AN ADDRESS TO THE PEOPLE OF on the evii.s of SLAVERY. J(Y The friends of LIBERTY AND EQUALITY. "Anne, liceat invitos in servitutem dare" Dr. Pickard. "Not only the Christian religion, but nature herself cries out against State of Slavery :—Pope Leo. X. William Swaim, Printer. G rcensboroitgh, N. C. 1S30. To the people of North-Carolina, The Board of Managers of the Manu¬ mission Society of North - Carolina in General Association, feel in their indis¬ pensable duty, respectfully to address, not only their immediate constituents, but with them, the people of the State in general. WILLIAM SWAIM, Sec. Guilford, March 1830. NICHOLAS MTJLLER, PBINTER & STEREOTYPES. 48 Beekman-Street, New York. NOTICE. A respectable minister of Worcester, Mass. put into my hands, last year, a pamphlet, printed in North Carolina, in 1830, which he and others have so highly recommended, that it was deemed best to re-publish it, for circulation in that old and influential State, and in other Southern States, at the present time. It is well that the people of those States should know the sentiments of the generation that preceeded them, on the great and all-engross¬ ing subject of American Slavery. The pamphlet is re-printed in a style as similar to the original as could be done, considering how superior the paper now used, and the type, &c., are to those used thirty years since. It is printed exactly after the original edition, except that Professor C. D. Cleveland, of Philadelphia, has corrected some errors in the passage quoted from the writings of Cicero. It is due to the cause of Freedom to say here, that the eman¬ cipationists of the present day do not agree with everything in this pamphlet; and it is quite probable, that if the author or authors of it were now living, they would have improved it ac¬ cording to the light that has been thrown upon the subject since its first publication. It is re-published, as a remarkable product¬ ion emanating from a slave-holding State thirty years ago ; and it is commended, not .alone to the present generation in slave- holding States, but also to those Northern men, who fall far below the anti-slavery sentiment of Southern men in the year 1830. Emancipationists in N. C. appear to have believed, in 1830, that slaveholding was an inherent sin, and did not trouble them¬ selves with the inquiry, "Is it in all cases sinful? Is it a ?nalum in se ?" They believed it to be a sin—therefore to be denounced. Death to elaveholdirg—was their motto.—May God bless thia pamphlet to the enlightenment of the country. ADDRESS, &c. Carolinians : "We believe it is generally known that a social institution has, for some years, been pro¬ gressing, for " the gradual abolition of negro slave¬ ry" among us: yet we are well aware that our pre¬ cise views in relation to this subject are but par¬ tially understood. In the commencement of our in¬ vestigations, we used the utmost prudence, know¬ ing the irritable disposition of those, (and at that time many there were,) who, from want of reflection on the s ubject, felt, or seemed to feel their dearest rights invaded by the least attempt to examine into the policy or rectitude of holding the African race in a state of slavery. We proceeded then as we ought, with all possible caution & reserve; never venturing to discuss rashly, and seldom stirring the subject far abroad. We thought it not only advisable, but the only justifiable course, in the first place to examine, weigh, and deliberate profoundly within our own more immediate circles, the fundamental principles of the institution, and ascertain if possible, from the best human calculations, to what extent could our labours probably succeed, and what would be the pvobable consequences of giving unrestrained publicity to our doctrines, by circulating them gen¬ erally throughout the country. All this we trust hafi (4) been done. We have taken a deliberate survey of this land of slavery. We have impartially examined the evil in its origin, its progress, and its present state, as well as its future consequences ; and even in its mildest form, it shrinks from rational inspec¬ tion—a monster of hideous deformity in its best fea¬ ture. We profess to have considered the matter on all sides, and to have made every due allowance for the peculiar situation of all parties, whether slave¬ holders, monster slave-holders, or slaves, and seri¬ ously, we cannot longer hesitate as to the course that our common duty, interest, and prosperity de¬ mand. Discussion has been too long delayed alrea¬ dy, and is now rendered the more indispensable, as the evil to be removed is daily accumulating on our hands. And we are divinely admonished to " work while it is day, for the night cometh when no man can work." Whatever the people of this State may be with respect to information on other subjects, on this they are very destitute, owing, we suppose, to the " awful delicacy''' t we hear so much about, and which we would briefly examine. Then what renders this subject so awfully delicate ? Is it the incapacity of the people to investigate it? Is the discussion of this subject delicate because it favors the innocent and condemns the guilty ? Is it delicate because ;c (5) shows republicans their inconsistency? Is it deli¬ cate because it accuses the professors of the Chris¬ tian Religion of crimes which a Mahomedan would blush to commit ? Is it delicate because it impeach¬ es the right to hold human beings as property ? Is it delicate because free men are ashamed or afraid for slaves to know that they incline to do them jus¬ tice ? If any of the above considerations are to re¬ strain the rational enquiry of this community, fare¬ well to manly enterprize in North Carolina 1 But we yet hope for better things. This is an age of active enterprize. A spirit of inquiry is partially awakened which no earthly authority or artful dissuasion can effectually restrain. Under the protection offered by our Constitution in the 18th section of a Declaration of Rights made by the Representatives of the Freemen of this State, we now set out in a calm, and more full inves¬ tigation of the evils consequent on the existence of absolute slavery. And as we cherish no unkind feelings toward any class of our citizens, but prompt¬ ed by philanthropy and patriotism, we labour to expose inconsistencies, and to hold up» to public gaze, and we hope to public execration, principles that tend to destroy our liberties, our morals, and even our souls ; we hope that every man having an (6) opportunity to examine this subject with us, will do it impartially and honestly, in attending to, and inves¬ tigating the following propositions : Proposition I. Our slave system is radically evil. II. It is founded in injustice and cruelty. III. It is a fruitful source of pride, idleness and tyranny. IV. It increases depravity in the human heart, while it inflames and nourishes a numerous train of dark and brutal passions and lusts, disgraceful to human nature, and destructive of the general wel¬ fare. V. It is contrary to the plain and simple maxims of the Christian Revelation, or religion of Christ. After demonstrating these propositions we shall briefly state in conclusion, some of the most promi¬ nent features in the plan which we would adopt for 4he abolition of slavery. PROPOSITION I. Our slave system is radically evil. The truth of this proposition is generally admit¬ ted, and it would be still more generally avowed were its pernicious effects less: For it is true that absolute slavery, while it tends to destroy the most virtuous principles yet remaining in man, by introdu- (7) cing into his heart, and cherishing there when thus introduced, the most hateful principles and passions which disgrace huiiTan nature, tends at the same time, to render him more destitute of a true knowl¬ edge of its enormity : as it proportionately effaces from his understanding those ideas of social order and reciprocal justice engraven on his mind by the God of nature. But as the remaining propositions are such as arise .out of this, of which they are rather members than original propositions, we shall refer the reader for a further consideration of this sub¬ ject, to the propositions which follow, where its vari¬ ous principles will be attended to. PROPOSITION II. Our system of slavery is founded in injustice and cruelty. Section 1. Of the injustice of absolute slavery. To demonstrate the truth of this proposition we shall attend to the terms " Iinjustice and cru¬ elty" together wifli some of those circumstances which have attended the introduction and continu¬ ance of Negro-Slavery among us. And as injustice is the opposite of justice; and as every act of social beings is founded either in justice or injustice, we need only examine the term justice, and try our slave- (8) system by its principles, since whatever is not according to the principles of justice, must neces- sarily be founded in injustice.—Justice, if we mis¬ take not, has respect to the conduct of relation, and imports that he who acts according to its dictates, renders in a righteous manner " blessing to whom blessing is due, honor to whom honor &c," and that too, without the least regard to colour, rank, or condition. And one very prominent feature in the administration of true justice, is, that it distributes rewards and punishments to such individuals sepa¬ rately and singly, as have merited the same, and that too in the same degree in which the acts as afore¬ said have merited. Now if this be a faithful descrip¬ tion of justice, is it not manifest that Negro slavery is founded in injustice ? An unfortunate fellow- creature is kid-napped on Africa's defenceless shore, and by a monster having the form and name, with¬ out any of the tender sensibilities of a human being, he is taken into a foreign land and sold into perpetual slavery, where he becomes at once the scorn and the slave of a people (falsely termed Christians) whose conduct towards the poor negro, in many cases is such as would even cause " Mercy * * * * to weep, (9) " Should she such treatment rendered to a brute." " And what man seeing this, And having human feelings, does not blush And hang his head to think himself a man ?" But still worse 1 Should the unfortunate creature thus kidnapped and sold be a female, her innocent and helpless posterity are doomed to a like state of cruel bondage and suffering, for no other ostensible reason, than that of their ancestor being- guilty of a *blach skin ! ! If it should be urged that many of the negroes originally brought from Africa were such as had forfeited their lives in their native country ; this, by no principle of logic amounts to a sufficient reason for passing the dreadful decree of slavery for life on their innocent offspring : which according to those patriotic veter¬ ans of 1776, the framers of the Declaratian of American Independence, is a flagrant violation of the Law of Nature, & an unjustifiable encroachment on those " self-evident') and " unalienable rights" with which God has endowed all men. * He [Man] finds his fellow guilty of a skin, Hot coloured like his own ; and having power To enforce the wrong, for such a worthy cause Dooms and devotes him as his lawful prey. Cowpsb. (10) Nor wili doctrine of the injustice of absolute slavery lose any of its real weight by the considera¬ tion of its having the sanction of the Law, if we consider that all men are but subordinate beings, who are held bound to obey their Creator accor¬ ding to his own Laws, which he hath ordained, and by which he designs his creatures to be gover¬ ned, among which that denominated the Law of nature (which is nevertheless a divine Law) may and ought to be regarded as having been instituted for the particular purpose to which we now apply it, and to which it has been applied by men of sound judgment and uncorrupted principles in every age; and to which it was particularly applied by the Fa¬ thers of our glorious liberty, as they have abundant¬ ly shown.* Nor dare any one doubt the validity of the Law of nature, any more than the right of its Al¬ mighty giver to a primary part in the government of mankind. It follows consequently that the principles set forth in the Law of nature for the government of mankind are primary or constitutional principles, and that the Laws enacted by men for their own government should harmonize with and acquiesce in them. And as no authority can overreach that by which * See Declaration of American iNdependenee and also Bill of Rights. (11) the law of nature is established, therefore no human Legislature, how lawfully soever it may be con¬ stituted, can deprive any individual, (he or she being one of God's creatures, and under his government) of any of those " unalienable" privileges guaranteed to him or her in the law of, nature, otherwise than they are, personally forfeited by the individual or individuals from whom they are taken, without offending the great Governor of the universe. Such laws are therefore founded in injustice, and ought to be repealed without delay, as they oppose divine law, and as such, must be offensive to tire God of nature, Whose wrath we necessarily incur by suffering them to exist. Nor js this doctrine of the law of nature a mere chimera — it is a reality of which every rational man may have the most satisfactory evidence, even in his own breast: for it is there that this doctrine is fully authenticated and established. It was there that the writer's address discovered this principle And there can be no doubt but, that the Patriots of 1776 discovered the same principle existing in their breasts in a similar manner. And in like manner have good and Patriotic men in all ages dis¬ covered the same principle, in proportion* as they received the aids of reason and revelation. * * In further confirmation of the above, we transcribe the (12) And if any man, upon examination find not the same principles existing in his breast also, it is not because of any defect either in the law of nature or in his own original constitution : but it is because he has suffered the undue love of money, which is the " root of all evil," and pride the " mother of vice," to subvert these primary prin¬ ciples of justice and prosperity implanted in his mind by the God of nature, and thereby to turn nature out of her proper course, and by thus abandoning himself to avarice and selfishness, has introduced into his own heart such an assemblage of carnal desires and avaricious propensities, as in no small degree, to darken his understanding and deprive it of those ideas of social order and reciprocal justice which even exist in minds ex- following noble passage of Cicero cited by Lectantius out of his work De Republica. "Est quidem vera lex, recta ratio, naturae congruens, dif¬ fusa in omnes, constans, sempiterna ; quae vocet ad officium jubendo, vetando a fraude deterreat, quae tamen neque pro- bos frustra jubet aut vetat, nec improbos jubendo aut ve¬ tando movet. Huic legi nec abrogari fas est; neque deroga- ri ex hac aliquid licet, neque tota abrogari potest: nec vero aut per senatum aut per populum solvi hac lege possu- mus ; neque est quterendus explanator aut interpre3 ejus alius; nec erit alia lex Romaj, alia Athenis : alia nunc, alia posthac; srd et omnes gentes et omni tempore una ( 13 ) panded by wisdom and ennobled by virtue. Such being the dictates of human instinct — or to speak more correctly — such being the principles set forth in the law of nature, a copy of which is furnished in the breast of every rational individual, we are not surprized on finding them repeatedly set forth in the opinions and laws of men ;—thus we know them, not only in the Declaration of American Independence, and in the Bill of Rights, but in some way or other set forth in some part of the Constitution or Laws of perhaps every State in the Union. In the Constitu- lex et sempiterna et immutabilis continebit ; unusque erit communis quasi magister et imperator omnium Deus, ille legis hujus inventor, disceptator, lator ; cui qui non parebit, ipse se fugiet ac naturam hominis aspernatus, hoc ipso luet maximas poenas, etiam si csetera supplicia qu£e putantur, effugerit." "From which it is clear" says Bishop Watson "that Cicero acknowledged a Law antecedent to all human civil institutions, anil 'inde¬ pendent of them, binding upon all, constant and perpetu¬ al, the same in all times and places, not one thing al^ Rome and another at Athens; of an authority so high, that no human power had a right to alter or annul it; having God for its author, in his character of universal Master and Sovereign, taking hold of the very consciences of men, and following them with its animadversions, though they should escape the hand of man, and the penalties o? human codes here then is the Law of nature fairly and fully apprehended. (14) tion of the State of Delaware, though a slave-holding State, they are fully set forth thus :—" Through divine goodness all men have by nature the rights of wor¬ shipping and serving their Creator according to the dictates of their own consciences ; of enjoying and defending life and liberty; of acquiring and protec¬ ting reputation and property; and in general, of at¬ taining objects suitable to their condition icithout injury op one to another. " And Declaration of the rights of the citizens of North-Carolina, which by the 44, Section of our Constitution, is declared to be a part of the Constitution of this State, says, in Section 19 : "That all men have a natural and un¬ alienable right to worship Almighty God, according to the dictates of their own consciences." While other parts of the above mentioned Declaration of Rights, as well as some subsequent acts of the Gen¬ eral Assembly, seem to show in a very high degree, the conflicting influence of humanity and prejudice in the Councils of N. Carolina, The 22, Section of our Deel action of Rights, which as we have shown above, is a part of our Constitution, says that, " No hereditary emoluments, privileges, or honors ought to be granted or conferred in this State.'' And by a parity of reasoning it may and ought to be said, that "No emoluments or privileges,'' the right to en¬ joy which, being vested in the individual or individ- (15) uals possessing them, by the law of nature, " ought to he taken away in any case, either in this or any oth¬ er State in a hereditary manner." But are not hoth these rules violated in this State? Th.e son or daughter, in this State, falls heir to all, or a propor¬ tionable part of the "born sheds" belonging to the estate of his or her Father; and that too without any bequest or other instrument of conveyance, ex¬ cept the mere provision contained in the Law of the state. And this principle of descent is a hereditary principle. Now if the circumstance of one man's holding another in absolute slavery, and of enjoying all the benefits of his sweat and toil, are " emolu¬ ments and privileges," then it must be granted that the " hereditary emoluments and privileges" conferred in this state are many, very many, notwithstanding the constitution of the state to the contrary. And our " common law" which is a primary ingredient in the " law of the land," mentioned in Section 12, of our declaration of rights, is said to be founded on " reason and the divine law," and is held to ac¬ quiesce in them in every instance, any former usage or decision to the contrary notwithstanding. The common law of this state, must therefore ac¬ quiesce in the provisions set forth in the law of na¬ ture, in all cases, when the "law of the land" is not (16) rendered otherwise by some statute or special act passed either by the General Assembly of North Carolina, or by Congress; and that too, according to the Constitution of our State or of the United States, as the case may he, since the law of nature is evidently a divine law, and as such, must he suppo¬ sed to harmonize with all other laws of divine origine ; as it would be absurd to suppose two divine principles, opposed the one to the other. The law of nature, the law of reason, and consequently the common law of this State, (as we have shown,) all declare liberty to be the " birth right'' of every human being. Now it is a well known, and universally acknowledged point in law, that every man stands acquitted until the contrary appears in good and lawful evidence ; or in other words that the Law presumes every man to be in¬ nocent, or clear from any alleged charge, &c. until the same be proved by good and lawful testimony. Let us then briefly examine our slave system with respect to this particular. There is one man claim¬ ing to hold another as his slave, which claim the al¬ leged slave is not disposed to admit. Now in this trial for liberty, on whom should the weight of evidence rest ? We answer — according to the above principle, if should always rest on the claim- (17) ant. This opinion is fully corroborated by the sen¬ timents of the honorable George Wythe, one of the signers of the Declaration of American Independence, and since chancellor in Virginia ; who laid down as a general position " That whenever one person, claims to hold, another in slavery the onis probandi (burthen of evidence) lies on the claimant. This sentiment," lie continues, "is strongly inculcated in our political catechism, the bill of rigths, and ac¬ cords with that self-evident principle which makes liberty the birth-right of every human being." Sen¬ timents like these are honorable—they are the native Sentiments of an uncorrupted understanding, and a mind superior to avarice and selfishness, &c. From the view we have taken of the subject, it follows that in the supposed trial for liberty referred to', the alleged slave has only to plead, (not to prove,) that he is a human being, born free according to the invariable law of nature ; and that he had not, at any time, either forfeited or relinquished his title thereto. Now it devolves on the person claiming to prov\ that the alleged slave is not a human being; that the law of nature does not entitle every human being to liberty, and that the alleged slave is one of those unfortunate creatures for whom it has made no gra¬ cious provision ; or that he has personally forfeited, ( 18) or voluntarily relinquished his title thereto ; which, should he fail to establish any or all of the above men¬ tioned particulars, amounts to a sufficient pre¬ sumption in favour of the alleged slave's liberty, and as such, he ought to have it. "Not so," say some of our law expositors, " our law presumes all Africans of the full blood, who may be claimed as slaves, to be such, until the contrary is proved," see Gober vs. Gober I. Taylor's reports, page 164, where this doctrine is laid down by the Judge in his charge. This being the case relied on by the advocates of slavery, for the establishment of the presumiption of slavery founded on colour, we shall give ourselves, and our readers if they please, the trouble of exam¬ ining the case itself, as well as the profound reason¬ ing of Chief Justice Taylor on this occasion— Gober vs. ( — Trespass and false imprisonment. Gober- (—Plea, that the plaintiff is a slave. " It appeared in evidence that the plaintiff, when an infant, apparently about eight days old, was placed in a barn by some person unknown ; and that the defendant, then a girl of about ticelve years of age, found him there and conveyed him home, and had kept possession of him ever since, treating him with humanity, brut claiming him as her slave. The plaintiff was of an dive colour, between blade and yellov;, had long hair, and prennincnt nosed These (19) facts being ascertained by the Court, by proof and inspection, the Judge proceeded to give the following charge : " I acquiesce in the rule laid down by the defendant's counsel, with respect to the presump¬ tion of every black person's being a slave. It is so, because the negroes originally brought into this coun¬ try were slaves, and their descendants must remain such until manumitted by proper authority. If there¬ fore a person of this description should claim his freedom, he must establish his right to it, by such evidence as will destroy the force of presumption arising from colour." But I am not aware that the doctrine of presumption against liberty has ever been urged in relation to persons of mixed, or to those of any colour between the two extremes of white and black, and I do not think it reasonable that such a doctrine should receive the least coun¬ tenance : Such persons may have descended from Indians in both lines, or at least in the maternal; they may have descended from a ichite person in the maternal line, or from mulatto parents originally free; in all which cases the offspring, following the condition of the mother, is entitled to freedom. Considering how many probabilities there are in fa¬ vour of the liberty of those persons, they ought not to be deprived of it upon mere presumption, more (20) especially as the right to hold them in slavery, if it exists, is in most instances, capable of being satisfac¬ torily proved." Doubtless every true friend of lib¬ erty, will be found to acquiesce in the soundness of the views of this " distinguished jurist'' in relation to persons of mixed blood; but we must candidly and fully dissent from the specious reasoning by which it is inferred, that every black person should be pre¬ sumed to be a slave. We aro convinced that no circumstance or consideration whatever, can render unqualified and absolute slavery consistent with that instinctive sense of right of which every man may find more or less in his own breast. But could any circumstance justify it in any degree, is it not still evident, that that circumstance cannot be mere colour of the skin, or even any other natural circum¬ stance whatever. But says Judge Taylor :—" It is so, because the negroes originally brought into this country were slaves, and their descendants must continue such until manumitted by proper authority P Then the doctrine which presumes the existence of slavery, and which Judge Taylor would confine to negroes of the whole blood, is made by the same gentleman to depend, not so much upon the colour of the skin, as upon the circumstance of the " negroes originally brought into this country" being slaves. But we would ask by what means they became such ? (21) Were they " originallyv slaves? Or were they not " originally" robbed and plundered of their liberties and made slaves by arbitrary means contrary to all justice and propriety ? We are not saying too much when we answer this last question in the affirmative; as we could abundantly show from authentic docu¬ ments. * Having laid down his premises whereon to predicate the doctrine of the presumption of slavery, Judge Taylor proceeds to argue its hereditary prin¬ ciple, from the laws of necessity — "And their descen¬ dants," continues he, " must continue slaves until manumitted by proper authority." We would re¬ gard it as no small favor to have this last phrase " proper authority," fully elucidated. We should be glad to know what ideas men in general, and learn¬ ed men in their individual capacities as statesmen, politicians, &c. may have with respect to the "proper authority," by which the emancipation of slaves should be regulated On this, how artfully soever some may reason, and how cautiously soever they may proceed, touching only such cords as vi¬ brate with the greatest consonance to the tune of self-interest, we have no desire to conceal our senti¬ ments. We believe that as all men are created, • See Clarkson's History of the abolition of the slave trade by the British Parliament. (22), equally and unalienably entitled to liberty, the child of a slave is as much entitled to his freedom at a proper age, as the child of a free person, and as such ought to have it. We hold that laws which de¬ termine the contrary are capitally unjust, and such as in truth no human Legislature has a just right to enact, since such laws must he opposed to the will of the Almighty Governor of the Universe, and his will must be supreme. And hence we believe that this will of the Supreme Being constitutes the only "proper authority'''1 by which manumission should be regulated. On this subject we would say with Plato, that "No mortal can make laws to purpose" unless made in conformity with the divine will—that is, no human authority can give sanctity or justice to a law which violates the law of nature, or any other princi¬ ple in the tvill of the Almighty ruler of the world. Such laws must therefore be a curse instead of a blessing, to those, by, and for whom they have been enacted. Neither are they sanctified by Judge Tay¬ lor's principle of necessity, since this great truth still remains, " That which is morally wrong, cannot be politically right." (C- J. Fox.) But to return to the subject after this seeming di¬ gression : — If Judge Taylor has proved any thing in favor of the presumption of slavery, his arguments (23) Operate with as much force against those of the mix¬ ed, as against those of the whole blood ; and the pre- sitmption of slavery is as unreasonable in relation to Africans of the " whole blood," as it is in relation to any colour that can possibly exist between " the two extremes of black and white." For it is not only evident that " the negroes originally brought into this country" were "robbed and plundered" of their liberties, and deprived of them by the most glaring in¬ justice and inhumanity; but it is also true, that there has been heretofore, and still are, many Africans of the whole blood who are declared to be free, and for whose benefit and protection as free men, the power of government has been wielded whenever it has been thought by the ruling authorities, to be ne¬ cessary. And further — it is an evident fact that much the largest portion of those of mixed blood are claimed and held as slaves, while by far the greatest number of those whom we call free negroes, are Af¬ rican descendants, of the full blood. The causes which conspire to produce this astonishing fact, are chiefly such as must be apparent to every person who has attentively considered this subject; but be¬ ing such in general, as fend to promote an unlaw¬ ful intercourse between white or free males, and female slaves; whether of the whole or mixed blood, more than they do a similar intercourse between (24) black males and white females, tliey belong more properly to Proposition 4, of this address, to which place we refer the reader for their further considera¬ tion. It is therefore inconsistent with sound reason, with the divine Law, and consequently with the common law of this State, thus to trifle with the natu¬ ral rights of mankind, and with God the great and sovereign donor of those rights, by making the mere colour of the skin, amount to a sufficient presump¬ tion against a fellow creature's liberty, and this " mere presumption" the means of depriving him of it. Is this just? Does conduct like this comport with the dignity and virtue of a "free, christian " and inde¬ pendent community?" Let us hear what a former Legislature have said on a subject in some respects similar—In the preamble to an act passed in 1798, running thus : " Whereas, by an act of Assembly, pas¬ sed in the year 1774, the killing of a slave, however wanton, cruel, and deliberate, is only punishable in the first instance by imprisonment, and paying the value thereof to the owner: which distinction of criminality between the murder of a ichite person and one that is equally a human being, but merely of a different complexion, is disgraceful to humanity, and degrading in the highest degree, to the Laws, and principles of a free, christian apcl independent (25) community." Now if this 11 distinction of criminality " between the murdering of a u white person" and one that is " equally a human being" but " merely of a different complexion" is in reality so " disgraceful to humanity " and "degrading to the laws and principles of a free christian and indepen dent community ; is not any " distinction" founded upon the same circumstance, ('the circumstance of colour,) more or less so, in proportion as it is made to affect the persons against whom it is exercised ? And as next to life, liberty is the greatest earthly boon en¬ joyed by mortals, or rather as liberty is that alone which can render temporal existence truly desirable, what distinction therefore, founded upon " mere co¬ lour ," can be more " disgraceful to humanityand " degrading " to our holy religion, to our virtue and even to our liberty itself, than that which pre¬ sumes " one man to be a slave and another to he free, their circumstance being in every respect the same, except in the " colour -of the skin J n Neither can this doctrine of the presumption of slavery be supported by the constitution of this State. The 12, and 13, Sections of our Declaration of Rights declare " That no free man ought to be taken, imprisoned, or dis- eised of his freehold, liberties, or privileges, or out¬ lawed or exiled, or in any manner destroyed or de- (26) prived of liis life, liberty, or property, but by the law of the land;" and that when this in the case, the person thus deprived is " entitled to a remedy by enquiring into the lawfulness thereof," and asserts that " such remedy ought not to be denied or delayed? Now as this "remedy" is to be had by "enquiring into the lawfulness thereof," it is certain that nothing herein can be reasonably construed so as to favour the presumption against liberty in any case, but alto¬ gether the contrary. But notwithstanding this con¬ stitutional protection of the liberties of all free men within this State, yet when the doctrine of the pre¬ sumption against liberty as laid down by Judge Tay¬ lor prevails, it jeopardizes the liberties and fortunes of hundreds of our citizens, many of whom are in¬ dustrious and honest men. Man-stealing has been received as a erime of great magnitude for nearly four thousand years ; and under some of the wisest and best administrations, has been punished with death. But should a wretched villian succeed in stealing a free black person in any part of the world, and in conveying such free black per¬ son within the limits of this State, the poor negro, instead of finding protection under our humane laws, from the injustice of this relentless ca?mibal, is, ac¬ cording to Judge Taylor's hypothesis, presumed to be a slave by these very laws which were framed (27 ) to protect the innocent and punish the guilty; while the wretch who is guilty of a crime for which he would have suffered death under the law of Moses, is not only protected from punishment, but also ai¬ ded in the accomplishment of his ungodly and hateful purpose, by those very laws which were instituted to suppress violence and usurpation, and to encour¬ age virtue and manly enterprize by protecting the rights, privileges, and liberties of our general citi¬ zenship. Surely it is both unjust and cruel thus to trifle with the liberties of our fellow creatures, espe¬ cially as there can no inconvenience arise from the opposite doctrine. For as Judge Taylor remarks in relation to Africans of the mixed blood, so we may say of all, that " The right to hold them in slavery, if it exists, is in most cases capable of being- satisfactorily proved." We therefore think, and we trust that every true Republican who may ex¬ amine the subject, will think, that liberty, which is the acknowledged " birthright" with which God has endowed " every human being," ought not to be wrested from any individual upon " mere presump¬ tion? But whether it be consistent or inconsistent with the true principles and spirit of this government, and laws now in force in this State, to presume a person to be a slave merely because he has " a skin (28) not coloured like Our own," will probably be doubti ed, notwithstanding it is proved to be contrary to reason and justice as well as to the divine Law, in as much as it was so held by Judge Taylo-r, whose decision was afterwards confirmed. :i: And this prin¬ ciple as we have shown, is a foul stain on our char¬ acter as a free, enlightened, and religious people. And as the sovereign power in this government is vested in the people, who may and ought to have any regulation or change in their laws whenever a majority of them shall concur in the regulation or change required, we call upon the friends of human¬ ity, of virtue, of patriotism, and above all, of religion, to awake to a sense, not only of this, but of the ma¬ ny principles of injustice, inhumanity and irreligion which attend our system of slavery ; and to continue their protest against measures so unjust to the unfor- tuuate African, and so disgraceful to the spirit and principles of a free and religious community, until we shall succeed in rendering to mankind (the negro as well as the 'white man,) both true and impartial justice ; by which alone can glorious liberty be ren¬ dered perpetual, and we be enabled to transmit free¬ dom as an unsullied patrimony to posterity. Section II. On the cruelty of slavery. * Vol. II. Haywood's Reports, 170. (29) We liave seen in the preceding section much of the injustice with which our slave system so plenti¬ fully abounds. Much as our sense of justice and social order have been shocked during the survey, and much as our just abhorrence of such measures may have been excited, we are now about to enter upon the investigation of a feature- in our state economy where the finer sensibilities of our natures must fre¬ quently be put to the rack ! and where our warmest sympathies must surely be excited in behalf of suf¬ fering innocence in a manner much more overpow¬ ering than any thing we have yet witnessed in this tragical system ! Now, as injustice is the withhol¬ ding from a fellow creature, that to which he is en¬ titled by the liMagna C'harta" of his Creator, the liw of nature, or some other laws in connection therewith ; so cruelty is the withholding of those acts of brotherly kindness and. humane treatment from a fellow creature to which he is entitled — as a man and as a member of the great brotherhood of human beings. As injustice is the absence of justice, so cruelty is the absence of mercy ; and between these two last, mercy and cruelty, there is no vacuum : Every individual, as a social being, is either an ob¬ ject of the mercy or cruelty of others. He is either treated humanely, according to the dictates of kind¬ ness, by his fellow creatures, or he shares in their op- (30) pression, inhumanity and violence. To oppress a fellow creature, over whom' we may have justly ac¬ quired an ascendency, or whom misfortunes of any kind, may have sunk within our power, is of course cruel. And hence the cruelties connected with slavery are almost, if not altogether incalculable. To set this part of our subject more fully before the reader, we shall proceed to notice some of those eircumstances of cruelty which have attended the introduction and continuance of slavery among us. And here our attention is first arrested by the slave- trade, which is of two kinds — foreign and domestic. The foreign, or African slave-trade, deserves first to be considered. And here, when we turn our atten¬ tion to Africa, we see it, though naturally a fertile country, well adapted to agricultural and commer¬ cial enterprize, yielding to the withering and destroy¬ ing influence of the slave-trade. Cantoned out into many separate nations or principalities, they wage intestine wars almost continually, for the purpose of obtaining prisoners of whom to make slaves, chief¬ ly for the purpose of selling them to a people falsely termed christians, many of whom hold, at the very time that they are riveting their chains of cruel bondage on their brethren, that "all men are crea¬ ted equal," and that liberty is the "birth-right of every "human being." But finding the poor deluded (31) African willing to sacrifice his brother to mammon- they resort to the most nefarious measures to excite him to this cruel act, by breeding wars .and exciting feuds among them, by occasioning a necessity or exciting a desire for foreign goods, productions, &c. and then refusing to trade the same to them for any¬ thing except slaves. And the African, too, often hav¬ ing no greater or higher desires than those of sen¬ sual gratification, and having, in consequence of being long inured to scenes of the grossest superstition and amazing cruelty, lost, or stifled in a great measure, those native feelings of humanity, which so distin¬ guish the virtuous and the good, dares to sell his brother into absolute and perpetual slavery. And could we be present and witness this shameful traffic, as it has long been carried on there, what sorrow and disgust must it create in every philan¬ thropic mind ! We should there behold the merci¬ less slave-traders, like . greedy vultures hovering around the dreary shores of bleeding Africa. There we shoiiild see honour — justice — humanity — virtue — all proscribed, and cruelty and inhumanity going forth in all their dreadful forms to complete this wretched drama of human oppression and misery. There we should see troops of savages violently seizing and forcibly bearing away the most inno¬ cent and helpless objects, that might chance to fall (32) within their grasp. There we should behold the "stoutest hearts failing them for fear," the most proud and dauntless spirits of African greatness, sinking down appalled ; and the most innocent and •worthy, suffering all the indignities and hardships that can be supported or inflicted by human beings. And how must humanity bleed within us, while see. ing a helpless fellow mortal thus seized and in a merciless manner hurried off in the midst of cries and entreaties sufficient to soften the most relentless heart in which remains any sense of humanity? 0! what must be the agitation and apprehension of-this un¬ fortunate victim of human injustice and violence while be is hurried on to his fatal destiny ! The thoughts of being parted from his native country, fro^i his tender relatives, his father, his mother, or perhaps his affectionate wife and tender offspring, become almost insupportable to human nature, and at once awaken in his distressed bosom a thousand stings of the keenest and most painful sensibility. But when arrived at the place where the wretch who dares to purchase this object of human com¬ miseration, lias been waiting to receive his cargo of human cattle, he is disposed of in a manner which shocks all the finer feelings of our nature. Here he is immediately loaded with irons, and confined in the loathsome prison of a slave ship, where he soon (33) finds that even the "tender mercies of the wicked are cruelties." It will doubtless be admitted by all that the conduct of the Africans in seizing, and making slaves of each other is highly culpable : But the conduct of those of civilized nations, who engage in this traffic is still more so, since they are found to sin against greater light and knowledge, and in a manner that is in no respect less criminal. Nor does it appear that the conduct of the African slave tra¬ ders is in itself better or less cruel in any respect than that of the savage Africans. It is certain that they kidnap with as much cruelty when an oppor¬ tunity offers, as do the African**savages. But be¬ sides this there are other cruelties practised on these suffering mortals, by the African slave-traders over which, for the honor of human nature, we would draw a veil, did not justice demand that they should be made public ? Having collected his cargo of suffering victims, and made the same fast, by means of irons &c. the merciless tyrant commences his in¬ human expedition, laden with human misery, and distress. Alas 1 what must be the anguish of these helpless, and may we not say, truly hopeless beings while the unfriendly breeze is hurrying them far, far from their native land—the land of their fathers, with which they leave every earthly object calculated to cheer them or even to render life supportable. (34) Their miseries must at this time be intolerable, height¬ ened, as well by the remembrance of former enjoy¬ ments now gone forever, as by the just anticipation of those inexpressible sufferings to which they will most likely be exposed through the remainder of their earthly career. But besides the horrors con¬ nected with intolerable servitude, there are miseries more insupportable and cruel than we can easily im¬ agine, inseperably connected with confinement in a slave ship. Here we might see a brother suffering death in all the agonies of human woe, by the side of a brother, who in consequence of his own confinement can afford him no assistance, no not so much as to raise his sinking head, or wipe the tear that "stagnates in his eye.". And of every cargo of these unhappy beings thus seized and confined, there are doubtless many whose wretched existence is ger¬ minated ere they reach the place of destination. But those who are enabled to survive the perils of the sea, as well as the horrific confinement and bru¬ tal treatment which they undergo in the slave shipSj are at length brought into market, and sold like cat¬ tle, or in a manner no less brutal. And here these miserable creatures often Ml into hands, that treat them the remainder of their days, with the utmost barbarity, working and beating them like oxen and feeding them but little better, than dogs. By such (35) treatment as we have been describing, the sprightly and spirited African is soon reduced to a heartbroken, dispirited and miserable slave, almost naked and starved, moaping over some of our lovely fields, which seem silently to weep for the misery and op¬ pression which they bear ; or perhaps groaning un¬ der the lash of some cruel master or overseer, while they often express the alarm and consternation which they feel on such occasions by a strange species of wild and haggard-like smiling, bordering on ghastli- ness. Here we behold them doomed to serve a people who are accustomed to look upon their whole race with a kind of contempt, exercising to¬ wards them an obstinate prejudice from which nei¬ ther intelligence, virtue, nor religion has been found sufficient to screen them. Thus circumstanced they find themselves cut off from every means of better¬ ing their situation. The laws which exist respecting them, exist only to oppress them, without affording them any solid or real protection in any one instance, * as we shall presently proceed in some degree to show. we proceed now to notice another abominable practice in this traffic, which is the domestic slave-trade. As though it were not cruelty enough to have touched every string of painful sensibility in the negroe's * Vide Stroud on the slave laws. ( 36 ) heart, by tearing him forcibly from his native Africa, he must still be held subject to a new trial of this kind whenever it may best suit the selfish aud ava* ricious views of a cruel master, thirsting for gain or panting for cruel revenge. And if we have been accustomed to look upon African slave-traders with disgust, let us turn our attention homewards for a moment, and see if we have not among ourselves*, men of similar character. We doubt not however, but many of those men engaged in the , domestic slave-trade have been accustomed to regard African slave-traders as very depraved and cruel men ; and are very unwilling to rank with them, in point of character. But we hope they will; do themselves the justice of entering calmly with us, into an in¬ vestigation of the principles and nature of the dor mestic slave-trade, while we briefly contrast it with the African slave-trade,— And first : —We would ask what is the primary object of the African slave-tra¬ der ? Gain, must undoubtedly be the just and only proper answer to this question. Now permit us to ask Ahe domestic slave-trader what is his primary object ? The same answer must invariably be giv¬ en : gain. Tlxe desire of amassing wealth becomes the predominant desire ere be is 'prepared for this inhuman traffic ! Should the domestic slave-trader plead in extenuation of his conduct, that those ne- (37) groes whom lie buys and sells, were slaves before he bought or sold them, and can only be such after wards, and that in many cases their circumstances are really bettered by the exchange of masters which it has occasioned; all this will prove nothing in his favour, as it is the principles and motives existing in the heart, which, like main springs, exert a controlling influence over the man, in producing the actions of which we are "Speaking, and not the particular de¬ gree either of good or harm done to any individual thereby, which we are investigating.— But secondly: the African slave-traders obtain their subjects in any way that they can, without the least regard to the attachments or relationships either filial, parental, or conjugal, existing between the captured negro and those he is leaving behind him. In like manner the domestic slave4rader purchases his subjects wher¬ ever he can obtain the best ' bargains, without any regard * to the condition of the slave, in relation to any of the above mentioned particulars, and sells them again by the same rule. And although he does not crowd them down in the gloomy cells of a slave ship, yet he oft&n loads the miserable creatures with irons in such a manner as to render their very exis¬ tence burdensome. It may however, be objected * There are doubtless somo exceptions to this rule, but it is true in the main. (38) to the African, slave-traders, that they sometimes kidnap and bring away those who were free, with¬ out paying an equivalent for them. Nor can we entirely vindicate the character of the domestic slave-traders from this disgrace of the human char¬ acter, some of whom are at times too notoriously guilty of this abomination, as we could make appear were it necessary, with but little inconvenience to ourselves. And although the instances of kidnap¬ ping in the history of the domestic slave-trade, are much more fare than in that of the foreign, yet we believe, and facts authorize the belief, that few have engaged in the former, with a view of amassing wealth, but have shown a disposition to obtain slaves in any way which the laws and existing cir¬ cumstances might permit. And it is a shameful fact that more or less, annually, of the free negroes, chiefly children, are taken and sold into slavery. From these facts it follows that, although the Afri¬ can slave-traders accomplish in some instances, more cruelty and inflict more injustice than the domestic slave-traders do, it is not because of any superior goodness of heart which the latter hava more than the former; but it is because such cruelty and injustice are either unnecessary or impracticable. The domestic slave-traders often sunder the stron¬ gest and most endeared ties of nature and destroy ( 39 ) every prospect of earthly enjoyment, which may have been left to the poor negro, Negroes are human beings, and are capable of lov¬ ing, and of being endeared to each other, especially in the tender relations of husband and wife, parent and child, &c. And the pleasures arising out of their relations, though very much alloyed by the exis¬ tence of slavery, may nevertheless be enjoyed im¬ perfectly even by the slave. But in consequence of this traffic in human souls they are often deprived of these last remains of earthly felicity, which, though enjoyed by them very imperfectly at best, are inex¬ pressibly dear to them, as they constitute their en¬ tire store of earthly happiness. That we may per¬ ceive the heinousness and iniquity of our slave system in this respect, let us suppose a case — such a case as often occurs in the course of passing events. Here is a slave who, according to the best matrimonial rights existing in this country, with respect to slaves,* has vowed at the altar of Hymen, and is united to the woman whom he loves, and by whom he is loved in return, by many endearing ties. They entered piously and seriously into this union, and have been living chastely, and as far as could be expected, cofn- fortable together. This union is rendered still more complete by the tender pledges of their mutual love, * Such as they have instituted among themselves. (40) which are growing up before them. But they must part ; — Yes dearly as husband and wife, parents and children are connected together, they must now be sundered by a cruel master and a hard hearted pur¬ chaser. Here we must be struck, (if aught can strike us,) with the injustice which often attends human laws, while we witness a weeping husband ruthlessly torn from the tender embraces of a heart¬ broken and worse than a widowed wife ; parents in agonies of grief, taking a final adieu of their beloved children ; and children in return, bereaved of the parental superintendence of affectionate, perhaps praying parents, and thrown upon the mercy and faith of beings from whom they have nothing to ex¬ pect bnt labor and oppression. And yet these ob¬ jects of human commiseration are as we have said, human beings, — nay more — some of them are true believers in Christ, — legitimate members of his mys¬ tical body and heirs of his glorious kingdom. Let. such therefore, as engage in the buying and selling of such slaves, with an intention to enslave them, or who holding them as property, exercise over them an unnecessary^ and (as many do) an inhuman oppres¬ sion, attend to our Saviour's declarations : 'Lnas-' much as we have done this unto one of these little ones, ye have done it unto me," "Better for a man that a mill stone were hanged about his neck and he (41) cast into the depths of the Sea, than to offend one of these little ones." But it may be asked, why do these things exist ? Hath it not been said—"Those whom God hath joined together let not man put asunder?" Truely — But our law knows no such thing as marriage among slaves ! This bririgs us to show what we before promised, that the laws of this State afford no solid or substantial protection to the slave in any one instance. This we shall1 briefly do, by laying down a few propositions^ which we give as the true spirit and meaning of the laws now in force in this State. And first: —The laws of this State afford the slave no protection in his conjugal rights. This is evident, inasmuch as the law knows no such thing as marriage among them. And it is just, further to observe, that as there is no law to guard the sanctity of marriage among slaves, so there is none to restrain them from any of these . abominations in this respect, to which they, in con¬ sequence of their degraded situation, are particular¬ ly prone. Hence adultery, fornication, polygamy, incest &c. are no violations of the law of this State, provided the same be committed among slaves only. And in the midst of the beastly, and the rude, we find the chaste virgin exposed to their capricious lusts, and rude assaults, without even the poor privilege of complaining ; especially if the same (42) should have to be made against a monster who is white. 0! shame, 0! scandal to the human char¬ acter. Secondly: the slave in North-Carolina, is not protected by law in his right in property, in any case: so express are the laws in relation to this par¬ ticular, that should a humane master permit his slave to raise and claim "live stock," the property so raised and claimed by a slave, is liable to be seized and sold for the public benefit. Thirdly: Nor is the slave protected by law in his person. It is true, there are laws in existence in this State, with re¬ spect to this last, but in such a manner as to render them of no real advantage to the slave. Thus the law says, that, an allowance "of at least one quart of corn a day," shall be given to the slave. But it is manifest that the slave can have no redress, should even this small quantity be denied him; since the slave cannot, in such a case, prosecute his master or owner, or prove any thing in this matter, or in any other, against him, either by his own, or the evidence of other African descendent, to the fourth generation. And it is also true, that laws have been passed to prevent the murder of slaves! But if a wretch, being white, wishes to abuse, or even murder a negro, he has only to embrace an opportunity of-doing it, when no white person is present. And a slave may, in certain cases, be even lawfully killed, (viz.) First: for ( 43 ) lurking in swamps, and pilfering in the neighborhood, being a runaway, a slave may be outlawed by any justice of the county wherein such runaway may be discovered, and may afterwards be lawfully killed by c iy person. Secondly: He may be lawfully kill¬ ed in the act of resistance to his lawful owner or master. Thirdly: And where no such resistance is made, the humane laws of this State can find means of excusing or commuting the murder of slaves. In 1798, an act was passed to prevent the murdering of slaves, but lest this act should be found to impose too great a bar against the cruel abuse of slaves, the third section provides that the penalty which the act inflicts, shall not be incurred when the slave dies under "moderate correction." The law must be ac¬ knowledged lenient since the "correction" must be moderate." But to call a correction "moderate" which is sufficiently severe to produce death, is a solecism too glaring to require a criticism, and too monstrous for sober legislation. As . in the above, so in all other instances; there must ever exist ffie same difficulty in the negro's obtaining, even that small degree of justice to which the laws seem to entitle him, so long as he is compelled to prove everything respecting the affair by white witnesses. And why is this the case? Why are black men pre¬ vented from giving evidence against ichite men, ( 44) while the latter have all the advantages of evidence against the former? Is it because the black man is a wretchedly depraved being, who will not speak' tho truth ? Then why not say that men of this ignor¬ ant and depraved character whether white or black shall not he entitled to give evidence against men of a contrary character? Now our law very right¬ eously determines, that no atheist, or person denying the existence of a Superior Being, and the accounta¬ bility of man to the same, &c. shall he good evidence in any Court of Law, or Equity in this State. Our law-framers could not have been actuated by motives of the same kind, in fixing the fate of the Africans in this particular: since it is a fact which we presume, none, who admit i*he truth of revelation (and our law is founded on this admission,) that there are many slaves as well as free negroes, who are con¬ scientiously and devotedly religious; while on the other hand, there are many examples of as desperate depravity among the white, as among the black pop¬ ulation of this country. And further, there are among the black people, both slaves and free men, whose mere assertions would be received and ac¬ credited sooner by far, by their respectable neigh¬ bours, than even the oaths of many white men. And as the palladium of our civil institutions, is that of (45 ) trial by jury, no danger could be justly apprehended from the admission of their evidence in most cases; since they must always appear before a court under disadvantages; the prejudices of the jurors, court &c. most generally being against them, would prevent any undue difference being paid to their testimony. And the prejudices of education, which white people universally exercise more or less, towards the negro in this country, affords a conclusive argument in favor of this position. But before we dismiss this subject we would drop an admonition to such as are dispo¬ sed to take advantages of the negro under the present existing laws, that they be careful how they act thus; since all the transactions ' of the present life will be reconsidered in a future Court, where Christ himself will be the Supreme Judge, (see Act. xvii, 31) and his Apostles and saints subordinate judges, &c., and where many of those on whom the law now imposes silence, will doubtless become the swiftest witness against you. Fourthly: One .move, and we shall have done with this part of our subject. The laws make no provision for the education or m (61) that it is very uncertain whether this allegation he founded in truth or not,—and Secondly, if it is, it proves nothing against our argument in the present instance. First then, we contend that the allegation is itself founded in doubt, or uncertainty. God's covenant with Abraham and with his seed after him was, that they should duly circumcise every male among them, as well'him that was bought with money of any stranger, as he that was a native descendant of Abraham. Gen. XVII. 10—12. Jewish commentators agree that this command was strictly construed and faithfully practised. Thus it is said by Maimonides, "Whether a servant be born in the house of an Is¬ raelite, or whether he be purchased from the breth¬ ren, the master is to bring them both into the covenant. But he that is born in the house is to be entered upon the eighth day, and he that is bought with money on the day on which the master re¬ ceived him, unless the slave be unwilling. For, if the master receive a grown slave, and he be unwill¬ ing, his master is to bear with him, to seek to win bim over by instruction and by love and kindness, for one year, after which should he refuse so long, it is forbidden to keep him longer then the winter months, and the master must send him back to the stranger from whence he came, for the God of Jacob will not (65f) accept the worship of any other than a willing heart." And by a comparison of Genesis, Chap. XVII. Verse 10, with Romans, Chap, IV. Verse 9—12, it is cer¬ tain that those who receive the right of circumcision were consecrated to the service ot the true God. * And these circumcised strangers were called by the Tews, proselytes of justice, because they embraced the whole law of Moses, and engaged themselves to live holy and justly. "And they, therefore," (says the learned and the pious Claudius Florius, in his celebrated treatise on the manners, customs, rights, &c. of the ancient Israelites, pag. 129) "had the rank and privilege, of Natural Jews." This sentiment is also corroborated by the learned Mr. Home who says, "although the constitution of the Jewish polity, and the laws of Moses allowed no other nation to participate in their sacred rites, yet they did not exclude such as were willing to qualify themselves for conforming to them." From the above considerations, and others that might be adduced, it is propable that the slaves which were bought of strangers and afterwards became circumcised, enjoyed all the privileges of enfranchis- ment, especially in the year of Jubilee: for bit. Paul says of such, that they were "debtor to do the * Home's Introduction to the critical study of the Holy Scriptures. (63) whole law." And surely if they "must do the whole law," they, in turn, would reap the benefits conferred by the law. This opinion is generally strengthened by the command of God, in Lev. Chap. XXV. Verse 10— "And ye shall hallow the fiftieth, and pro¬ claim liberty throughout all the land, unto all the inhabitants thereof: and it shall be a Jubilee unto you ; and ye shall return every man unto his possess¬ ions, and ye shall return every man unto his family." But since there are some authorities which favor a different hypothesis with respect to the nature of that slavery into which strangers were brought by Jews, we shall leave, as all who duly weigh both sides of the subject must leave it, in a degree of doubt and uncertainty ; for as Mr. Stroud has justly remarked: "it is a subject not to be discoursed on with the freedom of ordinary criticism, and on which there is an obscurity which leaves the mind unsatisfied." But suppose we give up the ground altogether, and let the friends of slavery have the advantage of the position they have taken in this respect, instead of deriving any support from this circumstance, their cause is rather weakened, since we, being Gentiles, should, by the same rule, act towards Gentiles as Jews did towards Jews similarly circumstanced. "The only legitimate inference, therefore, which, (64) in a comparison with Mosaic regulations, analogy furnishes, is, that our conduct to slaves should be the same as was the conduct of Israelites to Hebrew slaves. Secondly. If slavery be inconsistent with the Mosaic or Jewish polity, it is still more so with the precepts of Christ. The Mosaic dispensation was, in some respects, a dispensation of bondage, but the Christain or gospel dispensation, is in every respect, a dispensation of liberty. The genius of the gospel is "mildness, gentleness and brothery kindness&c And the great and ruling maxim by which Christ would have his followers to regulate their conduct is this: "All things, whatsoever ye would that men should do unto you, do ye even so unto them." This rule is applied in reference to our conduct to¬ wards all men. And in addition to this, or rather by way of inforcing it, we are commanded by Christ, to "he merciful, as our heavenly father is merciful and St. Paul has enjoined the doing of good to all men. On these plain scriptures, the sense of which is too plain and obvious to be overlooked by any devout seeker of truth, we think it entirely unneces¬ sary to offer any comment. Surely no serious and sober - thinking christain will, with these scriptures, and a thousand others of similar import, before his (65) eyes, attempt again to reconcile slavery with Christi¬ anity. No, brethren; — if you find your hearts to he evil, by unjustly and unmercifully enslaving your fellow creatures; by living in pampered ease and affluence on the labors, toil and sweat, or may we not say, the "flesh and bloody of the poor African, do not insult the common sense of mankind, and put that religion which you profess to love, to the blush, by prostituting the mild and gentle doctrines of the gospel to the support of a principle and practice which shock every native idea which mankind have of natural and universal justice! May the spir¬ it which inspired these holy men of old, who wrote the sacred text as they were moved by the Holy Ghost, save us from "wresting it thus to our own destruction !" The following principles, most of which are de- ducible from the foregoing remarks, we give as the primary principles held by us as a Society ■— together with a brief outline of the plan which we would ad¬ opt for the abolition of the evil complained of: and First. We hold, with the venerable founder of our republican institutions, that liberty is the unal¬ ienable birth-right of every human being; and that God has made no difference in this respect between the white and black. (66) SecotuUy. We believe that, in a national and in¬ dividual point of view, the negro is entitled to the same measure of justice with the white man, and that neither his skin, nor any other material conse¬ quence attending him, can afford a reasonable pre text for his oppression. Thirdly. We believe that the evil is one which affects every part of the community, in a greater or less degree; and may therefore be termed a national evil; and that both emancipation and colonization are necessary to its removal. With regard to emancipation, we hold 1st, that it should be gradual; so conducted as not to inter¬ fere with the rights of property; — But 2ndly, that it should be universal. This however, is not e- nough. — The debt which we owe the negroes is not sufficiently paid by merely suffering the oppressed to go free. We believe it to be the duty of our coun¬ trymen, to use all possible means to enlighten and elevate the minds, ennoble the hearts , and improve and elevate the character of the negroes among us, that they may be prepared both to erijoy and appre¬ ciate liberty, and to discharge the important duties assigned them by their creator, as well to himself to their fellow creatures, with honour to God a