
creased gradually until about the first of
February, when it was resolved that we dis
cuss publicly tho merits of the colonization
and abolition scheme.^. At this time, there
were but few decided abolitionists in the
Seminary. The two foiiowing questions
were discussed, separately :
1st " fhight Ihc people of ihc Slavehold-
ing Slates lo abolish Slavci-y immediately ?"
2d. "Are the doclri-nci, tendencies, mtd
nica.mres nf the .American Colonization Socie-
ly, and the influence of its principal sup-
\porlcr.'>, svh «.? render it worth/ of Ihc pa-
\lrnnage of ihe Christian puhlid"
Our respected faculty, fearing tho effect
the discussion would have upon the pros-
jiorily of fhe Seminary, formally advised,
tliat il -liould be postponei) indeiinitcly. But
the students, feeling great anxiety that it
should proceed, and being persuaded from
the state of feeling among them, that it
would be conducted in a manner becoming
young men looking forward to the ministry
of the gospel cf reconciliation, resolved to
go on. The President, and the members of
the faculty, with one exception, were present
during parts of the discussion.
Each question was debated nine evenings
of 'm o hours and a lialf fsch ; making foi-ty- ;
five hours of solid debate. We po.>-3cssod |
some facilities for diBcus.sing both these |
¦ questions intelligently. Wc are situated j
within one mile of a slaveholding State ; 1
eleven of our number wore born and brought !
up in slave States, seven of v.-liom v/cre sons I
of slaveholders, and one of them was him- I
self a slaveholder, till recently ; one of us j
liad been a slave, tnd had bought his free- |
. dom, " with a great sum," which his own
"hands had earned ; ten others had Uved more '

or less in slave States, besides several who
had travelled in the midst of slavery, mak
ing inquiries and searching after truth. We
possessed all the numbers of tho African
Repository, from its commencement, nearly
al! the Annual Reports of the Colonization
Society, and the prominent documents of the
Anti-Slavery Society. In addition to th';
above, our kind friends in the city, furnished
us with Colonization pamphlets in profusion.
Dr. Shane, a young gentleman of Cincin
nati, who had been out to Liberia, with a
load of emigrants, as an agent of tho Colon
ization Society, furnished us with a long
statement concerning the colony ; and a dis
tinguished instructress, recently of Hartford,
Connecticut, now of Cincinnati, sent us a
communication from hor hand, which at
tempted to prove, that Colonizationists and
Abolitioiii.-!ts ought to unite .their ofTorts,
and not contend against one anotlier. —
These were our materials. And, sir, it wa9_
emphatically a discussion of fads, tacts,
FACTS.
The first speaker occupied nearly two
evening.^, in presenting facts concerning sla
very and immediate emancipation, gathered
from various authentic documc.ius. Conclu
sions and inferences were then drawn from
these facts, and arguments fi.ur.rlod u,/o;i
them favourable to immediate abolition, dur
ing tho two next evenings. JXearly four ' f
the remaining five evenings were tii,\olert -Oj
tlie recital of .act.,, in regard lo slavery,
slaves, and slaveholders, gathered, not fron.
written documents, but from careful persoiiii
observation and experience. ISearlyhalf of
the seventeen speakers, on the evenings last '
alluded to, were the sons of slaveholders ;
one liad been a slaveholder himself; one
had tilt recently been a slave ; and t le resi
due were ri;siclents of, or had recently trav
elled or lived in slave States. From tlieir
tesliriiOTi", the fi/ilowing .acts and pr3>;.!.-^s
were estulilished, tc< -.vit: That sk'.es l:n
lor freedom ; th<ic it is a nubj.^ct of v. •¦.-_> re
queni convcivation among them; tliat ^^loy
know their m:;stor-. have no riglit to hoid"
them in slavci-y ; thac tliey I;eenly feel the (
wrong, tbe insult and the degradation Nhic!i
ar-3 heaped upon them hy the whites ; they ic.'.
no ilJte¦.•c^^t compari.iively iu tlieir mnntr's
alTftirs, becausa they know he ia their op-
p'-es-sor: mey aro indolent, bi-cc.i:5e nothing

ithcy can cam' is their own ; they pretend to
ibe more ignorant and stupid than they really
Virc, 80 aa to avoid responsibility, and to shun
tlie lash for any real or allofred disobedience
to orders ; when inspired with a proraise of
freedom, they will toil with incredible alac
rity and faithfulness ; they tell their masters
and drivers they arc contented with their
lot, merelv through fear of greater cruelty
if they tell the truth ; no matter how kind
their master is, they are dissatisfied, and
would rather.be his hired servants than his
slaves ; the slave-drivers are generally low,
bnital, debauched men, distinguished only
for their cruelty and licentiousness ; they
generally have the despotic control of the
slaves ; tlie best side of slavery is seen ; its
darker features being kno^vn only to slaves,
rii.isters and drivers; [upon this point, hor
rid facts, in regard to the whipping and mur-
deniig of slave.s, were developed. God
sparing my life, tliey shall be given to the
public] The state of morals among slaves,
especially in regard to licentiousness, is
sickening ! This condition is attributable to
the treatment they receive from their mas
ters ; they being huddled together from their
infancy in small apartments without discrim
ination of sex ; and oftentimes being com
pelled to steal or starve ; the influence of
slavery upon the physical condition, and
mental and moral character of the whites, is
decidedly and lamentably pernicious ; the
internal slave trade is increasing, and is car
ried on by men distinguished, even among
slave-drivers, for their cruelty and brutality !
No class in the country have stronger social
affections, than slaves ; nevertheless, the
ties of parent and child, husband and wife,
brother and sister, are torn asunder by this
bloody traffic. A husband has been known
to cut his throat deliberately, because tliis
damnable traffic was about to separate him
from a wife whom he tenderly loved. The
horrid character of Louisiana slavery, was
developed in some degree by one who had
resided there. The planters in tliat State,
when sugar commands a high price,' do not
hesitate to kill a few of their negroes by
overworking, if by that means they can bring
more sugar into a favourable market ; in con-
iSequence of this, one of the usual prayers of
(^the poor negro is, that sugar Jnay be cheap.
Multitudes of slaves are being carried into
that State from other slave. States ; blacks
are kidnapped from this State, (Ohio,) and
sold into slavery ; slaves are decidedly hos-
rtile to Liberia, and only consent to go there
Uo escape from slavery ; masters are general
ly opposed to their negroes being educated >
that the blacks are abundantly Me to take
care of, and provide for the-mselves ; a-nd thai
they -woidd be kind and docile if itnmediate-
ly emancipated. These points, with many
otbeiB equally important, were established,

so far as a miiltitudo of facts could establish
them. On the two last points, the following
was interesting and decisive.
Jainns Bradley, tho emancipated slave
abovo alluded to, addressed us nearly two
hours ; and I wish his speech could have
been heard by every opponent of immediate
emancipation, to wit: first, that "it wonld
be unsafe to the community ;" second, that
"tho condition of the emancipated negroes
would be worse than it now is ; that they
are incompetent to provide for themselves ;
that thoy would become paupers and va
grants, and would rather steal than work for
wages." This shrewd and intelligent black,
cut up these lohite objections by the roots,
'and withered and scorched them under the
sun of sarcastic argumentation, for nearly an
hour, to which the assembly responded in
repeated and spont.ar.eoua roars of laughter,
which were heartily joined in by both Colon-
izationista and AboUtionists. Do not under
stand mc as saying, that his speech was de
void of argument. No. It contained sound
logic, enforced by apt illustrations. I wish
the slanderers of negro intellect could have
witnessed this unpremeditated effort. I will
give you a sketch of this man's history. He
was stolen from Africa when an infant, and
sold into slavery. His master, who resided
in Arkansas, died, leaving him to his widow.
He was then about eightosn years of age.
For some years, he maii.aixfd Ihe pla-ntation
for his mistress. Finally, he purchased his '
time by tho year, and began to eam money
to buy his freedom. Af>,er five years of toil,
having paid his owners $655, besides sup
porting himself during the time, he received
his " free papers," and emigrated to a free
State with more than JJ200 in his pock
et. Every cent of this money, §855, he
earned by labour and trading. He is now
o beloved and respected member of this in
stitution. ,
Now, Mr. Editor, can slaves take care of
themselves if emancipated ? I ansv/cr the
question in the language employed by brotii
er Bradley, on the above occasion. " They
have to take care of, and support themselves
now, and their master, and las family into
the bargain ; and this being so, it would be
strange if they could not provide for tliem
selves, lohen disencumbered from this load,"
Ho said the great desire of the slaves was
" liberty and education," And shall tliis
heaven-born desire be trampled in the dust
by a free and Christian nation.'
At the close of the niritli evening, tiie vote
•was taken on the first question, wJwa mery
individual voted in the ajirmative except four
or five, who excused themselves from voting
at all, on the ground that they had not reado
up their opinion. Every friend of the cause
rendered a hearty tribute of tharJisgiviag to
God, for the glorious issue.

At tho next evening, wc entered ujion tlie
discussion of tho second question. Hero,
there was a hiuch greater diversity of senti
ment But wc entered upon the dcbiito not
like blinded partizans, but like men whose'
polar star was facts and truth, whose needle
was conscience, whose chart the Bible.
The witnesses summoned to tlie stand,
were the documents of the Colonization So-
cietjr. They were examined at great length
and in great numbers. We judged it out
of its own mouth. There was no paucity of
testimony ; for, as I before observed, we had
all ita " Repositories," and nearly all its Re
ports and Addresses, in addition to which,
we were benevolently furnished by friends
with numerous collated witnesses, whom we
¦of course had tlie privilege of cross-exam
ining. Notwithstanding the length of this
part of the discussion, but two individuals
spoke, one on each side, and another read
some testimony in favour of the Colony.
Several individuals at tlie opening of tlie de
bate, intended to speak on the affirmative,
tut before it was closed, they became warm
ly attached to the other side. Others were
induced to espouse the cause of anti-Coloni-
zationidm, by examining documents of the
Colonization Society, forthe purpose of pre
paring to speak in the affirmative. Most of
the Coloniialionists who expressed any opin
ion on the suhject, declared their ignorance of
the doctrines and measures of the Society un
tU this debate. They cannot find words to
express their astonishment that they should
have been so duped into the support of this
Society, as a scheme of benevolence to
wards the free blacks, and a remedy for sla
very. They now repudiate it with all their
hearts. Is it not a fact that the great ma
jority of the supporters of this Society have
never examined its doctrines, ita tendencies
and measures ? Do not nine-tenths of the
Colonizationists with whom you come in
contact, express incredulous surprise at the
announcement of almost any one of its
prominent doctrines, and meet you with the
reply, " This cannot be so ?" Is it not the
"immediate" duty of such raen (benevolent,
and scrupulously honest, no doubt,) to ex
amine this subject .'
I will state a fact A member of this In
stitution was a member of the Oneida Insti
tute, during the Colonization debate held
there last summer, and took an active part
in that discussion. An anti-Slavery and a
Colonization Society were the offspring of
this debate. My worthy brother was placed
at the head of the latter Society. He was
a sincere friend of the negro, and what is
quite as rare, was a consistent and practical
man. About five months since, he left
Oneida, and came to Lane Seminary. On
his way hither, he took great pains to oon-
verae with every negro fie could find about

emigrating to Liberia. lie talked wiih Boiric
thirty or forty, all of whom exccjit one, wcro
incorrigible in their preference to remain in
their native lan<l, rather than to cmigralo
' home" to a foreign shore. This shook
liis faith in tho entire practicability of the
scheme. Still he arrived here, the warm
friend of tho Society ; and so continued, un
til this debate, in which ho intended to have
taken an active part But before he had an'
opportunity to take the floor, facts pressed
upon him, (he was always open to convic
tion,) he changed his views, became the de
cided opponent of the Society, has left tho
Institution for the purpose of commencing ii
school for the education of the people of
colour in Cincinnati, and has devoted him
self to the elevation of the free blacks on
our own soil, and to the making up of a,
public Bcntiment favourable to the abolition
of slavery without expatriation. I would
give you his name were it not that ho is
about to present to the public some interest
ing facts, beiiring upon slavery and emanci
pation, which he has collected within a fcw
v/eeks among the free people of colour, in
¦Cincinnati, in tho course of which he will
probably nlhule to tho facts stated abovo by
me. This, uir, is what I call practical arti-
colonizationism. ¦ At the close of the debate, the question
was taJjcn by ayes and noes, and decided in
the negative with only one dissenting voice..
Four or five who did not regularly attend the
discussion, declined voting. Two or three
others were absent from the Seminary. —
When the debate commenced, I had fears •
that there might be some unpleasant excite
ment, particularly as slaveholders,. and pros
pective heirs to slave property, were' to par
ticipate in it But the kindest feelings pre
vailed. There was no crimination, no de
nunciation, no impeachment of motives. And
the result has convinced me that prejudice is
vincible, tliat colonization is vulnerable, and
that immediate emancipation is not onlyO
right, and practicable, but is " expedient." '
The result has convinced mc of another
thing, which I hail as the bright bow of prom
ise to tliis holy cause. It is that southern
minds, trained and educated amidst all the;
prejudices of a slavehoMing community, can,'
with the blessing of God, bo reached and in-.
fluenced by facts and arguments, as easy as
any other class of our citizens. To be sure,'^j
they will not endure blind and ¦unintelligent i
denunciation ; and what rational being will ?
But after behig thoroughly aroused by facts,
they will receive rebuke, remonstrance, and
entreaty, if kindly offered, with that frank
ness and honesty which have ever marked
the southern character. And when thor
oughly converted, they manifest an ardor in
behalf of the deeply injured black, which
astonishes while it delights. Almost ail of

r,

our southern brethren are engaged in color
ed Sabbath schools and Bible classes. Some
of thera have devoted their lives in doing
good to that ojipresscd race. Lot me state
one or two farfs on this point The son of
a slaveholder has just left the institution on
account of ill-health, with a determination
that he will notecase his cflbrts until his pa
rent is induced to liberate his slaves. An
other said, until this debate, he had ever con-
.sidcred slaveholding right, but now, being
convinced it was wrong, he should exert an
influence accordingly. Another entered this
institution last spring the owner of two
slaves. Having been taught to look upon
slavery as a necessary evil and not a sin, he
Iiircd out his slaves where they would re
ceive kind treatment, intcndinij that the pro-
ceces of their labor should aid him in his
lircparations for the ministry. Towards the
close of thq last session, facts were pressed
npo'i his conscience, his duty was pointed
out, lie saw it, returned horn,-' to Kentucky,
liberated his sla\es — and now, instead of
their working to educate him, he is working
and studying, and educating ihem. I need
not add, that, on this occasion, he took the
side of immediate abolition, and anti-coloni-
:5ation. This, sir, is what I call praciical
'immediate emancipation.'
It is the decided opinion of our brethren
from the slave states, that if the plan of ab
olition proposed, by tho friends of that meas
ure, could be kindly spread out before the
southern community, and the entire practica
bility of the scheme illu.strated and enforced
by existing facts, slaveholders would embrace
it as the only rational remedy for slavery, and
would come over to the cause of immediate
emancipation in crowds. They have some
how got the opinion that abolition is an infu
riated monster, with a thousand heads and
ten thousand horns, panting after blood, and
ready to gore to death every slaveholder in
the Union. And is it wonderful that they
should receive this impression, when we con
sider the tone of the Colonization journals
of the north.' Our southern fellow-citizens
should be disabused on this vitally interesting
subject ¦ Depend upon it, the people, (I speak
not of politicians,) the people of the south
are not devoid of reason. Iknow that facts
and reasoning have prevailed with them : and
until truth loses its power, they loill contin
ue to prevail, overcoming prejudice, reach
ing the conscience, and changing the mind.
I am acquainted with intelligent gentlemen
residing in this country, not professing Chris
tians, who are intimately acquainted with
slavery in all its details, iiaving lived many-
years in slaveholding states, who on pri-nc-l-
plea of potitical economy, are the decided ad
vocates of immediate emancipation. Look
at the facts as they exist in this seminary.

born and brought up in the midst of slavery,
or who now resides in a slave sl.ate, with one
exception, is tlie iidvocate of immediate abo
lition without cxpatriiition. [The ojiinion of
one who was absent from the .seminary du
ring the debate, I do not know.] There has
been no necromancy employed in this work.
Prayer, the liibk, the rondilion nf the slave,
and the. documents of Ihc Colonization Soci
ety, have been the instniinents. When a
brother resolved to use these mo.ins faith
fully, wc had no anxiety as to the result.
Would not tho use of those measures by
every Christian in the land work wonders in
the American church.' Alas! how fow
tChristians have prayed over, and talked
|about, and examined a system which crushes
into the dust two millions of their brethren
and sisters, and consi^'iis them over to op
pression, to caprice, to lust, lo brutality, to
ignorance, to degradation, to deatli, to dam
nation. I thank God that the night of torpor
is past in this institution ; that prejudice has
been buried in a disli.-jnorod grave, and that
the persecuted blacks, bond and fres, have a
iplace in our sympathies, our prayers, and our
labors. Some important facts in regard to tiie
rhnracter of emancipated negroes, and their
ability to provide for themselves, have re
cently fallen under my observation in the
city of Cincinnati. A largo majority of the
adult blacks in that city, are libei;atcd slaves.
Many of thom earned with their fawn hands
and paid six hundred, nine hundred, and some
nearly fourteen hundred collars for tliem
selves individually, for themselves and their
families. The majority of tiieso iiave like
wise acquired considerable property biur.c
their liberation. Many of them have alrpady
purchased their friends out of slavery! — and
it is probable that at least one third of tuo
adult blacks in this city, are employed in
earning money to buy their friends and rela
tives now in slavery. And this too is accom
plished under peculiar embarrassments, heap
ed upon thern by the oppressive laws of this
state. They hold a debating society for mu
tual improvement every week. A lyceum
in which lectures will bo delivered two or
three times a week, and male and female
schools, are being established among them
by abolitionists of the institution. Many of
them meet in Bible classes, and Sabbath
schools. And yet, these industrious people,
have to be constantly on the alert to avoid
being kidnapped, and sold into slavery, to
supply the New-Orleans market ! It has
several times happened to these persecuted
people, ajlcr partly paying the -ra-iunn ef
their relatives, that the master has sold the
objects of their toil io slave-traders, who
have carried them into hopeless bondage.
This was the case recently in regard to ti

Every member of this institution who was wife, whose husband had paid in part for .ic;-

fVfpdom, nnd was laboring in this county to
*!nrn tho residue. The master sold her for
the New-Orleans market! A grand-mother
liad redeemed her daughter, and several
grand-children, out of slavery. Only one
little girl remained, and the stipulated sum
for her liberation had neariy all been paid.
Disregarding his solemn pledges, the master
sold the child to a man who was about to re
move out of the state (Kentucky.) Distract
ed, the grand-mother went to the fonner
master and entreated him with tears, either
to re-purchase the little girl, or refund the
money she had paid him. He would do
neither. Witli much effort, she succeeded
in borrowing a sum sufficient to purchase
her at full price of the latter master, while
the former retained his ill gotten lucre. This
transpired within three weeks. rSut why
need I go on ? Who will heed the CiT of
the oppressed.' My soul sickens as I ponder
over these legalized cruelties. Is it surpri
sing that these persons do not rise higher in
the scale of wealth, intelligence and respec
tability ? Pressed down as they are by the
Vvhitet, under such a lo.ul of jrejudice, and
civil and ediication.al disabilities — a.id liable
to be kidnapped and sold into slavery, is it
not suri'i-i-iii'T thit they rise at all '- It is lit-
eraily true, that tiiey sunt taoinselve.^ in
food and clothing, and go bare-headed and
bare-footed, so that they may appropriate
their earnings to the purchase of relatives in
bondage. Noble spirits ! An emancipated
slave said to me to-day, 'Even freedom is bit
ter to ns, while our friends are in slavtr>l !
And shall wo make the present degradation
of the free blacks, which is Ihe work of our
own ha.ids, the premises from which to draw
the conclusion, that ' they can never rise in
this country,' and thcnfore, ' it is benevolent
in itv to transport them to a foreign shore
where they can escape' our 'perscciitionH?'
Itis easier to estimnto the benevolence ofthe
argument, than to discover its sonndncs.i.
This evening, we formed an Anti-Slavery
Society. Yours in the gospel,
H. B. STANTON.
SPEECH OF' MEI. .TAME.S A. THOME,
Of Ker. ti. city,
Delivered at Ihe first nni-iviTsury of Ihe Amerk m
A-nti-Slaveri/ Society i/; tin Ciitj uf Nevi Ycrk,
.May ii, 18.3 '.
Mr. Jamf.s a. Thome, of Kentucky, adele-
gate from the Anti-Slavery Society of Lane
Seminary, was introduced to the meeting,
and moved the following resolution :
Resolved. Tliiit car principles commend thcm-
' selvcK to tho consciences ond interest of slave
holders; and thai recent developcmants indicate
the speedy triumph of our cause.
Of the truth of the first proposition con
tained in this resolution, that our principles

commend tlipiimelvci to the consciences ni.il
interest of slavcholdeiH, I have tho honor to
stand before you a living witncs.s. I am from
Kentucky. There I was born and wholly
educated. The iissociationH of youth nnd
the attachments of growing yours; preju
dices, opinions nnd hiihits forming and fix
ing during my whole life, conspire to ninko
me a ICentuckiau indeed. More than this ; I
breathed my first breath iu the atmosphere of
slavery; I was suckled at its breast and dan
dled on its knee. Black, black, black was
before mo nt every step ; the sure badge of
infamy. The sympathies of nature, even in
their spring tide, were dried up ; compassion
was deadened, and tho heart was steeled by
repeated scenes of cruelty and oft-t.aught
lessons of the coloured man's inferiority.
^^''hat shul! I say is the result cither of
j experience or of personal observation.
Abolition principles do take strong hold of
I the conscience and of interest too. Permit
nie to say, sir, I was for several years a
! mejiibcr of the Colonization Society. I con-
I tributed to its funds and eulogized it-s mons-
' urrs, and now, thougl^. I would not leave my
! path to cttaek tlii.-* Institution, yet duty bids
I li'io .>tale, solemnly and deliberately, that its
I dii'ee*. inJle.eiiCO ii|i,).i i.'iv iiiind wa., to Icstjcn
|iii) coiiviciifiii uf tlu; evil of sHscy, fiiiii t.
deepen (uid hauctify my projudio.e rigainbt
' tho coloured race.
1 But, sir, far otherwise with abolitiun. — "
Within a few months residence at Lane
I Seminary, and by means of a discussion un
paralleled in the brotherly feeling and fair
ness which characti'rized it, and tiie results
which it brought out, tho grentprinciples of
j duty stood forth, sin revived, and I died.
,4ildi-Sil*-tll2!lgk.J_i'.-'' ',.'''¦ -"-¦'j''' lllOHLCIitJJlC
' heir to a slayeJnilCiit^iuic^juid though, for-
suiitli, f iirn one ..(' tho-e i-if'ir'.annlc being.s
1 upon M-hom slavery is by i'on-' .(.NTAif.Ln,
! yet I am bold to deuoieii e the v. hole .iybtcm
, as an outrage, a et.iupliiMtioii of crimes 'inii
i wrong.s, ond cruelties *.iat malic angels « etp.
i This 15 the spirit which your principles 'i„-
\ spire. Indeed, I know (,i' -i'] siibjoct whic."
t:ikcs ^acil stf.jii^' tiol : i>f t.he man as doe,,
abolition. It sei:es t!'e CfM:,„ieii'"e with an
autliuiitative graso •, it rt.i;s iiLivit's e\ery
path of the guilty, Ijau.it.-- him, ¦.j-no.e.i inttj,
j and rings i.i his ear the cry of Liood. it
build.-, a Willi u,) tr, hoi.ven o.'lhre hirii anu
, around hini; it go.is witli the ejo of G-id^
jand searcliet, his iiean \'. ith a sep-jtiny too
strict \ri be eluded. It writes "thou art'
the man," upon the forcliead of every op
pressor.
-- It nls'i commands the a' eiiues to tho hu
man heart, and rushes up through them oil
to take the citadel ef feeling. All the .sym
pathies are its advocates, and every .suscep
tibility to C'-imjiassiouato outraged humar.ity
stands pledged lo do its wor-k.

8

Will you permit mo to state Komo of the
vantage grounds upon which we stand in tlie
public discussion of this question ?
1. The duty of tlie slaveholder. Tho duty
of the slaveholder: what a weapon! a host
in itself! sure as the throne of God, and
strong as the arm of God. It is untrue that
this consideration loses its force in slave
States. It is the power of God tliere and on
tliis subject, aa it is elsewhere, and on every
otiier. Facts are daily occurring which
show that when every other motive fails,
this is efficient It is a libel upon the West
ern character, to say that duty there must
bow before expediency/; and this miserable
policy will soon bo visited with a just re
buke from tho people it has slandered.
2. Afjain. The sufferings of the slaves.
It is well known that in Kentucky, slavery
wears its mildest features. Kentucky slave
holders are generally ignorant of the cruel
ties which are practised further Soutli, and
on this score are little aware of the bearings
jof the system. Those good matter-of-fact
patriots, who call such recitals " the poetry of
philanthropy," andwhpjn^eSouth have the
control ofthe pre^jTaaye s^^oiisIy"fefrain-
ed from instructingthe public on'this point
A noble expedientTFiis, Io" ctSsB'tlre-ear of
the oppressor against the wail of the op
pressed. But it will not avail. The voice
lOf their lamentations is waxing louder, and
\it will be heard. Sir, is it not unquestiona
ble that slavery is the parent of more suffer
ing than has flowed from any one source
since the date of its existence r Such suf
ferings too! Sufierings inconceivable and
innumerable ; anguish from mind degraded ;
hopelessness from violated chastity ; bitter
ness from character, reputation and honour
annihilated; unmingled wretchedness frora
the ties of nature rudely broken and destroy
ed, the acutest bodily torture in every mus
cle and joint ; groans, tears and blood ; lying
forever in perils among robbers, in perils in the
city,in perils in the wilderness, in perils among
falso brethren, in weariness and painfulness,
in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in
fastings often, in cold and nakedness."
What ! are these our brethren ? And
have we fattened, like jackalls, upon their
living flesh ! Sir, when once the great prop
osition that negroes are human beings, a
"proposition now scouted by many with con

will, over and nnon, atruggio up and rcsch
tlie ear of humanity.
A general fact ; thongh I would by no
moans intimate that Kentucky slaveholders
are themselves free from cruelty : far from
it! yet I have found, in narrating particular
cases to thom, as evident expressions of
horror and indignation as men ordinarily feel
in other sections of our country. Such facts
have their effect upon them.
3. Licentiousness. I shall not speak of
the far South, whose sons are fast melting
away under tlie unblushing profligacy which
frevails. I allude to the slaveholding West
t is well known that the slave lodgings, I
refer now to village slaves, are exposed to
tlio entrance of strangers every hour of tho
night, ond that the sleeping apartments of
botli sexes are common.
It is also a fact, that there ia no allowed
intercourse between the families and ser
vants, after the work of the day is over.
The faraily, assembled for tho evening, enjoy
a conversation elevating and instructive. —
But the poor slaves are thrust out No ties
of sacred home thrown around them ; no
moral instruction to corapensate for the toils
of the day ; no intercourse as of man with
man ; and should one of the younger mem
bers of the family, led by curiosity, steal out
into the filthy kitchen, the child is speedily
called back, thinking itself happy if it es
cape an angTy rebuke. Why this.' The
^read of moral contamination. Most excel
lent reason ; but it reveals a horrid picture.
The slaves, thus cut off from all community
of feeling with their master, roam over the
village streets, shocking the car with their
vulgar jestings, and voluptuous songs, or
opening their kitchens to the reception of
the neighbouring blacks, they pass the even
ing in gambling, dancing, drinking, and the
most obscene conversation, kept up until the
night is far spent, then crown the scene with
indiscriminate debauchery. Where do these
things occur.' In the kitchens of church
members ard elder.''!
But another genera! fact Afler all xhi
caro of parents to hide these things frora
their children, the young inquisitors pry
them out, and they are apt scholar.s tmly.
It is a short sighted parent who does not
perceive that his domestics influence very
materially the early education of his chil-
tempt, is clearly demonstrated and drawn j dren. Between tlie feraale slaves and the
out on the Southem sky, and when under- I misses, there is an unrestrained coinmiiiiica-
neath it is written the bloody corollary, the j tion. As they come in contact through the
sufferings of the negro race, the seared con- I day, the courtezan feats of the over-nigh.r,
science will again sting, and the stony heart! are whispered into the ear of tiie unGusp,:ci~
will melt ! ing giri, to poison her youthful mind.
But, brethren ofthe North, be not de- J Bring togetlier these three fac:s. 1st That '
ceived. These sufferings still exist ; and i slave lodgings are exposed, and both scxco
despite'the efforts of their cruel authors to j fare promiscuously. &d. That the jlavcd
hush them down, and confine them within i are excluded from tho social, moral .and iri-
the precincts of their own plantations, they I tellectuai advantages or the faniLy, and left

»

to seek such enjoj'mcnts as a debased appe
tite suggests. And 3d. That the slaves
have free interchange of thought with the
younger members of tho family ; and ask
yourselves what must be the results of their
combined operation.
Yet those are only some of the ingredi
ents in this great system of licentiousness.
Poliul^ra, pollution ! Young men of talents
and respectability, fathers, professors of re
ligion, ministers, oil classes ! Overwhelm
ing pollution ! I have tacts ; but 1 forbear
to state them; facts which have fallen un
der my own observation, startling enough
to arouse tlie moral indignation of the com
munity. I would not have you fail to understand
that this is a general evil. Sir, what I non-
say, I say from delibcr.ito conviction of its
trutJi ; let it be felt in the North, and rolled
back upon tlie Sorth, that tlie slave States
care Sodoms, and almost every v.li.age family
is a brothel. (In this, I refer to tho ir.iuntei
of the kitchens, and not to t!iC whites.) And
it is well. God be blessed for the .cmIs
which thi3_ cursed sin entai]s.„..,JCliEjLaa]y
show that wTrntevcr"is~to'(jc,.fba£cd.-from..±hc
aBoirEron~or sT:ivFiy, horrors3,Iiiindred fqld_
gfe:atcr cTusfCr about its ,J55JSt£P-C,p. TTcap
them up, all hideous^ as thoy are, and crowd
them horae ; they will prove an cflTcctual
medicine. Let me be understood here. —
This pollution is the oflfspring of slavery ;
It springs not from tho character of the ne
gro, but from the condition of the- slave.
'' I have time merely to allude to several
other considerations.
4. The fears of slaveholder.'^. These af
ford strong evidence that conscience is at
work. In the most peaceful villages of Ken
tucky, raasters at this tirae sleep with mus
kets in their bedrooms, or a brace of pistols
at their heads.
5. Their acknowledgements. The very
admissions which they make for the purpose
of silencing their growing conviction of
duty, may be successfully turned upon thorn.,
They almost unanimously say that slavery is
a great evil; that it is abstractly wrong;
yet there is no help for it: or their slaves
are better off than they are ; or, or, or.
Now, be they sincere or insincere, out of
theii- own mouth we can condemn them. I
met, the other day, in travelling a short dis
tance on the Ohio river, with a good illus
tration of the manner in which these admis
sions are made. It is also a pretty faithful
exhibition of the uneasy, conscience-struck
spirit which is bepnning to pervade Ken
tucky. The individual was a citizen of that
State, and a slaveholder in it. He v/as free
in conversation on the subject of slavery.
He declared in the outset that slavery was
wrong ; a most iniquitous system, and ought
to be abolished. Quite a point gained,
2

thought I, and I proceeded very confidently
to the application. But I soon found that
my friend had deserted his position. "The
old dispensation, sir; what d'ye think of
that .' Did'nt Abraham hold slaves ? and be
sides, what does Paul say .'"
You perceive he waa a Cliristian, sir;
quite orthodox withal.
Soon again he returned to his post, and
asserted as roundly nn before, tho wicked
ness of slavery. " Wrong, totally wrong !
I would free nil my slaves if — but — O, tell
nie, sir, were not the Jews permitted to hold
slaves because they were a favored people ;
and are not we a favored people ? Abra
ham, Paul, the old dispensation ;" and thus '
he rung the changes, stung on the one hand
by a guilty conscience, aud met on ttieotliei-
by opposing sel'.isiinc.ss. It may be .^a:d,
thjs irKin Was not intelligent He was unu
sually so on every other suljcct.
- ti. Safety of einfincipation. On thie point,
'xlio slaveholder is more than ignorant ; he is
deplorably misinformed. Who have been
liis counsellors, judge yc. It is remarkable
what a unanimity of sentiment prevails on
this subject.
You would suppose that thoy had long''
been plied with stories of butchered parents,
murdered children, and plundered houses.
This might be discouraging if the short his
tory of emancipation did not furnish us witli
so many conclusive facts. With these facts
you arc quite familiar ; and yet there is no |
|objcction more common tlidn the dangers, I
''\he dangers of emancipation. Tri.7el in j
slaveholding States, and talk with masters, 1
and you will find, in a great majority of
cases, they will point to St Domingo, and
exultingly say, "Behold the consequences '
of your measures." —
7. Slaveholders are not so inaccessible as
thoy arc thonght to be in the North. There
is a strong degree jf excitability in the char
acter of our Soutlicrn brethren, it is true ;
but this is not all. There is reason too, and
common sense, and conscicsco.
I, for one, beg I'lavo to envc rny deciclou
protest p.gainst tho;;a fr'nudhj representa
tions of the Soutlicrn character, which have
been made to scare away abolitionists, anc'
prolong a guilty repose. Unless I read
amiss, assertions are repeatedly made to
this effect; that argument, in the South, has
no weight ; that truth, fac5s, experience are
all inefficacious; that slavcho'dcrs hnve no
conscience, no heart, no soul, no prli.cip.e,
nothing but selfishness, that tlity a/e liu:;-
teroes and pa.3sionate when )oi spe.-l- of
tho rights of man, and you must be-vs aix —
soft! delicate matters'! Sir. I repudiate
these sentiments. They a:-e as grouiiu'.ess
as they are insulting. Let the.n jtriko with
all the'ir force against certain wordy orators
of the South, whose arguments a^e p-jwde;

IO

and ball5, but they illy fit those worthy citi
zens whoso voice consiitutcs public sen
timent The sl.-iveholder, if rightly approached,
exhibits all the courtesy for which the South
is noted. I have conversed with many, and
scarcely know an instance to the contrary.
No indignation, no rage, no fierce indica
tions of hostility. I lately had opportunity
to converse with several intelligent families,
in a small village of Kentucky. The state
of feeling was truly gratifying. Many in
quiries were made concerning the principles
of abolitionists. Some were anxious to
know tho plans of operation, others express
ed themselves in very unexpected terras.
S.iid one, " I am decidedly opposed to the
spirit of the Coloniz.ation Society." Said
another, " I am determined to emancipate
my slaves just so S'oon as circumstances,
now without my control, will permit''
8. Kentucky. I have already made fre
quent allusions to Kentucky. The spirit
which is beginning to prevail there, though
not a fair representative of tlie stat« of the
public mind in other slave States, is to be
hailed, on other grounds, as constituting no
small item in our account Colonization,
which, like the Hindoo goddess, with smiling
face and winning air, grasps in her wide em
brace, the zeal of the church and the benev
olence of the world, and, pressing them to
her bosom, thrusts them through with the
hidden steel. Colonization has indeed done
its mournful work in Kentucky.
[aw, perhaps I owe an apology to this
house, for such frequent allusions to the
Colonization Society. This is my apology.
I know its evils, and can lay my finger on
them one by one. I knoio the individual
slaves who are now in bondage by its influ
ence aloTic. I know the masters whose only
plea for continuing in the sin, is drawn frora
its doctrines. I know, and therefore have I
spoken. Many of its friends I reverence ;
they are worthy men. But the tendencies
of the system I know to be pernicious in the
extreme.] But the state is rising above this influence.
Conscientious citizens are forming them
selves into other associations. Many hold
this language : " Slavery stands in opposi
tion to the spirit of the age, to the progress
of human improveraent ; it cannot abide the
light of the nineteenth century." The Leg
islature has taken up the subject. The spirit
of inquiry is abroad. " Kentucky ia rapidly
awakening." She should now fill up the eye
of abolitionists ; for if she were induced to
t.ike a stand with you, her example would be
of incalculable worth.
These aire some of the results of a life
thus far spent in the midst of slavery ; less
than this I could not prevail upon myself to
say. The design of these statements has

been to encourage you in your holy enter
prise', inasmuch iis they show that your prin
ciples do take strong hold of the consciences
and interest of shiveholders.
Now, sir, the great object of my presence
here, is to urge upon you nn appeal for re
newed effort on the behalf of the slave.
The question has been asked here, and re
peated in the South, "whatlui.s the North
to do with slavery ?" At present she has
every thing to do \? ith it, every thing. Will
you please boar in mind three considera
tions. 1st. We have no abolition paper in
the West or Routh. 2d. 'i'our principles
have been gro.ssly misrepresented, and mis
understood. ;jd. You have eflccted incred
ible things rdready.
With regard tn the first fact I only say,
with shame, tiiere is no editor in the Valley
who is willing to ha'/ard his living by estab
lishing an abolition jiress.
2d. I can give you but a faint idea of the
notions whicli are cnterlxiiiied of abolition
principles and men. Recklessness, false
estimate of right, fanaticism, Quixotism, sub
limated austere bigots, incessantly harping
upon abstract principles, incendiaries, ofii-
cious intermeddlcrs, arrant kniives, who
would break up all well ordered society, set
every slave at his master's throat, and enjoy
the massacre with infinite delight ; outlaw
ed roneg-ades who, having themselves no in
terest at stake, would bankrupt the honc.*,t
planter, and most horrifying of all, introduce
a general systen of amalgaination. Notions
so monstrously perverted, have not been
caught up at hap-hazard, but most faithfully
instilled by the timorous cautionists of our
day. But from what source soever they may
have come, th6y clamor for correction, imme
diate correction. It is of immense importance
that the public mind should be disabused by
a faithful presentation of facts.
Under all these disadvantages you are do
ing much. The very little leaven which
you have been enabled to introduce is now
working with trem.endous power. One in
stance has lately occurred wfthin my ac
quaintance, of an heir to slave property ; a
young man of growing influence, who was
first awakened by reading a single number
of the Anti-Slavery Reporter, sent to him
by some unknown hand. He is now a whole
hearted abolitionist I have facts to show
that cases of this kind arc by no means rare.
A family of slaves in Arkansas Territory,
another in Tennessee, and a third, consist
ing of eighty-eight, in Virginia, were suc
cessively emancipated through the influence
of one abohtion periodical.
Then do not hesitate as to duty. Do not
pause to consider tlio propriety of interfer
ence. It is as unquestionably the province /
of the North to labour in this cause, as it is /
the duty of the church to convert the world.

11

The call isi urgent; it :s imperative. 'Wo
want light Tho ungodly are saying, "the
church will not enlighten us." Tho < Imrcii
is saying, " the ministry will not enlighten
us." The ministry is crying " Ponce — take
care." We are altogether covered in gross
darkness. 'We ajipeal to you for light.
Send us facts ; send us kind remonstrance
nnd manly reasoning. Wc nre perishing
for lack of truth. 'We have been lulled to
sleep by the guilty apologist O tell us, if
it be true that our bed is a volcano. O, roll
off the Colonization incubus which is crush
ing us.down and binding us hand and foot
Show us that "prejudice is vincible," that
slavery is unqiialifedly wrong, nnd strip us
of every excuse. Como and tell us what
shocking scenes arc transpiring in our owi
families under the cover of night Go a\ ith
us into our kitchens and lift up tho honid
veil ; show us thc'i-nntamin.ation, as it issues
tlioncc and wraps its loathsome folds about
our sons nnd daugliter.s.
Nay, tell us if indeed these miserable be
ings are themsclvc-i our sisters and brothers,
whom we have buried rdive, with our own
hands, in corruption. Point us, with painlul
exactness, to the forehead, frora which God's
imago is well nigh effaced, to the soulless
eye, to the bea-st-like features, the leaden
countenance and the cowerirer air, and tell
us " That is the immnrlnl mind in ruins."
Repeat the sulTerings ei' tiie slave, the stripes,
the cruel soparatinii, the forlornnoss of tho
friendless slavr', and llash upon us the truth,
" thy brother, thy brother !"
Sir, we have sympathies yet alive within
us, we have feeling. The great deep of our
hearts, though it has long been calm, may
be moved, and it will be broken up by such
stirring facts.
\ You hear the appeal of the South ; can
you resist it? You will not The work is
yours ; your heart is in it. Blove onward,
and soon the triumph will be yours.
None but God can stay your course, and
God is with you.

UEV. DR. COX'S LETTER,
TO THE EDITOR OF TIIE NEW YORK
EVANGELIST.
Etliiopia [the people of Cusii] shall soon stretch
out her hands unto God. — Psalm Ixviii. 31.
Having left America a sincere friend to
the cause of the American Colonization So
ciety, I continued sincerely to advocate its
merits, and to defend its principles, wherev
er I went For this there was no want of
occasion. Beyond all my anticipations, the
opportunity and the necessity of such advo
cacy were constantly obtruded ; till at last,
i almost felt unwilling to go into any raixed
company, because of the frequency with
•which the finest spirits that I met there never

failed lo oricu.iiilei- lue ; and sorrieiiineft ir. 'i
way t.h:i' coi^seioiisly overmatched me, I
was chiefly inijii'.sKi-'il u'ith the following
things, ill nil the nrgiiirientntion I witnes.-.ed ;
first, the astoiiisinj zeal, and scnsitivencs-i!,
nnd avidity to speak in public and private,
which they e\ineed ; second, tho novelty nnd
extravagance of their positions in favour of
universal emancipation, and the thorough
going extent to which they boldly drove
l;hem, fcarleiss nnd inexorable in what they
viewed ns right and obligatory ; third, tho
character of the men who were Ihe chief
tains of the argument ; they were the most
excellent, and exalted, and lovely persons,
in the realm, so far as I had any means of
judging ; and fourth, the extent to which the
influence of these pri.nciples had gone, in
pervading and leavcnin^j 1;he mas,' of tiie
P'J'ople, in England, IrclaiKl, and Soollnhd,
especially as evinced in kindred antipathy to
the cause of tho American Colonization .So
ciety. It will not be wrong to name such
persons as Dr. Morison of London, Professor
Edgar of Bclfiist, and Dr. lleugh of Glas
gow. When such men opposed mo in de
bate, with all the zeal of reformers, with
much ofthe light of argument, and more of
the love of piety, it was impossible that I
should not feel their influence. Still, I re
plied with perfect conviction, and ordinarily
witli as mucii succcos as could hove been r:..-
I tionally c:;poctod. Teero .i'a5, onr poi.nt,
however, v.hore I aiw.iyd showed and ie!t
weak. It related to a question of fact Are
not the free negroes of your iStates, espec
ially at tho North^ almost universally oppos
ed to the project of Colonization ? My an
swer was, no, at least I think not. That
the point was a cardinal one, I always per
ceived ; for the Society has to do with tho
free alone ; and, by its constitution, express
ly, with their own consent; as I think the
words are. Besides, if it were any jiart of
the scheme to expatriate to Africa, without
their own consent, it would be plainly a nn.-
tional society of kidnappers, and no one
could honestly advocate it for an instant
Says the Hon. Mr. Frelinghuyscn, in his re
cent defence of the Society, as one of its
earliest and ablest advf cites; ''the demon-
Hration has been mae.:. that the Africa;, is
equal to the duties of a freeman. His miud
expands as his condition i.T:prores.'' And
again ; ' It should not be forgoUt .'i. that th;-
Society treats alouo with the- J're^:.. and for
freedom's sake. If our coloured brethrc.i
prefer to remain among us, let them, v. ir,ii
our hearty good will. Vv''^.: corrinel no reuic-
tant submission to term-'. Their welfare hcs.
prompted tiiese labour.-, vf the Society- It
possesses neither the power iior the d'sposi-
tion to constrain consent," TL jse eonti
menti of ths Hononra'r.le 3e ^ato;- ;.,¦ chvi-
ousiy right m ethics ond in .\.;i,- Tic .'^•.

la

ciety nogoliatcs alona witli tho free, for tho
Bake of freedora ; will use no restraint to ob
tain their consent ; and would abhor tho
thought of proceeding without it. Precise
ly such wore my positions and replies to our
trans-atlantic brethren. Then camo tho
question of fact: Have you their consent ?
Here I could not answer satisfactorily to
myself or them. Our opinions wcro direct
ly opposed. They had evidence too, which
I could not answer, that tlie free negroes of
this country were so generally opposed to it,
and that with great decision, as to constitute
the rule in spite of all exceptions, and so in
effect to nullify the pretensions and even the
existence of tlic Society. I admitted that,
if this were so, the Society was stopped in
Its career by the lawful and appropriate veto
of tlie people themselves : and here gener
ally my mind unca.sily rested, after every
concussion of sentiment In this mentally
labouring condition, I returned to my native
country, purposed to take no public attitude
in tie matter, until that prime question was
ascertained and settled. In this, I have been
guilty of no raiihncHS at all. I have with
stood party influences, and committed my
self to no side ; and in avowing now a change
of sentiment in the whole affair, I ara actu
ated raainly by a wish to apprise my breth
ren across the ocean, of what I deem the
truth, that so I may undo whatever I did
improperly while among them. My inves
tigations have issued in a complete convic
tion that, on this ground alone, the non-con
sent or unanimous opposition of the colour
ed people of this country, especially of the
Northern States, ami pre-eminently of the
better informed of them, the Society is mor
ally annihilated. At all events, I can advo-
Miate it no longer. More : if I had known
the facts os they might have been known

arc of my own denomination, and members
of tlio Presbytery of New York. They aro
all three intelligent and worthy bretliren,
possessing the Christian esteem and confi
dence of all who know thom. 'J'huusands
can give a hearty testimony to their pru
dence, forbearance, calmness, and correct
ness of procedure in all things. They have
no wild schemes or reckless views ; and
while my heart has bled at their recitals, it
has secretly glorified God in them, in view
of tlie excellont spirit they evince under
privations and trials of a sort, that few of
their white brethren could endure for a mo
ment. Having made special inquiries, and
received answers as definite, I shall insert
here a letter from the Rev. Mr. Cornish,
which will speak for itself.
i\Kw-¥nRK, Deo. 4, 103.3.
Kev. and dear Sir.— I'.stcrini.'ijj you ns one of tlio
warmest Cricnda ot' onr injwrcii people, und mind
ful of the (Iccd.s tjf your abolition sires,! bcR to
pri'r.rnt to yni: ai. oh,|nctioii to the scheme of ('o-
lonizatinn, v.'hich you may not lif.vo sutiicicntly
woit^lu'd. [ti? —
Till': UN,\i\iMOtr;s and HiMVERSAL 6T-
posi'I'iojN to that schkm:'-,, ok all Tin:
i.\tklligI':nt of our colored FOI'U-
LATIOM. ' A fc"' months after tho orpanizntion of the Soci
ety in 1817, tho colored citizens of Philadelphia,
with J.inicg Forten in the chair, protested against
its principles; predicted its unhappy influence;
and .appealed to tho community in behalf of their
rights. Besides, the first public Journal ever is
sued by the colored citizens of this republic, (with
which Journal 1 had the honor of beinff connect
ed,) entered its equal protest against Colonization;
showing whiit we deemed the mju.stice of legisla
ting away our rights — our claims to a country t'C
had 'ulecl to redeem and sweated to cultii. ito, with
out making us a party, cr .ilinwln;; us .i voice i'l the
iogislation, or giving u.5 any proper rcprosoiitation
in°thc discussions. These things will appear by
the accompanying documents.
Subsequent to that time, in every city and town
incur country where the colored people arc per-

long ago, I never should have advocated the mitted to assemble, they have always entered tlieir

colonization, as a system of

Society ; audit is quite probable that many solemn protest against colon , - ,.
„tl,or= ir, ihiK cnnntrv are in exactlv the same proscription and crucUy. This is surely an objec

others in this country are in exactly the sarae
predicament Among other means influen
tial of this change, I have had several inter
views and conferences with the Rev. Messrs.
Cornish, and Wright, and Williams, of this
city, singly and together ; wftose testimony
is entirely trne, is perfectly firm, and has
never changed, on the question. The re
spectability of these brethren is indisputa
ble ; but alas! their skins are not as fair,
nor their hair as straight as ours ; and thence,
"for such a worthy cause," their remon
strances have been disregarded or preclud
ed. In this wrong, I confess myself to have
participated. They did remonstrate, like
men, like Christians, anfl with a sagacity in
the matter of their own interests in which
our whiter philanthropy has been, I fear, far
inferior to theirs. The last of the triumvi
rate, is a clergyman in communion with the
Episcopal church of this cityi the others,

tion to the plan ; and t!,ough there are many otliers
equally tangible at my fingers' ends, it is tho only
one with which I will at present trouble you. O
think on UB !
I am. dear Sir, va b'l.: Is o." r-;.~.uorj!.t aiTpciicn.
'Voars &.C. S.vMjKL i-:. cor.n ;sk.
Rev. Dr. Cox, ,\-j'v-V'or!;.
The documen"^ to wluih Mi. C'Oniish aj-
ludes are quite sufiicient red conclusi-'e iu
establishing the point His letter n".ay be
considered as the voice of the colored peo
ple universally. There can be no question
that it tells the truth ; and if so, I see no
course left for me but to abandon the Socie
ty. There are other objections to it, as my
correspondent says. But at present, I will
urge no other than the one in evidence. It
is cardinal, conclusive, and conquerable
neither by logic nor sophistry. If it be said,
they may be convinced yet in its favor : I
reply, that fact will prove itself whenever it

1.1

PCcur.T. To mc it now appears about as like
ly as that they are not men, or that God has
not " made of one blood all nations of men
to dwell on all the face of the earth." If it
bo said, they might have been convinced, if
they had not been influenced by abolitition-
ist"! ; I reply, there is no evidence of this ;
nnd for one, I utterly disbelieve it ; suppos
ing tlic other side exposed to the true and
obvious retort, tliat few or none would ever
have conscntsd to go, if they had complete
ly understood the matter, and if fair means
only had been used by all parties to concili
ate their willingness. Let us suppose our
selves in tlieir condition, with all our boasted
superiority of sense ; is it very likely that we
would consent — to a moral prejudice against
us ; to a proscription resulting from it ; to ex
patriation as its fruit ; to a denial of our na
tivity in the place of our birth, calling us
Europeans or Africans, though actually born
in America ; to a banishment from the hand
of our present offections to a climate that
kills us .' Impossible ! One might be made
indeed, as a choice of evils, to prefer it on
the principle of a greater evil for that pur
pose erected against us here , but properly
"with our own consent," never, wliile we
belong to the species I
From one of the documents referred to,
in Mr. Cornish's letter, I make the following
extracts. Jt is a sermon preached by the
Rev. Mr. Williams, Rector of St. Phillip's
Church on the FOinTii of jult, 1830.
" The fcstives of this day serve but to im
press upon the minds of refiecting men of
color, a deeper sense of tlic cruelty, the in
justice, and oppression, of which thoy have
been the victims. V.'hile others rejoice in
their deliverance from a foreign yoke, they
moum tliat a yoke a thousand fold more
grievous, is fastened upon them. Alas!
they are slaves in the midst of freemen ;
they are slaves to those, who boast that free-
-dora is the inalienable right of all ; while the
clanking of their fetters, and the voice of their
wrongs, make a horrid discord in the sonf.fs of
freedom which resound through the land."
"No people in the world profess so high
a respect for liberty and equality, as the peo
ple of the United States ; and yet no people
hold 60 many slaves or make such great dis-
itinctions between man and man."
Speaking of himself and his auditors as
freemen, Mr. Williams proceeds, as follows :
" But alas ! the freedom to which we ha,ve
attained is defective. Freedora and equality
have been "put asunder." The rights of
men are decided by the color of their skin ;
and there is as much difference made be
tween the rights of a free white man, and a
free colored man, as there is between a free
colored tnan and a slave."
Ofthe Colonization Society, Mr. Williams
says ; « Far be it from me to impeach the

motives of its members. The civilizing find
christianizing of that vast continent, and tho
cxtirpntion ofthe abominable traffic in slaves
— which, notwithstanding all the laws pass
ed for its suppression, is still carried on in
all its horrors — arc no doubt the principal
motives, which induce many to give it their
support " But there are those, and those who arc
most active and influential in its cause, who
hesitate not to say, that thoy wish to rid tho
country of the free colored population ; and
there is sufficient reason to believo that with
many this is the principle motive for support
ing that Society ; and that, whether Africa is
civilized or not, and whether the slave-trado
be suppressed or not, they would wish to see
the free colored people removed from thia
country to Africa."
Afler arguing handsomely and well against
removal, Mr. Williams observes :
" Wc arc NATiVKi of this country : wc ark only
to lie treated .as wed as ronKir,.vi-:ii.'5. Not a few
of our fathers fiitrcred and hied to purchase its i.i-
dnpendcncn ; w" a;-k finly In be treated as well "s
those who fought against it. Wo h.avc toilcil to
cultivate it. and tn raise it to its present prosp'^rnus
condition; we ask only to share equal privileges
with those, who come from distant lands to enjoy
the fruits nf onr labour. Let these moderate rr
quests be granted, and wc need not "o to Africa,
nor any where else, to be improved and happy.
Wo cannot but doubt the purity, of the motives of
thc^^o persons who deny us those requests; and
who would send us to Africa to gain what they
might give us at home.
" Hut aia.'! ! tl.o course which tlic-y nave pursu"'!,
has an opposite tnulcncy. P.y the scandnlons -mic-
rcpre..':cnial!oii~. wlnr'h thoy arc coniinuailr giung
of onr charactrr ar.d conduct, we li.-.ve sustained
muni injury and have reason to .apprehend much
more. " Without any charge of crime, wc have been
denied all access to places, to wliich we formerly
had the most free intercourse. The coloured citi
zens of other places, on leaving their homes, have
been denied the privilege of returning; and others
have been absolutely driven ouL
" [las the Colonization ^yriety had no effect in
producing these barbarous measures 1
'¦ "I'hey'iirofcss to have no other object in viow,
than the colonizing of the free people cf colour on
the Cfo.ast of Africa, with their om-ii co-iim't. P.uX,
if our homes are made so uncomfortable that we
cannot continue in them; cr if, ii';'' our brctlriM
of Ohio or INcw Orleans, v.c are driven from them,
.and no other door is open to receive us but Afric i.
our removal there will be any thing but voluntan.
¦"" "It is very certain, that very few people of col
our wish to go to that land. The Colonization
Society k-noio this ; and yet thev do certainly cal-
cul.ate, that in tunc they will have us all remov
ed there. ,
"How can this be circctcd,but oy making n-'i-
situ.ition worse hero, and closing every other door
against us ?'*
These are but extracts from a sermon
which is an honor to the head and heart of
ita author. Here then I take my position,
not to be moved by the common arguments
that array their poverty against it The
colored people of this country, as a who^o

11

and almost to a man, arc utterly opposed to
tho system ; and this nloiie, if "there was no
other objection to colonizotionism, appears
to iiic conclusive and invincible.
There are otiier objections, however, to
that project As a remedy for the evil of
slavery in this country, it is incommensurate
nnd puny, compared with the extent and in
cessant growth of the evil. Whatever may
be the comprehension of the rainbow nnd
the beauty of its coloring, it is insub.<!tnntial
and evanescent ; and whatever the elegance
and tho promise of the tlieory, the beau
ideal of the system, its practical operation,
or rather its practicability, is a work of cen
turies even in the calculations of its friends
— and at tho end of centuries, to say the
least, there is no certainty of its triumph.
Meantime, the floods arc collecting behind
the weak embankments, that must inevitably
break away before the gathering pressure.
There is a catastrophe jireparing for this
country, at wiiich we may be unwiflinfr to
look, but wliich will overtake us not on that
account the more tardily or tolerably. We
do not say there is no remedy — but only that
the colonization reraedy is ludicrously inad
equate ; in effect trifling witli the communi
ty, till tlie time of preventing " the overflow
ing scourge " from passing through the land
shall have irrevocably passed away. I shall
offer no proof to a man who cannot hiraself
see or feel the truth of the proposition, or
demonstrate it at his leisure, that the project
in question, as a remedy for the slavery of
this country, is folly or mockery unparalleled.
It is like self-rightcou.sncs^, tasking its own
resources for a remedy against moral thral
dom, while it rejects the mediation und at-
tonement of Jesus Christ But if the sys
tem as a remedy is contemptible; and, as
opposed to the deliberate veto of the free
colored people of this country, forbidden, by
its own constitution and the consciences of
Christians ; then other objections becorae
formidable thatwere vincible and weak be
fore. Still, it seems to me that the system
tends to blind the eyes of the nation to the
actual coiiuition of thing., ; to prevent tho
prosperous action of the only true remedy ;
to harden the hearts of the gcod against the
claims of God on behalf of our colored
brethren ; to inspire the creation or imagina
tion of motives, to induce the consent of the
free to emigrate ; to withhold from the heart
the resources of its own pity and kindness,
towards those who choose to remain ; to take
from ourselves the proper raotives that would
otherwise actuate our Christian philanthropy,
in meliorating the condition of the colored
people of this country ; to make us think
that their universal expatriation from our
shores— little matter where — is the grand
ultimate desideratum of the whole concern ;
to induce us to blame them for deliberately

choosjng to remain ; nnd to beget a- stnte of
imblic seiitiineiit and a course of public ac
tion, in which sclfsh c.rpcdicnry Blmll take
precedence of vicinal criuily, and invito the
interposition of wrath from heaven to clear
our perceptions nnd recover us to wisdom.
'Wc are horribly prejudiced, as a nation,
against our colored brethren ; and arc on
this account the wonder and the scandal of
all good society in Europe. They are per
fectly amazed at it — and every American
who goes there is ashamed to own the facts
of it, as they disgracefully are. Says Mr.
Williams ; But they tell us that "the preju
dices of tlic country against us, are invinci
ble : and as they cannot be conquered, it is
belter that we should be removed beyond
their influence. This plea should never pro
ceed frora the lips of .any rnan, who profess
es to believe that a just God rules in the
heavens." I add- — or any m.an, who believes
in the power of religion, or tho efficacy of
"the glorious gospel of the blessed Goii.''
Tliese prejudices arc not as hard or as had,
as the prejudices of millions of sinners
against God himself, from which, as streams
from the fountain, all these other prejudices
against his creatures — for whom Jesus Christ
died, perpetually flow. I do not believe a
word of such a libel on man and God com
bined, that prejudices of cruelty, against
reason, nature, and religion, are not to be
eradicated. It is plainly and preposterously
false. We degrade them, and then exxlaira
at their degradation.
But some will say, you are leading us to
nmalgaraation. I reply, that consequence is
disallowed; and yet its objection to our ar
gument, may be generally viewed as nothing
better than a grand impertinence. Acknowl
edge and advocate the proper rights of the
colored man ; who is now ordinarially a black
man among us whites, no more ; choose your
own company, and allow him the same priv
ilege ; and for one I believe that amalgama
tion WOULD V.E CO.Ml'ARATIVFLY PRF.l £.NT-
F.D. At present, it is a process of accelerating
forces. In some djitricts where there are
many colored jicople, there .arc iio ^hiAs ;
the progress of uiuiattoii.iric;' is rapiuly con-
forming them to tho standard .a.ipcct of frcc-
men ; while the ratio of their increase, is
fearfully and palpably greater, and this in
creasingly, than that of the whites. This is a
prodigiously interesting point of tho gene
ral subject ; but we proceed not now to its
discussion.
V What is the remedy? I answer — the
feENDlNE INFLUE.XCE OF THE OOSPEL ; THE
10 VE OF Christ; producing in us its appro
priate fruits, " without partiality and without
hypocrisy ; " striving to elevate them men
tally, morally, and religiously ; surrendering
our cruel prejudices; recognizing in them
the identity of the human specieu, and the

iii

lights of men, as "by noture free and equal"
universally ; and socking, in wery possible
way, to eiili;.;hieii and correct public senti-
nient rcsjiectiug them; not by ferocity or
deminciation, or epithets of course crimina
tion ; but by wisdom, nrgumont, kindness,
firmness, Cliristian example, and prayer to
Almighty (?od, who "cxecuteth righteous-
nr.«.s and judgment for all that are oiqiress-
cd." These are the only means that I pro-
iwso to usu ; and what cannot be done by
them, I will not do. But be it here the motto
ofthe good — WHAT ovoiit to uf. noNE can
np. Dovr. To doubt this, and despair, or do
nothing, is quite unworthy of a Christian.
God is beginning wonderfully to act fbr Af
rica. The simiis of the times arc quite in
telligible. They arc striking and i^'orioiis.
The public sentiir.ent of Cliri-^eiidoia is mit-
i;;ati;ig and increasing in their favor; it is
becoming stimulated and enlightened ; it will
soon, BV ITS GLOllIors MORAL KOnCF.S ALONE,
melt down the icebergs of prejudice, and
proclaim to the sable captives of all lands, in
tlio insp.ruig langii.age of Montgomery :
Tiiy (. hains are broken ! Africa, be free 1
When -vvill men learn that tiie way to
make others better, is to treat them gene
rously and kindly ? How is it that God ac
complishes our sanctification? "God so
loved the world — in this was manifested the
love of God toward us, because that God
sent his only begotten son into the world,
that we might live through him. Herein is
love, not that we loved God, but that he
loved us, and sent his son to be the propitia
tion for our sins. Beloved, if God so
loved ns, WE ought also to love one
ANOTiiEP.." Let these principles enlighten
the eyes and pervade the hearts of our whole
people — the whites, towards their colored
brethren of the species, "for whom Christ
died;" let their proper and spontaneous
fruits be seen abounding among us — and the
work is done, or it begins its efficient advan
ces immediately, in our national coramunity.
Will any man say, these principles never can
predominate in the bosoms of the whites ?
Why — are the whites so degraded ? Darker
in spirit, than the others in body? And is it
a Cliristian, who has ascertained that their
ascendency is impossible ? Ah ! cannot God
give them currency and triumph? Who
converted him — if indeed he is converted,
whose unbelief is barbarous and blind enough
to lirait the resources of Oranipotence, in
spreading the victories of " grace and truth "
through the earth ? We wish to do nothing
in the way of violence ; to perpetrate no
breach of the constitution of our country
against the South ; to do nothing against their
will, or even to denounce them : but remem-
[Tjering that " the weapons op oor war-
I FARE ARE NOT CARNAL," BUT SPIRITUAL ;
I and MIGHTY THROUGH GOD, to the
DEMOLITION OF STB6n<} HOLDS j" We will

rcfipect our white brethren at the South ; we
will show iiiiti) them " ii nioro excellent way ;"
wn will remind Ibi'iii of tiik nI'Ickshity ok
their own nF.M;voi,K,-v'r action in tho
cnsc ; we will comjiarn theorios, with free
dom and frniiknesa, and examino all their ar
gumenti as well ns enlreiit them to cxainiuo
ours; wu will deal iu facts, axioms, texts of
Scripture, inroreiiceH, ntid kiiidiiess; wc will
appeal to the intelligenco of tho South, to
the OREAT A.VIOUNT ok uneasy MOKAI. CON
SCIOUSNESS that is there increasi^oly,
to their piety of which they are by no means
destitute, and tlieir hopes in one for tlio pres
ent and the future worid. Wo will beg
leave fratorhally to discuss tho morality of
m.-iffere with them. Wc will raise questions
of c\])cdiency, necessity, and political ecoii-
oniy, ill liic eiise. Wo will peihaps canvasB
their objections, and beg them to look as
well nt mns. We will not blame them for
tho legacy they have received frora their an
cestors, but only warn them of that they i.rc
about to bequeath to their posterity. We
will admit their plea of innocence, as to liio
original sin tiiat introduced slavery lo our
country ; but e.uostion it as to "the innur.ie-
rable actual transgressions," in which they
may be in danger of "filling up the inoasnrc
of their fathers." We may interrogate them
as to their own present agency in perpetua
ting a system, which, whoever started it at
first, it may be impolicy and iniquity in them
not to arrest, and supersede by a better.
We may show them the current of the por
tentous river, in ita flood, now comparatively
young and fordable ; and urge them immedi
ately to cross it while they may, lest their
tardiness may be visited with ruin inundating
and inevitable. Wo may try to denionstrato
that no man will do right and rsmain subor
dinate, but as tho result of enlightened and
principled consciousness as an accountable
being; that in order to this, he must be
brought to know himself to be. what God has
made hiin-3;;^..rnoral agent, and so to own
and feel his personal and perfect responsibil
ity ; that responsibility without liberty can
not be felt, because proportionately it cannot
exist; that if the codes of State legislation
atthe South are all revolutionized by their
constituted authorities, bo a.-; to invest the
colored people universally w^th the rights
and the duties of freemen, v.'ith the liberties
and the responsibilities oi' other mor,, dicy
Twould be legally manageable, in case of any
piisrule, as now they are not, while the mo
tives to honest industrj', frugality, order, and
correct behavior in all things, 'voela instant
ly become powerful, as il»ey ne.er could be,
I in a state of abject vassrj.-'j;'e and deep dis-
franchisernei.t, such as at present define.^
them ; md that at all eveiits, xyhatever the
South and the West mtiy do or refiise tc do,
the Christians ofthe Noril; ari'J ihe East will
aim at their duty in benefiting their colored

brcLhren univcr.^ally, as thoy "have opportu-
luty, especially thom that nro of tho house
hold of faith"— that their example may
Illustrate their doctrine and throw the purity
of Its light on distant and difliM-eut sections
of our national empire. If the North and
the East were only connected and.uuited in
sentiment, and at the same time represented
by calm and considerate and truly compre
hensive persons, in a way of dignified and
luminous conference with the Southrons, in
the matter of tlieir peculiar and of our re
lated interests, niight we hope for no result
ing good? By tlio blessing of Jehovah, we
might expect and achieve every thing — and
slavery might be extirpated forever from tho
nation it dishonours.
I assume it as pnactically certain that the
blacks and tho ivliitcs, or the African and
Buropean races of men, arc to cxi.st together
on tliis continent— till the morning ofthe
resurcction; and also that slavery cannot co
exist with the descccndauts of these two
races, cannot exist at all, much longer. It
. must certainly be destroyed — and we all
know that. I am happy here to adopt, with
little qualifying, the sentiraents of my amia
ble friend, the Rev. Mr. Guiley, the distin
guished Secretary of the Colonization Soci
ety. In his able letter to Henry Ibbotson,
Esq., of Sheffield, England,'he thus declares
himself: "I do not hesitate to acknowledge,
that my hope of the peaceful abolition of sla-
pVery in this country, rests mainly upon the
1 moral and religious seniimenls of my coun
trymen. This Ibelieve to be inconsistent
with the permanency of the system. If in
any other land slavery can be perpetual, it
cannot be perpetual het-e. As well might
the iceberg remain undissolved amid the
sunny tropics, as this system long remain
amid the kind and gentle" influences that are
here working its destruction. The spirit and
principles of our government, the precepts
of our holy rehgion, and the general feelings
of our people at ihe South, as well as at the
JVorth, arc agriin.st it as a permanent system.
But it must be abolished by and not against,
the will of the South. All, or nearly all
Americans, cherish the desire and expecta
tion that it will one day be abolished."
Yes 1 and that day will be hastened, just
about as fast as correct public sentiment is
. seen to predominate, causing the bloodless
victories of righteousness,, accelerating the
blessed triumphs of mercy. "Lord, what
wilt THOU have me to do ? " is the ques-
'V tion, v/hich every soul of us ought, in the
I premises, heartily to agitate at tho throne of
grace ; and sincerity, uttering such a faith
ful prayer, would be certainly directed from
on high ! He is forever the same God, who,
in a case really analogous, said to Moses
from the burning bush ; "I have surely seen
the affliction of my people which arc in
E^vpt ^id have heard their cry by reason of

tlieir taskniastors ; fir I know their sorrows,
and I nm come down to deliver them. Now,
therefore, behold, tho cry of the children of
Israel is come uuto me ; and I have also seen
tho opprcs.sioinvherowith the Egyptians op
press tiicm." O what ini(|uity does He wit
ness in our country !
Is it worth while gravely to prove that
they are human beings and that the human
raco is identical? No! but it may be, to
refute that common blunder, found some
times even among the learned, that the curso
of servitude is pronounced upon thom to all
generations, by tho oracles of God. Gen.
i.x. 2.5. That curse demonstrably no more
applies to them than to us ! " Cursed be Ca
naan : a servant of servants shall ho be unto
us brethren." Enr liio sin of Ham, tho
youngest son of Noah, that groat progenitor
pronounced a curse on Canaan, the youngest
son of Ham. Now Ilain had four suns ;
" Cush, nnd Mizraim, and Phut, and Canaan."
Gen. X. 6. The curso was not on all of them,
but on Canaan alone. But Canaan remain
ed an Asiatic, and v/as the only one of the
four who did not settle in Africa. It was
his posterity whom Joshua, and Saul, and
David, and others successively subdued in
Asiatic Palestine ; reduced to servitude ; thus
explaining and executing the curse. Miz
raim was the planter of the Egyptians ; Phut,
of the tribes to the north-west of Africa, as
the Lybians and Mauritanians ; and Cush —
is the father of the great negro world, tho
ancestor of ourcolored people, against whom
no such curse is recorded ; disappointed as
it raay raake some pious worthies, whose
strongest motives for persecuting the Jews
and enslaving the Africans, is raerely for fear
the Scripture s will not otherwise be compe
tently fulfilled ! Lotus honestly answer their
appeal — Am I not a ma:( and a brother?
How was Wilberforce opposed and ridicu
led at first! insulted and maligned by 'those
that now build his sepulchre and assist in
consecrating even his fame ! Through wiiat
formidable obstructions did lie force his ''/.ay,
and hold the right, and carry his cau-se, till
the throne felt the reach of his eloquence,
and the cottage responded to its ruanly elu
cidation. It was hoT/ever, not the erator but
the argurnent, not tha j.ian but tho cause that
electrified tbe nation ai'.d con', i need Jie worLI.
The cause of equity is tli :: cause oi' Got". : t
is also the cause of man, of human ir.turo
universally. Its attributes are eternr.l. It
is anchored in the nature oi tiin.--. It
vrill infal'iibly prevail. It can be retarded
only by sophistry, prejudice, a perverse self
interest, the volo of cupidity, or the 'Dcto of
¦determined pride. But even thcic arc vih-
nerable, and they bleed ; they t.ro .'nortal,
and they die. If they are opposed to God,
God is opposed to them. And -'if God be
FOR tJS, who can be against us?'- Let us
" thank God, and take courage."