YALE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY SPEECH 3II©S?r» Sl^l^IB^ ©IL-^lTs BZFOnE TUB AMERICAN COLONIZATION SOCIETY, HAIiZi or THE HOUSE Or KEPaESEHTATrVES, January 20, 1827. ¦WTTH AIT APPESroiX, CONTAINING THE DOCUMENTS THEREIN REFERRED X». WASHINGTON : PjilNTED AT THE COLUMBIAN OFFICE, KOKTH E STRJLEJ/ 1837. C'b"?o,?- Printed at the request of the Society, , Mr. Clay rose. I cannot (said he) withhold the expression of my cob-,';, , |;ratulations to the Society on account of the very valuable acquisition whicE we have obtained in the eloquent gentleman from Boston, (Mr. Knapp,) whp; has just before favoured us with an address. He has told us of his original impressions, unfavourable to the object ofthe Society, and of his subsequent ' conversion. If the same industry, investigation and unbiassed judgment, which he and another gentleman, (Mr. Powell,) who avowed at the last meeting of the Society, a similar change wrought in his mind, were carried^ by the public at large, into the consideration of the plan of the Society, the conviction in its favouf would be universal. I have risen to submit a resolution, in behalf of which I would bespeak the favour of the Society. But before I offer any observations in its support, I must say that, whatever part I shall take in the proceedings of this Societyi whatever opinions or sentiments I may utter, they are exclusively my own;. Whether they are worth any thing or not, no one but myself is at all res ponsible for them. I have consulted with no person out of this Society ; and 1 have especially abstained from all communication or consultation with any one to whom I stand in any official relation. My judgment on the object of this Society has been long since deliberately formed. The conclusions to ¦which, after much and anxious consideration, my mind has been brought, have been neither produced nor refuted by the official station the duties of ¦which have been confided to me. From the origin of this Society, every member of it has, I believe, looked forward to the arrival of a period, when it would become necessary to invoke the public aid in the execution of the great scheme which it was instituted to promote: Considering itself as the mere pioneer in the cause which it had undertaken, it was well aware that it could do no more than remove preliminary difficulties and point out a sure road to ultimate success ; and that the public only could supply that regular, steady, and efficient support, to which the gratuitous means of benevolent individuals would be found in competent. My surprise has been that the Society has been able so long to sustain itself, and to do so much upon the charitable contributions of good and pious and enlightened men, whom; it has happily found in all parts of our country. But our work has so prospered, and grown under our hands, that the appeal to the power and resources of the public should be no longer deferred. The resolution which I have risen to propose contemplates this appeal. It is in the following words : — . ,', ' '. , ^i^ " Resolved, That the Board of Managers be empowered and directed, at such tim; or times- as may seem to them expedient,' to make respectfn. applicat'i.n to the Congress ofthe United States, and to, the Legislatiires nf the d.fl.ient atatesi or such pecuniary aid, in funherance of tbecibject df this gocict\, as th';y may respectively be pleased to grant.'' ..-¦'•Jvr^'fv'j* ,^ ,*.j In soliciting the countenance and support of the Legislatures of the t ftnd the States, it is incumbent on the Society, in making out its case.'to.a Ist. That it offers to their consideration a scheme which is practicah And 2nd. That the execution of the practicable scheme, partml or e'l will be fratjght with such beneficial consequences as to merit the^sUf which is solicited. 1 believe both points to be maintainable. 1st. It is a little upwards often )ears since « religious, amiable and benevolent dent* of this City, first conceived the idea of planting a Colony, frori United States, of free people of colour, on the Westcrij shores of A' He is no more, and tlie noblest eulogy which could be pronounced on would be to inscribe upon his tomb, tl-.e merited epitaph, " Here lies projector of the American Coloniz-ation Society." Amongst others, to w he communicated the iiroject, was the person who now has the honour c dressing you. My first impressions, liice those of all who have not full} ii tigated the subject, were against it. They yielded to his earnest persua and my own reflections, and I finally agreed with him that the cxpeiii was worthy of a fair trial. A meeting of its friends was called — orgai as a dtliber.itivc bod) , and a Constitution was formed. I he Society into operation. He liveti to see the most encouraging progress in its e tioiib, and dietl in full confidence of its complete success. The Society scarcely fernic;! before it was exposed to the derision of the uiithink prnnduiited to be visirnary andcliimeric.il by those who were capab adoptiin; ^. iser cpiriicns, and the most confident predictions of its e failure were put forth. It found itself equally assailed by the two extr( of public senliincnt in regard to our African po|iuiation. According to (tiiut rash class which, without a due estimate of the fatal consequf woulii forthwith issue a decree of general, immediate, and indiscnm: emancipation,) it was a scheme of tne slave holder to perpetuate sla' The other (that class which believes slavery a blessing, and which ti bUs .vitn aspen sensibility at the appearance of the most distant and danger lo the tenure by which that description of property is held,) decl it a contrivance to let loose on society all the slaves ofthe country, igno uneducated, and incapable of appreciating the value, or enjoving the p let; s oi freedom. •)¦ The Society saw itself surrounded by every soi eni!j.;iras3ment. What great human enterprise was ever undertaken v * It has been, since tlie delivery of the Speech, sufrgcsted that the Rev. e-t riiiley, of Men Jersey, (who is also unfonunately dead,) contemplated formal on of a Societ . with .i vie . to the est .blisliineiit of a Colony in Africa prcibuhly fii'st cniraeuceil the project. It is quite likely that he did; ami M recollects seeing- Mv. Knil-.y and c .isiilting- with lii.Ti on the subject, about pti-iod ofthe fo ni-..tion of the Society. But the allusion to Mi- Calihve.l ibnnd' d on the facts well known to Mr Cay of hi-, active ag. ncy in tile oi'f z.. tion of the 1^ oeiely, and Ills unieniittc. I subsequent labours, which we;e confincit to he Dist. ict of Columoia, in promoting the cause. f i r-ocicty if .1 few iiidiiidu Is, wiyiout power, without other resources ' those wlireh ..le supplied by spontaneous benevolence, to emancipate all slaves of tho Cuunlry ! , ^ :¦¦,:,. 9ut difficulty? Wl^at ever failed, within the conipasspf human po-trer, when puj^e^ with perseverance and blessed by the smiltjs bf providence ? The Society prosecuted undismayed its great work, appealiiig for succour to the niotUrate, the reasonable, the virtuous, and religious "portidns of the public. It iprotcsted, from the commencement, and throughout all its progress, and^ -it Jiow protest^, that it entertains no purpose, on its own authority or by its own means, to attempt emancipation partial or general j that it knows the General Government has no Constitutional power to achieve such an object ; that it believes that the States, and the States only, which tolerate slavery, can accomplish the work of emancipation ; and that it ought to be left to them, exclusively, absolutely, and voluntarily, to decide the question. The object of the Society was t^e colonization of the free coloured people, -not the slaves, of the country. Vohintary in its institution, voluntary in its continuance, voluntary in all its ramifications, all its means, purposes, and instruments are also loluntary. But it was said that no free coloured per sons could be prevailed upon to abandon the comforts of civilized life and expose themselves to all the perils of a settlement in a distant, inhospitable and savage country ; that, if they could be induced to go on such a quixotic expedition, no territory could be procured for their establishment as a Colony ; that the plan was altogether incompetent to effectuate its professed object ; and that it ought to be rejected as the idle dream of visionary enthusiasts. The Society has outlived, thank God, all these disastrous pre dictions. It has survived to swell the list of false prophets. It is no longer a question of speculation whether a Colony can or cannot be planted from the United States of free persons of colour on the shores of Africa. It is a matter demonstrated ; such a Colony, in fact, exists, prospers, has made successful war, and honourable peace, and transacts all the multiplied busi ness of a civilized and Christian community.* It now has about five hundred souls, disciplined troops, forts, and other means of defence, sovereignty over an extensive- territory, and exerts a powerful and salutary infiuence over the neighbouring clans. jSumbers of the free African race .among us are willing to go to Africa. The Society has never experienced any difficulty on that subject, except that its means of comfortable transportation have been inadequate to accommodate all who have been anxious to migrate. Why should they not go ? Here they are in the lowest state of social gradation — aliens — -political — moral — social aliens, strangers, though natives. There, they would be in the midst of their friends and their kindred, at home, though born in a foreign land, and elevated above the natives of the country, as much as they are degraded here below the other classes of the community. But on this matter, I am happy to have it in my power to luVnish indisputable evidence from the mcstanthcntic source, that of large numbers of free persons of colour themselvijs. Numer ous meetings have been held in several churches in Baltimore, of the frto people of colour, in which, after being organized as deliberative assemblies, • See the last Annual Tteport and tho highly interesting' historical slvCtch ofthe Rev. Mr, Ashraun, iathe Appendix. 0 by the appointment of a Chairman (if not of the same complexion) pt^siditi^ as you, Mr. Vice President, do, and Secretaries, they have vbted memorials addressed to the white people, in which they have argued the question with an ability, moderation, and temper, surpassing any that I cancommand, and emphaticaUy recommended the Colony of Liberia to favourable considefa-^ tion, as the most desirable and practicable scheme ever yet presented on,' this' interesting subject. I ask permission of the Society to read this highly creditable document. [Here Mr. C. read the Memorial referred to — See Appendix.] The Society has experienced no tliflicuU) in the acquismon of a teiTito- ry, upon reasonable terms, abundantly sufficient for a most extensive Colony-_ And land in ample quantities, it has ascertained, can be procured in Africa^ together with all rights of sovereignty, upon conditions as favourable as those on which the United States extinguish the Indian title to territory within their own limits. In respect to the alleged incompetency of the scheme fo accomplish its professed objfct, the Society asks that that cbj- ct should be taken to be, not what the imaginations of its enemies represent it to be, but what it really proposes. They represent that the purpose of the Society is to export the whole African population of the United Slates, bond and free; and they pronounce this design to be unattainable. They declare that the means of the whole country are insufficient to effect the transportation to Africa of a mass of population approximating to two millions of souls. Agreed; but that is not what the Society contemijlates. They have substituted their own notion for that of the-Societj. What is the true nature of the evil of the e.Kistcnce of a portion of tiie .\fncan race in our population ? It is not that there are some, but that there are so many among us of a different caste, of a different physical, if not moral, constitution, who never can amalgamate with the great body of our population. In every country per sons are to be found varying in their colour, origin, and character, from the native mass. But this anomaly creates no inquietude or apprehension, because the e.xotics, from the smallness of their number, are known to be utterly incapable of disturbing the general tranquillity. Here, on the con trary, the African part of our population bears so large a proportion to the residue, of European origin, as to create the most lively apprehension, especially in some quarters of the Union. Any project, therefore, by which, in a material degree, the dangerous element in the general mass, can be diminished or rendered stationary, deserves deliberate consideration. The Colonization Society has never imagined it to be practicable, or within the reach of any means which the several (i-.vernments of the Union could bring to bear on the subject, to transport the whole of the African race within tlie limits of the United States. Nor is that necessary to accomplish the d..sirable objects of domestic tranqtiiUity, and render us one homo^ gencous people. The population of the United States has been supposed to diqilicate in periods of twenty-five years. That may have been the case heretotore, but the terms of duplication will be more and more protracted ..7' a» we advanc^ in national age ;, and I do not believe '^hat it will be fouiad, i^ any period CoT come, that our numbers will be doubled ii^ a Jess term than on^ of. about tnirty-threc and a third years. I have not time to entef'now into ¦ details in support of this opinion. .They would consist of those 'checks which experience has shown to obstruct the progress of population, 'arising out of its actual augmentation and density, the settlement of wkste lands, 8cc Assuming the period of thirty-three and a third, or any other number of years, to be that in which our population will hereafter be doubled, if, during that whole term, the capital ofthe African stock could be kept down, or stationary, whilst that of European origin should be left to an unobstruct ed increase, the result, at the end of the term, would be most propitious. — Let us suppose, for example, that the whole population at present of the United States, is twelve millions, of which ten may be estimated of the Anglo-Saxon, and two of the African race. If there could be annually transported from the United States an amount of the African portion equal to the annual increase of the whole of that caste, whilst the European i-ace should be left to multiply, we should find at the termination of the period of duiilication, whatever it may be, that the relative proportions would be as twenty to two. And if the process were continued, daring a second term of duplication, the proportion would be as forty to two— one which would eradicate every cause ot alarm or solicitude from the breasts of the most timid. But the transportation of Africans, by creating, to the extent to which it might be carried, a vacuum in society, would tend to accelerate the dupli cation of the European race, who, by all the laws of population, would fill up the void space. This Society is well aware, I repeat, that they cannot touch the subject of slavery. Bnt it is no objection to their scheme, limited as it is exclusively to those free people of colour who are willing to migrate, that it admits of indefinite extension and application, by those who alone, having the compe tent authority, may choose to adopt and apply it. Our object has been to point out the way, to show that colonization is practicable, and to leave it to those States or individuals, who may be pleased to engage in the object, to prosecute it. We have demonstrated that a Colony may be planted in \ Africa, by the fact that an American Colony there exists. The problem , which has so long and so deeply interested the thoughts of good and patri otic men, is solved — a country and a home have been found, to which the African race may be sent, to the promotion of their happiness and our own, But, Mr. Vice President, J shall not rest contented with the fact of the establishment of the Colony, conclusive as it ought to be deemed, of the practicability of our purpose. •! shall proceed to show, by reference to in disputable statistical details and calculations, that it is within, the compass ,of reasonable human means. I am sensible of the tediousness of all arith metical data, but I will endeavour to simplify them as much as possible. — It will be borne in mind that the aim of the Society is to establish in Africa a Colony of the free African population of the United States ; to an extent which shall be beneficial both to Africa and America. The whole free coK 8 cured population of the United States amounted in 1790, to 5f,i^l ; ^ 18,00,' to 110. 072 ; in IHIO, to 186,446 ; and in 1820, to 233,530. The ratio'^ri^n-'^ nual increase during the first term of ten jcars, was about eight and a half, per cent, per annum ; during the second, about seven per cent, jier aiiirutp ; ' and during the third, a liitle m(ne than two and a half. The very great difference in the rate of annual increase, during those several terms, may probably be acccounted for by the effect of the numb'-r of voluntary eman-' cipationn operating with more iiiHiience upon the total smaller amount of free coloured peisons at the first of those periods, and by the facts of the in>-urrection in St. Domingo, and the acquisition of Louisiana, both of which, orcurrin.g during the first and second terms, added considerably to the num ber of our free coloured population. Of all descriptions of our population, that of the free coloured, taken in the aggregate, is the least prolific, because of the chei ks arising from vice and want. During the ten years, between 1310 and 1820, when no extraneous causes existed to prevent a fair competition in the increase between the slave and the free African race, the former increased at the rate <.f nearly three per cent, per annum, whilst the latter did not much exceed two and a half. Hereafter it may be safely assumed, and I venture to predict will not be contradicted by the return of the next census, that the increase of the free black population will nol surpass two and a half per cent, [jer annum. Their amount at the last census, being 233,530, for the sake of round num bers, their annual increase may bt assumed t,o be COCO, at tne present time. Now if this number could be annually transported from the United Slates during a term of years, it is e\ ident that, at tlie end of that term, the parent capital will not have increased, but will have been kept down at least to what it was at the commencement of the term. Is it practicable then to colonize annually si.K thousand persons from the United States, without . materially impairing or afTecting any of the great interests of the United .States ? This is the quesii.in presented to the jnilgments of the Legislative authorities of our country. This is the whole >cheme of the Society. From its actual experience, derived from the expenses which have been incurred in trans porting the persons already sent to Africa, the entire average expense of each Colonist, young and old, including passage money and subsistence, may be staled at twenty dollars per head. There is reason to believe that it may be reduced considerably beltiw that sum. Estimating that to be the expense, the total cost of transporting 6000 souls, annually lo .\frica, would be Sl20,000. The tonnage requisite lo effect the object, calculating two persons lo everj' five tons (which is the provision of existing law) would be 15,000 tons. But as each vessel could probably make two voyages in the year, it may be reduced to 7500. And as both our mercantile and military marine might . be occasionally employed on this collateral service, without injury to the ¦ inriin object of the voyage, a further abatement might be safely made in the aggregate amount of the necessary tonnage. The navigation concerned in the commerce between the Colony and the United Stales, (_and it already 9 begins l8 ^upplf Subjects of an interesting trade,) might be incidentally em ployed to the same end. ,, ;: ¦ ' ' t • , -Is' the annual expenditure of a sum no larger than gl20,000, and the an nual employment of 7500 tons of shipping, too much for reasonable exertion, con^dering the magnitude of the object in view ? Are they not, on the con trary, within the compass of moderate efforts ? - Here is the whole scheme of the Society — a project which has been pro nounced visionary by those who have never given themselves the trouble to exaifline it, but to which I believe most unbiassed men. will yield their oordial assent, after they have investigated it. Limited as the project is, by the Society, to a Colony to be formed by the free and unconstrained consent of free persons of colour, it is no objection, but on the contrary a great recommendation of the plan, that it admits of being taken up and applied on a scale of much more comprehensive utility. The Society knows, and it affords just cause of felicitation, that all or any one of the States which tolerate slavery may carry the scheme of coloniza tion into effect, in regard to the slaves within their respective limits, and thus ultimately rid themselves of an universally acknowledged curse. — A reference to the results of the several enumerations of the population of the United States will incontestably prove the practicability of its appli cation on the more extensive scale. The slave population of the United States amounted in 1790, to 697,697; in 1800, to 896,849 ; in 1810, to 1191,364; and in 1820, to 1538,128. The rate of annual increase, (rejecting tractions and taking the integer to which they make the nearest approach,) during the first term of ten years was not quite three per cent, per annum, during the second, a liule more than three per cent, per annum, and during the third, a little less than three percent.* The mean ratio of increase for the whole period of thirty years was very little more -tliau three per cent, per annum. During the first two periods, the native stock was augmented by importa tions from Africa in those States which continued to tolerate them, and by the acquisition of Louisiana. Virginia, to her eternal honour, abolished the .ibominable traffic .among the earliest acts of her self-government. The last term alone presents the natural increase of the capital unaffected by any extraneous causes. That authorizes, as a safe assumption, that the fu ture increase will not exceed three per cent, per annum. As our population increases the value of slave labour will diminish, in consequence of the superiour advantages in the employment of free labour. And when the value of slave labour shall be materially lessened either by the multiplica tion of the supply of slaves beyond the demand, or by the competition between slave and free labour, the annual increase of slaves will be reduced, in consequence of the abatement of the , motives to provide for and rear the offspring, ¦'-']•'• Assuming the future increase to be at the rate of three per cent, per annum, the annual addition to the number of slaves in the United States, • Sec a table in the Appendi:x. 10 calculated upon the return of the last census (1,538,128) is 46,000. Applying the data which have been already stated and explained, in relation'.to the colonization of free persons of colour from the United States to Africa, to the aggregate annual increase both bond and free of the African race, and the result will be found most encouraging. The total number ofthe annual increase of both descriptions is 52,000. The total expen.se of transporting that number to Africa, (supposing no reduction of present prices) would be one million and forty thousand dollars, and the requisite amount of tonnage would be only 130,000 tons of shipping, about one-ninth pp/t of the mercan tile marine of the United Slates. fTpon the supposition of a vessel's making two voyages in the year, it would be reduced to one half, 65,000. And this quantity would be still further reduced, by embracing opportunities of inci dental employment of vessels belonging both to Jhe mercantile and military- marines. But, is the annual application of Sl.O-iO,000; and the employment of 65 or even 130,000 tons of shipping, considering the magnitude of the object, beyond the ability of this country ? Is there a patriot, looking forward to its domestic quiet, its happiness and its glory, that would not cheerfully contribute his proportion of the burthen to accomplish a purpose so great and so humane } During the general continuance of the African slave trade, hundreds of thousands of slaves have been, in a single year, imported into the several countries whose laws authorized their admission. Notwith standing the vigilance of the powers now engaged to suppress the slave trade, I have received information, that in a single year, in the single island of Cuba, slaves equal in amount to one-half of the above number of 52,000, have been illicitly introduced. Is it possible that those who are concerned in an infamous traffic can effect more than the States of this Union, if they were seriously to engage in the good work ? Is it credible — is it not a libel upon human nature to suppose, that the triumphs of fraud and violence and iniquity, can surpass those of virtue and benevolence and humanity f The population of the United States being, at this time, estimated at about ten millions of the European race, and two of the African, on the sup position of the annual colonization of a number of the latter equal to the an nual increase, of both of its classes, during the whole period necessary to the process of duplication of our numbers, they would, at the end of that period, relatively stand twenty millions for the white and two for the black portion. But an annual exportation of a number equal to the annual increase, at the beginning of the term, and persevered in to the end of it, would ac complish mere than to keep the parent stock standing. The Colonists would comprehend more than an equal proportion of those ofthe prolific ages. Few of those who had passed that age would migrate. So that the annual in crease of those left behind would continue gradually, but, at first, insensibly, to diminish ; and by the expiration of the period of duplication it would be found to have materially abated. But it is not merely the greater relative safety and happiness which would, at the termination ot that period, be the i^ondition of theVhitcs. Their ability to give further stimulus to the cause feF colonization will have been doubled, whilst the subjects on which it would have'rabperate will have decreased or remained stationary. If the business p^«otohization should be regularly continued during two periods of dupli- .*'itkti6n,*at the end ofthe second, the whites would stand to the blacks, as ^forty' millions to not more than two, whilst the same ability will have been i^Qadrupled. Even if colonization should then altogether cease, the proper^ Con of the African to the European race will be so small that the most timid may then, for ever, dismiss all ideas of danger from within or without, on account of that incongruous and perilous element in our population. Further ; by the annual withdrawal of 52,000 persons of colour, there would be annual space created for an equal number of the white race. The period, therefore, of duplication of the whites, by the laws which govern population, would be accelerated. Such, Mr. Vice President, is the project of the Society ; and such is the extension and use which may be made of the principle of colonization, in application to our slave population, by those States which are alone com petent to undertake and execute it. All, or any one, of the Slates which tolerate slavery may adopt and execute it, by co-operation or 'separate ex ertion. If I could be instrumental in eradicating this deepest stain upon the character of our country, and removing all cause of reproach oii account of it, by foreign nations — if I could only be instrumental in ridding of this foul blot that revered State that gave me birth, or that riot less beloved State which kindly adopted nie ai her Kon, I would not exchange the proud satisfaction which I should enjoy for the honour of all the triumphs ever decreed to the most successful conqueror. Having I hope shown that the plan of the Society is not visionary, but ra tional and practicable; that a Colony does in fact exist, planted under its auspices; that free people are willing and anxious to go; and that the right of soil as well as of Sovereignty may be acquired in vast tracts of country in Africa, abundantly sufficient for all the purposes of the most ample Colony, and at prices almost only nominal, the task which remains to me of shewing the beneficial consequences which would attend the execution of the scheme, is comparatively easy. Of the utility of a total separation of the two incongruous portions of our population, Supposing it to be practicable, none have ever doubted. The mode of accomplishing that most desirable object, has alone divided public opinion. Colonization in Hayti, for a time, had its partisans. Without throwing any impediments in the way of executing that scheme, the Amer ican Colonization Society has steadily adhered to its own. The Haytien project has passed away; Colonization beyond the Stony Mountains has sometimes been proposed; but it would be attended with an expense and difficulties far surpassing the African project whilst it would not unite the same ani ating motives. There ia a moral fitness in the idea of returning to Africa her children, whose ancestors have been torn from her by the ruth less hand of fraud and violence. Transplanted in a foreign land, they will carry back to their native soil the rich fruits of religjon, civi ization. law and 13 - liberty. May it not be one o"f the great designs of the Ruler of the Universe, i (whose ways are often inscrutable by short sighted mortals,) thus to^teans-j/ form an original crime into a signal blessing, to that most unfortunate^^^^,, tion of the Globe. Of all classes of our population, the most vicipus is 'that,! cf the free coloured. It is the inevitable result of their moral, political'and i civil degradation. Cohtaminated themselves, they extend their vices to; all^ ' around them, to the slaves and to the whites. If -the principle of coloniza-, tion should be confined to them ; if a colony can be firmly established and successfully continued in Africa which should draw off annually an amount of that portion of our population equal to its annual increase, much good will be done. If the principle be adopted and applied by the States, whose laws sanction the existence of slavery, to an extent equal to the annual increase of .slaves, still greater good will be done. This good will be fell by the Africans who go, by the Africans who remain, iiy the white population of oor coun try, by .-Mrica and by .-Vmerica. It is a project which recommends itself to favour in all the aspects in what it can be contemplated. It will do good in every and anycxtinl in which it may be executed. It is a circle of phiUn- throphy, every segment of which tells and lestifits to the beneficence ofthe whole. Every'cmigrant to Africa is a missionary carrying with him credentials in the holy cause of civilization, religion, and free institutions. Why is it that the degree of success of missionarj exertions is so limited, and so discour aging to those whose piety and benevolence prompt them f Is it not because the missionary is generally an alien and a stranger, perhaps of a difJerent colour, and frtim a different tribe ? There is a sort of instinctive feeling of jealousy and distrust towards foreigners which repels and rejects them in all countries ; and this feeling is in proportion to the degree of ignorance and barbarism which prevail. But the African Colonists, whom we send to con vert the heathen, are of the same colour, the same family, the same physi-. cal constitution. When the purposes of the Colony shall be fully understood, they will be received as long lost brethren restored to the embraces of their friends and their kindred by the dispensations of a wise Providence. The Society is reproached for agitating this question. It should be recol lected that the existence of free people of colour is not limited to the States only whicli tolerate slavery. The evil extends itself to all the States, and some of those which do not allow of slavery, (their cities especially,) expe rience the evil in an extent even greater than it exists in the slave States. A common evil confers a right to consider and apply a common remedy. Nor is it a valid objection that this remedy is partial in its operation or dis tant in its efficacy. A patient, writhing under the tortures of excruciating disease, asks of his physician to cure him if he can, and, if he cannot, to miti gate his sufferings. But the remedy proposed, if generally adopted and per- severingly applied, for a sufficient length of time, should it not entirely erad icate the disease, will enable the body politic to bear it without danger and without suffering. Wc are reproached with doing m.ischief by the agitation of this question. The Society goes into no household to disturb its domestic tranquillity ; it 13 addnejl^jil^itself to' no slaves to weaken their obligations 6{ obedience^ teQu'to'anect' no main's prop'erty, "^It neither has ^h'e power not the wS ASect^the property "of any' one contrary to his consient.'. The execntlon b 'sc^ebae .Would aiigment instead of diminishing thevalue of the property behind. - The Society,; composed of free men, concern's itself only with jfree. Collateral consequences we are not responsible 'for. It is not 'Society which has produced the great moral revolution which the age hibits. What would they, who thus reproach us, have done ? If they wi 'repress all tendencies towards Liberty and ultimate emancipation, they t "do more than put down the benevolent efforts of this Society. They i go back to the era of our Liberty and independence, and muzzle the cat which thunders its Annual joyous return. They must revive the slave tr ¦with all its train of atrocities. They must suppress the workings of Br philanthropy, seeking to meliorate the condition of the unfortunate V Indian slaves. They must arrest the career of South American deliver; firom thraldron. They must blow out the moral lights around us, and tinguish that greatest torch of all which America presents to a benigl world, pointing the way to their rights,their Uberties.and their happii And when they have achieved all these purposes, their work will be incomplete. They must penetrate the human soul, and eradicate the 1 of reason and the love of liberty. Then, and not till then, when univ< rfdarkness and despair prevail, can you perpetuate slavery, and repres Otopathies, and all humane and benevolent efforts among freemen, in be of toe unhappy portion of our race who are doomed to bondage. , < Om\ friends, who are cursed with this greatest of human evils, des ^e ki«lest attention and consideration. Their property and their S£ are tioth involved. But the liberal and candid among them will not, cai , expect that every project to deliver our country fixim it is to be cru becanse of a possible and ideal danger. .: , Animated by the encouragement of the past, let us proceed under cheering prospects which lie before us. Let us continue to appeal to pious, the liberal and the wise. Let us bear in mind the condition of forefathers, when, collected on the beach of England, they embarked, an the scoffingsand the false predictidns of the assembled ¦ multitude, for distant land ; and here, in "spite of all the perils of forest and ocean, w they encountered, successfully laid the foundaticms of this glorious Repu Undismayed by the prophecies of the presumptuous, let ns supplicate aid of the American Representatives of the people, and redoubling ou hours,' and invoking, the blessings of an all- wise Providence, I boldly confidently anticipate success. I hope the resolution whish I offer wi unanimously adopted. /¦ ,,- ' ¦ APPENDIX. Bxtreeis fram the Report ofthe Jtoard of Managers of the American Coloiiixalitu SocieCi/, presented at its annual meeting, January 13th, 1827. _ The svitem of Government estabhshed with the full consent of the Colonists, in the autumn of 1834, and which f.e Managers bad the happiness to represent: in their last Report, as having thus far fulfilled all the purposes of its institution, has continued its operations during the year without the least irregularity, and wiih undiminished success. The i epiiblican principle is introduced as far as is ctnsisteni with the youthful and unformed character of the settlement, and in the election of their officers the Colonists have evinced sueh integrity and judgment as .ifford promise of early prepai -tion for all tne duties of self-government. "The civil prerogatives and governnfentof the Colony and the body ofthe law? by which ihey are sustained," says the Coloni.l Agent, "are the pride of all. C am happy in the pers 'asion 1 have, tha' I hold the balance of the laws in the midst of a people, with whom thefi'st perceptible inclination ofthe sacred scale determii es authorit.atively, their sentiments and their condoci. Theie are indi vidual exceptions, but lliese remarks extend to the body ofthe settlers." The mo al and religious character of the Col-ny, exerts a powerful influence on its social and civil c ndition. That pifty which had gu ded most ofthe early emig:apts lo Liberia, even before they left this country, to respectability and usefulness among their ass .ciatcs, prepared them, in laying the foundations of a Colony, to act with a degree of wisdom and ene. gy which no earthly motives could inspire. Humble, and for tne most part unlettered men ; born and bred in circumstances the most unfavorable to mental culture ; unsustained by the hope of renown, and unfamiliar with the h-.story of great achievements and heroic viitues, lheir"3 was nevertheless a s,.irit unmoved by dange s or by sufferings, which misfortunes could not darken, nor death d smay. They left America, and felt that it was forever: they landed in Africa, p ssibly to find a home, but certainly a grave: Strange would it have been had the religion of every indivi dual cf these e rly settlers pr ved genuine but immensely changed as have been their circumstances and severely tried their faiih, mosi have preserved untarnish ed tiie honours of their profes-ion, and to the purity of their morals and the consistency of their conduct, is in a great measure to be attributed the social order and gener.d prosperity of the Colony of Liberia. Their example has proved most saluta' y . their exertions. "Nolh-n ,' says the Coloni:d Agent, " bui circumstances of the mo^t extraordinary natnre, can pre\ent them fiom making their way ilirecily to re-p-ctability and abunda' ce." Oxen were trained to labour in the Colony in 1825, and it was ihen ex -ecied that the pl-ugh would be introduced in the course of another year. Al h ugh commerce has thus far taken the lead of agriculture, yet the f-xcellence of the soil, tne small amount of labour required lor .'s cul ivatio i, and the value and abundance of its products, can-iot fail, finally, to r, der the latter the more 0(ierished, as it is, certainly, the more important interr;st ofthe C.ilony The Trade ofLibeiia has increased witn a rapidity almost unr-Xiimpied, and while it has supplird the Colonists not only with the necessa.-ies, but with, the ooiiveniences .mrl comfrrts of life, Ihe good faith with which it has been conduct ed, lias conciliated the friendship ofthe natives, and acquired the confidence of foreig lers. The regulation'! ofthe Colony allo'.ving no credit?, except by wi-ilt'.-n permis sion, and requiri g the bartei to be carried on through fictories established for *he purpose, has increased ihr profits o' the IrafEe, and prevented numerous evils wliich must have attended upon a more uni'es..icled license. Between the 1st of January and the 15th ot Ju-y, 1S26, no less, than 15 vessels touched at Monrovia and purchased the produce of the country, to the amount according to the best probable estimate-, oi §43,930, African value. The ex porters of this iiroduce realize, o-i the s lie of the goods given in barter for it, a pr.fit of S2 1,990, and on the freight, of38,r86, making a total profit of S30,786. A gentleman in Portland has commenced a regular irade with the Colony; and for Ins last car^jo landed in Liberia, amounting to §8,000, he received payment in die course of ten days The advantages ot this trade to the Colony, are man ifest from trie high price of labour, (that of mechanics being tvo dollars per day, an-i that of common labourers from 75 cents to §1 25 cen's,) and from the easy and comfirtable circum.stancts of the setders. "An interesting family, twelve months in Africa, destitute ofthe means of furnishing an abundant table, is not kn-iwn 1 and an individual, of whatever age or sex, without ample provision of decent apparel, cannot, it is believed, be found." <'Every family," s.ays M,-. Ash- mun, "and nearly every single adult person in thi C'llony, h,is the means of employ ng from one to four native labourers, at an expense of from four to six dollars the month ; and several ofthe settlers, when called upon in consequence nf sudden emergeneirLS of tlu' public service, have made repeated advances of of merchantabe produce, to the amount of 300 to 600 dollars each." The Managers are happy to state, that the efforts of the Coloni.al Agent to enlarge the TF.aiiiTOHT of Liberia, and particularly to bring under the govern ment of the Colony a more extended line of coast, have been judicious and en ergetic, and in nearly every instance resulted in complete success. From Cape Mount to Tradetown, a distance of one hundrsd and fifty miles, the Cslonial gdveriiftiinl has liquired "partiil jurisdiction. Fona of the most important, STA-Tjpss on this tract, including Montserado, belong to the Society, either by actoal purchase, or by a deed of perpetual lease ; and such negotiations have beeh entered upon with the chiefs of the country, as amount to a preclusion of all, Europeans from any possessions within these limits. The fine Territory of the St. t^aul's, now occupied by settlers, was described in the last annual report of the Society. ' "The Territory of Young Sesters, recently ceded to the Society, is ninety tniles south of Montserado, in the midst of a very productive rice Country, af fording also large qua'itities of palm oil, camwood, and ivory. The tract granted to the Colony, includes the bed of tbe Sesters river, and all the land on each side, to the distance of half a leagfue, and extending longitudinally fi'om the river's mouth to its source. In compliance with the terms of the contract, the Chief of the country has constructed a commodious store house, and put a num ber of labourers sufficient for the cultivation of a rice plantation of forty acres, under the direction of a respectable Colonist, who takes charge of the establish ment. The right of use and occupancy has also been obtained to a region of country on the siuth branch of the St. John'sriver, north nine miles from YoHng Sesters, and the trading factory estublished there, under the superintendence of a family from .Monrovia, has already provided a valuable source of income to the Colony. Rice is also here to be cultivated, and the Chief who cedes the territory, agrees to furnish the labour. The upright and exemplary conduct of the individual at the head of this esta blishment, has powerfiilly impressed the natives with the importance of inviting them to settle in tlieir country ; and consequently, ihe offer made by the Coloni al Agent, for the purchase of Factory Islind, has been accepted by its proprie tor. This Island is in the river St. John's, four miles from its m.'mth, from five to six miles in length, and one third of a mile in breadth, and is among the most beautiful and fertile spots in Africa. A few families are about to take up their residence upon it, and prepare for founding a settleraer-it, " which cannot fail," says -Mr. Ashmun, " in a few years, to be second to no other in the Colony, ex cept Monrovia.*' Negotiations are also in progress with the Chiefs of Cape Mount, which, iT successsful, will secure to the Colony the whole trade of that station, estimated at 550,000 per annum, and may ultimately lead to its annexation to the Territo ries of Liberia. " The whole country between Cape Mount and Trade Town," observes Mr Ashmun, " is rich in soil and other natural advjulages, and capable of sustaining a numerous and civilized population beyond almost any other country on earth. Leaving the sea-board, the traveller, every where, aj the dis tance of a very few miles, enters upon a uniform upland country, of moderate elevation, intersected by innumerable rivulets, abounding in springs of unfailing water, and covered with a verdure which knows no ot'er changes except those which refresh and renew its beauties. The country direcly on the sea, although verdant and fruitful to a h;gh liegree, is found every where to yield, in both resp. cts, to the interiour " , Much progress has been made the last year, in the construction of public. buildings and works of defence, though, with adequate aupplies of lumber, more might donbtless have been.accomplished. Twif) hmidsome churches, erect ed solely by the| Colonists, now adorn the village of Monrovia. Fort Stockton has been rebuilt in a style of Strength and beauty. A receptacle capable of accommodating one hundred and fifty emigrants, is completed. The New Agency House, Market House, Lancasterian School, and Town House in Mon rovia, Were, some months since, far advanced,' and thr finishing strokes were about to be given to the Government House on the St. Paul's. The wing of the Old Agency House has been " handsomely fitted up for the Colonial Library, -which now consists of 1200 volumes svstematically nrranged in glazed cases, • with appropriate hangings. All the books are substantially covered, and accu rately libelled ; and files of more than ten newsp ipers, more or less complete, ire pres«rved. The library i» fiUsd up so m t»answer the purpose •fa reading 3 room, and is intended to make it a museum of all the natural curiosities of Africa, wh'ch can be procured." ,' f.\ ? No efforts have been spared to place the Colony m a state of adequate defence, and while it is regarded as perfectly secure from the native forces, it is hoped and believed that it may sustain Itself against any piratical assaults. " The estab lishment has fifleen large carriage guns and three small pivot guns, all fit fo^ service." Fort Stockton overlooks the lyhole town of Monrovia, and a strong battery is now t)uilding on the height of Thompson Town, near the extremity of the Cape, which it is thought will afford protection to vessels anchoring in the roadstead. The niililia of the Colony consists of two corps appropriately uni formed, one of Artillery of about fifty men, the other of Infantry of forty men, and on various occasions have they proved themselves deficient neither in disci pline or courage. Extracts from the Btv. J. Mhmun's Report ofthe Colony. The money expended on these various objects has necessarily been considera ble ; but, in comparison with the expense which similar objects in this country cost European governments, it will be found not merely moderate, but trifling. Less than has been effected towards the extension of our limits, I could not at tempt: and I am certain that where the direction of every other establishment on the coast, except the Portuguese, would rgprd itself not only authorized, but obliged, to pay away thousands — 1 have in countless instances, spent not a dollar. But that species of econ..my which sacrifices to itself any object essential to the succ- ss of this undertaking, 1 am as little able to practice as the Board is to approve. The natives ofthe country, but particularly of the interior, notwithstanding their habitua- indolence, produce, after supplying their own wants, a considera ble surplus of the great staple of this |iart of \Vestem Africa — rice. The moder ate rate at which this grain is purchased by such as deal directly with the grow. ers ; and the various u.-^es oi which it is susceptible in the domestic economy, easily place the means of supplying the first necessities of nature in the reach of every one. Kice, moreover, always commands a ready sale with transient trad ing vr;ssels or coasters ; and forms an use ul object of exchange for other pro visions an'l necessaries, between individuals ofthe Colony. To this succeeds, as next in importance, the Camwood ofthe country; oF which several nundred tons every year pass through the hands ofthe settlers'; and serve to introiiuce, in return, the provisions and groceries of America ; and the dry goods and wares both of Europe and. \merica, which, from the necessary depend ence of the members of every .society on each other, come soon to be distributed, for the common advantage of all. The Ivory of Liberia 15 less abundant, and less valuable, than that of other dis tricts of Western Afiica. It, however, forms a. valuable article of barter and export, to the settlement ; and the amount annually bought and sold, fails be tween 5 and 8 thousand dollars No less than f.te schools for different discriptions of learners, exclusive ofthe Sunday Schools, have been supported during the year, and still continues in operation. — he youths and children of the Colony discov. r for their age, une-' quivocal proofs of a good degree of mental accomphshment The contr.-ist be tween children s. veral years in the enjoyment ofthe advantages ol the Colony, and most others ofthe same age, arriving fn-m the United States, is striking — and would leave an entire stranger at no loss to distinguish the one from the other. Should emi.gration, but for a very few monihs, cease to throw the little ignorants into the Colony, from abroad, the phenomenon of a child of five years, unable to read, it is believed, would not exist among us. The fii-st successful essay in the construction of small vessels, has been made the past year. I have built, and put upon the rice tr.ide, between our factories to the leew.ird, and Cape .'.lontserado, a .schooner often tons burthen, adapted to the passage of the bars of all the navigable rivers of the coast. The sailir\{f qualities of this vessel are lo superior, that before the wind, it isbelievea, none ot the numerous pirates of the coast, can overtake her. She makes ireighted both ways, in ten days ; and commonly carries and bnngs mtrcl andproduce, to the amount of from 4 to 8 hundred doUars each trip. A ^K „ , *^"'" tonnage, but of very indifferent materials, has been built by Colonists. The model ofthe St. Faul's (the public boat) was furnis myself; but she was constructed under the superintendence of J. Blake, v thus entitled himself to the character of an useful and ingenious mechanu _ One of the most obvious effects of this Colony, has already been to in this part of Africa, the prevalence ofthe slave-trade. The promptii severity with which our arms have, in every instance, avenged the insu injuries offered by slave ships and factories to the Colony, have, 1 may cor ly say, banished it forever from this district ofthe coast. Our influence w natives of this section ofthe coast is known to be so great as to expose to miscarriage, any transaction entered into whh them, for slaves. But thr moral feeling at work in tlie minds of most of our neighbours, contracted less, by means of their intercourse with the Colony, which represents to th dark business in a new asjiecl of repulsiveness and absurdity. Most are r ced that it is indeed a bud business, — and are apparently sincere in their mination to drop it forever, unless compelled by their wants to adventur< occasional speculations. In the punishment of offences, the most lenient maxims of modern ju dence have been observed, by way of experiment on human nature, in 111 tieular modification of it exhibited by the population of this Colony. Tli< has been, so far fa\ curable to the policy pursued. The passion to which coi and other ignominious punishments address their arguments, is certain of the least ingenuous of the human constitution. Extracts from a Memorial from the Free People of Colovr to the Citizens i timorc. We have hitherto beheld, in silence, but with the intensest interest, forts ofthe wise and philanthropic in our behalf. If it became us to be si became us also to f el the liveliest anxiety and gra itude. The time ha arrived, as we believe, in which your work and our happiness may be pre by the expres-.ion of our opinions. Wc have therefore assembled for th pose, from every quai-ter of the City and every denomination, to offer y respectful address, with all the weight and influence which oui' number, chi and cause can lend It. We reside among you, and yet are strangers; natives, and yet not ci( surrounded by the freest people and most republican institutions in the and yet enjoying none ofthe immunities of freedom. It is not to be imputed to you that we are here. Your ancestors remon: against the intriduction ofthe first of our race, who were brought amongs and it was the mother cnumry that insi.sted on their admission, that her c( and she might profit, as she thought, by their compulsory labour. But tl was a curse to them, without being an advantage to herself. The co grown to womanhood, bur-t from her dominion ; and if they have an angry lection of their union and rupture, it must be at the sight of the baneful inst: which she has entailed upon them. How much you regret its existence among you.is shewn by the severe lav have enacted against the slave-trade, and by your employment of a naval for its suppression. You have gone still further. Not content widi checkii increase of the already too growing evil, you have deliberated how you best exterminate the evil itself. This deHcate and importai.t subject ha duced a great variety of opinions ; but we find, even in that diversity, a c atory proof of the interest with which you regard the subject, and of your ness to adopt that scheme which may appear to be the best. 6 Leaving out all considerations of generosity, humanity and benevolence, 'you Lave I he strongest reasons to favour and facilitate the withdra'val from among you nf such , nish to remove. It ill consists, in the first place, with you^ re- puhlican principl s and with the heath and moral sense ofthe body politic, tjjat there should be in tbe mid-t of you an extraneous mass of men, uni'ed to you only bv soil and c'imate, and irrevocnbly excluded fr m your institutions. Nor is It Ie«s for your advantage in another point of view. Our places might, in, our opiniim, be bf tier occupied by men of your own colour, who would increase the strength of your country. In the pursuit of livelihood and the exercise of indus trious liabiis, we necessarily exclude from employment ra->ny ofthe whiles — your fellow-citizens, who would find it easier in proportion as we depart, to provide for themselves and their families. Brit if iiou have every reason to wish for our removal, how much greater are our inducements to remove ! Though we are not slaves, we are not free. We do not, and never shall participate in the enviable privileges which we continually ¦witness. Beyond a mere subsistence, and the impulse of religion, there ia nothing to arouse us to the exercise of our faculties, or excite us to the attain ment of eminence. Ofthe many schemes that have been proposed, we most approve of that, of JlfricunCohnizaUon, If we were able .and at liberty to go withersoever we would, the greater number, willing to leave this community, would prefer Libetiia, on the coast of Africa Others no doubt, would turn them towards some oiher re gions: the world is wide. .already, established there in the settlement of the American Colonisation Society, are many of our brethren, the pioneers of Afri can Uestoration, who encourage us to join them. Several were formerly resi- idents of this (Ji'y, and highly considered by the people of their own class and colour. They have been planted at c ipe Montserado, the most eligible and one ofthe most elevated sites on the western coast of -Africa, selected in 1821 ; and their number has augmented to five hundred. Able, as we are informed, to pro vide for their own defence and siippnr', and capable of self increase, they are now enjoyii g all the neces-aries and comforts and many ofthe luxuries of larger and older communities. In .Africa we shall be freemen indeed, and republicans after the model of this I!epnhlic. We shall carry yonr language, your customs, your opinions and cliri.-'tniniiy to thai now ilcsoUte shore, and thence they will gradually spread, with our growth, far into the continent The slave-trade, both extci-n.il and internal, can be abolished only by settlements on the coast. Africa, if destined to be ever civilized and converted, can be civiUzed and con verted by that means only. We foresee that difficulties and dangers await those who emigrate, such as every infant establishment must encounter and endure ; such as your fathers suffered when first they landed on this now happy shore. The portion of comforts which they may lose, they will cheerfully abandon. Human happiness docs not consi.st in meat and drink, nor in costly raiment, nor in stately habitations ; to contribute to it even, they must be joined with equal rights and respectability ; and it often exists in a high degree without them. That you mav facililatc the withdrawal from among you of such as wish to remove, is what we now solicit. It can best be done, we think, by augmenting the means at the command of the American Colonization Society, that the Co lony of Liberia may be strengthened and improved for their gradual reception. The greater the number of personsrsent thither, from any part of this nation ¦weatsoever, so much the more capable it becomes of receiving a still greater. .Kvery encouragement to it, therefore, though it may not seem to have any parti cular portinii of emigrants directly in view, will produce a favourable effect uponall. The emigr.-mts may readily be enabled to remove, inconsiderable numbers every fall, by a concerted system of individual contributions, and still rnore efficiently by the enactment of laws to promote their emigration, under the piitronage of the State. The e.tpense would not be nearly so great is it miglit appear at first sight, for when once the current .shall have set towards J.iberia, and intercourse grown frequent, the cost will of course diminish rapidly, 'ind many will be able to defray it for themselves. Thousands and tens jof thousands poorer than we, annually emigrate from Europe to your couJitry, and soon have it in their power to hasten the arrival of .those they left behind — ^Every intelligent and industrious coloured man would continuaUj' look forward to the day, when he or his children might g^ to their veritable home, -«nd would accumulate all bis little earning for that purpose. „ ,( "•' We hare ventured these remarks, because we know that you ta^ke a kind con cern in the subject to which they relate, and because we think they may assist you in the prosecution of your desig^--. If we were doubtfiil of your good will and benevolent intentions, wre would remind you of the time when you were in a situ.tion similar to ours, and when your forefathers were driven, by religious persecutiou, to a distant and inhospitable shore We are not so persecuted, but we, too, leave our homes, and seek a distant and inhospitable shore : an empire nuy lie the result of our emigration ; as of their's. The protection, kindness and assistance which you would have desired, for yourselves under such circum stances, now extend to us : so may you be rewarded by the riddance of the, stun and evil of slavery, the extension of civilization and tbe Gospel, and the blessing of our common Creator '. WILLUM CORNISH, Chairman of the (neeting in Bethel Church. ROBERT COWLEY, Secretary of the meeting in Bethel Church. JAMES DEAVER, Chairman of the meeting in the African Church, Sharp street. REMUS HARVEY, Secretary of the meeting in the African Church, Sharp street; 8 A TABLE, Exhibiting the amount of the African fiortion of the fiofiulatlon ofthe ' United States, according to the Returns of the several Censuses j with ^ the ratio of increase. ' I CENSUS OF 1790. Slaves, . . - ... 697,697 All other persons of colour except Indians, not taxed, - - 59,481 CENSUS OF 1800. Slaves, - - - , - - - . - 896,849 All other persons, as above, - ... 110,072 Rate of increase of slaves between 1790 and 1800 2.85442 pr. ct. pr, ann. Do. do. persons of colour do. 8.5054 CENSUS OF 1810. Slaves, - 1,191,364 All other persons of colour, as above, .... 186,446 Hate of increase of slaves between 1800 and 1810 3.2838861 pr. ct. pr. ann. Do. do. persons of colour do. 6.93854931 CENSUS OF 1820. Slaves, - - .... 1,538,128 All other persons of colour, as above, ... 233,530 Rate of increase of slaves between 1810 and 1820 2.911 Do. do. persons of colour do. - 2.52534246 Mean ratio of increase of slaves during the whole period of 30 years, 3.0164353 Do. of persons of colour, .... 5.98976392 Present rate of increase of slaves, according to the last Census, 2.911 Do. do. of free persons of colour - - 2.52534246 or a little more than two and a half per cent, per annum. — ^K.* sr It <•' m