University of California. 
 
 FROM THK I.IliRARY OK 
 
 DR. FRANCIS LIE B K R , 
 Profe.sioi of History and Law in Columbia Collcarc, New York. 
 
 THK Glt T OF 
 
 MICHAEL REESE 
 
 Of San Francisco. 
 1873. 
 

I I 
 
 AN INQUIRY 
 
 INTO THE 
 
 OF SLAVJSRY. 
 
 
 F 
 
 TRACTS O P 
 
 ! 
 

TO ALL THE 
 
 WHITE INHABITANTS OF THE SLAVE-HOLDING STATES 
 
 AND TO ALL THE 
 
 LOVERS OF THE UNION 
 
 THROUGHOUT THE UNITED STATES, 
 
 THIS VOLUME 
 
 IS MOST RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED, BY 
 
 THE AUTHOR. 
 
PLEASE READ THE INTRODUCTION. 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 A FRIEND whom we hold in high esteem., in a work of his 
 which was published but a short th^Lc since, publicly committed 
 us to examine a Tract of the Rev. . im E. Channing, on 
 
 "the Annexation of Texas to the _ed States." After such a 
 public announcement,, though unexpected, we did not feel at liberty 
 wholly to decline. We procured the tract^and upon an investi 
 gation, found its subject to be simply slavery, and its object the 
 direct, immediate, and indiscriminate emancipation of all slaves in 
 in the slave-holding states, to remain here, in our midst. 
 
 This subject had been previously elaborately treated of, by Dr. 
 Channing in two tracts, one of which at least has been stereotyped 
 by the Anti-slavery Association of New York. Thus, whilst the 
 title and dress were changed, and it addressed to that distin 
 guished Senator the Hon. HENRY CLAY, in order to induce south 
 erners to read it, the subject and object were virtually the same. 
 These facts and their intimate connection with the welfare of our 
 country have chiefly actuated us, to present to the public our 
 views on the delicate question of SLAVERY, as it exists in the United 
 States. In the examination of this, other subjects directly connect 
 ed with, or growing out of it, were presented, on which we deem 
 ed it proper to remark. 
 
 On the annexation of Texas, we have said comparatively but 
 little. This is a political question. It is not now, and perhaps 
 never will be again before the American people. Dr. Channing 
 doubtless selected it, as he did the name of the Hon. Mr. Clay, to 
 secure the circulation of his abolition tracts in the south. He 
 knew the interest that southerners take in all that concerns Texas- 
 He knew that Mr. Clay is esteemed an anti-abolitionist ; but by in 
 troducing his name on the title page of his book, in connection too 
 with Texas, he hoped to get a hearing in the slave-holding states 
 for his stale abolition dogmas, 
 
 Should the TEXANS ever again ask to become one of our confed- 
 leracy, we feel perfectly willing to leave the discussion on that 
 
application with politicians, and the decision upon it, with the 
 PEOPLE OF THE UNITED STATES. But the direct and indiscriminate 
 abolition of all slaves in our midst, is another subject and one too 
 essentially different from it. With this we humbly conceive we 
 have to do. The notice which we have taken in the pages of this 
 work of "the Annexation of Texas, 7 has therefore been chiefly to 
 expose the object of Dr. C. and his abolition friends, and to illus 
 trate our own views upon the question of slavery, united by 
 tliem with it, and forced upon this NATION in spite of its resistance. 
 
 We expect abolitionists to vent their spleen and pour out their 
 fury. Others will perhaps say that we lean too much to slavery. 
 i he former we do not dread, and humbly ask the latter not to 
 condemn us without a hearing. We never were, are not now, and 
 do not expect ever to be a slaveholder. We well know that it is 
 customary with some, to pronounce sentence against books which 
 they have never read. Dr. Johnson used to ask every body whom 
 he heard praising, or condemning a book, "HAVE YOU READ IT?" 
 Please think of this when you undertake to condemn, without 
 reading this volume. Let a WISEACRE who thinks that wisdom 
 shall die with him, take the liberty to denounce works which he 
 has never perused, and pass a literary judgment on a man s efforts, 
 without giving him a hearing, but an honest man in quest of truth, 
 should "search and see" for himself. 
 
 Our opinions on some points are not perhaps in perfect accor 
 dance with yours ; do not condemn us for opinions sake. We are 
 entitled to and have liberty to express them. We write not for 
 popularity, or fame, or money. We write for our country and 
 country s cause. We too "have cherished the fondest hopes of the 
 preservation of this union," and, although others have written, 
 yet this is no reason why we may not "cast in" our "mite." We 
 love our country. Our ancestors pledged their all for its liberty and 
 defence. Forced from Europe by the red hot fires of persecution, 
 they sought a home in the wilds of America, and a house in which 
 peacefully to worship their God. The household stuff, to the last 
 spoon, and all his cattle driven from their fold, were sold by one of 
 them, an aged minister, whose memory is dear to us. The sum 
 procured by that sale he gave to WASHINGTON the FATHER of 
 his country and DEFENDER of her rights, with these sententious re 
 marks : "Take it general, if I never get a penny in return. I 
 would to God it were a thousand times more. It will help you to 
 feed and clothe your poor, naked, suffering soldiers. I am an old 
 
man I will go to my family, pray for you all, preach to the people,, 
 and write ballads, to cheer the hearts of your brave boys, whilst 
 they are fighting the British." Honestly and faithfully has our 
 country paid back every dollar, and all the interest thereon. And 
 shall we not love that country, and a union thus dear to one so 
 DEAR to us? Shall we forget one of the first lessons taught us by a 
 fond father that now sleeps in the dust ? "My boys, never count 
 your lives worth a groat when they come in competition with your 
 country s weal. 7 
 
 We believe the cause for which we write is the cause of this 
 union, the cause of our country, and, strange as it may appear to 
 many, the cause of humanity and religion. But at least read and 
 hear what we have to say, before that you decide to the contrary. 
 The day of decision is at hand. If abolitionism is to thrust its bla 
 zing torches, fire-brands and death into our midst, this UNION oi 
 STATES is dissolved as sure as there is a God in heaven. 
 
 In preparing the following work, when we found remarks in 
 the writings and speeches of others applicable to the subject in 
 hand, we used them freely, either by a selection of argument, oi 
 by a quotation, sometimes verbatim. These are generally though 
 not always marked. In some instances the remarks of an authoi 
 have been so altered, as to render it improper to do so : and some 
 times we forgot to mark them. We therefore consider it our duty 
 to acknowledge here, that we have liberally used the histories oi 
 the United States by Mr. Graham, and Mr. Bancroft, and also thf 
 authors referred to by them, some of whom Ave have recorded in 
 short notes. We have quoted largely from the excellent works ol 
 Mr. Paulding late secretary of the navy, and Mr. J. L. Carey, o 
 Baltimore, on Slavery, and the several answers of Professor Dr. D 
 M. Reese, of New York, to the abolition and anti -slavery tracts o: 
 Judge Jay and others. Frequent reference was had to Hennmg s 
 Statutes of Virginia at large, and we have taken the liberty to in 
 sert a lengthy extract from the kind letter and a considerable por 
 tion of the admirable Essay, of Conway Robinson, Esq. of Rich 
 mond, Virginia, "on the Constitutional Rights as to Slave Property. 
 Here also may be found several speeches of distinguished gentle 
 men in favor of colonization. We call the reader s attention tc 
 them, especially those by President TYLER, Hon. Henry A. Wise 
 General Bailey, Mr. Rives, and Mr. Maxwell, of Virginia. These 
 and the remarks of the distinguished gentlemen herein quoted, ant 
 the letter of President JEFFERSON, distinctly point out what ough 
 
to be the true policy of this country. In the last part of the work 
 we give a lengthy quotation from the excellent defence in the Mis 
 sissippi slave case, entitled "Slaughter v. Groves," by the Hon. 
 Robert J. Walker, of the United States Senate. The author made 
 a free use of colonization reports, particularly those of the Virginia 
 and Maryland State Colonization Societies ; one of the latter pre 
 pared, we believe, by the Rev. Mr. McKenney. Documents de 
 rived from various sources, have also been quoted, which it is un 
 necessary to name. We take special pleasure in acknowledging 
 here, as we have done elsewhere, our obligations to General Henry 
 Stewart Foote, for some valuable matter quoted from his "History 
 of TEXAS and TEXANS." We have from his pages the letters of 
 Mr. Biddle and Professor Hare, in extenso. Knowing as we well 
 do that every thing relating to "TEXAS and TEXANS," is anxiously 
 sought after by the people of the United States, we commend to 
 the perusal of all, General Foote s History as a most interesting 
 and entertaining work. 
 
 Under other circumstances we might have written more to pur 
 pose. May we not hope to find an apology in the kindness and 
 goodness of our readers, who are requested to bear in mind the 
 fact, that we were called unexpectedly, when in bad health, and 
 when but little time was allowed us by previous pressing professional 
 engagements, to undertake and prepare the following pages. On 
 reviewing the whole we see many errors in both the arrangement 
 and construction of sentences. There are quotations of quaint ex 
 pressions, which might have been left out, and some errors in or 
 thography and one or two in dates, which escaped our notice, until 
 it was too late to correct them. It is due to the printers to say, that 
 but a few of these should be attributed to them. It will readily 
 occur, how difficult it must be to print a work correctly, the prim- 
 Ms being in Baltimore and the author in Washington, without the 
 opport: ; ity of an interview. We must in truth declare, we have 
 done the best we could under these circumstances. We have en 
 deavour^] to write as plainly as possible, because, whilst we de- 
 sirp to l> read, we want to be understood by all. Pure in our in 
 tention:-: nnu motives, assured of an effort to do our best, situated 
 us wore- we, WR here present the reader with our views, plain and 
 unvitrtt ,Khcd as they are. on a subject of vital and enduring interest 
 to our C .jinmon country, humbly asking an unprejudiced and patient 
 hearing, and claiming only this reasonable favour, HEAR, BEFORE 
 
 THAT YOU CONDEMN US. T. C. THORNTON. 
 
 Wasfon$ton, D. C., Jlugust, 1841. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGE. 
 
 Dedication 
 
 Introduction 5 
 
 PART I. 
 
 That Slavery has formed a part of the domestic institutions of every 
 country, savage and civilized, from time immemorial. That this 
 fact is not only stated in history,*but that the existence of Slavery 
 is plainly acknowledged in the Sacred Writings, as one of the 
 relations of society ; and that the corresponding duties of master 
 and servant, are pointed out and enforced, in the rules and regu 
 lations of both the Old and New Testament Churches 957 
 
 PART II. 
 
 The fallacy of that application which Dr. Channing has made of the 
 abstract principles of the moral law and natural rights to men, 
 without respect to their relations, the revealed will of God re 
 specting those relations, and the volition of the parties concerned 
 in the premises. That Slavery, as it exists in Virginia and the 
 South, ought, therefore, to be relatively considered 59 71 
 
 PART III. 
 
 The right of property in Slaves examined, in connection with some 
 observations upon the remarks on this subject, by Dr. Channing 
 and others. A right to all other as well as Slave property, is ac 
 quired originally either by conquest or purchase. That the right 
 to Slave property in Virginia and the South, is the result of pur 
 chase, for a valuable consideration in the first instance, and then 
 by a regular descent or inheritance from progenitors. That as 
 this purchase was forced on them, their posterity ought not there 
 fore, in justice, to be constrained to yield the same, procured as it 
 was for an equivalent, and permitted to remain to their injury 
 among them, or sacrifice it in any way to the demands of those 
 who have no right to dictate to them on this subject 7387 
 
 PART IV. 
 
 The duties of those who possess Slaves, to themselves and their ser 
 vants, in view of the providential relation that exists between 
 them. That these duties have been, and now are being performed 
 in various ways, notwithstanding the misrepresentations of Aboli 
 tionists respecting the condition of Slaves. This fact proved by 
 the present mental, moral and political condition of the Slaves, in 
 :he Slave-holding States 89129 
 
8 
 PART V. 
 
 That a direct and immediate emancipation of all Slaves, now in the 
 .Slave-holding States, unconditionally, as it regards their owners, 
 is virtually the plan of Dr. Channing, and avowedly that of the 
 Abolitionists in general. That such an abolition of Slavery here, 
 among us, being fraught with consequences so repulsive to the 
 feelings of the whites, and evidently so dangerous and subversive 
 of the safety of both the white and coloured population, is not 
 the proper remedy against the evil of Slavery 131 171 
 
 PART VI. 
 
 The question, who are Abolitionists? answered. That such have nei 
 ther individually nor collectively, a moral or political right to 
 interfere in the question of Slavery in the Slave-holding States. 
 To the contrary, the constitution and laws of our common coun 
 try bind them morally as Christians, who ought to obey those 
 laws and politically, as citizens, to aid and protect the South, in 
 their right of property in Slaves. The views of Conway Robin 
 son, Esq. attorney at law in Richmond, Virginia, on this subject 173 219 
 
 PART VII. 
 
 As Abolitionism immediate, direct and indiscriminate, is not the just, the 
 natural, and safe remedy against the evil o. Slavery, the question 
 arises what is that remedy? That question answered according 
 to the advice of our fathers, the lights of history and the almost 
 universal wish of the Slave-holding States. That the remedy 
 which we propose is just, is natural, is safe, is practicable, and 
 promises, from past experience, immense advantages to the coloured 
 population of this country and the savage tribes of Africa 221 2S8 
 
 PART VIII. 
 
 Dr. Channing s pamphlet on the Annexation of Texas." His special 
 object in addressing it to the Hon, Henry Clay. British predilec 
 tions its origin. This proved by quotations from Dr. C. Its sub 
 ject nothing more nor less than Slavery. Its general object. 
 Texas discovered by La Salle, a part of the Louisiana purchase, 
 and consequently, once, a -component part of the United States 
 territory. Captain Weaver s pamphlet in answer to Goristiza. 
 Correspondence between Don Luis De Onis and Hon. John Q- 
 Adams. Articles of treaty between Spain and the United States. 
 The letters of Mr. Nicholas Biddle, late President of the United 
 States Bank, and Professor Hare, of the University of Pennsyl 
 vania, on the Annexation of Texas. Remarks of General Henry 
 Stewart Foote. Application of Dr. C s principles to himself. 
 The proper object of our remarks and quotations. , 289 3 IS 
 
 PART IX. 
 
 An Appeal to the North and the South, with some observations on 
 Clarkson s letter to the Clergy of the Slave-holding Sfates. A 
 notice of the excellent speech of the Hon. Robert J. Walker, be 
 fore the Supreme Court of the United States, and some quotations 
 from it. Concluding remarks 319345 
 
AN INaUIRY 
 
 INTO THE 
 
 HISTORY OF SLAVERY. 
 PART I. 
 
 THAT SLAVERY HAS FORMED A PART OF THE DOMESTIC INSTI 
 TUTIONS OF EVERY COUNTRY, SAVAGE AND CIVILIZED, FROM 
 TIME IMMEMORIAL. THAT THIS FACT IS NOT ONLY STATED 
 IN HISTORY, BUT THAT THE EXISTENCE OF SLAVERY IS 
 PLAINLY ACKNOWLEDGED IN THE SACRED WRITINGS, AS 
 ONE OF THE RELATIONS OF SOCIETY; AND THAT THE COR 
 RESPONDING DUTIES OF MASTER AND SERVANT, ARE POINTED 
 OUT AND ENFORCED, IN THE RULES AND REGULATIONS OF 
 BOTH THE OLD AND NEW TESTAMENT CHURCHES. 
 
 THE intelligent and honest inquirer who seeks to know 
 when and where slavery had its commencement, will be 
 astonished to learn, that its origin cannot be pointed to 
 on the page of any history however ancient. In vain 
 may he search for it in musty volumes, the remnants of 
 former days, from which, we derive all our authentic 
 accounts, of those who then lived, and gave laws to, and 
 directed the affairs of man. It is true we have the pro 
 gress of slavery, but there is nothing certain as to that 
 period, in the which, it first began to exist. In all proba 
 bility, it had an existence before the flood, and was one of 
 the institutions of our antediluvian progenitors. The 
 curse pronounced upon Canaan, by the venerable Noah, 
 was, that he should be "a servant of servants unto his 
 brethren," the import of which may be, that the history of 
 the world, should be but a record of this fact, that the 
 sons of Ham, in the line of Canaan should, through all 
 2 
 
10 
 
 time, be the servants of those descended from Shem and 
 Japheth. Whether this exposition be correct or not, it is 
 certain, that after the lapse of thousands of years, hun 
 dreds of thousands of those descended from that youngest 
 son of Ham, are found in every clime, the almost willing 
 slaves of those, who have the capacity and choose to 
 provide for and govern them. So remote at least is the 
 origin of slavery, that it is older than all tradition. It has 
 been one of the institutions of every country, in every 
 part of the globe. It had been said that Australasia 
 formed an exception to this general rule, but subsequent 
 events and a more intimate acquaintance with the man 
 ners and customs, and a proper understanding of the 
 regulations of their various castes, alike point out to us, 
 the mastejr and the slave, the one destined to rule, the 
 other to serve : at least, the one in a bondage the most 
 abject, the other exalted, and in the exercise of rights 
 growing out of this exalted relation. It will also be seen, 
 that there, in many places, woman becomes the abject 
 "bond slave" of man, and whilst the latter by custom, 
 which is law, is free from servitude, the former is a slave 
 of slaves. A thousand such, as slaves, stand to watch and 
 guard the palace of their master, and wait and attend 
 upon him and perform, as do the female part of the abo 
 rigines of America, all the duties, however menial, per 
 formed by slaves. To them it belongs to toil, to bear 
 burdens, and in fine to do, abroad and at home, all that is 
 done, either for the preservation of life, or the sustenance 
 and support necessary to its comfort. 
 
 The civilized nations of antiquity owned slaves. The 
 Egyptian history shows not only the existence of slavery, 
 as one of the institutions of that ancient empire, but that 
 the earliest monuments of that renowned nation, as well 
 as those of a comparatively later date, may be traced to 
 that institution. Doubtless there were many slaves in 
 Egypt, before that Joseph was sold for twenty pieces of 
 silver to the Ishmaelites, and carried thither, to be dispo 
 sed of. And we know that his brethren were, for four 
 hundred years, in that "land of bondage," and by them, no 
 doubt those lofty pyramids, those vast catacombs, and 
 immense labyrinths, which have survived "the war of 
 
11 
 
 elements" and the lapse of time, were all formed. And 
 these Israelites whilst in Egypt, were so deeply imbued 
 with, instead as some say, "washed and saved from the 
 spirit and practice of slavery," that their founder the 
 founder of both the kingdom of Israel and the Jewish 
 nation, was the master and purchaser of slaves, and, 
 every Patriarch the absolute owner of his entire house 
 hold. 
 
 The Hebrews, it is true, left Polytheism in Egypt, "the 
 house of their bondage," but by their own law, the law of 
 God, they carried slavery with them into the promised 
 land. Yea more, a Hebrew master owned the wife, the 
 children and posterity of, even an emancipated slave, and 
 was not accountable for his treatment to that slave, did 
 he live but one day after an injury received, because 
 according to the Mosaic law, the slave is "his master s 
 money." All who have ever read, much less studied the 
 political economy of that nation, also know, that the in 
 stitution of slavery perpetual, not only existed, but that a 
 creditor might actually sell into bondage the family of his 
 debtor, aye, more, a man might sell "his own daughter." 
 Nor were these the only nations of antiquity who had, as 
 one of their institutions, that of slavery. The Scythians, 
 those ancient inhabitants of the desert established slavery, 
 throughout the vast plains and forests of the unknown 
 north. Babylon, Tyre, and all the countries around 
 Palestine, had slavery as one of their institutions. The 
 wrath of Achilles, sung of by Homer, in poetic strains, 
 was excited by the demand of Agamemnon, the mighty 
 king of men, for the beautiful Briseis, a Phrygian slave. 
 He commanded by right, the Grecian bands, that waged 
 a ten years war around the walls of Troy. In the quarrel 
 for this slave originated dissensions, which prolonged for 
 years the termination of that contest. Grecian dames, 
 \vi they went forth for pleasure, or business, were ac- 
 coi ,.ied and surrounded by crowds of slaves. The 
 commercial cities of Greece were markets, where slaves 
 of foreign lands were exposed for sale. Yea more, Greek 
 met and enslaved Greek, and the hero of Macedon, sold 
 the men of his own language into helpless slavery ; so 
 that in each Grecian Republic, slavery seemed to be an 
 
12 
 
 indispensable element. The slave markets of Rome were 
 filled with men of every complexion and every clime. 
 There the father had the power to sell his children, the 
 creditor his insolvent debtor, and the warrior his captive; 
 and the influence of this institution was felt in the bosom 
 of every family. 
 
 During the middle ages, the channels of slavery it is 
 true were changed. Formerly negro slaves were seen in 
 classic Greece ; the traffic in them was commemorated 
 by their oldest historian, Heroditus, and as we have seen 
 it was carried thence throughout the Roman Empire : but 
 latterly, say from A. D. nine hundred and ninety down, 
 all our accounts not only confirm its existence, but go to 
 establish our position, that slavery has existed as one of 
 the institutions of every clime, and country. The Saxori 
 race carried slavery, in its most repulsive forms, into 
 England, where the price of a man was only four times 
 the price of an ox. The importation of foreign slaves 
 was freely tolerated on the continent, there Saxons sold 
 their own kindred into slavery, and even after the conquest 
 in 1102, slaves were exported from England to Ireland, 
 until the reign of Henry the II. when the Irish, who, often 
 have been, more noble than their tyrant rulers, the En 
 glish, decreed in mercy, the emancipation of English 
 slaves, in the Emerald Isle, nor would that traffic have 
 been otherwise staid. On the shores of the Baltic the 
 Germans carried on the slave trade. The Dnieper was 
 the high way through which Russians transported slaves 
 to Constantinople ; slaves too, which had been purchased 
 in their own country; slaves who often submitted to 
 bondage, and that the hardest, to relieve themselves from 
 want and wretchedness the most absolute. 
 
 The long wars between the German and Sclavonic 
 tribes filled France with slaves; so that slavery itself and 
 Sclavonic became synonymous terms, and our English 
 word SLAVE is the enduring monument of that very traf 
 fic. At Lyons and Verdun, in France, the Jews pur 
 chased them as slaves for their Saracen customers ; but 
 in Sicily and Italy the children of Africa and Asia were 
 brought for sale. Aye, more ! even the child of the desert, 
 far-famed for his love of offspring, we mean the Arab, 
 
13 
 
 in his extreme poverty, pawned his children, the strength 
 of his own bowels, to Italian merchants, vainly hoping to 
 redeem them. At Rome, the imperial, the "eternal" city, 
 were Christian slaves long sold, to meet the domestic 
 demands of the followers of Mohammed. Without refe 
 rence to Christianity or infidelity, the Venicians purchased 
 at Rome, and other places, those slaves whom they sold 
 to the Arabs in Sicily and Spain, at a time too when 
 laws, ecclesiastical as well as those of Venice, w r ere in 
 force, expressly prohibiting it. Then the captive Chris 
 tian had no other alternative than servitude or apostacy ; 
 but the captive infidel had servitude any how, being often 
 treated worse by his Christian master than was the slave 
 purchased by one of the believers in the Koran. 
 
 In the days of the crusaders the price of a war-horse 
 was three slaves, and the father of Virginia herself, as 
 we all know, had been the slave of a tyrant master. In 
 three thousand battles between Christians and Moors, for 
 seven centuries, the captives were reciprocally doomed 
 to bondage, and bigotry and revenge brought in the 
 place of bondage a more horrible evil, utter extermina 
 tion. The number of slaves sold in the Christian coun 
 tries of France and Italy alone, exceeded the entire num 
 ber of Christians ever sold by the pirates of Barbary. The 
 ministers of religion themselves, who plead against Chris 
 tian heresy, did not sympathize, to say the least, with the 
 afflictions of the unbeliever. When, therefore, the Moors, 
 after their conquest by the Spaniards, retired to Africa, 
 their mercantile cities became nests of pirates, who, seiz 
 ing on all Christians whom they could take, reduced them 
 to slavery, and, on the principle of retaliation, all Afri 
 cans were considered by all Christians as Moors, and 
 were thus likewise doomed to perpetual bondage. Big 
 otry favored a compromise with avarice, the infidel not 
 being included in the pale of humanity, however it might 
 feel inclined to emancipate even the oppressed serfs 
 themselves. 
 
 But let it not be supposed that the Christian white man 
 is the author or originator of African slavery. O no ! As 
 anglo-Saxon sold anglo-Saxon into bondage, and Hebrew 
 sold or bought Hebrew, as well as foreign slaves, and 
 
 a* 
 
14 
 
 Greek enslaved Greek, so did caravans of slave dealers 
 carry on from time immemorial, as we have already sug 
 gested, beyond the oldest traditions, a traffic in negro 
 slaves, among negroes themselves. The slaves and gold 
 of central Africa were exchanged in the cities and towns 
 of Nigritia, uninterruptedly, for Saracen and European 
 luxuries; and, because that commerce was profitable, it 
 was carried on under the endurance of the vast horrors 
 of a parching thirst, under a tropical sun, without shade, 
 without water, and at the expense of being buried, whole 
 caravans at a time, in the sands of the desert. From 
 the native regions of the Ethiopian race a system 
 of slavery w r as carried into the very heart of Egypt, as 
 well as on the coasts of Barbary, by these Moorish mer 
 chants, long, very long, before Columbus found a path 
 over the wide Atlantic to the new world. Indeed this 
 traffic was in successful operation at least a half century 
 before the discovery of the new world, among Euro 
 peans, and was fully established by them, long, very 
 long, before the colonization of the United States. The 
 history of Europe, and especially the history of Eng 
 land, is, till very lately, if not now, but the history of 
 slavery, as we shall see in the sequel. When Antony 
 Gonzalez was ordered, after his voyage to Cape Blanco, 
 to restore his Moorish captives, from whom the Portu 
 guese desired to obtain all the information they could of 
 the regions near that remarkable place, the Moors not 
 only remunerated him with presents of "gold, but also 
 <( negro slaves having curled hair." They, on perceiving 
 how profitable a trade in such slaves might become, com 
 menced at once a traffic in them with the Europeans, and 
 with them the Spaniards vied in carrying it on. The 
 merchants of Seville imported them until negro slavery 
 not only abounded there, but was fully established ail 
 through Andalusia before that the mighty mind of Colum 
 bus had conceived his voyage of discovery across the At 
 lantic, to gain, as he fancied, a foothold on the fabled 
 islands Cipango. 
 
 After the discovery of the new world by that great 
 man, its shores were visited regularly, that from thence 
 laborers might be procured, and the native Indian inhabi- 
 
15 
 
 tants of Hispaniola were imported into Spain- These 
 slavers, trading on those coasts, entered almost every 
 harbor in search of slaves; so that, on the western shores 
 of the vast Atlantic, and especially those along the entire 
 eastern boundary of the United States, from the Gulf of 
 Mexico to that of St. Lawrence, river by river was 
 entered in quest of slaves. The Indians could not be 
 tempted to become factors of slave merchants. The con 
 sequence was that the slaves obtained from Florida to 
 Newfoundland were mostly, if not altogether, procured 
 by fraud or force. This is not all : slavers penetrated the 
 extensive Mississippi valley, and from thence procured 
 slaves with which to supply the markets and demands in 
 the West India Islands and in Europe. Aye, more ! Co 
 lumbus himself sent from thence five hundred slaves, 
 native Americans, to be publicly sold at Seville. And 
 when Isabella did afterward consent to the emancipation 
 of Indian slaves then in Europe, in grants made at the 
 very same time, she claimed the right to one-fourth part 
 of all slaves, from regions that might be afterward disco 
 vered, and did not extend the favor of her emancipation 
 grant to either the Moors or Negroes of Africa. 
 
 He who will investigate the subject will find the prac 
 tice of selling North American Indians continued near 
 two centuries. Yea, more ! the articles of the New Eng 
 land confederacy class persons taken in war as a part of 
 the spoils, and in pursuance of the principle involved in 
 this article the orphan offspring of king Philip, and his 
 mother, the Pequod tribe of Indians in Connecticut, the 
 captives of the treacherous Waldron in New Hampshire, 
 and the Annanon tribe, were all alike doomed to perpet 
 ual bondage, and the New Englanders sought on the 
 coasts of Virginia and Carolina to kidnap the Indians 
 whom the colonists south of the Potomac would not 
 enslave, when they could obtain no more at home for 
 disposition. The very year in which Charles V. sailed 
 against Tunis to rescue Christian slaves from African 
 bondage, a monopoly was granted and sold to European 
 slavers for the transportation of vast quantities of slaves 
 from Africa, and for a portion of this lucrative monopoly 
 a monarch of one of the free states of Europe stipulated 
 
16 
 
 most positively. This stipulation not being attended to 
 ultimately constituted one of the ingredients in that series 
 of wars which ultimately led to the freedom and indepen 
 dence of the United States of America. 
 
 When that rich return cargo of sugar, ginger, and pearls, 
 the price of a cargo of slaves, brought and sold by John 
 Hawkins, from America, attracted the notice of Queen 
 Elizabeth, she, immediately, not only consented to protect 
 by her power and that of the nation, the slave trade, but 
 at once engaged in it personally, and participated in its pro 
 fits, so far as to become one of the partners of the Hawkins 
 monopoly ; and thus that Pious LADY, the HEAD OF THE 
 CHURCH, virtually endorsed and became responsible for 
 all the vileness and cruelty of the cruel Hawkins, perhaps 
 the most unmerciful and unfeeling slaver that ever crossed 
 the deep. Afterwards engaged and protected by this 
 Royal Virgin, his pious partner and mistress, in this profit 
 able trade, he on one occasion burned down a village, con 
 taining, according to his own confession, at least eight 
 thousand five hundred inhabitants, and destroyed the same 
 in toto, obtaining as a remnant for transportation, all saved 
 from its ruins, which amounted on counting them, only 
 to two hundred and fifty. This fair partner of the slave 
 trader Hawkins, protected him whilst constantly engaged 
 in smuggling slaves into Spanish ports, contrary to their 
 own laws, and the express stipulations of an existing 
 treaty. 
 
 Thus we see that on both sides of the water at the same 
 time, this trade was carried on, by the ancestry of those 
 who are now blushing at the thought of slavery, or 
 the most indirect participation in any of its services, pro 
 ducts, or advantages, and those too, who cannot consent 
 for the ministers of Christ s gospel even to have the benefit 
 of that support which a Missionary Society can a 
 them, when any slave owner has contributed a dollar. 
 Yes! the men whose ancestors traded in slaves, whos 
 families and houses were built up by slave trading, \vh< 
 now enjoy the product thereof, dwelling in lofty palacei 
 as we shall see in the sequel ; who forced slaves on tin 
 present slave holding states south of tl u > Potomac, to 
 
17 
 
 reasons which are obvious, and if not, shall hereafter be 
 shown; are now decrying the slavery of the south as an 
 iniquity, not to be washed out of the hearts, characters, 
 habits and souls of those, whose progenitors had them 
 thus forced upon them by Dutch, British, Spanish, Portu 
 guese, and other cupidity : and who now would be clear of 
 them, if any consistent and safe method could be pointed 
 out for their freedom. In vain may abolitionists attempt, 
 by quoting the case of James Smith and Thomas Keyser, 
 two pious members of the Boston church, who were en 
 gaged in transporting slaves from the coasts of Guinea to 
 the colonies of America, to show that Boston did denounce 
 this traffic, as they do. In vain may they plead the pas 
 sage and existence of laws against that traffic, laws in 
 those days were but a dead letter, and especially the laws 
 against slavery. Those of New England, like the laws 
 of Penn s Quaker Assembly of Pennsylvania, were only 
 nominal, not being in general at all enforced. 
 
 On an examination, it will be also seen, that not only 
 did slavery exist in every clime, but there are found those 
 every where, who are ready, notwithstanding their pro 
 fessions, to aid in carrying it on. We know that it 
 is customary to moralize on the abstract questions of 
 justice, liberty and right, and that many who have been 
 either personally, or in their ancestry, the abettors of 
 this evil, are mostly among the first to find fault and 
 condemn it ; but see how true this is when viewed 
 in application to the introduction of slavery into the 
 United States, which should also be considered in con 
 nexion with what is said about the liberty of England, 
 of New England, and the slavery of the south. It will 
 appear plainly to all who read its history, that the cupidity 
 of the Dutch, the English, and New Englanders, was in 
 fact the true cause of the commencement and continuance 
 of slavery in the southern states on such an extensive 
 scale. 
 
 It has ever been the policy of Great Britain to turn her 
 colonies to the greatest present account, without reference 
 to their peculiar present or future interest. England saw 
 that the tobacco trade could in Maryland, Virginia, and 
 
18 
 
 other states be made to her, a great source of revenue. 
 On the same principle that she has encouraged the constant 
 introduction of all kinds of ardent spirits into Ireland, the 
 manufacture of and traffic in opium in the east ; but, that 
 of various fabrics in the north ; on this same principle we 
 say, did she insist upon and encourage the cultivation of 
 a nauseous weed, not less deleterious to human health, in 
 the long run, than ardent spirits or opium. The wretch 
 edness, and poverty, and crime of Ireland, might come up 
 before her, but what of that? The mania, and paralysing 
 effects of opium, bringing on mental, moral and physical 
 ruin, may stare her in the face in all the east ; but what 
 of that ? Her colonies might have to cry for bread, and 
 actually be endangered whilst forced by the custom 
 house and revenue laws to cultivate tobacco ; but what 
 of that ? Though wretchedness, and poverty, and want, 
 and suffering be the result, it must be done ; she knows 
 not to pity. Oppression extreme, is now and ever has 
 been in that policy, which gives manufacturing interests at 
 home such a monopoly, as to make the colonies depend 
 ent wholly for their fabrics. Herself the merchant, and 
 the only merchant from whom they are permitted to buy. 
 To augment her own income is the great moving princi 
 ple with England. It was seen that the planters could 
 accomplish but little without an augmentation of force. 
 It was alike impolitic and unsafe to enslave the Indians, 
 and thus excite their friends, perhaps whole tribes, to be 
 come the enemies of the colonists, and the avengers of 
 their oppressed neighbors. But to accomplish her ends 
 and carry out her policy, Great Britain did an act, which 
 unto this day, among the many foul blots on her charac 
 ter, is one which the page of faithful history in the delin 
 eation of particulars, will hand down to posterity as the 
 foulest. 
 
 "She emptied all at once, her prisons of its prisoners ; 
 she made the colonies a Botany Bay, and sent thither as 
 slaves and servants, as many as one hundred at a time, of 
 idle, dissolute persons who were in custody for various 
 misdemeanors in London, so that the felons and vagabonds 
 transported, brought such evil report upon the place, that 
 
19 
 
 some did choose to be hanged ere they would go thither, 
 and were." These are the remarkable words of that re 
 markable man, Capt. John Smith, who considered this 
 among the most barbarous acts of the British Government. 
 
 Great Britain doubtless supposed that such injustice 
 would be overlooked, in consideration of the assistance 
 that would be derived from them, in executing among 
 the colonists, their plans of industry which were then 
 daily extending themselves. Here virtually commenced 
 slavery in the colonies; not in England. Few can point 
 to the time when there was no slavery in England. This 
 act prepared the way for the introduction of negro slavery, 
 by a Dutch ship, which sailed up the James river without 
 any previous knowledge or purpose on the part of the 
 colonists, and, when it was afterwards found by Great 
 Britain, that these hardy sons of Africa, accustomed to 
 the endurance of heat under a vertical sun, could better 
 cultivate -and extend the fields of the colonists, she engag 
 ed in that work herself as we shall hereafter see, monop 
 olizing the entire African slave trade of the whole earth. 
 
 The Supply of white servants for the colonies, often 
 as stated above, of the vilest sort or kind of men, from 
 English prisons and alms houses, became a regular busi 
 ness, we may add that it is a fact, as well authenticated 
 as any other, perhaps, in history, that a class of men 
 rose up, who were nicknamed " spirits," that used to 
 delude young persons, servants and idlers, to embark for 
 America, as a land of spontaneous plenty, and "white 
 servants, were a usual article of traffic." These were 
 actually sold in England, to be transported into the 
 colonies, and were there re-sold to the highest bidders, 
 under the hammer, or, like negroes, were purchased on 
 ship-board. 
 
 This dealing was not only carried on with English 
 slaves but with Scots, who were taken in the fields; also 
 the Royalist prisoners, after the battle of Worcester, 
 then, the leaders of the insurrection of Penruddoc, all 
 of whom were shipped to America. The poor Catholics 
 of Ireland were taken, and sent over to the colonies, 
 and there sold, under circumstances, not less atrocious 
 
20 
 
 and vile, than the acts of British slavers on the coasts 
 of Africa. Men of influence at Court scrambled for the 
 thousand prisoners, who, in consequence of the insur 
 rection of Monmouth, were to be transported, just as they 
 would for any other merchantable commodity. From 
 slaves the most abject and vile, these as it respected their 
 treatment, differed only, in the time or duration of their 
 servitude. 
 
 "Judge Jeffries," said king James II., in a letter, 
 "is nearly done his circuit, he has condemned several 
 hundred scoundrels, several of whom are already execut 
 ed, more are to be, and others are to be sent to our plan 
 tations" This is the language of the sovereign of our 
 ancestors. The prisoners condemned were a saleable 
 commodity, and his courtiers begged, after an insurrection, 
 of their monarch, such presents of their countrymen for 
 sale, as his liberality would bestow. Jeffries heard of 
 this, declared they were worth " ten or fifteen pounds a 
 piece," and, said the astute and learned judge, "if your 
 majesty orders these, as he has designed, persons who 
 have not suffered in the service, will runaway *with the 
 booty." At length the spoils were divided. The con 
 victs, part persons of family and education, accustomed 
 to ease and elegance, were sent off. "Take all care," 
 wrote the monarch, under the countersign of Sunderland 
 to the Governor of Virginia, "Take all care that they 
 continue in service ten years at least, and that they be not 
 permitted to redeem themselves, by money or otherwise 
 until that term expires. "Prepare," continues he, "a 
 bill for the Assembly of our colony with such clauses as 
 shall be requisite for that purpose." But, thank heaven! 
 no VIRGINIA LEGISLATURE ever sanctioned such malice. 
 So far from this, the history of the day proves that she 
 shortly after freed the whole of them. 
 
 The history of slavery is but the history of Europe, 
 and especially is it the history of England, with all her 
 boast of MAGNA CHARTA and British Liberty. From 
 the throne to the common sailor, floating on the wave, 
 men of all religions, vied in efforts to participate in a 
 traffic which yielded so much for so little. The trade 
 
21 
 
 was profitable, and mayors, councilmen, and courts, kid 
 napped their own citizens, and citizen s sons, and divided 
 the spoils. 
 
 One great object of these remarks is to establish the 
 fact, which, it is easy to do, by a reference to history, 
 that the ancestry of those who are now the most forward 
 to decry slavery as an institution, and any traffic or sale 
 of slave or slaves under any circumstances as altogether 
 immoral, and indeed immoral in the extreme, were really 
 the most active in it, and were the instruments of riveting 
 it with all its evils, on the very vitals of Maryland, Vir 
 ginia and the south, in order to satisfy the demands of 
 their own avarice. 
 
 This must be apparent to all, who consider with can 
 dor, the entire history of the trade in slavery. By these 
 it will be found that the system was fastened on Virginia 
 and the south, and interwoven in all the operations of 
 that part of America without any consent on the part of 
 the corporations, or the emigrants. Introduced by the 
 mercantile avarice of foreign nations, riveted on them by 
 the policy of England; emphatically called the mother 
 country, without regard to the interests or will of the 
 colonies. The colonists knew that slavery was not only 
 practised by all nations, but that it had formed a part of 
 the institutions of every country, from time immemorial. 
 No wonder then that they should submit to it, we would 
 rather wonder that any one of them fought against it so 
 valiantly, constantly, and firmly, as did Virginia. True, 
 at the north they engaged in kidnapping the Indians 
 and subjecting the same as we have seen to perpetual 
 servitude. True, at the east, the tatooed chief, king 
 Phillip, cried "my heart breaks now that I am ready 
 to die in an agony of grief," when his poor harmless boy, 
 an only child, the future sachem of his tribe, was carried 
 off by the citizens of Massachusetts to Bermuda and sold 
 in bondage, the last of the Massasoit family, to toil under its 
 broiling suns,* and this was the case with thousands of 
 others. 
 
 *See Bancroft, vol. 2, from page 99 to page 106, also Hubbard s Indian 
 Wars, 56. Calender s Century Sermon. Church s Indian Wars. Mather s 
 History of Troubles with Indians. Anne Rowlandson s Captivity. Wheeler s 
 Narrative in History New Hampshire. History Massachusetts, coll. 1, 148, 6 
 Matthew Davis, in Morton, 453 and 6 
 3 
 
22 
 
 At the commencement the African slave trade was 
 carried on chiefly by the Portuguese, Spaniards and 
 Dutch, with an occasional supply afforded by the efforts 
 of British and other slavers. But, upon an examination 
 of the history of this traffic, it appears that in time the 
 British nation, under the assiento, the most remarkable 
 feature in the treaty of Utrecht, usurped and claimed it 
 as a monopoly, and as far as it could well be done, the 
 colonists on and north of the Hudson, were actively en 
 gaged in it also. The people of the north who had from 
 the commencement, united trade and traffic with their 
 agricultural operations for a living, engaged heartily in 
 this work of importing and exporting slaves as we have 
 already seen, in the case of king Phillip s son, wife, and 
 others. This was continued by foreign and domestic 
 traders, until New York, Delaware, Pennsylvania, Mary 
 land, Virginia, the Carolinas, and ultimately Georgia 
 were amply supplied with them as well as many parts of 
 New England. It is true, indeed, the fact surprises us 
 that religionists of every denomination participated there 
 in, not excepting the Quakers, so that "the humane Penn," 
 as he has been justly, we believe, called, "himself died a 
 slave-holder.* 
 
 It is said that the receiver is as bad as the thief, and 
 we know that it is customary to denounce the slave-hold 
 ing states, as receptacles of all vice and injustice, and 
 coldly to represent their citizens as "men stealers, kidnap 
 pers," &c. But let it be remembered that these states 
 owned but a few if any vessels of any sort or kind, never 
 one slaver, and consequently had not the means, if they 
 had the disposition of importing slaves to this continent. 
 Our pious forefathers, Englishmen, our holy brethren, 
 Catholics and Protestants, Yes ! Protestants of every 
 name, of the national Church, Puritans, Quakers, did 
 the kidnapping in Africa, or had it done, brought them 
 here, and notwithstanding the repeated protests of some 
 of those, that are now the slave-holding states, especially 
 Virginia, the Carolinas and Georgia, which we will no 
 tice hereafter, against it, slaves, thousands upon thou- 
 
 * See Bancroft, vol. 2, page 403, also see Charter of Free Society of Traders, 
 Matlack, in Mass. His. col. xviii, 185, and Penn in Watson, 480 also others as 
 referred to by Bancroft and Graham. 
 
23 
 
 sands, were literally forced on them, by a law which 
 made it obligatory for every man, to cultivate land and 
 to buy at least four slaves for every hundred acres. 
 
 The Catholics notwithstanding the solemn declaration 
 of their infallible Pontiff, "that slavery is unlawful," were 
 found importing them, almost by tens of thousands into 
 Maryland. QUEEN ELIZABETH, the head of the 
 English Church, engaged with her Church, a national one, 
 most sincerely and heartily in it; and whilst a Quaker 
 would not worship in his family, when the spirit moved 
 him to family worship, or in the church, with a negro, 
 he would buy, sell, enslave, and as the history of well 
 attested facts proves, actually oppress the black man 
 with a good conscience. It is believed by those who have 
 considered and investigated this subject most clearly, 
 that if the entire State of Rhode Island were sold at one 
 hundred dollars per acre, the sum acquired by such sale, 
 would not discharge the amount of interest alone, apart 
 from the principle acquired, by slaves imported and sold 
 by its inhabitants. 
 
 * With how little grace does a reproof come from those, 
 who are now rolling in wealth, the price of slavery, to 
 slave-holders who have purchased with money, the fruits 
 of their own labors, slaves, and who are constantly seek 
 ing to better the condition of those slaves, and aid them 
 on their way to eternal life. The proceeds of personal 
 toils we all know, are often expended in slave-holding 
 states, in slaves, who might be disposed of, and removed 
 elsewhere. Their owners treat them humanely, worship 
 God with them at the same altar, and train and instruct 
 them for the same heaven. We are capable of proving, 
 that some of the largest estates in the north are the 
 price of slavery. Aye, more, it is said, perhaps we could 
 prove it also, with a little trouble, that some of the 
 largest, are the product of the slave trade : and even 
 now, but for the legal obstacles, would not the same 
 men, who live by the slaughter of seal and the boiling of 
 blubber, and the disposition of notions, often a deception 
 and cheat, live and support themselves, as heretofore did 
 their fathers, by kidnapping Indians and Africans, and 
 selling them, wherever a market might be found. Do 
 
24 
 
 not many now do it, though the same is proclaimed 
 piracy in the Jaw of nations, as agreed on by the great 
 powers, and consequently done at the hazard of life. 
 
 The selfish exaltation of some is such, that whilst it 
 puritanically gives a reproof to their fellows, it does, as 
 we know, often, when an opportunity occurs, turn into a 
 prison for others, the spot that has proved a seat of liberty 
 and happiness to themselves; and it has been said that 
 many who never owned a slave, such as the masters of 
 factories and farms, are among the hardest and most inhu 
 man masters in all God s earth. We will not tell what 
 we have seen and known of such, after that they have re 
 moved to the south side of old Potomac. Let him that 
 has never examined into this matter, we say, deny our 
 statements, and look on all this as dust to blind the eyes; 
 for ourselves we are sincere, and do most sincerely believe, 
 that it is in our power on this point to carry the war into 
 Africa, and prove that a denomination, now the most for 
 ward to decry, was among the first to introduce and en 
 courage slavery in the British colonies ; and this it con 
 tinued to do so long as it was to its own interest to do so. 
 It is true its members now denounce it as iniquitous under 
 all circumstances ) forgetful that they as a denomination were 
 formerly the very pillars and supporters of this fabric. 
 Really, the unfair dealing and duplicity which present 
 themselves to him that examines, and the effort to appear 
 one thing and perform another, are but a practical comment 
 on the deep depravity of poor human nature. In 1697, 
 whilst the QUAKERS of Pennsylvania like those of other 
 regions, were denouncing war, all war, as iniquitous, 
 is it not astounding that they were voting subsidies to the 
 governor of New York, under the vain show of giving re 
 lief to the border Indians, when in fact it was simply to 
 aid in carrying on a war against them, that they might be 
 enslaved or destroyed. Subsequently, when called on for 
 more, they solemnly answered that according to the irreli 
 gious persuasions and articles they would be ready to 
 obey the king s commands : that is, they would vo te 
 "subsidies to carry on a war with, and enslave the 
 Indiaae," under the name of relief for the Indians. And 
 
25 
 
 although a salvo was inserted for the sake of Quaker 
 consistency in laws of this kind, yet did they vote sums 
 of money for New York batteries, and as the subjects 
 of a military government, their full contingent to strength 
 en the sinews of war, a war in which extermination 
 or slavery was the result to the conquered Indians. 
 Thus whilst voting sums of money which they knew would 
 impel the rage of war, and reward the ferocity of savages, 
 whom they had professed an anxious desire to convert; 
 they always attempted, by the substitution of some other 
 alleged purpose, to shift the sin from themselves to their 
 military superiors, or at least to draw a decent veil over 
 acts which they did not wish to avow. Like the case 
 mentioned by Doctor Franklin, of the Quaker assembly 
 which could not vote on a requisition for 2000 to buy 
 gunpowder, consistently with their principles of religion, 
 but would vote .2000 to buy grain for the soldiers. 
 
 We have often heard in Virginia, an old time saying 
 of the tobacco negroes, which has in it a great deal of 
 good sense. "That is whipping the Devil around the 
 stump." It does doubtless seem strange that these facts 
 should be found here; we are constrained by duty to notice 
 them: for whilst we regard and respect our brethren of every 
 name, and our fellow citizens of every portion of this wide 
 ly extended country, it ought to be known, it must be 
 known, honesty and truth and righteousness demand that 
 it be known, as it is plainly set forth in history, that slave 
 ry in its origin, lies not as a sin, at the doors of those 
 that dwell south of the Potomac. Many north of that 
 ancient river delight in depicting the horrors of slavery, 
 and in decrying southern slave holders, when by their 
 deeds, slavery has been entailed on the southern country 
 as one of its institutions. This can only be removed, 
 with especial reference to the safety and true interests of 
 both parties. 
 
 The statement we have made concerning the course pur 
 sued by our northern brethren, is made only to illustrate 
 what has been the mode of action on the part of those who 
 have seemed most just, as they are the most forward in 
 denouncing slavery. When Fox visited Barbadoes, and 
 3* * 
 
26 
 
 found the Quaker planters in the possession of slaves, he 
 directed them to train the same in the fear of God, as well, 
 said he, "those that are bought with your money , as those 
 that are born in your families." "I desired also," said 
 that eccentric and good man, "that they would cause 
 their overseers to deal mildly and gently with them, as the 
 manner of some hath been and is." How conscientiously 
 the society of Friends, called Quakers, complied with this, 
 will be seen by a reference to facts. Their purpose, if it 
 existed j of taking the advice of Fox, was most easily over 
 come by such sophistry as that of voting war subsidies, 
 whilst it was to their temporal advantage to do so, and 
 the temptation to self-interest, the contagion of example, 
 and effects of habit, all united to induce Penn, who has 
 been called, and his praises celebrated, the prince of 
 philanthropists, and also his Quaker brethren, to import 
 slaves which were purchased by them, as well as by other 
 settlers ; however the kindness of Quaker manners 
 may have contributed to soften the evil, and veil the ini 
 quity, if they be so vast as some contend they are, and as we 
 also admit, in their origin. Yet it is a well known fact, that 
 but for the German emigration to Pennsylvania and New 
 York, both those states would have been, doubtless, at 
 this day, large slaveholding states, the great hazard of 
 losing African slaves on account of the coldness of the 
 climate when first brought there, and the difficulty of Quaker 
 principles to the contrary notwithstanding. The fact is 
 that the increasing number of slaves, together with the 
 diversity of characters among the colonists, rendered the 
 emancipation of them increasingly improbable ; and whilst 
 the annual meeting of the society of Friends gave an ear 
 nest admonition to Quakers not to import slaves, that ad 
 monition like the voting of war subsidies, was but to give 
 a testimony by profession against, but by acts and deeds 
 in favor of slavery. To tell the truth, as it appears from 
 the history of the day, it hardly produced an increased 
 cmcem for the welfare of the negroes. They were sel 
 dom if ever admitted to divine service, in the families or 
 meeting houses of their Quaker masters, in obedience to 
 the older or advice of the good John Fox. And the sla- 
 
27 
 
 very of Pennsylvania, notwithstanding Quaker humanity, 
 was not on a footing with that of any other colony. Wil 
 liam Penn saw this, and presented the form of a law "to 
 better the moral condition of the Negroes and Indians," 
 but his Quaker assembly rejected the whole, and passed 
 a law a for the trial and punishment of slaves:" and whilst 
 laws were passed with great zeal against scolding, and 
 against one man s drinking to the health of another, these 
 Pennsylvania Quaker slave importer s, refused any law for 
 the religious or moral improvement of the condition of 
 slaves. And yet the descendants of these are the lovers 
 of freedom, and liberty shall die with them. 
 
 On the Hudson, and north and east of that river, the 
 African had his habitation as a slave. The West India 
 company sent on slaves to Manhattan, now New York, 
 by thousands. Elizabeth, Queen of England, as already 
 seen, was a partner in the slave trade, so were the Stew 
 arts, to the days of Queen Anne, who was herself a most 
 distinguished patroness of this traffic. 
 
 The city of Amsterdam oVned shares in a slave ship, 
 advanced the money for its outfit, and participated, in its 
 corporate capacity^ in all the profits arising from its voy 
 ages. At that time New York had as many, if not more 
 slaves than Virginia, and STUYVTSANT was instructed 
 to promote as far as practicable their sale. This sale was 
 there always to the highest bidder, the average price being 
 rather less than one hundred and forty dollars, and when the 
 monopoly was not strictly enforced, the profits were some 
 times greatly in favor of English, to the injury of the Dutch 
 and West India importers. The Dutch merchants who 
 planted New York were always largely interested in the 
 slave trade. By special covenant they furnished slaves 
 for the colony of New York, and also to several others, to 
 any number which they might need; the cold, however, 
 mostly defeated their purpose as to New York. It was 
 found when negroes were landed there, and in New Eng 
 land, being imported directly from a hot, to a climate so 
 cold, if they lived at all, they were comparatively of little 
 service, and almost immediately, and ever after subject 
 to scrofulous diseases, induced by low diet and but little 
 
28 
 
 clothing, in a cold climate. Accordingly, so soon as it 
 was ascertained by the Dutch who had settled on the Hud 
 son, that the climate of the south was more suitable for 
 their negroes, they removed to situations on the Ashley 
 river in South Carolina, that climate being of a mild and 
 warm temperature ; and these were afterwards followed 
 by very many of their friends from Holland, and other 
 parts of Europe. On a petition being presented to Penn 
 sylvania to emancipate her slaves, the answer was that it 
 was neither JUST nor CONVENIENT. The citizens of the 
 little state of Rhode Island, that dealt so largely in slaves, 
 thought that they ought not to be baptized, and went so 
 far as to question the doctors of divinity and the law, as to 
 the legality of it. In fact they demanded legal advice on 
 the subject, lest "the negroes should thereby become free 
 and be entitled to hold property." 
 
 The commerce of Virginia had been monopolized by 
 the Virginia Company, and it may be added, every one 
 that could, was engaged in the "White English Slave 
 Trade" As we have seen already, the labors and servi 
 tude of those white slaves, must necessarily have led by 
 an easy step to absolute bondage. In 1620, a Dutch man- 
 of-war entered the James river, and made sale of twenty 
 negroes. There is evidence almost indubitable, that here 
 this traffic would have ended, if the Virginians had been 
 left to themselves. Thirty years after this period there 
 was in Virginia only one colored or black man for fifty 
 whites ; and moreover, after seventy years of its colonial 
 existence, its number of slaves was proportionably much 
 less than in several of the free states, as they are called. 
 At the commencement of the war of the independence, as 
 she had constantly previously done, the colony of Virginia 
 protested against their introduction ; it imposed a special 
 tax on every female slave. Virginians regarded the African 
 race with disgust, nor could they be induced to traffic 
 with the Dutch, on account of their dealing in slaves ; 
 but as slavery was to be forced on them by British tyranny, 
 on their introduction by positive law, they submitted to 
 procure them of whom they could. Nor was she alone 
 in her opposition to this traffic. Other colonies of the 
 
29 
 
 south, the Carolinas and Maryland alarmed with her, at 
 the heavy debts they were forced to incur for slaves, and 
 the obvious danger to their own liberty and safety, and 
 also the diminished price of their staples, insisted on set 
 tling their provinces with white men, and gave them the 
 preference. They also passed laws to prevent and restrict 
 the importation of slaves. 
 
 These laws will be found on an investigation, scattered 
 copiously through the records of the legislative bodies of 
 Virginia, and those of the Carolinas, Georgia and Mary 
 land. It is also known that as soon as Virginia was 
 emancipated from British rule, at the first Congress she 
 was among those, who legally denounced it. She united 
 with her sister states to do what she had often struggled 
 alone to do. She was with them to resist the slave trade, 
 and declare that none shall be imported into these United 
 States. Until she had the power to legislate for herself, 
 she could not do that which she often desired to do before. 
 .But at its origin, in an age when the interests of trade, 
 guided legislation wholly, not one statesman dared to 
 second, in England, the voice and the demands of Vir 
 ginia and Carolina, that such a trade should no longer be 
 carried on, to their great injury. They, called for its 
 cessation ; still as we shall soon see, slaves by hundreds, 
 thousands, millions, were forced upon the British colonies 
 of the American continent, by Great Britain herself, who 
 as a nation, has dealt more largely in slavery from first to 
 last, than all the world beside. 
 
 It is proper that we should give now, as we shall refer 
 to them often, sundry acts of the Colonial Assembly of 
 Virginia, as well as those of other assemblies, in vari 
 ous parts of this work. As Virginia was the first colony 
 settled, so also she must necessarily have been the first to 
 pass laws on any subject. The first Assembly of Vir 
 ginia appears to have been held by Sir George Yeardly, 
 in 1619. The members of this Assembly were called 
 burgesses, because there were no counties then laid 
 off, and the members of that Assembly represented the 
 boroughs of James Town, Henrico, Bermuda hundred, 
 and other places, numbering eleven in all. The first 
 
30 
 
 record of the laws of Virginia which were submitted to 
 the company in England, was found among the manu 
 script papers of Sir John Randolph, which manuscript 
 was given by the Hon. Peyton Randolph, his son, to 
 President Thomas Jefferson. They could not be of 
 any force until confirmed by the English Company. 
 This manuscript is now in the library of Congress in 
 Washington City, D. C., and we copy an endorsement 
 which is in the hand-writing of Mr. Jefferson. On it 
 is written, "The first laws made by the Assembly of 
 Virginia, Anno, 1623." And immediately underneath, 
 in his hand-writing, "This was found among the man 
 uscript papers of Sir John Randolph, and by the Hon. 
 Peyton Randolph, Esq r, his son, was given to Thomas 
 Jefferson." 
 
 We are thus particular in giving a history of this first 
 record of southern laws, in order that our readers may 
 know from whence we derive our information. It is a 
 remarkable fact, that among the very first recorded therein 
 is an act against oppression. By this act, no English 
 man was permitted to arrest an Indian at all for debt, and 
 so particular were our fathers respecting this, that they 
 descended to particulars in their act, and exempted by 
 name, WEANOAK from any arrest or fine. Determined 
 on opposing the oppression which the British Govern 
 ment seemed disposed to inflict on thousands, and espe 
 cially Indians and negroes, it subsequently passed various 
 acts repelling and resisting the same, and by 29 Act, 
 1642 3 of 18th Charles I., no person whatever for any 
 offence was to be held to servitude, and by 19th act of 
 the same year, all servants were exempted from being 
 taken in execution for any debt of their owners. Again, 
 servants were only to be corrected for public offences, as 
 were minors, when their masters would not pay the fines 
 annexed as a penalty for those offences. By act 6, 5th 
 Charles I. Poor Indians resident in the colony were to 
 be supported and preserved from want. 
 
 Without reference to the particular dates and acts as 
 numbered in the records, we will here refer to their objects, 
 in order to illustrate the fact that humanity was the lead- 
 
31 
 
 ing trait in the character of the original settlers in Vir 
 ginia and the south. They had suffered themselves and 
 they knew to feel the woes of others. But we assure 
 the reader that by the kindness of the librarian of Con 
 gress, we have the documents now before us, and could 
 give, if it would not unnecessarily encumber our pages, 
 the specific acts in the language of our fathers. 
 
 By one of these, Indian children might be bound to 
 service only by their own parents, to a master of their 
 own choosing, and before two justices of the peace, with 
 the express understanding that their masters were to edu 
 cate them. By another act, one Indian boy was allowed 
 to be carried to England, with the consent of his parents, 
 not otherwise, and all servants were to be carried regu 
 larly to church. 
 
 By other acts to prevent oppression, no debts were to 
 be recovered of Indians by legal constraint. The steal 
 ing and selling an Indian was punished by a very severe 
 penalty. No person was allowed to buy them even from 
 the English. No debts contracted for such a purchase 
 were recoverable and on proof of it the slave was to 
 be returned in ten days and a large reward to be paid in 
 tobacco to the informer. Further, to aid in civilizing 
 the Indians, they were to be paid one cow for every wolf 
 that they killed. Their children apprenticed were not to 
 be transferred to any other master than the one selected by 
 their parents, and to be free and at their own disposal at 
 twenty-five. Their lands, were entailed on them unless the 
 Assembly should otherwise direct. Subsequently all ser 
 vants were put on a footing with English servants, and 
 were to be carried regularly to church to be catechised, and 
 laws were passed especially to mitigate the oppressions 
 of the poor Irish and Indian servants, and no master 
 was permitted under a very heavy penalty to treat them ill. 
 
 By another act of the Assembly, whenever an English 
 man encroached on the Indian lands, his house was to 
 be demolished, all the inhabitants were ordered to assist 
 the Indians in erecting their fences, and they were secur 
 ed in their property. Although taken in war and brought 
 in by Englishmen for sale, they should not be disposed of 
 without a license from the Governor, nor to serve longer 
 
32 
 
 than convict servants from England. By the same act, 
 Wahanganoche, king of the Potomacs, was compensated 
 for injuries done him by fines and imprisonment. Moore 
 Fauntlaroy was declared incapable of holding any office, 
 civil or military, for oppression and extortion on the Rap- 
 pahannock Indians. Remuneration was ordered to be 
 made to them, and he held to give security for keeping 
 the peace toward all, especially the Indians. Indians 
 taken by Indians were not to be sold in slavery, and all 
 masters were to provide for their servants and slaves, 
 competent good clothing and lodging, their punishment 
 was not to be but in proportion to the offence, and they 
 were not to be sold for taxes. Any negro woman might 
 be set free, and negro Will, the property of Robert 
 Ruffin, of Surry county, was by name emancipated for 
 discovering a plot for conspiracy. 
 
 These acts are referred to here to show the bent of the 
 public mind in the south, and to prepare the way for a 
 reference to another point already presented to the reader, 
 viz. that the colonies did protest against and resist as 
 far as they possibly could, the introduction of permanent 
 slavery, which was pressed and entailed on them by Brit 
 ish cupidity and tyranny. Shortly after negroes were 
 first introduced among them, " On July 13, 1830, Hugh 
 Davis was ordered to be soundly whipped for defiling his 
 body, by lying with a negress, and this was ordered to be 
 done before an assembly of negroes." Here we have 
 the repulsion, the natural repulsion of the whites to the 
 other, the colored race. Against their introduction they 
 solemnly protested, and so far did they carry this opposi 
 tion that they punished by banishment as well as a fine 
 of ,15, under Act 16, of 3d William and Mary, any white 
 man or woman for marrying a colored person and a woman 
 for having a child by a colored man, was sold as a slave 
 for five years. 
 
 When the British Government forced the negroes on 
 them, they also resisted by passing a law that no negroes 
 should be free among them, unless they should leave the 
 country in six months. 
 
 This it appears so excited the government in England, 
 
33 
 
 that they passed an order of council that no person 
 should own in the colonies land at all, unless he would 
 purchase at least four negro slaves for every hundred 
 acres of land owned by any colonist. And although 
 protest after protest, and act after act, resisting this, were 
 passed, the governors of these colonies were ordered 
 directly to veto the same. To quote these resolutions 
 and acts is unnecessary. We must, however, adduce 
 one more to show the unconquerable hostility that there 
 was in the southern colonists to the British slave trade, 
 both foreign (i.e.) African, and domestic (i. e.) in Eng 
 lish, Irish and Scotch convicts. By an act of April 20, 1670, 
 it appears that, "on the complaints of several of the 
 council and other gent., inhabitants of the counties of 
 York, Gloucester and Middlesex, representing their appre 
 hensions and fears lest the honor of his majesty and the 
 peace of the colony be too much hazarded and endan 
 gered by the great number of feluns and desperate vil 
 lains sent hither from the several prisons in England, 
 being read in council, on consideration, it was ordered 
 that such jail-birds? wicked villians, shall not be per 
 mitted to land." The reasons assigned by them for this 
 were, that in 1663 an insurrection had occurred, being 
 occasioned by Bacon anu such, that their reputation as 
 a colony and country was involved in this; that liberty, 
 purity and religion were all endangered by such an 
 unwarrantable and unjust act ; and that they would not 
 permit such immoral persons "jail-birds," "wicked vil 
 lains" to land ! and that this act should continue in 
 force until revoked by his majesty. "On the 25th of 
 November, 1671, Captain Bristow and Captain Walker 
 entered into security in 100,000,000 pounds of tobacco 
 and casks, that Mr. Nevett shall send off these Newgate 
 birds within two months, according to order." More 
 over, as two young lasses had unfortunately become 
 pregnant on the passage from England to America, they 
 were ordered back from whence they came, and a double 
 penalty was imposed on adultery or fornication with a 
 colored woman. This resistance to slavery of all kinds 
 and degrees was kept up, in connection with the positive 
 acts of the colonial assemblies, that negroes should not 
 4 
 
34 
 
 be free here until 1776, when the determined opposition 
 to the policy of Great Britain on this subject was embo 
 died in that renowned paper, the Declaration of the Inde 
 pendence of the United States of America, in the follow 
 ing quotations: "He (the king of Great Britain) has en 
 deavored to prevent the population of these states," 
 "obstructing the laws of naturalization," "raising the con 
 ditions of new appropriations of lands," "abolishing the 
 free system of English laws," exciting domestic insurrec 
 tions among us," to complete the work of death Jbegun un 
 der circumstances of cruelty and perfidy scarcely parallel 
 ed in the most barbarous ages." This declaration was 
 signed by all the representatives of the original thirteen 
 states, and thus the acts of Virginia and the south, in 
 resisting the foul deeds of Great Britain in first intro 
 ducing and then tampering with the slaves, was vouched 
 for by those great and patriotic men, and they have vir 
 tually proclaimed to all the earth that British cupidity 
 and tyranny forced on the south African slavery, with 
 the knowledge of the fact that the colonists had pro 
 claimed by their laws, to them and the world, that those 
 Africans should not be turned loose, free, as it is called, 
 among them. We humbly conceive that all those con 
 clusions at which we may arrive upon the justice of their 
 removal back to Africa, if freed at all, and the injustice 
 to the states of a direct, immediate and universal eman 
 cipation of all slaves here in our midst, will be seen most 
 certainly to grow out of these premises. That the south, 
 in continuing their relation, not only acts consistently 
 with herself, but consistently with every principle of 
 sound policy, and for the true interest of both the white 
 and colored races, as well as for the ultimate benefit of 
 both America and Africa. Here they never can be free 
 and enjoy the rights and privileges of American freemen. 
 In Africa they may be free, and there enlighten, civilize 
 and bless the land of their fathers. We have thought 
 proper here, as it is a point to which we must often 
 allude in our subsequent remarks, to give our authorities 
 for southern colonial resistance to the introduction of 
 slavery among them. We shall hereafter allude to other 
 facts. We proceed now to notice more particularly the 
 history of this trade. 
 
35 
 
 Under the treaty of Utrecht, already alluded to, Eng 
 land claimed of the European powers the right of the 
 slave trade by persons whom she should appoint, and 
 agreed under the provisions of that treaty to bring 
 into the West Indies belonging to his Catholic Majesty 
 alone, in the space of thirty years, one hundred and forty- 
 four thousand negroes, at the rate of four thousand eight 
 hundred in each one of these thirty years, and she pro 
 mised to pay a tribute or impost on each head of thirty- 
 three and one-third dollars. Other persons or parties 
 from England, not of the African or South Sea Company, 
 might introduce as many more at a less rate, only no 
 scandal was to be offered to the Catholic religion. Thus 
 it appears that the most exact care was taken to secure 
 a monopoly of the slave trade to GrgatBritain. .he was 
 to have it entire for Spanish and British America, and 
 the liberty of trading in slaves even on the shores of the 
 Pacific Ocean, as well as on those of the Atlantic ; and 
 this was to be carried on by persons exclusively appointed 
 by England. It is marvellous how this tyrant mistress 
 of the seas did extort the right to fill the new world with 
 slaves. ^Of this monopoly stock queen Anne took one- 
 fourth, Philip V. of Spain one-fourth, and the other two- 
 fourths were left to the subjects of that queen. So that 
 the sovereigns of England and Spain became the greatest 
 slave merchants in the world, and lady Masham, on the 
 advice of Harley, assigned her portion of this stock, the 
 third fourth-part, to the South Sea Company. Thus, by 
 the sale of a few trinkets for slaves, Great Britain raised 
 a capital which built up and confirmed a British empire 
 in Hindostan. By this treaty, the whole mercantile sys 
 tem, of which the colonial was a material branch, "cul 
 minated into the slave trade, and that system of policy 
 which adopted, as the greatest source of income or pro 
 duce slave labor." Nor did England only monopolize 
 the slave trade ; she sought to engross through it every 
 sugar plantation in the world. She excluded colonial 
 ships from the exporting trade of sugar and the traffic in 
 it, in order that she might monopolize the same ; and thus 
 was manifested to all the world her cardinal hope of com 
 mercial supremacy throughout the world. 
 
36 
 
 The sugar plantations were considered of the greatest 
 consequence to the trade of England, and whilst the duty 
 on rum was nine pence, it was five shillings on every 
 hundred weight of sugar, and six pence a gallon on mo 
 lasses, imported into British colonies. This last was 
 equal to a prohibition in the colonies of sugar and mo 
 lasses. The act itself was an evidence of that monopoly 
 which brought an income to the crown of an immense 
 amount, and the grievance was resisted by the colonists 
 as a tax designed to promote the interests of England 
 solely, who by an after transfer of right to the South Sea 
 Company, a company created to delude, and whose foun 
 dation was most evidently in fraud, she, by this sought to 
 fulfil the contract for negroes, coveting as she did, that 
 illicit commerce in South America. Ambition, avarice, 
 distress, disappointment, and a complication of vices, 
 filled all places and hearts in the British nation. Ja 
 maica was the centre of her smuggling operations, and 
 her slave ships, and her slave traders were the ready in 
 struments of her contraband traffic and cupidity. En 
 couraged by English legislation and royal favour, the 
 African Company being also mainly forced and led on, 
 by the British Ministry, successively, for one hundred 
 years, aided by independant traders in slaves, from 
 the mother country, poured their thousands of slaves into 
 the colonies. 
 
 The New England and other colonies, notwithstanding 
 the almost incessant resistance of the colonies of Virginia, 
 Carolina, and afterwards Georgia, constantly crowded 
 the ports of those colonies, indeed those of the entire new 
 world, under British domination, as did the South Sea 
 Company those under Spanish rule, with slaves, being 
 shielded and supported in this right by the assieuto as it 
 has been called, or that part of the treaty of Utrecht, 
 which gave to the British nation the right of trade in 
 slaves for all the western hemisphere. * These slaves 
 were sought for, over thirty degrees on the African 
 Coasts, from Cape Blanco to Loango St. Pauls, and 
 from the Great Desert of Sahara to Angola ; it may be 
 to the land of the Caffres, differing often in color, lan 
 guage, and physical appearance, and, it must be admitted, 
 
37 
 
 often, not only mercifully rescued from a savage state, 
 (perhaps death) but from a harder, a worse bondage, 
 being slaves at home, to become captives for toil in civil 
 ized life. The purchases, when purchases were made at 
 all in Africa, were chiefly with valueless trinkets, baubles 
 and brandy. The slaves procured on these invaluable 
 conditions, were convicts, who were punished with 
 slavery, for crimes, or mulct in a fine which was to be 
 discharged by their sale; or of debtors sold into foreign 
 bondage, of children sold by their parents, and of villagers 
 kidnapped and captives taken in war. But the chief 
 source or fountain from whence slaves were procured, 
 was from the vast number of those who were born in 
 slavery. 
 
 The despotisms, the customs and the superstitions of 
 Africa, have all, all multiplied bondage in that dark con 
 tinent. . In the upper country or the Senegal and the 
 Gambia, three-fourths of the inhabitants are slaves, whose 
 masters are the absolute owners of their children and all 
 that they have. There, the demand for slaves, whether 
 by the Moors, or the slave ships, was absolutely supplied 
 by the natural increase. There humanity, it must be con 
 fessed, not respecting herself, either in her individual, her 
 family, or her national capacity, is debased to the lowest 
 point. If the question be asked, why, notwithstanding 
 the vast number of removals, the number of slaves to this 
 day, is not diminished in Africa ? For they could from 
 those, now in absolute bondage, supply the world with 
 laborers, the answer is just at hand. "There, nature 
 unconscious of its powers, in its depreciated state, and the 
 healthfulness of the climate, which is warm and genial, 
 all conspire to that productiveness in the African race, in 
 their fatherland, which supplies every vacancy, and 
 keeps up the slave as well as free population, though it be 
 subject at various periods to immense drafts." Cruel 
 England only valued Africa, for her returns of slaves. 
 Her baubles sold at one thousand per cent, to them, 
 would not pay the price of exportation, much less yield 
 otherwise a profit. It was the return cargo, a cargo of 
 slaves, that was to bring the pay, which by oppressive 
 enactments to sustain that monopoly, extorted a price 
 4* 
 
38 
 
 the most enormous for them, from, as we have suggested, 
 every landed colonist. They most generally brought 
 from Africa the youth of that land, the aged and helpless 
 being often left to be slaughtered by their African mas 
 ters. African slaves were accustomed to a change of 
 masters. Slavery therefore, to them, was, certainly no 
 new thing, with it they were familiar, but a voyage 
 across the vast Atlantic, whither they knew not, was 
 indeed appalling. 
 
 The avarice of the British slave traders was the only 
 guarantee for their lives. The slaves gathered sorne- 
 limes a thousand miles apart, knew nothing of each other, 
 any more than they knew of their British masters 
 
 England with all her boast of liberty was inexorable 
 in maintaining this slave policy and system, a system 
 w r hich gained new and stronger supporters by its excess, 
 until at least nine millions of slaves were imported to 
 various parts of (he earth, from Airica, chiefly by En 
 glishmen, during the assiento, that most conspicuous fea 
 ture of the Utrecht treaty, into the English, Spanish, and 
 French West Indies, and the colonies of the American 
 continent, including those transported into South America, 
 and perhaps millions thrown overboard, who found at 
 once an end of suffering, and a grave in the Atlantic 
 Ocean. The clear profit of this traffic amounted to at 
 least four hundred millions of dollars, and all this vast 
 amount may be estimated only as the portion of Great 
 Britain chiefly, whilst she enjoyed the slave trade mono 
 poly, and the history of slavery will show that she only 
 imported, on the whole, about one-half taken from Africa. 
 ^Heavens ! how gigantic in crime, must that nation be, 
 that, now makes such a vain boast and show of humanity 
 and liberty ; that talks of a constitution, ih&\ never existed, 
 and a MAGNA (-HARTA, of as little value in the hands of 
 t \ranny, as a piece of blank paper, ("rime was commit 
 ted under the special favour of royalty, the ministry and 
 parliament, and sanctioned by the entire people, so long 
 as it would yield a profit. No general indignation ever 
 rebuked that enormity, but to the reverse, interest, inter 
 est, as it is now, ever has been the ruling principle with 
 England. 
 
39 
 
 Queen Anne ushered in the eighteenth century, with 
 royal instructions to the colonies, to give due encourage 
 ment to the merchants and African Company of England, 
 ibr the importation of slaves, which we see was promptly 
 resisted by Virginia. Resolutions of the House of Com 
 mons, in the days of William and Mary, proposed greater 
 facilities for suppling the colonies with negroes, and de 
 clarative of the vast importance of that trade. In 1708 
 it was declared to be so important that the trade should 
 be free. In 1711 an increase of it was again recommend 
 ed, and in 171S4 queen Anne boasted of finding for Eng 
 lishmen, another Spanish port for selling slaves. In 1729 
 George II. recommended a provision for forts to protect 
 those who were engaged in the slave trade, on the coast 
 of Africa; and in the same year, so important in English 
 estimation was this traffic in slaves, that all ports on the 
 African coasts were declared open to English competition, 
 for the "slave trade," as "the slave trade," to use the 
 language of that declaration, "is very advantageous to 
 Great Britain." , In 1750 the British Senate was engaged X. 
 for two weeks in solemn conclave and debate, to make 
 that trade more effectual and profitable to monopolizing 
 England, and that, notwithstanding forty-six thousand 
 slaves had been sold that year, in British colonies on the 
 continent alone Who will, who can believe it? The 
 result of those deliberations was, that under the treaty of 
 Utrecht, none had a right to participate in that trade but 
 Englishmen. Look at the decision of their judges. Holt 
 and Pollinfex, and eight other judges, had already decided 
 that "negroes are merchandize" property as much so as 
 any commodity, and that therefore, aliens, under the act 
 of navigation, were to be excluded from its benefits. 
 Public opinion favored and sustained this decision. Nei 
 ther philosophy nor religion furnished protection to the 
 African on his native shores, against the oppressive and 
 cruel efforts of this Mistress of the Ocean, to enlarge her 
 borders and increase her wealth, by means of this un 
 righteous and abominable monopoly. Her laws and her 
 deeds were equally regardless of human freedom. In 
 evidence of the truth of this statement, the colonial ne 
 gro who visited England, returned to his home in America 
 
40 
 
 a slave still. He was not free on that "free isle." /The 
 manufacturers also clamored for the protection of a trade 
 which opened to them the African market. They evi 
 dently dictated to England herself, if there had been none 
 other to press on it the subject, of an entire and safe pro 
 tection for, and encouragement to the slave trade. Just 
 at this moment, 1841, for national aggrandizement and 
 the encouragement of a privileged few, possessed of a 
 monopoly, China by England is to be forced, at the can 
 non s mouth, to submit to a trade in opium second 
 hardly to any traffic, in iniquity and wretchedness, that 
 ever existed. Public opinion in England, and the policy 
 of that monarchy, ever unite to sustain any traffic which 
 tends to this aggrandizement ; and from all this it does 
 appear that British policy knows no relentings. 
 
 In the importation of Africans across the vast Atlantic, 
 their cruelty was most manifest, and then by force, im 
 posing them on the colonists, in order evidently, accord 
 ing to their own showing, "to check that spirit of freedom" 
 which was ever manifesting itself, especially among Vir- 
 
 v ginia freemen. . Hence it was that in 1745, was published 
 openly and boldly, by British merchants, that manifesto 
 in which is announced, what they declare to be a fact, 
 "that the African slave trade is the great pillar and sup- 
 
 % port of the British plantation trade in America." , It is 
 said therein, that if it "were possible for white men to 
 answer the end of negroes planting our colonies, it would 
 interfere with the manufactures of these kingdoms ; and 
 in such case, they might have just reasons to dread the 
 prosperity of the colonies; but whilst we can supply them 
 abundantly with negroes, we need be under no such ap 
 prehensions." "Negro laborers," say they, will keep 
 our British colonies in due subserviency to the interest of 
 their mother country, for while our plantations depend 
 only on planting by negroes, our colonies can never prove 
 injurious to British manufacturers and never become in 
 dependent of their kingdom." 
 
 Who can read these cold blooded reasons for such a 
 policy, without looking to the deeds of this same nation, 
 for the support and protection of that policy by the In 
 dian butcheries on our frontier country, of men, women, 
 
41 
 
 and children, with the battle axe, the tomakawk, and 
 bloody scalping knife ? 
 
 For these reasons slavery was almost coeval with the 
 first settlements of South Carolina, on the Ashley river. 
 As its warm climate was more congenial to the African 
 race than that of the north, it of course became a great 
 object with those who owned and desired their services, 
 as well as those not having them, who were disposed to 
 settle there, to procure them, and together take up their 
 abode in a land where winters are comparatively un 
 known. And so far from northern and eastern colonists 
 not participating, by design, in this work of slavery, al 
 most all the history of the times shows, that whilst they 
 at home did actually, directly or indirectly, engage in the 
 trade, by the use of all disposable capital, as far as per 
 mitted by the mother country, those in the personal pos 
 session of slaves were so much attached to s]avery, that 
 as we have seen, they broke up their farms on the Hud 
 son and other places, and removed to Ashley river in 
 South Carolina, where they might stand the better chance 
 of preserving their slave property from sickness and death. 
 These were followed in time by their friends from Europe, 
 because of the prospect of commencing a plantation with 
 slaves at once, under favorable circumstances and the 
 most promising prospects of having healthy laborers. It 
 has been said that those colonies north of Maryland re 
 sisted negro slavery from the beginning; we have seen 
 to the reverse. The Quakers of Pennsylvania were the 
 most obdurate of all masters, excluding their slaves from 
 all the social and public worship of the living God, in 
 unison with them. 
 
 We have seen that Penn, the philanthropic Penn, so 
 far from ever attempting to legislate with his Quaker 
 Assembly for the emancipation of slaves, was himself a 
 slave holder and lived and died such. But little South 
 Carolina, always powerful in intellect and in effort, brave, 
 generous, independent, denounced the entire traffic as 
 iniquitous. As early as 1721 she resisted it, notwith 
 standing the fact, that, as you proceed south the labor 
 of the colored man becomes more and more valuable, on 
 account of his natural adaptation to a warm climate 
 
42 
 
 The Virginia planters, those most dependent on slave 
 labor, also resisted it. Act upon act, as we have adduc 
 ed, was passed to prohibit the importation of slaves within 
 its limits. All would not do. "SPOTTSWOOD plead this 
 resistance as his apology to the mother country, for the 
 small importations of slaves in Virginia." He said that 
 "they imposed a heavy tax to prevent its being done by 
 the African Company." But by royal authority, that act, 
 and every other were repealed to prevent it. The one, 
 passed with reference to female slaves, by which the in 
 stitution might not be prolonged, being particularly repul 
 sive to British policy, was unceremoniously repealed. And 
 it was to this cruel policy of the British government that 
 Mr. Madison long afterward alluded, and also to the 
 colonial legislation on this subject, which was counter 
 acted by English authority, at a time too, when that 
 great statesman was certainly unbiased by hostility to 
 England, who when declaring his testimony, remarked 
 that "the British government constantly checked the at 
 tempt of Virginia to put an end to this infernal traffic" 
 Who is there that has ever examined this subject, that is 
 not ready to pronounce this Virginia censure, on the dark 
 policy of England, most just, and well calculated to ex 
 culpate herself virtually from a participation in slavery, 
 as to its origin within her limits. 
 
 On the settlement of Georgia, Mr. Oglethorpe wrote 
 thus. "My friend and I settled that colony and by our 
 charter, were established trustees. Then we determined 
 not to suffer slavery there, but the slave merchants and 
 their adherents not only caused us much trouble, but at last 
 got the sanction for their admission." Oglethorpe had settled 
 the state of Georgia, with those, who had been rescued 
 from wretchedness, and misery, by the untiring exertions 
 of this most excellent man. He provided all the mea 
 sures necessary to prevent the introduction of slaves, de 
 claring if they were forced on them, he would desert the 
 colony. Alas he could not, "mould the future" and his 
 resolution lasted no longer than he. What could he do 
 against British tyranny? He could not prolong his pow 
 ers, or resist that of Britain, much less British cupidity. 
 It was artfully effected thus. British emissaries begun 
 
43 
 
 to introduce slaves as hirelings for one hundred dollars, 
 said to be from South Carolina, and in a short time, with 
 an effrontery which proved them duly authorised by the 
 British ministry and sovereign, they imported slaves di 
 rectly from Africa, landing them at Savannah in Georgia. 
 The colonists on finding that they were of course author 
 ized by the mother country, so to act, did not dare to en 
 force their own laws ; which had such a direct bearing 
 against those of England, they looked to their charter as 
 containing their rights. They recurred to the wishes of 
 the excellent Oglelhorpe. Then and not till then did 
 they dare to resist ; but behold ! tell it not, say you, pub 
 lish it not ! but faithful history has done it already, the 
 policy of England found a different plan, by which to 
 overcome their conscientious scruples, and these slave- 
 dealers, brought in to their aid the eloquent WHITE- 
 FIELD, to plead the cause of slaves, before the trustees, 
 and to point out the Christianity of slavery. The Mora 
 vians asserted too, with great good sense, that Christian 
 men may hold and govern slaves, in a Christian spit it, and 
 it was agreed that if negroes are treated in a Christian 
 manner, the change from the shores of Africa to those of 
 America would be to them an immense benefit.* 
 
 A message from Germany was "if you take slaves in 
 faith and in intention of conducting them to Christ, the ac 
 tion will not be sin but may prove a benediction." This was 
 their doctrine, and what many believe though they be no 
 slave holders. Is it too strong to say that thus by moving, 
 both heaven and earth, Great Britain sought to accom 
 plish her ends, establish her policy, and aggrandize her 
 citizens, at the expense of the conscience and humanity 
 and the welfare of all the world ? 
 
 We have seen that queen Anne gave royal instructions 
 for the encouragement of the slave trade ; and also that 
 queen Elizabeth, king James, and we may add, George 
 II., and indeed the sovereigns, ministers, parliament, and 
 people of Great Britain, all, all not only encouraged it, 
 but forced in every way, both white and colored slavery, 
 their own interest being the leading motive, on the colo- 
 
 * As authority for the part taken by Mr. Whitefield and the Moravians, see 
 Bancroft s History, subject War with Spain, vol. 3, page 448, and also Url- 
 sperger, iii, 479, and iii, 482. 
 
44 
 
 nists, when they could not effect it otherwise, with all the 
 sanctions of Christianity. Great Britain, we have also 
 seen, steadily rejected the colonial restrictions. She in 
 structed her governors on pain of removal, not to give 
 even a temporary assent to any law, which would favor 
 its prevention. The earl of Dartmouth illustrated the 
 tendency of the colonists to resistance against the policy 
 of England, by addressing to colonial agents, those 
 memorable words, "We cannot allow the colonies to 
 check, or discourage, in any degree, a traffic so b neficial 
 to our nation. 9 This was the secret of the whole matter, 
 and if to her benefit she would engage in it again, "even 
 to-day." We have also seen that against the will of Vir 
 ginia, the Carolinas and Georgia, the English, the Dutch 
 and the Colonists north of the Potomac, were all, in a 
 greater or less degree, engaged in forcing slaves, either 
 directly or indirectly, on those states. In the expansion 
 of population, it is evident that Virginia, the Carolinas, 
 and Georgia have become mostly the sources of that po 
 pulation, which now occupies the states called south 
 western and southern, and any remarks made here, as to 
 slavery in these old slave states, are applicable, virtually, 
 to all the new slave holding states; as those removing, 
 must of course take with them the property which they 
 possess, that is moveable. Indeed in many instances they 
 would not have removed, but to find room and labor for 
 an increased population. 
 
 The question of tolerating the slave trade and that of 
 abolishing slavery in those states, it is apparent, are very 
 different. They rest on different grounds. The states 
 south of the Potomac resisted the traffic, passed laws 
 against it, imposed fines on it ; all of which were repeal 
 ed by the mother country. They were forced against 
 their will, and that will founded in the principle of liberty, 
 not because the African could not inhabit their clime, as 
 was the case north of the Pludson, but because they be 
 lieved it wrong in its origin, and morally wrong to be 
 forced to receive, and have them quartered on them at 
 their own expense. We say they were forced upon them. 
 These southerners had no ships in which to import them, 
 and yet, when imported, they were constrained by an 
 
45 
 
 inhuman and tyrannical government to buy them. An 
 imperial decree went forth that no man should have the 
 right to own and cultivate the soil, unless he should be 
 come the purchaser of at least four slaves for every hun 
 dred acres of land. This law was resisted ; we repeat, 
 it availed not. England said you shall have them. Vir 
 ginia and the southern states said then we must receive 
 them on our own terms. This right was denied them, 
 an interdict thereof was impossible. But the question of 
 abolishing slavery now, when, by the exercise of a power 
 which those states could not control, it was introduced 
 here, is wholly another question. It stands on different 
 grounds altogether. 
 
 When slaves were brought here and placed in their 
 hands, it became a trust it was one they unwillingly re 
 ceived. The other question relates to the exercising that 
 trust, and we think we shall see in the sequel, that we must 
 consult not only their welfare, but our own also, and 
 whilst we do, as far as we can, our duty toward them, 
 we must do also our duty to ourselves and posterity. In 
 the Providence of God the African race are a trust com 
 mitted to the south then, and although against her will, 
 she must do what she can to exalt that race. She has 
 done it, and she will continue to do it, if left to herself. 
 "Originally gross, stupid and undisciplined in the exer 
 cise of reason and imagination, they seemed in their 
 organization analagous to barbarism." Their masters 
 have civilized them, and dependent on them for civi 
 lization and light, initiated into the skill of arts through 
 them, through them only can they, gain a country, friends 
 and a home ; and reposing in them as their protectors 
 and friends, in the proper time be truly a great and 
 happy nation. The slave learns in his second genera 
 tion, at least, to love his master, to become identified 
 with him and his interest, to look to him as his sure 
 friend, and feel most strongly bound to the prosperity and 
 welfare of his master s family. Even then the condition 
 of an African slave in America, is as far superior to that 
 of a chief, on the coasts of Africa, as day is superior to 
 night. 
 
 That America would ultimately benefit Africa, was 
 5 
 
46 
 
 always the apology for the slave trade, and although we 
 do not believe that any benefit could justify the outrage 
 committed by European tyranny and cruelty, on oppressed 
 Africa, still, God, who seeth not as man sees, has already 
 brought, as we plainly see, good out of this enormous 
 evil, and will yet bring greater good from it; in the end 
 permanent benefit to injured Africa. Whilst we cannot 
 and do not plead for, or justify the African slave trade, 
 we must say, that the first ship that brought Africans to 
 America, though in bondage, was in our estimation, the 
 sure pledge of a union of trade and interest between the 
 two races, white and colored, and also that in due time, 
 ships from the new world would carry the equal blessings 
 of Christianity to the burning plains of Nigritia, and that 
 the descendants of bleeding Africa, would toil for and 
 obtain the blessings of European civilization, sit down, as 
 we believe they yet may, in their posterity, under the wide 
 spreading shade of their own lovely palm tree, and bless 
 the God of the white man, on Africa s own vast bosom, 
 that ever they bought, by bondage in a strange land, the 
 blessings of civilized life, and in that land, heard of and 
 felt the power and glory of a living Christianity. 
 
 It must therefore appear obviously to the considerate 
 and intelligent reader, that the following deductions may 
 be legitimately drawn, not from our preceding remarks 
 only, but from the testimony of faithful history. 1. That 
 slavery is an institution older than tradition itself, and 
 that among others who were in slavery in their own 
 native land, are numbered the Africans in all their tribes. 
 
 2. That a portion of those born in slavery, or enslaved 
 to prevent other and greater evils, or perhaps innocently 
 enslaved, were brought originally into the colonies of 
 Virginia, the Carolinas and Georgia, against the will of 
 those colonies, and that by an express law of the mother 
 country, these states were forced to take four slaves for 
 every hundred acres of land which they should own. 
 
 3. That those states, the parents and sources of slavery 
 in the new states, which only received the surplus and 
 emigrating population, descendants of those who, con 
 trary to their wills, were forced on them, cannot be 
 expected and ought not to be required, to turn loose in 
 
47 
 
 their midst, to their own injury, that population which 
 even now is comparatively but in the commencement of 
 civilized and political, as well as mental and moral train 
 ing. And this a population too, against the introduction 
 of which their forefathers regularly protested ; until the 
 time in which they shall themselves deem it proper and 
 safe to remove it. 4. And as it appears that this is the 
 more safe, so it also is apparent that it is the more con 
 sistent with the interests of all, and especially so as 
 slavery has, from time immemorial, as herein shown, 
 formed one of the institutions of every land. And as this 
 is acknowledged and recognized in that revelation which 
 God has made of his will, under both the Old and New 
 Testament dispensations, we shall boldly refer to that 
 revelation. 
 
 But to this last conclusion of ours there is at once an 
 objection stated, and doctor Channing and a host of 
 others are arrayed against us, proscribing all who dare 
 teach such unscriptural doctrine as this. What! that 
 the Old Testament teaches slavery ? Aye, that it does ! 
 But it is still more astonishing the New Testament ac 
 knowledges it, as an institution existing in society and 
 defines the duties of both the master and slave. Yes! 
 the New Testament acknowledges and admits of slavery; 
 and whilst both master and slave are in the possession of 
 true religion, and do their duty to God and man "do as 
 they would be done by" servants are required to serve 
 "as those that, serve the Lord Christ," when serving their 
 masters; and masters, "as those that have a master in 
 heaven !" 
 
 Come then, let us with candor and honesty investigate 
 this subject. We say the Old Testament inculcates sla 
 very, and admits it to be one of the institutions of God s 
 (the Jewish) church. To the law and to the testimony. 
 We therein learn that Abraham, the father of the Faith 
 ful, was the owner of slaves, and a great many of them 
 too, if the Scriptures state, which we know they do, the 
 facts. The children of Israel owned slaves "slaves" 
 "bought slaves" "bond-men" "men" "women," and 
 "children," and this system was carried with them on 
 divine authority, out of Egypt, into the promised land, 
 
48 
 
 At the giving of the law it was ordered, "thou shalt not 
 covet" "thy neighbor s" "man servant nor his maid ser 
 vant" a right of property here being positively affirmed 
 in them, "nor any thing that is thy neighbor s." These 
 were his, as much so as his wife, or his ox, or his ass, 
 or any thing else. Moses says, "the Lord spake 
 from Mount Sinai, saying," &c. Here is a sanction 
 which cannot be questioned by those who pretend to a 
 belief in the authority of the Bible. "Both thy bond-men 
 and bond-maids which thou shalt have, shall be of the 
 heathen that are among you." "Of them shall ye buy 
 bond-men and bond-maids." Is it not remarkable that 
 some men will aver "that there is no authority for slavery 
 in the Bible," when there are precepts both positive and 
 inferential, founded on all the enjoined duties and holy 
 examples of the Scriptures ? Hear another ! "Moreover 
 of the children of strangers that do sojourn among you. 
 Of them shall ye buy, and of their families that are among 
 you, which they begot in your land, and they shall be your 
 possession. They shall be your bond-men forever. " 
 
 We ask now, with due deference, can God s law be 
 against itself? We venture the assertion, that the entire 
 system of slavery as it is set forth in the Old Testament, is 
 all couched in this last quotation. Aye! we venture more, 
 that this is the slavery of the United States to ail intents 
 and purposes. Originally heathen, purchased with money, 
 begot in the land, an inheritance of children. It was 
 such a slavery as old Job had, who possessed "a very 
 great household" of "servants" or slaves. Neither the 
 religion nor government of enlightened nations, is fit for 
 those who are in a barbarous state, until they are 
 enlightened also, and fully instructed in all social du 
 ties and social relations. A new dispensation became 
 necessary, not to abrogate the doctrines of the Old Tes 
 tament, but to modify their operation, so as to render 
 them applicable to a new state of things. The wisest 
 admit "that Christianity is but a revision of the code of 
 laws contained in the Old Testament, and not a system 
 of laws based on contradictory principles." But in this 
 revision we find that slavery, as an institution, is still 
 acknowledged and continued. Christianity was to enter 
 
49 
 
 into and become the source of light to all nations; strange 
 however is it that no passage is found in the New Testa 
 ment where slavery is condemned or prohibited. Paley, 
 "the great anti-slavery moralist," admitted this. Yea, 
 more, "that there is no authority derivable from the New 
 Testament, which justifies the assertion, that slavery is 
 contrary to the law of God." Christianity leaves us 
 where it finds us, as to all our civil rights and obligations, 
 and therefore it neither alters nor ascertains them. The 
 New Testament contains a complete moral code, exem 
 plified by precepts applicable to every circumstance and 
 situation of life. Slavery existed almost universally when 
 Christ s mission was ushered in, and previous to that, 
 from time immemorial, as we have seen. And so far 
 from its being discountenanced, or denounced as contrary 
 to God s law, as a civil institution, Christianity leaves it 
 where it found it. 
 
 It is not the part of Christianity to war against the es 
 tablished rights of property, much less, as it is taught by 
 abolitionists, to endanger the peace and safety of society, 
 inducing, as we shall see, a servile war. Instead of this, 
 the doctrine taught by the first preachers was, "Servants, 
 be obedient to them that are your masters according to 
 the flesh, with fear and trembling, with singleness of 
 heart as to Christ, not with eye service as men-pleasers, 
 but as servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the 
 heart. With good will doing service as unto the Lord 
 and not to man. Knowing that whatsoever good thing 
 any man doth, the same shall he receive of the Lord 
 whether he be bond or free. And ye masters do the 
 same thing, forbearing threatening, knowing that your 
 Master is also in heaven, neither is there respect of per 
 sons with him." St. Paul came clothed with authority 
 from God, and divinely inspired. May we not ask if 
 slavery had been this mighty sin, when it had already be 
 come an institution of a country, and especially a slavery 
 forced on men, "worse," as abolitionists say, "than mur 
 der and piracy," and other vile crimes, as we shall see 
 in another place, would he denounce murderers, adulter 
 ers, and drunkards, and not those slave holders? Do pray 
 let those who believe in the divine mission of Christ and 
 5* 
 
50 
 
 his apostles answer. "To discharge slaves from all obli 
 gations," says Doctor Paley, "to obey their masters, 
 which is the consequence of pronouncing it to be unlaw 
 ful, would have no other effect than to let loose one-half 
 of mankind upon the other, the most calamitous of all 
 contests, a servile Bellum, might probably have ensued, 
 to the reproach, if not the extinction of the Christian 
 name." Here is the testimony of one of the greatest 
 anti-slavery men that perhaps ever existed. This does 
 not look much like abolitionism. "To introduce such a 
 state would certainly not have been," says the doctor, "to 
 Jove their neighbors as themselves," or "to do as we 
 would be done by." 
 
 We again say, that as the New Testament does ex 
 pressly sanction slavery, when it has become by the 
 force of circumstances, an institution of a country, it can 
 not certainly under the circumstances, which we have 
 already shown, be contrary to the law of God. And 
 where it is thus an institution of a country, submission to 
 it as one of the laws of that country, can never be con 
 strued, under the New Testament, into a violation of 
 God s law. How strange, then, does it appear to the 
 unsophisticated reader of the New Testament, to learn 
 from the holy evangelists, that our Lord Jesus, the divine 
 author of his gospel, never once uttered a single sentence 
 against slave holding, that heinous crime which abolition 
 ists say is "worse than piracy and murder." We know 
 that at the time of our Lord s personal ministry, a system 
 of slavery existed under the Roman government, which in 
 point of severity iar exceeded that of the United States; 
 and yet he and his disciples, in no one instance, bore tes 
 timony against it as such a heinous crime in the sight of 
 God. If it were, is it not strange, passing strange, that 
 our Lord did not abrogate that part of the law the mo 
 ral law, which as much forbids the coveting of a man s 
 "man-servant" as the coveting any other species of "pro 
 perty?" Why did he not except this when he said, "I 
 am not come to destroy the law but to fulfil?" To say 
 that it ought to be done, and Christ did not do it, is, im 
 piously to charge the Son of God with an ignorance of 
 his mission, of the moral power of his own gospel, or a 
 
51 
 
 most unaccountable omission to explain and enforce it. 
 In the gospel of Luke, slavery is actually acknowledged 
 by our divine Master in these words, "But which of you 
 having a servant ploughing or feeding cattle will say unto 
 him by and by, when he is come from the field: Go and 
 sit down to meat? And will not rather say unto him, 
 make ready wherewith I may sup, and gird thyself and 
 serve me, till I have eaten and drunken, and afterward 
 thou shall eat and drink 1 Doth he thank that servant 
 because he did the things commanded him I I trow not." 
 Luke xvii, 7, 8, 9. 
 
 The above expression, "which of you having a ser 
 vant/ may, and we believe ought to be translated which of 
 you owning a slave. There were no servants but slaves 
 at that time under the Roman law, by which the Jews 
 and our Lord too, who said, "Render unto Caesar the 
 things that are Caesar s," when he paid tribute for him 
 self and Peter, were all alike governed. We presume Dr. 
 Parkhurst, an Englishman, and an eminent divine, as well 
 as one of the most renowned Greek and Hebrew schol 
 ars of his day, ought to be good evidence as to the 
 meaning of the term, even with "abolitionists," who bow 
 with such profound respect before British liberty. On 
 the word "DOULOS," which is used two or three times in 
 its terminations in the text just quoted, the doctor says it 
 means "one in a servile state, a servant or slave," making 
 slave and servant synonimous, as they actually are, and 
 then goes on to show how it is applied to Christ, who 
 took upon himself the "form of a servant" or slave, and 
 to Christ s followers, who are the "servants," slaves of 
 the living God, as being not their "own, but bought with 
 a price." I cannot but insert here some of the judicious 
 remarks of the doctor on this subject. 
 
 First he quotes sundry texts to illustrate his meaning 
 and prove it correct. Mat. x, 24. Mat. xxi, 34, 35, 36. 
 "And when the time of the fruit drew near he sent his 
 servants" (slaves) "to the husbandmen, that they might 
 receive the fruits of it." "And they took his servants," 
 (slaves) "and beat one, killed another, &c., and again he 
 sent other servants" (slaves) "more than the first," &c. 
 So in Mat. xxv, 21, and the following verses, "well done 
 
52 
 
 good and faithful servant," (slave.) "His Lord (his mns- 
 ter) shall say enter thou into the joy of thy Lord." So 
 in 1 Cor. vii,20, 21, and following verses, "Let every man 
 abide in the same calling wherein he is called." "Art 
 thou called being a servant," (a slave) "care not for it, 
 but if thou mayest be free, use it the rather." "Brethren, 
 let every man wherein he is called, therein abide with 
 God." Eph. vi, 5, and other texts quoted by the doctor, we 
 have quoted already, or they may be seen by a reference 
 to his excellent Lexicon. He next proceeds to give a 
 description of the condition of these (servants) or slaves, 
 at the time when Christianity and its author acknowledg 
 ed the obligations of servi ude with faithfulness to their 
 masters. "The common lot of slaves in general," says 
 the doctor, quoting Dr. John Taylor s Elements of Civil 
 Law, "was with the ancients in many circumstances very 
 deplorable. Of their situation take the following in 
 stances: They were held pro nulhs, pro mortuis, pro 
 quadrupt dibus, for no men, for dead men, for beasts ; 
 nay! were in a much worse state than any cattle what 
 ever. They had no head in the state, no tribe, no name 
 or registry. They were not capable of being injured ; nor 
 could they take by purchase or descent; had no heirs, 
 arid therefore could make no will. Exclusive of what 
 was called their peculium, whatever they acquired was 
 their master s. They could not plead nor be impleaded,but 
 were excluded from all civil concerns whatsoever; were 
 not entitled to the rights and considerations of matri 
 mony, and therefore had no relief in case of adultery, 
 nor were they the proper objects of cognation or affinity. 
 They could be sold, transferred or pawned as goods, or 
 personal estate ; for goods they were, and such were they 
 esteemed. They might be tortured for evidence, punish 
 ed at the discretion of their lord, (master,) and even put 
 to death by his authority, together with many other civil 
 incapacities, which we have not room to enumerate." 
 "Truly deplorable," continues the doctor, "was the legal 
 estate of these unhappy persons under the Roman gov 
 ernment." "I have the rather," says he, "transcribed 
 the above affecting account of slavery according to the 
 Roman law, because by it we shall be the better enabled 
 
53 
 
 to enter into the full meaning and spirit of several pas 
 sages of the New Testament, particularly those in the 
 Epistles of St. Paul." To several of those passages the 
 attention of the reader has been already turned. And 
 thus he will see that servant (DOULOS) and slave are sy- 
 nonimous terms. And it is on this very account that 
 among the Hebrews and neighboring nations, the greater 
 part of the servants, if not all, being in bondage, were 
 called slaves, as they belonged absolutely to their masters, 
 who had the right to dispose of their persons, goods, and 
 in some cases, even their lives. 
 
 Now is it not remarkable, that our Lord and his apos 
 tles, should address such and command them to "be obe 
 dient to their own masters in all things? The reason 
 ableness of such a requisition is apparent. Even if the 
 body be killed, the soul cannot, and it is better for one to 
 suffer, than the interest and peace of the whole to be up 
 turned. The penalty of all war in that day, as it is now 
 in Africa, Turkey and other parts, was, when overcome 
 in battle, that the conquered should go into captivity, and 
 become slaves. To prevent future slaughter and harm, 
 this plan for ages, has been adopted by many nations. 
 It \vas so when the Christian church was first instituted, 
 and in view of its origin, of all its overwhelming suffer 
 ings and degradation, we find the New Testament writers, 
 enforcing on slaves, their duty, and 1. declaring that it is 
 fit, and right, that they should obey, 2. that it is accord 
 ing to the express commandment of God, 3. that upon 
 the whole this course is for the interest of both soul and 
 body. And 4. that such a course would bring to our 
 holy religion the greatest credit and honor, whilst, on 
 masters they enforced each reciprocal and corresponding 
 duty. Hear for a moment the advice and commands 
 to servants as set forth in God s Word. Their duties are 
 to be discharged or performed with "humility, fidelity, 
 diligence and cheerfulness." Thus, "exhort servants to 
 be obedient unto their own masters, and to please them 
 well in all things not answering again, not purloining, but 
 showing all good fidelity, that they may adorn the doc 
 trine of God our Saviour in all things," Titus ii, 9, 10. 
 And also, "who then is that faithful and wise servant," 
 
54 
 
 saith our Lord, "whom his Lord hath made ruler over 
 his household, to give them their meat in due season. 
 Blessed is that servant whom his Lord when he cotneth 
 shall find so doing." But, and if that servant "shall begin 
 to smite his fellow servants and eat and drink with the 
 drunken," then shall he have the merited displeasure of 
 his Lord, Matt, xxiv, 45, et seq. 
 
 We might pursue our quotations from, and remarks 
 upon God s Holy Word, in which it is evident the duties 
 of both master and servant are clearly set forth; it never 
 being the intention of the scripture system of religion, to 
 upturn the relations of human life, but to enforce alike on 
 husbands and wives, parents and children, masters and 
 servants, rulers and subjects, the absolute necessity of 
 manifesting their faith in Christ, and the power of this re 
 ligion, by discharging with humility, fidelity, diligence 
 and cheerfulness, the duties of their various relations. 
 This will be still more apparent by a moment s considera 
 tion of the case of Onesimus, formerly the wicked slave 
 of PHILEMON a Christian master. He had runaway from 
 this master, and not only subjected him to the loss of his 
 time and service, but from what St. Paul says, it is evi 
 dent, as I presume none will deny, that he considered 
 Philemon justly entitled in money or property, to a remu 
 neration for the loss of that time. What does the apostle 
 say and do. He writes a letter to Philemon declarative 
 of his conviction of the justice of such a claim. Yea 
 more! he sends the converted Onesimus, dear as a son 
 and especially necessary to him, in such a time of exigen 
 cy ; he then being in prison, orders him to submit to his 
 lawful master, and pledges himself to that master as se 
 curity that he should have ample remuneration, for the 
 past unfaithfulness and unprofitableness of this runaway 
 slave. How unlike the example of those who seeking to 
 upturn the government and laws of one portion of this 
 union, by interfering with and violating the rights of 
 others, rob them of that which is their property, under the 
 constitution and laws of the several states, as much so at 
 least as was Onesimus the property of his master Phile 
 mon, according to the laws of Rome and the teaching of 
 the apostle. 
 
55 
 
 From all that has been said on this subject, we are forced 
 to conclude that there is not only herein an acknowledg 
 ment of slavery, but that there also is enforced the neces 
 sity of obedience to masters throughout the holy Scrip 
 tures. We have seen that Noah foretold the servitude 
 of the descendants of Ham, Gen ix, 25. And although 
 the descendants of Abraham valued themselves on their 
 liberty, saying, "we were never in bondage to any man," 
 John viii, 33. Yet were the Hebrews subject to several 
 princes, not as freemen and citizens, but as slaves to the 
 Egyptians, Philistines, the Chaldeans, Grecians, and Ro 
 mans, to each in succession, were they not only politically 
 subject, but in a state of absolute servitude and bondage. 
 We have also seen that under the law of Moses, there 
 were two sorts of servitude, as there are now among us, 
 one conditional the other unconditional. The Hebrew 
 conditional servant or slave, was to be free, if he desired 
 it, on the year of jubilee; if not to have his ears bored 
 and be a slave for life, as he could not possibly live to ano 
 ther jubilee, But those who were able were permitted to 
 own foreign slaves; slaves obtained by capture, by pur 
 chase, or born in their own houses. We have also seen 
 that over these, masters had an entire or unlimited autho 
 rity. They might sell them, exchange them, punish them, 
 judge them, and even put them to death without a public 
 judicial process. In this the Hebrews followed the rules 
 common to other nations, except as they were modified 
 by the humane precepts of the Mosaic code. Whoever 
 will read attentively the 21st chap, of Exodus will readily 
 see, that a Hebrew himself might fall into slavery several 
 ways. Thus, 1. if reduced to extreme poverty he might 
 sell himself. "If thy brother that dwelleth by thee be 
 waxen poor and be sold unto thee," &c. Lev. xxv,39. Again 
 2. a father might sell his own children according to Exo 
 dus, xxi, 27. "And if a man sell his daughter to be a 
 maid servant, she shall not go out as the men servants 
 do." 3. Insolvent debtors might be delivered to their 
 creditors as slaves. Thus 2 Kings iv, 1. Where a pro 
 phet s wife is heard crying to Elisha, that her husband 
 was dead "and the creditor," said she, "is come to take 
 unto him my two sons to be bond-men." Again, thieves 
 
56 
 
 not able to make restitution for their thefts, or the value 
 of the stolen goods, were sold for the benefit of those, 
 from whom they had stolen those articles. As in Exo 
 dus xxii, 3. 4. He shall "make restitution ; if he have 
 nothing, then shall he be sold for his theft." So also they 
 might, make prisoners of war, slaves, as in the case of 
 the seven nations. But when a Hebrew slave was re 
 deemed from Gentile bondage by one of his brethren, he 
 might be sold by him to another Israelite; but his master 
 by redemption or purchase, had no right to sell him out 
 of his country. In other respects he was absolute master 
 of him and his. Here was the economy of the Old Tes 
 tament church. 
 
 We have also seen that so far from an alteration being 
 made under the New Testament, the gospel came to the 
 nations of the earth not to interfere in their political in 
 stitutions, but as it found them, so it pointed out the rela 
 tive dutie^of each, that rjeace, harmony, and happiness 
 might be diffused abroad. Let not any man that reads 
 the foregoing, or the subsequent remarks on this subject, 
 think that they are intended as a plea for slavery, view 
 ed in the^abstract. O no! We believe that slavery has 
 its evil consequences.that these in many instances are 
 evil, only evil; but tHat the evil consequences belong 
 mostly to the master and his, not to the slave. In a col 
 lective capacity we have shown that their condition is 
 comparatively an exalted one. Formerly that condition 
 was savage, now it is civilized. We have shown that 
 they are a trust committed to the Southern States origin 
 ally against their wills, and against the colonial protests, 
 backed with all the power that they had. We have 
 shown that effort after effort was used to prevent this 
 evil, and since that it was imposed upon them, we know 
 that they have done much to remedy it. We have seen 
 that Christianity, carrying out the principles of morality, 
 that morality jnculcated in the moral lawTdelivered by 
 Moses on the mount, does not interfere in it, only to pro 
 duce in the master all that kindness and love, which 
 shall tend to ameliorate the condition of the slave, and 
 lead him to everlasting life. We have also seen that it 
 points out to the slave his duty, and that there is in it 
 
57 
 
 the acknowledgment of slavery, as an institution of a 
 country, certainly proper under some circumstances at 
 least. When the condition of Virginia and the South is 
 brought up to the rule of right the standard of God s 
 Word, if there be now, or ever was a nation free from 
 the charge of entering voluntarily into slavery, it is 
 most certainly that part of our country. And as we 
 have before suggested, the population of Kentucky, Ten 
 nessee, Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas, Missouri, Louisi 
 ana and Florida, is virtually but the expansion and ex 
 tension of that of Virginia, the Carolinas and Georgia, if 
 we except that portion of the slave population introduced 
 into the Louisiana country, previously to its purchase by 
 the United States of America, by the original French 
 emigrants. We cannot, we must not forget, that the 
 Old States resisted the introduction of slaves into their 
 borders constantly before the revolutionary war. After 
 that period, in their own legislative assemblies, and in the 
 convention for preparing and adopting a constitution for 
 the United States, it is notorious that Virginia and North 
 Carolina continued faithful, these states manfully fought 
 against the slave trade, and were only forced to consent 
 to its continuance, until the year 1808, by the votes of 
 New Hampshire, Massachusetts and Connecticut, who 
 came in to the help of those states which desired it. This 
 is a curious fact that faithful history has already record 
 ed, and one, too, to which we shall feel bound to refer at 
 another time. 
 
PART II. 
 
 THE FALLACY OF THAT APPLICATION WHICH DR. CHANNING HAS 
 MADE OF THE ABSTRACT PRINCIPLES OF THE MORAL LAW 
 AND NATURAL RIGHTS TO MEN, WITHOUT RESPECT TO THEIR 
 RELATIONS, THE REVEALED WILL OF GOD RESPECTING THOSE 
 RELATIONS, AND THE VOLITION OF THE PARTIES CONCERNED 
 IN THE PREMISES. THAT SLAVERY, AS IT EXISTS IN VIR 
 GINIA AND THE SOUTH, OUGHT, THEREFORE, TO BE RELA 
 TIVELY CONSIDERED. 
 
 IF we understand that system of revelation contained 
 in the Bible, man was originally endowed with great in 
 tellectual powers, with a capacity to see and feel his duty ; 
 and this knowledge of it, was communicated to him by 
 his Creator. He was not left to find it out by reflection 
 and reasoning, but was made acquainted with his rela 
 tions, and the obligations resulting from them, at once. 
 It is true, that in consequence of sin, this light became 
 dim, and the moral code of the heathen at least, became 
 imperfect, as it left out some duties and exhibited others, 
 only in a mutilated form. Nevertheless some notion of 
 the moral law has been widely diffused, and traces of it 
 may be discovered, even among the most barbarous and 
 savage nations. So that according to the apostolic de 
 claration, the Gentiles, who have not the written law, 
 do by nature the things enjoined by it, and show "that 
 the work of the law is written upon their hearts," by the 
 operations of conscience, which sometimes accuses, and 
 at others excuses them. See Rom. ii, 14. And whether 
 we view this as the result of tradition, or of reasoning, or 
 the remnant of that revelation once given, or a part of 
 the law and constitution of our nature, it is the same. 
 
60 
 
 they perceive the propriety and impropriety of certain 
 actions. As to the sources. of this knowledge there is 
 a diversity of opinion, as well as a difference about the 
 grounds or reasons of moral obligation. With regard to 
 this last point, some will say we are to perform good ac 
 tions because it is right we should do so, others will, 
 and do strenuously contend it should be done, because 
 they are conformable to reason and nature. A third, 
 because they are conformable to truth ; a fourth, because 
 they are agreeable to the fitness of things ; a fifth, be 
 cause of the. genera] good to which they contribute. 
 The fitness of things has been much insisted on by all 
 metaphysical writers. Their abstruse speculations, hard 
 ly to be comprehended, even by the learned, could never 
 be intended as the ground of moral action to mankind at 
 large, and we must look for one more simple and easy to 
 be understood by all capacities. 
 
 As nothing is more erroneous, so nothing can be more 
 unprofitable than vain speculations on abstract moral 
 principles. Whoever has properly considered the law 
 of God, must have been forcibly struck with the fact, 
 that it ever acknowledges the varied relations of man, 
 and only points out his duty, as expressed by the Creator, 
 in view of those relations. The moral law has been by 
 some denominated an epitome or transcript of the Di 
 vine Mind, and consequently, an expression of the will 
 of our Creator, TO whom the good is ever acceptable, 
 and who must be averse in his nature to that which is 
 properly evil. As God is immutable, so he must have 
 been always good, and consequently, have at this mo 
 ment the same view r s, if we may so speak, of wrong and 
 right which he has ever had. That is to say, what was 
 opposed to the moral law at the creation, must be now 
 opposed to it, for, as it is an epitome of the divine 
 mind, it must simply be God s eternal decision within 
 himself, as to wrong and right. The moral law, as pro 
 claimed to Moses, (not the ceremonial or political,) has 
 been construed to be an expression of this mind. It is 
 denominated moral because it respects moral actions, not 
 ceremonial observances ; to distinguish it from positive 
 precepts which were only of temporary obligation. This 
 
61 
 
 moral law has evidently no relation to time or place, or 
 to one nation more than another : and being founded in 
 their relations to the Creator, and to one another, must 
 retain its authority under every dispensation. Our own 
 opinion is, that there is no obligation without a law, and 
 the knowledge of that law ; nor can there be a law 
 without the will of a superior. If a man act contrary to 
 the fitness of things, or utility or general happiness, &c., 
 you may pronounce him unreasonable, but cannot call 
 him criminal. He may subject himself to inconvenience 
 and even suffering, but he is only foolish, not guilty. The 
 utility of a moral rule is taught by some, as the ground 
 of obligation; and hence whatever is expedient, is by 
 them said to be "right." Paley says, " Actions are to be 
 estimated by their tendency/ Now the fact is, we are 
 ignorant and incapable of judging of the tendency of 
 actions to a good and proper end. We know not whe 
 ther they are for the ultimate happiness or misery of our 
 fellow creatures. And whilst abstractly we confess this 
 is right, or that is wrong, when we view men under the 
 providential circumstances and relations of life, we are 
 called to discharge our duty with respect to these rela 
 tions; submitting to infinite wisdom, what we can nei 
 ther comprehend nor account for, and acknowledging 
 God s will, w r hen expressed, as the law or rule of our 
 obligation. We are not to confound the effects of a law 
 with the reason of it, nor are we to conclude that because 
 laws are productive of happiness, they are intended to 
 accomplish this end, according to a plan or design in 
 perfect accordance with mortals views. They may re 
 sult from the nature of things, or the relations which 
 subsist in the universe, and the good resulting from them, 
 may be, and doubtless is, but a consequence of the be 
 nevolence which gave existence to the system of creation. 
 Now it is apparent that the details of morality will be 
 affected by the principle which is assumed as its founda 
 tion, or by the rule of action which is established. We 
 are not to believe that the same conclusions will be drawn 
 by. the person that founds it in the fitness of things, and 
 he that places it in general utility. This forces us to a 
 conclusion that obligation is dependent on, and founded 
 6* 
 
62 
 
 in the will of our creator, as expressed and properly ap 
 plied to the relations of life: benighted reason being no 
 more a proper guide, than abstract ideas concerning the 
 moral law, without reference to God s expressed will. It 
 is, in view of a revelation to us, evident, that an ex 
 pression of God s will determines the morality of our 
 actions in connection with the circumstances in which 
 we are placed. Upon due consideration, it will also be 
 found that the will of our Creator is to be the rule of our 
 lives, and by it is to be also determined the morality of 
 an action. What would be abstractly considered a sin, 
 because a violation of the moral law, would be right, 
 when He who is our superior and Creator commands or 
 evidently points out, that it jshould be done. We take as 
 illustrative of our meaning a few examples. The com 
 mand of God to the Israelites to destroy the seven Ca- 
 naanitish nations; men, women, and innocent children. 
 Was it right or wrong to do it ? Was it not a violation 
 of the command, "thou shalt not kill?" Is not all war, 
 whether offensive or defensive, a violation of this com 
 mand? Was not the order to slay Agag and his subjects 
 a violation of it ? We ask then, wherein consists the mo 
 rality or immorality of obedience, or its opposite? Is it 
 not in the expressed will of the Creator, under the cir 
 cumstances, and if so, is war, though in it we kill, under 
 all its varied circumstances, an infringement of the mo 
 ral law? Is it a moral evil? If so once, must it not be so 
 always? Is not its morality or immorality dependent on 
 a law, prescribing the relations of life, or on the express 
 ed will of the Creator? Take another case! It is said 
 "thou shalt not commit adultery." "Thou shalt not covet 
 thy neighbor s wife," &c. And yet how is it that poly 
 gamy was allowed even in Abraham, "the father of the 
 faithful," a "wife of whoredoms" in Hosea, and that Da 
 vid and Solomon should have "many wives?" Is not the 
 moral law unalterable? Take then the same principle 
 and apply it to the subject of slavery. Whilst every man 
 will say that slavery in the abstract is wrong, and irre- 
 concileable with the principles of right as set forth in the 
 moral law abstractly considered ; who will say that un 
 der every circumstance slavery is a moral evil, an in- 
 
63 
 
 fringement of the moral law, any more than he will say 
 that Abraham was guilty of murder, when by the com 
 mand of God he made ready to slay his "only son Isaac." 
 The question is simply this, is slavery, under all circum 
 stances, a moral evil a violation of the moral law?. 
 
 Now we have proved that long before the delivery of 
 the decalogue, there were not only slaves among idola 
 trous nations, but that the patriarchs had them. Noah 
 prophetically foretold the slavery of a part of his 
 posterity as already qu<fted, and the decalogue itself ac 
 knowledged it, "thou shalt not covet thy neighbor s man 
 servant nor maid -servant," &c., and we deny that it is a 
 violation of that law under all circumstances. That 
 slavery is an evil wherever it may exist we readily admit, 
 and that it is the part of the Christian philanthropists, to 
 prepare the way for relieving his country from it, we 
 also admit. But we cannot admit that, as it exists in most 
 parts of the United States, it is a moral evil, because of 
 its connexion with other circumstances. That these may 
 exist and that under them, the act of holding slaves is not 
 a sin against God, and that property in man has been 
 under some such circumstances recognized in the divine 
 law, and is still so recognized is apparent. Not only 
 so, but there are doubtless circumstances, where it is not 
 only lawful, but a duty to hold slaves, when, without a 
 change of circumstances, the act of liberation would be a 
 sin against God, and one too of the most cruel character. 
 We have seen that thg question of right and wrong is 
 universally decided in connexion with circumstances and 
 not abstractly. It is apparent that every sin according 
 to the morality of the Bible, must be an act attended by 
 a number of circumstances, which are essential to the 
 commission of crime. With all these circumstances there 
 may be sin, without any one of them, though there may 
 be a violation of a commandment, there is no sin; and 
 by parity of reason a commandment, obeyed, not in the 
 proper spirit, or attended with all its legitimate circum 
 stances, is no obedience to God at all. And, if we have 
 proved, and we believe we have, that the circumstances, 
 attendant upon slavery, in the United States, not as to its 
 origin ; but as to its continuance, until a proper time for 
 
64 
 
 its relief, are of such character, it is not a sin. On what 
 ever ground the precepts of the moral law may be sup 
 posed to rest, the reason why we are bound to obey them, 
 is the will of God. This makes them law to us, and not 
 our perceptions of their fitness or utility. That only, is 
 a law, which proceeds from the will of a superior, obedi 
 ence and authority are correlates, the one supposes the 
 other. To us who enjoy revelation, questions concerning 
 the abstract foundations of morality, are unnecessary, and 
 the best thing which can be said of them is, that they are 
 idle speculations, because our morality will not constitute 
 a part of religion, unless it respects his will. The man 
 who believes that his duty is enjoined by the authority of 
 God, possesses all the requisite knowledge for practical pur 
 poses, and tliis will, under the circumstances, he must be 
 governed by, a true knowledge of the subject and duty 
 arising in the proper consideration of those circumstances. 
 When we attempt to derive our obligations from any 
 other source, we turn morality into a matter of calcula 
 tion. We are incompetent to decide as to general good, 
 or as to the fitness of things; we decide only as God s 
 word allows or commands under existing circumstances. 
 This brings our duty within the scope of every man. 
 From the Old Testament we have seen that property in 
 man however some may stare at it, was allowed, and 
 moreover that slavery in some form existed not only at 
 the patriarchal day, but from time immemorial. That 
 God not only permitted it, but absolutely provided for its 
 perpetuity. That in the precepts of the New Testament 
 the relation of master and slave is not only acknowledged, 
 but remained undisturbed, each one having his appropri 
 ate duty pointed out, and that the rights of the master as 
 the owner of slave property, are protected by express 
 law. The act of holding a slave then under all circum 
 stances, God being judge, is not a sin. 
 
 All therefore, that doctor Channing has said on the 
 subject of slavery as a sin, is of no avail, when viewed 
 in the lights of revelation, and in connexion with sur 
 rounding circumstances. We admit with him that men 
 have sacred rights, and women and children too. We go 
 farther, and say, that the rights of men are different from 
 
65 
 
 those of women, under God s law, because that their cir 
 cumstances are different; and that the rights of children 
 are different from both, for the same reason. Moreover 
 it is evident that doctor Channing agrees with us in this. 
 Let us refer to his chapter of explanations, given to 
 prevent the misapplication of his own principles. We 
 agree with the Doctor, as to many of the evils of slavery, 
 but our views as to the means of removing it, are very 
 different; and \ve differ with him on abolitionism "toto 
 cdo." 
 
 Having made these remarks on moral obligation, and 
 on slavery in general, we propose distinctly to consider 
 what has been said by doctor Channing and others, on it 
 as it exists in the United States, and of the duties of those 
 states in which it exists, under present circumstances. 
 Now, whilst we most cheerfully accord to the Doctor, the 
 meed of praise for his attainments and his professed dis 
 interested benevolence, we are forced to the conclusion, 
 that like too many others, he has every kind of sense but 
 common sense. If he would only look at things as they 
 exist, and then seek a remedy, all might be well; for the 
 lack of this, we find a combination of abstract principles, 
 which, on account of circumstances, as we believe it is 
 easy to prove, are almost wholly inapplicable to this im 
 portant subject a subject of vital interest to all that por 
 tion of the United States, south of the Potomac. The 
 phrases "rights of man," "natural rights," &c. have been 
 well pronounced to be, by an estimable author, Mr. J. 
 L. Carey, very, ambiguous terms, on which it is unsafe to 
 bottom general reasonings. As rights are most evidently 
 conditional, the proper measure of them is to be found in 
 the character of the man. Thus to the possession of every 
 right, is annexed the performance of a corresponding 
 duty, as the tenure by which it is held. This performance 
 ceasing, the right evidently fails. Not. that certain rights 
 are attached to certain duties, by way of recompense, for 
 the sake of which a man is called on to perform the duties, 
 but in the nature of things, this very connection exists. 
 There is nothing of exaction or oppression in one man s 
 possessing rights more extensive than another, for they 
 are almost instinctively awarded to him. The principle 
 
66 
 
 upon which a person refrains from violating the estate of 
 his neighbor, is of a kindred nature with that which 
 prompts one to pay respect to a good and great man, 
 venerable by age, and still more august by reason of a 
 life of honorable services. In proportion as new relations 
 arise, a man s rights enlarge. A man acquires a right to 
 land by improving it, supposing it to have been before 
 common. That is, a value is imparted to it, which being 
 derived from himself, constitutes it his own peculiar pro 
 perty. Are the rights of the philosopher and the untaught 
 savage the same? Are the rights of the holy Christian 
 and the profligate wretch identical ? Or those of the vir 
 tuous woman and the prude? We know that much is 
 said, and much too has been written about "inalienable 
 rights," all which seem to us absurd, unless they be in 
 herent and absolute. If they can be acquired they may 
 be lost, and the daily decisions of courts of justice prove 
 it; and whilst we admit that all men have the right to 
 political freedom, we can easily see how a people may, 
 by their ignorance and vices not only prove, but actually 
 render themselves unfit for its enjoyment or exercise. 
 Take then such a people and place them on an equality 
 in every respect, with the most refined, the civilized and 
 the virtuous. Who does not see that it would be to plunge 
 one or the other into scenes of violence and bloodshed, so 
 that despotism the vilest, must necessarily ensue ? It has 
 been well said, that "such a people are not made slaves by 
 the usurpation of a king, they make themselves slaves." 
 Yes ! slaves of the most degraded character ! We do 
 not mean by these remarks, to say that personal freedom 
 is not the undoubted right which every man ought to 
 possess, because no man ought to render himself or pos 
 terity incapable of using it properly. Who will admit 
 that slavery, as a permanent institution of a country, is 
 right ? Not one perhaps, if it be viewed in the abstract. 
 But those who are acquainted with no other condition 
 than that of servitude, who are satisfied with their situa 
 tion, and desire no other, being unfit for it, are not only 
 unconscious of injury, but indeed suffer none, except so 
 far as the power of the master is used in a tyrannical 
 manner, for purposes of cruelty or mere gain, and with 
 
67 
 
 no view of elevating the slave, in order that he and his 
 posterity may ultimately emerge with safety, into a con 
 dition that is more becoming and congenial with the 
 nature of a rational intelligence. 
 
 And from this view of the subject, we think that poli 
 tical slavery is the only suitable condition for some people 
 for a time, and indeed, that personal servitude on account 
 of the imbecility of others, is their most appropriate 
 station. 
 
 In view then of these principles, it is obvious that it is 
 only by reason of the conditions of the case, that this re 
 lation becomes proper at all, as we have already argued. 
 "Who finds fault with a child because he is not a man? 
 Or who expects from him the government of a man ?" is 
 asked by one. Does not, we will ask, parental authority 
 find restraint over children indispensable, and will any 
 complain of it as tyrannical? Can any man suppose 
 that the same rule of subordination is equally appli 
 cable to the strong and imbecile, the learned and the 
 untaught, the civilized and barbarian ? Indeed civili 
 zation and barbarism are extremes, the one takes the 
 position of personal control, the other of personal servi 
 tude, This will lead, as has been justly said when decid 
 ing on the morality of slavery, to an inquiry into the true 
 condition of the enslaved. " Were they free and civilized 
 before ?" is a very important question. Were they capa 
 ble of self-government? If they were, then the most in 
 calculable injury has been done them. Take the case of 
 Poland as enslaved by Russia, and Greece as enslaved 
 by Turkey. Here the injury was extreme, and their sub 
 jugation most unjust. So also has violence been used in 
 their government ? God s law would condemn it, but even 
 in this, men run into absurdities, where they abstractly 
 consider them, without regard to condition. For although 
 slavery, from its great liability to abuse, may become the 
 greatest evil that can befal a man, yet it is certain that it 
 may be a voluntary, and indeed sometimes a necessary 
 relation, which may subsist to the mutual advantage of 
 both parties, to the benefit of both master and slave. It 
 may be also most easily perceived, how the Almighty 
 God may design a blessing to a degraded people, by plac- 
 
68 
 
 ing them in bondage, among a civilized community, no 
 with a view to perpetuate slavery as such, but as tht 
 means of receiving the elements of useful knowledge anc 
 morals, and return the same back on the bosom of tha 
 community from which they sprang. We are sure heathen; 
 could not well receive the elements of civilization in anj 
 other way. True, the course of discipline is a severe one 
 but can an individual attain to wisdom and virtue withou 
 schooling? Certainly not. And how could it be other 
 wise with a nation ? Besides, this process must be in tht 
 same ratio with the state of degradation. And we affirn 
 it as our opinion, that so far from slavery being the vio 
 lation of all rights, and the consummation of all wrongs 
 we cannot conceive how an uncivilized race can exis 
 among civilized communities, if brought thither, in an} 
 other relation. Could they maintain any other, until aftei 
 a due course of instruction and discipline, with pru 
 dence and safety to both parties, that relation might be 
 changed ? Does not all history prove that an ignoran 
 savage, when thrown into the society of civilized man 
 instantaneously regards him as his superior? Does he 
 not reverence and obey him ? Conscious of his owr 
 ignorance, he ardently desires to learn, and willingly sub 
 mits to such an one as his superior. Could the one, wt 
 ask, impart that knowledge without obedience, or the 
 other, who receives it, have any return to make, but tha 
 of personal service ? Here, to all intents and purposes 
 the relation of master and slave must actually exist 
 Modern abolitionists would teach such an one, that hi; 
 master is a "man stealer" a "tyrant," and force that ser 
 vant to become a black hearted, revengeful murderer. 
 
 The apostolic injunction already quoted by us, "servant! 
 be obedient to them that are your masters according U 
 the flesh, with fear and trembling, in singleness of hear 
 as unto Christ," and, on the other hand, "ye masters dt 
 the same thing unto them, forbearing threatening, knowing 
 that your master is in heaven, neither is their respect o 
 persons with him." Eph. vi, 5, 9, shows us that the situa 
 tion of a master is one of great danger and difficulty 
 This is admitted. That it may afford an occasion foi 
 the exercise of great injustice is also admitted. A bac 
 
69 
 
 man will be bad any where and any how. The situation 
 is not certainly a desirable one, and is evidently one of 
 great responsibility. Providence has appointed the mas 
 ter to be the guardian of his servants, and where this 
 responsibility comes in the proper order of things we 
 mean by inheritance, or by purchase, in a country where 
 slavery exists as one of its institutions, it is certainly not 
 a mark of magnanimity for a man to cast them off, and 
 shun it, and under pretence of setting them free, withdraw 
 himself from their protection and his responsibility, leav 
 ing them in the bosom of a community where they cannot 
 enjoy, and are equally incapable of exercising the rights 
 of freemen. There, often surrounded by incentives to 
 vice, incapable of self-government, exposed to indolence 
 and crime, they become the most profligate wretches. 
 Is not this in any State, whether slave or free, the case 
 with free negroes [ 
 
 The natural state of savages may be always said to be 
 one of war. This has from the most ancient periods of 
 its history, been the true condition of Africa. According 
 to their invariable custom, all captives taken in war are 
 slaves, and when they cannot use or sell, they slay them. 
 This is still, as it has been there from unknown ages, their 
 custom. It is said and published, on the very best autho 
 rity, that a chief, but very lately in the presence of com 
 missioners sent on business in the interior of Africa, slew 
 with his own hand a number of prisoners, for whom he 
 had no "need, as slaves, and for whom he could find no 
 sale. So when a chief dies, many slaves, according to 
 his dignity, are killed as his attend ants in another world. 
 This custom of putting them to death has been terminated 
 only by the prospect of a disposition of them, to the slave 
 dealers on the coast, so that the slave trade, with all its 
 horrors, would seem to be preferable to a captivity by 
 African chiefs, which must be both slavery and a violent 
 death. In view then of these facts, let us look at the 
 bondage of the African race in America, and especially 
 in Maryland, Virginia, and the south, and ask with an 
 enlightened author, "Were they a free and civilized peo 
 ple, dwelling under the government of wise and whole 
 some laws, were they lorn from a state of independence 
 7 
 
70 
 
 and happiness by violence, and condemned to unaccus 
 tomed toil and degradation in a strange land ?" What 
 have we just seen ? Does not every relation of facts deny 
 this ? Were not the ancestors of these very negroes as at 
 this day on the coast of western Africa, except the few 
 lately conv3rted to Christianity, sunk in a superstition, bar 
 barous and cruel, and accustomed to every vice ? Is there 
 on earth a race of people so deeply immersed in crime, and 
 abjectly plunged in the lowest degradation and imbecility ? 
 There, slavery has existed as a part of their institutions 
 so long, that no man in all the earth can tell at what pe 
 riod it did not, since the flood, exist ; and that too a 
 slavery the most oppressive. A master even among the 
 most enlightened tribes, does always put a domestic slave 
 to death after a palaver, and all others at his pleasure, as 
 above shown. May we not then ask, what was the in 
 jury inflicted on the slaves of Africa, in carrying them 
 abroad for purposes of labor, there to shun a worse bond 
 age at home? Aye, to shun a cruel death at the hands 
 of a savage, who, the subject of caprice and passion un 
 controlled, subjects to a barbarous servitude in life, and 
 tortures at pleasure, to death. We believe that the African 
 slave trade has been the disgrace of the civilized world. 
 We believe that the Dutch and English African slave 
 traders, as well as the Spanish and Portuguese, were vile 
 covetous wretches, deeply dyed in crime. And yet we 
 also believe God, who can bring a clean out of an^unclean 
 thing, has so ordered it, that the African race in America, 
 both North and South, do thereby enjoy more privileges, 
 have more privileges, possess more knowledge, and are 
 far more exalted in their condition, than their ancestors 
 ever conceived of. Yes ! these their posterity, have been 
 saved from a state of existence wherein human nature 
 was sunk to a degree so low, that it was hardly superior 
 to the ouran outang, or man of the woods. A condition 
 where cruelty, superstitions, and all manner of abomina 
 ble uncleanness, composed the elements of what little 
 education they possessed. We have no doubt but that 
 the condition of the veriest slave in this country, is far 
 superior both in comforts and attainments, to any African 
 chief now living in western Africa. In the order of Divine 
 
71 
 
 Providence, therefore, it would seem, both from Scripture 
 and reason, that a state of servitude may become a very 
 natural and proper, or necessary condition, to those who 
 are already enslaved. 
 
 But from all this it will not follow that we are not to 
 discharge our relative duties to slaves, nor seek by the 
 enlightenment of the gospel, and the pious examples of 
 our lives, to teach them the way to eternal life ; nor does 
 it follow, therefore, that nothing is to be done for their 
 deliverance from this state of degradation. They may 
 neither feel its value, make that demand, or anticipate its 
 benefit, and yet all this does not destroy our obligations 
 to them. To neglect such a wholesome provision in every 
 slave holding state, would be to defeat the ends of Pro 
 vidence, in their translation to this portion of our earth. 
 But it must be recollected that the slave holding states, 
 not being culpable for the introduction of slavery into 
 their portion of the continent, as some are wont to think 
 they are, and as others whom they could not control, have 
 forced slavery on them, they must themselves select the 
 means and the time, when they may be relieved of them, 
 and especially so, as they were forced to buy for every 
 hundred acres of land, at least four slaves, and thus 
 forego, in their ancestry, the right and privilege of mak 
 ing acquisitions in other than slave property. Some of 
 the fathers of Virginia saw and felt this obligation, and 
 laid the foundation for discharging it. An effort was made 
 which terminated in the formation of a Colonization So 
 ciety, by which civilization and religion are now carried 
 back, a generous return, to Africa; and the day is not 
 distant, when commerce and trade shall be carried on 
 between America and the land of Ham, when that vast 
 continental wilderness, so long a "solitary place," shall 
 "blossom as a rose," and the great desert of Sahara itself 
 "shall rejoice and become glad." 
 
PART III. 
 
 THE RIGHT OF PROPERTY IN SLAVES EXAMINED, IN CONNECTION 
 WITH SOME OBSERVATIONS UPON THE REMARKS ON THIS SUB 
 JECT, BY DOCTOR CHANNING AND OTHERS. A RIGHT TO ALL 
 OTHER AS WELL AS SLAVE PROPERTY, IS ACQUIRED ORIGI 
 NALLY EITHER BY CONQUEST OR PURCHASE. THAT THE 
 RIGHT TO SLAVE PROPERTY IN VIRGINIA AND THE SOUTH, IS 
 THE RESULT OF PURCHASE, FOR A VALUABLE CONSIDERATION 
 IN THE FIRST INSTANCE, AND THEN BY A REGULAR DESCENT 
 OR INHERITANCE FROM PROGENITORS. THAT AS THIS PUR 
 CHASE WAS FORCED ON THEM, THEIR POSTERITY OUGHT NOT 
 THEREFORE, IN JUSTICE, TO BE CONSTRAINED TO YIELD THE 
 SAME, PROCURED AS IT WAS FOR AN EQUIVALENT, AND PERMIT 
 IT TO REMAIN TO THEIR INJURY AMONG THEM, OR SACRIFICE 
 IT IN ANY WAY TO THE DEMANDS OF THOSE WHO HAVE NO 
 RIGHT TO DICTATE TO THEM ON THIS SUBJECT. 
 
 IN the writings of doctor Charming we find a lengthy 
 chapter on property in man, and in his elaborate remarks 
 on this, as on other abolition texts, even a superficial 
 reader may easily discover, that he is, as once before 
 suggested, a man of theory, dealing in abstracts and not 
 a practical man. That he views the world not in con 
 nexion with its relations, as they exist, but as he supposes 
 it ought to be, or would be in a state of Adamic perfec 
 tion. Gravely approaching this subject he declares that 
 this claim "of property in a human being is altogether 
 false and groundless. No such right of man, in man can 
 exist," says the doctor. "A human being cannot be justly 
 owned ; to hold and treat him as property is to inflict a 
 great wrong, to incur the guilt of oppression," &c. 
 Certainly the great doctor Channing does not intend to 
 7* 
 
74 
 
 contradict and violate by his abstract and abstruse reason 
 ings, the positive regulations and commands of the Omni 
 scient God. What does the Almighty say ? hear it! 
 "Moreover of the children of the strangers that do so 
 journ among you, of them shall ye buy, and of their 
 families that are with you, which they begat in your 
 land, and they shall be your POSSESSION; and ye shall 
 take them for an inheritance of your children after you, 
 to inherit them for a POSSESSION. THEY SHALL BE 
 
 YOUR BONDMEN FOREVER." Lev. XXV, 45, 46. Yea 
 
 more, it will be found, and this is a matter to which we 
 have barely alluded, without a quotation before, that a 
 possession might be had or held by an Israelite in his 
 brother or fellow-citizen, and that, in such a way, as that 
 he might take his life, so that he lived but a day, without 
 impunity, because of his right of property in him, and 
 that from the power of self-interest, it was to be presumed 
 that he would not injure him to subvert his own in 
 come. But let us hear the law of God : "If thou buy 
 an Hebrew servant, six years shall he serve, and in the 
 seventh he shall go free for nothing. If his master have 
 given a wife and she have borne him sons or daughters, 
 the wife and her children, shall be her masters" (property 
 or possession) "and he shall go out by himself. And if 
 the servant" (slave) "shall plainly say, I love my master, 
 rny wife and my children, I will not go out free. Then 
 his master shall bring him unto the judges, he shall also 
 bring him unto the door, or unto the door-post and his 
 master shall bore his ear through, with an awl, and he 
 shall serve him FOREVER." Is there no possession net pro 
 perty in all this? Aye more still! This servant, a He 
 brew, belonging to his Hebrew master, belonging, we say 
 as his property too "forever," was in his master s hands 
 to do with him as he pleased, even to injure him, so that 
 he lived one day after that injury. Read it! "And if a 
 man smite his servant or his maid with a rod, and he die 
 under his hand he shall surely be punished, notwithstand 
 ing if he continue a day or two, he shall not be punished ; 
 for he," (the slave,) "is his master s money," (i. e.) his 
 property. 
 
 A beautiful slave taken as a captive and made a wife, 
 
75 
 
 in whom the master did not afterwards delight, could not 
 be sold at all, as the master had humbled her. A He 
 brew slave, male or female, could not be sold out of his 
 country, but in every other respect, by the command of 
 God, his people, had a right of property in slaves, as 
 an inheritance, and were to be transferred like other pro 
 perty, to their children, see Exodus xxi, 2, 4, 5, 6 verses, 
 also 20, 21 verses of same chap, and ch. 21 of Deut. en 
 tire. The examples of practice under this law, in the 
 Old Testament, are so numerous, that it would be an 
 insult to the intelligence of our readers, to attempt a 
 quotation of them. We have already named various 
 cases illustrative of these laws, and will simply allude 
 to that of Job, "a perfect and upright man," "one that 
 feared God and eschewed evil," who had "a very great 
 household" besides a wife, seven sons and three daugh 
 ters, "servants" (slaves) whom the "Chaldeans came and 
 slew with the edge of a sword." And after his loss and 
 affliction God gave him double the number. The case 
 of Philemon and Onesimus already alluded to by us, is a 
 most conspicuous illustration of the scriptural warrant, of 
 right of property in slaves. What did the apostle? Did 
 he tell Onesimus, Philemon is "a kidnapper," "a man 
 stealer," a "pirate," yea, u worse than a pirate or mur 
 derer," as modern abolitionists speak of slave holders? 
 No ! no ! Did the young Timothy who united with the 
 apostle in this letter to Philemon, and who often acted as 
 the amanuensis or scribe, to that great man, denounce 
 the unjust slave holder, Philemon? O NO ! NO! What 
 then ? these good men had heard of the "love and faith" 
 of the excellent Philemon, "toward the Lord Jesus" their 
 Master, "and toward all saints," though he was a slave 
 holder, and therefore naturally presumed that he (Phile 
 mon) would receive back, and treat with kindness, his 
 "servant" (slave) "Onesimus," who, had runaway from 
 him, and remained concealed in the large City of Rome, 
 until his conversion. He does not write to Philemon, 
 Onesimus is now converted, you must free him; to the 
 contrary, "I would have retained him with me that he 
 might have ministered" (served) "me", but without thy 
 mind" (consent, will) "I would do nothing." "I beseech 
 
76 
 
 thee for him" Onesimus, "whom I have sent again" home 
 to his master. He was, "in times past unto thee an un 
 profitable servant," (slave) but now will be "profitable 
 to thee" as he has been "to me." "Receive him as my 
 self." Do not deal hardly with him, do not correct him. 
 I myself, Paul, the aged, a prisoner for Christ, am so 
 deeply convinced that Christianity does not interfere with 
 your right of property, in your slave Onesimus, that I 
 send him home, and will be his security, and as he has 
 doubtless injured you by absconding from his lawful 
 owner and master, put, the damages to my account. I 
 have written this with my own hand, this is my note or 
 obligation, "I will repay it." And what an exalted illus 
 tration have we here, of the power of Christianity in lead 
 ing men, when truly converted to God, to do their duty. 
 Onesimus changed from the error of his ways, instead of 
 remaining a runaway slave, at Rome, freed from his 
 master and all obligations to him, according to doctor 
 Channing s theory about "property in man," is ready to 
 go home at once. He loves Paul and Timothy, and 
 Rome, and those instrumental in his conversion, but duty 
 calls him home to his master. He goes, although it gives 
 him pain to leave his spiritual father, the poor little, old, 
 bald-headed Christian minister, in prison, to whom he 
 might be useful by remaining and ministering as a servant, 
 whom Paul was ready to exalt as a son. Yet he takes 
 a letter from this old minister and goes off, himself the 
 bearer, "written from Rome to Philemon by Onesimus, a 
 servant" (slave). Why does he go? Do let the intelli 
 gent and pious reader answer? Why does he go home 
 to become a slave voluntarily, - when there is no power 
 in heaven or earth that can morally constrain an act 
 which is such a flagrant violation," as abolitionists say, 
 "of all his rights ?" Aye, as doctor Charming says, c a 
 cruel usurpation" hardly to be reached by any reason 
 ing!" Let us answer, sirs. He goes home to discharge 
 his duty to him, who, in the order of Providence, was his 
 lawful master, in obedience to the precepts of his God, 
 "servants be obedient to them which are your masters," 
 as taught by this same Paul, the aged. And whose decla 
 ration, illustrative of our duty, is, "Art thou called" (con- 
 
77 
 
 verted, made a Christian,) "being a servant," (slave,) <{ care 
 not for it." "Let every man abide in the same calling 
 wherein he was called." 
 
 Now we do most conscientiously believe, that if ever 
 there was an example, which displayed the true power 
 and purity of Christianity, both as to intention and prac 
 tice, it is that one now before us, in which Paul, Phile 
 mon, and Onesimus are the actors. Look at it Christian 
 or infidel reader. Look at it again! Philemon is the 
 master, and has the right of property according to the 
 laws of God and man, in his slave Onesimus. This slave 
 runs away, and knowing that there would be less pro 
 bability of apprehension in a large city, the metropolis of 
 a vast empire, where were gathered strangers from all 
 the world, he flies thither. 1. There the prisoner Paul, 
 a Christian minister, is preaching and teaching the Lord 
 Jesus and his religion, the runaway slave Onesimus hears 
 him. and turns to the living God. What is now to be 
 done? How does he prove the sincerity and truth of his 
 faith and religion? He kindly administers to St. Paul in 
 his afflictions and imprisonment. 2. He makes a frank 
 confession of his true character. He tells them he is a 
 runaway. He tells St. Paul that Philemon is his owner, 
 and doubtless asks him what he shall do; promising will 
 ingly to obey and do what is his duty. What a display 
 of the power of divine grace is this? 3. St. Paul does 
 not consult his own interest and comfort, which might be 
 promoted by the continuance of Onesimus at Rome. He 
 knows that God s moral law is not abrogated by Christ ; 
 that according to that law, one man might hold a right 
 of property in another, and that Philemon owned Onesi 
 mus, and was the loser of his time and labor. What 
 does he do? He sends him home at once; becomes 
 surety, as a good man, for him, and as a Christian min 
 ister, enforces forbearance and forgiveness on the master, 
 toward his formerly profligate slave. 4. But look again at 
 the powerful, the wonderous influence of religion! Onesi 
 mus, the slave, takes Paul s letter, virtually, (according to 
 the Roman law,) also a law of the Southern States, so 
 much laughed at and denounced by abolitionists, a pass 
 to go unmolested to his master. He does it voluntarily; 
 
78 
 
 he might have run oft again. He did not ; and here is 
 another evidence, a striking one too, which we have, in 
 the existence of that epistle to Philemon, at this day, one 
 of the most glorious monuments that Christianity inter 
 meddles with the rights and privileges of no man, that it 
 enforces the relative duties of life, alike on all, and that 
 it induces every man to do his duty, however irksome 
 and oppressive, bearing in mind that "godliness with con 
 tentment is great gain," "having the promise of the life 
 that now is, and of that which is to come." 
 
 In all this we see that the Bible and its ministers may 
 be safely admitted into any land, subject to any govern 
 ment, it being only designed to make all men do their 
 duty. Believing, as we do, that there are but few greater 
 displays of the purity, justice, power and support of the 
 Christian religion, than this very case of Onesimus and 
 his master, we recommend it to the consideration of those 
 who are circulating inflammatory tracts, stealing away 
 slaves from their masters and homes, hiding runaway 
 slaves instead of sending them home, as did St. Paul, tc 
 their masters, and doing all in their power to subvert a 
 part of the institutions of our country: institutions fixed 
 on us against our wills in the commencement, and insti 
 tutions acknowledged and sanctioned, as we see, by our 
 fathers, patriots, and philanthropists, brave, humane and 
 honest as ever lived, in that constitution, and those laws 
 forming and binding in solemn compact and union, THESE 
 STATES. We refer, too, our Christian ministers to the 
 example of St. Paul, and shall believe that they are sin 
 cere, and their Christianity has a divine power among 
 them, as in Old Rome, when it induces them, instead oj 
 concealing the runaway slave, to send him home to his 
 master, become his surety, that he perform his duty, and 
 when that slave shall follow the pious example of the 
 slave Onesimus, return to his master, and let him hand 
 down to posterity, as the honor of Christianity, such a 
 letter, the pass of the slave to return unmolested to his 
 home and the performance of his duty. 
 
 We know that the men whose conduct is so dissimilar 
 to that of St. Paul, will raise a dust about a "man s own 
 ing or having property in man," and denounce us as a 
 
79 
 
 part of the "black-hearted tribe," who are worse than 
 "pirates and murderers." About this we are not anxious. 
 Our craft is not in danger. We never have been, are not 
 now, and never expect to be a slave holder. Alas! alas! 
 we are sorry to find Dr. Charming himself in such bad 
 company as that of abolitionists. Gentle reader, hear for 
 yourself, at his own lips, his own opinions. "No legisla 
 tion, not that of all countries or worlds, could make him" 
 (the slave) "property." Let this be laid down as a first 
 fundamental truth. Let us hold it fast as a most sacred, 
 precious truth. Let us (abolitionists) hold it fast against 
 all customs, all laws, all rank, wealth and power. Let 
 it be armed with the whole authority of the civilized 
 Christian world." Also again, "The man, who on hear 
 ing the claim to property in man, does not see and feel 
 distinctly that it is a cruel usurpation, is hardly to be 
 reached by reasoning." Is not this plainly Dr. Chan- 
 ning and his abolition friends, against St. Paul. He 
 swells about "property in man." St. Paul comes out and 
 tells Philemon plainly that he sends his servant home to 
 do his duty, that he might "receive" (possess, own) "him 
 FOREVER." We believe that the scriptural argument is 
 so clear, and that, it points out to every Christian, so 
 plainly, his duty, admitting of now, under the gospel dis 
 pensation, as it has ever done property in man, that one 
 would suppose, all that Dr. Channing has written on this 
 subject was actually penned by him, barely to expose the 
 ingenuity and power of his own vast intellect And yet 
 there is a plain, common sense view of this arid every 
 other subject, which, when taken by the man, who sim 
 ply looks at things, as they actually exist, in connection 
 with God s revealed will concerning them, that he will 
 arrive at conclusions so reasonable and just, and in such 
 correspondence with the word or revelation of his hea 
 venly Father, that one will be surprised to see how the 
 wisdom of the wise is brought to naught, and the philo 
 sopher himself is struck dumb. "Truth is almighty, and 
 must prevail." Men may speculate, and continue to Ho 
 so, until they hesitate not one moment to contradict the 
 positive assertions and commandments of Him who 
 seeth not as man seeth." 
 
80 
 
 May we detain the reader awhile longer on this sub 
 ject of "property in man," or rather the right to own and 
 hold slaves as property under certain circumstances. 
 Our right to any property, real or personal, may be 
 traced, so far at least as we are collectively concerned, 
 either to conquest or purchase. It has been supposed 
 that nine-tenths at least of all the property in the world, 
 as far as the ground of right is concerned, must run back 
 to conquest. Among nations that are civilized, and gov 
 erned by laws, it is generally admitted, that however 
 property may have been acquired, after a certain period 
 the title to that property cannot be invalidated. And 
 again, a right may be granted by certain legal provisions, 
 having an existence in all countries, where laws at all 
 exist, for the security of titles to property, either personal 
 or real. Conquest has almost always changed the title 
 to property in any country. Europe was once subject 
 to savages or barbarians, whose right to territory, &c., 
 passed into the hands of their conquerors, but little more 
 civilized than themselves. Several times has the greater 
 portion of the property of Great Britain passed into the 
 hands of their conquerors, and even now, the tenure by 
 which it is held, is wholly the result of rapine. Those 
 who now own it, recur only to William the Norrnan, 
 from whom they derived a right to present possession. 
 This is indeed the case with our own country. In very 
 many instances it is true, that we hold our possessions as 
 the result of purchase from the Indian aborigines of the 
 country, but mostly by conquest, and that sometimes un 
 der circumstances greatly to be lamented and abhorred. 
 But yet no man, no nation questions our right to all the 
 territory of the United States, however the title may have 
 been acquired. The peaceable possession for so many 
 years, has virtually extinguished the claims of all others, 
 and constitutes us, the independent owners of the soil, 
 and all the advantages, therewith connected. And not 
 withstanding the original title may not have been actual 
 ly valid or righteous, and although one nation may fix 
 one period, and another nation another, still there must, 
 at le r ist among civilized nations, be some limitation to the 
 claims of former owners ; without this, there would be 
 no actual value to any property. 
 
81 
 
 To this law regularly passed, or custom, for custom is 
 law, must be traced the right to any property, and not to 
 any of the numerous abstract principles of religion, which 
 many and especially modern abolitionists would lay down. 
 This is still more apparent if we consider, that laws 
 which are human and liable often to great inconvenience 
 to some, are also in many instances the occasion of some 
 injustice, and doubtless will be so, whilst man and his 
 intellect are both alike imperfect. But "by placing the 
 sanction of right on the ground of possession, the law 
 does not intend to justify any person in retaining a 
 property acquired by fraud, and which the inheritor 
 knows was thus acquired. The moral obligation remains 
 the same, until after the expiration of the prescribed pe 
 riod, when the fraudulent possession must be left to his 
 own conscience, and the justice of heaven. But, however 
 property may have been originally acquired, if I or my 
 father, grand father, or ancestry, came by that property 
 for what was esteemed a valuable consideration, then and 
 in that case, the title to me is not only legally, but equi 
 tably good in other words morally good good in con 
 science. Suppose for instance, that A forced an Indian 
 fro-m his hunting ground, fenced, cultivated and improved 
 it to a farm. He afterward disposed of it to B, who sold 
 it to C, and so it passed on to D, and E, and F. At last 
 one says that F s title is not legal, but upon examination 
 it is found to- have an existence for so many years, that 
 all other claims are barred by the statute of limitation. 
 But then a question may arise as to the morality in the 
 title, when behold, on an examination it is also found that 
 the ancestors of F paid for it a valuable consideration, 
 and beside, had it forced on "them. .Would it not be im 
 moral to deprive them of their right, their property 
 inherited in a regular way? Look at this very case as 
 applied to slavery. 1. All the earth by their laws, have 
 acknowledged "the right of property in man," and we 
 have seen that slavery has been one of the institutions of 
 every country, without date. 2. The Africans have been 
 always, at least four-fifths of them, in a state of bondage. 
 This we have already seen, and shall prove it more plainly 
 hereafter. Some of these African slaves, slaves by birth, 
 8 
 
82 
 
 slaves bought with money, or slaves being captives in 
 war, savage men, knowing nothing of an exchange of 
 prisoners, much less an emancipation from the slavery 
 consequent on capture. 3. Of these slaves, many were 
 sold to slavers, and the title to them it is allowed, was 
 not morally valid ; but they bring them into the American 
 ports. What next? Every man who was an owner of 
 land was also forced to buy at least four slaves for every 
 hundred acres of land owned by him. The colonists 
 protest against it. It is still forced on them, and as we 
 shall show, although resisted constantly until 1776, the 
 very year of the declaration of independence, when that 
 protest is pui into that celebrated instrument it is still per 
 sisted in until they have quartered on them, and on their 
 lands, not conquered lands, but lands bought of the Bri 
 tish government or their representatives, the proprietaries 
 or manor lords, thousands, hundreds of thousands of Afri 
 can slaves, professedly to keep them in awe, to augment 
 the revenue of the English crown, a partner in the Afri 
 can and South Sea Companies or monopolies, unjustly 
 gotten up to sustain the mother country, at the expense 
 of the colonists. 
 
 So soon as these colonists could legislate for them 
 selves, they did so, and^et their faces against that trade. 
 They resisted the tyranny of England, they fought, they 
 bled, they conquered by their bravery they bought their 
 liberty and redeemed their country from tyrant England, 
 at the expense and hazard of life, and all that to them 
 was dear. The deed is done, and now, whilst trying to 
 train the colored race for civilized life, a race originally 
 savage, in bondage the most abject,"in pollutions of every 
 kind overwhelmed, forced upon them, at their own pro 
 per expense, a race whom already they have improved a 
 thousand fold, and whom they, according to the advice 
 of their fathers, Washington, Jefferson, Madison and 
 others, are gradually sending out full by colonization, to 
 Africa, the fatherland, to civilize and save it: Hear, 
 let the heavens blush at such a requisition, hear it ! We 
 say hear it ! They are required to tun? them loose, now, 
 all at once, hardly half civilized, on the bosom of society. 
 To pf ve them the country which they and their fathers 
 
83 
 
 fought for, and rescued from British tyranny, and raise 
 these slaves to all the rights and privileges of free born 
 citizens, political as well as other. This is the demand 
 of abolitionists, this is virtually the demand of the great 
 doctor Channing, the DEFENDED of ABOLITIONISM. In 
 other words, give your servants your houses and homes 
 for a dwelling, your sons and daughters as husbands and 
 wives, your privileges, liberties and your country, at the* 
 call of northern and eastern and western fanatics. This 
 is. the demand, this- the bitter pill, however it maybe 
 sweetenect. 
 
 All who study the morality of the Scriptures will at 
 once see, that in the commission of any act which we 
 denominate a crime or sin, there must ever be present 
 numerous essential circumstances, to constitute it such. 
 If these be present, there can be none others by which 
 its true nature or character can be changed ; but without 
 these, sin cannot be admitted in any one case. And 
 according to the Scriptures, although there may be a 
 violation of the letter of a commandment, even when 
 there is an express statute, if there be no violation of its 
 spirit, the commandment is not broken, and vice versa, 
 where the spirit of a commandment is violated, there is 
 transgression. This virtually includes all the essential 
 circumstances which constitute it a sin, and necessarily 
 too includes also, the letter of the commandment, even 
 when the act is not consummated. On this account our 
 Lord said "He that looketh on a woman to lust after 
 her, hath committed adultery already with her, in his 
 heart." "He that is angry with his brother without a 
 cause is a murderer." In other words it is the violation of 
 the spirit of a statute, which is a sin. 
 
 Now if we look at the subject of property in man as 
 set forth in the Bible, according to this rule laid down by 
 our Lord, it will appear, we think, that it is perfectly 
 compatible with every principle of right, even although 
 there never had been a command, or a scripture example 
 for it. We have seen that slavery in some form has always 
 existed, and that this "property in man" has been acknow 
 ledged from the patriarchal days and before, to this very 
 time. Moreover God has not only in his wisdom allowed it f 
 
84 
 
 but has legislated on the subject, so as to perpetuate sla 
 very, even among his peculiar and favored people, the 
 Jews and Israelites, only authorizing an emancipation at 
 all, in the case of an Israelite, conditionally a servant, 
 but not allowing his wife or children to be free unless 
 bought or procured by him, independently of the master. 
 We have also seen that the precepts, exhortations, and 
 dehortations of both the Old and New Testaments are 
 alike addressed to masters -and slaves, and that this rela 
 tion is fully acknowledged in God s word, and in no one 
 part of it disturbed. Thus, all the rights of eve ry master 
 or owner of slaves in his property, is protected in God s 
 law, so that whilst the right of property in the slave is 
 acknowledged on the one hand, the means of protecting 
 him in his right, by enforcing obedience the most univer 
 sal and faithful on the slave, are one the other hand, clearly 
 pointed out. Not only so, God represents it as a viola 
 tion of the right of property, in any man, to "covet his 
 neighbor s man servant or maid servant," as much so as 
 to covet his ox or his ass, or any thing that is thy neigh 
 bor s "property." If this be not the true meaning as 
 well as the spirit of this Bible acknowledgment, of the 
 right of property in slaves, then we do not know what it 
 means, and we defy any man otherwise to explain it. 
 We again say, that whilst any and every man, influenced 
 by a proper moral sense, would repel as iniquitous all the 
 deception, violence and distress of the slave trade, and 
 especially so, as it was carried on by Great Britain, yet, 
 when slaves are forced on us, paid for by us, trained and 
 civilized, fed, protected and taught distinct in every re 
 spect, both as a race and as to education, from us ours 
 by purchase^ under the laws of free, independent, and 
 sovereign states, whose wise policy is that their masters 
 may free and send them to their father or any other land, 
 to which they desire to go, but not here. Pray tell us 
 where is the iniquity of slave holding, under such circum 
 stances ? We say slave holding not slavery in the abstract. 
 Southern men hold slaves, they have descended to them 
 s.s a part of their paternal property. They must leave 
 their homes or retain- their slaves. They are where they 
 cannot be freed. By the laws of God and man, in al 
 
85 
 
 conscience, they hold in them "the right of property " and 
 shall they be denounced as transgressors of God s law, 
 as "thieves," "robbers," "pirates," "murderers" "yea, 
 worse than pirates and murderers?" "Under these cir 
 cumstances there is an infringement of no right," as has 
 been justly observed by Dr. Reese of New York, "there 
 are circumstances in which God himself has recognized 
 property in man, and cceteris paribus, he does so now." 
 And if there be an individual slave holder in America 
 or elsewhere, who is by that act guilty of sin, the act 
 itself can only be adjudicated after a knowledge of the 
 circumstances, for upon these the morality or immorality 
 of the act must depend. That there have been or 
 may be masters who furnish conspicuous examples, in 
 which the act of slave holding is accompanied by cir 
 cumstances which constitute that act, "malum per se" a 
 sin against God and nature, none can deny. Southern 
 men do not deny this they admit it frankly, openly and 
 above board. But what is gained to those who deny the 
 right of property in slaves, by this admission? They 
 may try to apply the cruelty of one man, a dozen, or a 
 hundred to all; who will believe them? They may 
 falsely represent these as specimens of the general and 
 universal character of slaveholders, and they had as well 
 say, because one man, or a dozen or a hundred men treat 
 their horses ill, therefore all starve or work them to death. 
 Because there are a hundred drunkards and cheats in a 
 city, therefore all are such, or because some professors 
 of religion are hypocrites, therefore all are. And because 
 there are a thousand incontinent and lewd men and wo 
 men, therefore all men and women are such, or because 
 some from the north have come southward and cheated 
 the people, therefore all northerners will, if they can get 
 a chance, do it. What think you generous reader of 
 such logic? Now we declare in the sight of heaven and 
 earth, that the cases of cruel and bad masters, on account 
 of public opinion, are comparatively rare, because it is 
 directly against it, and public law, which protects the 
 slave. We know that Christian ministers and men, in 
 the South do denounce cruel, bad masters, in unmeasured 
 terms, as violating God s law, in cruelly treating their 
 8* 
 
86 
 
 slaves. And let me ask, do those at the North thus de 
 nounce the obscene and insolent lewdness in the treat 
 ment, of poor factory girls, by some of the owners, agents, 
 and clerks of those lordly establishments, or that of the 
 poor children, who are almost buried alive, for fourteen 
 hours out of every twenty- four, in the factories for ma 
 nufacturing cottons, &c., to speculate on in southern 
 markets, among those very slave holders whom they 
 denounce. 
 
 We confess we arc not surprised to hear men, who 
 have never built their systems on the Bible, but. on a 
 concatenation of abstract moral precepts and principles, 
 without reference at nil to circumstances, exclaiming, in 
 alolition language, "the act of holding a slave is sin," 
 or as it is often expressed by them, to claim property in 
 man, under any circumstances, is sin. We are not sur 
 prised to hear them denounce slave holders as "robbers," 
 "pirates," "man-stealers," nor to hear them speak of 
 Southern Christianity as a "whip-plaiting," "chain-forg 
 ing, man-stealing Christianity," and the "most heinous of 
 all sins against God." We are not surprised to find an 
 elaborate treatise by such an abolition metaphysician as 
 the great Dr. ( banning, on the right of property, in man, 
 that gives us a plan for "forming a just moral judgment" 
 without any reference comparatively to providential cir 
 cumstances, to scriptural law, and scriptural example. 
 
 The intelligent reader will not wonder at such extrava 
 gancies, when he considers that many men arc impelled 
 by creeds founded on their own collections of abstract 
 principles of moral right, and of ownership in property. 
 This is but one of the many fruits of error. Of that ra 
 dical error which lies at the very foundation of a creed, 
 that hardly ever professes to be built on the Bible, and 
 that has its origin in the dogmas of its leaders. Hence 
 such fly to the declaration of our national independence, 
 and by a flagrant perversion of the true intent and mean 
 ing of the spirit of that instrument, as well as the lan 
 guage itself, endeavor to persuade and delude men from 
 the Bible and its instructions. This is an "ad captandum" 
 argument, whose authors feign not to remember that the 
 signers of that declaration were "SLAVE HOLDERS," and 
 
87 
 
 the representatives of "slave holding states," who com 
 plained that the mother "country, "a slave holding" na 
 tion, had among other grievances, taken away the slave 
 property from our citizens. And could they in that de 
 claration have denied "the right of property in man," in 
 the face of their own true condition, and that of their 
 constituency? Is there one who can allow such a per 
 version of sentiment, especially if it be recollected that 
 the Constitution of these United States makes the most 
 distinct recognition of "slave holding" as one of the re 
 served rights of the states, a right to "property in man." 
 This is not all: that very act of the British govern 
 ment, which after forty years consideration and prepa 
 ration for it, by those called the first philanthropists of 
 that nation, not only admits all that Americans can ask, 
 as to the propriety of a gradual, and almost impercepti 
 ble emancipation and removal of the blacks, according 
 to Mr. Jefferson s plan; but behold! it acknowledges, 
 with Wilberforce, Clarkson and others, as its authors, 
 the right of "property in man," and that too, to its utmost 
 extent, as claimed by the slave owners themselves. It 
 therefore makes a provision for the payment of so many 
 millions to them, at the rate of so much per head, as 
 compensation and pay for the "SLAVE PROPERTY" to their 
 masters. 
 
PART IV. 
 
 THE DUTIES OP THOSE WHO POSSESS SLAVES, TO THEMSELVES AND 
 THEIR SERVANTS, IN VIEW OF THE PROVIDENTIAL RELATION 
 THAT EXISTS BETWEEN THEM. THAT THESE DUTIES HAVE 
 BEEN. AND NOW ARE BEING PERFORMED IN VARIOUS WAYS, 
 NOTWITHSTANDING THE MISREPRESENTATIONS OF ABOLITION 
 ISTS RESPECTING THE CONDITION OF SLAVES. THIS FACT 
 PROVED BY THE PRESENT MENTAL, MORAL AND POLITICAL 
 CONDITION OF THE SLAVES, IN THE SLAVE HOLDING STATES. 
 
 IN the providence of Almighty God, against the will 
 and solemn protestations of Virginia and the South, 
 slavery has been entailed on them and their posterity. 
 It virtually become interwoven with almost all their ope 
 rations, and in fact is now one of our political institutions. 
 An evil, for the curing of which we must do the best that 
 we can. We cannot charge our fathers with folly re 
 specting this matter. They resisted, they strove, they 
 fought against it, as long as resistance was of any avail. 
 When they had it in their power to resist successfully, by 
 prohibiting the slave trade, and refusing to participate in 
 it. it was too late, the deed was done, the foundation laid, 
 the colored man was here, and his posterity was spring 
 ing up apace in the land of his master. But in the order 
 of Providence, -the master has the rule over him, and on 
 this master it devolves to discharge his duties, so as to 
 effect the happiness of the negro, the comfort and peace 
 of his own soul, the honor of his country, and the glory 
 of his God. But how may he do this? How ought it 
 to be done? 
 
 Masters and mistresses owe it to their own souls to do 
 their duty faithfully. Self-interest and self-preservation 
 
90 
 
 are powerful motives to human action. Man is a crea 
 ture of motive he cannot, he does not, and his God 
 never commands him to act without motive. The first 
 great motive to us to perform our duty, ought to be the 
 solemn obligation that rests upon us, as the creatures of 
 God, to obey his commandments. Our Sovereign, our 
 God commands, it is our duty to obey. 1. God is our 
 lawful, our rightful and righteous Sovereign. 2. He is 
 our kind, our benevolent Father. 3. He is our firm and 
 unchanging friend, and especially has he endeared him 
 self to us, in a national as well as in an individual point 
 of view. He has also proclaimed himself our kindest 
 and best benefactor; it is he who provides for, saves, 
 supports and preserves us, physically, morally, and poli 
 tically, from all harm and all foes. Well! what does he 
 command? For all our inferential duties must be traced 
 back to some positive command of God. Let us first 
 remember that we are fallen and depraved, naturally ob 
 stinate and rebellious ourselves, and that therefore we 
 ought to make every allowance for ignorant and unre- 
 generate slaves, who have had but little given to them, 
 when compared to what we ourselves have received. In 
 order that we may do this, let us not shun to seek and 
 know our duty to God our sovereign, ourselves, and our 
 fellow men. Let us, in order that we may discharge it 
 aright, first give to God our own hearts, our whole, our 
 undivided hearts, that we may love him supremely, and 
 that his love may rule all our actions, and guide and di 
 rect us in all our intercourse. When this is the case, it 
 will ever be easy to attend to the following commands, 
 which are recorded in the sacred scriptures, for the regu 
 lation and government of our conduct: "Ye masters, do 
 the same things unto your servants, forbearing threaten- 
 ings, knowing that your master is also in heaven, neither 
 is there respect of persons with him." "Accuse not a 
 servant to his master." "Thou shalt not rule over him 
 with rigor." "Thou shalt riot oppress him." "Thou 
 shalt he tender-hearted, pitiful, and very kind." Job, 
 that kind master and perfect and upright man, that fear 
 ed God and eschewed evil, says, if I had "despised the 
 cause of my man-servant, or of my maid-servant, when 
 
91 
 
 they contended with me, what could I have done?" 
 "When God riseth up, and, when he visiteth, what shall 
 I answer him?" And you remember the kindness and 
 earnest or ardent anxiety of the Roman centurion, be 
 seeching Jesus for his slave, and saying, "Lord, my ser 
 vant lieth home sick of the palsy, grievously tormented." 
 Jesus saith to him, "I will come and heal him. ! ^he- 
 centurion said, "Lord, I am not worthy that thou 
 shouldst come under my roof: but speak the word only, 
 and my servant" (slave) "shall be healed; for I am a 
 man under authority, having soldiers under me, and I 
 say to this man go, and he goeth, and to another come, 
 and he cometh, and to my servant" (slave) "do this, and 
 he doeth it." When Jesus heard it he marvelled, and 
 said to them that followed, "Verily, I say to you, I have 
 not found so great faith, no, not in Israel." And Jesus 
 said to the centurion, "Go thy way, and as thou hast 
 believed, so be it done to thee." And his servant was 
 healed in the self same hour. 
 
 What, is it possible that our Lord Jesus will hear the 
 prayer of a slave holder ? Aye, more that he will go to 
 his house, heal and restore (o him his slave? And when 
 he said, * J say to my servant," (slave,) "do this and he doeth 
 it," never reprove him, as our abolition brethren do, as a 
 "man stealer," "a robber," "a kidnapper*" "a rogue" "a 
 pirate." Aye, "worse than a pirate or a murderer !" 
 and what an example to Christian, believing, "slave hold 
 ers" to care and pray for their servants, and use also 
 every means to have them restored to health! Some 
 abolitionists would say that this was all for his own 
 interest. Well be it so ! Christ approved of it, marvelled 
 at, eulogized his faith, healed his servant, and restored 
 him to his master, for his master s interest. What objec 
 tion can there be to all this? Our religious concern 
 should not be confined to ourselves. A good man s ser 
 vants may not only be sick, but may be sinners. We 
 are to go to our Lord Jesus, and use prayer and all the 
 means in our power for their recovery. We are not to 
 go alone, but as Jacob did call on our "household," 
 (slaves,) and all that are with us. Each must prepare and 
 each must attend. Of that Father of the faithful, Abra- 
 
92 
 
 ham, it is said, "I know him that he will command his chil 
 dren and his household" (slaves) "after him, and they shall 
 keep the way of the Lord to do justice and judgment, that 
 the Lord may bring upon Abraham that which he hath 
 spoken of him." In the same disposition, was Joshua, 
 who said, "As for me and my house we will serve the 
 Lord." Look also at the centurion, "he feared God 
 with all his house." 
 
 In our own families we possess both influence and 
 authority, a father has honor, a master has fear. Ser 
 vants like children are almost naturally disposed from 
 their condition to obey. All our authority and influence 
 ought to be employed for religious as well as civil and do 
 mestic purposes, and we ought to vary the exercise of 
 them according to the condition, and intellectual attain 
 ments of those, who, as servants, form a componeLt part 
 of our families. Using our authority by commanding 
 some, persuasion with others, and gospel means with all. 
 Many masters try only to take care of the bodies of 
 their families. To answer the question, what shall my 
 servants eat, wherewithal shall they be clothed ? But 
 as heads of families it is our duty to mind the souls of 
 our servants, and try to train them for eternal life, they 
 are not designed to live only in this world, or principally 
 here, they are "to live, as well as ourselves, in eternity: 
 we shall soon be called to "give an account of our stew 
 ardship," we shall be judged not only "as individuals, but 
 as the owners of a "household" (slaves,) arid after the 
 servant has been tried the master will be called. Ought 
 we not daily and devoutly to pray that we may be en 
 abled to "give our account with joy and not with grief?" 
 Jt is said the voice of salvation and rejoicing is in the 
 tabernacle of the righteous." Here is domestic religion. 
 Shall it be so with us? It ought to be so ? Such families 
 are only safe and happy. How delightful to see all the 
 members of a family, servants, masters, mistresses, chil 
 dren, worshipping God together in their own houses. 
 How lovely to observe them coming forth on the Sabbath 
 morning to the house of prayer, as a company to wait to- 
 gaiher on the same Lord. Ministers are encouraged; 
 such households are the nurseries of the churches. Such 
 
93 
 
 churches inspire into the soul of a minister, unspeakable 
 pleasure, he views them as hopeful assemblies, formed by 
 the union of a number of amiable and devout masters, and 
 mistresses, and their serious and orderly children, and 
 servants. Let us take along with us therefore to the 
 same place of worship, our servants, as far as practica 
 ble, and, when this cannot be done, see that they go and 
 are instructed elsewhere. Be certain of their attendance 
 some where, and that they are not suffered to wander and 
 violate the Sabbath. 
 
 From what we have said, and the injunctions of God s 
 word, we learn that masters are not to assume to them 
 selves absolute authority over their servants, as both they 
 and their slaves are alike under one master. "And ye 
 masters do the same things, forbearing threatening, know 
 ing that your master is also in heaven, neither is there re 
 spect of person with him." And again "masters give unto 
 your servants (slaves) what is just and equal, knowing 
 that ye also have a master in heaven." This is the 
 apostolic injunction, and from it we learn, that we should 
 never command a servant to do what is above his strength 
 or beyond his ability. In commanding them, no threat- 
 enings are to be used, in rebuking them we are to be 
 moderate, remembering that we have a God in heaven, 
 who respects alike the master and his slave. We are to 
 bestow such rewards for their labour as are meet and 
 right under existing circumstances. We are to take 
 good care of them in sickness and old age, and above all 
 see that all our servants and their children, are trained 
 up in piety and the service of the living God. Thus 
 when in the providence of God, slaves are cast on. us, 
 these rules properly carried out, will greatly tend to 
 ameliorate and better their mental and moral condition. 
 In this way many masters and mistresses win over their 
 slaves to the Lord Jesus, and train them on earth for 
 eternal life beyond the grave. Masters and mistresses 
 should be especially careful that they are not excited to 
 treat their servants ill, because of the persecution and 
 falsehoods of abolitionists. Let love and reason and 
 kindness and righteousness, govern all your movements, 
 
 9 
 
94 
 
 and your conduct towards your slaves, and then commit 
 the rest to God who seeth and doeth right. 
 
 It is thus that a good man may inspire the heart of the 
 laborer with confidence in him, and with peace, comfort 
 and delight, under all the privations and ills incident to 
 his condition. When he has borne the burden and heat 
 of the summer s day, or has endured the frosts and snow 
 and cold of one in winter, in discharging faithfully the 
 duties of his station ; when the descending sun has released 
 him from his toil, and he is about to hasten home, to en 
 joy repose in his cabin, and the companion of his humble 
 life is ready to furnish him with his plain but wholesome 
 repast; have you not seen his toil-worn countenance 
 assume an air of joy as he hears his master s evening bell 
 call all the servants to the drawing room to family prayers? 
 All is cheerfulness. His hardships and cares are forgot, 
 and fatigue vanishes. He hears the word of our God 
 read, and joins with his wife, his children, his fellow-ser 
 vants, his master, mistress, and their children to swell the 
 praise of his God in solemn song, and in that hymn of 
 praise seeks to glorify his heavenly Father. With them 
 he unites in fervent prayer, and blesses God, that care is 
 all gone, and peace and joy reign. He eats and is satis 
 fied. The evening fair, he walks with uncovered head 
 around his little garden, gathers some of its luscious fruits, 
 partakes thereof, then waters and feeds his fowls and pigs, 
 enters again his cottage and retires to rest. "And the 
 rest of a labouring man is sweet indeed." Inhabitant of 
 that lowly dwelling, an upright, good and faithful servant, 
 what master can be indifferent to thy comfort ? Aye, 
 thy master looks and says, "peace be to this house ;" and 
 Jesus says so too. 
 
 <c Let not ambition mock thy useful toil, 
 
 Thy homely joys arid destiny obscure 5 
 Nor grandeur hear with a disdainful smile, 
 The short and simple annals of the poor." 
 
 His master does not disdain it, far, far from this, and such 
 a servant, as we have seen and known a hundred times, 
 is his master s counsellor, often his master s chaplain, and 
 
95 
 
 like Abraham s servant, his master s "steward." Hear 
 how he hails the rising morn and sings : 
 
 "The morning breaks, the sun in east new gilds the rising day, 
 The lark forsakes her downy nest, arise my soul and pray." 
 
 As the sun bursts at once on the tower-like mansion of 
 the master, and cabins or cottages of the servants, they 
 all re-assemble in the same room, and read, and sing, 
 and pray. This done, each by it, is quickened to dili 
 gence in his relative duties, and each, especially the good 
 master, knows the meaning of that text, "thou shalt know 
 also that thy tabernacle shall be in peace, and thou shalt 
 visit thy habitation and not sin." 
 
 Thus let every master and mistress and their "house 
 holds," walk with "order, good temper, good sense, and 
 religious principles." "The man that lives not by rule 
 lives not at all." Many things will happen to try the 
 temper of both the master and the slave. Remember, 
 "be kind and tender-hearted," never depart from the 
 course dictated by good sense, and let Christian principle 
 rule in all things. If all are influenced by religion, none 
 will have cause to complain. Ever place in your servants 
 the utmost confidence. Dedicate your tabernacle to God, 
 offer the morning and evening sacrifice of prayer and 
 praise to him. Whatever may be the determination of 
 others, let each one say as did Joshua ; "As for me and 
 my house, we will serve the Lord." He could not change 
 their hearts, but he could so order and govern his family, 
 as, that they should be forced, at least, to conform, in all 
 respects, to the externals of religion whilst in their mas 
 ter s house, and when properly enlightened and convinced 
 of their duty they will take pleasure in it. We have 
 already said that with many such families, we are person 
 ally acquainted. We have long known them and we are 
 willing at any time to point them out to those, who are 
 so ready to denounce the whole south, as not only them 
 selves, "thieves," "kidnappers," "pirates," "murderers," 
 and u worse than pirates and murderers;" but also declare 
 that the entire slave population amounting to almost three 
 millions, are "compelled to live without God, and die with- 
 
96 
 
 out hope." As we lament to say there are some bad 
 wives, some bad husbands, some bad children, some bad 
 servants, so there are some bad masters, but there are 
 also hundreds of holy, upright masters, and happy, 
 truly happy families, including numerous pious and devo 
 ted servants of both sexes. 
 
 We are truly sorry to be constrained therefore after a 
 careful perusal of doctor Channing s works, and espe 
 cially that on slavery, to say, that taking his exalted talents 
 and standing into consideration, we have seldom ever 
 read any thing from the pen of any abolitionist, so vitu 
 perative and slanderous on southern men, and at the same 
 lime so unfair and false; and, but for the same exalted 
 standing which we take into consideration, one would 
 think indeed a malicious account, so well calculated to 
 set the north and the south forever at variance. The 
 doctor is not content only to abuse his neighbours and 
 northern fellow-citizens for friendship toward the south, 
 those, who, having the feelings of brethren, are disposed 
 to consider the difficult circumstances, under which such 
 are placed and make allowances for them ; but he actu 
 ally attributes that kindness to considerations of interest ; 
 their opposition to abolitionism to a wish thereby to pro 
 mote their own temporal welfare, and not the love of their 
 country and an ardent desire to perpetuate the union, by 
 a mutual forbearance. But reader, let the doctor speak 
 for himself! "We have," says he, "those who would 
 fight against abolition if by this measure the profit of their 
 intercourse with the south should be materially impaired. 
 The present excitement among us (northerners) is in part 
 the working of mercenary principles. But because the 
 north joins hands with the south, shall iniquity go unpun 
 ished or unrebuked, can the league of the wicked, the re 
 volt of worlds, repeal the everlasting law of heaven and 
 earth? Has God s throne fallen before Mammon s ? must 
 duty find no voice, no organ, because corruption is uni 
 versally diffused?" 
 
 This is very pretty indeed, and we could give the 
 reader fifty such beautiful quotations from doctor Chan- 
 ning ; but after all it is certainly one among the most 
 crude pieces of abolition slander we have ever read. 
 
97 
 
 What, northern brethren, patriots, statesmen, divines, 
 Christians, whose disinterested benevolence for their 
 southern brethren, bone of their own bone, flesh in many 
 instances of their own flesh, who see and know that a 
 tyrant mistress, acting under the name of mother, forced 
 and quartered on them thousands of savages against their 
 wills and solemn protests ; therefore, "they are worship 
 ping mammon not God," "are influenced by corruption 
 not the love of country," "are acting on motives of self- 
 interest, not on a principle of individual and national for 
 bearance toward independent sovereign sister states, in 
 compact on specific terms with them? Individual Chris 
 tians, whole churches, conferences, conventions, associa 
 tions, synods, presbyteries, aye ! legislative bodies them 
 selves, are all under the influence of the diabolical princi 
 ple, the love of money, "the root of all evil," and have 
 joined hands with the south in "iniquity," among whom 
 "corruption is universally diffused," and "duty finds no 
 voice, no organ." And this union of northern and south 
 ern states, and northern and southern feeling of kindness 
 and forbearance, is indeed but "the league of the wicked, 
 the revolt of the world." How sublime ! Moreover in 
 doing this they unite with the south in "shutting the ear 
 against the voice of justice," in shutting "out all the har 
 monies of the universe, and in turning the voice of God 
 within them into rebuke." Still more and more sublime ! 
 Is it not a wonder, that this matchless eloquence of the 
 doctor does not almost strike dumb all who read it ? 
 
 But the intelligent reader shall examine into the cause 
 of all this vituperation and wrath against our kind-hearted, 
 generous, charitable, and patriotic northern brethren. He 
 will find it set forth in a solemn and unmanly charge, a 
 stale abolition accusation that southerners have done, and 
 now are doing nothing to better the moral and political 
 condition of the negro, and that they do not intend to do 
 it. That "they reduce," which supposes previous exalta 
 tion, "the colored man to a brute for selfish gratification." 
 But let the reader again hear doctor Channing. "The 
 southern slave holders, hold the slave not for his own 
 good or the safety of the state, but with precisely the 
 same views with which they hold a labouring horse, that 
 9* 
 
98 
 
 Is, for the profit which they can wring from him. "They 
 will not hear a word of his wrongs." "He (the master) 
 extorts by the lash, that labor to which he has no claim 
 through a bare selfishness," and thus "dies to the proper 
 happiness of man." And more yet "the slave holder had 
 better beg than thus steal, better live in an alms-house 
 than thus trample on a fellow-creature and reduce him to 
 a brute for a selfish gratification." We leave doctor 
 Channing and his abolition party to settle with their 
 anti-abolition neighbours and fellow-citizens, upon their 
 "guilt or innocence as to their motives whether they be 
 mercenary" or not. We do not believe his charges against 
 them, we have too much charity for them, and we know 
 that the action of some associated bodies on this subject, 
 has not been, and could not be founded in any other mo 
 tives than those of piety, goodness and patriotism. Our 
 northern brethren cannot desire us to give up the fairest 
 and most profitable portion of our happy country, for 
 which their fathers spilled their blood like water on the 
 earth, to rescue from British tyranny, to thousands of 
 slaves, so distinctly marked, and raise them to all the 
 rights and immunities, political as well as other, enjoyed 
 by themselves, as free citizens. No ! no ! no ! It cannot, 
 cannot be. 
 
 But to produce at the north this state of hostile feel 
 ing against us, and a feeling of mock humanity toward 
 the slave, we are charged by Dr. Charming and his abo 
 lition associates, distinctly, with "reducing the colored 
 man to the condition of a brute. 19 With trampling on 
 "our fellow-creatures, for selfish gratification," and with 
 "pillowing our heads at night on down, at the cost of a 
 wantonly injured fellow-creature." Aye more-! By ano 
 ther abolition chief, the Hon. William Jay, we are charg 
 ed with having "compelled 2,245,144 slaves to live 
 without God, and die without hope/ among a people 
 professing to reverence the obligations of Christianity." 
 That is, Virginian and southern slave holders, compel 
 all these slaves "to live without God, and die without 
 hope." Candid reader, whether you live north or south 
 of the Potomac, can you believe that out of all this num 
 ber of slaves there are no Christians 1 All all "without 
 
99 
 
 God?" All all "die without hope?" All all "com 
 pelled" thus to live, and thus to die? Can it be believed 
 by any reasonable man that such slanders as the forego 
 ing would be circulated, by such men, as Dr. Channing 
 and the Hon. Mr. Jay ; and is it possible that such wise 
 men would wish Virginia and the South to turn loose on 
 society, at least, three millions of such heathens, ready for 
 any bad deed, as they say, under no moral restraints or 
 influences, "living without God, and dying without hope?" 
 It is true, they say, "compelled" to do so ; but this does 
 not alter the case. These false statements and charges 
 may have their influence on ignorant men, on weak, silly 
 women, and on children ; and we will tell our abolition 
 friends of some of their influences before we are done ; 
 but we believe that there is no man, who has ever gone 
 through Virginia arid our southern country, who has 
 mingled in society, who has become acquainted with the 
 slaves, who knows their true state, who has worshipped 
 with them at the family altar, who has bowed with them in 
 the house of God, who has preached to them and their 
 masters, or heard preaching to them, and witnessed their 
 freedom in divine worship, and ease even in their mas 
 ters presence, and their masters houses, that will not 
 give these statements a contradiction, as palpably false. 
 We know individual ministers, who have under their 
 care from fifteen hundred to two thousand regular mem 
 bers of Christian churches ; and we know one, not a thou 
 sand miles from the spot where we now write, who has 
 at this moment under his care at least four hundred and 
 fifty colored persons, free and slaves all regular mem 
 bers of a Christian church, among whom are many intel 
 ligent men, some of them close readers, and it is thought, 
 close students. They have a Sunday school, a missiona 
 ry society to send the gospel to Africa, the land of their 
 fathers, and regular worship in a large brick church, 
 built by themselves and their friends, white and coloured. 
 Here are some Christians. 
 
 But this subject shall not rest on our evidence alone, 
 we will give other and better documents, and prove to 
 any disinterested and candid reader, that the statements 
 of Dr. Channing and Hon. W. Jay, and their abolition 
 
100 
 
 brethren, are a direct slander on all the slave holding 
 states. A slander which, as the means of being informed 
 are within the reach of all, would seem to be as mali 
 cious as it is false. Now we contend that what has 
 been stated respecting the treatment and condition of 
 slaves in the slave holding states, (making allowance for 
 extreme cases, which in the present iniquitous condition 
 of the world, will exist every where in all the relations of 
 human life,) by Dr. Channing, Judge Jay, and their abo 
 lition associates, is, when society is looked at as a 
 whole, a gross slander on those states. We will not de 
 scend to the low, vulgar, or obscene, and surely all will 
 allow, ungenerous attacks on the entire South, MALES and 
 FEMALES, as winking at all the crimes of "fornication," 
 "adultery," "cruelty and murder," which by the misrep 
 resentations of others, are poured on the inhabitants there 
 of. We meet the question on fair and open ground, and 
 we believe we can sustain it, by establishing facts that 
 must appear to all who consider this matter impartially, as 
 altogether reasonable. We desire the reader to bear in 
 mind, what has been repeatedly proved from various 
 sources in our previous remarks and quotations, that 
 slavery is an institution, which in its origin and progress 
 was repelled and resisted almost to extremity by Virgi 
 nia and the South, and that by their own voluntary ef 
 forts, they have prevented, when they had the power, by 
 law to do so, the further introduction of slaves into those 
 states. That the augmentation of the number of slave 
 holding states, originated in the natural and necessary 
 extension, of both the white and colored population, the 
 Louisiana purchase excepted. And in this, British cu 
 pidity, strengthened by British power, under that part of 
 the treaty of Utrecht, called the assiento, poured in 
 slaves by thousands on that present fair portion of our 
 country, either by her monopolies called the African 
 and South Sea Companies, or by her emissaries, not one 
 of whom, from the monarch down, ever abandoned the 
 slave trade, until it ceased to be profitable to them. And 
 as an offset against abolition slanders, we further say, 
 that the condition of our slaves, mental, moral and poli 
 tical, is far preferable to the former condition of their 
 
101 
 
 fathers, and the present condition of their brethren in 
 Africa. 
 
 Of that former condition, in their fatherland, we have 
 treated, and proved too, by all history, ancient and mo 
 dern, that Africa from time immemorial, has had four- 
 fifths of its inhabitants, at least, in bondage ; and that the 
 universal law, among the thousand tribes that rule its 
 vast wastes, is, on conquest, slavery, or death. In ninety- 
 nine cases out of one hundred, it is expulsion from the 
 shores of Africa and slavery too, or death. Driven then 
 by Africans out. of Africa, brought here by British, Dutch 
 and other slavers, they have been forced as we have seen 
 on all the South. But the generous, noble, kind-hearted 
 southerners have not neglected the untaught savage. O ! 
 no ! They sought to better his condition; they have done 
 so, and in answer to the abolition slanders of Dr. Chan- 
 ning, Judge Jay and others, we present the condition of 
 the African in America, as far superior mentally, morally, 
 and politically, to that of his fathers or his brethren in 
 Africa. Look at his mental condition. It is said "he is 
 ignorant and unenlightened." This is admitted, but we 
 ask are not others so? What is the state, the ignorant 
 and savage state, of the Indians, though surrounded with 
 civilization and all its benefits although they live in some 
 of the states, in the midst of light ? Look at the former, 
 look at the present condition of Africa ! Is there a chief 
 there, even though he may have become christianized 
 of late, through the efforts of the colonization and mis 
 sionary societies, who is equal in mental attainments, to 
 the African in the slave-holding states? I doubt whether 
 there is a negro that can be found in all the South, as 
 ignorant as the greatest chief, now reigning and ruling 
 his tribe, on the western coast of Africa. Many of the 
 American negroes read and write, many of them are first 
 rate business men, farmers, mechanics, clerks. Some of 
 them are scientific men. Several with whom we are 
 personally acquainted are first rate preachers, good di 
 vines, men of learning. Slaves it is true. Aye slaves ! 
 but men of sound common sense and extensive reading. 
 One in Mississippi, a carpenter by trade, called Stephen 
 Johnson, belonging to a Major Demoss, a friend of ours 
 
102 
 
 now present, informs us is a man of such scientific at 
 tainments, that white as well as colored persons delight 
 to hear him preach. Two or three of our personal ac 
 quaintances, ordained ministers, men of exalted talents, 
 of sterling integrity, are regarded and respected by all 
 who know them, an honour to that society, true a slave- 
 holding society, in which they were raised, educated, con 
 verted, ordained ministers, and in which they now suc 
 cessfully operate. 
 
 The intelligence of the southern negro extends to and 
 equals all the business operations of a farm, and all the 
 horticultural and other duties of domestic life. In all 
 these, he is his master s adviser, his master s planter, his 
 master s manager, and indeed like Abraham s servant, 
 his master s "steward" and friend. We may here assert 
 without the fear of contradiction from any person, who 
 is generally and intimately acquainted throughout Virgi 
 nia and the South, that the ratio of intelligence is equal 
 among the slaves of those parts, "untaught" as they are 
 said to be, with the laboring population of any portion of 
 Europe, and would not suffer much by a comparison with 
 that of some stales, where there is such a boast of free 
 dom. This opinion of ours is founded on an absolute 
 personal acquaintance with the colored race in the South. 
 Moreover we go farther, we believe their condition men 
 tally superior to that of the serfs and peasantry of some 
 European states. 
 
 On the great whole, therefore, after all the statements 
 of abolitionists, there are those and many of them too, 
 who would honour the North itself. We have long 
 known Eli Nugent and Joseph Cartwright, of Loudouri 
 county, arid Luke Johnson and John Scott, and Charles 
 Scott, and John Chinn, of Prince William, and David 
 Chapman, of Spottsylvania, and Thomas Jones, of Lan 
 caster, and Lot Carey, of Richmond city, and Beverly R. 
 Wilson, of Portsmouth and Norfolk, Captain Cooper, of 
 Caroline, and Daniel Carr and dozens of others, in Vir 
 ginia, most of whom could earn and have earned, $1,000 
 per annum, as business men, clerks, tradesmen, sales 
 men, superintendents; and their wives and daughters, 
 equal in cleanliness, domestic qualities, qualifications, and 
 
103 
 
 intelligence too, with the poor laboring white population 
 of some states which we could name, and of course su 
 perior to any man in his savage state as much so indeed 
 as day surpasses night. Their forefathers came to Vir 
 ginia and the South, untaught savages. Who instructed, 
 who taught them all these things ? Did the abolitionists! 
 One of the persons last named bv us was a West India 
 trader, an extensive merchant in Virginiaall of them 
 business men. We do know these things of which we 
 speak, from an experience and an intimate acquaintance 
 of thirty-five years, having been born, raised, and edu 
 cated among slaves. We can name such men as Evans 
 Williams, Daniel Webster, David Bruce. Daniel Bruce, 
 Cook s Jack, all in the same state, and a hundred others 
 good and true men, born slaves, now freemen, well edu 
 cated and doing well, prospering in business, and as far 
 removed from the savage state as men can well be. We 
 have been circulating north, south, east, west, though we 
 never have been, are not now, and never expect to be, as 
 before stated, a slave-holder, and we know that the de- 
 clarations of abolitionists, respecting the negroes ! 
 "reduced to the condition of a brute,* by slave-holders, 
 is a sheer fabrication, a gross slander, done to eflect 
 selfish, if not political ends. And to prove our sincerity 
 in making this statement, we challenge doctor Chan- 
 ning, or Judge Jay, to select without previous training for 
 the purpose, one hundred, or twenty-live, or twelve labor 
 ing countrymen, or townsmen cither, north of Mason and 
 Dixonjs line, to meet as many of our Virginia or southern 
 colored men, who shall come without any previous train 
 ing or preparation, to Washington City, at any time, and 
 before an assembled Congress, they, or Dr. Channing 
 and Judge Jay being auditors and judges, who shall de 
 cide on their compctrative qutintum of intelligence, from 
 the motions and order of the heavenly bodies to a patch 
 of potatoes, an onion bed, a jar of pickles or a box of 
 Yankee notions. There is only one thing in which t he- 
 southern colored man would come short. Southern ne 
 groes, like their masters, are liberal and generous beyond 
 all calculation. They abhor all that is mean and ni^- 
 /. and boast in sharing, as do their masters, the last 
 
KM 
 
 fun 1 cr/Ar ami /u rrinif \vilh their fellow men. They know 
 hou ID make money and nt.in\ of them do make it, hut 
 ihe\ do not know how tu save it. In this respect they 
 would hear hut. a poor comparison with our northern 
 iiH iuls. who, we will admit hoth know how to make and 
 Keep I ho "read i/ rhiuu." 
 
 Some will ho astonished to hoar us name IMato Mutt, 
 a slave l>r ht c, who lor cash, the product of his poultry 
 .11 id gardens, his labor and industry, buys thirty and forty 
 dollars worth ol hooks at a time, and has and reads, as 
 hundreds do, almost all the temperance and feligioui pa 
 pers and traets in circulation. Not the abolition papers! 
 These they have publicly denounced as landing to injure 
 md overwhelm with ruin the colored race. Sue Haiti- 
 more Address.* Ah "hut these are Virginia or Maryland 
 ii. " roes. (Jo farther South," We answer to this, all wo 
 intended tor the South. What would you think to 
 le.n 111 our southern country, a colored preacher, living 
 ;n the -^late of Mississippi f Yes, in the state of Missis 
 sippi, a slave, an orator, preaching to hundreds of white 
 md colored persons, introducing into his discourse, science 
 o| almost every kind, and thus displaying the infinite 
 "in and glorious perfections o( the mighty God, whilst 
 his listening audience, enraptured and excited to a degree 
 oi devotion* equal to my thing perhaps over witnessed 
 north ol i he I ludson, delight to hear and honour him. 
 What would our northern brethren think of a colored 
 slave, preaching in the very heart of a slave-holding po 
 pulation, to eight or ten thousand white person*, and 
 thousands of colored, all bathed in tears, and bowing 
 with him before a throne of mercy, to praise the match 
 less power of Grace Divine I What would they think of 
 beholding MI Carolina and Georgia one, two, three hun 
 dred colored children, in a Sunday school, taught therein 
 v\iili the approbation of their owners, Sabbath after Sab- 
 Kith \nd this was a common thing until the abolition- 
 is! > !>e;Mn lo endanger, by their inllammatory papers and 
 
 Ii kddftU (if tho ColoH ll IH OJtU ill H.llllHIOIf, ill.l\\ I) Up I\V til, 
 
 M, I MI,, \\ . I. . mil I i\ in" .i.n, iu ,i tt nul.nlv . itl.uurd 1 intrM.ml 
 
 ,,! i I, ip IH.III, lli ollini ouLmu-il .Mftlii-ili-t nuu^li is, ,uut all roli>mrtl 
 in. 11 n>i> i- .111 u.liuti il l. | .t|> i 
 
105 
 
 efforts, the peace and order of society, and the welfare 
 and safety of both the master and slave. 
 
 We have seen on a Sabbath morning and afternoon, 
 on the plantation of an old valued friend, Mr. John Mur 
 phy, of Westmoreland county, Virginia, at least nc. 
 hundred little negroes, assembled under a largo bush 
 arbour in the old man s yard, to IK; taught Sabbath after 
 Sabbath, by his grandsons, the Masters Rogers, sons of 
 an ollicer of the last war. As the writer of this walked 
 from the arbour toward the garden, to view the monu 
 ment roared by the hands of that brave soldier, over the 
 grave of his amiable and pious wife, the mother oi those 
 boys, we beheld a sight, such as would make abolitionists 
 themselves weep for joy, if they can fed and />rr/;. We 
 behold the granddaughters of that venerable gentleman, 
 none other than the lovely daughters of the late wealthy, 
 popular, and excellent slates attorney, of that county, 
 John Campbell, Hs<|. seated in a cabin door, and around 
 them gathered grown coloured people, who had been at 
 church that morning, to whom they were reading the 
 word of Almighty God, whilst oil at a distance sat an 
 ancient coloured man, reading in his Uiblo to his a-vd 
 wife and their daughter that. word. Ah! how often also 
 have we seen the maid seated to hoar her mistress read, 
 and then unite in prayer with her until they were in <-a<-h 
 others arms, praising the God of all grace. And how 
 often have; 1 heard the master reading to his servants, 
 and then bow with them at the same altar, and look for 
 eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. 
 
 What will abolitionists think of a coloured man in Mis 
 sissippi, being a doctor of medicine f . What of his hnn^ 
 a regular practitioner of physic in Port Gibson, in thai 
 states What of his owning in Hindi county two farm 
 What of hi being a eiti/on by a special act of the l 
 lature? No quack, but a regular graduate of the Univer 
 sity of Pennsylvania, with the great Dr. Rush as one of 
 its professors! Will abolitionists say, that such men "are 
 reduced to a condition worse than a brute?" Whilst 
 living, patronized by men of science, now dead, Dr. 
 Gowcn,this coloured man, as we are informed, is remem- 
 
 10 
 
106 
 
 bered and beloved by all by slaveholders too, who 
 know as well as others, to separate the precious from the 
 vile, and to give even to a coloured man, though a slave, 
 according to his merits. 
 
 But let us turn to the moral condition of the slaves in 
 the slave-holding states. Judge Jay says, and Dr. Chan- 
 ning and the abolitionists come into his help, that nearly 
 three millions of them are "compelled to live without 
 God, and die without hope." That is to say, there are 
 no Christians among the three millions of slaves, if there 
 be so many in the slave-holding states. There is nothing 
 done to make them Christians; worse than this, they are 
 "compelled to live without God;" this is bad enough, but 
 the picture is still more dark, they are "compelled" to 
 "die without hope." Well may these great men preach, 
 if this be the case, a successful crusade against all the 
 South. Well may old ladies become deranged, and get 
 up petitions twelve yards and a half long, signed by 
 men, women, and children, colored and white, for Con 
 gress to put down the slavery of the South.* Aye, and 
 the slaveholders too. What compel three millions of 
 immortal souls "to live without God, and die without 
 hope?" 
 
 But stop, let us hear both sides. Now we deny it. W r e 
 aver that this is only one among ten thousand abolition 
 slanders. And we affirm that what has been done, and 
 is now doing to better the moral condition of the negro 
 slaves in the South, prove such assertions to be both 
 slanderous and false. We are truly sorry to say that we 
 feel constrained thus flatly to contradict such great men. 
 But facts are stubborn things, and who can get over them? 
 In speaking of the mental condition of the slaves of the 
 South, we have had to make allusion to things properly 
 relating to the moral state of some, chiefly, however, to 
 individual cases. When therefore, -now, \\e speak of 
 their moral condition, we allude to them as a whole. We 
 have been among the negroes south of the Potomac and 
 those north of it; we have known them, we have known 
 them for thirty-five years; we have watched them, we 
 
 This is a fact to our own knowledge. 
 
107 
 
 were raised, educated, and have long lived among them 
 on both sides of that ancient river, and have known them 
 a great way north, and south, and east, and west of it. 
 From a personal knowledge, we can testify that most of 
 the coloured people of standing and steady habits, belong 
 to some one of the large Christian denominations. It is 
 true they are said to be "ignorant," and this religious in 
 clination may be a mark of their ignorance, in the estima 
 tion of some ; but we hope it is no evidence that they are 
 "compelled to live without God, and die without hope." 
 We know that it has been customary for more than 
 twenty years, to talk at the North about the destitute 
 condition of other parts. And when men desire to raise 
 a salary to sustain themselves in the South, until they 
 can get "a call" to a good living, they commence preach 
 ing upon the destitute condition of Virginia and the 
 South. We remember that in 1818, two gentlemen came 
 preaching in the lower parts of Virginia; and a long re 
 port was made, of the want of Bibles, and preachers, and 
 Christian institutions, and the awful, miserable destitution 
 of all that tract of country, in length about one hundred 
 miles, and varying from fifteen to thirty miles in width. 
 At that very time, to our own knowledge, there were 
 regularly ordained Christian ministers, most of them in 
 charge of large and deeply pious congregations, amount 
 ing in number as follows: Ministers, twenty to twenty- 
 five, with a church membership of at least three thousand 
 white, and as many coloured people, besides other socie 
 ties and associations, with all the Christian sacraments 
 regularly attended to. And yet these people were "des 
 titute of the regular stated means of divine grace" ac 
 cording to the statements and reports of these missionary 
 gentlemen. Why was it so ? The answer is found in the 
 fact, that there were but a few, if any, of their own de 
 nomination there. They hunted a call awhile, but not 
 withstanding our destitute condition, set down with a good 
 salary, a long long distance from thence. We do abhor 
 this puritanical canting ; this is the way in which state 
 ments are made for effect. It was customary, and was 
 not considered a sin, for a certain church, to tell lies to 
 do good. We do not subscribe to the doctrine, nor did 
 
108 
 
 St. Paul, who said, "What, shall we sin that grace may 
 abound? God forbid." We know it is very easy to say, 
 that there are almost three millions of coloured people, 
 where men know no better, when there are not the means 
 of contradicting it, who are "compelled to live without 
 God, and die without hope," "being reduced to the con 
 dition of a brute," by masters, in whose souls "dies all 
 that is like God." 
 
 But what will our brethren and fellow-citizens at the 
 North say, when they hear, and of this they may judge 
 themselves, that there are thousands, and tens, if not 
 scores of thousands of regular coloured church members, 
 in the Christian churches south of the Potomac? True, 
 the negroes are so ignorant there are none of them, I 
 believe, professedly "infidel" We have never known a 
 negro, who professed to be an Atheist, an Infdel, a Uni 
 tarian, or a Universalist, though we have been acquaint 
 ed with at least one hundred thousand of these sable 
 sons of Africa. We suppose from what Dr. Channing 
 and the Hon. Mr. Jay, and their abolition associates say, 
 it is because the negroes are so "ignorant." Yes ! we 
 repeat it, they are "so ignorant" that they are chiefly 
 all, in the south, members of three or four denominations: 
 Protestant Episcopalians, Presbyterians, Baptists, Metho 
 dists, among all of whom are coloured ministers of exalt 
 ed standing, who would honour any pulpit in America. 
 There is a fifth class also, called sinners, but these are 
 so very tenacious respecting this matter, so very fasti 
 dious too, that they will not consent to hear, much less 
 unite themselves to any other, than Protestant orthodox 
 denominations. This is their "ignorance" we suppose 
 or because, as Dr. Channing says, they are reduced be 
 neath "the brute," or, as Judge Jay says, "are compelled 
 to live without God." We believe it is because they 
 are plain, common sense, matter-of-fact men, as most of 
 the labouring population of every country are. And 
 for this exaltation, mental and moral, and this, as it re 
 gards the choice of religion independent state, they are 
 indebted to those who have reared and taught them to 
 be like themselves, plain, honest, matter-of-fact men. 
 
 The once degraded savage state of their fathers, is 
 
109 
 
 forgot by both the master and slave; the latter de 
 lights to respect, obey, and imitate the former, whilst 
 living, and he reveres his memory when he is dead. 
 While his owner glories in knowing, that his servants 
 speak of him, whithersoever they go, as their kindest 
 friend under God, ali his anxiety and care is to provide 
 for them the common comforts of life, consistent with 
 his own and their interest. But this is reducing them to 
 a condition lower than that of a "brute," it is compelling 
 them "to live without God, and die without hope." But 
 that our northern, and eastern, and western abolition 
 friends may not suppose that we desire or design to give 
 our own statements, as the evidence on which rests the 
 truth of our assertions, concerning the moral condition of 
 the negroes of the south, we will give a few statistics, 
 and refer to some laws as well as facts to prove all this. 
 We have said that there are thousands of coloured per 
 sons, regular members in the four large orthodox Protest 
 ant churches, south of the Potomac. 
 
 Upon an examination, although we have not all the 
 reports of the different churches at hand, which we de 
 sire to lay before the impartial and candid reader, yet, 
 we find, there are in one department of the Christian 
 church in the United States, hundreds of missionaries and 
 itinerant ministers, whose duty it is to devote as much as 
 they can, if not all of their time, to the enlightenment and 
 religious instruction of the coloured people, within their 
 bounds. On the plantations in the south, on the islands 
 and banks, in the swamps, in the towns and cities, in the 
 Sunday schools, in churches built especially for them, by 
 the planters, sustained and supported in many instances, 
 by the masters, for the benefit of the coloured people, and 
 their benefit alone, these men of God are laboring day 
 and night. Among those they have under their care are 
 some of the most deeply pious men and women that we 
 have ever known; persons who honour God in all their 
 walk, and whose masters would not have them be with 
 out their ministers, their religious services and instruc 
 tions, on any account. The Methodist denomination also 
 has many coloured members in all their circuits and sta 
 tions throughout the slave-holding states, as well as their 
 10* 
 
110 
 
 missionary members. In the city of Baltimore alone are 
 upward of 3,000 coloured members. In the District of 
 Columbia at least 1,600. In the state of Virginia about 
 10,000 ; in South and North Carolina 35,000; in Georgia 
 about 10,000; in Alabama, Tennessee Arkansas, Ken 
 tucky and Missouri, about 12,000. In the United States 
 now, but little short of 100,000. Astonishing ! and yet 
 all these Christian Methodists are "reduced to a condi 
 tion worse than that of a brute;" "are compelled to live 
 without God, and die without hope," as abolitionists say. 
 In the Baptist denomination the colored membership is 
 far more numerous than in any other south of the Poto 
 mac. Often have we witnessed the diligence, the care, 
 the order, and the faithfulness of the Baptist ministry, in 
 waiting upon, preaching to, and instructing the coloured 
 man, in the way to everlasting life. Who that ever 
 heard of the pious labours of the venerable Leland, and 
 Fristoe, and Lunsford, the Baptist pioneers of former 
 days. Who that ever knew any thing of a Semple, 
 Strann, Lathram, Moore, Jeter, Broaddus, Mason, Mon 
 tague, and hundreds of others, with whom we were not 
 personally acquainted, that does not feel able to testify, 
 not only to their usefulness among, and their zeal for the 
 coloured race ; but the undissembled piety and devotion of 
 thousands of their coloured members. Althougn we know 
 that the Baptist coloured members out number those of the 
 Methodist, at least four-fold, we will set them down as 
 only double, and here are 200,000 Baptist Christians, 
 which added to the Methodists make 300,000. There 
 are more Baptist and Methodists among the colored 
 people, than there are Presbyterians and Episcopalians, 
 we set both down as equal only to one of these denomina 
 tions. Here then are 200,000 more, which added to the 
 above make 500,000 regular church members among the 
 coloured people. These form only about one-fourth of 
 those who attend service regularly. 
 
 When those who are not church members are added 
 to the above, it will make at least two millions of slaves 
 in regular attendance on divine service. In some places 
 they have large spacious churches for themselves as in 
 Baltimore Alexandria, Charleston; in others, they have 
 
Ill 
 
 seats appropriated for them on the lower floor, or a por 
 tion, or the whole of the galleries of churches. We do not 
 know in any slave-holding state in this union, a neigh 
 bourhood, where a church has been built for any of the 
 above named orthodox Protestant denominations, in 
 which, a portion thereof, was not set apart for the colour 
 ed people, unless they have a church of their own, or 
 other provision in some church in the vicinity. But we do 
 know churches at the north, where no seats are provided 
 for coloured persons, though they live hard by those 
 churches. The Roman Catholics amount to 100,000 more. 
 Now whilst abolitionists preach, until all the old 
 ladies and young ones too, are almost dying of sorrow, 
 to free and bring off these untaught negroes who "are 
 compelled to live without God and die without hope/ 
 that they may teach them a better way : Look ye ! Here 
 are two millions in regular attendance at the house of 
 prayer. What say you northern and eastern brethren, 
 what say you to all this ? Will you look into the minutes 
 of the Methodist, Baptist, Protestant Episcopalian and 
 Presbyterian denominations, and make the calculations 
 for yourselves? We tell you "truth is almighty and must 
 prevail." "Error is an edifice erected on the sand, to 
 be endangered by every wind and every wave." We 
 appeal to facts, stubborn incontrovertible facts, and we 
 defy successful contradiction. We now ask, who instruc 
 ted these once untaught savages forced on the south ? 
 Who taught them this "new and living way ?" How 
 could they hear without a preacher? "Faith cometh by 
 hearing, and hearing by the word of God," who has 
 worn out himself and died at his post, teaching the 
 coloured man to love and serve his Maker? Those vi 
 tuperative abolitionists, who, according to the testimony 
 of the coloured people themselves, are at present, and 
 have been for years, the coloured man s greatest foes. 
 
 We give now their opinion of this subject as penned by 
 John Fortie and William Livingston, and Daniel Peck, of 
 Baltimore, the committee appointed to draw up the 
 address of the coloured population of Baltimore, against 
 abolitionism. In the Baltimore American, of September 
 29th, 1835, there appeared a piece signed "a white citi- 
 
112 
 
 zen," which referred to the condition of the coloured people 
 of that city. To the efforts made, abolition statements to 
 the contrary, to meliorate their condition, for their mental 
 improvement, their peaceable, orderly and good conduct, 
 notwithstanding the abolition commotions, and an appeal 
 to them to pursue the same blameless course. This 
 brought out the coloured people, who by their three min 
 isters, John Fortie, of the Sharp street Methodist Episco 
 pal Church, Daniel Peck, of the Bethel Methodist Epis 
 copal Church, and William Livingston, of the St. James 
 Protestant Episcopal Church, all coloured men, acting in 
 the name and as the representatives of the coloured con 
 gregations of Baltimore, through the same paper addressed 
 the public. 
 
 In this address they state that, with humility and 
 gratitude they sincerely acknowledge the efforts made 
 to meliorate and better their condition, and the great 
 mental improvement resulting from the same, they set 
 forth their confidence in the philanthropy and forbear 
 ance as well as kindness of the white population, and pro 
 claim not only their reliance with confidence upon it, but 
 their determination to conduct themselves in the most 
 peaceable and orderly manner; submitting willingly their 
 destiny to the guidance of heaven, W 7 ith the deFermined 
 resolution to unite their feeble efforts with the white 
 population of Baltimore in resisting, as hostile to the wel 
 fare and happiness of the coloured man, as well as to the 
 peace and order of society, abolition excitements. But 
 let them speak for themselves, and let our readers judge 
 for themselves, from those extracts made from this excel 
 lent address. Yea, more! let abolitionists see the opinions 
 entertained of them and their movements by the most 
 prudent and sensible among the coloured population of our 
 country. 
 
 They proceed and say 
 
 "Therefore, whatever may be the excitement in the 
 community in which we live, or elsewhere, we deem it 
 our paramount, but humble duty, to pledge our fidelity, 
 and that of our brethren, to the Christian public, in the 
 sincere hope thereby to remove, if possible, any unfounded 
 impressions as to there being any disposition among us, 
 
113 
 
 or our brethren generally, of the city or vicinity of Bal 
 timore, to countenance any views or movements which 
 tend to disturb the peace, to alienate the feelings, to pro 
 voke the jealousies, or to jeopardize the safety of the 
 citizens of the said community. 
 
 Wo, therefore, sincerely hope that it will not be con 
 sidered superfluous or indecorous, if we detail a few par 
 ticulars why we and our brethren are bound by the most 
 sacred duty to act as good and conscientious citizens, by 
 carefully and scrupulously avoiding all interference and 
 attempts to interfere, and all manifestation of any inten 
 tion or a wish to interfere with the peculiar interests, 
 concerns, and laws of the community in which we live. 
 First. We have within the said city ten places dedicated 
 to the social worship of Almighty God, wherein we are 
 permitted to worship the Lord according to the dictates 
 of our own conscience, and are protected by the laws of 
 the community. Secondly. We have among us from 
 thirty-five to forty benevolent institutions, both male and 
 female, for mutual relief, each of which numbers from 
 thirty-five to a hundred and fifty members, and much of 
 the money thereof is in some of the savings institutions 
 of this city and also among us there are various me 
 chanics and others, who have, by industry and frugality, 
 purchased houses and lots of ground, horses, drays, carls 
 and carriages ; all of which are sustained and protected 
 by the laws of the community. Thirdly. The endearing 
 social relations among us, of husband and wife, fattier 
 and mother, of brother and sister our many week day 
 and Sabbath schools, in which we are trying to train up 
 our children in the way they should go; by acting thus 
 we hope, with the blessing of the Lord, to form in them 
 the basis of moral virtue, a correct and well regulated 
 mind, whereby they will be led to abhor vice and immo 
 rality, and keep the good order, and appreciate the peace 
 of the community in which they live, as good citizens. 
 Fourthly. The various employments afforded the free 
 coloured population, by the humane and influential white 
 citizens the respect that is shown to the orderly and 
 discreet part of the said population, by the captains of 
 
114 
 
 steamboats and the owners of other public conveyances, 
 when passing to and from this city. 
 
 "Surely, while possessing the benefits which industry 
 and integrity, in this prosperous community, insures to 
 all its inhabitants enjoying the rich blessing of the reli 
 gion of Christ, by opportunities of worshipping the only 
 true God, under the light of Christianity, each of us ac 
 cording to our own understanding, and having afforded 
 to us and our brethren the means of improving our con 
 dition, whereby we are enabled to make great mental 
 improvement all of which, are enough to convince us 
 and our brethren, that whatever tends to disturb the 
 commerce, to molest or destroy the peace and har 
 mony of the community, the coloured population always 
 feel the greatest pressure. Can the thinking, wise and 
 humane part of the white citizens of this great commu 
 nity, be led to believe that we or our brethren, in view of 
 the privileges herein detailed, and the awful calamity 
 that must .come upon us and our brethren, should we, or 
 they, or any member thereof, be so perfidious as to be 
 come the abettors or destroyers of the public order and 
 tranquillity, in any way whatsoever. 
 
 "Now, in view of these particulars, we can emphati 
 cally say, that we believe that not only the congregations 
 over which we preside, but the other coloured congrega 
 tions also of this city and vicinity, and the coloured po 
 pulation generally, are on the side of peace and good 
 order, and are determined, with the blessing of God, to 
 pursue the same blameless course of conduct as hereto 
 fore. Therefore we will, by Divine permission, faithfully 
 and conscientiously support, with fidelity, our pledge 
 herein given, and may the day be darkened, whenever 
 we, knowingly and wittingly ^ deviate from our pledge. 
 
 "Signed in behalf of the said coloured population. 
 
 "JOHN FORTIE, 
 "Minister of the Methodist Episcopal Church, Sharp street. 
 
 "NATHANIEL PECK, 
 "Minister of the Bethel Methodist Episcopal Church. 
 
 "WILLIAM LIVINGSTON, 
 
 "Minister St. James Protestant Episcopal Church, Baltimore. 
 "September 26th, 1835." 
 
115 
 
 With these men we were personally acquainted. Liv 
 ingston was a well educated and regularly ordained 
 minister of the Protestant Episcopal Church, in Baltimore, 
 a man of good acquirements and some oratorical pow 
 ers. He lived and died in the opinions here expressed. 
 Fortie is a most excellent minister, as is his venerable 
 father, with whom we are also personally acquainted. 
 Both are men of education, regarded and respected by 
 all who know them. They expressed these, as do thou 
 sands of others with them now, as the opinions of the 
 coloured people respecting this northern abolition move 
 ment. The truly considerate and wise coloured man, 
 never has, does not now, and never can say to such dis- 
 organizers, "God speed you." O! no no! 
 
 Abolitionists may raise a dust, and keep themselves 
 off at a distance out of harm, whilst the unsuspecting 
 coloured man, or his upright master, or both, are forced 
 by their efforts into a gulph, where all must certainly be 
 wrecked and ruined. We shall never forget the fable 
 which we read when yet but very young, of "the boys 
 throwing stones into a pond, in which were many frogs." 
 Abolitionists, to accomplish their own selfish and political 
 purposes, throw arrows, fire-brands and death in our 
 midst. They are safe, and being so, care not whom or 
 how many they injure. And but for the exalted piety of 
 thousands of southerners, and that too of their faithful 
 and devoted servants, God only knows what would be 
 the consequences. The first blow struck to excite and 
 bring on a servile war, would be but the signal for a 
 destruction of the descendants of those transported to 
 these shores, against the will of the South. A destruc 
 tion as complete as revenge, fired with indignation, could 
 possibly make it. 
 
 That no effort on the part of northern abolitionists has 
 as yet been able to accomplish such a diabolical end, is 
 but another and a truly striking evidence of the forbear 
 ance of the masters, and of the fact, that the piety of the 
 southern slaves is deep and undissembled, and that they, 
 instead of being "compelled to live without God, and die 
 without hope," instead of being "reduced to a condition 
 beneath that of a brute," have been taught and persuaded 
 
116 
 
 to leave their father s savage state, and have attained a 
 degree of religion, that does honour to both their heads 
 and their hearts. It is wonderful to see how immensely 
 the moral condition of that race has been bettered, by a 
 removal from Africa to America. 
 
 We come now to consider their present political state. 
 It is said by those who are only accustomed to think of 
 a master as an oppressor, and a servant or slave, as one 
 that is oppressed, that the political relation and condition 
 of the slaves, is one of unparalleled wretchedness and 
 want. The necessity of providing for the protection of 
 the person and property of all, and especially so, when 
 the slave population, originally, was in a state completely 
 barbarian, must be obvious. But we may appeal to the 
 laws and decisions of any country and prove by a fair 
 comparison that those laws that are passed, are chiefly 
 preventive. And that they exhibit by no means a dispo 
 sition on the part of the white man to tyrannize over the 
 slave. These laws upon an investigation will be found 
 far less severe than those of England, with all her boasted 
 claim of liberty and philanthropy. We now place before 
 the candid reader a collection of these laws, made by a 
 gentleman of exalted standing, a resident of a free state, 
 who never owned a slave. He gives us a synopsis of each, 
 and thus shows the true superiority of the coloured man, 
 as to political privilege over thousands in other civilized 
 lands. The laws for his government being chiefly pre 
 ventive and protective as we have suggested, tend to 
 the benefit and safety of the coloured as well as white 
 race. 
 
 Let us then with coolness and deliberation examine 
 them, and let our northern brethren decide themselves, 
 as to the true political condition of southern slaves. 
 
 Under the penalty of death by the laws of England at 
 this moment, there can be no assemblages in Ireland, at 
 all, of a night. But in the slave-holding states generally, 
 the people go where they please to divine service at night, 
 to other places such as to corn shuckings, or husking and 
 picking matches, by custom, which is law, and to any 
 place at any time, with a note or pass from their mas 
 ters, mistresses, or overseers. On a violation of the peace 
 
117 
 
 at such meetings, the punishment is only by stripes. 2. 
 The meetings among slaves, when broken up at all, are 
 broken up by a peace officer, or a regular patrol ; but 
 among the Irish, according to English laws, by an infuri 
 ated soldiery, with all the severities of martial law. 3. 
 Among white men, in ifngland, it is felony to possess 
 fire-arms. Severe penalties are inflicted on those selling 
 liquor, having shows without license, and perjury, forge 
 ry, setting fire to barns, stables, houses, &c,, are punish 
 ed in England with death, and but lately, in the counties 
 of Kent and Sussex, many were hanged without bene 
 fit of clergy, for these offences. But the slaves in Ame 
 rica for these offences are only punished with stripes, or 
 banishment. 4. Preparing and administering poison, rape, 
 conspiracy against the government, in England, is death ; 
 and if the same be proved as intentionally done by a 
 slave in America, it is punished in the same way, but he 
 is generally recommended to mercy and transported. 
 5; Shooting a partridge, ensnaring a hare, without li 
 cense, and stealing a loaf of bread, in England are pun 
 ished by transportation, and many of the capital crimes, 
 as they are called, which are punished by death in Eng 
 land ; in America, among slaves, are punished by stripes, 
 branding, or by the loss of ears as in the case of perjury. 
 In America itself, the laws are virtually more lenient to 
 the ignorant slave than his enlightened master, for the 
 former cannot be condemned of any offence without the 
 unanimous consent of five judges, sitting as a court of 
 Oyer and Terminer, whilst the white man has his cause 
 or case decided by a majority only of the court. And 
 we challenge any man to show that the laws for the gov 
 ernment of slaves, are less humane in principle or in 
 practice than those of England, for the government of 
 the white man. She ma^ find a sufficient exercise of 
 her humanity, in the revision of her code at home, with 
 out looking to those of the slave-holding states, for the 
 government of servants. To all this we rriay add, that, 
 virtually, the people of England have no more to do in 
 making the laws for their own government, than have 
 the slaves of America, and indeed little or no power to 
 repeal them when severe and tyrannical. The greatest 
 11 
 
118 
 
 portion on whom those laws in England operate, have no 
 more to do in making or repealing them than has the 
 great Mogul, and the abolitionists know it, as well as we 
 do. 6. Besides, the laws by which the slaves of the 
 south are governed, are not more oppressive than those 
 of many states of this Union. We have ourselves seen a 
 white man whipt for petty larceny. Some are so philan 
 thropic, that they cannot brook the idea of corporeal 
 punishment, much less the sale of a man ; and yet Eng 
 land sells them, the states sell vagrants, and whip white 
 men. In New York, the law was to whip white men for 
 minor offences, at the discretion of a justice of the peace, 
 and in most of the states, this law is a part of their code. 
 Indeed, we believe that occasionally a little whipping 
 would mend the manners of some abandoned men, whose 
 wives and children are thrown on the public for a sup 
 port, whilst they are well fed, and clothed, and attended 
 to, in a good room in prison, at the expense of others. 
 The lazy, whether negroes or white men, would like -a 
 little indulgence and rest of this kind in a comfortable 
 jail, when a little flogging for their crimes would at once 
 set them to rights. To confine for minor offences the 
 slave, would be manifestly unjust, because his master 
 would be deprived of his services. We could name too, 
 some states, if it would not " be considered invidious, 
 where the power of the husband over his wife is such, 
 that he may flog her if he chooses, as an officer does the 
 common sailor or soldier, and is protected therein, "in his 
 rights." Yes! RIGHTS OVER WOMAN, the weaker vessel, 
 so that whipping be but "moderate." But it is said that 
 there is an indemnity for such, in the laws of the land, 
 by which they are protected; so there is in the laws of 
 the slave-holding states, by which the coloured race are 
 also protected from the master s abuse of his power over 
 them. But again, it is said, there are cases, where that 
 power is abused. Admitted ! And although we would 
 not, nor does the law justify it, in the most indirect man 
 ner, it must also be recollected, that many parents and 
 husbands every where, including the land of steady ha 
 bits, abuse their power, over their children and wives, 
 and are there, therefore, no laws to protect them ? They 
 
119 
 
 have also a tie, a tie of ownership, one of interest, whic 
 acts on them, and they are not disposed, except in isoh 
 ted cases, to injure their own property, by an abuse < 
 power. It is a slander, a libel, one too at war with a 
 our experience, to suppose that a man can delight to ii 
 jure his own property, and thereby lessen its value. Tfc 
 man that starves, or maims, or injures, or kills his slav 
 cannot have his services. The man that thus treats h 
 wife or children, cannot retain their society and affei 
 tions ; but because some men do it, in either instance, is 
 therefore to be charged on all ? 
 
 To all this we may add, the resistance of public op 
 nion, which denounces the man that treats his slaves i 
 as it would the lawless, bad husband. Public odiu 
 would mark him out. The neighbouring negroes wou 
 put him in every corn husking and picking match son 
 He would be glad enough to feed, and clothe, and tai 
 care of his servants, to get them to aid him in the r 
 demption of his character. From personal observatic 
 we believe, there is nothing that affords a planter 
 much pleasure, as to hear that the negroes of his farrr 
 give him abroad a good name, and nothing mortifies hi 
 so much as to hear the reverse. We once knew a m: 
 whose ox broke his neck. He had him butchered ai 
 salted. The negroes of the neighbourhood got hold of 
 they put it into their corn song at the next huskii 
 match, and the poor fellow had actually to move frc 
 the neighbourhood. In another instance, a man w 
 was known to treat his negroes ill, could not get t 
 neighbouring slaves to come and aid in shucking out 1 
 corn, although he uniformly gave good suppers, a gre 
 dance, and a plenty to drink. Their masters and ow 
 ers would not make them go, because they knew the m; 
 was a hard master, and the negro report of him to 
 true. We repeat, there may^ be, and doubtless a 
 cases of cruelty; but the abolition slang of doctor Cha 
 ning, Judge Jay, and their associates, taken with respc 
 to slave states, as a whole, is a libel on southerne; 
 The coloured man in the south is one of the happiest < 
 earth; he is provided for by his master; this master 
 forced to do it by law, if he does not do it, by law it is doi 
 
120 
 
 and the master forced to pay for it. The slave works 
 out his moderate task, and then sports or plays at the 
 cross-roads, the court-house, the village, the town, the 
 city, or where and as he pleases, provided that he per 
 form his moderate task of domestic duties. True, in 
 corn planting, fodder gathering or cotton picking time, 
 like the labourers at the north and east in harvest, pump 
 kin or apple-butter and cider-pressing time, the men, wo 
 men and children are as busy as bees all, all at work. 
 We have ourselves often seen in the free states, the 
 beautiful, sweet looking lasses, with a reap-hook, a pitch 
 fork, or a rake, hard at it in the broiling sun, vieing with 
 the young men in reaping wheat, or curing hay. These 
 scenes afforded us a pleasure far superior to that of be 
 holding sometimes the men, as it is called, "paling the 
 cows."* This is only surpassed in liveliness, by the ne 
 groes at the corn huskings or picking matches, when 
 they are singing one of their wild songs, often made as 
 they go along. The leader sings his part, and all hands 
 join in the chorus, so that they can sometimes of a calm 
 day or evening, be heard at least three miles. With the 
 assistance of a friend now at hand, we give the reader a 
 part of one of their wild songs. We hope that he will 
 not consider it improper, as we do it only to illustrate the 
 point in hand. 
 
 "LEADER. I loves old Virginny. CHORDS. So ho! boys! so ho! 
 
 L. I love to shuck corn. C. So ho, &.c. 
 
 L. Now s picking cotton time. C. So ho, Etc. 
 
 L. We ll make the money, boys. C. So ho, &.c. 
 
 L. My master is a gentleman. C. So ho, &.c. 
 
 L. He came from the Old Dominion. C. So ho, &tc. 
 
 L. And mistress is a lady. C. So ho, &tc. 
 
 L- Right from the land of Washington. C. So ho, 8tc. 
 
 L. We all live in Mississippi, C. So ho, &c. 
 
 L<. The land for making cotton. C. So ho, Sec. 
 
 L. They used to tell of cotton seed. C. So ho, &tc. 
 
 L. As dinner for the negro man. C. So ho, &tc. 
 
 L. But boys and gals its all a lie. C. So ho, &tc. 
 
 L. We live in a fat land. C. So ho, &tc. 
 
 L Hog meat and hominy. C. So ho, 8tc. 
 
 L- Good bread and Indian dumplins. C. So ho, Sec. 
 
 * Milking the cows. 
 
121 
 
 L. Music roots* and rich molasses. C. So ho, 8tc. 
 
 L- The negro up to picking cotton. C. So ho, 8tc. 
 
 L An old ox broke his neck. C- So ho, &.c. 
 
 L. He belong to old Joe R . C- So ho, &c. 
 
 L. He cut him up for negro meat. C. So ho, &ui. 
 
 L- My master say he be a rascal. C. So ho, &tc. 
 L. His negroes shall not shuck his corn. C. So ho, 8tc. 
 L.- No negro now will pick his cotton. C. So ho, &,c. 
 
 L. Old Joe hire Indian- C. So ho, &c. 
 
 L. I gwine home to Africa. C. So ho, &c. 
 
 L. My overseer says so- C. So ho, &.c, 
 
 L. He scold only bad negroes. C. So ho, 8tc. 
 
 L. Here goes the corn boys. C- So ho, &.c." 
 
 The first leader having sung out his song, all at once 
 a second leader will break out with his, and begins unce 
 rernoniously, perhaps with 
 
 "General Washington was a. gentleman. C. Here goes the corn. 
 
 L. I don t love the pedlars. C. Here goes, &tc. 
 
 L. They cheat me in my rabbit skins. C. Here goes, &tc. 
 
 L. When I bought their tin ware. C. Here goes, 3tc." 
 i 
 
 A gentleman of high standing in Virginia mentionec 
 to us a case, but the other day, which is just in point 
 A minister who lived in his neighbourhood was a grea 
 tobacco planter. There was not, until very late in th< 
 year, any rain to make what is called a season, for setting 
 out tobacco plants. Whilst the parson was preaching of 
 a Sunday morning, there came a fine rain. He sooi 
 wound up the service, and told his hearers "how gratefu 
 they ought to be to God for this fine rain, and now," sak 
 he, "let us go home, draw our plants and set out ou 
 tobacco. Come negroes, come negroes, all of you go hom< 
 and go to planting !" He then called on his own negroes 
 by name, to be off home immediately and at it. This wa: 
 such a flagrant violation of morality, and such a bad ex 
 ample, that the negroes put him into their corn songs 
 and, said this excellent gentleman, "Sir, I assure you i 
 is now twenty-five years since that happened, and thei 
 
 * Sweet potatoes. 
 11* 
 
122 
 
 are not yet done singing their song about the old parson." 
 Let us then also give the reader a part of it. 
 
 "L,. The parson say his prayers in church. C. It rain boys, it rain. 
 
 L. Then deliver a fine sermon. C. It rain boys, it rain. 
 
 L. He cut the matter short my friends. C. It rain boys, &LC. 
 
 L. He say the blessed Lord send it. C. It rain boys, Sic. 
 
 L. JYbttf s the time for planting bacco. C. It rain, &.c. 
 
 L. Come my negroes get you home. C. It rain, &tc. 
 
 L. Jim, Jack, and Joe and Tom. C. It rain, &tc. 
 
 L. Go draw your plants and set them out. C. It rain, &tc. 
 
 L. Don t you stop a moment boys. C. ,It rain, &,c. 
 
 L. Twas on a blessed Sabbath day. C. It rain, Sec. 
 
 L. Here s a pretty preacher for you. C. It rain, Stc." 
 
 Poor fellow ; we are told that he was actually sung out 
 of the neighbourhood. 
 
 We have hired slaves, and although as before said more 
 than once, we never owned one, yet, having lived so long 
 among them, we have closely observed and marked them 
 as one of the labouring classes of our country, and from 
 the fact that they have no care in providing for their own 
 families, they are, we- believe, the happiest labouring 
 class, as they exist and are situated in Maryland, Virgi 
 nia and the South, of any in the world. 
 
 Who that ever saw the thousands of negroes collected 
 at a camp meeting, from the Eastern and Western Shores 
 of Maryland and Virginia, on the Tangier Islands in the 
 Chesapeake Bay, or at those meetings in the South, thou 
 sands of thousands, in Georgia and the Carolinas, will 
 not say so? Singing, praying, preaching, day and night, 
 free as air. "How can they sing," say abolitionists ? 
 How can they sing, ask you, sirs? Why for the very 
 best of all reasons. They want but little. That little is 
 amply supplied by a kind master, who is disgraced if he 
 do not care for his servants, and whether he is willing to 
 do it or not, the laiq makes him do it. When hz cannot 
 do so, another will do it for him, The wife and the chil 
 dren of the negro are provided for by another, their mas 
 ter, and with his master s leave, the negro spends a day, 
 a week, or weeks, at the camp meetings, the associations, 
 the courts, at night at a husking match, or any where 
 
123 
 
 else, and that law which protects the master, also pro 
 tects his slave, and prevents that master from using him 
 ill or abusing his power, in maiming or injuring him or 
 his. If the master were to do this, he must stand at the 
 bar of public opinion there be disgraced as an unmerci 
 ful wretch, and whilst there is one man, who, for gain, 
 would afflict his slaves, there are a thousand masters, 
 who delight to do them good. Just as we know is the 
 case with northerners. Here and there you will find a 
 pedlar, from "away down East," who would, if he could 
 get a chance, and make "a speck 1 by it, cheat you out of 
 your eyes, whilst to our knowledge, and, thank heaven! 
 we delight to say so, and that from delightful experience, 
 some of the finest specimens of generous, noble, disinte 
 rested benevolence, real and God-like piety, we have 
 ever seen, have been among our kind Yankee friends of 
 New England. Hundreds if not thousands of such, we 
 could, and would delight to name, if it were proper here. 
 Shall we, because of the brutality of some few overseers 
 or masters, denounce all? Shall we, because of the cun 
 ning of some of the sons of New England, denounce all? 
 No ! O no ! We hope not. We know the cruelty of 
 some northern masters to their apprentices, and shall we 
 therefore denounce all ? We will not, we dare not, we 
 cannot do it. 
 
 To tell the truth, such ample provision is made by law, 
 to protect the slave, that he is better provided for in this 
 respect, than his master. The courts must, in all cases, 
 assign, at the expense of the state, the very best counsel 
 for the accused slave. It cannot, as we have seen, con 
 demn him unless unanimous. He cannot, if condemned 
 to die, be legally put to death under thirty days, unless in 
 times of insurrection and rebellion, and not then unless 
 all the evidence for and against him, is placed upon 
 record, and in some very short time sent to the governor, 
 who has the power to reprieve, and who almost always 
 does it, except in cases virtually involving murder. We 
 have seen the present superiority, mental and moral, ot 
 the American coloured slave over the native African. 
 We have already shown, and if not, will now do it, by a 
 farther synopsis of laws in his favour, that he is as much 
 
124 
 
 under the protection of law, as any man. 1. Any slave 
 who can do so, with the assistance of his or her master, 
 mistress or friends, may buy him or herself, and his or 
 her wife, or husband, or children, but shall not own slaves. 
 2 No taxes, fee bills, fines or executions, can be levied 
 on any slave, although held as property, so long as there 
 are goods and chattels wherewith to discharge said 
 claims; and if at any time taken under execution, the 
 officer is bound to feed and support him well, and pay for 
 it first, as a part of the costs of said suit ; nor can they be 
 sold by an executor to pay off the debts of his testator, 
 so long as there is other property. 3. No master can 
 make his servant w r ork on Sunday, except in the ordinary 
 household offices. A master or owner of a slave who is 
 infirm, or too young or old to work, an idiot or maniac, 
 must provide for and take care of him, or it is done by 
 the managers of the poor at the master s expense. 4. A 
 doctor, in case of sickness, must be in regular attendance, 
 and should a master neglect, or ill-treat, or maim, or kill 
 a slave, he is put on his trial for murder, and condemned 
 and hung, under various acts, just as in the case of kill 
 ing a white man. 5. Slaves are at all times permitted 
 to assemble for Divine worship on their owner s farms, 
 and elsewhere at any time, as we have before said, with 
 permission from the overseer or master; and the master, 
 or masters may employ, as many do now, and have long 
 been accustomed to do, a regular minister, to act as a 
 chaplain, for the enlightenment and benefit of their ser 
 vants. 6. When not charged with a crime affecting life, 
 they may be admitted to bail, as a white man. They are 
 always good witnesses for or against one another, and 
 when circumstances confirm their statements respecting 
 the commission of a crime, by a white man, the latter, 
 we believe, is most generally convicted ; it is not said to 
 be done on the evidence of a slave, but on circumstantial 
 evidence. Now we ask, what is there in the political 
 condition of the slave, so heart-rending, as it is represented 
 to be by abolitionists? What to justify the remarks of 
 Dr. Channing and others, that "their rights are sacrific 
 ed," especially "those, the dearest and most sacred, their 
 liberty or freedom? When did they or their fathers 
 
125 
 
 have it? Who gave them the right, or their abolition 
 friends the right to ask or claim it for them here ? Who 
 dare say that we shall go farther, and give to the children 
 of slaves, forced on our fathers, the country bought for us, 
 by their blood? Hold abolition gentlemen, we pray 
 you hold ! Ponder your acts a little, lest you stir up a 
 contest that shall end in the destruction of the coloured 
 race on this side the water, if it do not destroy your own 
 brethren, who aided you in your struggles for emancipa 
 tion from British tyranny. 
 
 Let us here for one moment institute a comparison 
 between the condition of the slaves in the United States, 
 and those now in the possession and under the rule of the 
 British government, that boasts of abolitionism. This 
 we cannot better do than by quoting an extract from 
 "The Asiatic Journal, for 1838, published in London," 
 page 221, and appended as a note to the speech of Mr. 
 Bailey in the Virginia House of Delegates, during the 
 session of 1841. Indeed there are many parts of Mr. 
 Bailey s speech so applicable to this point, that we can 
 not forbear making several quotations from it, although it 
 may be considered as a digression from our main subject. 
 
 The piece to which we allude is entitled "government 
 of slaves in Malabar," on which subject it was written by 
 the editor, in London, the capital of Great Britain. Mr. 
 Bailey makes the following remarks. "It is a fact which 
 cannot be denied, that British abolition of West India 
 slavery, was an act of pure and unadulterated fanaticism. 
 To prove this I need not refer to the historical truth, 
 that during her brightest days she was the greatest slave- 
 dealer on earth, but I may rest upon the fact, that she 
 was, at the time of West India emancipation, the greatest 
 slaveholder in the world, and hired out her slaves for 
 profit." Mr. Bailey then gives the quotation above alluded 
 to, in the following words : 
 
 "We know that there is not a servant of government in 
 the south of India, who is not intimately acquainted with 
 the alarming fact, that hundreds of thousands of his fel 
 low-creatures are fettered down for life to the degraded 
 destiny of slavery. We know that these unfortunate 
 beings are not, as in other countries, serfs of the soil, and 
 
126 
 
 incapable of being transferred, at the pleasure of their 
 owners, from one estate to another. No; they are daily 
 sold like cattle, by one proprietor to another ; the hus 
 band is separated from the wife, the parent from the 
 child ; they are loaded with every indignity ; the utmost 
 quantity of labour is extracted from them, and the most 
 meagre fare that human nature can possibly subsist on, 
 is doled out to support them. The slave population is 
 composed of a great variety of classes : the descendants 
 of those who have been- taken prisoners in time of war; 
 persons who have been kidnapped from the neighbouring 
 states; people who have been born under such circum 
 stances as that they are considered without the pale of 
 the ordinary castes, and others who have been smuggled 
 from the coast of Africa, torn from their country and 
 their kindred, and destined to a more wretched lot, as 
 will be seen to a more enduring captivity than their breth 
 ren of the western world. Will it be believed that govern 
 ment itself participates in this description of property ; 
 that it actually holds possession of slaves, and lets them 
 out for hire to the cultivators of the soil, the rent of a whole 
 family, being two farams or half a rupee per annum ?" 
 c But why dwell on these comparatively free slaves 1 The 
 whole of Hindustan, with the adjacent possessions, is one 
 magnificient plantation, peopled by more than one hun 
 dred millions of slaves, belonging to a company oj gentle 
 men in England, called the East India Company, whose 
 power is far more unlimited and despotic than that of any 
 southern planter over his slaves, a power upheld by the 
 sword and bayonet, exacting more and leaving less of 
 the product of their labour to the subject race, than is 
 left under our own system, with much less regard to their 
 comfort in sickness and age." Mr. Bailey continues his 
 remarks thus: 
 
 "The success of Abolition in England gave a powerful 
 impulse to it in this country. I have shown that the 
 abolitionists triumphed in England about 1830. Before 
 that time the subject had been but little agitated here, 
 except on one memorable occasion by the citizens of the 
 northern states. Before that time, but few of the people 
 of those states claimed the privilege of regulating our do- 
 
127 
 
 mestic concerns for us. Until then, except on the occa 
 sion to which I have referred, when the politicians attempt 
 ed to convert it to their purposes, the agitation of the 
 subject of emancipation, was confined to a few peaceful 
 Quakers. They occasionally petitioned congress upon 
 the subje<ft; their petitions were promptly rejected, and 
 nothing was heard of them thereafter. Their rejection 
 gave rise to no agitation. But after the success of abo 
 lition in England, petitions from a different class of per 
 sons began to pour into Congress, until in 1836, Mr. 
 Pinckney of South Carolina, in an ill-fated hour moved to 
 refer them to a select committee. Yielding to the fatal 
 delusion that fanatics are to be reasoned with, he under 
 took to argue with them in a congressional report. His 
 vain effort resulted as he ought to have anticipated. His 
 rebuke produced about as much effect upon the abolition 
 ists, as did Canute s upon the waves ; and the one had 
 about as much excuse as the other for making the attempt. 
 "Mr. Pinckney made a very elaborate and able report ; 
 but so far from its allaying excitement, as was predicted, 
 it only added oil to the flame. Under his resolution the 
 petitions of thirty-seven thousand petitioners were laid 
 upon the table. In 1837, the petitions of one hundred 
 and ten thousand petitioners were laid upon the table 
 under Mr. Patton s resolutions. And in 1838, five hun 
 dred thousand shared the same fate. The number of 
 petitions had increased, in three short years, from thirty- 
 seven thousand to five hundred thousand. And this only 
 includes the number presented in the House of Represen 
 tatives ; those presented in the Senate not being taken 
 into the estimate. There were in the United States two 
 hundred and twenty-five abolition societies. In 1836 
 they numbered five hundred and twenty-seven. The 
 number had risen, in 1837, to one thousand and six. And 
 in May, 1838, they had run up to one thousand three 
 hundred and forty-six ! I have not seen a statement of 
 their increase since then, bat doubtless they have aug 
 mented in the same ratio. These societies contained, in 
 1838, one hundred and fifty thousand actual enrolled 
 members. I derive these facts from the annual returns 
 of the societies." 
 
128 
 
 In the State of Ohio, where, a few years since, a law 
 was passed to facilitate the recovery of runaway slaves, 
 he says: 
 
 "Her supreme court is intelligent and firm. It has 
 lately decided virtually against the constitutionality of an 
 act of the legislature, made, in effect, to fa vouf southern 
 slavery, by the persecution of the coloured people within 
 her bounds. She has already abolitionists enough to turn 
 the scale in her elections, and an abundance of excellent 
 material for augmenting the number. A few years since, 
 a law was passed in this state, providing for carrying 
 into effect the provision of the Constitution of the United 
 States, in relation to fugitives from service. This law 
 was passed in aid of the law of Congress upon the sub 
 ject, and is a faithful fulfilment of that slate s constitu 
 tional obligation. But this law has given rise to great 
 excitement in the state. Its repeal is most vociferously 
 demanded. It is denounced as the Black Act, and 
 should it be repealed, doubtless its advocates will go to 
 another extreme, and pass a law similar to the law of 
 New York." 
 
 It is not our intention now to discuss the constitution 
 ality of this subject. That may be found in an other 
 place, where we shall again take the liberty in other parts 
 of this work, of quoting largely from Mr. Bailey s most 
 admirable speech, which we have also done from the noble 
 defence set up by others for the southern views on this 
 subject. Who is there that will not be excited when 
 he reads the foregoing quotations ? What, hundreds 
 of thousands of abolitionists, with members of con 
 gress at their head, demanding that the South undo all 
 that they and their fathers have done, to civilize the Afri 
 can race, and better their mental, moral, and political" 
 condition ? A race once savage, now comparatively an 
 enlightened and a religious people, and as a labouring 
 class one of the happiest in all the world. What, turn 
 them loose to depredate on society, and fall back into 
 their savage state ? And shall England, slave-holding 
 England throw the apple of discord in our midst and dare 
 to interfere in our concerns, and call for an emancipation 
 of our slaves ? Slaves in a better condition than thousands 
 
129 
 
 of her own subjects in England itself, not to speak of those 
 in Ireland and Hindostan? What, shall she seek to 
 occasion that we imbrue our hands in a "brother s blood ?" 
 God forbid ! but we forbear ! We will not say what our 
 own indignation at such an act would prompt us to say. 
 We proceed to the discussion of another point in this 
 delicate subject. 
 
 12 
 
PART V. 
 
 THAT A DIRECT AND IMMEDIATE EMANCIPATION OF ALL SLAVES, 
 NOW IN THE SLAVE-HOLDING STATES, UNCONDITIONALLY, AS 
 IT REGARDS THEIR OWNERS^ IS VIRTUALLY THE PLAN OF 
 DOCTOR CHANNING, AND AVOWEDLY THAT OF THE ABO 
 LITIONISTS IN GENERAL. THAT SUCH AN ABOLITION OF SLA 
 VERY HERE, AMONG US, BEING FRAUGHT WITH CONSEQUENCES 
 SO REPULSIVE TO THE FEELINGS OF THE WHITES, AND EVI 
 DENTLY SO DANGEROUS AND SUBVERSIVE OF THE SAFETY OF 
 BOTH THE WHITE AND COLOURED POPULATION, IS NOT THE 
 PROPER REMEDY AGAINST THE EVIL OF SLAVERY. 
 
 AT first view one hardly knows how to take the great 
 Dr. Charming. We have already suggested that at times 
 he- holds with the hare and runs with the hound." When 
 we first read his piece on slavery we were disposed to 
 think, in our charity, that writing in the dark, he did not 
 exactly know what to do, which side to take, and that he 
 desired to examine both sides, and mark their bearings. 
 At last it occurred to us that the doctor had written in that 
 ambiguous manner, the better to get southerners to buy 
 and circulate his book. Subsequent events have proved, 
 however indisposed we were to such a conclusion, that it 
 is the true, indeed his only reason, for such a course. 
 Since that, we have read his tract on "Emancipation," 
 and that also on the "Annexation of Texas to the United 
 States." The doctrines of these tracts, as well as the one 
 on slavery, prove beyond a contradiction, that Dr. 
 Channing was at the commencement, is now, and in 
 tends to be, an ABOLITIONIST of the deepest dye. That 
 he is the mortal, open, downright enemy of all the South. 
 That he is ready to join in any measure to uproot its 
 
132 
 
 institutions, and cripple and curtail, if not destroy, its 
 weight, its influence and power, in this union. We re 
 peat we are sorry to be forced to such a conclusion, but 
 before we are done we will quote Dr. Channing, that he 
 may here speak for himself, and by his own words de 
 monstrate, that Garrettson, Judge Jay, Scott, Sunderland, 
 and Storrs, do not surpass him, and truly that none of the 
 abolitionists have ever exceeded him either in misrepre 
 sentation, abuse, or wanton attack on all the South, inclu 
 ding TEXAS. Yea more ! All these tracts demonstrate 
 this leading fact, one which we have been forced in spite 
 of ourselves, after a careful second reading, and some 
 parts of his books several times, that Dr. Channing is a 
 fanatic, who, whilst he lacks the power, does not lack the 
 disposition to carry out his fanatical principles though at 
 the price of the "life, liberty, fortune, sacred honour," the 
 virtue, yea, lives, of ALL the Anglo-American race of the 
 entire South. Heaven forgive us if we be wrong ! But 
 we will as promised already, before we are done, give the 
 doctor s own words, and those of the abolitionists to con 
 firm them, as to their true meaning, and let the impartial 
 and intelligent reader judge for himself. We will let Dr. 
 Charming have the benefit of telling his own principles and 
 views on our pages in his own way. If however, we 
 should fail in our quotations from the doctor s tracts, to 
 establish these things, we will go to acts, to deeds, these 
 speak louder than words, and we will adduce his own 
 efforts, to incite Professor Hare of the University of Penn 
 sylvania, to commence this attack on the south in a way 
 and at a time to make it be felt most acutely. Yes, Pro 
 fessor Hare, one of the most talented and renowned pro 
 fessors of chemistry in all the world. One revered, re 
 spected and beloved, by thousands of his old, as well as 
 present students in all the south. A professor whose fame 
 is not only on the lips of every man of learning at home, 
 but on the wings of the wind, it has flown over the wide 
 Atlantic, and his work on chemistry will be a text book 
 and companion of the student in Europe and America, 
 when this great man shall be numbered with the dead. 
 
 For the present we lay over Dr. Channing s letter to 
 this learned professor to get up a meeting in Philadelphia, 
 
 
133 
 
 where are generally in attendance from five to seven hun 
 dred southern students, to wound and insult their feelings, 
 before an enlightened assembly, to be convened for 
 anti-slavery purposes in that great city. We say for 
 anti-slavery purposes, for whoever will read Dr. Chan- 
 ning s tract on the "Annexation of Texas to the United 
 States," will at once perceive that the whole drift of his 
 argument, is, that by this the direct and immediate eman 
 cipation of the coloured race in the United States may be 
 presented to his readers, for which he and as we all know, 
 all abolitionists contend. We refer however the reader 
 to the letter itself, which may be found in that most ad 
 mirable and interesting work entitled "TEXAS AND TEX- 
 ANS," by GENERAL HENRY STAVART FOOTE, of Missis 
 sippi. In the meantime we will undertake to show that 
 the emancipation of the slave population of our country, 
 is, according to Dr. Chanriing and his abolition associates, 
 a direct, immediate, and entire abolition of slavery, to 
 take place here, that is, in the midst of the slave-holding 
 states. But let them speak to the reader for themselves, 
 and he shall hear them, after that we shall have given a 
 few pithy and facetious remarks of a friend in a letter 
 now before us. For, as Professor Hare received a letter 
 from the north, so we have received one, and from a 
 gentleman and a professor too, of exalted standing. 
 
 U J notice," says our friend, "the remarks you make 
 respecting the works of Dr. Channing. It will be easy 
 to expose and explode his sophistry ; but I doubt whether 
 the game is worth the candle, especially as on the sub 
 ject of slavery he has written for both markets, north and 
 south, and has unfortunately belittled himself into the fa 
 ble of the man, the boy, and the ass, for in trying to 
 please every body, he has pleased nobody, and lost his 
 ass in the bargain." 
 
 For the information of the reader, we notice that 
 sometime in 1835, Dr. Channing put forth his work enti 
 tled simply "Slavery," it being doubtless, as our friend 
 has suggested, for both markets : the publisher was so 
 sure of an extensive sale, that he had it stereotyped. 
 We have already suggested that its title and bitter pills 
 carefully sweetened, its abstract principles, wholly inap- 
 12* 
 
134 
 
 plicable to the facts, as they exist, and his denunciations 
 of the south, covered up with "blarney most sublime," 
 were well calculated to delude southerners into the pur 
 chase of his book. The doctor s abolition friends well 
 knew that all his reproofs of abolitionism were only an 
 argument ad captandum, and that the apparent force 
 and application of these to themselves, were alike pre 
 vented by such expressions as those in which abolition 
 ism is represented not as the cause of "a few enthusiasts, 
 but the cause of freedom." In which it is represented as 
 identifying itself "with all our rights and popular institu 
 tions." Abolitionists are set forth as "a persecuted peo 
 ple," whose sufferings command his sympathies, and that 
 persecution as "without a parallel in our country." "The 
 persecuted abolitionists have the sympathies of the civil 
 ized w r orld. The country which persecutes them is 
 covering itself with disgrace," says the doctor, "and fill 
 ing the hearts of the friends of freedom with fear and 
 gloom. Already despotism is beginning to rejoice in the 
 fulfilment of its prophecies, in our prostrated laws and 
 liberty. Liberty is indeed threatened with death in a 
 country, where any class of men are stripped with impu 
 nity of their constitutional rights. All rights feel the 
 blow. A community giving up any of its citizens to op 
 pression and violence, is preparing for itself the same 
 fate. It invites chains for itself in suffering them to be 
 imposed on any whom it is bound to protect." 
 
 It cannot, of course, be supposed by the considerate rea 
 der, that, after the use of such sycophantic language, and 
 that indeed, the language of propitiation to the abolition 
 ists, the south could repose any confidence in the reason 
 ings or professions of Dr. Channing. Were we here to 
 ask the question, and attempt to answer it, what is an 
 abolitionist? we would give Dr. Channing s book on 
 slavery as a definition, and Dr. Channing himself, as we 
 shall see, as one of the most insinuating and untoward 
 of all abolitionists. After opening his case in the intro 
 duction, with elaborate protestations of his good feelings, 
 &c.> 10 the south, is it not enough to arouse the indigna 
 tion of any man, south of Mason s and Dixon s line, to 
 hear his condolence for the "poor persecuted abolition- 
 
135 
 
 ists," who, with a cruelty almost as diabolical as that of 
 Satan himself, would encompass sea and land, heaven 
 and earth, (if they could,) to force their southern fellow- 
 citizens, leagued with them in a solemn compact, called 
 a constitution, which is the basis of the Federal Govern 
 ment, to give their liberty and country to a parcel of 
 African slaves, forced on them, in part, by the fathers of 
 those very abolitionists. What sickly whining then, is that 
 condolence of Dr. Channing with the poor persecuted 
 abolitionists, who with premeditated and fiend-like cold 
 ness, would apply the lighted torch, and with murderous 
 hand involve us and our children in a ruin both sudden 
 and complete? 
 
 We will give some quotations, we said, before we are 
 done, from Dr. Channing himself, and other abolitionists, 
 to prove all this. One sentence in the very commence 
 ment of his work on slavery would be enough. He be 
 gins with this principle, and presently we shall see, that 
 he ends with it. The abolition of the negroes, any how, 
 is his doctrine. But hear him. "As men," says this doc 
 tor, "as Christians, as citizens, we (abolitionists) have or 
 owe duties to the slave, as well as to every other member 
 of the community. On this point we have no liberty. 
 The eternal law binds us to take the side of the injured, 
 and this law is peculiarly obligatory, when we forbid 
 him to lift an arm in his own defence." "All other 
 powers may fail. This must triumph. It is leagued 
 with God s Omnipotence. Slavery cannot stand before 
 it." "To embody and express this great truth is in every 
 man s power, and thus every man can do something to 
 break the chain of slavery." "No fellow-creature can 
 be so injured," that is by slavery, "without taking terrible 
 vengeance." We have hardly the space, or time, or 
 disposition, to make the many quotations similar to these, 
 which we might make, from the eight chapters and note 
 of Dr. Channing in this work on slavery, in which are 
 considered: 1. Property. 2. Rights. 3. Explanations. 
 4. Evils of Slavery. 5. Scripture. 6. Means of Re 
 moving Slavery. 7. Abolitionism. 8. Duties, and then 
 his note. 
 
 That Dr. Channing is for a direct and an immediate 
 
136 
 
 emancipation, his own declarations to the contrary not 
 withstanding, is manifest from the fact, that he says, 
 "there is but one obstacle in the way, and that may be 
 easily overcome." "There is," says he, "but one weighty 
 argument against immediate emancipation, namely, that 
 the slave would not support himself and children, by 
 honest industry, that having always worked from com 
 pulsion, he will not work without it." "Here lies the 
 strength of the argument for continuing present re 
 straint," "restraint" only, says he, "not to be his master s 
 property." To be restrained by civil law, but sent off 
 from his master, turned out on society, turned out at 
 once, if he can feed himself and children. If he cannot 
 do this, then only restrained, but not by his master. His 
 master is "a thief," "a robber," a "kidnapper," a "pirate," 
 a "murderer," "worse than a murderer." "Give," says 
 he, "the slaves a disposition and power to support them 
 selves and their families by honest industry, and complete 
 emancipation should not be delayed one hour" Why so, 
 doctor ? Because says he, "The slave cannot rightfully, 
 and should not be owned, by any body." "His master is 
 educated in injustice," "and has exercised an usurped 
 power from his birth." And what next, doctor? Hear! 
 read ! let it be marked ! "There is but one obstacle to 
 emancipation, and that is the want of .that spirit, in which 
 Christians and freemen should resolve to exterminate 
 slavery." And again, "I do not mean to condemn this 
 mode of action as only evil," that is, action, such as the 
 above abolition action. "There are cases, to which, it 
 is adapted, and, in general, the impulse which it gives is 
 better than the selfish, sluggish indifference to good ob 
 jects, into which the multitude so generally fall. This 
 enthusiasm of the individual, in a good cause is a mighty 
 power." 
 
 The second book of Dr. Channing is entitled "Emanci 
 pation," and is, virtually, a kind of commentary on the 
 letters of Mr. Gurney, to Hon. Henry Clay, Tespecting 
 the effects of a direct and immediate emancipation of the 
 slaves of the West India islands, by Great Britain. Dr. 
 Channing after the sweeping clauses written several years 
 since, which we have quoted above from his work on 
 
137 
 
 slavery, feigns himself rather in a state of doubt and 
 uncertainty, respecting the wisdom of the plan, until 
 he read Mr. Gurney s letters, and now, behold he is all 
 abolitionist. He can doubt no longer. He is forced to 
 the conclusion. Britain, slave-holding, slave-trading, 
 tyrannical, overbearing Britain, that made clear profits 
 in a few short years, of at least four hundred millions of 
 dollars, by the slave trade, and built up thereby, at the 
 expense of humanity, and the safety of the South, her 
 empire in Hindostan, has immortalized herself by eman 
 cipating West India slaves, at an expense of a few mil 
 lions of dollars. But if "these matters were violating 
 rights, and they could be no property from the begin 
 ning, and God s word is against this worst of evils," and 
 "heaven denounces," and "hell is the reward of it," &c. 
 as Dr. C. says, how how came it to be so glorious an 
 act, for that mistress of tyrants to pay their masters for 
 them? Behold, Dr. C. has just found out what before he 
 had condemned in the abolitionists, that this subject of a 
 direct, immediate emancipation of three millions of slaves, 
 to take possession of the lands and homes of their masters, 
 and by being raised at once to the possession and exercise 
 of equal laws and equal privileges, force them from the 
 very country, "for which our fathers fought and bled and 
 died," is the true plan. "I ought not," says Dr. C. "to 
 be accused of wishing to give a political aspect to the 
 anti-slavery cause." "I am very unwilling that it should 
 take the form of a struggle for office and power. Still it 
 has particular relations, and of these I shall speak with 
 perfect freedom. The topic is an exciting one, but as I 
 look at it with perfect calmness, I hope I shall not disturb 
 the minds of others." This is exceeding kind indeed. 
 "I do not wish to give it this turn, I am unwilling it should 
 take this form," &c. "Still it has its political relations." 
 I will discuss them but I shall not be abusive and excited 
 as most abolitionists are. "I look at it with perfect calm 
 ness." "I hope 1 shall not disturb the minds of others." 
 In other words doctor, you will cry peace, you will quiet 
 the troubled waters, you will hush all opposition, and by 
 sweetening the bitter pill, will persuade, till it is swallowed 
 by at least all the friends of the South, in the North, and 
 
138 
 
 then let the South arouse and find themselves on a 
 volcano, whose thunders you have waked, and whose 
 hellish fires you have helped to kindle. This is calmness 
 is it? 
 
 To carry out these his designs, Dr. C. makes his quo 
 tations from Mr. Gurney s letters, on which he comments 
 and sets forth for public denunciation "the base master," 
 as fattening on the labour of his slaves, in "violation of 
 all rights/ 7 "and the unconcern of human nature, for that 
 oppressed slave, as well as the master s iniquity." South 
 erners are abused, as yielding to "this base doctrine," 
 involving "the sacrificce of rights" "the dearest and most 
 sacred." The paralysing effects of slavery on a master 
 reclining on an ottoman or sofa, are pointed out, as also 
 the superiority of European freedom over that of Ameri 
 can; northern and southern Christians, (especially the 
 METHODISTS,) and ALL but the merciful, the kind-hearted, 
 and benevolent abolitionists, are handled by the doctor 
 without gloves. Woman herself is exhorted, Amazon 
 like, zealously to engage in mighty contest against the 
 South. The consciences of southerners, the patriotism and 
 holy religion of northerners, the guilt of delay, the glory 
 of immediate victory, and pride, and prejudice, ambition, 
 earth, heaven all, all, are appealed to, to effect that 
 mighty change, by an emancipation, immediate and 
 direct, such as England has effected in the West India 
 islands. And all and every part of this morsel of aboli 
 tionism, is published by the American Anti -Slavery So 
 ciety, Nassau street, in New York, to be sent forth from 
 thence, by thousands, and circulated to inflame the minds, 
 and excite to insurrection the slaves of the South. So 
 much then for the "coo/ness" and Stoical calmness of Dr. 
 Channing, arid his discussion of "the political relations" 
 of this subject one, gotten up by those who seem deter 
 mined never to stop, until the slave shall be forced to the 
 performance of deeds which must wake up the slave 
 states, that like lions, though they now sleep, w r hen waked 
 up, shall make this nation feel that we have not entered 
 into the federal compact to have our rights, our feelings, 
 our interests, our business, and our safety all insulted, 
 violated and interfered with, by those who never have 
 
139 
 
 had, and never will have committed to them, the right of 
 interference in our internal concerns. 
 
 The other pamphlet of Dr. Channing purports to be a 
 letter addressed to the Hon. Henry Clay, of Kentucky, 
 on the annexation of Texas to the United States. As we 
 propose at another place to consider this pamphlet, we 
 pass it over now, only remarking that it contains further 
 evidence of Dr. Channing s hostility to the South of his 
 connection with the abolitionists, as one of their chiefs or 
 champions, and of a fact, at which the learned doctor at 
 first shuddered, and which he denounced that is, that 
 abolitionism should become "political." Now he becomes 
 a most conspicuous ABOLITION POLITICIAN, and all the 
 South is denounced, as guilty of acts the most atrocious 
 that ever were committed, not so much for the following 
 reasons: The indirectly assisting the Texans (a band of 
 villains as they are virtually called by Dr. C.) to procure 
 their freedom from Mexican tyranny and bondage : the 
 acknowledgment of the independence of such lawless 
 marauders the encouragement given to its settlement 
 by southern cotton and sugar growers, and that its union 
 with the United States would, as he thinks, be unconsti 
 tutional, and calculated to extend the power of the South; 
 but especially, because it will be extending slavery, or 
 rather, to use the language of Dr. Channing, then "all the 
 islands of the Archipelago will have cause to dread our 
 power, but none so much as the emancipated" and wars 
 "having for their object the subjugation of the coloured 
 race, and the destruction of this tempting example of 
 freedom." 
 
 To annex Texas, "slavery will be," says the doctor, 
 "perpetuated in the old states, as well as spread over 
 new." "It is by slave-trading and slave-selling that these 
 states subsist. Take away a foreign market and slavery 
 will die," "and the single consideration, that one human 
 being is placed powerless and defenceless in the hands of 
 another, to be driven to whatever labour that other 
 may impose, &c. is most hostile to the dignity, self- 
 respect, improvement, rights and happiness of human 
 beings." "In so doing, we cut ourselves off from the 
 communion of the nations, we sink below the civili- 
 
140 
 
 zation of the age, we invite the scorn, indignation and 
 abhorrence of the world." Such are the remarks of Dr. 
 C. which we now barely quote, to show the determined 
 hostility to all the interest and safety of the slave-holding 
 states, that exists in his mind, and those of abolitionists 
 in general. 
 
 The plan of Great Britain, with the exception of re 
 muneration to the master, for the loss of his servants, is 
 the plan of Dr. C. and his abolition brethren, only it must 
 be immediate and direct. Direct, immediate, (uncondi 
 tional as it respects the master,) unconditional and uni 
 versal emancipation, here in our midst, on our land, to 
 possess our homes, our rights, our privileges, our coun 
 try, virtual/y our all yes, reader! I will show you 
 after a while, and from Dr. Channing too, our sons, our 
 daughters, if not, and this perhaps would please some 
 better than all, that negroes, putting us out of the way, 
 shall possess our wives, as well as our homes. We 
 tremble whilst we pen these sentences. We are driven 
 to do so, by that most fatal of all sorts of fanaticism in 
 this country, abolitionism. The waters of the old Poto 
 mac and those of the Chesapeake, have never yet been 
 stained with the blood of our brothers. This country has 
 never yet been disgraced by a civil war. We pray God 
 it never may ! and especially one stirred up by, and mixed 
 with a servile insurrection. But let us tell our brethren 
 of every free state in this union, if they continue to press 
 this matter and occasion what must inevitably ensue, a 
 union of vile white men with slaves, to accomplish their 
 ends ! the coloured race now in America will be blotted 
 out from the face of the earth, at one fell stroke. Every 
 mother and every daughter, as well as every son and 
 every father, will handle the instruments of death. The 
 flesh of the slave population will be given to the fowls of 
 heaven for food, and on the shores of the rivers and 
 bays, and along the coasts, will every inhabitant stand, a 
 watchman for his own life, saying TO ALL THE EARTH, 
 "thus far shalt thou come and no farther." 
 
 But it becomes us to assign our reasons, why the lan 
 guage we use is strong, a language now spoken in Mary 
 land, Virginia and all the South. We have read and 
 
141 
 
 marked what Dr. Charming has said, and we make a 
 quotation or two, to show, that he only speaks the lan 
 guage of his abolition associates. In the report of this 
 very anti-slavery society, for whom Dr. C. writes, and 
 who have stereotyped his inflammatory and insurrectionary 
 writings, we read "it is time the friends of freedom had 
 awakened from their disgraceful slumbers. The truth is 
 and it must not be suppressed, we have been hired to abet 
 oppression, to be the tools of tyrants, to look on coolly 
 whilst two millions of our brethren have been stripped of 
 every right, and worse than murdered. Solemnly we say 
 and we stake all on the pledge that there is not wealth 
 enough in the universe any longer to buy our acquiescence, 
 in this base and abominable subserviency." "We have 
 met together for the achievement of an enterprise, with 
 out which that of our fathers is incomplete, and which 
 for its magnitude, solemnity and probable results upon 
 the destiny of the world, as far transcends theirs, as 
 moral truth does physical force." 
 
 So then abolitionism, inducing a violation of the federal 
 constitution made by our fathers, producing a servile 
 war, being a work that far transcends the independence 
 of our country, the work of our fathers, is to be carried 
 on and carried out any how, and this anti-slavery society 
 is solemnly bound for it. To use their own words "so 
 lemnly we say and stake our all on the pledge, that there 
 is not wealth enough in the universe, any longer to buy 
 our acquiescence, in this base and abominable subser 
 viency." We maintain "that the highest obligations," 
 mark this reader ! "highest obligations rest upon the 
 people of the free states, to remove slavery by moral and 
 political action." Why? they say "our relation to 
 slavery is criminal and full of clanger, and must be broken 
 up." "To bring the whole nation to this we shall spare 
 no exertions nor means" "We may be personally defeat 
 ed ; but our principles never." And to pretty nearly the 
 same effect are the remarks of Judge Jay, "within the last 
 two years," says that gentleman, "the abolition societies 
 have been partially SUCCEEDED by more sturdy associa 
 tions, named anti-slavery societies, which instead of 
 quailing beneath the frowns of their foe ! have dared to 
 13 
 
142 
 
 grapple with him in mortal conflict, and to stake the 
 hopes of freedom on the issue." Again it is recommended 
 that Congress "commence the work of emancipation by 
 immediately abolishing slavery within the District of 
 Columbia" For "all the laws which are now in force, 
 admitting the rights of slavery are, before God, NULL 
 AND VOID," say they. 
 
 We wish our readers to be convinced that direct, im 
 mediate emancipation (unconditional as it regards the 
 master,) is the object of these men, and that England inso 
 lently dares to unite with them and thus subtilely to attack 
 and seek to divide us. Hear Mr. Buckingham, a mem 
 ber of Parliament : "The greater proportion of the people of 
 England demand not merely emancipation, but the imme 
 diate emancipation of the slaves in whatever quarter of the 
 world they may be found." And so O Connell, the no 
 torious disorganizer, Daniel O Connell, who dared to 
 abuse our Washington, the father of his country. "The 
 West Indies," says this slanderer of Washington, "the 
 West Indies will be obliged to grant emancipation, and 
 then we will turn to AMERICA, and REQUIRE EMANCIPA 
 TION." This is the man who retained by his country s 
 oppressors, spoke in a large assembly and wrote and 
 printed this morsel too, "when an American comes into 
 society he will be asked, are you one of the THIEVES, 
 or are you an honest man ? If you are an honest man 
 then you have given liberty to your slaves ; if you are 
 among the THIEVES the sooner you take the outside of 
 the house the better. >: We repeat, this is the man re 
 tained by the oppressors of Ireland for 20,000 per 
 annum. 
 
 Having now finished what quotations we designed to 
 make, to prove that the true and avowed object of Dr. 
 Channing and Judge Jay, the American abolitionists, and 
 the English anti-slavery associations, with O Connell and 
 the peddling lecturer, Mr. Buckingham, at their head, all 
 look to and claim direct and immediate emancipation, 
 here, in our midst. The unreasonableness of this we 
 now propose to show, by considering abolitionism as 
 fraught with consequences so repulsive and tremendous, 
 as to leave no doubt on the minds of considerate chris- 
 
143 
 
 tians and philanthropists as to the injustice and impolicy 
 of such a course, as well as the immense extent of that 
 injury, which must accrue to the slaves and also to their 
 masters. Two distinct objects are virtually avowed in 
 the foregoing quotations, and are indeed inculcated in all 
 the writings of the abolitionists. The firsj is to emanci 
 pate immediately and_ directly the slave population, and 
 the, second is to raisf them to an equality, in every re 
 spect, wTTh the white population of the country, to an 
 equality, as it regards civil, social and all other privi 
 leges. Whatever means may have been pointed out in 
 the commencement by abolitionists to accomplish this 
 end, subsequent events have proved, that they look to all 
 the associations and connexions of human life with the 
 whites, as a right which ought, indeed must be granted to 
 the negroes. 
 
 In order to carry out this, we find associated bodies, 
 societies, and whole communities, uniting in the north, in 
 the passage of various resolutions, to put down, what they 
 call a prejudice against the negro, and various legislative 
 bodies seeking to interfere in the question of slavery and 
 to legalize, by law, marriages between the white and 
 coloured races. To this, so far as they and their daugh 
 ters and sisters are concerned, we of the south have no 
 right to object; but we have been often forced to ask 
 what is the matter? Legislators seem so deeply con 
 cerned on this, apparently, to them, very interesting sub 
 ject. As it respects the south we demur, notwithstanding 
 the slander of abolitionists. The allusion made by Dr. 
 Channing, to a spurious amalgamation, is as heartless as 
 it is vile. We do not even admit, what those who write 
 against abolitionism at the north, seem so ready to charge 
 that a concubinage or illicit connexion, with female slaves, 
 grows up as one of the evils of slavery. We believe 
 no such thing. We simply believe that wherever man 
 exists in his fallen and depraved state, whilst a slave of 
 passion, and unregenerate, in any part of the earth, there 
 will be whores and whore-mongers, fornicators, adulterers, 
 and adultresses, without regard to colour or consequences. 
 We have known some who came from the north to the 
 south, and under promises of freeing and taking off, and 
 
144 
 
 making wives of coloured women, seduce in one year, 
 in this way some four or five. At last consequences en 
 sued, which began to expose them, and immediately they 
 were off. On the other hand we have heard of southern 
 ers deceiving northern white girls, and we have known 
 both northerners and southerners to seduce white females 
 in the south. We have also been informed, and from 
 sources to be depended on, that in Philadelphia, New 
 York, Boston and other cities, and also in villages and 
 neighbourhoods, it is common to have houses set apart, 
 and kept up for common prostitutes ; near some of them 
 we have seen carriages, which took married gentlemen, 
 standing in broad day-time ; those houses were repre 
 sented to us, as places of ill-fame. It is said that incon 
 tinent married ladies, sometimes resort thither at night. 
 Shall we therefore conclude, that all the north is of the 
 same character? There are comparatively but few such 
 examples south; although Dr. Channing says there "the 
 coloured woman is forcibly given up to unbridled lust," 
 and that "the violations of domestic rights and charities 
 are all revealed." And what more ? Why this is the 
 origin of that"spurious sort of amalgamation whichis going 
 on between the two races," and will according to aboli 
 tion doctrines, justify that union between them by marri 
 age, which is the only ground upon which safety could 
 ever be expected to either. 
 
 It is on this point that our subsequent remarks in this 
 chapter are designed to bear. The outrageous proposition 
 to accomplish the ends of these abolitionists or anti- 
 slavery men, is set forth in their first annual report, page 
 59. "Let it be the glory of our sons and DAUGHTERS, to 
 have been educated in seminaries, which were open to 
 worthy applicants, without regard to complexion, that the 
 next generation may be disenthralled, from these narrow 
 and despicable prejudices, which have trammelled the 
 present/ This then is the purpose, and the plan too, by 
 which they are to become one with the whites. If their 
 unnatural objects can be attained, the next generation, 
 as that learned and popular professor and author, Dr. 
 Reese of New York, has suggested in reply to this very 
 point, "will have potent, yea, omnipotent reasons for be- 
 
145 
 
 ing disenthralled ; for we should then be a nalion of 
 MULATTOES and MONGRELS." There is no execration 
 too great for such vile enthusiasts. And because they 
 see and know that intermarriage, is the only possible 
 way, in which two distinct races can become one nation, 
 this subject has, from the beginning, been broached by 
 them, and is at last openly avowed, not by common abo 
 litionists only, but virtually, as in the very nature of their 
 plan, by Dr. Charming and Judge Jay. We resist it then, 
 because this union is most repulsive to all the feelings of 
 the whites. The fact that no white person ever did con 
 sent to marry a negro, without having previously forfeit 
 ed all character with the whites, and that, even profli 
 gate sexual intercouse, between the sexes, every where 
 meets with the execration of the respectable and virtuous 
 among them, as the most despicable form of licentious 
 ness, is of itself, an irrefragable proof, that equality in 
 any respect, in this country, is neither practicable nor 
 desirable. Criminal amalgamation may, and does exist, 
 among the most degraded of the species, but Americans 
 will never yield the sanctions of law and religion, to an 
 equality so incongruous and unnatural. There is a line 
 of demarcation, broad, deep, and impassable. The God 
 of nature has drawn it, and it will be kept up. That 
 strong universal repugnance to an obliteration of it, is 
 but a striking indication of the divine intentions respect 
 ing the same. 
 
 Fanaticism, as one has said, may call this "unchris 
 tian prejudice," and suppose that the power of religion 
 will overcome it as it overcomes infidelity. It may argue 
 that God has "made all men of one flesh," and of Chris 
 tianity, as opening its arms alike to all, in brotherly love. 
 But whilst we admit that God <; made all men of one 
 flesh," we deny that he did design all men to live in the 
 same country, and, notwithstanding their diversities, to 
 mix and incorporate. With respect to the African, we 
 find that "the temperature of his blood, the chemical ac 
 tion of his skin, and the very texture of his wool-like 
 hair, fit him for the vertical sun of Africa. And if every 
 surviving African, living in other lands, for which he 
 never was intended, was restored to Africa, or left on 
 13* 
 
146 
 
 the shores of America, and exalted to the highest earthly 
 condition, it would not remove those feelings of repulsion, 
 felt in the white woman to any social union with him. 
 It does not matter with the white man, how happy the 
 negroes are, and whether they are happy on this or the 
 other side of the Atlantic. In Christian love he is ready 
 to acknowledge them as brothers, glory in their enlight 
 enment, and rejoice in their happiness. But it does mat 
 ter, when you talk of keeping them here as freemen in 
 our midst, to become the owners of our soil, the husbands 
 and wives of our daughters and sons, and the companions 
 of ourselves and our wives. Such an incorporation is in 
 deed morally impossible. We should remember that the 
 whites are too numerous in both sexes, to be driven to 
 intermarriage, with a race so distinctly separated from 
 ours. The distinction in the United States is chiefly 
 white or black, with little intervening shades of colour. 
 The races do not, and never can incorporate. Try the 
 loudest advocates of the mncibility of this prejudice with 
 this touch-stone. Here is a young negress, make her the 
 wife of your son. Give your daughter to be married, 
 vour lovely and accomplished daughter, to a broad-foot 
 ed, flat-nosed, coal-black, curly-headed, strong-scented 
 negro. What say you, my abolition friend ? What say 
 you, Dr. Channing? What say you, Judge Jay? Bring 
 forward your son! Out with your daughter, and either 
 shall have an Angola- negro before night! Ah! this "is 
 ail unchristian prejudice," is it? Do pray, gentlemen, 
 do not demur. In one of your anti-slavery reports we 
 read, "There is no way to destroy the prejudices, which 
 lay at the foundation of slavery, but to unite our coloured 
 brethren to a participation with us, in all those happy and 
 elevating institutions, which are open to others" To be 
 sure, marriage is one of those happy and elevating insti 
 tutions which are open to others. A man by it may 
 elevate a woman, and so woman, often, as did Queen 
 Victoria Prince Albert, elevates the man of comparatively 
 low degree. Let then your sons, and daughters, and sis 
 ters, get about this "great work," for we are told by 
 abolitionists, "we must use all our efforts to raise the 
 coloured man." This amalgamation will split the differ- 
 
147 
 
 ence, and make "the second generation neither black nor 
 white, but all, mulattoes" 
 
 We are further told that "it is indispensable" "that we 
 unite our coloured brethren, to a participation with us," 
 "to all our social, religious and political privileges," and 
 surely marriage comes under some one of these heads. 
 We repeat the remark, gentlemen do not demur ! La 
 dies come on ! If there be among you any widows, or 
 widowers, or bachelors, or maids, old or young, or if 
 you have sons or daughters, come on, bring them forth, 
 you are bound by your doctrine u to use every effort to 
 raise and elevate the coloured brethren to a participation" 
 with you "in all thoss happy and elevating institutions, 
 which are open to others." For ourselves, really, gentle 
 men and ladies, we must tell you plainly, you have BET 
 TER STOMACHS than we southerners. However we have 
 nothing to do with this, we are willing that you take and 
 elevate as partners all our free negroes and slaves too, 
 if you will pay for them; provided you walk off to the 
 vicinity of Dr. Channing; and we especially encourage 
 you to do this, as "old Massachusetts that threw the Brit 
 ish tea overboard, and thus struck the first blow to Brit 
 ish tyranny in America," designs a special act for your 
 benefit, to legalize all your marriages. 
 
 But let it be remembered, that in the south, almalgama- 
 tion will never be legalized, that thus the negro may be 
 "elevated," 1 and the white man abased. To us there is 
 something too repulsive in it. Not only repulsive be 
 cause "slavery and freedom are extremes," as some con 
 tend, but because, however a negro may become enlight 
 ened by education, and be saved from sin by gospel 
 grace, and be under the power of its religion, God has 
 drawn the line of distinction, and beyond it nature cannot 
 consent to pass, and make such an one a partner for life. 
 Passion may seek present gratification, in union with a 
 beast, and many men are swayed by passion only, hence 
 the law of the Old Testament and of civilized nations, 
 punishing the polluted wretch "that lies with a beast." 
 So passion may seek in moments, when it is uncon 
 trolled, a present gratification with the negress; but the 
 southern white man s soul, if he have soul at all, repels 
 
148 
 
 in itself, and abhors the thought, of taking to his bo 
 som as a wife, a thick-lipped, flat-nosed, red-eyed, curly- 
 headed, flat-footed wench, whose very smell is repul 
 sive. Still, as we before said, we do not object to such 
 an union among our northern brethren and sisters, if they 
 choose to have it thus, and especially so, as the law of 
 Massachusetts comes in to help them out. We have 
 heard in old Virginia a saying. Do, abolition brethren, 
 pardon us for quoting it! "Every man" (and woman too 
 I suppose.} "to his liking, as the old lady said, when she 
 kissed the cow." 
 
 But to be serious, "that two distinct races of people 
 nearly equal in numbers," but unlike in colour, manners, 
 habits, feelings and state of civilization, to such a degree 
 that amalgamation is impossible, cannot dwell together 
 in the same community, unless the one be subject to the 
 other, is most apparent. Whilst the exaltation of the 
 coloured race as just spoken of is brought about, it does 
 not matter by what means, the accomplishment of the 
 thing itself is identically the same. The dangerous ten 
 dency of such efforts must be manifest to all, when they 
 look at the issue to which they must most certainly come. 
 Nothing is better attested, as already noticed, in history, 
 than the fact, that there can be no union and harmony in 
 any country where there is a rival power, that is not 
 subordinate to the one ruling, or attempting to rule. The 
 time was when the church claimed to be independent 
 of the throne, and especially so in England. What was 
 the result 1 All know that incessant contention was pro 
 duced by it. Hence there was in the government virtu 
 ally no individuality. There can be no security, unless 
 there is the conviction of durability, in any government, 
 and there can be no durability, where an incessant watch 
 is to be kept up to countervail the power of those who 
 would upturn, for their own aggrandizement, any govern 
 ment, however stable. 
 
 So long as the Moors possessed a part of Spain, there 
 was an incessant struggle. Why was it so? The Moors 
 were most certainly subjected to the power of the Spanish 
 monarchy. True ! But the lines of distinction were so 
 marked, that there could be no safety whilst they pos- 
 
149 
 
 sessed either liberty or power, in Europe. Hence to 
 Africa it was deliberately determined they should go, and 
 to Africa they were driven; the end is well known. 
 Since then, so far as Moors and Spaniards are concerned, 
 what is now called Spain proper, has been at rest. And 
 at this day the aborigines of America, North and South, 
 and the French and Spanish inhabitants of Florida for 
 merly, and the British and French inhabitants of Canada, 
 are ail of them most palpable illustrations of the truth, 
 that any distinct line of separation must have the ten 
 dency to prevent amalgamation itself, and when there is 
 a rival power and interest, it is equally, if not far more 
 difficult to overcome it. The Indian must be free and 
 roam at will. The white man dreads his power, and both 
 war for that soil, which each claims. The stronger must 
 and does prevail. Nothing can stop him. He takes as 
 the motto and watch-word of safety, that of the old Ro 
 man, "Carthago delenda est" and the red man wastes 
 before him, as the snows at the approach of spring, on 
 his own extensive and native mountains. For the same 
 reason, the cold-hearted, calculating, trading Briton, 
 looks with suspicion and jealousy, on the lively, vivacious 
 Frenchman of Canada, and in his soul purposes that he 
 shall one day or other bow and lick the dust. On the 
 other hand, the Frenchman only waits a proper time, to 
 strike his blow. 
 
 Two judicious gentlemen, not long since, when on a 
 visit to the United States from Canada, gentlemen who 
 are extensively acquainted there, informed us, that al 
 though there is the same colour, virtually the same laws 
 and privileges, yet is there that deadly hate existing 
 between the French and English, which was equalled in 
 Canada only by that of the Moors and Spaniards, or that 
 of Rome and Carthage. There being no oneness of in 
 terest, and no unanimity of sentiment and feeling, there 
 cannot certainly be unity of effort for general good, or 
 for the support of that government, which grants special 
 privileges to some, to the exception, and at the expense 
 of others. 
 
 If foreigners be brought in, as is the case in the United 
 States, and be grafted on the parent stock, being indeed 
 
150 
 
 the same race, and coalescing by marriage, they become 
 so amalgamated as soon to exist only as one people. But 
 where there are insuperable obstacles, and a repulsion of 
 feeling, as in the case of the African, or a separate and 
 distinct interest and language, all which occasion an 
 eternal rivalship, it is evident there can be no union. For 
 a foreign mass in the midst of a nation, with which they 
 cannot unite, is as a dead limb on a green tree, it injures 
 that tree, and is not itself benefited. Is not this the case 
 with thousands of Indians, in the various states, where 
 they remain under the constraints of the white man s 
 laws, and yet are neither improved or benefited thereby. 
 Look how long the Six Nations, and the Sandusky In 
 dians, and the Choctaws of Mississippi, and others did 
 remain within the borders of several states, surrounded 
 with all the benefits of civilization; and yet were uncivil 
 ized, and not amalgamated with the white population. 
 Look at the Indians on the Pamunky and Matopony 
 rivers of Virginia, who, notwithstanding the example 
 set by the excellent Mr. Rolfe, and the lovely Pocahontas, 
 who were united in marriage, to this day remain a hand 
 ful, gradually wasting away, and hardly a monument 
 sufficient to bring to memory the renowned and benevo 
 lent Powhatan, or the brave but cruel Opechancanough. 
 
 Look at the Jews, driven from Rome, forced out of 
 Greece, and again and again from all the East. Near 
 two hundred thousand at one time were expelled from 
 Spain. Driven from France, slaughtered in London and 
 other cities of England, refusing to let their sons and 
 daughters amalgamate, by marriage, with others, they 
 remain a separate and distinct nation, accursed by 
 heaven and earth, as "having crucified the Lord of life 
 and glory." Whilst the Ottoman is enriched by his traffic, 
 he abhors the Jew, who puts his mark of reprobation aho 
 on him. 
 
 It is to us a most astonishing thing, that men can sup 
 pose that there can be such a union, without a similarity 
 of feeling, of interest and of language. The Jew may 
 buy and so may the Turk, and use as concubines girls 
 caUed Christians, but they will not exalt them to the con 
 dition of wives. The white man may, in a similar way, 
 
151 
 
 seduce, to gratify his passions, a coloured girl, but he 
 will never exalt her to be his wife, any more than would 
 a Jew the daughter of a Turk, or that of a Christian ; or 
 an Indian, who repels with indignation the idea, of mar 
 riage with a negress, as repulsive, truly as much so to his 
 savage heart and feelings as to those of the most refined 
 associates of the learned Dr. Channing, or the Hon. Mr. 
 Jay. How then could it be expected that a union should 
 take place between two races, the one white, the other 
 black, the one civilized, refined, wealthy and perfectly 
 independent in all its feelings and views the other but 
 just emancipated, poor, ignorant, servile in all its dispo 
 sitions and movements, and ready to act and accomplish 
 great things, only as directed by the wisdom and advice 
 of others. In such a state of society, laws for the com 
 fort, convenience and protection of the one, would be but 
 an insult, a source of affliction and disgrace to the other, 
 because in the very nature of things, there could be no 
 ONENESS in such a state or country. But as it now is, 
 the master is protected, and his servant s welfare is also 
 connected with, and guarded through that master, just as 
 protection is afforded by the same law, to the master s 
 wife, child and person. So then when one part of a com 
 munity is virtually in subjection to the other, not by mere 
 brute force, but by the force of circumstances, where 
 subjection has its origin in "the natural subordination of 
 the weak, the ignorant and uncivilized, to those that are 
 the reverse, there may be, yea all history, and the condi 
 tion of every man s family, proves that there must be an 
 union and harmony, of both interest and feeling ; and as 
 the master becomes the servant s protector and faithful 
 representative, his condition not permitting him to repre 
 sent himself, that servant becomes his master s friend, 
 and glories in abiding by his exaltation or downfall, at 
 the hazard of his life. Servants are proud of such a 
 master. They delight to watch over and nurse his wife, 
 his children, and those children in their turn, often reward 
 that kindness by freedom from toil, confidence unlimited, 
 and on those servants, when their parents are in the dust, 
 they often implicitly rely for advice, most cheerfully sub 
 mitting to their reproofs, as well as to their teachings. 
 
152 
 
 We never can forget that when our own helpless mother 
 could not nurse us and an only brother, it was faithfully 
 done by a coloured woman, whom to this day we delight, 
 to call "MAMMY." The husband and children of such a 
 woman are, under such circumstances, generally dear to 
 a whole family. From that husband the master and his 
 children often seek advice in most of the business opera 
 tions of their lives. But these children could never raise 
 the offspring of the coloured man to a participation with 
 them, of the social privileges of life. They could not 
 make them their w r ives and their husbands. 
 
 That our position is a correct one we are sure; and 
 that any sudden exaltation of slaves, or any deliverance, 
 other than one which is gradual, and almost impercepti 
 ble, is ruinous in its consequences. We have a case spe 
 cially in point. The Israelites are in bondage in Egypt. 
 They are there gradually prepared for their transit from 
 that state of bondage, to the condition of freemen. And 
 yet the journey from Egypt must be at least forty years 
 long, until, by absolute want and dependance, they are 
 trained and prepared for their residence in the promised 
 land; and even after that, the "iron rod" by their kings, 
 and a second captivity, in Babylon, could hardly prepare 
 them for self-government. But novices in political eco 
 nomy, would have us turn loose three millions of slaves, 
 unprepared for such a direct and immediate transition 
 from a state of bondage to that of freedom, and ennoble 
 them to be our equals the wives and husbands of our 
 children, and the owners of our property. The son of a 
 freed man in Rome, because of his being of the same 
 colour with its inhabitants, might become a citizen; but 
 here is a separating line which we did not draw. God 
 has done it. And although it does by no means affect 
 the moral standing of the parties interested, yet does it 
 form a barrier, that no time can remove, between the 
 white and coloured race. When one people are con 
 quered and subjugated by another, there never can be a 
 oneness, unless they become one, by marriage ; otherwise 
 there can be no harmonious blending of the two. If this 
 be not done, it is extirpation, removal, or slavery, and 
 perhaps both of the last named evils. If the Israelites, to 
 
153 
 
 \vhom we have just alluded, had intermarried with the 
 Egyptians, they would have become one people. But 
 according to their patriarchal precepts, about circumci 
 sion and other rites on the one hand, and the fact that 
 Egyptians considered themselves polluted by associations 
 with foreigners, on the other, they did not unite. In time, 
 although they actually out numbered their masters, the 
 Israelites as we have seen, were the most abject slaves, 
 being reduced not only to toil; but removed, often from 
 one part of that ancient empire to another, they were 
 forced to erect for their masters the pyramids and laby 
 rinths, those vast works, which seem almost destined to 
 survive the waste of old time itself. To accomplish 
 which, Pharaoh set over them task-masters." But when 
 free they do not demand even the country of Goshen, 
 originally given to their father Jacob, and brother Joseph, 
 much less to be raised to equal rights and privileges with 
 any Egyptian. They most cheerfully gather about them 
 their families and go to dwell in the land given to their 
 fathers. 
 
 When the abolitionists will unite with the Colonization 
 Society, to bear off these sons of Africa also, to their 
 fatherland, they w r ill find, as they may now see, if they 
 will see at all, all the South ready to insure that their 
 removal shall be accomplished in at least "forty years." 
 There could have been no harmony between the Egyp 
 tians and Israelites, in that land of their captivity, much 
 less could they all have, and there exercise, equal rights 
 and privileges. And so also, when the Israelites entered 
 the land of Canaan, the condition of its inhabitants was 
 death or slavery. If asked why ? we answer, for the 
 simple reason that there could be no amalgamation by 
 marriage. The two nations were so far asunder, in their 
 mental, moral, and political condition, that the inequality 
 was too great to admit a union, and hence there could be 
 none. We know that this was the reason. 
 
 It is declared in Scripture that Ruth, a Moabitish girl, 
 and her sister, married Israelitish youths, which might be 
 done, when there were those moral and other qualifica 
 tions, which would produce a union. Nor is there any 
 objection that can be drawn from this against our theory. 
 14 
 
154 
 
 It is said God commanded all this ? So much the better 1 
 Infinite wisdom has given us an example, which it be 
 hooves us to imitate; and we are glad to know that in 
 the divine proceeding in this case, there was no infringe 
 ment of the law and constitution of our nature. So far 
 from this, his dispensations are most evidently accommo 
 dated to our nature. The feelings of pleasure or repulsion, 
 are those which he has himself implanted in us. We dare 
 not deal lightly by them ; if we do, marriage itself would 
 ultimately be null and void it would produce a hell upon 
 earth, and the married life would be but "the same sad 
 tale of Rachel and Leah to the end of all time." 
 
 If we look at the Saxon government in England, we 
 shall find that it originated in this very principle. The 
 ancient Britons called in the Saxons to their help. In 
 appearance, religion, &c. they were about equal. After 
 they had aided the Britons in effecting their deliverance 
 from the Picts and Scots, they turned about to obtain 
 their pay, by depredations on their employers. What 
 was the result? War upon war, blood, carnage and 
 death, until a remnant of Britons find themselves in the 
 mountains of Wales, deprived of their country, and their 
 all. Mortal hatred prevented an amalgamation by mar 
 riage, as it now does in France between the Jews and 
 French, and as it did formerly among the Jews and Ca- 
 naanites, and the Moors and Spaniards. This will be the 
 result, no matter in what the difference and distinctness 
 may arise, whether in natural repulsion, political, moral, 
 or indeed even "imaginary considerations," as some abo 
 litionists say, it is all one the end is subjection or death, 
 perhaps both. One must yield ; both cannot rule, unless 
 they could become one by marriage. This is impossible* 
 It was so between England and Scotland, though the 
 latter was over-run by the former several times, yet till 
 they were almost destroyed, they would not yield. Amal 
 gamation might have done it at once. Hatred prevented. 
 It is so now with the Christian and Turk. 
 
 We have alluded to the Indians. Look at them in 
 Pennsylvania. Long did they dwell side by side together 
 with the white man; but there was no intermarriage, they 
 never became one. Mutual fears often existed, and 
 
155 
 
 finally the entire removal of one was absolutely neces 
 sary to the existence and safety of the other. And there 
 was such mortal opposition in New England, to becom 
 ing one by marriage, the only way of permanent union, 
 that the poor Indians found themselves involved in inces 
 sant wars, with the pilgrims, at least with the sons of 
 the pilgrims, until they wasted away and are gone, 
 through a war, in which the choice was slavery or death. 
 And the Indians in New England were consumed, as the 
 ice in their lakes before the summer sun. 
 
 There was no repulsion in the feelings of the Virgi 
 nian, Rolfe, before named, to the beautiful Pocahontas, 
 hut his example was not followed, because there were 
 but few prepared in her father s house, or father s tribe, 
 to become the associates of civilized man, and because 
 it could not otherwise be so ; because they did not be 
 come one by marriage, the result is a lamentable one 
 indeed the Indian when he has been permitted to live, 
 which has generally been the case in the South, has 
 passed from place to place, still penetrating the thick dark 
 wilderness in quest of game, flying before the progress 
 of civilization, and making room for those with whom he 
 could not become one. Now seated on the west side of 
 the Mississippi, he stands a living monument of the truth 
 of this theory that there must be amalgamation to be 
 union. At this day who will condemn the beautiful 
 English girl of London, for marrying the pious and elo 
 quent Indian chief, and Christian minister, Peter Jones, 
 whom she so ardently loved, as to leave her country and 
 friends, and all. By him this accomplished lady now has 
 one or two fine interesting little children, as had Poca 
 hontas, "of blessed memory," by Mr. Rolfe, the progeni 
 tors of some of the first families in Virginia. And would 
 any among us now blame a young man for marrying one 
 of those lovely young nymphs of the forest, one of the 
 virtuous daughters of the red man, civilized and raised 
 to be an "helpmate meet for him?" O no ! O no ! But 
 let me ask what you would say if such an one should 
 marry a negress? Have you no feeling on this subject? 
 Is there no repulsion ? We wish we knew whether Dr. 
 G. is married or single ; if the latter be his miserable 
 
156 
 
 lot, we would put such questions to him directly. It is 
 said that "prejudice" originates these antipathies. We 
 deny it. They are interwoven in our nature, and cannot 
 be obliterated even by passion, unless we can unmake 
 ourselves. Man is said to be, we know woman is, a 
 creature of longings and antipathies, and until a white 
 woman brings herself to be vile indeed, she cannot be 
 reduced to become the willing mate of a coal black negro. 
 We intend no insult to northern ladies ; we believe this 
 doctrine from the very bottom of our soul, and we are 
 sure that we have the ladies on our side. 
 
 When Robert of England was supplanted by his brother 
 Henry I., that young man, with a policy that did honour 
 to his knowledge of human nature, immediately married 
 Matilda, one of the royal Saxon line, by Edgar Atheling, 
 and notwithstanding the claims of his elder brother, this 
 act secured him both power and the throne. This being 
 carried out by his subjects, ended the long and destruc 
 tive contest, between Normans and Saxons. Thus also, 
 Alexander, by a politic stroke in marrying Roxanna, the 
 daughter of Darius, secured to himself the Persian throne. 
 So also was it the case with the Sabines in Rome. The 
 Romans having married their daughters, although they 
 had one hundred senators, they actually lost their name, 
 and by that very amalgamation, the two became one peo 
 ple, under the general name of Roman. So that, what 
 William Duke of Normandy could not complete, when he 
 conquered, as it is said, England, nor the Sahines and 
 Romans, as men, was done at once through the instru 
 mentality of woman, in the very natural and appropriate 
 way of the Bible "they shall no longer be twain but one 
 flesh." We presume this is the reason why abolitionists 
 are such great sticklers for amalgamation, any how. They 
 know that no power can make us one with the negro, in 
 the same land, but that of marriage, and therefore we 
 hear from them "Let it be the glory of our sons and 
 daughters, to have been educated in seminaries which 
 were open to worthy applicants, without regard to com 
 plexion, that the next generation may be disenthralled 
 from those narrow and despicable prejudices which have 
 trammelled the present." This is the abolition doctrine, 
 
157 
 
 and it is founded in nature. Without amalgamation, we 
 cannot become one people. They see it, they know it. 
 They do not, we suppose, desire it themselves perhaps 
 they do they however, it is certain, wish to force it on 
 us, by insisting that we turn our slaves loose in the land 
 of our fathers, and raise them to an equality, social, 
 moral and political, with ourselves, or they wish to force 
 us, as one has said, into "the very crater of a volcano." 
 This is the tendency of their doctrine. When Gaul was 
 over-run by the politic Clovis, to secure himself in his 
 power, he first married Clotilda, the daughter of one of 
 the native princes, professed Christianity through her 
 instrumentality, and exalted the native Gauls to be the 
 bishops of their church. For the same reason also, Alaric 
 married the sister of Honorius, and thus entered into 
 treaty with him. The policy of all the barbarian con 
 querors of that time, was to amalgamate with the con 
 quered nations, and of that act the languages of Europe 
 at this day are a living monument. 
 
 In the preceding part of this book we have quoted, 
 repeatedly, portions from a work entitled Domestic Sla 
 very, by our valued friend, John L. Carey, M. A. lately 
 of Dickinson College, and now editor of the Baltimore 
 American. We hereby recommend it to the perusal of 
 every individual, who may desire a fair and an intelligent 
 exposition of this subject, in connection with the great 
 and interesting question of colonization. We cannot, 
 however, forbear quoting verbatim, Mr. Carey on the 
 destruction of the whites, by the blacks in the island of 
 St. Domingo. And as we shall allude hereafter to the 
 present state of that island, we take great pleasure in 
 laying before our readers, the most excellent remarks 
 of our kind friend, to whom the South is greatly indebted 
 for his defence of its principles, and the more so as Mr. 
 C. is from one of the free states, a man that looks at 
 truth as truth, and is to be turned from those convictions 
 produced by its power, by no man, or set of men, or 
 sectional or party considerations. Let then the reader, 
 and especially let the southerner, if he be the reader, hear 
 attentively what Mr. C. says : "I know not that there 
 is any need of dwelling longer on this topic. There is, 
 14* 
 
158 
 
 however, one other illustration, which might have been 
 brought forth in the list of these examples of nations that 
 were too far dissociated ever to unite, and who of con 
 sequence could not participate together in political mat 
 ters. It may, however, be none the worse for corning in 
 here, inasmuch as it is especially applicable, more than 
 any other example in history, to our particular concerns: 
 the parties being similar to those that now occupy the 
 southern portion of this country, viz. whites and blacks. 
 An advocate of the abolition doctrines thus speaks, in 
 referring to the disturbances of St. Domingo, The apo 
 logists of slavery are constantly telling abolitionists of the 
 ^Scenes of St. Domingo. Were the public familiar with 
 the origin and history of those scenes, none but abolition 
 ists would dare to refer to them/ I give the origin and 
 history in the words of this writer. In 1790, the popula 
 tion of the French part of St. Domingo was estimated at 
 686,000. Of this number 42,000 were whites, 44,000 
 free people of colour, and 600,000 slaves. At the com 
 mencement of the French revolution the free coloured 
 people petitioned the National Assembly to be admitted 
 to political rights, and sent a deputation to Paris to attend 
 to their interests. On the 8th of March, 1790, a law was 
 passed granting to the colonies the right of holding repre 
 sentative assemblies, and of exercising to a certain extent 
 legislative authority. On the 28th of the same month, 
 another law was passed, declaring that all free persons 
 in the colonies, who were proprietors and .residents of 
 two years standing, and who contributed to the exigen 
 cies of the state, should exercise the right of voting. The 
 planters insisted that this law did not apply to free co 
 loured persons. They proceeded to elect a General 
 Assembly, and in this election the free blacks were, with 
 but few exceptions, prevented from voting. The newly 
 elected assembly issued a manifesto, declaring they would 
 rather die than divide their political rights with a bastard 
 and degenerated race. A portion of the free coloured 
 people resolved to maintain the rights given them by the 
 mother country, and assembled in arms, under one of 
 their number, named <Oge. 
 
 It is not my purpose to speculate concerning the merits 
 
159 
 
 of this question, nor attempt an interpretation of the act 
 of the French national assembly. It is enough to know 
 that not any act of that assembly, or of any other legis 
 lative body, could have brought about a harmonious par 
 ticipation of political privileges between these parties. 
 I believe it would not be easy to find a more complete 
 illustration, than may be found here, of the proposition 
 which I have been endeavoring to set forth. Here are 
 two distinct races nearly equal in numbers; the whites 
 amounting to 42,000, the free blacks to 44,000; they are 
 disjoined by differences of -colour, of blood, of condition; 
 they are animated, the one towards the other, by all 
 those feelings of antipathy which are natural to such dis 
 similitude. What makes it more adapted to our purpose, 
 one class had been in a state of servitude to the other. 
 Could a more exact picture be drawn of what w r ould in 
 all likelihood be our condition, if the mad attempt should 
 be made of introducing negroes to an equality of political 
 rights in some one of the cotton-growing states? Who 
 does not see that the French population of St. Domingo 
 were only following the natural instinct of self-preserva 
 tion, in thus resisting all demands of the other race in 
 the way of admittance to citizenship? Could they have 
 harmonized together in the public councils? would their 
 objects have been the same, or in any way parallel ? 
 from the vast body of six hundred thousand slaves would 
 there have been no accessions to the free coloured party, 
 which was already superior in number by two thousand ? 
 Or not the first act of legislation have been a decree of 
 universal emancipation, when by such measure the ques 
 tion of predominance would have been settled at once? 
 And what would have followed this, but the utter exter 
 mination of all who were of European origin ? What 
 does Mr. Jay mean, when he says, "If the public were 
 familiar with the history and origin of those scenes, none 
 but abolitionists would dare to refer to them?" Does he 
 mean to applaud the efforts of the blacks in thus seizing 
 upon what they deemed their rights ? Does he regard 
 the subsequent horrors and butcheries that closed this 
 catastrophe, in the banishment or murder of a whole 
 race, in the plunder of property, in the wildest rage of 
 
160 
 
 licentious and bloody passions, does he regard all these 
 as the fit awards of retributive justice? And are we to 
 believe that he would behold with equal satisfaction a 
 similar scene in this country? Why "none but abolition 
 ists dare refer to them?" Is it from this picture of hor 
 rors that the abolitionists draw their elements of the su 
 blime and beautiful in political morality ? Can none but 
 abolitionists dare refer to them, lest they be struck with 
 terror at the apprehension of a like calamity at home? 
 What means he? or what means he not? I wish he had 
 nut used such words. The negro slaves of the British 
 West Indies have been emancipated, some on condition 
 of serving out an apprenticeship; others, I believe, with 
 out such condition. In neither case have disturbances 
 followed. It is usual to point to this example as a fact 
 which overturns all theories concerning the ultimate fatal 
 effects of emancipation in this country. There is nothing 
 surprising in this, that a race naturally indolent, having 
 few inducements to exertion, should sit down in repose 
 after being released from extorted toil. They are not a 
 people who can appreciate freedom, except as it affords 
 exemption from labour : they have little of that inward 
 ardour which springs from a consciousness of intellec 
 tual or moral power; which prompts to enterprise; 
 which delights in activity; which pants after indepen 
 dence. The casting off of their fetters has not made 
 them freemen, although it may be a step towards it. 
 But in process of time, when the pleasures of indolence 
 have been enjoyed to satiety, a spirit of activity may 
 come into play. Gradually there may arise a better 
 class among the blacks, who will possess property, and 
 along with it a sense of self-respect, and a consciousness 
 of new rights. They will claim to have a part in the 
 public affairs; they will demand an equal participation 
 in the rights of suffrage and of legislation. Then the con 
 test will begin. Who may not see the issue of it ? It 
 requires not any great amount of prophetic vision to dis 
 cern that at some period, how distant we know not, the 
 scenes of St. Domingo will be re-acted on the plains of 
 Jamaica. I look by the light of reason and experience. 
 There may be, however, secondary causes at work of 
 
161 
 
 which I am ignorant, that shall produce a different result. 
 For example, amalgamation of colours may go on to such 
 a degree, that the individuality of the European stock 
 may be diffused throughout a hundred different complex 
 ions and shades, in such a manner as to be well nigh lost. 
 In such case the ascendency of the blacks may be peace 
 able. But every indication at present points to the final 
 predominance of that colour. Whether it be effected by 
 violence, or by a gradual course of amalgamation, must 
 depend upon many circumstances. Or this result of 
 things in their natural course may be anticipated. It 
 would require not many of our modern philanthropists to 
 bring about a speedier consummation. Let the ignorant 
 negroes be indoctrinated with notions of the rights of 
 man; let them be taught that all men are equal; that 
 those who once held them in bondage, and who now 
 reside among them in splendour, are their oppressors, 
 proud aristocrats, who live upon other men s earnings; 
 above all, let them be instructed to know, that by union 
 and a concentration of their strength, they may enjoy 
 the plunder of the whole land ; that this will be nothing 
 more than the reclaiming of their rightful property, and 
 the restoring of things to their proper equality ; let these 
 doctrines be infused into depraved minds, to the arousing 
 of dormant passions, giving stability, pretext, aim ; the 
 issue will be a thing not to be spoken of prophetically, 
 but to be gazed upon with horror. I do not presume 
 that any violent commotions would immediately follow 
 an act of general emancipation in this country; that is, 
 if foreign influences could be kept away. But the results 
 of things are not less sure by being more distant. When 
 the tendency is apparent, who need be in doubt concern 
 ing the end? 
 
 That I may not in any manner misrepresent the mean 
 ing of abolitionists, let me here quote again from Mr. 
 Jay. After denying the charge of proposing to bring 
 about amalgamation by means of intermarriages, he says, 
 "But most true it is, that the Anti-slavery Society avows 
 its intentions to labour for the civil and religious equality 
 of the blacks. It has been found expedient to accuse it 
 of aiming also at their social equality." This charge he 
 
162 
 
 rejects, and proceeds to illustrate his meaning in this man 
 ner: "We all know white men whose characters and 
 habits render them repulsive to us, and whom no consi 
 deration would induce us to admit into our social circles ; 
 and can it be believed, that abolitionists are willing to 
 extend to negroes, merely on account of their colour, 
 courtesies and indulgences which in innumerable in 
 stances, they withhold, and properly withhold, from their 
 white fellow-citizens 1 But who pretends that because a 
 man is so disagreeable in his manners and person, that 
 we refuse to associate with him, that, therefore, he ought 
 to be denied the right of suffrage, the privilege of choos 
 ing his trade and profession, the opportunities of acquir 
 ing knowledge, and the liberty of pursuing his own hap 
 piness?" 1 need hardly remind you, of what I am sure 
 you know well enough, that touching the subject of this 
 discourse, I am not considering the blacks as individuals, 
 but as a race. If they were but a handful scattered 
 throughout the wide expanse of white population, a few 
 here and a few there, what reasonable man would wish 
 to debar them from the rights of citizenship? For they 
 could then have no separate purposes of their own apart 
 from the general interest ; they could not act as a distinct 
 body; their influence W 7 ould be as nothing. But how 
 different is the question which we are now considering ! 
 A large population equal in number to the whites, and in 
 some states perhaps superior ; prolific of increase ; of a 
 different blood and complexion ; bound by no sympathy, 
 but rather disposed (as they would be most certainly 
 when raised to political equality,) to look with hatred 
 and jealousy upon those who had once held them in 
 bondage a population like this to be introduced into an 
 organized community for the purpose of taking part in 
 its government is this a small matter? How absurd is 
 the distinction which this writer attempts to draw be 
 tween political equality and social equality, granting the 
 one and withholding the other ! WhnHs tjif* end of po 
 litical pow T er except to secure social advantages ? The 
 fus* use of political predominance, will it not be to estab 
 lish predominance in every thing ? 
 
 There are indeed, in the bosom of every community, 
 
163 
 
 <men whose characters and habits render them repulsive 
 to us, and whom no consideration would induce us to 
 admit into our social circles/ Let us suppose that this 
 class becomes the most numerous in a state ; that they 
 are bound together by a common interest, by some sym 
 pathetic bond which excludes all minor differences, caus 
 ing them to move together as one man ; that they are 
 inflamed with bitter animosity against the industrious, 
 the intelligent, the wealthy, whom they stigmatize as 
 aristocrats, monopolists, the oppressive class that grind 
 the faces of the poor, or by any other opprobrious name. 
 Will no dissensions arise in the state of society like this ? 
 Will these men, riot admitted to social equality, but pos 
 sessed of full political privileges, remain quiet and peace 
 able ? Will they submit to that social superiority, and 
 rest contented with their political rights ? What would 
 their political rights be, in their estimation, but a mere 
 name, unless they were used to gain their favourite pur 
 poses I And what would those purposes be, but a com 
 plete overthrow of existing institutions, the subversion of 
 all order, the violation of all rights ? 
 
 Let any one look at the manner in which revolutions in 
 governments are brought about, if he would see an illus 
 tration of this principle. In France, for example, the 
 lower orders had taken little or no part in the public 
 affairs. The nobility and the monarchy were the promi 
 nent powers in the constitution ; and seeking their own 
 aggrandizement, they had oppressed the people greatly, 
 insomuch that all community of interests or feeling had 
 been in a measure destroyed. A sense of common inju 
 ry had united together the great mass of the nation ; had 
 concentrated their aims, had caused them to discover in 
 the higher classes a common enemy. When political 
 privileges were extended to the people by Louis XVI. 
 and they were empowered to exercise the right of suffrage 
 in choosing a national assembly, did they remain content 
 ed with this participation in the general affairs of the 
 kingdom ? Did they recognize the distinction which this 
 writer has drawn between political and social equality ? 
 They did indeed make many new discoveries in politics 
 and morals, but this appears to have escaped them in the 
 
164 
 
 wildest frenzy of their madness. There are in this coun 
 try different sects and religious denominations. They 
 seem to move along harmoniously enough ; they exercise 
 political rights in common ; and social communion is not 
 interrupted. The reason is very obvious, inasmuch as 
 no one sect has cause of dread from the interference of 
 another. No one party claims to direct ; all are parts 
 of a whole, each in its sphere finds no obstacle from a 
 neighbour. But if the whole country were divided into 
 two great sects, whereof one was predominant, and exer 
 cised its influence in controlling the affairs of government, 
 as would certainly be the case, how different then would 
 be the state of things? One has need only to look into 
 Burnet s history of his own times, to see such a condition 
 fully set forth, in the accounts of what followed King 
 Charles attempt to introduce Episcopal church govern 
 ment in Scotland. What dissensions, what violence, what 
 bitter animosity, what persecutions, what blood shed ! 
 
 Let us not lose sight of the principle. If the black 
 population, were few in number, and hence little disposed 
 to aspire after the directing power, no harm would be 
 likely to follow from their admission to political rights. 
 They would then conform themselves to existing laws, 
 and would desire nothing more. But when they assume 
 the station of an equal power in the community, and of 
 consequence, a rival power, for their aims and interests as 
 a body could in no manner blend consistently with those 
 of the constituted authorities, who does not see that the 
 whole question is changed ? The foregoing considera 
 tions, are such as would come naturally into the minds of 
 most persons who would give themselves to reflect upon 
 this subject. It would seem therefore, to be of little use 
 thus to set them forth ; and to insist upon propositions 
 which sensible men would generally admit. But there is 
 no presumption in saying that much delusion prevails 
 concerning these things. It has been already alluded to. 
 One class of well meaning persons, who believing that 
 much injustice has been done towards the coloured peo 
 ple by holding them in slavery, are now in a hurry to re 
 compense them, this one idea seems to have taken posses 
 sion of their minds ; they stop not to examine, to consider, 
 
165 
 
 to provide. They view one part of the subject, and be 
 lieve that to be the whole. They do not remember that 
 the blacks who were brought to this country were slaves 
 before, slaves to barbarous savages^of their own colour; 
 that so far from suffering loss, they were indeed gainers 
 by the exchange ; and were perhaps saved frorn death by 
 their transportation hither." 
 
 Such are the sensible and judicious views of Mr. Carey. 
 We wish that the plan which we have adopted, would 
 admit of an insertion of all that he says on this point. 
 We have repeatedly quoted from this excellent work on 
 slavery, and take great pleasure in making here again, 
 our public acknowledgment of the same. We invite all 
 to read it, and we believe that they will there find an 
 irrefutable answer to all Dr. Channing s positions, found 
 ed on the abstract principles of moral evil and natural 
 rights. For ourselves, we are forced to the conclusion, 
 that the remedy suggested as a cure for the evil of sla 
 very, by the abolitionists, is not the proper one. Th^t to 
 turn loose thousands, indeed millions of slaves, and raise 
 them, so soon as "they can feed or take care of them 
 selves and their children," as Dr. Channing says, "to all 
 our rights and privileges, social, moral, and political," 
 would be to effect their destruction, if not that of their 
 owners. The plain truth is, amalgamation being the only 
 certain bond by which any two racel? of people can pos 
 sibly be bound together, and it being so repulsive in itself 
 to the whites, it never can take place to any extent. All 
 history proves the truth of this statement, whether it be 
 ancient or modern, and St. Domingo, Canada, and the 
 Moors in Spain, as well as the present condition of many 
 Indian tribes in the United States, are enduring monu 
 ments of the truth of this position. The present state of 
 St. Domingo, and the emancipated negroes in the British 
 West India islands, affords also the most glaring evidence 
 of this fact. The planters of the last named have lately 
 turned again to Africa, to procure labourers, as they cannot 
 get the freed negroes to work the letters of Mr. Gurney 
 and comments of Dr. Channing to the contrary notwith 
 standing. The wealthy island of St. Domingo is reduced 
 to one of comparative desolation. Formerly the richest 
 15 
 
166 
 
 now the poorest. Its once rich fields, that were clothed 
 with coffee trees, and wildernesses of sugar cane, are 
 now grown up in weeds, and the planters, the owners of 
 the soil, in the British islands, must desert their homes, or 
 find some other labourers than those, their former slaves, 
 now turned loose by thousands but to prowl as wolves, 
 and to devour their prey. What will abolitionists say to 
 this? How expensive the plan to save themselves, and 
 find labourers, by the transportation of Africans, to work 
 for a specified time, to be brought directly from Africa 
 itself? We can give no better description of the true con 
 dition of St. Domingo, than that we find in the late official 
 report of a French naval officer on that station, respect 
 ing the present state of the island. He cannot be sus 
 pected of being unfriendly to them. This report is found 
 in the National Intelligencer and the papers of the past 
 week, which we subjoin. Those editors head their re 
 marks thus : "St. Domingo as it now is," and then add 
 "The following description of the present state of that 
 fsland is from the pen of a French naval officer:" 
 
 "We embarked on board the frigate Nereide on the 
 24th December. On the 28th we were at Fort Royal, 
 to recetve orders from the admiral, who despatched us 
 on the 29th to St. Domingo, where we were to take on 
 board the five millions of francs which the consul-general 
 had informed us Xvere ready. We have been three days 
 at anchor in this famous republic, and all that I can say 
 to you of the misery of the people, will scarce suffice to 
 give you any idea of it. I have been every where, and 
 every where have seen nothing but degradation and cor 
 ruption. Men in rags compose the army, and exhibit a 
 most ludicrous military masquerade. Cavalry on foot 
 manoeuvre like horses, at the word of command, trot, 
 gallop, &c. Both officers and soldiers are without shoes; 
 one has spurs tied by a cord to his naked feet, another 
 has made himself spurs, with a piece of iron driven into 
 a wooden sole, tied to his foot, and one whole company 
 which I inspected minutely, had not a single musket 
 which would go ofT. The officers in rags, ask charity. 
 Slothfulness, poverty in its most hideous form and in 
 the negro it is most hideous alone meet your eye at the 
 
167 
 
 town of Port au Prince. The fields are over-run by 
 brambles, logwood trees, and the rapacious lichens, which 
 obstruct the roads and destroy the old plantations. With 
 the exception of a few gardens, which here and there are 
 cultivated by the negroes gardens far inferior to those 
 of our worst slaves there is no cultivation whatever. 
 The only product of<the island is coffee, and that every 
 year diminishes so materially, that the time is not far 
 distant when it will produce none at all. No more is 
 planted, and the old coffee plantations are not even taken 
 care of. The owners gather the crops from their own 
 fields, in the midst of briars and weeds, no labourers 
 being to be had the one not being willing to work for 
 the other. In 1791, the exports of this fertile island 
 amounted to at least twenty-three millions of dollars, with 
 a population of about 600,000. Alas what a change ! 
 what a declension ! At this time there are hardly pro 
 ducts sufficient to sustain its inhabitants, in number but 
 a little over one million, and its exports amount to very 
 little. Without subordination, fast hastening back to a 
 dark, uncivilized and barbarian state." 
 
 The editor of the Baltimore American speaks thus of 
 the British West India islands: "We published a few 
 days ago, an account of the present condition of Hayti, 
 as described by an eye-witness. The picture was that 
 of a country fast lapsing into the savage wildness of na 
 ture ; while the appearance and conduct of the people, 
 exhibited a mere caricature of civilization, in which the 
 degradation produced by slothfulness and vice contrasted 
 miserably with impotent pretences, at something like an 
 organized state of society. The present condition and 
 tendency of things in the British West India islands, au 
 gur a result no better there, under the emancipation act 
 of the British parliament. It is to no purpose that the 
 zealous friends of that policy labour in its vindication, by 
 procuring and publishing the most favourable accounts, 
 that partial, one-sided reports can exhibit, of the condi 
 tion of those islands. Facts will speak for themselves, 
 and in a manner not to be gain-sayed. Instead of their 
 former state of affluence and ease, the British islands now 
 present a melancholy spectacle of discontent and daily 
 
168 
 
 diminishing production. Various devices have been re 
 sorted to, for the purpose of procuring labourers, to sup 
 ply the place of the emancipated negroes, who will not 
 work. Emigration from England and Ireland has been 
 encouraged, and a fund provided to aid the passage of 
 all who could be induced to emigrate. Another plan 
 was, to procure a large emigration- of free coloured peo 
 ple from the United States ; and the last project which 
 we have seen any account of, contemplated a transfer of 
 African labourers from Sierra Leone and the African 
 coast a sort of substitute for the slave trade. These 
 expedients have been quite ineffectual thus far ; the down 
 ward tendency of things has not been arrested ; on the 
 contrary, every year bears witness to the increasing em 
 barrassments and distress of the British islands." 
 
 Here then is the condition to which abolitionists would 
 reduce, by their fanatical excitements, the coloured popu 
 lation of our states. We may use here the eloquent lan 
 guage of a gentleman from the North, who has nobly 
 come forward to maintain, by his comprehensive and 
 powerful mental efforts, the cause of the South. "It is 
 not among the least revolting consequences of the pro 
 ceedings of the abolitionists, that they involve the neces 
 sity of inquiring into a subject so fraught with every 
 thing that can render it aggravating to the feelings of 
 humanity. That the slaves may, at some not very dis 
 tant period, be excited, by the goadings of the abolition 
 ists, to the most desperate atrocities, is more than suffi 
 ciently probable." But "that sense of inferiority which 
 makes every slave a coward in the presence of his master, 
 will prevent their obtaining freedom only at the master s 
 will." "In Jamaica," says the same talented author, 
 "the negroes are daily becoming more licentious and 
 corrupt. Many of them do not work over two hours a 
 day. This island "promises to become as pestiferous a 
 sink of vice and corruption, as the most libertine enthu 
 siast can desire." 
 
 We have only now to turn for one moment to the 
 freed negroes of the United States. Not to those only of 
 the South, but to those of the -North also. The eman- 
 cipatiun of the slaves of the middle states was gradual 
 
169 
 
 and progressive. These states possessed comparatively 
 few, and their services were not indispensably necessary 
 to domestic offices, or the cultivation of the land. What 
 then, we ask, is the true condition of the free coloured 
 people of those states? Here and there you find indus 
 trious individuals, such as you sometimes see in the South. 
 But as a whole, are they not improvident, or lazy, or 
 licentious, or profligate, or vile and villanous, perhaps all ? 
 Do they look, as a whole, beyond a servant s place, and 
 is the white man willing that they shall go beyond it ? 
 We appeal now to facts, because, having lived a long 
 while where there are no negroes in slavery at all, we 
 are prepared to judge of this matter. What is the con 
 dition of the free negroes in the District of Columbia? 
 Some of them are pious, upright, good men. Most of 
 them live in wretchedness and die in disgrace. But you 
 say there are slaves there. Go then to Pennsylvania. 
 The wretchedness of the negro population of Philadelphia, 
 where there are about 25,000 free negroes, is beyond all 
 human calculation. It is indeed unparalleled in this 
 country. Look at the internal towns, and see their state. 
 At Lancaster, Harrisburg. Reading, Carlisle, Chambers- 
 burg, Some of the most miserable creatures we ever 
 beheld, monuments of laziness, profligacy and crime, are 
 among the negroes in some of those towns. Do you be 
 lieve us? Do you say no? Look here. We give you, 
 intelligent and considerate reader, an article in the Pres 
 byterian Advocate, published in Pittsburg, which shows 
 how the negroes have been affected in Pennsylvania by 
 emancipation. The article is brief, and we copy it 
 entire. Look at this ! "There are 25,549 negroes in the 
 city and county of Philadelphia. A house of refuge for 
 coloured children is proposed. There are 50,000 negroes 
 in the state. Of every nine convicts in the Eastern Peni 
 tentiary in 1831, four were negroes; of every nine in 
 1841, seven are blacks! This is an alarming dispro 
 portion, considering the fewness of the blacks." 
 
 Here then is a picture, one too, drawn by ministers of 
 
 a Christian church, friendly to the cause of emancipation. 
 
 Some of whom at least, are believed to be abolitionists ; 
 
 but who, in presenting the true condition of the coloured 
 
 15* 
 
170 
 
 man, have given us the foregoing faithful statements. 
 But, if any doubt, let him go and read for himself, the 
 statistics of the Pennsylvania penitentiaries, and behold 
 the truth of what these good men here state. If then 
 these be facts, and this the condition of the coloured peo 
 ple in the free states, what must be their situation in 
 slave states ? There they induce the slaves to steal 
 there most of them are accustomed to spend their all for 
 drink. There, every effort to induce industry and care 
 is abortive, and because others provide for them, idleness 
 and profligacy ensue. In a residence of several years 
 in the midst of at least five hundred free negroes, where 
 the land was good, and several coloured persons owners 
 of it, by the kindness of the whites, in no one year out of 
 five years, if brought to testify to it on oath, could we 
 say that we believe the five hundred made five hun 
 dred bushels of grain. What then, are such persons to 
 live and depredate on society ? What would be their 
 state if two or three millions were turned loose ? Let 
 those who reside in New York say ! There abolitionists 
 may consult their own eyes and ears, and while sicken 
 ing with disappointment, at the result of all the efforts, 
 even of sober rational philanthropy, in seeing the lazi 
 ness, the dirt, the debauchery, and the crimes of the free 
 blacks of that city. Let them ask themselves, if the 
 massacre, and exile, and ruin of their brethren of the 
 South, and the substitution of a population composed of 
 such ingredients, will increase or diminish the sum of 
 human happiness. Such a community could not last. 
 Would not the free blacks now perish amidst the frosts 
 of winter in all our large cities, but for the benevolence 
 and attention of the charitable whites. Is not this the 
 case in New York ? And although there are excellent 
 coloured men who have been freed, or who have pur 
 chased their freedom, is it not a fact that there are thou 
 sands of free negroes, whose condition is as far inferior 
 to that of the southern slaves, as their condition, aboli 
 tionists being judges, is inferior to that of their owners? 
 Their want of prudence, their improvidence of the future, 
 and their recklessness of character, leave them the prey 
 of want, of every vice, and almost every disease. To 
 
171 
 
 remedy these evils, the abolitionists point out amalgama 
 tion. A mixture of blood, a communion of civil and 
 social rights this is the cure. We are to lower that 
 standard of nature, with which the God of nature has 
 endowed us. Physical incongruities are to be overcome. 
 White and black children are to be educated together, 
 and then their bloods are to be mingled, and of it, one 
 blood be formed. We are to deny ourselves, and re 
 nounce our nature, our feelings, our race, and then give 
 our country and our all, to millions of slaves forced upon 
 us by a foreign power. Yes ! the white man who pos 
 sesses in himself the ability, if we may so speak, of poli 
 tical regeneration, and has ever proved it, by bettering 
 his civil condition, is to be brought down to a level with 
 the negro, and all his mental powers are to be subjugat 
 ed, and prostrated, to make him a companion meet for 
 those \vho comparatively speaking, as a whole, only know 
 to grovel in the dust. God forbid that such a requisition 
 should ever be pressed upon the South! To do this, 
 would be to attack her independence in the tenderest 
 point; and the day in which it is done, will tell to hea 
 ven and earth, that southerners consider resistance, 
 though it be to the extermination of the coloured race, a 
 solemn duty, for the faithful performance of which, as 
 did their fathers in the cause of liberty, they will pledge 
 "their lives, their fortunes, and their sacred honour." 
 
PART VI. 
 
 THE QUESTION WHO ARE ABOLITIONISTS? ANSWERED. THAT SUCH 
 HAVE NEITHER INDIVIDUALLY NOR COLLECTIVELY., A MORAL 
 OR POLITICAL RIGHT TO INTERFERE IN THE QUESTION OF 
 SLAVERY IN THE SLAVE-HOLDING STATES. TO THE CONTRARY, 
 THE CONSTITUTION AND LAWS OF OUR COMMON COUNTRY 
 BIND THEM MORALLY AS CHRISTIANS., WHO OUGHT TO OBEY 
 THOSE LAWS AND POLITICALLY, AS CITIZENS, TO AID AND 
 PROTECT THE SOUTH, IN THEIR RIGHT OF PROPERTY IN 
 SLAVES. THE VIEWS OF CONWAY ROBINSON, ESQ.. ATTORNEY 
 AT LAW IN RICHMOND, VIRGINIA, ON THIS SUBJECT. 
 
 FROM what has already been written by us, on the 
 subject of a direct and immediate emancipation of the 
 slave population of our country, here in our midst, to be 
 raised to an equality of rights, moral, political and social, 
 with ourselves, it is apparent that some pretty correct 
 ideas of the true character of abolitionists, as well as 
 their principles, may be plainly seen. In our exposition 
 of an abolitionist, it is certainly not our intention to be 
 come the advocates of slavery or of the slave trade. We 
 have already said that slavery is an evil, a great evil, and 
 every true patriot, as well as every friend to humanity, 
 must desire that the country be rid of it, for the ulti 
 mate good of ourselves and posterity, as well as that 
 of the slave population. But slavery now exists. It is 
 here we are under the influence of that evil. We must 
 get clear of it in the most appropriate and the safest way, 
 if we get clear of it at all. But let it be remembered, it 
 is one thing to be averse to slavery in principle, and in 
 practice too, and another to be an abolitionist. For an 
 abolitionist, as we gather his character from the writings 
 
174 
 
 of abolitionists, and we have quoted them freely in this 
 work, is one, who not only asks for, but demands, and 
 calls upon the/ree states to demand, the direct and imme 
 diate emancipation of all slaves, here, in our midst, now 
 held in bondage, in the slave-holding states; and also 
 their exaltation to an equality with the whites, as to 
 rights and privileges, moral, social, and political. Now, 
 any class of men who would make such a demand, not 
 only manifest their presumption, but display to all the 
 earth, that they are enthusiasts and fanatics of the first 
 order. This, then, is the first characteristic feature in 
 the composition, or constitution of an abolitionist. He is 
 an enthusiast ; he is a fanatic. An enthusiast is one who 
 looks for the accomplishment of an end, without the use 
 of the legitimate and appropriate means to effect it. A 
 fanatic is one guilty of a religious phrensy, and wildness 
 of conduct. To abolitionists all these things actually ap 
 pertain. They seek to bring about an emancipation 
 direct and immediate, by means not only not legitimate, 
 but wholly inappropriate. Instead of persuasion, and 
 argument, founded on reason and revelation, there is an 
 entire disregard of all those courtesies, and all that 
 civility and kindness, which ought to characterize men 
 seeking to upturn an institution, of hundreds of years 
 standing, and one too, the upturning of which must be, 
 without great care, attended with so many frightful con 
 sequences. Instead of this, what do we hear. A pas 
 sage of scripture is disconnected from the context, it is 
 harped on, as if it contained the whole Christian system, 
 the entire plan of salvation itself. And then with a "reli 
 gious phrensy" "a wildness of conduct, almost unparal 
 leled at any period of the world, (even in the darkest 
 ages,) men, women, children, have been enlisted in the 
 ranks of abolitionism ; above all, Christian ministers have 
 made the sacred desk an arena for abolition discussion 
 and abuse of all, who do not enter into their plans with 
 out regard to office, standing, or character, as "rogues," 
 "kidnappers," "men-stealers," "pirates," "murderers, and 
 worse than murderers." 
 
 So lie remarks of Dr. Channing and Judge Jay, come 
 but little short of those made by the rudest abolitionists, 
 
175 
 
 in virulence and abuse. The pill is no less nauseous, be 
 cause it contains a little sweetening. For our part, we 
 believe all southerners had rather have, and endure, the 
 open attacks of foul-mouthed abolitionists, than the artful, 
 under-handed, insidious, smooth-tongued slander, of a 
 learned divine. That such a man as Dr. C. should vol 
 unteer and yield himself as one, to join in an attack on 
 men that claim too the right to speak and act for them 
 selves ; and at one fell stroke, denounce them, as wanting 
 in sympathy and all the feelings of humanity, as unchris 
 tian, wholly so, as unjust, as "murderers of the bodies and 
 souls of men," and as carrying on "a spurious amalgama 
 tion" "by forcing the coloured woman to yield to their de 
 mands." is language that we were not prepared to hear 
 from such a quarter. What ought to be our indignation 
 when we behold such men pursuing this course? A 
 course evidently calculated to instigate an ignorant popu 
 lation, of millions of coloured people, to insurrection and 
 murder. What must we say when w r e behold such men 
 "sowing the seeds of a servile war," converting the pre 
 cepts of holy writ, into an excuse for violating its spirit 
 and doctrine ? What must we say when we behold them 
 "snatching a burning brand from the throne of God, to 
 set fire to our institutions, and consume our union to 
 ashes," and force us to "seek a refuge from the red hot 
 fires of fanaticism, in the chill dark caverns of inhumanity, 
 and murder itself." 
 
 Without a rule of faith, with no standard authority, 
 no teacher whose lessons are hallowed by the belief of 
 ages, no pastor who seems to have any guide, but his own 
 wild vagaries, or any other restrainst than that of his own 
 consummate arrogance, MEN and WOMEN are induced alike, 
 to leave their homes and travel hundreds of miles, to the 
 neglect of their domestic duties, to deliberate upon, and 
 discuss plans of operation in abolition conventions ; where 
 by, the better to attack the south and its institutions. We 
 give an instance or two of this gross enthusiasm and fana 
 ticism. One man, dependent on his daily work in one of 
 the free states, with whom we are acquainted, left his 
 home and labour, at a time, when, the confinement of his 
 wife, placed her in a most delicate and helpless condition, 
 
176 
 
 with several little children, mostly also helpless, but 
 badly provided for, if provided for at all, to gooff several 
 hundred miles to an abolition convention, under the convic 
 tion that by the loss of his vote, or influence, the Utica 
 abolition convention, would not force the south (i to set 
 all the poor negroes free." Negroes, who, in our hearts, 
 we believe, were at that very time, better off and more 
 comfortable than either he or his. This fact can be 
 established not only by our own testimony, but by others 
 also of unquestionable veracity. 
 
 We give another case. An old raw-boned lady, about 
 six feet six inches high, called at our house in the dead 
 of winter, on her journey to Washington, the bearer of a 
 petition twelve yards and a half long, as she said, to be 
 presented to congress by the honourable J. Q. Adams, 
 ex-president of the United States of North America. We 
 afterwards understood that this was signed by men, 
 women, children, coloured and white. The poor old 
 enthusiastic lady, seemed to think that the world would 
 speedily end, if she did not hasten to Washington, and 
 have her petition presented, that the murderous southern 
 ers might be forced to free the negroes. We have been 
 ourself insulted at the door of a church, and in the very 
 act of entering the same, simply, because we were bom 
 south of the Potomac, known to be an anti-abolitionist, 
 and dared to pollute the sanctuary of a free state, by en 
 tering the same. But mark a further illustration of the 
 fanaticism of abolitionists. This same individual em 
 ployed negroes, said to be runaway slaves, from a neigh 
 bouring state, to labour for him, and they were brought 
 to the table to sit down and eat with his own daughter, a 
 pretty interesting girl not twenty. It occurred to us, 
 that he might lament it. However this is not our busi 
 ness, the laws of some free states, legalize marriages 
 with white and coloured people, and abolitionists believe 
 and absolutely demand, that negroes "ought to be admit 
 ted forthwith to the enjoyment of the same privileges and 
 the exercise of the same prerogatives as others," and that 
 "the paths of preferment, of wealth and intelligence, 
 should be opened as widely to them as to persons of 
 a white complexion." Such is the language of the "mani 
 festo" of the National Anti-slavery Society of Philadelphia. 
 
177 
 
 To such a height of imprudence and arrogance have 
 declarations and conduct such as are mentioned above, 
 forced the negroes of the free states, that we are told, in 
 one of the towns bordering on Maryland, an association 
 has been formed of abolitionists and negroes, one of the 
 articles of which is, that no coloured lady or gentleman 
 is to consent to be a labourer, or domestic in any family, 
 or house, whose inmates however wealthy or exalted, 
 will not permit them to be seated with their employers 
 regularly, at their tables, and in their churches, and unite 
 and mingle with them, in their social parties and compa 
 nies. By such work as this, these ignorant, hair-brained, 
 enthusiastic, fanatical abolitionists, expect to force the 
 south, to turn loose in their midst, three millions of slaves, 
 and exalt them, to participate with themselves, "in all 
 their privileges, social, moral, and political." Although 
 some white parents at the north, may not blush to see 
 their lovely daughters, leaning on the arms of coal-black 
 negro men, and led by them to the altar; and although, a 
 thousand coloured lasses may mate off, with as many 
 white men, and have their union consummated by all the 
 sacred rites of religion, and the sanctions of law, yet it 
 moves us not; we are here ! The south cannot and will 
 not be forced into measures by such enthusiasts. Aboli 
 tionists may foolishly and wickedly carry out their own 
 theory, by giving up, in the exercise of their fanaticism 
 to wretchedness and disgrace, the SONS and DAUGHTERS 
 of their own bowels, but we stand on a rock, from whence 
 we are not to be moved. 
 
 An abolitionist is not only an enthusiast and a fanatic, 
 but he is also a disorganizer, and virtually an opponent 
 of all law, sacred and human. We have shown at 
 another place how these disorganizes are pledged for 
 upturning the institutions of society, by their dogmas 
 advanced and supported, at the hazard of the Christian 
 system itself, How men are to be thrown back into a 
 state of insubordination and disorder, under the vain 
 show of equality, founded on the abstract principles of 
 moral, civil, and natural rights. To contradict Abra 
 ham, Jacob, Job, "Moses, and all the prophets," is noth 
 ing. To deny New Testament principle and example, 
 16 
 
178 
 
 is nothing. Their dogmas are presented as a barrier 
 against the whole, and thousands of Christians, of every 
 age of the world, as well as those now in the south, are 
 all cut off at one fell stroke, as dead branches, only fit 
 for eternal burnings. Hear it ! "All who retain slaves in 
 bondage, are men-stealers, according to the scriptures." 
 "Such commit a presumptuous transgression of the di 
 vine commandments," and "their claims to religion, &c., 
 are all before God null and void." These are the dis 
 organizing dogmas of abolitionism. To carry out, there 
 fore, these principles, they have abused the ministers and 
 members of the different churches, who live south as 
 well as those north, who resist abolitionism. Their per 
 secutions followed that great and good man of God, the 
 Rev. Dr. Fisk, from the New England Methodist Confe 
 rence, over the blue waters of the Atlantic to Europe, 
 and met him at every point. They pursued him to his 
 home, followed him to his grave, and are not yet hush 
 ed, because that though dead, he speaks against aboli 
 tionism. So did they pursue and persecute Bishop Hed- 
 ding, Dr. Bangs, and others. An effort has also been 
 made to divide the missionary societies of the large Bap 
 tist and Methodist denominations, lest southern men 
 should give, to aid in sending the gospel to the heathen, 
 and the offerings of abolitionists should be polluted, by a 
 mingling with those of southerners. Many men of true, 
 great, and undissembled piety and sterling integrity at 
 the north, in every church have been denounced ; even 
 whole conferences, and associations, presbyteries and 
 conventions, because, they have not joined in the hue 
 and cry against the southerner. 
 
 Worse, if worse there can be; these abolitionists have 
 proclaimed war against the institutions, civil and social, 
 of the United States, as well as against its constitution. 
 The dissolution of the union itself is threatened. Our 
 constitution, in their hands, is but a piece of brown pa 
 per, "a rope of sand," only designed to bind, as long as 
 they think proper. This we shall see when we look 
 more particularly at the constitutional provisions of the 
 union on this subject. We do not mean that common, 
 ignorant, or untaught abolitionists, only inculcate such 
 
179 
 
 principles, and are ready to abandon the union, and give 
 up the constitution of these states ; but men of exalted 
 talents and standing, Dr. Channing, Judge Jay, and others. 
 Shall they speak for themselves? Hear Dr. C. "The 
 slaveholder must not imagine, that he has nothing to do 
 but to fight with a few societies. These of themselves 
 are nothing. He should not waste on them one fear. 
 They are strong only as representing the spirit of the 
 Christian and civilized world ! These are not to be with 
 stood, by artful strokes of policy, or by daring crimes. 
 The world is against him and the world s Maker." <l He 
 might as well think of imprisoning the winds." "A 
 deadly sophistry will weigh on men s consciences and 
 hearts, until terrible convulsions, God s just judgments, 
 will hasten the deliverance," &c. "The fire now smo 
 thered will blaze out." "Strange that the south should 
 think of securing its peculiar institutions, by violent 
 means." "Its violence necessarily increases the evils it 
 would suppress." This is bad enough, but hear again ! 
 "Let no man who feels the greatness of the evil which 
 threatens us, satisfy himself with unprofitable regrets; 
 but let each embody his opposition in a form, which will 
 give incitement to his neighbour, and act on men in 
 power." "There is a spirit spreading through the coun 
 try," (i. e.) the north-east, "in regard to slavery, which 
 demands changes of the constitution, and which will MAS 
 TER, if it cannot change" Well done, Dr. C ! And why 
 so ? Because "the authority of government, instead of 
 being a reason for silence under wrongs, is a reason for 
 protesting against wrongs." "It is time that public in 
 terest should no longer hallow injustice, and fortify gov 
 ernment, in making the weak their prey." "Is it not 
 time for the free states to pause, to reflect, to weigh well 
 what they are doing through the national government, 
 and to resolve that they will free themselves, from every 
 obligation, to uphold an institution, which they know to 
 be unjust." What more could a traitor to the constitu 
 tion and country do or say? Dr. Channing refers them 
 to the remarks of Judge Jay, and recommends his views 
 of the action of the general government, on this subject 
 of slavery. Could it be believed that such language 
 
180 
 
 would proceed from one, who has so often smoothly 
 counselled the abolitionist and the slaveholder to keep 
 cool? Is this the forbearance of Dr. C? Here is aboli 
 tionism ! Bound by no law, averse to all the bonds by 
 which this union is preserved, they are ready to sacri 
 fice all on the altar of fanaticism. 
 
 Once more we must notice a threat of Dr. Channing. 
 Speaking of slavery and its continuance this threat is 
 thrown out, which proves to us that abolitionists are 
 ready for any thing, so it accomplish their ends, how 
 ever it may be an infringement of law, social, moral or 
 civil. After all their boasted attachment to the union, 
 we have from the pen of the doctor these words, "This 
 cannot, ought not to be borne, it will justify, it will at 
 length demand the separation of the states." "For ONE, 
 I SAY, that earnestly as I deprecate the separation of the 
 states, and though this event would disappoint most che 
 rished hopes of my country, still, I can submit to it more 
 readily. I shrink from the contamination." "I am com 
 pelled to acknowledge an extent of corruption among us, 
 which menaces freedom and our dearest interests, a po 
 licy which will give new and enduring impulse by cor 
 ruption, which must multiply indefinitely public and pri 
 vate crime. Public men may in craft or passion decree 
 violence and oppression; but silently, irresistibly they 
 and their works are swept away." We have only to 
 add a sentence or two from Judge Jay and his anti- 
 slavery society, to show that all these abolitionists are 
 for an infringement of all law, as well as Dr. C., sooner 
 than not accomplish their ends. Hear then what they 
 say ! "All those laws" (a broad expression indeed) 
 "which are now in force, admitting the right of slavery, 
 are therefore before God utterly NULL and VOID." "We 
 maintain that congress has a right, and is solemnly bound 
 to suppress the domestic slave trade, between the several 
 states." And again, "Suppose the constitution did sanc 
 tion slavery. What then? While there is a God in 
 heaven, can we feel bound by any compacts of our own, 
 or any enactments of our fellow worms, to sin against 
 him." To uso the bold language of Dr. Reese, of New 
 York, who deserves so much respect at the hands of 
 
181 
 
 southern men, for his noble defence of them and their 
 principles, abolitionism is on the whole "the purest fanati 
 cism, that was ever exhibited in the history of our race. 
 It blinds the eyes, perverts the intellect, blunts the moral 
 sense, hardens the heart, sears the conscience, annihilates 
 the religion of its votaries, and practically teaches, that 
 while slave-holding is a heinous crime bearing false wit 
 ness, is no crime at all! If this be not fanaticism, then 
 we know not where it is to be found." And we may 
 add, and doubtless the intelligent reader will so conclude 
 from the precious morsels before him, which we call 
 abolition specimens, that fanaticism is the very best trait 
 in the character of abolitionists. That it belongs to them, 
 to seek to reverse the very laws of nature, to resist and 
 cast them aside as of no account, when they oppose their 
 abstract notions of moral evil and natural rights, and that 
 they are ready with Dr. C. and Judge Jay, and other 
 great leaders, to nullify the constitution of our common 
 country, and dissolve this union both in principle and 
 practice, so that they may but force upon all the slave- 
 holding states, their dogmas of social, moral, and political 
 equality. We believe, therefore, that from their own tes 
 timony, we have answered the question, who are abo 
 litionists? 
 
 We now proceed to show that they have neither indi 
 vidually nor collectively, a moral or political right to 
 interfere, in this question of slavery, in the slave-holding 
 states. Indeed, there is no man, that will not, almost at 
 first view, when he hears the sayings, and looks at the 
 deeds of abolitionists, at once accede to this as almost a 
 self-evident truth. A man who was born, educated, and 
 lives without the borders of a free and independent sove 
 reignty, has no moral, much less political right, to inter 
 fere in the management of its internal concerns. First, 
 he has no moral right. We mean by this that the man 
 who is not an inhabitant of a slave-holding state, but 
 actually a resident of a free state, has no absolute, no 
 actual, no religious right, to interfere in the condition or 
 internal concerns of that slave-holding state. Now this 
 is a plain proposition, we meet it plainly. We give Dr. 
 Channing as proof that this right is claimed, by aboli- 
 16* 
 
182 
 
 tionists as well their own declaration, and then we assign 
 our reasons for coming to these deliberate conclusions, 
 and adduce scripture examples to prove that we are right. 
 The fact that Dr. C. and Judge Jay, and others, have 
 written lengthy appeals and tracts, addressed to the north 
 and south, shows the light in which they view this subject, 
 and waving as we do for the present, their claim to a 
 political right to interfere, we look at that claim to a 
 moral, positive right, what we would call a right reli 
 giously to interfere. "The present," says Dr. Charming, 
 "is a moment of bewildering excitement, when men s 
 minds are stormed and darkened by strong passions and 
 fierce conflicts." "Slavery, indeed, from its very nature, 
 must be a ground of alarm. Slavery ought to be dis 
 cussed. We ought to think free and write about it." "In 
 this point public opinion has not been, and cannot be too 
 strongly pronounced." "Our moral power should be 
 exerted for its relief." "The eternal law binds us to take 
 the side of the injured," the slave. u Let it not be said 
 we" abolitionists u can do nothing for the slave. We 
 can do much, we have a power mightier than armies, the 
 power of truth." "All other powers may fail. This must 
 triumph. This spirit" (of abolitionism) "has but begun 
 its work on earth. Slavery cannot stand before it." "To 
 increase this moral power is every man s duty" 
 
 Now if we were so disposed, we could quote a hun 
 dred such sentences as these, from Dr. C. to show this 
 claim, that abolitionists make, to the exercise of a moral 
 right to interfere in the subject of slavery, as an institution 
 of other, and to them, foreign states. Moreover that he 
 claims it, not only as a right, but as the moral duty of 
 every man, thus to interfere, and as we are told by him 
 "every woman," "to think of it, feel for it, discuss it, 
 write about it," and finally "act for its removal, bringing 
 every moral power to bear at last against it." The 
 claim to this moral power, is set up by Dr. C. on the 
 ground that Christianity teaches brotherly love, and that 
 as men are bound to proclaim Christian truth, and send 
 gospel light to all the earth, so are they bound to promote 
 the doctrines of abolitionism. In other words abolition 
 ism and Christianity are synonymous. This is indeed, 
 
183 
 
 pretty well, and all who know any thing of the history of 
 fanaticism, know that this is the ground it always takes. 
 "We have the scriptures, they say thus and so, we are 
 right, all others are wrong, you must therefore come to 
 our standard, or you are no Christian." Aye more, you 
 are "the enemy of all righteousness." Now we believe, 
 we have shown that both scripture precept, and scrip 
 ture example, are directly opposed to the intolerant dog 
 mas, and high-toned claims of abolitionists, to give in 
 struction on the subject of slavery, to all the world. We 
 have also shown that it is contrary to the great princi 
 ple of mercy, when viewed in connexion with its tremen 
 dous consequences, both to the slave and his owner. We 
 have moreover seen that it is an infringement of the great 
 principle of justice, that men who have had slaves forced 
 on their fathers, by foreign powers, whose fathers were 
 constrained to acquire them by payment, contrary to their 
 will, as property, and who have, by a law passed for self- 
 preservation by the government under which they lived, 
 had them entailed on them and their posterity, should 
 now be forced not only to part with that property, but to 
 part with it, first without any compensation, and second 
 ly in a way repulsive to every feeling of nature, as well 
 as to their principles of freedom and independence. All 
 who know any thing at all of justice, know, that there 
 must always be an essential difference, between the white 
 man, who has purchased the lands that he occupies, by 
 the fruits of his labour and valor, and the slave that came 
 hither, without any rights derived from the country that 
 gave him birth, and who had forfeited all he had there by cap 
 ture in war, or by inheritance. He has certainly acquired 
 none here, and so far from helping to obtain the indepen 
 dence of this country, the slaves became the instruments 
 of most serious mischief. Hence Virginia, and all the 
 confederated states, used in their declaration these words 
 in 1776 : "They were by the British government, prompt 
 ed to rise in arms among us, those very negroes, whom by an 
 inhuman use of his prerogative," (the king of England) 
 forced upon us, he "has refused us permission to ex 
 clude by law." How unjust to raise without any claim, 
 such to be citizens ! But let us not be too fast on this sub- 
 
184 
 
 ject, of moral right to interfere, in the internal concerns of 
 foreign states. Let me ask is there any religion in my in 
 terfering in the concerns of New or Old England, in such 
 a way as to divide and place its population in a condition, in 
 which, as all past experience proves, though equal in num 
 bers, "they never can be equals, and live together in peace. 
 One or the other must be subjugated. If the masters of 
 the south were to liberate their slaves in a body, or even 
 by slow degrees, without removing them at the same 
 time from the states in which they reside, the consequence 
 would soon be, a struggle for power and a war of the 
 worst description. Now let me ask is there any religion 
 in seeking to accomplish such an end, in such a way ? 
 Take the remarks of Dr. C. himself and give it a moral 
 application. "When a negro fugitive slave touches New 
 England, he is free. Well ! he is but one in a thousand, 
 he can do harm, but suppose three millions go thither. 
 How would it be then ? What may be safely done with 
 a few, is often very dangerous or impracticable with 
 many. "And do not the States of Pennsylvania and 
 New York, where are thousands of negroes, who have 
 either runaway from, or have been emancipated by their 
 masters, and are said to be admitted to all the privileges 
 of freemen, know by melancholy experience, that scarcely 
 one in a hundred is capable of rationally using that 
 blessing? They have abused, not enjoyed it. A large 
 portion have died miserably, equal numbers have become 
 the habitual inmates of bridewells, Penitentiaries, hospi 
 tals, and state prisons, and of the remainder, but a few, 
 very few, are either moral in their conduct, decent in their 
 manners, or respectable in their situation." This is the 
 testimony of some of the most respectable and exalted 
 citizens of New York and Pennsylvania. 
 
 What then must be the condition of southern slaves 
 when turned loose ? Would it be religious to do so, under 
 s u.h circumstances, and in view of such painful expe 
 rience ? We know that our morality, the morality incul- 
 cpted in the Bible, is not sufficiently sublimated for this 
 exquisite squeamishness of the modern philanthropy of 
 abolitionists, "and it would appear from their statements 
 that God himself has changed, since he gave laws from 
 
185 
 
 the smoking Sinai, to the whole world," and inculcated 
 by his own Son and his apostles, the high and holy duties 
 of master and servant. Is there religion in this? Is there 
 any religion in seeking to do that which may, and which 
 actually does undermine the happiness, and destroy the 
 security of the domestic fireside of all the South? That 
 of the master as well as his slave? That which stimu 
 lates the latter to insurrection and murder, and the former 
 of consequence, to deeds of cruelty and tyranny ? Is 
 there any religion in perverting the precepts of our holy 
 Christianity to purposes of defamation, slander, insubordi 
 nation, insurrection, rebellion, barbarity, slaughter and 
 ruin? Who does not see, that if the established precepts 
 and examples of Christianity, stand in the way of these 
 fanatics, they throw them aside; if the laws of the land 
 interfere with their plans, they denounce them as impious, 
 and if the constitution of the country, as it does, cut them 
 off from the right of interference in the internal concerns 
 of the country, they are ready to give it up, sooner than 
 let go or give up their favourite dogmas ? Is this moral ? 
 Is this religious? Does CHRISTIANITY teach that such is 
 religion? That freedom which emanates from the will 
 of the people, administered through the medium of laws, 
 and guarantied by the faith of a constitution, is not only 
 endangered, but is absolutely prostrated and thrown away, 
 by such a course ; and when fanaticism has done its work 
 of desolation, and stands in the midst of the ruins of so 
 ciety when it has prostrated all the great land-marks of 
 our rights and duties, what does it put in the place thereof? 
 The arbitrary exposition of a few texts of Scripture, and 
 the abstract ideas of individual LEADERS, about moral 
 evil and natural rights, combined with the tales and the 
 dogmas of such disorganizes. This abolitionism so far 
 as it respects religion, is a heresy, a slander upon Chris 
 tianity. "It does not look for general, it looks only for 
 one good. It sees but one object, whether real or ima 
 ginary. For that, it will sacrifice every thing but its own 
 safety, which is not to be placed in jeopardy. 1 Is the fol 
 lowing, from Dr. Channing, the language of religion, the 
 language of the Christian subjects of a government ? Aye, 
 a part of the very source of goverment itself. "We are 
 
186 
 
 for union, but not slavery. We will give the union for 
 the abolition of slavery, if nothing else will gain it, but 
 if we cannot gain it at all, then the South is welcome to 
 a dissolution the sooner the better. The slaveholders 
 may as well understand, first as last, that the union may 
 have other causes for them, than that of a lash to shake 
 over the heads of northern freemen." Another maintains 
 the right and duty of the slaves "to cut the throats, or 
 poison, or consume with fire, his master and all his family, 
 if by so doing he can free himself from bondage." The 
 slave is called upon "to assert his right to freedom in the 
 name of the Lord Jesus Christ," and at a convention of 
 abolitionists, it was laid down as a principle, "that the 
 condition of slavery absolves us, from all the obligations 
 of mankind," granting to the slave, thus the right to prey 
 as a beast upon, and indeed cut up by the roots, the entire 
 social system. And are these principles, these sayings, 
 these deeds, religion? We trow not! Such a man can 
 not see his own family, his own condition, his own heart; 
 O no ! He must look only at the human family. He 
 cannot look even at his own state. The wicked South, 
 "the oppressed slaves," nothing short of the great 
 human family, can awaken his sympathies. The pri 
 soner, the oppressed poor, the rich oppressor, the destitute 
 widow, the friendless orphan, the prodigal drunkard, are 
 all perhaps within a stone s cast of his own door. There 
 is his own wife, and there are his own children, suffering 
 perhaps it may be are going to hell at least, thousands 
 of his neighbours are ; but these little things move him 
 not, nor the slaves of Hindostan, nor the slaves of Africa. 
 O no ! the slaves of the South, only move upon the great 
 deep of his benevolent, and feeling, and pious heart. How 
 good how transcendantly good, is this religion? We 
 repeat, we believe not in it. 
 
 But say they, "every Christian is bound to carry the 
 truth and the gospel to the ends of the earth." But we 
 deny the truth of abolition dogmas, and they and the 
 gospel are very different, as we have seen. We presume 
 St. Paul felt it his duty to carry the gospel into all the 
 world; he did carry it into various parts thereof. But 
 then he preached what? The gospel not abolitionism 
 
187 
 
 Dr. Charming being judge. "The gospel," says he, "was 
 designed, not for one race, or for one time, but for all 
 races, and all times. It looked not at the abolition of 
 this form of evil, for that age alone." "If it had pro 
 claimed the unlawfulness of slavery, and taught slaves to 
 resist the oppression of their masters, it would have in 
 stantly arrayed the two parties in deadly hostility, through 
 out the civilized world ; its announcement would have 
 been the signal of a servile war, and the very name of 
 the Christian religion would have been forgotten, amidst 
 the agitations of universal bloodshed." But further hear 
 the doctor, who allows it to be a fact that, "under these 
 circumstances, the gospel does not forbid slavery." Just 
 let the reader hear Dr. Channing once more. "Slavery, 
 in the age of the apostle Paul, had so penetrated society, 
 was so intimately interwoven with it, and the materials 
 of a servile war were so abundant, that a religion preach 
 ing freedom to its victims, would have shaken the social 
 fabric to its foundation, and would have armed against 
 itself the whole power of the state. Of consequence, 
 Paul did not assail it." This is more than we of the 
 South have ever said. Well done Dr. Channing. We 
 hope your excellent testimony will have its effect on abo 
 litionists. We know you are good authority with the 
 AMERICAN ANTI-SLAVERY SOCIETY, that has stereotyped 
 your abolition works. Carry out then, abolition brethren, 
 these doctrines of the Bible, and all will be well. We 
 deliberately conclude, and we believe, we have proved 
 conclusively, in the preceding pages, and in these re 
 marks first, by reason ; secondly, by revelation ; thirdly, 
 by the natural tendency of things ; and lastly, by Dr. Chan 
 ning himself, that abolitionists have no moral right to 
 interfere in the matter of southern slavery. 
 
 We come now to consider the question, have they any 
 political right ? And before we proceed one step farther, 
 we will let the great Dr. Channing, who does, with all his 
 
 freatness, appear to us a medley of contradictions, answer 
 imself, the question. We declare it is enough to make 
 a man start, to see such a learned divine writing, book 
 upon book, each one of which is nothing more or less 
 than an interference in our matters and our rights, and 
 
188 
 
 then all at once turning about, he pens that sentence 
 which we are about to quote, by which the positive de 
 claration is made, that the free states have no right to 
 interfere in this question at all. That each state must 
 act for itself on this subject. And beside all this, that 
 the North has neither the moral or political right to inter 
 fere in the internal concerns of the South, on any subject, 
 and especially on that of slavery. But hear Dr. Chan- 
 ning again. "I know that it is said that nothing but 
 political action can put slavery down ;" i. e. abolitionists 
 say so. "The free states cannot rightfully use the power 
 of their legislatures, or of congress to abolish slavery in 
 the states where it is established. On this subject our 
 fathers swerved from the right." And again "An 
 avowed object" (of the doctor s abolition friends, and 
 that also in his own writings) "is now proposed," he says, 
 "to be effected by an amendment of the constitution, as 
 a means of removing us" abolitionists "from a participa 
 tion of the guilt of slavery." Truly then doctor, none of 
 you now have the right to interfere. O yes ! hear the 
 doctor again. c The free states should take the high 
 ground of duty, and to raise them to this height, the press, 
 the pulpit, and religious and upright men should join their 
 powers;" "that emancipation at the seat of government 
 be insisted on," "or let congress establish itself elsewhere. 
 The great difficulty in the way of the amendment now 
 proposed," by abolitionists of freeing southern negroes, 
 "is the article in the constitution" of the United States. 
 "A state obeying this, seems to me to contract as great 
 guilt, as if it were to bring slaves from Africa." These 
 insurrectionary, and sorry I am to say it, rebellious at 
 tacks of Dr. Charming, on the constitution, go at least to 
 show that we have taken one position that is right, viz. 
 that congress itself, much less an individual state, has no 
 right to interfere in the internal concerns of any state. 
 
 Having adduced Dr. C. to prove what we proposed for 
 the benefit of northern brethren, whether abolitionists or 
 opponents to them, as well as for the information of our 
 southern fellow-citizens, we also give our own and the 
 views of others. As it respects our own views they can 
 be given in a few, very few words. 1. Each state in the 
 
189 
 
 union, is a free and independent sovereignty, superior to 
 any other power within the same, and also to all others 
 without it, except what has been voluntarily yielded, for 
 mutual safety, in that compact entered into with other 
 independent states ; which compact or treaty of mutual 
 support and assistance, commonly called the CONSTITU 
 TION, forms the basis of the federal government. 2. This 
 constitution contains what these high contracting parties 
 saw proper to adopt. 3. It must be expounded by its 
 words only, and by no law or rule of experience. To 
 do this would be to throw up the whole. 4. That writ 
 ten code of principles agreed on, defines the power to be 
 exercised, and by who-m it may or is to be exercised, and 
 how long, &c. What is granted may be done, provided 
 it be done in the way prescribed. What is not granted 
 ought not, and must not be done at all. To do this 
 would be to destroy and break that compact. And 
 whether we view it as a contract between sovereign 
 states, to establish and maintain a government, for the 
 common good of the states, and the inhabitants thereof: 
 or a contract between each state arid all other states, to 
 establish and maintain a government to the same end ; 
 or a contract between each citizen dwelling within the 
 United States, and all other citizens, to establish and 
 maintain a government for the good of the whole, with 
 limited and defined powers, providing that all powers not 
 granted are reserved to the states or to the people, it is all 
 the same. Whilst the state governments continue to ex 
 ercise various powers, according to the will of the people 
 in each state, in the manner in which their peculiar cir 
 cumstances may require, the general government exer 
 cises other and distinct powers, for the general welfare 
 of the whole nation, and only in those matters, in which, 
 the whole nation have a common interest. By this con 
 stitution the representation from the slave-holding states, 
 is for the entire white population and three-fifths of the 
 slave population, and this too, with the vote of the north. 
 Who is there that cannot, and will not see, that, no indi 
 vidual state has the power to wrest from the other, any 
 one of its political privileges or rights, or to interfere in 
 its internal concerns ? Suppose for instance that Virginia 
 17 
 
190 
 
 should claim the right to have her free or worn-out ne 
 groes quartered on Massachusetts, by emigration ; would 
 she have the power to do it, or the general government the 
 power to enforce such a demand ? Suppose she should 
 demand that the poor girls and boys in the factories, 
 should be only worked six or eight hours, instead of four 
 teen out of twenty-four, what would Massachusetts say ? 
 Would it not be "brethren, mind your own business." 
 Aye, more does not Dr. C. say this and say it of mat 
 ters too, where we are actually bound by the constitution ? 
 After admitting that Massachusetts breaks the constitu 
 tion in the case of fugitive slaves, he says, "the people of 
 Massachusetts go with the civilized and Christian world. 
 The south should understand, resistance is idle," "neither 
 policy nor violence can avail ; and what is more, they 
 have no right to reproach us, with letting this provision 
 of the constitution die among us." What, Doctor, no 
 right to interfere when the constitution authorises it in 
 your own concerns, how then came you to have the 
 right to interfere in ours, without any constitutional war 
 rant whatever ? 
 
 On the subject however, of this political right, we take 
 a great pleasure in referring to a most excellent essay 
 upon the constitutional rights as to slave property, lately 
 published in the Southern Literary Messenger, written 
 by CONWAY ROBINSON, esq. an eminent attorney at law, 
 in Richmond, Virginia. It is entitled, "An Essay upon 
 the Constitutional Rights as to Slave Property." We 
 could indeed wish that our limits would admit of quoting 
 this whole essay. That being impracticable, we give 
 some of the authorities and also some of the opinions of 
 its learned and talented author, that bear more immediate 
 ly on the point now in hand. The editor introduces these 
 views thus. "The article is written in a calm and can 
 did manner, and reflects much credit upon the industry 
 and judgment of its author. He has rendered an impor 
 tant service to his own state, and presented, by an array 
 of facts, a powerful appeal to the state with which she 
 is in controversy. We think that our readers will be 
 much interested* and instructed in its perusal. We are 
 not aware that we are taking an improper liberty, when 
 
191 
 
 we mention that its author is Conway Robinson, esq. of 
 this city. Let it be read with calmness, impartiality and 
 reflection. Ed. Messenger" We give the reader our 
 quotations from it. "The great importance of this sub 
 ject, and the increased and increasing interest with which 
 it is viewed in every part -of our country, justify the belief 
 that an examination of the provisions of the constitution, 
 on which the owners of slave property w r ere induced to 
 rely, when the federal compact was formed, a sketch of 
 the laws which congress has passed to carry out those 
 constitutional provisions, and a review of the judicial de 
 cisions which have been made under the constitution and 
 laws, may prove acceptable to the readers of this journal, 
 and not be without utility at the present time. As 
 matter which is introductory and somewhat explanatory, 
 we shall commence by giving an outline of the laws as to 
 slavery, which at the time the federal constitution was 
 adopted and subsequently thereto, have prevailed in three 
 most important northern states. We mean New York, 
 Pennsylvania, and Massachusetts. 
 
 "1. Laws as to slavery in the northern states. The 
 law, as to slavery in Massachusetts, is stated by Chief 
 Justice Parsons in a case which came before the Su 
 preme Court of that state thus, slavery, he says, was 
 introduced into this country soon after its first settlement, 
 and was tolerated until the ratification of the present 
 constitution. The slave was the property of his master, 
 subject to his orders, and to reasonable correction for 
 misbehaviour was transferable like a chattel by gift or 
 sale, and was assets in the hands of his executors or ad 
 ministrator. If the master was guilty of a cruel or un 
 reasonable castigation of his slave, he was liable to be 
 punished for the breach of the peace; and, I believe, the 
 slave was allowed to demand sureties of the peace 
 against a violent and barbarous master, which generally 
 caused a sale to another master. And the issue of the 
 female slave, according to the maxim of the civil law, 
 was the property of her master. Under these regula 
 tions, the treatment of slaves was in general mild and 
 humane, and they suffered hardships not greater than 
 hired servants. Slaves were sometimes permitted to en- 
 
192 
 
 joy some privileges as a peculuem, with the profits of 
 which they were enabled to purchase their manumission, 
 and liberty was frequently granted to a faithful slave, by 
 the bounty of the master, sometimes in his life, but more 
 commonly by his will. In New York, it was declared 
 by one of the colonial statutes, that all due encouragement 
 ought to be given to the direct importation of slaves. 
 After the revolution, the government of that state deter 
 mined upon a different policy. The act was hostile to 
 the importation and to the exportation of slaves, as an 
 article of trade, not to the existence of slavery itself; for 
 it took care to re-enact and establish the maxim of the 
 civil law, that the children of every female slave should 
 follow the state and condition of the mother. It was not 
 considered to prevent a sheriff from taking or selling a 
 slave under an execution against the owner ; and the 
 slave was subject to the control and disposition of the 
 executor or administrator of a deceased owner, in the 
 same manner as other personal property. The prohibi 
 tion was against a voluntary sale by the master of the 
 slave, imported or brought into the state. The statute 
 imposed a penalty for harbouring slaves or servants; and 
 it was held moreover that this was cumulative, and did 
 not destroy the common law remedy which a master had 
 by action, to recover damages for seducing and harbour 
 ing his servant. The master might confine his slave in 
 jail, and this it appears was done in a case decided as 
 late as 1823. The act of the legislature of Pennsylva 
 nia, for the gradual abolition of slavery, passed on the 
 1st of March, 1780. By this act every person, who at 
 the time of passing it was a slave, was to remain a 
 slave, unless his owner omitted to register him on or be 
 fore the 1st day of November ensuing. Children born 
 after the passing of the act, were born free, subject how 
 ever to a temporary servitude till the age of twenty- 
 eight : and the issue of such children could not be held 
 to any servitude. At the time of the convention, the 
 experience of the states south of Pennsylvania was such 
 as to produce distrust of their northern brethren as to 
 the safety of their property in slaves. It was no easy 
 task to reconcile the local interests and discordant pre- 
 
193 
 
 possessions of the different sections of the United States; 
 but the business was accomplished by acts of concession 
 and mutual condescension. 
 
 "2. Provisions made by the Federal Convention, for the 
 security of the south. The original articles of confedera 
 tion contained a clause in the following words: l lf any 
 person guilty of, or charged with treason, felony, or high 
 misdemeanor in any state, shall flee from justice, and be 
 foupd in any of the United States, he shall, upon demand 
 of the government or executive power of the state from 
 which he fled, be delivered up and removed to the state 
 having jurisdiction of his offence/ In the convention of 
 1787. the committee to whom were referred the proceed 
 ings of the convention, for the purpose of reporting a 
 constitution, reported a draft, in which the fifteenth arti 
 cle was as follows : Any person charged with treason, 
 felony, or high misdemeanor in any state, who shall flee 
 from justice and shall be found in any other stale, shall, 
 on demand of the executive power of the state from 
 which he fled, be delivered up and removed to the state 
 having jurisdiction of the offence. When the draft 
 was before the convention, on the 28th of August, 1787, 
 it was moved to strike out the words high misde 
 meanor, and insert the words other crime ; which 
 motion passed in the affirmative. On the next day, a 
 motion was made to agree to the following proposition, 
 to be inserted after the fifteenth article : If any person 
 bound to service or labour, in any of the United States, 
 shall escape into another state, he or she shall not be dis 
 charged from such service or labour, in consequence of 
 any regulation subsisting in the state to which they 
 escape, but shall be delivered up to the person justly 
 claiming their service or labour. This proposition was 
 unanimously adopted. Afterwards, a committee was ap 
 pointed to revise the style of, and arrange the articles 
 agreed to by the house. The second section of the fourth 
 article, reported by the committee of revision, contained 
 the following clauses : A person charged in any state 
 with treason, felony, or other crime, who shall flee from 
 justice and be found in another state, shall, on demand of 
 the executive authority of the state from which he fled, be 
 17* 
 
194 
 
 delivered up, and removed to the state having jurisdiction 
 of the crime. No person legally held to service or la 
 bour, in one state, escaping into another, shall, in conse 
 quence of regulations subsisting therein, be discharged 
 from such service or labour, but shall be delivered up on 
 claim of the party to whom such service or labour may 
 be due. The federal constitution, as adopted, contains 
 the clauses thus reported, with some amendment. In the 
 first clause the words to be removed, are in place of 
 the words and removed. In the second clause, the 
 change of language is more striking. The word legal 
 ly is struck out, and after the word state, the words 
 under the laws thereof, inserted ; and the expression, 
 regulations subsisting therein, is substituted by the words 
 any law or regulations therein. 
 
 "3. Debates in the state conventions. When the Virgi 
 nia convention were considering w hether they would 
 assent to, and ratify the federal constitution, Mr. Madison, 
 amongst other things, said It is worthy of our consi 
 deration, that those who prepared the paper on the table, 
 found difficulties not to be described, in its formation 
 mutual deference and concession were absolutely neces 
 sary. Had they been inflexibly tenacious of their indi 
 vidual opinions, they would never have concurred. Under 
 what circumstances was it formed? When no party 
 was formed, or particular prepossession made, and men s 
 minds were calm and dispassionate. Yet, under these 
 circumstances, it was difficult, extremely difficult, to 
 agree to any general system. The members of the 
 Virginia convention were nearly equally divided upon 
 the question of ratification, and the opposition embraced 
 a very considerable proportion of the talent of the state. 
 Amongst the opponents, there were none more decided 
 or more zealous, than George Mason and Patrick Henry. 
 When the section, declaring that the importation of such 
 persons as any of the states might think proper to admit, 
 should not be prohibited by congress, prior to the year 
 1808, was under consideration, Mr. George Mason said 
 As m.v;h as I value an union of all the states, I would 
 not admit the southern states* into the union, unless they 
 
 * By "southern states" were meant South Carolina and Georgia. 
 
195 
 
 agreed to the discontinuance of this disgraceful trade ; 
 because it would bring weakness and not strength to the 
 union. And though this infamous traffic be continued, 
 we have no security for the property of that kind which 
 we have already. There is no clause in this constitution 
 to secure it; for they may lay such tax as will amount 
 to manumission. Mr. Madison answered these objec 
 tions as follows : I should conceive this clause to be 
 impolitic, if it were one of those things which could be 
 excluded without encountering greater evils. The south 
 ern states would not have entered into the union of 
 America, without the temporary permission of that trade. 
 And if they were excluded from the union, the conse 
 quences might be dreadful to them and to us. We are 
 not in a worse situation than before. That traffic is pro 
 hibited by our laws, and we may continue the prohibition. 
 The union in general is not in a worse situation. Under 
 the articles of the confederation it might be continued 
 forever, but by this clause, an end may be put to it after 
 twenty years. There is, therefore, an amelioration of 
 our circumstances. A tax may be laid in the meantime, 
 but it is limited, otherwise congress might lay such a tax 
 as would amount to a prohibition. From the mode of 
 representation and taxation, congress cannot lay such a 
 tax on slaves as will amount to manumission. Another 
 clause secures us that property which we now possess. 
 At present, if any slave elopes to any of those states 
 where slaves are free, he becomes emancipated by their 
 laws. For the laws of the states are uncharitable to one 
 another in this respect. But by this constitution, no 
 person held to service or labour in one state, under the 
 laws thereof, escaping into another, shall, in consequence 
 of any law or regulation therein, be discharged from 
 such service or labour, but shall be delivered upon claim 
 of the party to whom such service or labour may be due. 
 This clause was expressly inserted, to enable owners of 
 slaves to reclaim them. This is a better security than 
 any that now exists. No power is given to the general 
 government to interpose, with respect to the property in 
 slaves now held by the states. The taxation of this state 
 being equal only to its representation, such a tax cannot 
 
196 
 
 be laid as he supposes. Patrick Henry endeavoured lo 
 support the objection, that if the constitution were adopt 
 ed, congress might abolish slavery. As much, said 
 he, as I deplore slavery, I see that prudence forbids 
 abolition. I deny that the general government ought to 
 set them free ; because a decided majority of the states 
 have not the ties of sympathy and fellow-feeling, for those 
 whose interest would be affected by the emancipation. 
 The majority of congress is to the north, and the slaves 
 are to the south. In this situation, I see a great deal of 
 the property of the people of Virginia in jeopardy, and 
 their peace and tranquillity gone away ; I repeat it again, 
 that it would rejoice my soul that every one of my fellow- 
 beings was emancipated. As we ought with gratitude 
 to admire that decree of heaven, which has numbered us 
 among the free, we ought to lament and deplore the ne 
 cessity of holding our fellow-men in bondage. But is it 
 practicable by any human means, to liberate them, with 
 out producing the most dreadful and ruinous consequen 
 ces? We ought to possess them in the manner we have 
 inherited them from our ancestors, as their manumission 
 is incompatible with the felicity of our country. But we 
 ought to soften, as much as possible, the rigour of their 
 unhappy fate. Mr. Henry was answered by Governor 
 Randolph: I ask, said he, and I will ask again and 
 again, until I be answered, (not by declamation,) where 
 is the part that has a tendency to the abolition of slavery? 
 Is it the clause which says that the migration or impor 
 tation of such persons, as any of the states now existing, 
 shall think proper to admit, shall not be prohibited by 
 congress, prior to the year 1808? This is an exception 
 from the pov/er of regulating commerce, and the restric 
 tion is only to continue till 1808. Then congress can, 
 by the exercise of that power, prevent future importa 
 tions; but does it affect the existing state of slavery? 
 Were it right here to mention what passed in convention 
 on the occasion, I might tell you that the southern states, 
 even South Carolina herself, conceived this property to 
 be secure by these words. I believe, whatever we may 
 think here, that there was not a member of the Virginia 
 delegation, who had the smallest suspicion of the abolition 
 
197 
 
 of slavery. Go to their meaning. Point out the clause 
 where this formidable power of emancipation is inserted. 
 But another clause of the constitution proves the absur 
 dity of the supposition. The words of the clause are, 
 No person held to service or labour in one state, under 
 the laws thereof, escaping into another, shall, in conse 
 quence of any law or regulation therein, be discharged 
 from such service or labour; but shall be delivered upon 
 claim of the party to whom such service or labour may 
 be due. Every one knows that slaves are held to service 
 or labour; and when authority is given to owners of 
 slaves to vindicate their property, can it be supposed they 
 can be deprived of it ? If a citizen of this state, in con 
 sequence of this clause, can take his runaway slave in 
 Maryland, can it be seriously thought, that after taking 
 him and bringing him home, he could be made free? 
 
 "The sentiment of North Carolina, like that of Virginia, 
 was strongly opposed to any continuance of the importa 
 tion of slaves; but in both states, it was equally neces 
 sary to satisfy the minds of the people, that the property 
 then existing in slaves was secured and protected. When 
 in the convention of North Carolina, the last clause of 
 the second section of the fourth article was read, Mr. 
 Iredell explained the reason of the clause. In some of 
 the northern states, he observed, they have emanci 
 pated all their slaves. If any of our slaves go there, and 
 remain there a certain time, they would, by the present 
 laws, be entitled to their freedom, so that their masters 
 could not get them again. This would be extremely pre 
 judicial to the inhabitants of the southern states, and to 
 prevent it, this clause is inserted in the constitution. 
 Though the word slave be not mentioned, this is the mean 
 ing of it. The northern delegates, owing to their peculiar 
 scruples on the subject of slavery, did not choose the word 
 slave to be mentioned/ On the other hand, the counte 
 nance given by the constitution to slavery, was urged to 
 the North as a reason against ratifying it. Upon this 
 subject, the following sensible remarks were made in the 
 convention of Massachusetts, by General Heath : I ap 
 prehend, said he, that it is not in our power to do any 
 thing for or against those who are in slavery in the 
 
198 
 
 southern states. No gentleman within these walls detests 
 every idea of slavery more than I do. It was generally 
 detested by the people of this commonwealth ; and I ar 
 dently hope that the time will soon come, when our bre 
 thren in the southern states will view it as we do, and 
 put a stop to it ; but to this we have no right to compel 
 them. Two questions naturally arise. If we ratify the 
 constitution, shall we do any thing by our act to hold the 
 blacks in slavery, or shall we become the partakers of 
 other men s sins? I think, neither of them. Each state 
 is sovereign and independent, to a certain degree; and 
 they have a right, and will regulate their own internal 
 affairs, as to themselves appears proper ; and shall we 
 refuse to eat or drink, or to be united with those who do 
 not think or act just as we do ? Surely not ; we are not, 
 in this case, partakers of other men s sins; for in nothing 
 do we voluntarily encourage the slavery of our fellow- 
 men. Sentiments of this character prevailed; and such 
 should now govern the conduct of the north. 
 
 "4. Judicial decisions as to fugitives from labour. The 
 second section of the fourth article of the constitution, is 
 confined to persons held to service or labour in one state, 
 under the laws thereof, who escape into another. When 
 the master voluntarily carries his slave from one state 
 into another, that master must abide by the laws of the 
 latter state, so far as they may affect his right in the 
 slave. But if the slave comes from one state into another, 
 in any other way than by the consent of the owner, whe 
 ther he comes in as a fugitive or runaway, or is brought 
 in by those who have no authority so to do, he cannot be 
 discharged under any law of the latter state, but must 
 be delivered up on claim of the party to whom his ser 
 vice or labour may be due. A slave is incapable of con 
 tracting, so far as to impair the right of his master to 
 reclaim him ; and if a private individual sue out process, 
 or interfere otherwise with the master s claim, under the 
 pretence of a debt contracted by the slave, such interfe 
 rence will be deemed illegal, and the claimant will have 
 a right of action for any injury he may receive by such 
 obstruction. If a person shall, in violation of the act of 
 congress, knowingly and willingly, obstruct or hinder 
 
199 
 
 the claimant in seizing the fugitive, he cannot, when sued 
 for the penalty of five hundred dollars, prescribed by the 
 act, set up as a defence, ignorance of the law, or even an 
 honest belief that the person claimed as a fugitive did not 
 owe service to the claimant. Such matters are unfit for 
 the inquiry of a jury. It is sufficient to bring the defen 
 dant within the provisions of the law, if having notice, 
 either by the verbal declarations of those who had the 
 fugitive in custody, or were attempting to seize him, or 
 by circumstances brought home to the defendant, that 
 the person was a fugitive, or was arrested as such, he 
 persists, nevertheless, in obstructing the seizure, or in 
 making a rescue, and the offence is complete, although 
 the claimant should ultimately succeed in arresting or 
 recovering possession of the fugitive. The act of con 
 gress confers only a limited authority upon the magistrate 
 to examine into the claim of the alleged owner; and, 
 being satisfied on that point, to grant him a certificate to 
 that effect. This is the commencement and termination 
 of his duty. The effect of a certificate given by a judge 
 or magistrate, under the act of congress, has been much 
 discussed in the cases which have arisen in the northern 
 states ; and decisions have been made upon the subject 
 by the highest judicial tribunals in several of the states. 
 
 "In 1819, a coloured man, claimed by a citizen of Ma 
 ryland as a fugitive from his service, was arrested by 
 him in the county of Philadelphia, and carried before a 
 justice of the peace, who committed the man to prison, 
 in order that inquiry might be made into the claim. The 
 man then sued out a habeas corpus, returnable before 
 a judge of the court of Common Pleas. The judge, after 
 hearing the parties, gave a certificate that it appeared to 
 him by sufficient testimony, that the man owed labour or 
 service to the claimant from whom he had absconded, 
 and delivered the certificate to the claimant that he might 
 remove the man to the state of Maryland. A writ de 
 homine replegiendowas then sued out by the man against 
 the keeper of the prison ; and the counsel for the claim 
 ant moved to quash it, on the ground of its having issued 
 contrary to the constitution and laws of the United 
 States. The matter was regarded by the Supreme Court 
 
200 
 
 of Pennsylvania as of considerable importance, and it 
 was therefore held some days under advisement. Chief 
 Justice Tilghman delivered the opinion of the court. 
 4 Whatever, said he, may be our private opinions on 
 the subject of slavery, it is well known that our southern 
 brethren would not have consented to become parties to 
 a constitution, under which the United States have en 
 joyed so much prosperity, unless their property in slaves 
 had been secured. This constitution has been adopted 
 by the free consent of the citizens of Pennsylvania; and 
 it is the duty of every man, whatever may be his office 
 or station, to give it a fair and candid construction. 
 The Chief Justice cites the provision in the second sec 
 tion of the fourth article of the constitution, and ob 
 serves, Here is the principle: the fugitive is to be deli 
 vered up on claim of the master. But it required a law 
 to regulate the manner in which this principle should be 
 reduced to practice. It was necessary to establish some 
 mode in which the claim should be made, and the fugi 
 tive be delivered up. The judge then quotes the enact 
 ment on the subject by congress, and concludes the 
 opinion as follows : It plainly appears from the whole 
 scope and tenor of the constitution, and act of congress, 
 that the fugitive was to be delivered up on a summary 
 proceeding, without the delay of a formal trial in a court 
 of common law. But if he had really a right to free 
 dom, that right was not impaired by this proceeding. 
 He was placed just in the situation in which he stood 
 before he fled, and might prosecute his right in the state 
 to which he belonged. Now as the proceeding before 
 Judge Armstrong, and the certificate granted by him are 
 in exact conformity to the act of congress, that certifi 
 cate, therefore, was a legal warrant to remove the plain 
 tiff to the state of Maryland. But if this writ of homine 
 replegiando is to issue from a state court, what is its 
 effect but to arrest the warrant of Judge Armstrong, 
 and thus defeat the constitution and law of the United 
 States? The constitution and the law, say that the mas 
 ter may remove his slave by virtue of the judge s certifi 
 cate; but the state court says, that he shall not remove 
 him. It appears to us that this is the plain state of the 
 
201 
 
 matter; and that the writ has been issued in violation of 
 the constitution of the United States. We are therefore 
 of opinion that it should be quashed. 
 
 "In 1823, a case, under the same section of the act of 
 congress, came before the supreme court of Massachu 
 setts. Randolph, a slave, the property of one McCarty, 
 of the State of Virginia, had fled from the service of his 
 master. After getting to Massachusetts, he acquired a 
 dwelling-house in New Bedford, which he held as his own. 
 After living in New Bedford four or five years, he was 
 seized by one Griffith under the act of congress. Griffith 
 had authority in writing, (with a scroll in the place of a 
 seal) from one Mason, the administrator on the estate of 
 McCarty, and made the seizure as Mason s agent and 
 attorney. Griffith was indicted for assault and battery 
 and false imprisonment, and a verdict was taken against 
 him. It was agreed that if the court should determine 
 that the act of congress was not valid, or that the admin 
 istrator had not power according to the true construc 
 tion of that act, and of the laws of Virginia, by himself, 
 his agent, or attorney, to reclaim the slave, or that the 
 letters of attorney were not sufficient to operate in Mas 
 sachusetts, then the verdict should stand; otherwise that 
 the defendant should be discharged. Parker, chief jus 
 tice, delivered the opinion of a majority of the court, in 
 substance as follows: It is difficult, in a case like this, 
 for persons who are not inhabitants of slave-holding 
 states, to prevent prejudice from having too strong an 
 effect on their minds. We must reflect, however, that 
 the constitution was made with some states, in which it 
 would not occur to the mind to inquire whether slaves 
 were property. It was a very serious question when 
 they came to make the constitution, what should be done 
 with their slaves. They might have kept aloof from the 
 constitution. That instrument was a compromise. It 
 was a compact by which all are bound. We are to con 
 sider then what was the intention of the constitution. 
 The words of it were used out of delicacy, so as not to 
 offend some in the convention whose feelings were ab 
 horrent to slavery; but we there entered into an agree 
 ment that slaves should be considered as property, 
 18 
 
202 
 
 Slavery would still have continued, if no constitution had 
 been made. The constitution does not prescribe the 
 mode of reclaiming a slave, but leaves it to be determined 
 by congress. It is very clear that it was not intended 
 that application should be made to the executive autho 
 rity of the state. It is said that the act which congress 
 has passed on this subject, is contrary to the amendment 
 of the constitution, securing the people in their persons 
 and property against seizures, &c., without a complaint 
 upon oath. But all the parts of the instrument are to be 
 taken together. It is very obvious that slaves are not 
 parties to the constitution, and the amendment has rela 
 tion to the parties. It is said that when a seizure is 
 made, it should be made conformably to our laws. This 
 does not follow from the constitution ; and the act of con 
 gress says that the person to whom the service is due, 
 may seize, &c. Whether the statute is a harsh one, is 
 not for us to determine. But it is objected, that a per 
 son may in this summary manner seize a free man. It 
 may be so, but this would be attended with mischievous 
 consequences to the person making the seizure, and a 
 habeas corpus would lie to obtain the release of the per 
 son seized. We do not perceive that the statute is un 
 constitutional, and we think that the defence is well 
 made out/ 
 
 "In New York, the writ de homine rcpkgiendo has 
 been more frequently resorted to than in the other north 
 ern states. In 1834, a man who was brought before the 
 recorder of the city of New York, as a fugitive slave, 
 sued out a writ of homine replegiendo, upon which an 
 issue was joined and tried fn the New York circuit, and 
 a verdict found that the man owed service to the person 
 claiming him: in which verdict, judgment was rendered. 
 The Supreme Court of New York decided, that the pro 
 per course then was for the recorder to grant a certificate 
 allowing the removal of the fugitive. The constitution 
 ality of a law of New York, which provides for the 
 arrest of fugitive slaves, in a manner different in some 
 respects from the act of congress; and gives to one, 
 claimed as a slave, the writ of homine repkgiendo against 
 the person claiming the service and suspends all pro- 
 
203 
 
 ceedings before the judge or. magistrate, and the removal 
 of the slave under the certificate, until final judgment 
 shall be given on this writ; was discussed in another 
 case before the Supreme Court of the state of New 
 York, which was heard in the same year. Judge Nel 
 son, who delivered the opinion of the Supreme Court on 
 the question as to the effect of the act of congress, and 
 of the statute of New York, says To ascertain which 
 is entitled to paramount authority, we must go back to 
 the source of power, the provision of the constitution; 
 that being conceded to be supreme, and any law in pur 
 suance thereof controlling. The first clause is merely 
 prohibitory upon the states, and forbids the enactment of 
 any law, or the adoption of any regulation, in the case of 
 a fugitive slave, by which he may be discharged from 
 the service of his master ; and this prohibition upon the 
 state power thus far, is unqualified and complete, as it 
 necessarily includes a restriction against any measure 
 tending, in the slightest degree, to impair the right to 
 such service. No law or regulation of a state being 
 permitted to discharge it, the claim or title of the owner 
 remains as perfect within the jurisdiction of the state to 
 which the fugitive has fled, after his arrival and during 
 his continuance, as it was in and under the laws of the 
 state from which he escaped. The service there due, 
 and the escape being established, so explicit are the terms 
 of the constitution, no rightful authority can be exercised 
 by the state to vary the relation existing between the 
 parties. To this very qualified extent, slavery may be 
 said still to exist in a state, however effectually it may 
 have been denounced by her constitution and laws. On 
 this point there can be no diversity of opinion as to the 
 intent and meaning of this provision. At the adoption 
 of the constitution, a small majority of the states had 
 abolished slavery within their limits, either by positive 
 enactment or judicial adjudication ; and the southern 
 states are known to have been more deeply interested in 
 slave labour than those of the north, where slavery yet, 
 to some extent, existed, but where it must have been seen 
 it would probably soon disappear. It was natural for 
 that portion of the union to fear, that the latter states 
 
204 
 
 might, under the influence of this unhappy and exciting 
 subject, be tempted to adopt a course of legislation that 
 would embarrass the owners pursuing their fugitive 
 slaves, if not discharge them from service, and invite 
 escape by affording a place of refuge. They already had 
 some experience of the perplexities in this respect, under 
 the confederation which contained no provision on the 
 subject ; and the serious and almost insurmountable diffi 
 culties that this species of property occasioned in the 
 convention, were w r ell calculated to confirm their strong 
 est apprehensions. To this source must be attributed, no 
 doubt, the provision of the constitution, and which di 
 rectly meets the evil, by not only prohibiting the states 
 from enacting any regulation discharging the slave from 
 service, but by directing that he shall be delivered up to 
 the owner. It implies a doubt whether they would, in 
 the exercise of unrestrained power, regard the rights of 
 the owner, or properly protect them by local legislation. 
 "I am satisfied from an attentive perusal of this provi 
 sion, that a fair interpretation of the terms in which it is 
 expressed, not only prohibits the states from legislation 
 upon the question involving the owner s right to this spe 
 cies of labour, but that it is intended to give to congress 
 the power to provide for the delivering up of the slave. It is 
 peremptory and unqualified, that he shall be delivered up 
 upon claim of the party to whom such service or labour 
 may be due. The right of the owner to reclaim the 
 fugitive in the state to which he has fled, has been yielded 
 to him by the states. Without this provision it would have 
 been competent for them to have wholly denied such 
 claim, or to have qualified it at discretion. All this pow 
 er they have parted with, and the owner now has not 
 only an unqualified right to the possession, but he has the 
 guaranty of the constitution in respect to it. Great con 
 sideration also we think due to the law of 1793, as a con 
 temporaneous exposition of the constitutional provision. It 
 was passed about four years after the adoption of the 
 constitution, by a congress which included gome of the 
 most distinguished members of the convention. At the 
 distance of forty years, we should hesitate long before we 
 came to the conclusion that an error was committed in 
 
205 
 
 the construction of this instrument under such circumstan 
 ces, and which has been ever since acquiesced in, so far 
 as we know, without question. Our own statute books 
 also show, that down to 1830, no attempt had been made 
 here by state legislation to interfere with this regulation 
 of Congress." 
 
 "These extracts are from the opinion of a gentleman who 
 has since been appointed to the high and responsible 
 office of chief justice of the state. The opinion from 
 which the extracts are made is, in ail its parts, creditable 
 to the judge who gave it, for the force of its views, and 
 the ability with which they are urged ; but it is still more 
 creditable on other grounds. The judge has shown 
 throughout, that the local prejudices and prepossessions 
 of those amongst whom his lot has placed him, are not 
 sufficient to swerve him from a right decision, but that 
 his duty to uphold the constitution and laws of the union 
 will be honestly and independently performed. After this 
 decision of the Supreme Court of the State of New York, 
 in the case Jack vs. Martin, the cause was removed in 
 behalf of the slave into the Court of Errors a court con 
 stituted of the president of the senate, chancellor of the 
 state, judges of the Supreme Court, and all the senators. 
 The hearing before the Court of blrrors was in December, 
 1835. Only two opinions were delivered at large. They 
 were by the chancellor, after remarking that the decision 
 of the court below was put upon the ground that congress 
 not only had the power to legislate upon the subject, but 
 that their legislation must necessarily be exclusive in re 
 lation to this matter, proceeded as follows: [ am one of 
 those who have been in the habit of believing, that the 
 state legislatures had general powers to pass laws on all 
 subjects, except those in which they were restricted by 
 the constitution of the United States, or their own local 
 institutions; and that congress had no power to legislate 
 on any subject, except so far as the power was delegated 
 to it by the constitution of the United States. I have 
 looked in vain, among the powers delegated to congress 
 by the constitution, for any general authority to that body 
 to legislate on this subject. It certainly is not contained 
 in any express grant of power, and it does not appear to 
 18* 
 

 206 
 
 be embraced in the general grant of incidental powers, 
 contained in the last clause of the constitution, relative 
 to the powers of congress. In these cases of fugitive 
 slaves and fugitives from justice, it is not certain that 
 any legislation whatever is necessary, or was contempla 
 ted by the constitution. The provision as to persons es 
 caping from servitude in one state into another, appears 
 by their journal to have been adopted by a unanimous 
 vote of the convention. At that time, the existence of 
 involuntary servitude, or the relation of master and ser 
 vant, was known to and recognized by the laws of every 
 state in the union, except Massachusetts ; and the legal 
 right of recaption, existed in all, as a part of the 
 customary or common law of the whole confederacy. 
 The object of the framers of the constitution, therefore, 
 was not to provide a new mode by which the master 
 might be enabled to recover the services of his fugitive 
 slave, but merely to restrain the exercise of a power y 
 which the state legislatures- respectively would otherwise 
 have possessed, to deprive the master of such pre-existing 
 right of recaption. However much, therefore, we may 
 deplore the existence of slavery in any part of the union, 
 as a national as well as a local evil, yet, as the right of 
 the master to reclaim his fugitive slave is secured to him 
 by the federal constitution ; no good citizen, whose liber 
 ty and property is protected by that constitution, will 
 interfere to prevent this provision from being carried into 
 full effect, according to its spirit and effect ; and even 
 where the forms of the law are resorted to for the pur 
 pose of evading the constitutional provision, or to delay 
 the remedy of the master in obtaining a return of his fu 
 gitive slave, it is undoubtedly the right, and may become 
 the duty, of the court in which any proceedings for that 
 purpose are instituted, to set them aside, if they are not 
 commenced and carried on in good faith, and upon pro 
 bable grounds for believing that the claim of the master 
 to the service of the supposed slave is invalid. 
 
 "The course of reasoning of Senator Bishop, was similar 
 to that used by Judge Nelson in the Supreme Court. 
 Upon the question being put shall this judgment be 
 reversed? the members of the court unanimously voted 
 
207 
 
 in the negative. Whereupon, the judgment of the Su 
 preme court was affirmed. Thus the matter stands- in 
 New York, according to the latest reports of decisions of 
 that state. We have but little to add to what Judge Nel 
 son has said upon the subject. It is plain that, according 
 to article 4, sec. 2, clause 3, of the constitution, a person 
 held as a slave in one state, under the laws thereof, who 
 escapes into another, is not to be discharged from slavery 
 by means of any law or regulation existing in the state to 
 which he escapes. All that the claimant has to do is to 
 show, in a summary way, that the person whom he claims 
 was his slave in another state. Ought this inquiry to be 
 gone into before any state tribunal, acting as such ? It 
 would seem not, it was said by Gov. Randolph ; in the 
 Virginia convention, that every government necessarily 
 involves a judiciary, as a constituent part. If then a fede 
 ral judiciary is necessary, what are the characters of its 
 powers ? That it shall be auxiliary to the federal govern 
 ment, support and maintain harmony between the United 
 States and foreign powers,, and between different states, 
 and prevent a failure of justice in cases to which particu 
 lar state courts are incompetent. If this judiciary be re 
 viewed as relative to those purposes, I think it will be 
 found that nothing is granted which does not belong to a 
 federal judiciary. Self-defence is its first object. Has 
 not the constitution said, that the states shall not use 
 such and such powers,, and given exclusive powers to 
 congress? If the state judiciaries could make decisions 
 conformable to the laws of their states, in derogation to 
 the general government, I humbly apprehend that the 
 federal government would soon be encroached upon. If 
 a particular state should be at liberty through its judiciary 
 to prevent or impede the operation of the general govern 
 ment, the latter must soon be undermined. It is then ne 
 cessary that its jurisdiction should extend to all cases in 
 law and equity, arising under this constitution and the 
 laws of the United States/ 
 
 "In the convention of North Carolina, Mr. Davie said 
 It appears to me that the judiciary ought to be compe 
 tent to the decision of any question arising out of the 
 constitution itself. On a review of the principles of all 
 
208 
 
 free governments, it seems to me also necessary that the 
 judicial power should be co-extensive with the legislative. 
 It is necessary in all governments, but particularly in a 
 federal government, that its judiciary should be compe 
 tent to the decision of all questions arising out of the con 
 stitution. Again, he said Every member who has 
 read the constitution with attention, must observe that 
 there are certain fundamental principles in it, both of a 
 positive and negative nature, which being intended for 
 the general advantage of the community, ought not to be 
 violated by any future legislation of the particular states. 
 Every member will agree, that the positive regulations 
 ought to be carried into execution, and that the negative 
 restrictions ought not to be disregarded or violated. 
 Without a judiciary, the injunctions of the constitution 
 may be disobeyed, and the positive regulations neglected 
 or contravened. If there be occasion for the exercise 
 of judicial power in any case arising under the provision 
 of the constitution, in regard to fugitives from labour, 
 such judicial power should be exercised, not by a state 
 court, but, under article 3d, section 2d, should be ex 
 ercised by a court of the United States ; and congress 
 should, under article first, section seventeen, make all 
 laws necessary and proper for carrying into execution 
 the power vested in the judicial department. All execu 
 tive officers of the states are bound by oath or affirmation 
 to support the constitution of the United States. Article 
 6th, section 2d. This constitution, and the laws of the 
 United States made in pursuance thereof, are the supreme 
 law of the land, and the judges in every state are bound 
 thereby; any thing in the constitution or laws of any 
 state to the contrary notwithstanding. Article 6th, sec 
 tion 2d. The supreme law of the land has been so ex 
 pounded by the judges of the supreme court of the state 
 of New York, as to give to it full effect. A very diffe 
 rent exposition has been made by the executive of that 
 state. The decisions of the supreme court of New York, 
 show that until a very recent period, the laws of that 
 state recognized slavery, and her statutes admitted that 
 one man might be the property of another. Such pro 
 perty was the subject of sale, and the owner s rights 
 
209 
 
 were protected by the laws. After a union of the states 
 has been formed, based upon the provisions contained in 
 this constitution, a person charged in Virginia with steal 
 ing property, flees from justice and is found in New York, 
 Virginia demands the fugitive, and New York refuses to 
 deliver him up. New York, while so refusing, admits 
 that if the person is charged with a crime, he ought to 
 be delivered up; and she admits that stealing property is 
 a crime. But the ground of her refusal is that nothing 
 was stolen except a person held as a slave, and that a 
 person held as a slave is not property by the laws of New 
 York. We trust it is not yet come to this, that New 
 York shall be told in vain that she herself has said, per 
 sons held in Virginia as slaves shall be recognized as pro 
 perty. We trust it is not too late to remind her, that she 
 has so said in a constitution which she agreed should be 
 her supreme law, and which she declared, the members 
 of her state legislature, and all her executive and judicial 
 officers, should be solemnly pledged to support." 
 
 We should be truly pleased on this very interesting 
 subject, the political ligature, if we may so speak, by 
 which the states are bound together, also to insert here 
 at large, some interesting remarks from Mr. Paulding 
 and Dr. Reese, of New York, from the speech of Mr. 
 Bailey, of Accomack county, Va. at the late session of 
 the legislature of that state, and the entire views of seve 
 ral other distinguished gentlemen on the constitutional 
 question to which we have referred. Indeed, the calm, 
 cool, deliberate views of these gentlemen call for the 
 gratitude of every true lover of his country. We have 
 just been honoured with a letter of reference to certain 
 facts and works, also on this subject, by Mr. Robinson 
 himself, which lays us under many obligations, not 
 only on account of the information imparted, but the 
 kindness of an exalted and talented stranger, in conde 
 scending to impart it. We feel we cannot withhold 
 from the intelligent reader, the facts and views of that 
 excellent letter. To do so, would indeed be doing this 
 cause injustice. And although a part of the same might 
 more properly come in at another time, still we give it 
 here, as the most appropriate place. Mr. Robinson says, 
 in this letter : 
 
210 
 
 "Dear Sir : 
 
 "The discussion in the convention of 1787, throws light not only 
 upon the views of the different states, at that time, but also upon 
 their past history. In vol. 2 of the Madison Papers, pp. 1233-4, 
 you will find a clause, reported by the committee of detail, declar 
 ing that no tax or duty should be lost by the legislature, on the 
 migration or importation of such persons as the several states 
 should think proper to admit, nor should such migration or impor 
 tation be prohibited. The debate on this clause is in the third 
 volume, p. 1388 to 1396. Mr. Luther Martin, of Maryland, pro 
 posed to allow a prohibition or tax on the importation of slaves. 
 Mr. Rutledge and Mr. Pinckney, of South Carolina, earnestly 
 opposed this proposition. South Carolina, it Avas said, would never 
 receive the constitution if it prohibited the slave trade. George, 
 Mason, of Virginia, held it essential that the general government 
 should have power to prevent the increase of slavery. This infer 
 nal traffic, said he, originated in the avarice of British merchants. 
 The British government constantly checked the attempts of Virginia 
 to put a stop to it. Other remarks were made by him, in which 
 he deprecated the idea that South Carolina and Georgia should be 
 at liberty to import, and remarks, that some of our eastern brethren 
 had, from a lust of gain, embarked in this nefarious traffic. Gen. 
 Pinckney treated the question as being, whether South Carolina 
 should be excluded from the union. South Carolina and Georgia, 
 he said could not do without slaves. He said the royal assent, 
 before the revolution, had never been refused to South Carolina, us 
 to Virginia. 11 Mr. Bahhvin, of Georgia, supported the members 
 from South Carolina. Georgia, he said, was deserted on this 
 point. Mr. Edmund Randolph, of Pirginia,was for committing, 
 in order that some middle ground might, if possible, be found. He 
 would never agree to the clause as it stands. He would sooner 
 risk the constitution. The commitment was ordered, and the re 
 port of the committe is p. 1415. They propose to strike out the 
 clause as reported by the committee of detail, and insert The 
 migration or importation of such persons as the several states, now 
 existing, shall think proper to admit, shall not be prohibited by the 
 legislative power, to the year IbOO; but a tax or duty may be im 
 posed on such migration or importation, at a rate not exceeding 
 the average of the duties last on imports. When this report was 
 taken up, Gen. Pinckney moved to strike out the words the year 
 eighteen hundred, as the year limiting the importation of slaves, 
 and to insert the words the year eighteen hundred and eight. 
 Mr. Madison opposed the motion, but it passed by a vote of seven 
 states in the affirmative, to four in the negative. The states in the 
 affirmative are : New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Ma 
 ryland, North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia. Those in 
 the negative were : New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware and Vir 
 ginia. Mr. Gouvernenr Morris was for making the clause read at 
 once, the importation of slaves into North Carolina, South Caro 
 lina and Georgia, shall not be prohibited, &c. He wished it to 
 
211 
 
 be known that this part of the constitution was in compliance with 
 those .states. But some objection being made, he withdrew the 
 motion, and the first part of the report was then agreed to, amend 
 ed as follows : The migration or importation of such persons as 
 the several states, now existing, shall think proper to admit, shall 
 not be prohibited by the legislature, prior to the year 1808. The 
 remainder of the clause was so amended as to read but a tax or 
 duty may be imposed on such importation, not exceeding ten dol 
 lars for each person, and being thus amended, was agreed to. 
 Sec. 3, pp. 1427 to 1430."* 
 
 "I remain yours, with respect and esteem, 
 
 "CON. ROBINSON." 
 
 We believe that posterity and history will say, that the 
 conduct of Virginia, as herein set forth, taken in connec 
 tion with her previous and subsequent action on this sub 
 ject, places her on exalted ground. Who is there, of 
 common abolitionists that would suppose our brethren of 
 the granite state, and indeed those in the land of steady 
 habits, were the men to carry this point. Slaves had been 
 violently forced on Georgia, and insiduously so on the 
 Carolinas ; those states were placed in a condition now 
 to need slave labour, other having been shut out by 
 British tyranny. They desired to have it continued. 
 Virginia resisted others too resisted. What is to be 
 done ? New England comes in and carries the point, 
 and an article is inserted for the continuance of the im 
 portation of slaves until 180S, that by their ships the 
 southern market might be supplied; and now, those who 
 did the deed are the first to find fault. It would appear 
 as though the North would now seek to atone for its for 
 mer participation in slavery, by denouncing in unmea 
 sured terms, not only it, but all who, by the force of 
 circumstances, have had it entailed on them. The ground 
 of all this does appear to be, that such a trade cannot 
 now be rendered profitable to them, and to cripple the 
 South, it is said, has been, and probably will continue to 
 be, a part of the northern and eastern policy. The worst 
 of all is, the introduction of such men as Thompson, the 
 notorious Thompson, and Sturge, from England into this 
 
 * The first part of this letter, which refers to other subjects, is omitted. 
 We owe an apology to its talented author for making this extract, and trust 
 he will pardon it. 
 
212 
 
 country, to meddle with our institutions and impudently 
 insult our feelings. This whole nation has heard of, and 
 know the fanaticism of the former ; we give from a New 
 England paper, of June 12th, a notice of the latter; in it 
 are plainly set forth the movements of the abolitionists 
 here and in England. 
 
 "Our readers are aware that a notorious and violent abolitionist, 
 named JOSEPH STURGE, lately arrived in this country from Eng 
 land, with designs almost as wild and incendiary as the notorious 
 Thompson, and with a determination to do all in his power to 
 break up the domestic institutions of the southern states. For 
 this purpose he has been backed up by all the wealth and power 
 of the abolitionists in England., who seem determined to interfere 
 in and destroy, if possible, our social institutions, and set this coun 
 try in a flame. To effect this, we have reason to believe, this man 
 Sturge has brought large sums of money, and if there was any 
 doubt of his real intentions, the letter addressed by his brother to 
 the London Standard, impudently discloses them : 
 
 "To the Editor of the Standard. 
 
 "BIRMINGHAM, May 19. 
 
 "Sir: After the manner in which my brother, Joseph Sturge, is 
 mentioned in the Standard of yesterday, I think it but due to him, 
 that you should inform your numerous readers that he is now in 
 the United States, doing all in his power to assist the abolitionists 
 there, and that, if in England, I am sure he would oppose, to the 
 utmost of his ability, this abominable whig attempt to introduce 
 slave-grown sugar. 
 
 "I am, very respectfully, &c. 
 
 "CHARLES STURGE." 
 
 Soon after the arrival of this man here, the abolitionists 
 had a grand meeting and formed a new plan of organi 
 zation, when they issued the following circular : 
 
 "The abolitionists of the city of New York are estimated at 
 between three and four thousand. And whereas, the majority 
 between the two great political parties was shown by the last elec 
 tion to be less than five hundred. It seems beyond all reasonable 
 doubt, if one thousand will come out and stand aloof from their 
 respective parties, and vote for none but true men, they can thus 
 hold the balance of power, and thus compel, at least, the weaker 
 of the two, to put in nomination true abolitionists. In view of such 
 results, we have sketched out a plan, subject to be revised, and 
 hereunto annexed. And should you deem the subject worthy of 
 
213 
 
 your support, we earnestly request you and your friends, to enroll 
 your names and places of residence thereto, and forthwith return 
 the same to "Yours respectfully. 
 
 "JVew Y&rk, June 1st, 1841. " 
 
 This is signed by twenty-three persons : 
 
 "G. Wheeler, H. Sedgwick, Thomas Day, Jr., Norman Francis, 
 James E. H. Wallin, Thomas Ritter, James J. Sawyer, James H. 
 French, Asa Parker, N. Southard, W. S. Dorr, C. B. Hatch, Geo. 
 R. Barker, Leonard Gibbs, William Tracy, Alexander Macdonald, 
 Horace Dresser, Asher Atkinson, Anthony Lane, R. G. Williams, 
 George M. Tracy, Joel M. Hubbard, Augustus J. Gillett." 
 
 "PLAN. 
 
 "This committee agree to the following rules, subject to such 
 alterations as a majority shall direct : 
 
 "1. No person shall sign these articles, except as honorary mem 
 bers, unless he be a voter in the city. 
 
 "2. No person shall be bound by any of these articles till one 
 thousand names are hereunto subscribed. 
 
 "3. When one thousand names are subscribed, any five mem 
 bers may call a meeting and organize. 
 
 "4. It shall be the duty of this committee, when organized, to 
 put in nomination such candidates for important offices, as honest 
 and good citizens can support with an approving conscience. Such, 
 and such only, as will remember the poor and oppressed, who on 
 the theatre of action, will do justice and judgment, and go to the 
 very verge of the constitution and the laws. To undo the heavy 
 burdens, break every yoke, and let the oppressed go free. 
 
 "5. When such nominations are so made, and approved of by 
 a majority, every member shall stand pledged each to the other, in 
 all honour and honesty, to vote for such candidate." 
 
 "It will doubtless be deemed by the people of this coun 
 try, a very kind and considerate act of this itinerant 
 abolitionist, to put himself to so much trouble to rectify 
 the institutions of this country. But first, it may be as 
 well to state, that Messrs. Joseph and Charles Sturge are 
 two of that odious class of creatures known in England 
 as corn monopolists. They began business in the corn 
 monopoly trade about ten years ago, with a very small 
 capital, but by riding half over England, and buying up 
 all the corn they could lay their hands upon, monopoliz 
 ing on the largest scale which their means would allow, 
 and then holding on to it as long as possible, they would 
 at last sell it out to the poor while slaves of England, at 
 19 
 
214 
 
 caogaioas prices, and thus obtain enormous profits. In 
 this way, these two corn monopolists have realized 
 large fortunes. With the sufferings of the poor white 
 labourers of England, they have no sympathy ; all their 
 tears and affections are reserved for the negroes of this 
 country. And in furtherance of their impudent plan of 
 disorganization and interference, this Joseph Sturge is 
 now at \VASHLXGTOX, using every means in his power to 
 procure the abolition of slavery LX THE DISTRICT OF CO 
 LUMBIA. Can it be, that through his influence, this sub 
 ject was brought up in the house of representatives, the 
 other day, and resulted in favour of the abolitionists ? If 
 so, what may be the effect before he gets through with 
 his schemes, it is impossible to say. Of course, astharles 
 Siurge says, his brother would oppose the measure of the 
 whigs of England, relative to the sugar duties, because 
 they know that such a plan would be a relief to the suf- 
 fcnng white population of England : and because, also, 
 die whig ministry, by introducing a bill to abolish the 
 odious corn laws, (so long and loudly demanded by the 
 great body of the people of England.) their monopoly in 
 it would be broken up, and their "occupation gone," so 
 far as relates to their grinding and oppressing the labour 
 ing white man. Let the southern delegation in congress 
 look after this Sturge. 
 
 "On the subject of these corn and su^ar monopolies we 
 find a violent debate lately, in the British parliament, 
 when Lord Palmerston made a direct attack on aboli- 
 tionism, and we are happy to say, defended the slave- 
 bolding states in North America against the insidious 
 attempts of such impudent fanatics as Thompson and 
 Sturge, and their abolition associates. This corn law 
 affects deeply the interests of the United States, and you 
 cannot look in an unconcerned manner, upon the noble 
 struggles and efforts of the aristocratic ridden people of 
 this country, without a sympathy. The debate on the 
 su^ar duties, has preceded the discussion on corn, but 
 the two questions proceed from the same principle. The 
 monopolists in sugar have received, as auxiliaries, the 
 piety party, and a league appears to be concerted between 
 tbe bread-takers, sugar-taxers, and abolitionists. Never 
 
215 
 
 . . .. . . : . .- _ . _ . , 
 
 -*. , -.- 
 -. , 
 I> - 
 
 ~It TS5 ~~ 
 ESI El^in^- f, tinr S 
 
 r-ii L-^ : 
 
 . 
 
216 
 
 of refined sugar, and the Brazillians tell us they cannot refine it. 
 We again step in and say, We will help you ; for, besides carry 
 ing, we will refine your sugar too. It may be, we say, sinful to 
 consume slave labour sugar, but there is no sin in carrying and 
 refining it. (Cheers and laughter.) The sugar, accordingly, is 
 refined in this country, and you think we have done. Not a bit. 
 The Brazillians tell us, We have more produce than the Germans 
 want : what are we to do V Again England says, We will buy 
 from you produce which it is against our conscience to consume 
 ourselves, but we will send it to distant islands and settlements, 
 where the inhabitants are negroes or colonists, and have no right 
 to the possession of consciences. (Loud cheers and laughter.) It 
 can do them no harm whatever. (Renewed laughter.) But still 
 further, we told them, that in order to prevent any further diffi 
 culty, c We tell you that when our own grown sugar gets dear in 
 our market, when it reaches a certain price, we will eat your sugar 
 ourselves/ (Loud cheers from the ministerial side of the house.) 
 Although," continued the noble lord, fe n might give offence, he 
 must ask, was it not the greatest hypocrisy, now to turn round and 
 call upon the government to forego an arrangement, which would 
 at once tend to the relief of the commerce of the country, and the 
 assistance of its finances, under a pretence so hollow, and a pre 
 text so inconsistent with that which was done every day?" (Loud 
 cheers from the ministerial benches.) 
 
 We record here the foregoing letter and speech with 
 the greatest pleasure, because whilst they set forth the 
 true nature and inconsistency of this controversy, it will 
 prepare the way for the following paper, addressed by the 
 Anti-Slavery Society, through this same fanatical corn 
 monopolist and oppressor of the poor. Is it not enough to 
 cause the ears of Americans to tingle, to think that a 
 foreigner should attempt an address such as the following, 
 to the head of this great nation, through the public papers 
 of our own country, when he knows that the President of 
 the United States is solemnly sworn to keep the constitu 
 tion of it inviolable, and that this constitution does most 
 positively acknowledge slavery, and that he is himself a 
 slaveholder. But let the intelligent reader peruse the same 
 and judge for himself, from a copy published in the city 
 of New York, on the 21st June, 1841. The editor says: 
 
 "We give to-day one of the most curious and startling letters, 
 emanating from the British Anti-Slavery Society, and addressed 
 to the President of the United States, that ever was attempted in 
 this country by a band of fanatics from a foreign land. 
 
217 
 
 "Mr. Joseph Sturge, by whom the letter has been, or will be pre 
 sented to the President, is one of the corn monopolists of England, 
 heartily engaged in grinding the face of the poor white slaves of 
 that country, while he impudently and audaciously comes to this 
 country, to scatter firebrands and disunion throughout the land. 
 The following is the letter : 
 
 "ADDRESS TO THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED 
 STATES. 
 
 "The Committee of the British and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society 
 have requested Mr. Joseph Sturge, to present to the President 
 of the United States an address, of which the following is a 
 true copy : 
 
 "SiR : As the head of a great number of states, justly valuing 
 their free constitutions and political organization, and tenacious of 
 their rights and their character, the Committee of the British and 
 Foreign Anti-Slavery Society, through their esteemed coadjutor 
 and representative, Joseph Sturge, would approach you in behalf 
 of millions of their fellow-men, held in bondage in the United 
 States. Those millions are not only denied the political immuni 
 ties enjoyed by the citizens of your great republic generally, and 
 the equal privileges, and the impartial protection of the civil law, 
 but are deprived of their personal rights ; so that they cease to be 
 regarded and treated, under your otherwise noble institutions, as 
 MEN, except in the commission of crime, when the utmost rigour 
 of your penal statutes is invoked against them ; and are reduced to 
 the degraded condition of chattels personal in the hands of their 
 owners and possessors, to att intents, constructions, and purposes 
 whatsoever. 
 
 "This is the language and the law of slavery ; and upon this law, 
 guarded with jealousy by their political institutions, the slave 
 holders of the South rest their claims to property in man. But, 
 sir, there are claims, anterior to all human laws, and superior to 
 all political institutions which are immutable in their nature 
 claims which are the birth-right of human beings, of every clime 
 and of every colour claims which God has conferred, and which 
 man cannot .destroy without sacrilege, or infringe without sin. 
 Personal liberty is among these the greatest and the best, for it is 
 the root of all other rights, the conservative principle of human 
 associations, the spring of public virtues, and essential to national 
 strength and greatness. 
 
 "The monstrous and wicked assumption of power by man over 
 
 its existences, which slavery implies, is abhorrent to the moral 
 
 violence, by Knd, to the immutable principles of justice ; to the 
 
 ral evil " in o?h* oc ^ an( ^ to tne benevolent principles of the gos- 
 
 I y ?, indignantly repudiated by the fundamental 
 
 es - -k 61 . us ^lightened and civilized communities ; and by 
 
 would be a sin fatally than by that over which, sir, it is your 
 
 Africa, and kidnap 
 
 
218 
 
 "The great doctrine that f God hath created all men equal, and 
 endowed them with certain inalienable rights, and that among 
 these, are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, is affirmed in 
 your Declaration of Independence, and justified in the theory of 
 your constitutional laws. But there is a stain upon your glory. 
 Slavery, in its most abject and revolting form, pollutes your soil ; 
 the waitings of slaves mingle with your songs of liberty, and the 
 clank of their chains is heard in horrid discord with the chorus of 
 your triumphs. 
 
 "The records of your states are not less distinguished by their 
 wise provisions for securing the order, and maintaining the institu 
 tions of your country, than by their ingenious devices for rivetting 
 the chains, and perpetuating the degradation of your coloured bre 
 thren. Their education is branded as a crime against the state ; 
 their freedom is dreaded as a blasting pestilence ; the bare sugges 
 tion of their emancipation is proscribed as treason to the cause of 
 American independence. 
 
 "These things are uttered in sorrow ; for the committee deeply 
 deplore the flagrant inconsistency so daringly displayed, between 
 the lofty principles embodied in the great charter of your liberties, 
 and the evil practices which have been permitted to grow up under 
 it, to mar its beauty and impair its strength. 
 
 "But it is not on these grounds alone, or chiefly, that they de 
 plore the existence of slavery in the United States. Manifold as 
 are the evils which flow from it, dehumanizing as are its tenden 
 cies, fearful as its re-action confessedly is on its supporters, the 
 reproach of its existence does not terminate in the institutions 
 which give it birth. The sublime principles and benign spirit of 
 Christianity are dishonoured by it. In the light of divine truth it 
 stands revealed in all its hideous deformity, A CRIME AGAINST GOD, 
 a daring usurpation of the prerogative and authority of the Most 
 High. It is a violation of his righteous laws, an outrage on his 
 glorious attributes, a renunciation of the claims of his blessed gos 
 pel, that they especially deplore the continuance and support it 
 receives among you, and, in the spirit of Christian love and frater 
 nal solicitude, they would counsel its immediate and complete 
 overthrow, as a solemn and imperative duty, the performance of 
 which no sordid reasons should be permitted to retard, and no po 
 litical considerations to prevent. Slavery is a sin against God, and 
 ought, therefore, to be abolished. 
 
 "The utter extinction of slavery, and its sister abomination, the 
 internal slave trade second only in horror and extent in the United 
 States to the African, and in some of its features even more 
 
 ing can be urged by the philanthropists of this cr-Jft- 1 in *o City 
 the abstract principles of moral and religious clThe editor say si 
 principles the people of your great republic are I 
 of freedom, beyond every nation of the world >us an( j startling letters, 
 "The negro, by nature our equal, made ^odety, and addressed 
 image of his Creator, gifted with the same in;< ever was attempted in 
 the same passions, and redeemed by the sai ^ re i n i am i. 
 
PART VII. 
 
 AS ABOLITIONISM IMMEDIATE., DIRECT AND INDISCRIMINATE,, IS NOT 
 THE JUST, THE NATURAL, AND SAFE REMEDY AGAINST THE 
 EVIL OF SLAVERY, THE Q.UESTION ARISES WHAT IS THAT RE 
 MEDY? THAT QUESTION ANSWERED ACCORDING TO THE AD 
 VICE OF OUR FATHERS, THE LIGHTS OF HISTORY AND THE 
 ALMOST UNIVERSAL WISH OF THE SLAVE-HOLDING STATES. 
 THAT THE REMEDY WHICH WE PROPOSE IS JUST, IS NATURAL, 
 IS SAFE, IS PRACTICABLE, AND PROMISES, FROM PAST EXPE 
 RIENCE, IMMENSE ADVANTAGES TO THE COLOURED POPULA 
 TION OF THIS COUNTRY AND THE SAVAGE TRIBES OF AFRICA. 
 
 IT will doubtless be. charged from what we have said, 
 upon the south, that it is so wedded to slavery, as to feel 
 no desire that posterity at least should be saved from the 
 evils of it. We say evils, for although we do not make 
 a list, as long and as dark as that of Dr. C. in his list 
 of "the evils of slavery;" yet, we believe that slavery 
 has its evils, and so have the other relations and condi 
 tions of human life. These are not, in our estimation, 
 under the circumstances, "moral evil." Understand us. 
 Do not be startled ! We repeat, we believe slavery is 
 attended by many and sore evils, to the slave, to the 
 owner, and this our country, in which they reside ; but, 
 under the circumstances, which attended the introduction 
 of slavery into the United States, and those attendant on 
 its existence as an institution of the country made so by 
 violence, by British tyranny, we believe, it is not a "mo 
 ral evil," in other words, an actual sin, to hold or own 
 slaves. Let us explain ourselves. We believe that it 
 would be a sin for us or any man to visit the shores of 
 Africa, and kidnap persons and sell them into slavery. 
 
222 
 
 And, therefore, that the English, who were accustomed 
 to steal or cause them to be stolen, and sell African 
 slaves and Indians, into American and other colonies, 
 committed a crime for which God will judge them. We 
 believe that all the preaching, and all the canting of our 
 northern and eastern brethren, about the wickedness of 
 southern slavery, will never wash out the deep, black 
 guilt of their fathers, for kidnapping and selling In 
 dians and Africans into slavery. But we also believe, 
 that as these slaves were forced by positive enactment 
 on the south, and notwithstanding southern resistance, 
 were quartered on it to build up and support British 
 and New England power, it is not a sin, it is not a 
 "moral evil," although there may be many and sore 
 evils, in the southern people s retaining them in bondage 
 until they can have them removed, if they choose so to do, 
 with safety and with convenience to themselves and the 
 slaves, to some situation adapted to the true nature and 
 condition of the African race. Prisoners of war are 
 sometimes quartered on towns. Suppose some feeling 
 citizens, men, women and children, should say, (k Poor 
 creatures, what an evil to be in bondage, they are in dis 
 tress and degradation, turn them loose." Suppose per 
 sons of another town should begin to preach about the 
 "iniquity of retaining them in their present condition, 7 
 until they could be safely removed. Suppose the very- 
 persons who quartered them there, should begin to plead 
 the wretchedness of the prisoners and the wickedness of 
 the townsmen, who do not consent that hundreds of per 
 sons shall be turned loose, to prey upon the very vitals of 
 society, and sap the foundations of all orders and govern 
 ment, if not of life itself. What would you think, what 
 would you say ? Let the sons of Massachusetts the 
 descendants of the pilgrims, look for the answer in the 
 conduct of their fathers, to the poor old men, the women 
 and children of the Narraganset tribe, or if they choose 
 to go a little farther, to the destruction and slavery of the 
 Pokonakets the Massasoit family, and the Pequod tribe 
 Heavens ! How it chills our blood to read of the cruelty 
 toward the poor old men, and women, and children of 
 
223 
 
 the Narragansett tribe. We give it in the plain, honest 
 and truthful language of their own excellent historian, 
 Mr. Bancroft : "It was resolved to regard the Narragan- 
 setts as enemies, and a little before winter solstice, a 
 thousand men levied by the united" i. e. New England 
 "colonies, and commanded by the brave Jonah Winslow, 
 a native New England man, invaded their territory. Af 
 ter a night spent in the open, air, they waded through the 
 snow," &c. "Nothing could check their determined 
 valour ; and the group of Indian cabins was set on fire. 
 Then was swept away the humble glory of the Narragan- 
 setts, the winter s stores of the tribes, their curiously 
 wrought baskets full of corn, their famous strings of 
 wampum,, their wigwams nicely lined with mats, all the 
 little comforts of savage life were consumed. And more, 
 their old men, their women, their babes perished by hun 
 dreds in the fire. Then indeed was the cup of misery 
 full for these red men, who without shelter, and without 
 food, hid themselves in a cedar swamp, with no defence 
 against the cold, but boughs of ever-green trees. They 
 prowled the forests and pawed up the snow, to gather 
 nuts and acorns ; they dug the earth for ground-nuts, 
 they ate remnants of horse flesh as a luxury, they sunk 
 down from feebleness and want of food." This was the 
 condition of the poor Indians whom the sons of the pil 
 grim fathers sought to enslave, and to whom the brave 
 CONONCHET, that did not droop under such, the over 
 whelming sufferings of his tribe, exclaimed, "We will 
 fight to the last man rather than become slaves to the 
 English." To the haughty young Blackstone, who 
 questioned him, he replied, "You do not understand 
 war, I will answer your chief." "We have nothing to 
 lose, you have burned our all, in seeking to kidnap and 
 enslave them." "The Indians will not yield, we will fight 
 these twenty years." "I like death well, I shall die be 
 fore I speak any thing unworthy of myself." Thus were 
 the Indians slaughtered, in that attempt to make them 
 slaves : and with a slaughter far more destructive, bloody 
 and vile, than that of the white man at the renowned 
 "Bloody Brook."* And well may it be be said, "Physi 
 cian, heal thyself." 
 
 * See Bancroft s King Phillip s War, pages 104, 105, &c. vol. 2, and Eve 
 rett s Address at Bloody Brook, p. 37. 
 
224 
 
 To proceed, we say, whilst it is not a sin to retain in 
 bondage these slaves quartered on our fathers and us, by 
 others, there are evils connected with their being amongst 
 us, and it is a solemn duty we owe them, ourselves, 
 and our posterity, to do what we can by those means, 
 that are not coercive, to remedy this evil, and better their 
 condition, as well as our own, by their removal as they 
 become free. But how may this be done? What is the 
 remedy? We answer, promptly and honestly, coloniza 
 tion on the coast of Africa. This was the opinion of our 
 fathers, and subsequent events have proved the wisdom 
 of that opinion. We have alluded to those laws passed 
 by the colonial assembly of Virginia, their solemn pro 
 tests and those of the Carolinas and Georgia, against the 
 introduction of African slaves into their colonies. We 
 have seen the resistance of the British government to 
 their legislating on, or touching this question at all, but 
 this did not stop that opposition, they resisted as firmly 
 as ever, and at the adoption of the constitution of the 
 United States of America, we find Virginia, and other 
 states, continue that resistance, whilst Massachusetts, 
 Connecticut and New Hampshire voted for the pro 
 longation of the trade. South Carolina and Georgia 
 were peculiarly situated. Having had slavery forced 
 on them originally they were absolutely driven from the 
 nature of their condition to have labourers or yield up 
 their farms. We believe that Carolina and Georgia did 
 not then, any more than formerly or now desire to pro 
 tract the slave trade by the removal of slaves from Africa, 
 but the citizens thereof under the old regimen had entered 
 into contracts for lands, had been induced so to do, by 
 the act of Great Britain, respecting slaves, and under 
 these circumstances its continuance was considered 
 necessary, until those arrangements and contracts were 
 completed. We do not say, that this was right, but 
 we know that the states of Massachusetts, Connecticut 
 and New Hampshire came in to aid them, and by that as 
 sistance the trade was prolonged until 1808. 
 
 We must also premise another thing. Slaves being 
 private property, none have the right to vote away the 
 same without ample remuneration. Even the British 
 
225 
 
 government has admitted this principle, and therefore 
 paid the planters of Jamaica $100,000,000, at so much 
 per head t for their slaves. When, therefore, by the will 
 of the people, either individually or collectively, slaves are 
 free^ the next question is, what ought to be done with 
 them ? We have proved that to be free here, is to entail 
 on them and their posterity, unceasing wretchedness, and 
 to do our country an injury not to be easily if ever re 
 paired. As we have lived in the vicinity of Mount Ver- 
 non, formerly the residence and now the burial place of 
 General WASHINGTON, the Father of his Country, we are 
 prepared to say, from our own knowledge, that all the 
 benefits resulting from the Mount Vernon estate, as a com 
 ponent part of Fairfax county in Virginia, in which it is 
 situated, can never counterbalance the injury done to that 
 county, by turning loose, setting free, as it is called, scores 
 of negroes to prowl about of a night as beasts of the fo 
 rest, to murder and rob the traveller, and to live as hun 
 dreds of the citizens of that county and Alexandria know, 
 in poverty, misery, and want continually. Those citizens 
 generally have considered their freedom as a curse to 
 themselves and society. Other similar instances we could 
 name. Now, colonization proposes to send the free 
 coloured population home to Africa. This was the 
 original plan of our fathers. It also proposes to send all 
 those whom their masters, or mistresses, desire to free. 
 To expose the views we have on this subject, we give, 
 first, an outline of that plan suggested by Mr. Jefferson 
 and the Virginia legislature, the adoption of the plan in 
 the formation of the Colonization Society, and the suc 
 cess with which that plan has been carried out. And 
 to do this the more concisely and effectually, we propose 
 to make quotations from certain documents and reports, 
 &c. with some little variation, chiefly collected by Rev. 
 Mr. McKenny, and submit them for the inspection of the 
 candid and impartial reader. 
 
 For many years antecedent to the organization of the 
 American Colonization Society in the City of Washing 
 ton, in the year 1817, there were no questions of a do 
 mestic character more solemnly pondered, in many in 
 stances, devoutly examined, than the following, viz: 
 20 
 
226 
 
 What shall be done with our free coloured population 1 ? 
 How shall we fairly and righteously dispose of them, and 
 of such of our slaves as may hereafter, from time to time, 
 become free ? These important questions were not the re 
 sult of fanatical deliberations upon the feasibility of incor 
 porating them into the body politic of the nation ; this 
 wild and extravagant notion was reserved, as it would 
 seem, for the action of a new set of men men unknown, 
 and unheard of in those days, when the patriots of the 
 revolution, having achieved the independence for which 
 they fought and bled, were zealously employed in arrang 
 ing and classifying those great principles, which consti 
 tute the bond, and the strength of the present union of the 
 states. The political and domestic evils of a mixed popu 
 lation were foreseen as early as 1772. In that year the 
 House of Burgesses of Virginia, inspired with a just ab 
 horrence of the difficulties, perplexities, and dangers it 
 would entail upon their posterity, unanimously agreed 
 upon an address to the King of Great Britain, praying 
 him to remove those restraints on the governors of the 
 colonies, which inhibited them from assenting to such 
 laws as might check so very pernicious a commerce. 
 The following copy of that address will give to the pre 
 sent generation, a just view of the noble and patriotic 
 feelings of many of their progenitors. "The importation 
 of slaves into the colony, from the coast of Africa, has 
 long been considered as a trade of great inhumanity: 
 and its encouragement, we have too much reason to fear, 
 will endanger the very existence of your majesty s Ameri 
 can dominions. We are sensible that some of your 
 majesty s subjects in Great Britain, may reap emolument 
 from this sort of traffic, but when we consider that it 
 greatly retards the settlement of the colonies with more 
 white inhabitants, and may in time have the most de 
 structive influence, we presume to hope that the interest 
 of a few will be disregarded when placed in competition 
 with the security and happiness of such numbers of your 
 majesty s dutiful and loyal subjects. In about four years 
 after the passage of this patriotic address, the war of the 
 revolution commenced. In one year after its formal com 
 mencement, viz: in 1777, while clouds of thick and al- 
 
227 
 
 most Egyptian darkness hung over the prospects of the 
 noble land of patriots, who had resolved to be free, or die 
 in the attempt, we find Thomas Jefferson, the author of 
 the declaration of American Independence, turning his 
 attention to the coloured population of his country, and 
 bringing his Herculean mind to act upon the questions. 
 What shall be done with our free coloured population ? 
 How shall we dispose of them and of such of our slaves, 
 as may hereafter, from time to time, become free I 9 Un 
 like some who have subsequently, and within but a short 
 time past, entertained the same, and no doubt, as it re 
 gards many of them, with the kindest feelings towards 
 the blacks; he never dreamed of an amalgamation: 
 he never admitted the possibility of incorporating them 
 as a part and portion of the free citizens of the country 
 into the body politic of the union. But, he was neverthe 
 less equally kind in his feelings towards them, and a 
 thousand fold more consistent in his views and action 
 under those feelings ; for he proposed colonization, as 
 the only practicable mode of placing them in a state of 
 national independence. The particulars of this plan can 
 not now be given, and neither is it necessary to the pur 
 pose of this brief statement of facts, &c. that they should 
 be stated. It is enough to answer the writer s object to 
 be able to state, upon the most unquestionable authority, 
 that Mr. Jefferson did canvass the whole subject, arid 
 after the maturest deliberation upon all its various bear 
 ings, and intricate, and difficult relations, did come to the 
 conclusion that colonization, and colonization alone, 
 could meet, and successfully, fairly, and righteously, dis 
 pose of all the difficulties growing out of the presence, 
 and increase of such a population in the United States. 
 In 1787, Dr. Thomas Thornton, adopting Mr. Jefferson s 
 idea of colonization, as the only possible mode of con 
 ferring upon the free people of colour of the United 
 States, and their posterity, all the rights, privileges, im 
 munities, franchises, powers and offices of freemen, form 
 ed a plan for establishing a colony on the coast of Africa, 
 and published an address to the people of colour residing 
 in Massachusetts, and Rhode Island, inviting them to ac 
 company him thither. A sufficient number agreed to go, 
 
228 
 
 and were prepared for the expedition, but the project 
 failed for want of the necessary funds. 
 
 In 1800 and 1801, the legislature of Virginia, being 
 deeply and solemnly impressed with a sense of the indis 
 pensable necessity of seeking some mode of relief, from 
 the increasing domestic evils produced by the rapid in 
 crease of her coloured population, determined, in secret 
 session, to make an appeal to the President of the United 
 States, and "urge him to institute negociations with some 
 of the European powers, possessed of colonies on the 
 coast of Africa, to grant an asylum to which our eman 
 cipated negroes might be sent." The result of this appli 
 cation to the President of the United States, led to a 
 correspondence on his part, with the Sierra Leone Com 
 pany, of London, and the government of Portugal, each 
 of whom refused to permit the introduction of coloured 
 people from the United States, into their respective go 
 vernments. Mr. Jefferson s letter, written some years 
 after, to John Lynd, upon this subject, is so comprehen 
 sive and clear, and so demonstrative of our own views, 
 and of the splendid moral effects that would be produced 
 by the system of African colonization, that we feel bound 
 to insert it in this place. It is as follows : 
 
 Copy of a letter from THOMAS JEFFERSON, late President 
 of the United States, to John Lynd. 
 
 "Sin: You have asked my opinion on the proposition 
 of Ann Miffliri, to take measures for procuring on the 
 coast of Africa, an establishment, to which the people of 
 colour of these states, might, from time to time, be colo 
 nized under the auspices of different governments. Hav 
 ing long ago made up my mind on this subject, I have 
 no hesitation in saying, that I have ever thought that the 
 most desirable measure which could be adopted, for gra 
 dually drawing off this part of our population most 
 advantageous for themselves, as well as for us going 
 from a country possessing all the useful arts, they might 
 be the means of transplanting them among the inhabitants 
 of Africa, and thus carry back to the country of their 
 origin the seeds of civilization, which might render their 
 
229 
 
 sojournment here, a blessing in the end to that country. 
 I received, the last year of my entering into the adminis 
 tration of the general government, a letter from the gov 
 ernor of Virginia, consulting me, at the request of the 
 legislature of the state, on the means of procuring some 
 asylum, to which these people might be occasionally sent. 
 I proposed to him the establishment of Sierra Leone, in 
 which a private company in England had already colonized 
 a number of negroes, and particularly the fugitives from 
 these states during the revolutionary war ; and at the same 
 time suggested, if that could not be obtained, some of the 
 Portuguese possessions in South America, as most desira 
 ble. The subsequent legislature approving these ideas, I 
 wrote the ensuing year (1802) to Mr. King, our minister in 
 London, to endeavour to negociate with the Sierra Leone 
 Company, and induce them to receive such of these peo 
 ple as might be colonized thither. He opened a corres 
 pondence with Mr. W , and Mr. Thornton, on the 
 
 subject, and in 1803, T received, through Mr. King, the 
 result, which was that the colony was going on in but a 
 languishing condition that the funds of the company 
 were likely to fail, as they received no return of profit to 
 keep them up ; that they were then in treaty with the 
 government to take the establishment off their hands; but 
 that in no event would they be willing to receive more 
 of these people from the United States, as it was that 
 portion of settlers who had gone from the United States, 
 who, by their idleness and turbulence, had kept the set 
 tlement in constant danger of dissolution, which could 
 not have been prevented, but for the aid of the maroon 
 negroes from the West Indies, who were -more industri 
 ous and orderly than the others, and supported the autho 
 rity of the government and its laws. I think I learned 
 afterwards, that the British government had taken the 
 colony into their own hands, and I believe it still exists. 
 The effort which I made with Portugal to obtain an es 
 tablishment from them, within their colonies in South 
 America, proved also abortive. You inquired further, 
 whether I would use my endeavours to procure such an 
 establishment, secure against violence from other powers, 
 and particularly the French. Certainly I shall be willing 
 20* 
 
230 
 
 to do any thing I can, to give it effect and safety. But 
 lam but a private individual, and could only use exer 
 tions with individuals; whereas, the national government 
 can address themselves at once to those of Europe, to 
 obtain the desired securities, and will unquestionably be 
 readjfcto exert its influence with those nations, to effect 
 an object so benevolent in itself, and so important to a 
 great portion of its constituents. Indeed nothing is more 
 to be desired, than that the United States would them 
 selves undertake to make such an establishment on the 
 coast of Africa. Exclusive of motives of humanity, the 
 commercial advantages to be derived from it, might 
 defray all its expenses but for this the national mind is 
 not prepared. It may perhaps be doubted, whether 
 many of these people would voluntarily consent to such 
 an exchange of situation, and but few of those, who are 
 advanced to a certain age in habits of slavery, would be 
 capable of governing themselves. This should not, how 
 ever, discourage the experiment, nor the early trial of it. 
 And propositions should be made with all the prudent 
 caution requisite to reconcile it to the interest, the safety, 
 and prejudice of all parties. 
 
 "Accept the assurance of my respect and esteem. 
 
 "THOMAS JEFFERSON/ 
 
 For the purpose of keeping up the continuity of the 
 "facts" in relation to African colonization, it is proper 
 here to remark, that "colonization in Africa, with refe 
 rence to civilization, appears to have been contemplated 
 in England as early as 1775; or at the farthest in 1780. 
 A definite plan was projected by Dr. H. Smeathman, who 
 had passed some years in Africa, in his letters to Dr. 
 Knowles, in 1783. The first removal to Sierra Leone 
 was in 1787. The people from Nova Scotia, who had 
 been slaves in the United States, but who absconded dur 
 ing the revolutionary war, were removed 1791, and the 
 maroons from Jamaica, it is believed, in 1805. The 
 liberations from slave ships on the ocean, and on the 
 coast, and in the rivers of Africa, have been wholly, since 
 the abolition of the slave trade in 1807. The colony was 
 supported by the Sierra Leone Company until 1808, 
 
231 
 
 when it was taken under the patronage of the British 
 government. It is now in a flourishing condition." But 
 to return to the progress of the cause in our own country. 
 It would seem from Mr. Jefferson s letter, that the result 
 of his application to the Sierra Leone Company, of Lon 
 don, and the government of Portugal, was not known 
 until 1803. From that period to 1816, there seems to 
 have been no legislative arraignment, or expression of 
 public opinion on the subject. A death-like silence and 
 stillness seem to have ensued. But in 1816, after the 
 lapse of thirteen years, the subject was again revived 
 not at the fire-side only, nor in the neighbourhood cir 
 cles but in the legislative halls of one of the old thirteen 
 states. The lapse of thirteen years had increased the 
 difficulties with which the subject was encumbered, while 
 the evils which had been sought to be remedied, instead 
 of being mitigated by the- years that had passed away 
 since it was last legislatively pondered, had increased and 
 gathered additional strength. The venomous fangs thereof 
 were spreading wider and wider, and all the w r hile taking 
 a deeper and firmer root. A distinguished Virginia ora 
 tor, still living, and active in the cause of his country, 
 and his country s weal, thus speaks in an address upon 
 the subject. "The rapid increase of the free people of 
 colour, by which their number was extended in the ten 
 years preceding the last census of the United States, from 
 fifteen to thirty thousand, if it has not endangered our 
 peace, has impaired the value of private property in a 
 large section of our country. Upon our low lands/ said 
 Mr. Mercer, "it seems as if some malediction had been 
 shed the habitations of our fathers have sunk into ruins; 
 the fields which they tilled have become a wilderness. 
 Such is the table lands between the valleys of our great 
 rivers. Those newly grown and almost impenetrable 
 thickets which have succeeded a wretched cultivation, 
 shelter and conceal a wretched banditti, consisting of 
 this degraded, idle, and vicious population, who sally 
 forth from their coverts, beneath the obscurity of the 
 night, and plunder the rich proprietors of the valleys. 
 They infest the suburbs of the towns and cities, where 
 they become the depositories of stolen goods, and schooled 
 
232 
 
 by necessity, elude the vigilance of our defective police." 
 This state of things, graphically described in the quota 
 tion above, instead of checking the spirit of "African 
 colonization," seems to have given it an additional im 
 pulse. Hence we find the subject the whole subject 
 before the legislature of Virginia, in open session in 1816. 
 The following resolution was then submitted, canvassed, 
 discussed, bored through and through, and after all this 
 searching operation, it passed the popular branch, with 
 but nine dissenting voices out of one hundred and forty- 
 six, and a full quorum of the senate, with but one ! 
 " Whereas, the general assembly of Virginia have repeat 
 edly sought to obtain an asylum, beyond the limits of the 
 United States, for such persons of colour as had been, or 
 might be emancipated under the laws of this common 
 wealth, but have hitherto found all their efforts frustrated, 
 either by the disturbed state of other nations, or domestic 
 causes equally unpropitious to its success ; they now avail 
 themselves of a period when peace has healed the wounds 
 of humanity, and the principal nations of Europe have 
 concurred with the government of the United States in 
 abolishing the African slave trade, (a trade which this 
 commonwealth, both before and since the revolution, 
 zealously sought to terminate,) to renew this effort. And 
 do therefore resolve, That the executive be requested to 
 correspond with the president of the United States, for 
 the purpose of obtaining a territory on the coast of Africa, 
 or at some other place, not within any of the territorial 
 governments of the United States, to serve as an asylum 
 for such persons of colour as are now free, and may de 
 sire the same, and for those who may hereafter be eman 
 cipated within this commonwealth. And that the senators 
 and representatives in the congress of the United States, 
 be requested to exert their best efforts to aid the president 
 of the United States in the attainment of the above ob 
 jects; provided, that no contract or arrangement for such 
 territory shall be obligatory on this commonwealth, until 
 ratified by the legislature." 
 
 By one of those remarkable coincidences, which never 
 fail to impress deep upon the thoughtful mind, the con 
 soling doctrine of an all- wise and overruling Providence, 
 
233 
 
 whose purposes of mercy are commensurate to the wants 
 and miseries of mankind ; it seems to have been so order 
 ed, that while the foregoing preamble and resolutions of 
 the legislature of Virginia, were in discussion, before that 
 body, the untiring friends of the great measure, so long 
 thought of, but never fairly embodied, were, without pre 
 vious concert, wending their way from the different 
 states of the union, to the seat of the general government, 
 and among them, was the late Rev. Dr. Robert Findley, 
 of New Jersy. This gentleman had devoted much of his 
 time to the consideration of African colonization. He 
 felt confident that it was practicable to establish a colony 
 of free blacks in their fatherland. He sympathized deep 
 ly with them in their degraded condition here, and re 
 garded it to be incurable, so long as they should remain 
 in the United States, Motives of kindness to them, con 
 siderations of the most comprehensive Christian charity 
 to the native African race, and a due regard to the inter 
 nal peace and future prosperity of his own country, mo 
 ved him to an interchange of views, with the intelligent 
 and patriotic citizens of the District of Columbia, and 
 others, then in Washington City, from almost every state 
 and territory of the United States. It was unanimously 
 agreed by them, to call a public meeting, for the purpose 
 of discussing the propriety, the expediency, and practi 
 cability of this great measure, which had been for so long 
 a time an object of so much solicitude to the patriot, the 
 Christian, and the philanthropist. A meeting was called, 
 and held in one of the large rooms of Brown s hotel, on 
 Pennsylvania avenue. The honorable HENRY CLAY, 
 speaker of the house of representatives of the congress of 
 the United States, was called to the chair, and THOMAS 
 DOUGHERTY, esq. clerk of the house, was appointed sec 
 retary. 
 
 "In presenting the subject to the consideration of the 
 meeting, the honourable chairman,, after noticing the 
 various schemes and plans that had been thought of, to 
 better the condition of the free people of colour, of the 
 United States, came out with a decided preference for 
 some part of the coast of Africa as the most suitable the 
 atre upon which to carry out the wishes and purposes of 
 
234 
 
 their friends. There, said he, ample provision might 
 be made for the colony itself, and it might be rendered 
 instrumental to the introduction, into that extensive quar 
 ter of the globe, of the arts, civilization, and Christianity. 
 There was a peculiar, a moral fitness in restoring them 
 to the land of their fathers. And if, instead of the evils 
 and sufferings which we have been the innocent cause of 
 inflicting upon the inhabitants of Africa, we can transmit 
 to her the blessings of our arts, our civilization, and our 
 religion, may we not hope that America will extinguish 
 a great portion of that moral debt which she has contrac 
 ted to that unfortunate continent. He then proceeded to 
 encourage the meeting to attempt the enterprise, by the suc 
 cess which had attended the British colony of Sierra Leone. 
 We have, said he, their example before us, and can 
 there be a nobler cause than that, which, while it purposes 
 to rid our own country of a useless and pernicious, if not 
 dangerous portion of its population, contemplates the 
 spreading of the arts of civilized life, and the possible re 
 demption from ignorance and barbarism of a benighted 
 quarter of the globe. 
 
 Mr. CLAY was followed by ELIAS B. CALDWELL, of the 
 District of Columbia, who, in a most able speech, demon 
 strated the expediency of the measure the necessity of 
 early attempting it and the certainty of success. The 
 Hon. JOHN RANDOLPH, of Roanoke, followed Mr. Cald- 
 well, and after dwelling, in his usual clear and forcible 
 manner, upon the wisdom displayed by the friends of the 
 cause, in omitting to "touch, in the smallest degree, ano 
 ther very important and delicate question," gave to the 
 scheme his approbation. "In a worldly point of view, then," 
 said he, "without entering into the general question, and 
 apart from those higher and nobler motives which had 
 been presented to the meeting, the owners of slaves were 
 interested in providing a retreat for this part of our popu 
 lation. Ther was no fear that this proposition would 
 alarm them ; they had been accustomed to think serious 
 ly of the subject ; there was a popular work on agricul 
 ture, by JOHN TAYLOR, of Caroline, which was widely 
 circulated and much confided in, in Virginia. In that 
 book, much read, because coming from a practical man, 
 
235 
 
 this description of people were pointed out as a great evil. 
 If a place could be provided for their reception, and a 
 mode of sending them hence, there were hundreds, nay, 
 thousands, of citizens who would, by manumitting their 
 slaves, relieve themselves from the cares attendant on 
 their possession." The honourable ROBERT WRIGHT, of 
 Maryland, said "he could not withhold his approbation of 
 a measure that had for its object the melioration of the 
 lot of any portion of the human race, particularly of the 
 free people of colour, whose degraded state robs them of 
 the happiness of self-government, so dear to the Ameri 
 can people." Mr. Caldwell then submitted the follow 
 ing preamble and resolutions, which were unanimously 
 adopted: 
 
 "The situation of the free people of colour in the Uni 
 ted States has been the subject of anxious solicitude with 
 many of our most distinguished citizens, from the first 
 existence of our country as an independent nation ; but 
 the great difficulty and embarrassment attending the es 
 tablishment of an infant nation, when first struggling into 
 existence, and the subsequent convulsions of Europe, 
 have hitherto prevented any great national effort to pro 
 vide a remedy for the evils existing, or apprehended. 
 The present period seems peculiarly auspicious to invite 
 attention to this important subject, and gives a well 
 grounded hope of success the nations of Europe are 
 hushed into peace unexampled efforts are making in 
 various parts of the world to diffuse knowledge, civiliza 
 tion, and the benign influence of the Christian religion 
 the rights of man are becoming daily better understood 
 the legitimate objects of government, as founded for the 
 benefit, and intended for the happiness of man, are more 
 generally acknowledged, and an ardent zeal for the hap 
 piness of the human race is kindled in almost every 
 heart. Desirous of aiding in the great cause of philan 
 thropy, and of promoting the prosperity and happiness 
 of our country, it is recommended by this meeting to 
 form an association, or society, for the purpose of giving 
 aid, and assisting in the colonization of the free people 
 of colour in the United States therefore, 
 
 "Resolved, That an association or society be founded 
 
236 
 
 for the purpose of collecting information of a plan for the 
 colonization of the free people of colour, with their con 
 sent, in Africa, or elsewhere, as may be thought advisa 
 ble by the constituted authorities of the country. 
 
 "Resolved, That Elias B. Caldwell, John Randoph, 
 Richard Rush, Walter Jones, Francis S. Key, Robert 
 Wright, James H. Blake, and John Peter, be a commit 
 tee to present a respectful memorial to congress, request 
 ing them to adopt such measures as may be thought most 
 advisable for procuring a territory in Africa, or elsewhere, 
 suitable for the colonization of the free people of colour. 
 
 "Resolved, That Francis S. Key, Bushrod Washing 
 ton, Elias B. Caldwell, James Breckenridge, Walter 
 Jones, Richard Rush, and W. G. D. Worthington, be a 
 committee to prepare a constitution and rules for the go 
 vernment of the association or society above mentioned, 
 and report the same to the next meeting for considera 
 tion. 
 
 "The meeting then adjourned to meet again on Satur 
 day, 28th December, in the hall of the house of represen 
 tatives. 
 
 "HENRY CLAY, Chairman. 
 
 "THOMAS DOUGHERTY, Secretary." 
 
 An adjourned meeting was held in the hall of the 
 house of representatives of the United States, on Satur 
 day the 28th December, at which meeting a constitution 
 for the society was presented, discussed, and adopted 
 and this grand enterprise, so long thought of, and so ar 
 dently laboured after, was ushered forth under the name 
 and style of "The American Society for colonizing the 
 free people of colour of the United States ;* and on 
 Wednesday, January 1st, 1817, the society met, and 
 elected the following officers : 
 
 The Hon. BUSHROD WASHINGTON, President. 
 
 Vice-Presidents: Hon. William H. Crawford, of Geor 
 gia, Hon. Henry Clay, of Kentucky, Hon. William Phillips, 
 of Massachusetts, Hon. John E. Howard, of Maryland, 
 Hon. Somuel Smith, of Maryland, Hon. John C. Herbert, 
 of Maryland, Col. Henry Rutgers, of New York, John 
 Taylor. Esq. of Caroline, Virginia, Gen. Andrew Jack 
 son, of Tennessee, Robert Ralston, Esq., Richard Rush, 
 
 
n of Pennsylvania, Gen. John Mason, District of 
 bia. Rev. Robert Find ley, of New Jersey, 
 
 Manager* Francis 8. Key* John Laird, Her, 8* B. 
 Balch, James H. Blake, Edmund I. Lee, Jacob Hoffman, 
 Walter Jones, Rev, Jarnes Laurie, Rev. (X B* Brown, 
 Peter, William Thornton, Henry Carroll 
 
 E. B- Caldwell, Secretary; W. G. Worthington, Re 
 cording Secretary ; David English, Treasurer. 
 
 "The society being thus organized, and patronized by 
 some of the most distinguished citizens of the United 
 States, the board of managers and other officers who 
 were charged with the execution of the preparatory mea 
 sures, were soon apprised that some public spirited indi 
 vidual*, honestly doubting the practicability of securing a 
 suitable territory in Africa, would not aid the cause until 
 the success of this measure should be clearly ascertained. 
 They also found a number of others who doubted, even 
 if a territory were secured, whether the free people of 
 colour of the United States, would under any circum 
 stances, ever consent to leave the places of their nativity, 
 for the purpose of seeking a new home, in a foreign land, 
 among uncultivated strangers ; if they should consent to 
 go, it was deemed impossible for them, from their previous 
 habits, to govern themselves. Hence the whole scheme 
 was ridiculed by many, who called its advocates Uto 
 pian*, amiable enthusiasts, and Quixotic adventurers. 
 But none of these things moved the noble patrons and 
 advocates of this great cause, from their high and holy 
 purpose, to give a country and a home to a large portion 
 of the degraded population of the United States. They 
 acted upon the principle that scarcely any thing nothing 
 Is beyond the power of those who, in the pursuit of a 
 just purpose, approved by good men, and sanctioned by 
 Providence, boldly and resolqtely determine to command 
 success. In less than one year after the organization of 
 the society, we find two distinguished citizens, eminently 
 qualified for the important trust, on their passage to Africa, 
 with instructions to explore the western coast of that 
 continent, and to collect such information as might assist 
 the government of the United States in selecting a suita 
 ble district of country there, for the proposed settlement. 
 21 
 
238 
 
 In the same year the cities of New York, Philadelphia, 
 and Baltimore, formed societies auxiliary to the benign 
 objects of the parent institution, and it is a cause of just 
 pride to Maryland, that her citizens in Baltimore, contri 
 buted in January, 1818, $3,453, to aid in the preparatory 
 measures of this great enterprise. Many other important 
 societies were formed in other parts of the state, and in 
 other states both in the north and south. In view of 
 these cheering presages, we find the venerable president 
 of the parent society, thus closing his first anniversary 
 address to its members : In the magnificent plans now 
 carrying on for the improvement and happiness of man 
 kind, in many parts of the world, we can but discern the 
 interposition of that Almighty Power, who alone could 
 inspire and crown with success these great purposes. 
 But among them all, there is, perhaps, none upon which 
 we may more Confidently implore the blessing of heaven, 
 than that in which we are now associated. Whether 
 we consider the grandeur of the object, and the wide 
 sphere of philanthropy which it embraces, or whether we 
 view the present state of its progress, under the auspices 
 of this society, and under the obstacles which might have 
 been expected from the cupidity of many, we may dis 
 cover in each, a certain pledge that the same benignant 
 hand which has made these preparatory arrangements, 
 will crown our efforts with success. Having, therefore, 
 these motives of piety to consecrate and strengthen the 
 powerful considerations which a wise policy suggests, 
 we may, I trust, confidently rely upon the public for the 
 necessary means of effecting this highly interesting 
 object. 
 
 "How must his pious and patriotic heart have been 
 gladdened, and how must his faith in the truth of his 
 doctrine of reliance upon the benignant hand of Provi 
 dence, have been strengthened, when he read the follow 
 ing resolution, which unanimously passed the legislature of 
 Maryland, in January, 1818: By the house of delegates, 
 January 26, 1818: Resolved unanimously, that the gov 
 ernor be requested to communicate to the president of 
 the United States, and to our senators and representa 
 tives in congress, the opinion of this general assembly : 
 
239 
 
 that a wise and provident policy suggests the expediency, 
 on the part of our national government, of procuring 
 through negociation, by cession or purchase, a tract of 
 country on the western coast of Africa, for the coloniza 
 tion of the free people of colour of the United States. 
 
 Louis GASSAWAY, Clerk. 
 
 "The state of Tennessee passed a similar resolution 
 and, including Virginia, the first state which legislated 
 upon the subject, thirteen others have subsequently fol 
 lowed their example. While the society was zealously 
 promoting the preliminary measures, necessary to com 
 mand success at home, it was not indifferent to the ob 
 structions existing on the coast of Africa, produced by 
 the almost universal legitimation of the slave trade. The 
 nations of Europe had for centuries, regarded the African 
 race as objects of fair mercantile speculation, and although 
 Great Britain and the United States had formally pro 
 scribed it, and the latter, as early as 1808, it was still 
 carried on by the subjects and citizens of each govern 
 ment, and those of France, Spain and Portugal, to an 
 unprecedented extent, both as it regarded the number of 
 the victims of this wretched trade, and the savage cruel 
 ties inflicted on them by their captors. To avert this 
 foul traffic to render its pursuit more difficult and 
 hazardous, the society memorialized congress to pass an 
 act declaring its true character to be piracy. In the re 
 port of the committee of the house of representatives of 
 the United States, on the memorial of the president and 
 board of managers of the American society for coloniz 
 ing the free people of colour of the United States, we find 
 the following language : "Referring to the memorial 
 itself, and to the report of the committee on the slave 
 trade, to the fourteenth congress, your committee beg 
 leave to add, that a new interest has been recently in 
 spired to the benevolent enterprise of the memorialists, by 
 the prospect of a speedy termination of that odious traffic, 
 which has been so long the crime of Europe, the scourge 
 of Africa, and the affliction and disgrace of America. 
 Spain and Portugal have at length concurred in that just 
 and humane policy of the United States, which Great Bri 
 tain was the first to imitate, and which, by her liberal and 
 
240 
 
 unremitting zeal, she has successfully extended through 
 out the civilized world. So far as the civilization of 
 Africa, the victim of this inhuman traffic, is embraced 
 among the views of the memorialists, the removal of this 
 formidable impediment to their success, is calculated to 
 elevate the hopes of the philanthropist, and to secure to 
 their enterprise a larger share of public confidence. 
 America cannot but sympathise in the wish to redeem 
 from ignorance, barbarism and superstition, a continent 
 of such extent, spread out beneath every clime, embrac 
 ing every variety of soil, and inhabited by a much in 
 jured and degraded portion of the human race." The 
 committee then proceed to notice "a yet stronger incen 
 tive to recommend this enterprise to the countenance arid 
 favour of the house, from considerations peculiar to the 
 United States." Then referring to the report presented 
 to the last congress, they say: "They cannot, however, 
 forbear to remark, that time is unceasingly aggravating 
 all those domestic evils, for which the memorialists pro 
 pose the only competent remedy, and that the most auspi 
 cious circumstances conspire at present to promote its 
 successful application." 
 
 On the 3d of March, 1818, the congress of the United 
 States passed an act, entitled "An act in addition to the 
 acts prohibiting the slave trade." By that act, the pre 
 sident of the United States was fully authorized and em 
 powered, whenever he might deem it expedient, to direct 
 the armed vessels of the United States to cruise on the 
 coast of the United States, and on the coast of Africa, 
 and to seize, take, and bring into any port of the United 
 States, all ships or vessels, owned in part, or in whole, 
 by citizens, or residents in the United States, "which may 
 have taken on board, or which may be intended for the 
 purpose of taking on board, or of transporting, or may 
 have transported any negro, mulatto, or person of colour, 
 in violation of the provisions of the acts of congress, pro 
 hibiting the slave trade, to be proceeded against accord 
 ing to law." The act also allowed a just and equitable 
 bonus to the officers and men of the United States navy, 
 who might succeed in capturing vessels, or ships, owned 
 by citizens, or residents in the United States, engaged, or 
 
241 
 
 preparing lo engage in the African slave trade. It further 
 more provided, for the reception and maintenance in the 
 United States, of all re-captured Africans, until such time 
 as they might, or could be restored to their own country. 
 And to expedite a measure so just in itself, and as such, 
 in accordance with the benign maxims and principles of 
 Christianity, conferred upon the president of the United 
 States, the power to appoint one or more suitable per 
 sons, to reside on the coast of Africa, for the purpose of 
 receiving, sheltering, feeding, clothing, and protecting, 
 for a limited time, all Africans so re-captured. The con 
 struction given lo that act by the then president of the 
 United States, (the late amiable and excellent JAMES 
 MONROE,) was such as brought the general government 
 into a friendly collateral alliance with the society, and 
 one of its objects, which was the utter annihilation of the 
 African slave trade. 
 
 The establishment on the coast of Africa, of a United 
 States agency, for the benevolent purposes set forth in 
 the act referred to, could not, as it was then well and 
 truly believed, fail to attract the favourable notice of 
 foreign nations, and produce among them, as well as 
 among the citizens of the United States, a deeper and 
 more abiding interest in behalf oi the long neglected and 
 abused inhabitants of that continent. Without such an 
 appointment it would have been the madness of folly to 
 have attempted the establishment of a colony on the coast, 
 for it was then lined with slavers, all of whom would 
 have united, to a man, to crush in its infancy, a colony, 
 whose objects and tendencies were so directly adverse 
 to them and their trade. The society having thus secur 
 ed the indirect, though most efficient co-operation of the 
 national government, without which it could ^not have 
 taken one successful step in the great and glorious work 
 of African colonization, proceeded to make the necessary 
 preparations to despatch its first expedition of voluntary 
 emigrants to the land of their ancestors. The views and 
 feelings the hopes and the fears, which alternately po: 
 sessed the minds of the managers of the society, at th 
 most interesting period of its existence, cannot be i 
 us of the present day they can only be imagined. An 
 21* 
 
242 
 
 experiment, involving the interest of two great con 
 tinents, was to be made. The future domestic peace 
 and tranquillity of their own descendants, and the regen 
 eration of a vast continent, barbarized and irnbruited by 
 the acts and deeds of civilized nations, were involved in 
 the success of the experiment they were about to make. 
 Their views and feelings at that time, are thus expressed 
 in their third annual report: "A revolution so beneficent, 
 so extended, and so glorious, requires to effect it, the con 
 cert and the resources of a nation. The people of Ame 
 rica have the power to secure its success against the 
 uncertainty of an accident. They are summoned to the 
 performance of this duty, by the most urgent and power 
 ful incentives of interest and of justice, and the tenderest 
 claims of humanity. Its final accomplishment will be a 
 triumph over superstition, ignorance and vice, worthy of 
 a people destined, it may be fondly hoped, to surpass all 
 other nations, in the arts of civilized life. The Coloni 
 zation Society is about to lay the corner stone of this 
 edifice whether it shall rise to strength and grandeur, 
 is now for the government and people of America, under 
 the over-ruling Providence of heaven to decide." A few 
 facts will now show the progress of this great work of 
 Christian benevolence, in Africa. It will be recollected, 
 that in 1817, when this society was organized, many of 
 the good citizens of the United States declined to aid the 
 cause, until it should be ascertained that a suitable terri 
 tory could be secured in Africa. This they honestly 
 doubted, and for reasons which would have stood good 
 to this day, and forever, if the cause had not been of GOD. 
 The injuries inflicted upon that people, and their total 
 aversion thereby, to morality, and their consequent want 
 of confidence in the white race, presented barriers which 
 nothing short of divine arrangement, and providential in 
 terference could have overcome. Others again, had de 
 termined to believe that the free people of colour of the 
 United States, would not, under any circumstances within 
 their control, ever consent to go to Africa. 
 
 "Too many of this class, the writer of this brief state 
 ment of" facts regrets to say, have done all that they could 
 do, to realize their own sagacious prediction. But how 
 
243 
 
 stands the case now? why, in the first place, the society 
 did in 1821 and 1822, procure a territory in Africa, 
 which territory in 1832, extended from Grand Cape 
 Mount to Trade Town, a distance of 280 miles, and now 
 embraces a much larger extent, both of coast and the 
 interior of country. In the second place, there has been 
 transported to Liberia, (the name of the society s territory) 
 from 1821 to this period, thousands of emigrants, whose 
 faculties, while they were in the United States, were so 
 contracted as to induce the opinion with some, that they 
 were intellectually vastly inferior to the whites, who have 
 manifested a capability of expansion of intellect and of 
 moral culture, which most forcibly demonstrates their re 
 lationship to the great mass of mankind. 
 
 "This first colony, planted in Africa by American be 
 nevolence, has, in a few short years, produced a greater 
 amount of moral good to the inhabitants of that continent, 
 than could have been effected by any other means in a 
 whole century. The combined naval forces of England 
 and America, though they might have cut off, to a great 
 extent, the African slave trade, could never have inspired 
 the natives with a relish for the blessings of civilization and 
 Christianity. This has been done, and is now doing, by 
 the means of colonization, to an extent, which fully justi 
 fies the belief, and should command the confidence of 
 every man, that colonization is the great instrument, by 
 and through which, the Almighty purposes to restore 
 that long fallen and degraded continent, to all the bless 
 ings of civilization and Christianity. Beacon fires from 
 Mesurado, Cape Palmas, Mellsburgh, Caldvvell, Grand 
 Bassa, and other prominent and important points, are 
 now sending forth abroad blaze of light, illuminating the 
 darkness, and cheering the desolation of the contiguous 
 tribes, Already many of them have sprung into new ex 
 istence. Turning away with disgust and horror from the 
 traffic in each others blood, to which they had been 
 trained from generation to generation, and by which then- 
 race has been scattered and peeled, they are now culti 
 vating their own rich soil, dressing and pruning their 
 own palm trees, gathering their own pure gold, ivory, 
 valuable dyes, fragrant and beautiful gums, and healing 
 
244 
 
 plants and drugs, and bearing them into Monrovia, Cape 
 Palmas, and other settlements on the coast, for barter 
 and exchange. Their children, losing their relish for sa 
 vage life, are now learning in the schools of the colonies, 
 the language, the customs, the mechanic arts, and the 
 religion, of our emancipated slaves ; who, in their turn, 
 are gradually laying the foundation for an empire of 
 republics, breathing the spirit of our own happy institu 
 tions. Well, and truly, did the honourable HENRY CLAY, 
 the patriot, the statesman, and the friend of man, speak, 
 when he said, but the benevolent purpose of the scheme 
 is not limited to the confines of one continent, nor to the 
 prosperity of a solitary race/ It is now made as clear 
 as the light of heaven s sun, that it will, under suitable 
 patronage, gradually remove from our own borders, a 
 great political and social evil ; and at the same time con 
 ifer upon Africa, a benefit, which will in the end, pay, 
 with ample and glorious interest the debt so long due to 
 her, a debt in men, money and morals. 
 
 It is readily granted it is a position so clear, so per 
 fectly palpable, that no friend of the cause has ever 
 dreamed of reasoning against it, that private voluntary 
 donations will not produce a sufficient amount of means 
 to carry on the cause, as rapidly as it ought now to ad 
 vance. This was happily foreseen by the legislature of 
 Maryland in 18312, and but for the liberal and munifi 
 cent appropriation of money made by the state at that 
 time, in aid of colonization, the present condition of that 
 state would have been, in regard to one item of its inter 
 nal affairs, an item more intricate and difficult to man 
 age than any and all others, in a most deplorable condi 
 tion. The funds of the American, or parent institution, 
 were found to be utterly inadequate to send off to their 
 colony, the numerous applicants for admission into it, 
 from other states. And that portion of the population of 
 Maryland, whose best interests are intended to be pro 
 moted by colonization, were, and still are, rapidly increas 
 ing. Old prejudices, with all their long established habits, 
 both in Europe and America, are bending, yielding, and 
 falling before the lights and the improvements of the pre 
 sent century. 
 
245 
 
 In 1790, there were but about 8,500 free coloured 
 persons in that state. In 1830, there were upwards of 
 53,000. Hence the political necessity, both as it regard 
 ed them, and the white population of the state, of some 
 definite plan upon which they could, or might be provi 
 ded for, and placed in a condition of comfort, safety, and 
 independence colonization was, and still is, that plan, 
 and it is the only practicable plan. The adoption of this 
 plan by the general assembly of Maryland in 1831-2, and 
 the appropriation then made to render it effectual, has 
 placed the state upon a pinnacle of moral grandeur which 
 no lapse of time will ever either undermine or efface. 
 The gentlemen appointed under the act above referred to, 
 to carry into effect, its most wise, salutary, and benevo 
 lent provisions, were MOSES SHEPPARD, CHARLES HOW 
 ARD, and CHARLES CARROLL HARPER. "To eulogise 
 their acts, under this new relation to the state and one of 
 its most important domestic concerns; a relation, involv 
 ing a moral responsibility to the state, and to the chil 
 dren of Africa within its limits, and to thn African conti 
 nent, forms no part of the writer s purpose. The results 
 of their most judicious administration of, and superinten 
 dence over these great interests, is the best commentary 
 upon, and commendation of their acts. The act of 
 assembly which called them into official existence, gave 
 them a * discretionary power to do all and every thing 
 that they might deem essential to promote the welfare of 
 the persons to be removed from the state, (with their own 
 consent,) to Liberia, in Africa, or elsewhere. Being 
 members, as the law required them to be, of the Mary 
 land State Colonization Society, which an act of incor 
 poration from the state, almost simultaneous with the act 
 under which they were appointed, they were thus happily 
 brought into close fellowship and alliance with the mem 
 bers, and board of managers of that institution. What 
 has been the result of their joint operation? How have 
 they discharged the solemn obligations which they con 
 sented to come under, without fee or reward in money ? 
 Let facts answer these questions. In 1H32, some twenty 
 odd free persons of colour, residents of the city of Balti 
 more, determined to avail themselves of the privileges 
 
246 
 
 which Boyer, of Hayti, had offered to such persons of 
 colour of the United States as might be willing to emi 
 grate thither. They were sent : but none, no, not one 
 has followed them, so far as the writer is informed, and 
 believes. He knows that none since then, have been 
 sent by the State s Board, or by the society. This no 
 member of the board has ever regretted, political consid 
 erations, as well as motives of kindness to the coloured 
 people themselves, induced a most ready acquiescence in 
 this want of disposition on their part to settle in that 
 island. 
 
 "In the same year, one hundred and fifty, mostly from 
 the eastern shore of Maryland, embarked at Baltimore for 
 Monrovia, the capital of what is now called the old co 
 lony though as to years, it is still in its infancy. It 
 was then hoped by the board of managers, and the friends 
 of the cause throughout the state, that hundreds and 
 thousands of others would soon gladly follow them. But, 
 as though it had been, (as it might, for all the writer 
 knows,) the purpose of Providence to extend more 
 rapidly along the western coast of that benighted conti 
 nent, new settlements, constituted of the only class of 
 people that could effectually root up and destroy the 
 African slave trade, their hopes endured only for a sea 
 son. The first intelligence from the Maryland emigrants, 
 to whom reference has been made, was as the knell of 
 death to all these fondly cherished expectations. At the 
 time of their arrival, the colony, in consequence of an 
 extraordinary accession of new settlers, many of whom 
 were totally destitute of the slightest means of procuring 
 a livelihood, was involved in great distress. Mercantile 
 speculations and operations, by which some few of the 
 original settlers had become possessed of comparative 
 wealth, had attracted the attention of nearly every settler 
 from the soil, and the cultivation thereof, to the uncer 
 tainties of trade and traffic. They were threatened, con 
 sequently, with a want of subsistence. Food was scarce, 
 and many suffered. Many of those emigrants complain 
 ed, not of the climate, nor of the soil, for the one was 
 genial, and the other was rich ; but of the want of the 
 
247 
 
 necessary means to subsist upon during the period of 
 their acclimation. This state of things, obviously dis 
 tressing to the emigrants, and apparently well calculate. i 
 to extinguish forever the spirit of emigration, which was, 
 up to the period when this information reached Maryland, 
 extensively progressing in many of the counties of tin- 
 state, especially those on the eastern shore, was happily, 
 yea, providentially made the occasion for the introduction 
 of a new aspect, or principle, upon the system of coloni 
 zation. Up to this period, the system was general, and 
 embraced in its range all the states and territories, who 
 were disposed to become tributary to the furtherance of 
 the grand purposes of the scheme. , And as all men in 
 no one community, however small, have ever yet thought 
 exactly alike upon any subject of general interest, it was 
 not at all to be wondered at, that the benevolent purposes 
 of colonization, should be differently construed, in those 
 two cardinal sections of the union indicated by the terms, 
 the north and the south. The northern friends of the 
 cause, (acting honestly no doubt,) under the influence 
 of a strong and natural attachment to the principle of 
 voluntary labour, soon became extremely anxious to use 
 colonization as an engine to effect immediate and univer 
 sal change in the whole domestic. economy of the south 
 carried away by their ignorance of the subject, and un 
 willing to believe that the southern friends of colonization 
 were sincere in their professions of attachment to the 
 African race, because they did not resolve to incorporate 
 a new direct object upon the scheme an object, which 
 the original framers of its constitution had left to the col 
 lateral influence of the cause, and to the moral sense of 
 the community, immediately and solely interested and 
 affected by that portion of the population, whether for 
 weal or for woe : many of them drew off. Hence the 
 opposition, from portions of the north, to colonization 
 hence the infatuation in regard to it, of many good and 
 pious men, in that region. It has been well observed by 
 a distinguished citizen and divine of New England, who 
 is a warm friend and powerful advocate of the system of 
 colonization, that c in these days of ultraism, if a company 
 of good men succeed in getting up a good institution, 
 
248 
 
 even in spite of the devil himself, he is almost sure to 
 turn charioteer. Colonization, it will be observed, by 
 this contrariety of sentiment in regard to the legitimate 
 objects of its action, is made to be one thing in the north, 
 while it was another in the south. A mutual, friendly 
 concert of action between these two parties, was rapidly 
 ceasing. The foundation of the whole superstructure, 
 being thus invaded, the edifice was in danger of falling. 
 Its fall would -have annihilated the hopes of the patriot, 
 the philanthropist, and the Christian, and extinguished 
 the only star of hope for benighted and oppressed Africa. 
 The free coloured people of Maryland and of other south 
 ern states, and their descendants, would have been left 
 to all the hopelessness and dreariness which attaches in 
 all countries to the condition of a separate and subordi 
 nate caste. The tender mercies of their fanatical, 
 though well-meaning friends in the north and in the east, 
 would have produced in the incipient stages of their ap 
 plication, an action which, by the stern and unalterable 
 law of necessity, would have cast them loose from the 
 ties which now connect them to the protection of a sys 
 tem of law, beneficent and kind in its operations, and 
 salutary in its provisions, to all the wretchedness and 
 misery of a proscribed condition. But, under the power 
 ful stimulus of hope, aided by the munificent appropria 
 tion of the state, the managers appointed by the society, 
 determined to present the cause in such an aspect, as 
 could not fail to secure the hearty consent and cordial 
 approbation of all the friends of colonization in and out of 
 the state. That aspect is separate state action. The la 
 bour the toil, the research, and the trembling anxiety 
 for its success, which the managers submitted to and un 
 derwent in arranging this plan, so as to guard it against 
 every possible objection, justly entitle them to the highest 
 praise. And the success of the plan will be looked upon 
 by their descendants and posterity, as one among the 
 brightest incidents in the history of the state, which has 
 occurred since the establishment of our national indepen 
 dence. The plan having been before the people for years, 
 it is not necessary that in this brief statement of facts, we 
 should repeat it in detail. It has met the most decided 
 
249 
 
 approbation of the citizens of the state. The coloniza 
 tion societies of Pennsylvania and New York have adopt 
 ed it ; and to it, under the good providences of Almighty 
 God, and the untiring exertions of the American Socie 
 ty s secretaries and agents, to correct the erroneous views 
 and feelings of northern and eastern gentlemen, may be 
 attributed the resuscitation of the good feelings and ge 
 nerous contributions with which they greeted the cause 
 when it was first presented to their consideration. It is 
 but an act of justice to state in this place, that the people 
 of the state, and the friends of the cause elsewhere, are 
 especially indebted to John H. B. Latrobe, Esq. the cor 
 responding secretary of the Maryland Colonization So 
 ciety, for this judicious system of separate state action. 
 His devotion to this great work of improvement, and his 
 untiring efforts to make it the instrumental cause of Afri 
 ca s regeneration, justly entitle him to a high rank among 
 the best and most devoted friends of that benighted 
 people. 
 
 "In December, 1833, the first expedition was des 
 patched, with but a handful of emigrants, under the gui 
 dance and direction of Dr. James Hall, with whom was 
 associated the Rev. John Hersey, to found on the coast 
 of Africa, if possible at Cape Palmas, a new colony for 
 the benefit of the free coloured people of Maryland, and 
 such of their own colour, as might from time to time be 
 come free. The hopes and the fears which alternately 
 agitated the feelings of the managers of the two boards, 
 can only be justly conceived of, by those who were privy 
 to them at the time. But, relying upon the justness 
 the propriety, the necessity, and the benevolence of the 
 enterprise, they piously committed it in humble prayer, 
 to the guidance and direction of that benign Being, who 
 had said centuries before, Hhen Ethiopia shall stretch 
 forth her hands unto God. It should be mentioned here, 
 as a tribute of respect to the memory of the then presi 
 dent of the society, the late George Hoffman, Esq. whose 
 contributions in aid of the cause were always free and 
 liberal, that after signing the instructions which had been 
 written out for the government and direction of Dr. Hall, 
 he addressed the board of managers, and said, Now, 
 22 
 
250 
 
 gentlemen, we have done all that we can do to insure 
 the success of this great undertaking, and may the bless 
 ing of Almighty God follow what we have done. 7 This 
 sudden heart-felt appeal produced a sensation at the 
 board, which induced every member present, to say, 
 Amen! The success of this expedition fully realized 
 the expectations of its most ardent friends, and greatly 
 increased the confidence of others in the wisdom and 
 foresight of its projectors. 
 
 "The announcement of his success, by Dr. Hall, was 
 accompanied with two young native African boys, one 
 the son of King WEAK BORLEO, and the other of King 
 PARFLEUR. Their parents were anxious to have them 
 instructed in an English education, and as a token of 
 their confidence in the integrity of the managers of colo 
 nization, sent them to their care. This instance of confi 
 dence, under all the circumstances of the case, is without 
 a parallel in the history of ages ; and should be looked 
 upon as conclusive proof of the desire, so frequently 
 ascribed to that people, of emerging from their ignorance 
 and barbarism. The territory thus happily secured, and 
 which was supposed to contain within its limits, some 
 thing like 500,000 acres of land, w r as called Maryland 
 in Liberia and the first town established therein, at 
 Cape Palmas, was called HARPER, after the late General 
 Robert Goodloe Harper, of Maryland, who gave the 
 cause of colonization at an early period of its existence, 
 the weight and influence of his name, money, and elo 
 quence. A recent publication under the editorial head 
 of the Baltimore American, is so replete with information, 
 shewing the progress of the colony and its happy moral 
 influence over the surrounding native tribes, that we are 
 constrained to connect it with this brief statement of facts: 
 "MARYLAND IN LIBERIA. 
 
 "We invite the attention of our readers to the letter, 
 which we publish below, in reference to the present con 
 dition of this interesting colony. The intelligence here 
 tofore received of it has always been satisfactory, and 
 the opinion of Mr. Burt, who certainly appears to have 
 been a disinterested witness, and who corroborates his 
 
251 
 
 views by the facts which he states, fully confirms us in 
 the belief that its establishment has been one of the most 
 fortunate circumstances connected with the colonization 
 cause. It would be unjust not to remark, that the pros- 
 penty of the colony reflects the highest credit upon the 
 board of managers of the State Colonization Society, 
 who, as well in the choice of a location on the coast of 
 Africa, as in the adoption of a proper system for the 
 government of the settlement, have exercised so sound a 
 judgment. It gives us great pleasure to add, that des 
 patches have been received, in which the condition of 
 the colony is stated to be highly prosperous. Dr. Hall 
 had just returned from a most interesting tour up the Ca 
 vally river, from the mouth of the falls, a distance of 
 sixty miles, and had reached the mountain range, which 
 here runs parallel to the coast. He describes the Cavally 
 as a noble stream, navigable for vessels drawing twelve 
 feet water, at all seasons, as high up as the cataract at 
 Fave. Numerous villages and some large towns are 
 found at intervals on either bank. With the kings of 
 two of these. Dr. Hall made treaties, by which large 
 tracts of territory w r ere ceded to the state society ; the 
 consideration being, besides the trifling present made at 
 the palaver, the advantages which the kings would derive 
 from the establishment of schools for their people, and 
 the introduction of the arts of civilized life. A treaty 
 was also made with the king of the Yeabreh people for 
 the Bulyemah country, which gives the State Society 
 the possession of both banks of the Cavally for some 
 miles above its mouth. The king of Half Cavally, who 
 had refused to sell to the society, when the colony was 
 founded, and whose territory, lying like a wedge in the 
 midst of the society s possessions, was a constant source 
 of anxiety, lest it should be sold to foreigners, who would 
 establish a factory, where a traffic in ardent spirits, pro 
 hibited in Maryland in Liberia, would be carried on, 
 this king has now followed the example of his neigh 
 bours, and ceded his lands. The policy of the State 
 Society being to raise the natives to the standard of the 
 colonists, with a view to their amalgamation as one peo- 
 
252 
 
 pie, and not to drive them from their homes, the various 
 treaties that have been made leave to them their im 
 proved lands and possessions, but being all under the 
 control of the governor of Maryland in Liberia. The 
 extent of territory recently acquired, is about five hun 
 dred square miles. In the Bulyemah country, a part of 
 the new cession, is the oracle of the region of country for 
 six hundred miles up and down the coast. Dr. Hall 
 visited the spot, and found it to be a large rock, from 
 which, by means of a rude ventriloquism, possessed by 
 the attendant priest, a sound was made to appear to pro 
 ceed, which the priest interpreted ad libitum. To the 
 ignorant natives, the rock, situated in a wild country, 
 seems invested with intelligence, and hence its sanctity. 
 Delphos lives again in Bulyemah. The influence of the 
 reputation of the colony and its able governor, was 
 strongly proved on the visit up the Cavally. The bro 
 ther of the king of Haidee died on the night of Dr. 
 Hall s arrival in the chief town of the territory, and one 
 of the natives was next day sentenced to undergo the 
 trial by poison, on suspicion of being the cause of his 
 death. Through the exertions of Dr. Hall, however, he 
 was saved from the trial, and this, notwithstanding the 
 high rank of the supposed victim, the power of the king, 
 and the passions and prejudices of the people. 
 
 Extract of a letter from Wm. Floyd Burt, supercargo of the Brig 
 Eliza,, of New York, to a friend in that city. 
 
 "DEAR : When you became aware of my intention 
 
 to visit the western coast of Africa, you partly wrung 
 from me a promise that in case my other engagements 
 would permit, I would note particularly the state of the 
 American colonies established here, as you would put 
 confidence in my remarks concerning them. I then in 
 formed you, that being neither abolitionist nor coloniza- 
 tionist, I, of course, should be an impartial observer, but 
 as my object in visiting the coast would be strictly com 
 mercial, I should probably have little leisure to attend to 
 other business than my own. I will however, make a 
 few observations merely to convince you that I have not 
 
253 
 
 been unmindful of your request; and at the same time 
 confess that I feel an interest in the affair, which a half 
 dozen colonization meetings could never have awakened. 
 No intoxicating drink is permitted to be used by the colo 
 nists or for native trade. Being but little acquainted with 
 new settlements, you may not place much confidence in 
 my judgment, but { doubt much if any town in our western 
 country has made equal progress with this in the same 
 length of time, with the expenditure of twice the amount 
 of capital. But to confine myself to facts. This village, 
 now eighteen months old, contains twenty-three frame 
 dwelling-houses of one and two stories; one two story 
 stone house, and commodious frame weather boarded and 
 thatched meeting-house, independent of the agency build 
 ings, which are a fine two story residence for the gover 
 nor, suitable out-houses, and a large forty feet two story 
 stone warehouse, handsomely finished on the inside, which 
 would do honour to any of our wharves. There are 
 three well constructed receptacles for emigrants; two of 
 seventy-five feet each in length, and one of one hundred 
 and twenty feet. The latter stands on the public farm, 
 about half a mile from the village, on which are also 
 being erected a two story dwelling for the farming agent, 
 and a strong jail. On the farm lands, about one and a 
 half miles from Harper, are nine dwelling-houses, occu 
 pied by late emigrants, and I should judge that there are 
 fifty acres of land under good cultivation, which in a 
 short time will supplv a sufficiency of vegetable food for 
 the whole colony. When I have said this, it will be 
 unnecessary to add that the people are enterprising and 
 industrious," and the affairs of the colony well conducted. 
 There are two schools in the colony, which are attended 
 both by colonists and natives, and I am informed that 
 they both make rapid progress. That the natives lack 
 not zeal in the matter, I am well assured, from seeing 
 men of twenty and thirty years of age, with their slate 
 and cards conning their alphabet. There is a missionary 
 establishment here under the care of the Rev. Mr. Wilson,* 
 who together with his lady, appear to be admirably well 
 
 *The Protestant and Methodist Episcopal Churches now have missionaries 
 there. 
 
 22* 
 
254 
 
 adapted by their conciliatory manners to win the affec 
 tions of the natives, which is indispensable in order to 
 effect any change in their character. They both appa 
 rently enjoy excellent health, having become quite natu 
 ralized, although not a year has elapsed since they landed. 
 The natives, although reported to have been heretofore 
 the most dangerous this side of St. Andrew s bay, are 
 now perfectly friendly and peaceable, and look up to the 
 governor of the colony as a father. The king made us 
 a visit on board, dressed in a shirt, pantaloons, and a New 
 York cut black coat, surmounted by two tarnished 
 epaulettes, a tri-cocked hat and long red plume. The na 
 tural advantages of Cape Palmas are greater than those 
 of any other point of the coast. The anchorage and 
 landing is decidedly the best I have seen ; and although 
 it has little trade now, except palm oil, yet from its situ 
 ation, being the connecting point between the windward 
 and leeward coasts, it must one day command the main 
 trade of both ; and become a depot for immense quanti 
 ties of merchandise to be distributed by small colonial 
 crafts, from one to two hundred miles each way. If this 
 slight sketch will afford you any satisfaction, I shall be 
 amply repaid for the communication, for I assure you I 
 have derived no little pleasure from acquainting myself 
 thoroughly with so beautiful a colony in this land of igno 
 rance and barbarism. Of the matter herein contained, 
 you may make what use you see proper." 
 
 What delightful emotions must swell the heart of the 
 Christian philosopher, and of the philanthropist, when 
 they look over this broad, rich and luxuriant field of suc 
 cessful experiment, which is now enlightening, blessing, 
 and saving the African race ? How great, how mighty 
 the changes which have been effected on the western 
 coast of that darkened continent, within a few short 
 years? Heretofore, for centuries, up to 1820, the whole 
 of that vast coast, with the exception of the little verdant 
 spot of Sierra Leone, was one dreary, dark, and moral 
 waste. The native tribes thereof, driven by the sad ne 
 cessity of circumstances, were in almost constant war 
 with each other, in order to secure captives to meet the 
 increasing demand for slave labour in the West Indies 
 
255 
 
 and in other places. The common ties of humanity, and 
 the sacred bonds of consanguinity, were all torn asunder, 
 and the coast was one wide-spread scene, (with the ex 
 ception already made,) of deep moral degradation, and 
 unnatural alienation. Colonization, like the star in the 
 east, which led the Magi of Egypt, from the deep reces 
 ses of their solitude, by a way which they knew not, to 
 the ancient city of Bethlehem, in the land of Judea, the 
 birth-place of the Redeemer of mankind, is now most 
 happily and effectually drawing the native African race 
 to behold in the persons, and the conduct, the arts and 
 the religion of the children of their exiled fathers, the 
 influence of that religion, whose unvarying accents from 
 the beginning, have been, and still are, peace on earth 
 and good will to man. Colonization is gradually unfold 
 ing and explaining the deep mysteries of Providence, in 
 regard to that long afflicted and degraded portion of the 
 human race. The clouds of thick darkness, which have 
 so long hung over them, are gradually passing away. 
 And the reasons, which made it necessary that they 
 should be scattered and peeled and trodden/ under 
 foot for a season, are becoming plainer and more 
 clear, every revolving year. Like the ancient Jews, 
 who departed from the worship of God to the ac 
 knowledgment and adoration of dumb idols, and who 
 were scourged by repeated captivities in foreign lands, 
 and who were only cured of their idolatry, by their last 
 captivity and servitude in Babylon ; the native African 
 race, having also departed from the worship and adora 
 tion of the true God and only saviour, Jesus Christ, were, 
 as it would seem, temporarily abandoned to their own 
 lusts, while multitudes of them were permitted to be torn 
 from their homes, and brought to this continent and the 
 islands thereof, where they have been learning, especially 
 within the limits of the United States, from generation to 
 generation, the language, the arts, the civilization and 
 religion of freemen, and the nature and genius of repub 
 lican governments. 
 
 Should we contrast their past and present condition in 
 this country, farther than already done, with the condi 
 tion of their less enlightened, barbarous and enslaved 
 
256 
 
 brethren in their "fatherland," what enlightened Christian 
 would not say< although it was a personal, deep, and 
 awfully aggravated crime in those who originated and 
 first engaged in the traffic, that their condition is never 
 theless better than it would have been at home. It was 
 truly a wicked, unnatural, and savage act on the part of 
 Joseph s brethren, when they, through envy, unanimously 
 agreed to sell him a slave to the merchants of Egypt. 
 But that act, wicked and abominable as it was, was over 
 ruled by a kind, merciful and benignant Providence, for 
 their temporal salvation. The history of that case, has 
 been too much overlooked. Under the influence of local 
 circumstances, and of local prejudices, good meaning 
 men, have entirely forgotten, or have looked away from 
 the delightful and precious doctrine of an over-ruling, 
 controlling and determining Providence, which is beau 
 tifully illustrated, in or by the case of Joseph. Some 
 years after he had been sold, his father and his brethren 
 were upon the eve of perishing by famine. They (his 
 brethren) must go down into Egypt to buy corn. When 
 they first came into the presence of Egypt s governor, 
 Joseph, their own brother, although they knew him not, 
 yet he knew them well. For a time he kept his feelings 
 in his own heart. But when he could no longer refrain 
 the mighty gush of brotherly affection, which had been 
 pent up in his heart so long, even from the first moment 
 that he saw them, he cried out, in the midst of all his 
 courtiers and attendants, "Cause every man to go out 
 from me and there stood no man with him while Joseph 
 made himself known to his brethren and he wept aloud, 
 and the Egyptians and the house of Pharaoh heard and 
 Joseph said unto his brethren, I am Joseph doth my fa 
 ther yet live? and his brethren could not answer him, 
 for they were troubled at his presence and Joseph said, 
 Come near to me, I pray you and they came near, and 
 he said, I am Joseph, your brother, whom ye sold into 
 Egypt; now therefore be not grieved nor angry with 
 yourselves, for God did send me before you to preserve 
 life." 
 
 It is intended to show by this pathetic quotation, 
 that the African race upon their exit from this country, 
 
257 
 
 enlightened and ready to spread that light which here 
 they have received the knowledge of God and his 
 religion can go back to their fatherland, (many of them 
 have gone more are ready to go,) and carry with them 
 a portion of the bread of life. This fact alone, clearly 
 demonstrates to all, except the wilfully blind and fanati 
 cal, that their sojournment here, has been a blessing to 
 themselves, and is being made an everlasting blessing to 
 the children of their ancestors, by the over-ruling provi 
 dence of the living God. If this condensed view of the 
 subject be a true one, (and the facts in regard to coloni 
 zation and its effects, cannot be disputed,) is it not quite 
 clear, even as plain as day, that those who have attempted 
 to substitute immediate and universal emancipation, for 
 colonization, are the worst enemies of the whole African 
 race Their plan, even if, by any possible means, it 
 could be made practicable, without subverting the do 
 mestic economy, for the time being, of the southern states, 
 would rob Africa of the only means by which she can 
 be recovered from the ignorance and barbarism which 
 she has suffered for ages past. 
 
 Colonization has already done for Maryland, Virginia, 
 and the South, more than the worth of a million of dol 
 lars. It has secured on the coast of Africa, a territory 
 more than sufficient for her free coloured population, as 
 numerous as they are, and for all that may hereafter, 
 from time to time become free, for an age to come. It 
 has established governments upon the principles of en 
 lightened republicanism, which are now challenging the 
 admiration, and commanding the confidence and the af 
 fections of the native tribes within the sphere of their 
 operations. It has been the faithful and true John the 
 Baptist, of the states, for it has prepared the way for a 
 full, free and generous action, in favour of that portion 
 of our population, whose claims for protection are sanc 
 tioned by the holiest attributes of our nature. It has 
 prepared the way for any future legislation for them, 
 which circumstances may imperiously demand. Coloni 
 zation has erected a bulwark upon the broadest, firmest, 
 and most immovable basis, and presents a shield of pro 
 tection against the fiery and fanatical doctrines of north- 
 
258 
 
 ern agitators, and will, in all future time, preserve the 
 peace, and secure the happiness of our domestic relations. 
 It has done all this, at a cost so trifling, so utterly insig 
 nificant, when contrasted with the extent of the territory 
 secured, the governments established, the emigrants* sent 
 from the states, and their own independence, and the 
 benefits they are conferring upon the nations around them, 
 as to be scarcely worth naming. 
 
 How different is this result from the predictions of 
 many in 1817. Then it was alleged, "no territory can 
 be secured on the African coast no free coloured man 
 will ever voluntarily leave the United States for Africa ; 
 and the expense, even if these difficulties were out of the 
 way, is too enormous millions by millions will not pro 
 duce an adequate sum." Pursuing the even tenor of their 
 way, the friends of the cause have given a practical de 
 monstration of these errors. They have established inde 
 pendent colonies, and there are now within their limits, 
 thousands of citizens, who were once hewers of wood 
 and drawers of water in the United States. For twenty- 
 five years many of the northern as well as southern states 
 have been actively, though feebly, engaged in advancing 
 this good plan of colonization, thus originated by the 
 fathers of our country, and thus carried out by our wisest 
 and greatest statesmen. Abolitionism alone has acted 
 as a deadly sirocco, to blast their efforts and prevent that 
 good intended to the coloured race. Kentucky, Tennes 
 see, the Carolinas, Georgia, Louisiana, and little Missis 
 sippi, stimulated by the example of Virginia and Maryland, 
 indeed all the slave-holding states, have engaged actively 
 in this good cause of colonization. It is just, it is right 
 and honourable to say, that the untiring efforts of the 
 colonization societies of the non-slave-holding states, have 
 evinced also their undissembled attachment to this union. 
 Thousands of dollars have been collected thousands of 
 coloured men and their families have gone to Africa. 
 Tov/ns, forts, farms, churches, mills, stores, have risen 
 up as by magic. Never did colonies prosper as have 
 those in Africa. The gospel is now preached by scores 
 
 * Thousands of free persons of colour have been sent to Liberia, since the 
 formation of the society. 
 
259 
 
 of coloured ministers and white missionaries to the colo 
 nists and natives. African chiefs, their families and 
 people, have turned to the Lord Jesus Ethiopia has 
 stretched forth her hands to God. He has heard her 
 cry and the voice of salvation is in the African taberna 
 cle. The Methodist Episcopal Church have a regularly 
 established conference in Africa, of at least twenty mi 
 nisters, and several hundred church members. The 
 Baptists have a large association, nearly equal to them. 
 The Protestant Episcopalians and Presbyterians are doing 
 wonders in Maryland, Liberia. The self-denying Mr. 
 Wilson, the Presbyterian minister at Cape Palmas, his 
 amiable, pious and accomplished consort, and the excel 
 lent and pious Dr. Savage, and his companions of the 
 Protestant Episcopal Church, are causing under God, the 
 desert to blossom as a rose. We have ourself received 
 letters from some of the colonists, and some of the mis 
 sionaries, with whom we are personally acquainted. We 
 are able to say, that in our humble opinion, but for the 
 interference of abolitionists, at this moment, where there 
 is one coloured man, a colonist in Liberia, there would 
 have been one hundred. Thousands of free coloured 
 men and their families have been deterred from removing 
 thither, by abolition efforts, and the untoward misrepre 
 sentations of those contentious fanatics. 
 
 We will not here set down what we could collect and 
 say of those disinterested and benevolent efforts made by 
 New York, Pennsylvania, the New England, and other 
 non-slave-holding states, to advance the cause of coloni 
 zation. The Protestant Episcopal, the Presbyterian, the 
 Baptist and Methodist Churches, have all, as one body, 
 united to advance the same, because by the removal of 
 the free coloured race, they actually civilize and save 
 Africa, and restore the free coloured man to the enjoy 
 ment of freedom in his proper home. Thus, whilst by 
 the removal of these, they better the condition of the 
 slave, they encourage masters and mistresses to let their 
 servants voluntarily go free, as a suitable home is pro 
 vided for them, and they also encourage the slave to do 
 well, under expectation that his master will ultimately 
 send him or his posterity to his fatherland, there to be 
 
260 
 
 raised to the dignity of a freeman. At a time when a 
 rupture was absolutely about to take place in the Metho 
 dist Episcopal Church, in consequence of northern aboli 
 tion efforts, many northern men threw themselves in the 
 breach and resisted these efforts. The lamented Fisk, 
 old Bishop Redding, Dr. Bangs, and others, stood up for 
 the cause of our union and our country, and no man ever 
 wrote on this subject, to more direct and immediate effect, 
 than did Dr. David M. Reese, of New York. The New 
 York Methodist Annual Conference breasted the torrent, 
 and let its ministers and their members, and the world 
 know, that on this subject the Methodists w r ould and 
 should be one. Many ministers and members of the 
 Baltimore Annual Conference, with the much lamented 
 Bishop Emory at their head, as we have reason to know, 
 came out and denounced abolitionism in the following, 
 which we copy from the Baltimore American, as pub 
 lished by them. 
 
 "BALTIMORE, August 20th., 1835. 
 
 **The undersigned ministers, within the Baltimore Annual Con 
 ference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, respectfully request 
 those individuals north of us who are agitating the question of 
 immediate abolition, to desist from sending to any of us their in 
 flammatory periodicals, or other publications on that subject, as 
 we never ordered or desired them, and are determined to have 
 nothing to do with any of them, of which we request all postmas 
 ters to take notice. We beg leave to assure them also, that though 
 we are neither slaveholders nor the friends of slavery, yet that, in 
 our judgment, the rash and violent course they are pursuing, in 
 conjunction with foreign emissaries, is doing immense mischief in 
 all our southern country, and is especially calculated and tending 
 to overwhelm our coloured population, both bond and free, with 
 greatly aggravated afflictions and dangers, both temporal and spi 
 ritual, and to embroil the country in disgraceful and murderous 
 riots. It is well known that the Baltimore Annual Conference 
 has always taken, and still takes, a decided stand in favour of gra 
 dual and ultimate emancipation ; yet so far as we know, the sen 
 timents herein expressed are those of our brethren generally in 
 this section, in regard to the interference of foreign agitators, in 
 this most delicate and embarrassing of all our domestic difficulties." 
 
 We repeat we have reason to know something of this 
 paper, for Dr. Emory drew it up, and it was published 
 from a copy of our own making as above. Among 
 
261 
 
 others, maintaining the cause of the south, we find the 
 talented Mr. Paulding, late secretary of the navy. When 
 we turn to the southern states, notwithstanding the slurs, 
 persecutions and inconsiderate efforts of these rash fana 
 tics, we behold them cooly at work, using their efforts 
 to advance the interests of the coloured race, by uniting 
 in the scheme of colonization, which is so well calculated 
 to effect its permanent welfare. By a reference to the 
 African Repository and Colonial Journal, we find Ken 
 tucky, Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Mis 
 souri, and Arkansas, among the new states pressing on 
 this great work. We wish we had space for those quo 
 tations which would show the sums raised, the work 
 done, and the number of coloured persons sent by them 
 to Africa. Among the old states we find Georgia, North 
 and South Carolina, as well as Maryland and Virginia, 
 putting the shoulder to the wheel, and seeking, notwith 
 standing abolitionism, to send the coloured man out full, 
 to the land of Ham, the land of his fathers, a to bless, to 
 till," and enjoy the fruits thereof. We would like to in 
 sert, in extenso, a report of the doings of all the slave- 
 holding states on the subject of colonization. This we 
 cannot do. We must not, however, forego that pleasure 
 which it gives us to record here some of the proceedings 
 and speeches at a late meeting of the Colonization So 
 ciety of Virginia, held in its capitol. The report is one 
 among the most interesting we have ever read. It gives 
 a succinct account of every important point connected 
 with colonization, and contains, among other interesting 
 things, a speech delivered by President TYLER, then 
 the president of the society, a speech from Gen. BAI 
 LEY, of Accomac, one from Mr. RIVES, of Albemarle, 
 one from Mr. MAXWELL, of Norfolk, and one from Mr. 
 WISE, of U. S. Congress. These speeches could not be 
 curtailed without material injury to the cause : and as they 
 set forth the true principles of our fathers and the south on 
 this subject, we give them as a whole, happy to have at 
 hand something so well calculated to subserve that cause, 
 which we believe to be the one, and only one, on which 
 the entire south ought to unite. We mean colonization. 
 
 o 
 23 
 
262 
 
 In concluding their report, the managers express this 
 same opinion. 
 
 "The hall of the house of delegates was crowded to overflowing, 
 at an early hour, by an audience of the first respectability and in 
 telligence in Richmond., including many members of the legisla 
 ture. 
 
 "The Hon. JOHN TYLER, president of the society, upon taking 
 the chair delivered the following brief but very striking inaugural 
 address, which fully sustained his reputation as a public speaker. 
 He said that he could not permit this, the first occasion on which 
 it had been in his power to attend a meeting of the society since he 
 had been elected its president, to pass by, without expressing his 
 grateful sense for the honours conferred upon him. You have ap 
 pointed me, said he, the successor of one whose name is destined 
 to reach a remote posterity of one who, in his private character 
 and conduct, furnished an exemplification of all the virtues. JOHN 
 MARSHALL was among us as one of us plain, unostentatious and 
 unassuming, he left us in doubt which most to admire, his unaf 
 fected simplicity of character, or his extraordinary talents. Filling 
 the highest judicial station followed by the admiration of his 
 countrymen exerting an extensive influence by the mere force of 
 his genius, over public opinion his name familiar to the lips of 
 the highest and most humble of a people inhabiting a continent, he 
 seemed alone to be unconscious of his own exalted w T orth. To be 
 appointed the successor of such a man, however great my own 
 unworthiness, is an honour of which I have cause to be proud. 
 The very origin of the Colonization Society is, in my memory, 
 identified with him. At its first meeting in Washington, curiosity 
 led me to be present ; notice had been given through the newspa 
 pers, of the proposed meeting at Brown s hotel, and I was attracted 
 thither by the desire to hear what could be said in favour of a 
 scheme which I was short-sighted enough to regard as altogether 
 Utopian. Let me frankly confess myself I did consider it in its 
 incipiency as but a dream of philanthropy, visiting men s pillows 
 in their sleep, to cheat them on their waking. Chief Justice MAR 
 SHALL, with some fifteen others, were present, but that small num 
 ber exhibited a constellation of talent. HENRY CLAY presided, 
 JOHN RANDOLPH addressed the meeting, and WILLIAM H. CRAW 
 FORD was the first president of the Colonization Society. Such 
 was the beginning of a society which now embraces thousands of 
 the most talented and patriotic men in the country. We have been 
 peculiarly fortunate, gentlemen, in having to preside over our deli 
 berations, in this hall, one so distinguished for all that can adorn a 
 man, as Chief Justice MARSHALL ; and at the same time the pri 
 vilege of acting in close corninmiion with another of those men 
 fiven by God, in his especial goodness, as a blessing to mankind 
 mean JAMES MADISON, so lately one of our vice-presidents. I am 
 not given much to that idolatry which too often puts fetters on the 
 
263 
 
 mind, leading it to consecrate errors in opinion, because advanced 
 and sustained by men of exalted standing. But surely I may be 
 permitted to say., that the opinions of two such men concurring, 
 bear strong evidence of truth. Their minds were of too substantial 
 an order to indulge in a mere vision. Their judgments were too 
 profound to have been misled by the deceptive lights of a mistaken 
 philanthropy. While the horizon of the future was clouded so 
 that my own limited vision could not penetrate it, they stood, as 
 it were, on a lofty mountain s top, and a beautiful prospect was 
 presented to their sight. They saw the first landing of the pilgrims 
 on the desert shores of Africa the busy and the "thriving rose up 
 before their sight the hammer of the artizan sounded in their 
 ears the hum of industry floated on the breeze songs of praise 
 and thanksgiving came over the distant waves the genius of civi 
 lization had penetrated the Wilderness, overthrowing in its progress 
 the idol and the altar, and rearing on the ruins, temples to the true 
 and only God. All this they saw, and all this we now see. For my 
 self, after learning the successful landing of the first emigrants, and 
 that they were speedily to be followed by others, all. my doubts va 
 nished. The reality was before me. The seed was planted spring 
 time came and it vegetated harvest time and the crop was abun 
 dant. But a few years since and no voice of civilization proceeded 
 from Africa. Now thousands of civilized beings have made it 
 their home, and the wilderness may be considered as reclaimed. 
 The exhibits annually made to the public of the state and condi 
 tion of the colony, are calculated to relieve the mind of all doubt. 
 The colony is planted advances with rapid strides and Monrovia 
 will be to Africa what Jamestown and Plymouth have been to 
 America. Happily their success is equally beneficial to all the 
 states. Nothing sectional enters into it. The same spirit actuates 
 all ; the same policy governs all. The free black man is found in 
 Maine as well as in Louisiana. What then shall relard the onward 
 march of this great cause ? Heretofore it has looked for success 
 to private individuals, and to the state legislatures. My opinion is 
 that it should still look to them. To appeal to congress for aid, is 
 to appeal to a body having no power to grant it a body of restrict 
 ed and limited powers, and fettered by the terms of its own crea 
 tion. From that source it may get money, but it will lose friends, 
 and friends are more valuable to it than money. I would not have 
 it successful without the concurrence of the states. Our own state 
 may be considered the pioneer in this great work. On this subject 
 she stands proudly pre-eminent. She will doubtless do her duty. 
 Policy and humanity go hand in hand in this great work ; united 
 in the accomplishment of the same object, they cannot fail to suc 
 ceed. Philanthropy, when separated from policy, is the most dan 
 gerous agent in human affairs. It is no way distinguishable from 
 fanaticism. It hears not, sees not, understands not. It is deaf, 
 and hears not the admonitions of truth and wisdom. It is blind, 
 and walks over prostrate victims, and amid the ashes of desolation, 
 without perceiving that its feet are stained with blood, and that its 
 
264 
 
 garments are discoloured. It understands not,, until the voice of 
 sorrow and lamentation, proceeding from the sepulchre of man s 
 fondest hopes and brightest expectations,, arouses it to conscious 
 ness. And is there not a spirit of that sort now at work in our 
 own fair land? It is the antagonist of that which we cherish. It 
 invades our hearths,, assails our domestic circles, preaches up sedi 
 tion and encourages insurrection. It would pull down the pillars 
 of the constitution, and even now shakes them most terribly 
 would violate the most sacred guarantees would attain its object 
 by sundering bonds which bind and only have power to bind these 
 states together : the bonds of affection and brotherly love. It seeks 
 to excite inextinguishable prejudices in the minds of one -half of 
 our people against the other half. It acts in league with foreign 
 missionaries, and gives open countenance to the people of another 
 hemisphere to interfere in our domestic affairs. It is sectional, 
 altogether sectional ; in a word, it is the spirit of abolition. From 
 this place / denounce it, and this society denounces it. The wea 
 pons which it uses are the weapons of slander and abuse not as 
 to one sex or condition of existence only, but all all are abused 
 and slandered by it. It labours to induce the usurpation of a power 
 by government, which would be attended by the destruction of the 
 government itself, in the substitution (if a work so disastrous to 
 the liberties of mankind could be effected) of a consolidated gov 
 ernment a mere majority machine in place of the happy federal 
 system under which we live. The opinion already prevails with 
 many, that the government is a unit and the people a unit ! I 
 care not from whence they derive sanction for this but this I will 
 say, that whether such sanction comes from the living or the dead, 
 from men in power, or men out of power, it is false in theory and 
 destructive in practice. Each state, as to all matters not ceded by 
 compact, is as SOVEREIGN as before the adoption of the constitution. 
 What right then have the people of one state to interfere with the 
 domestic relations of any other state? what right to agitate in 
 order to affect their neighbours ? The reverend clergy, too, they 
 whose doctrine should evermore be, peace on earth and good will 
 to men, are lending themselves to this pernicious work. They 
 seek to enlist woman she who was placed upon the earth, as the 
 rainbow in the heavens, as a sign that the tempest of the passions 
 should subside. Woman is made an instrument to expel us from 
 the paradise of union in which we dwell. What will satisfy these 
 ministers of a gospel which alone abounds in love ? Do they wish 
 to christianize the heathen ? to spread the light of the gospel over 
 the benighted places of the earth through the instrumentality of this 
 society, that light may be brought to shine where no ray of the 
 gospel sun has ever yet penetrated ? Do they want a more ex 
 tended theatre for their labours than that they now enjoy ? We 
 present them one entire quarter of the earth. We invite them to 
 go with us into the wilds of Africa to sit down by the side of the 
 black man to teach him to raise his eyes from the earth on which 
 they are bent to look up to the heavens and to ascend through 
 
265 
 
 nature unto nature s God. He works most inscrutably to the un 
 derstandings of men; the negro is torn from Africa, a barbarian, 
 ignorant and idolatrous j he is restored civilized, enlightened, and 
 a Christian, The Colonization Society is the great African mis 
 sionary society. In my humble judgment it is worth more, twice 
 told, than all foreign missionary societies combined. Already it 
 has planted the cross among the heathen, and kindled the fires of 
 civilization in the desert ; and that cross will stand and that light 
 be spread until a continent be redeemed. All this is done quietly 
 and peaceably and with the acquiescence of society. Charity dic 
 tates and policy adopts can any messenger of the Saviour can 
 any lover of his race, look upon this picture without delight ? Will 
 nothing content him which is not done in violence ? Has he fal 
 len in love with anarchy, that he woos her so assiduously ? Are 
 envy, malice and all uncharitableness become assistants in the mi 
 nistrations of the altar? Is fraternal feeling and family peace 
 become odious in his eyes ? But I will dwell no longer on these 
 things. Our course, gentlemen, lies plainly before us ; we will 
 steadily pursue it; we interfere with no relation in society. In 
 what we seek to do we are justified alike by the wisdom of the 
 living and the dead, and success, full, ample and entire, must 
 crown the enterprise. 
 
 "General Bayly, of Accomac, offered the following resolution : 
 
 "Resolved, That we regard the removal of the free people of co 
 lour from the United States to Africa, with their own consent, as 
 one of the most efficient means of securing their ultimate peace, 
 happiness, and prosperity. 
 
 General Bailey remarked : Just before I came to this meeting, 
 Mr. President, I was requested to offer the above resolution and 
 advocate its adoption. Notwithstanding I was thus suddenly call 
 ed upon, I did not hesitate to comply with the request ; for the 
 truth of the resolution was too apparent to require either eloquence 
 or argument to sustain it. 
 
 "The laws of all the slave-holding states permit emancipation. 
 It has ever been the policy of Virginia to allow the master to free 
 the slave. But since 1806, her laws have required all slaves there 
 after manumitted, to leave the commonwealth. Though our laws 
 require all freed slaves to leave the state, as a condition upon their 
 emancipation, even philanthropy itself has not provided an asylum 
 for them in the United States. What shall become of them? 
 Stern, unyielding and just policy demands that they should not 
 remain in Virginia. But even should she be disposed to relax the 
 rigour of her laws, ought they to remain within her borders ? 
 Shall they be taken to the free states, even when their laws permit 
 it ? We are not the enemies ofemancipation when it is voluntary 
 on the part of the master, and when it can be effected without in 
 jury to individuals and society. But when it has been legally 
 commenced, we desire to see it consummated. This never can be 
 done as long as the negro remains in .America. He never can 
 enjoy, here, the high prerogatives of a freeman. He many cease 
 23* 
 
266 
 
 to be the slave of a single individual, but he will continue to be the 
 slave of the community,, whose oppressions will be greater, and 
 whose protection will be less, than that of the individual master. 
 I repeat : In America, the black man never can be free ! he never 
 can have the high-born feelings of a freeman he must ever be a 
 political and social slave. The shackles never can fall completely 
 Irom about him, until he stands upon the shores of Africa. 
 
 "If, therefore, Mr. President, the negro never can be free in 
 America, and if freedom be necessary to happiness and prosperity, 
 it seems to me, that all philanthropists should join to bear him to 
 Africa. 
 
 "It will be perceived that the end aimed at in the resolution, is 
 not a mad or fanatical one, to be attained at the cost of the property 
 and life of the slaveholder, and the happiness and prosperity of 
 society. The end is no visionary one, to be arrived at by diabolical 
 means. At the same time that it secures the ultimate happiness 
 of the negro, it does not destroy, but promotes that of the white 
 man. We are not pursuing a phantom. We are not seeking an 
 imaginary blessing for the negro, under the hypocritical pretence 
 of discharging a moral and religious duty, by means which will 
 bring certain wo upon the white man. Were such our course, we 
 should expect to be denounced by the wise and good we should 
 expect to be denounced by all such, as diabolical or mad ! We 
 should expect to bring down upon ourselves the loathing of man, 
 and the vengeance of God, who has never pardoned evil, because 
 even certain good hath come of it. What, then, must be the fate 
 of him who does palpable and certain evil, that an ideal and im 
 probable good may come of it? 
 
 "It will be observed, Mr. President, that the resolution goes no 
 farther than to declare that the happiness and prosperity of the free 
 negro will be promoted by his removal to Africa. It might have 
 been extended. It might, with truth, have declared that the re 
 moval of the free negro to Africa, would promote the peace, pros 
 perity and happiness of the free negro and white man of the 
 slaveholder and the slave. But, sir, that view is not contained in 
 the resolution, and I forbear to comment upon it. I will detain you 
 no longer, sir, for I am sure the resolution will meet with the 
 approbation of all. 
 
 "On motion of Mr. RIVES, of Albemarle, it was 
 
 "Resolved, That considering the principle of African coloniza 
 tion as best responding to the demands of southern patriotism and 
 benevolence, and offering to the temperate wisdom of all parties, 
 and every section, a common ground of resistance against the mis 
 chievous and reckless enterprises of abolition, we regard it as emi 
 nently entitled to the confidence and patronage of the people of 
 Virginia. 
 
 "Mr. Rives said, that he anticipated such a ready assent to the 
 truth, and such a general appreciation of the bearings of this reso 
 lution, as to render it unnecessary for him to do more than present 
 a very summary statement of the considerations, which had deeply 
 
267 
 
 impressed his mind with this particular view of the principles of 
 this noble enterprise. He also felt that he should, perhaps,, pay 
 but a poor tribute to the generous enthusiasm which pervaded the 
 meeting, and prove himself inexcusably indifferent to the many 
 evidences with which all hearts had just been gladdened of a 
 wise and generous, and growing sensibility to all its important ten 
 dencies, if, under the incitements of an ardent zeal, he were to 
 permit himself to claim much of their attention, to enforce the senti 
 ment which he had just had the honor of proposing for their adop 
 tion. It should be, said Mr. R., our legitimate boast the subject 
 of our mutual felicitations that the objects of our society have 
 been made so familiar to the public mind, and its fortunes, so fondly 
 united with the loftiest sympathies of our people, that all its influ 
 ences, present or future, certain or contingent, have been weighed 
 with all the sagacity, and felt Avith all the chastened ardour, which 
 the sound heads and pure hearts of our countrymen, could bring to 
 the consideration of so interesting a cause. Of course, amid all 
 the lights which have been concentrated on this subject, by the 
 powers of reason and the illustrations of fancy, alike quickened and 
 ennobled by the impulses of a virtuous patriotism the aspect in 
 which this resolution contemplates it, could not have escaped the 
 public eye. Nevertheless, with a glad sense of its general appre 
 ciation, I still hope to be pardoned for barely suggesting the general 
 views which establish, in my j udgment, the double claim to public 
 favour, which this resolution advances in behalf of our scheme. 
 
 "Of all the plans yet proposed, to raise the fortunes of a degraded 
 class in our own population to repair the injuries of a wronged, 
 and desolated country to accelerate our own social progress to 
 introduce civilization, and to transplant and nurture our own free 
 institutions, in a land, in some particulars, not less favoured by 
 nature, than cruelly outraged by the rapacity of man I may safely 
 appeal to the judgment of the American people, to know if this 
 scheme of colonization does not best and most fitly correspond with 
 the demands of southern patriotism and benevolence. What fatal 
 blindness to the destinies of the southern people, would not be im 
 plied in their indifference to the multiplication among them of an 
 anomalous class, subjected to none of the restraints of servitude, 
 and incapable of being, here, elevated to the exercise of civil pow 
 ers, or the full enjoyment of civil rights ? Is it to be endured, that 
 the social state of the South shall be exposed to constant exacerba 
 tion, and the sanctity of her domestic repose endangered, from the 
 presence of an intermediate population, who stimulate the vices of 
 the slave, and hanker after the prerogatives of the master? I am 
 thoroughly convinced, that every consideration of private interest, 
 and public duty, earnestly commends this benificent undertaking 
 to the cordial regards of the slave-holding states. In view of our 
 present circumstances, and future fortunes, I should feel it to be 
 an insult to the South, worthy to be repelled by all her chivalry, 
 to suppose her, for an instant, so recreant to the calls of prudence, 
 sagacity and patriotism, as to contemplate, with lethargic mdifle 
 
268 
 
 rence, this spreading canker on her social system, without strong, 
 undaunted, and persevering efforts to remove it. 
 
 "With these simple allusions to the general and emphatic claims 
 of the society upon southern patriotism, let us turn a willing ear to 
 the stirring appeals which it makes not now, I trust, as never 
 heretofore, is made in vainto southern benevolence. There is 
 something, sir, in the forlorn condition of this unfortunate and pe 
 culiar caste of our society in the waste, if not the prostitution of 
 their moral and intellectual capabilities, that addresses itself to the 
 sympathies of Christian philanthropy, in strains not less touching 
 than those of the ancient captives, who so plaintively wept by the 
 rivers of Babylon. To relieve them from the long night of their 
 ignorance to elevate them in the scale of human existence to 
 give life to their moral and intellectual being, by placing before 
 them the incitements of civil and political duties, is a fit and ex 
 alted aim for all the benevolence of those who are, in a great mea 
 sure, responsible under Providence, for the fate of this buffetted 
 and despised race. When too, we reflect that the accomplishment 
 of this design, is the only feasible mode, namely, sir, under the 
 plan of our association, contemplates their restoration to their long- 
 lost home, with the habits and the institutions of our own favoured 
 land, prepared to propagate the blessings of Christianity, and the 
 arts of civilization, we may dare, without profanely attempting to 
 search out the secrets of the Most High, to flatter ourselves that 
 we discern in its realization, the wisdom, and the end of that ap 
 pointment, by which they were originally brought to our shores. 
 What a mysterious and holy sanction what a lofty encouragement 
 does not this consideration impart to our enterprise ! Our own 
 benevolence thus expiates the wrongs of others, and Africa is re 
 deemed from her savage thraldom, by the religion, the sciences 
 and the arts, which her reclaimed sons have brought with them 
 from the land of their captivity. 
 
 With these motives, which I am pleased to find so opportunely 
 and unexpectedly re-inforced by the encouraging, and impressive 
 views of the Annual Report that we have just received, for as 
 serting these proud titles of our society, to be held and considered, 
 now, and forever, as the peculiar fondling of southern patriotism 
 and benevolence, I turn, with feelings of equal gratification, to the 
 strong moral safeguards, which it interposes against the progress of 
 that extravagant fanaticism, which threatens from the north the 
 safety and repose of our domestic institutions. Such, sir, would 
 seem to be the constant stimulus, imparted to the public mind, by 
 the wonderful achievements, which have been attained through the 
 quickening agency of our free social organization, that there is a 
 perceptible, and melancholy tendency on all subjects, moral, politi 
 cal, and religious, to run into thoughtless excesses, the natural 
 fruits of this inordinate excitement. The bewildering effects of 
 this undue and feverish enthusiasm, can be avoided in no better 
 manner, than by calling away the public sympathies from the dan 
 gerous, and impracticable suggestions of this fanatical zeal, and 
 
269 
 
 rallying them round enterprises, whose wise, and safe, and mode 
 rate aims, command the warm approval of a sound, undisturbed 
 public judgment. In this view, the scheme of colonization, by 
 satisfying the prudent and well-directed benevolence of all the 
 sound-hearted among our brethren to the north, furnishes, both 
 there and here, the most harmonizing incentives to a fraternal co 
 operation., and the strongest moral bulwark against the exaspera 
 ting designs of abolition. 
 
 While from these obvious tendencies it has provoked the strenu 
 ous opposition, and excited the undying wrath of these impracti 
 cable zealots, any relaxation of our efforts in its support, might be 
 fitly regarded as a positive triumph to their vindictive assaults. A 
 knowledge, therefore, of our position in this respect, constitutes a 
 powerful appeal to the independent, and dauntless spirit of our 
 people, to abate not a jot of their energies, nor a particle of their 
 contributions, under the denunciations of these insolent assailants ; 
 but, on the contrary, to oppose to their abuse of our scheme, the 
 noble, and fearless defiance, that best speaks out not in menace 
 but in deliberate action, in the measure of increased zeal, and 
 munificence, that we shall dedicate to this patriotic service. Our 
 cause is abundantly sustained by the active sympathies of the wise 
 and good in every section of the union ; it is emphatically the 
 point d appui, on which rest the aims, the hopes, the affections of 
 that enlarged public spirit, which comprehends alike all the diver 
 sified interests of our Avidely extended country, and aspires, with 
 equal ardour, to arouse the south from her lethargy, and rescue the 
 north from her fanaticism. 
 
 The claims of this institution upon private generosity, have not 
 been unheeded. We have many gratifying evidences of the cor- 
 dail response, which a liberal and sagacious public, have, hereto 
 fore, made to our earnest claims upon their support. But the im 
 portant, and practical question, now arises, whether the spirit of 
 the people shall be reflected by their representatives in this hall ; 
 whether the nominal appropriation, heretofore made by Virginia 
 in aid of these objects, shall be continued, and rendered efficient, 
 by the removal of the restrictions, which have so far defeated its 
 expenditure. I am proud, sir, to have occasion to bear testimony 
 to you of the manifestations of popular solicitude in behalf of a re 
 newed and unrestricted appropriation to these purposes,* which 
 are daily reaching the body, of which I am a member. 
 
 Amid such cheering indications of public favour, and such in 
 spiriting auguries of ultimate success, I feel, that I can add no 
 stronger motives of encouragement to increased zeal, liberality and 
 exertion, in the prosecution of our enterprise than are found in the 
 ready promptings of our own hearts. 
 
 * The committee of finance, of which, Mr. R. is chairman, is charged 
 with the consideration of sundry memorials for an appropriation to this society, 
 coming from the towns of Norfolk, Lynchburg, and Petersburg, and the coun 
 ties of Rappahannock, Bedford, Amherst, Campbell, Morgan, Prince (^eorge, 
 Monongalia, Northumberland, Page, Botetourt, Hampshire, Shenandoah, * au- 
 quier, Nelson, Dinwiddie, and Berkeley. 
 
270 
 
 On motion of SYDNEY S. BAXTER, Esq. it was 
 Resolved, That this society has heard with great pleasure the 
 successful effort of the legislature and citizens of Maryland to plant 
 a colony in Africa, and that it be recommended to the board of 
 managers to adopt such measures as in their judgment shall be 
 best calculated to promote the establishment of a new colony, for 
 the reception of emigrants from this state, as proposed at the last 
 annual meeting. 
 
 On motion of MR. MAXWELL, of Norfolk, it was 
 Resolved, That the continued and increasing prosperity of our 
 colonies in Liberia, illustrating, as it does, the free and generous 
 spirit of our commonwealth, and displaying the pure and philan 
 thropic genius of Christianity, in the fairest and brightest manner, 
 is truly gratifying to all our hearts. 
 
 Mr. Maxwell said that he had come here this evening, (honestly) 
 without intending to address the meeting. Indeed he had resolved, 
 he as thought, not to do so. But alas! sir, said he, as you know, 
 the resolution of a gentlemen not to speak, is very like that of a 
 lady, (one of those rainbows, sir, that you told us about a while 
 ago,) not to marry : a resolution which, however wisely and 
 firmly made, is very apt to melt away before the breath of the first 
 agreeable tempter that presents himself before her. And even so it 
 has been with me on this occasion ; for I find, sir, that I cannot 
 resist indeed I cannot the temptation to say a single word which 
 has been addressed to me by a flattering friend, I mean our late 
 worthy agent, in the kind allusion which he has made to me in the 
 report which he has read. For, he tells us in it and it is really 
 the first time that I have heard of it that there has been a meeting 
 in Liberia at which mention has been made of my name, in con 
 nexion with the remarks which I made before our society here, at 
 our last annual meeting, in this hall, on moving the resolution to 
 establish a new colony in that country, to be called New Virginia. 
 Those remarks, it seems, published from the press, and borne on 
 the wings of some sea-bird, (some ship,) have found their way 
 across the Atlantic undrowned in its swelling surges and have 
 awakened echoes in the hearts of our freedmen there, who have 
 sent us back their cheering voices, to awaken new echoes in our 
 hearts again this evening. Yes, sir, and I must confess that I feel 
 myself not a little flattered to hear that my said speech (such as it 
 was) has been encored as it were, and spoken over again on that 
 shore. I am sorry, indeed, that I do not know who the worthy 
 gentleman was who did me the honour to personate me on that 
 occasion ; but I trust that he was some good honest fellow, and 
 a true Virginian to-boot ; and I hope also, sir, that he was duly 
 qualified to play his part with at least as mUch grace as the origi 
 nal before you at this present time. But however that may be, I 
 must say that I do feel truly gratified by this compliment, (which 
 I know how to appreciate,) and I will add, sir, by your leave, that 
 though I am not perhaps without some ambition," yet I shall never 
 envy the honours which you, sir, and other gentlemen may ac- 
 
271 
 
 quire, from "the applause of listening senates," or admiring houses 
 of representatives, if I can be known, both here and in Liberia too, 
 as the faithful friend and constant advocate of this noble and inspir 
 ing cause. 
 
 Called upon, then, sir, as I am, in this way, and bound in duty, 
 as I feel myself to be, like a guest at a feast who has just been 
 toasted to make some acknowledgment for the compliment that 
 has been paid me, I beg leave to give you a sentiment in the shape 
 of a resolution, in these words : [here Mr. M. read the resolution, 
 and proceeded.] I shall not, however, by any means, attempt to 
 enforce this resolution by many words ; for I know, indeed, that I 
 may safely trust it to speak for itself. Sir, we all feel at once that 
 we love this generous case in which we are engaged, not merely 
 for its own sake, but still more for the honour which it reflects 
 upon our state. For, it is to her counsel, in fact, as we choose to 
 remember, that our enterprise owes its origin. And it is to her, 
 too, mainly or, at least, to emigrants from her domain, that Afri 
 ca owes those new settlements Avhich she rejoices to see establish 
 ed on her coast ; and which we are happy to hear are growing and 
 thriving as we could wish. And we must and do feel, sir, that 
 "the continued and increasing prosperity of those colonies" must, 
 more and more, "illustrate The free and generous spirit of our 
 commonwealth." For, it must serve to show to all the world, 
 that our Virginia the friend of liberty is always and naturally 
 disposed to favour any and every undertaking that can fairly pro 
 mise to promote her cause with safety and advantage to all con 
 cerned. It will show at least that we her sons and daughters 
 do not hold our freedmen here in their actual state, by choice ; but 
 from necessity ; and that we are ready and willing to make our 
 half-free people of colour (hardly that) all free in the only manner 
 in which we think it possible under circumstances, that we can 
 make them so, consistently with their real welfare, as well as our 
 own. And it will show, too, that though we cannot suffer our 
 bond-men to be liberated, or rather emancipated, here that is to 
 continue here when we know and feel beforehand, from actual 
 and ample experience, that it would not, and could not, be good 
 for them nor for us to have them mingled, or rather confounded 
 among us yet we are ready and willing to forward them when 
 fairly manumitted by. their masters, to their own fatherland 
 which is the proper place for them and where they may be free 
 indeed. Yes, sir, and we can rejoice with all our hearts, to hear 
 from time to time, that they are going on, fairly and bravely, in 
 their own way, copying our free institutions, and all pur proceed 
 ings ; and we can look indeed upon their amusing imitations of 
 our actions, as parents look upon those of their little children be 
 fore them for we know, sir, that those little children will, by-and- 
 
 by, be men and worthy of their sires. 
 
 But, with these sentiments towards them, we must feel particu 
 larly pleased to hear, as we do, that satisfied and delighted as they 
 are with their new land, they yet continue to cherish a gratetul re- 
 
272 
 
 membrance of their Old Virginia still. Sir, the report has told us 
 with what joy they received the intelligence of our intention to 
 found a new colony in Liberia, which should bear her honoured 
 name ; and I am happy to be able to illustrate their sentiments on 
 this point,, a little more strongly, by a letter which I have received 
 myself from one of them a certain William Draper., formerly of 
 our good town of Fredericksburg a part of I must beg leave to read 
 to you, (in spite of its mention of rny speech again,, which I hope 
 you will excuse me for giving along with the rest.,) only to show the 
 filial feeling the true Virginia feeling, I may say which beats in 
 all their breasts. It is enclosed, you see, sir, in an envelope, (the 
 true congressional style, I believe,) and addressed to me. It is 
 dated "Bassa Cove, August 17, 1837," and reads thus "Sir, with 
 much pleasure to me to write to you this few lines, and am in 
 hopes that you and the family are well. Sir, in reading one of the 
 Colonization Herald of Pennsylvania Society, to my great joy I 
 saw a piece from the Christian Intelligencer, the good people of 
 my old state are about to settle a colony on the coast of Africa. 
 Myself, I being a Virginian, born and raised in the town of Frede 
 ricksburg, when I saw that the good people of Virginia were about 
 to plant a colony in this country, I leave with you and the friends 
 of the cause to judge my feelings. True I had been in this coun 
 try thirteen years, and returned on a visit in 1828. During my 
 my visit I had the pleasure of seeing you in Norfolk. Sir, we read 
 your speech with much pleasure, and we have witnessed all that 
 you have said concerning us and the emigrants from other states." 
 Here he refers to the remark which I made in it, that it was said 
 that the emigrants from other states were a little jealous of our co 
 lonists from Virginia accusing them, it seems, of being rather too 
 fond of having all things their own way, (only of course to have them 
 exacty right,) and you shall see, sir, how he confirms my words. 
 "A number of them do not like us ; but they can t help themselves. 
 We strive to do all that is right, and no more. We have been the 
 founders of almost all the different settlements, and there is some 
 of us would leave property if we could do no otherways, and do all 
 that we can for New Virginia. You may judge that there is some 
 of us that would not be satisfied in no other colony while ever there 
 was one called New Virginia." Such, sir, are the sentiments 
 worthy of a true son of Virginia which beat in the bosom of that 
 man ; and not in his only, but, I am persuaded, in the bosoms of 
 all the colonists who have gone out along with him from our state. 
 And now, sir, ought they not to endear these colonies still more to 
 us ; and encourage us to continue our care to them ; and prompt 
 us, more particularly, to execute the plan which we have conceived 
 of planting a New Virginia in Liberia, to extend and perpetuate 
 the glory of the Old, in that country and throughout the world, to 
 the end of time. 
 
 But, sir, we may also rejoice in the prosperity of these colonies, 
 and ought to do so still more as it serves to "display the pure and 
 philanthropic genius of Christianity, in the fairest and brightest 
 
273 
 
 manner" to the eyes of all mankind. Sir, if it was our Virginia 
 that planted these colonies, it was Christianity, let me tell you, that 
 whispered in her ear, and put it in her heart to do it. It was 
 Christianity, in fact, that planted our Old Virginia herself, in a for 
 mer age ; and it is the same benignant Power that has planted Li 
 beria and that shall plant New Virginia too in our day ; for a 
 
 blessing to the whole human race. It is she, indeed, sir, and not 
 woman, (lovely as she is, and dear to all our hearts,) it is Chris 
 tianity, sir, that is in the rainbow of the world ; uniting heaven 
 and earth, and blending them both brightly and beautifully together, 
 in a sacred and eternal covenant of peace and love. Aye, sir, and 
 you may see that rainbow now spanning the ocean that swathes 
 our shore and reconciling two continents that were some time 
 strange and hostile to each other, but are now consenting and con 
 spiring in this common cause. Yes, sir, America, (and our Vir 
 ginia foremost,) has sent the gospel to Africa by the hands of her 
 own sons by men of her own race ; a noble compensation for all 
 the wrongs which she had done her and Africa has received the 
 
 frace, and is satisfied. So the cross has indeed been planted on 
 er shore, (beaming more brightly than the sun ;) and it shall be 
 carried triumphantly into the interior and through all her bounds 
 by her proper missionaries to redeem and regenerate the land. 
 Yes, sir, and Christianity and civilization shall walk together 
 through all the length and breadth of her dominions diffusing 
 their blessings around them winning the poor barbarians from 
 their wild pursuits and pastimes, to all the happy engagements, 
 and sweet civilities of polished life and "turning them from their 
 dumb idols to the living God ;" and, in the language of sacred 
 scripture, "the wilderness and the solitary places shall be glad for 
 them : and the desert shall rejoice and blossom as the rose." 
 
 The Hon. Henry A. Wise being present, was called out by the 
 audience and addressed the meeting as follows : 
 
 "Mr. President, I find myself placed in a very embarrassing situ 
 ation. I have just gotten out of the cars from the city of Washing 
 ton. Upon arriving here, on a flying visit with a friend to this 
 city, I was for the first time informed that this meeting was to be 
 held here to-night ; and being informed that you were to preside, I 
 was tempted to attend, with the hope of hearing what we have all 
 listened to with so much pleasure, an address from you, sir, with 
 out the least expectation that I should be called on to make an ad 
 dress myself. And, sir, I, a perfect stranger here, must be pardoned 
 if I am confounded by the surprise of being thus called on so sud 
 denly to address an enlightened audience like this, here assembled, 
 without the least note of preparation, either of thought or word, on 
 a subject so great and imposing as that of this occasion. 
 
 But, sir, my embarrassment does not proceed alone from the 
 want of preparation to meet the subject and the occasion, 
 myself more embarrassed by the peculiar attitude which I have tor 
 several years past assumed towards the Colonization Society. At 
 the outset of my career in life, sir, I left this my mother state, and 
 24 
 
274 
 
 like many of her sons, emigrated to the land of the West. There, 
 in the state of Tennessee., I was appointed the secretary of a State 
 Colonization Society, and I became the zealous and active friend 
 and advocate of the great original principles of the design to secure 
 and fortify the institution of slavery itself., by colonizing the free 
 people of color., particularly those of the slave-holding states, on 
 the shores of Africa. After some years absence I returned to this 
 good old Commonwealth, and continued the friend of colonization 
 until the first session after I was elected a member of the House of 
 Representatives in the Congress of the United States. 
 
 During the session of 1833-4, a meeting of the parent society 
 was held at Washington, at which there were sentiments openly 
 avowed and proceedings attempted which alarmed many of the 
 best and oldest friends of the cause with apprehensions as to its sub 
 sequent effects and tendencies, and which caused myself, among 
 others, to look on it then and since with a jealous eye. You, no 
 doubt, sir, remember the meeting to which I allude. It was the 
 meeting at which the notorious Gerret Smith daringly insisted that 
 the ultimate object of the colonization society should be to abolish 
 slavery ; that the north should have the control of the society, be 
 cause its patrons from that quarter had subscribed most of its 
 funds ; forgetting, by-the-by, that a single deed or will of voluntary 
 emancipation in the south gave tens of thousands in property, 
 where the most zealous northern philanthropists subscribed tens in 
 dollars and cents ; it was there he openly avowed that the time 
 had then come when the institution should begin to move directly 
 towards the end he aimed at ; and, sir, it was then and there that 
 the Rev. Mr. Breckinridge denounced Old Virginia as like Nebu 
 chadnezzar s image part iron or brass and part clay, and ready to 
 be broken in pieces ! That meeting, I say, alarmed me, sir, among 
 others of the warm friends of this cause, and has made me stand 
 aloof at least for the last four years, from an active co-operation in 
 its great work. Up to the present moment, indeed, I have been 
 watching the tendencies of the society, to see whether it would be 
 safe for us of the south to participate in its operations. I feared 
 that the sentiments and influence of the Gerret Smith party would 
 pervert the society from its original purposes and ends ; and, above 
 all, I feared that colonization would be made to sow a seed of dis 
 union in the slave-holding states, at a time when, soon after that 
 meeting, the footsteps of abolition across the Potomac were traced 
 in blood. 
 
 The scenes of the summer of 1835, when the flaming torches of 
 abolition were hurled in our midst, kindling all the combustibles of 
 civil disorder, threatening to burn down our very post-offices and 
 to consume the reign of law, founding the bloody and summary 
 Lynch code on the cinders of it fires, will not soon be forgotten 
 in the south. And, sir, it was, as you well know, at the session 
 of congress immediately succeeding these awful scenes, that it 
 was thought the time had come for the south to act in congress ; 
 and, the time being auspicious, as I imagined, to obtain a recog- 
 
 
275 
 
 nition of our guarantees from the friends of a northern candidate 
 for the presidency, I moved certain resolutions in the house, in de 
 fence of the institutions of the slave-holding states. But, notwith 
 standing the favourable moment and all its immense aids of ambi 
 tion and avarice for offices and their honours and emoluments 
 
 another so favourable, I fear, will never again occur I regret to 
 
 say, without reproaches now to any, that the south was utterly 
 unsuccessful, and defeated in obtaining from congress any decla 
 ratory pledges, whatever, for the security of its rights and the pro 
 tection of its peace. The south itself was disunited, torn, divided 
 and distracted. It was then demonstrated that it was utterly im 
 possible to unite a majority in congress on any ground upon which 
 the slave-holding states could safely stand. And, sir, I here proclaim 
 in the capitol of this slave-holding state to all whom it may con 
 cern that NOW the same truth prevails the slaveholder cannot 
 rely upon any position of defence against abolition, upon which a 
 majority of the senators and representatives of the whole people of the 
 United States can be brought to unite! This truth is solemnly 
 confirmed by the discussion and proceedings now at this moment 
 agitating the senate chamber of the national capitol, and now shak 
 ing the very pillars of the constitution and the union. Take it 
 home with you all of you and reflect upon it seriously and 
 gravely. 
 
 Where then is our safety ? In what does our security consist ? 
 Sir, in one thing alone. But one principle of action will save us 
 and ours : union among ourselves! the union of the whole South ! 
 The south must stand as one man firmly, fixed, united present 
 ing an undivided front an impenetrable phalanx uttering no 
 threats throwing back no denunciations the time of debating 
 and murmuring is past but ready to act ; and, though a minority, 
 yet a minority united in solid and solemn purpose, can and will 
 deter any majority which may ever threaten to attack their peace, 
 their property, their constitutional rights, and their lives ! They 
 should unite as brethren, literally of the same faith and the same 
 fathers, on this vital question as men, women and children, in 
 volved in one and the same common danger, and bound to defend 
 the same common honour, interests and rights. Away, then, 
 with all pitiful, petty, party division, at this crisis of our fate ! 
 The man or politician who now would seize on this fatal topic for 
 personal, political or party ends, should be "anathema maranatha!" 
 Let the slave-holding states but be united on this question, so in 
 finitely above all party strife, and they have nothing to fear against 
 all the world combined. 
 
 Sir, these were the reasons the fear that the abolition party n 
 the parent society might succeed in perverting colonization iroin 
 its original design, coupled with the strongest desire and conviction 
 that nothing should be permitted to divide the south which have 
 caused me for a time to withdraw my humble countenance am 
 support from this cause. I am even now somewhat skittish, I < 
 fess, but Gerret Smith, who showed the cloven foot but partially iq. 
 
276 
 
 1833- ? 34, has since been constrained to exhibit himself in his true 
 and glaring colours of an abolitionist his party has signally 
 failed to swerve the Colonization Society from its first principles 
 they have separated themselves from it and joined to their own 
 idols they have openly declared war against colonization, and 
 their hostility now tends to drive the Colonization Society, if it 
 ever began to desert them, back to its original principles and plans 
 of operation, and to keep it pressed close to those walls of safety. 
 This has almost, if not altogether, allayed my fears and revived my 
 hopes concerning this great cause. The line of demarcation is 
 now too strongly drawn, I hope, between colonization and aboli 
 tion ever to be crossed. Their principles are diametrically opposed 
 to each other, and their warfare will tend to press each to occupy 
 its appropriate ground and position. The Colonization Society- 
 must now maintain that great original principle upon which it was 
 founded: "Friendship to the SLAVE-HOLDER." Never let it be 
 forgotten or departed from. It stands in direct contrast to that 
 upon which, according to their own pretensions, and the construc 
 tion of charity, the abolitionists have founded their society 
 "Philanthropy to the, SLAVE !" 
 
 "It is very obvious, sir, that these two principles, as interpreted 
 by the respective societies, and applied to their actual operations, 
 tend to very different and opposite results. The abolition society 
 denounces slavery as a sin ; summons the abstract principles of 
 right and justice, and an imaginary law of heaven, to destroy the 
 most holy obligations of political right and justice, founded upon 
 constitutional compact among men; appeals to prejudices and 
 passions the most dangerous, because most fanatical, to release a 
 portion of mankind from an alleged cruel and oppressive bondage ; 
 inflames and agitates the public mind, by threatening to demolish 
 all established social relations ; arouses a religious zeal in a crusade 
 against the peace and order and union of a nation ; teaches and 
 preaches insurrection to the slave; encourages Lynch-law, and 
 hallows the victims of its penalties with the glory of martyrdom ; 
 calumniates and curses the slaveholder; hurls its incendiarism 
 against his life ; attacks and attempts to render unsafe the institu 
 tion of slavery, and thereby tightens the fetters of the slave and 
 makes his chains more galling ; opposes the colonization of the 
 free-man of colour in a land where the black man may be the fel 
 low of man, and advances the horrible amalgamation of him, here 
 in the land of his degradation, with those to whom his mere asso 
 ciation is contamination the most abhorrent and revolting! The 
 Colonization Society sacredly regards slavery as a civil institution 
 of the country, which, upon the principle of the lesser yielding to 
 the greater good, cannot be attacked by the law of humanity, and 
 must necessarily be tolerated and sustained from motives and rea 
 sons of policy ; defends all the eternal and immutable principles of 
 right, and religiously promotes the obvious decrees of heaven, 
 whilst it faithfully obeys the paramount laws of the state ; appeals 
 to the reason and enlightened consciences of men, and to that calm 
 
277 
 
 and peaceful religion which ever righteously interposes to amelio 
 rate the various conditions of aU men, and which wisely w^ , the" 
 powerful to assist the weak-the unbound, the bound ; hushes t 
 din oi discord, and by a charm preserves our peace by reconciling 
 our moral duties with our social and political rights and interests 
 invokes the love of union; teaches and preaches obedience to ser 
 vants; supports the majesty of the laws by respecting public sen 
 timent, and classes all the disturbers of the public peace together 
 inspires the slaveholder with confidence, and addresses itself alone 
 to his affections ; removes the enemies of his peace and safety 
 guards and renders safe the title of his property and its enjoyment 
 and thereby obtains for the slave the indulgences which the slack 
 ened cord of confidence yields without cause of fear ; incidentally 
 facilitates voluntary emancipation, by sloughing off the free color 
 ed population always in the way of freedom to the slave ; strength 
 ens and upholds the friends of the slaveholder where he needs 
 friends most, where there are no ties and associations of slavery to 
 plead for the institution, and where in the north it is a sword to 
 pierce abolition; and, above all these special benefits, its great 
 aim is that which makes the grandeur of this cause rise to sublimi 
 ty to make light shine out of darkness, to colonize a nation of free 
 men in their fatherland out of our kitchen of slaves ! 
 
 "Yes, sir, the existence and operation of abolition but add to the 
 special benefits of colonization. It not only renders the institution 
 of slavery secure at home among ourselves, but it grants the only 
 ground on which our friends can stanl, in the non-slave-holding 
 states, among our enemies, who are daily multiplying in numbers 
 and increasing in power. But, sir, I repeat that the special bene 
 fits of this cause to this nation, are nothing compared with its ge 
 neral benefits to all mankind to all posterity to Africa to the 
 world. In contemplating the vast ultimate design and effects of 
 this great scheme, of lighting up a whole land, now shrouded in 
 the blackness of darkness, I have often been struck with a thought 
 which justifies slavery itself in the abstract, and which has made 
 me wonder and adore a gracious special Providence. Aye, sir, a 
 special Providence bad a man as some may have been taught to 
 believe me to be I, sir, even /, do firmly, if not faithfully, intel 
 lectually, if not religiously, believe in a great and good over-ruling 
 special Providence. Ani, sir, I as firmly believe that slavery on 
 this continent is the gift, of heaven to Africa. Is it unworthy of the 
 Divine purpose, or impious to suppose that it was by God intended 
 to be the sun of the illumination of that land of night? Cannot 
 one well see the hand of the Everlasting Almightv who worketh 
 not in a day or generation in making one generation serve for an 
 other of the same people? Is there aught religiously wrong in 
 malcing an idolatrous pagan sire work out the civilization and Chris 
 tianity of a son? What mortal can say that the slavery of the sire 
 was not divinely intended to be the consideration and is it any 
 thing more than a fair equivalent for the arts of life and the lights 
 of truth to his posterity ? Africa gave to Virginia a savage and a 
 24* 
 
278 
 
 slave Virginia gives back to Africa a citizen and a Christian! 
 Against which does the balance lie? If this was not the Divine 
 will, let those who object tell me how came African slavery here ? 
 Sir, it is a mystery, if not thus explained. When our fathers 
 landed on the shores of my venerable district, did they find a po 
 pulation fair as the forests of the land ? Who roamed those forests ? 
 Were they too not savages, ignorant^ rude, barbarous and uncivil 
 ized as the negro of Guinea s coast ? Were they not as fit for shi 
 very ? Did not the war of massacre, of tomahawk and scajping 
 knife give the fairest pretext for slavery, by the right of capture 
 and subjugation? Boast as we may of the royal race of aborigines 
 who lorded it over this domain of the kingly Powhatan, the peer 
 less Pocahontas the common Indians of North America were just 
 as fit for slavery, and ready here at hand, as the savages of Africa s 
 desert strands they were enslaved by the Yankees. Why, then, 
 "were slaves brought three thousand miles across the ocean, leaving 
 our neighbouring" tribes of savages untouched by yoke or chain? 
 Why but to return civilization for slavery ? Who so fit to be the 
 pioneer of civilization in Africa, as the black man ? Its light ex 
 pires has always gone out in the hand of the white man. And 
 what will the civilization of Africa not do, in the end, for man 
 kind for the world, its arts, its science, its commerce, its peace 
 and happiness, and for freedom ? What new fields will it not 
 explore ? The subject is vast and unbounded ! I say then, sir, 
 send forth your missionaries, with light and love, to the land of 
 night, until that dry nurse of lions shall become the nursery of 
 arts and science, and civilization and law, and order and religion ! 
 
 "Sir, I did not mean to say more than to apologize for not mak 
 ing a speech, arid to thank, cordially thank, this meeting for its 
 flattering notice and kind attention.* 
 
 "The speeches delivered at this meeting exhibited a power and 
 variety of eloquence which has been seldom witnessed in the capi- 
 tol of the Old Dominion. The sentiments advocated by the speakers 
 were responded to with great enthusiasm, on the part of the audi 
 ence. The indications of the growing popularity of this institution, 
 among the people of Virginia, are unequivocal. 
 
 * In a letter to the secretary of the meeting, relative to the foregoing speech, 
 Mr. Wise says : - tC The speech which I made at Richmond was intended to 
 express at the time only my own peculiar views of colonization, and ad 
 vance the arguments and reasons which recommended the cause to me." 
 
279 
 
 "The following persons were elected officers for the ensuing 
 year: 
 
 HON. JOHN TYLER, President. 
 
 Vice-Presidents. 
 
 His Ex. Gov. CAMPBELL, Hon. CHARLES F. MERCER, 
 
 WILLIAM MAXWELL, JAMES M. GARNETT, 
 
 ABEL P. UPSHUR, Hon. WILLIAM C. RIVES, 
 
 JOHN H.COCKE, JAMES MCDOWELL, 
 
 EDWARD COLSTON, JOHN F. MAY, 
 
 LEWIS SUMMERS, Dr. THOMAS MASSIE, 
 
 S. S. BAXTER, Hon. HENRY A. WISE. 
 
 JOSEPH MAYO, Corresponding Secretary. 
 DAVID I. BURR, Recording Secretary. 
 BENJAMIN BRAND, Treasurer 
 
 Managers. 
 
 NICHOLAS MILLS, WM. H. MCFARLAND, 
 
 JAMES E. HEATH, GUSTAVUS A. MYERS, 
 
 JOHN H. EUSTACE, HALL NEILSON, 
 
 FLEMING JAMES, JAMES C. CRANE, 
 
 Dr. F. H. DEANE, PEACHY R. GRATTAN. 
 
 "The following is the letter from which Mr. Maxwell made a 
 short extract in his address at the annual meeting of the society : 
 
 "To William Maxwell, Esq. 
 
 "SiR,: With much pleasure to me to write you this few lines, 
 and am in hopes that you and the family are well. Sir, in reading 
 one of the Colonization Herald of Pennsylvania Society, to my 
 great joy I saw a piece from the Christian Intelligencer; the good 
 people of my old state are about to settle a colony on the coast of 
 Africa. Myself, I being a Virginian, born and raised in the town 
 of Fredericksburg, when I saw that the good people of Virginia 
 were about to plant a colony in this country, I leave with you and 
 the friends to the cause to judge my feelings. True I have been 
 in this country thirteen years, and returned on a visit in 1828. 
 During my visit I had the pleasure of seeing you in Norforlk. Sir, 
 we read your speech with much pleasure ; and we have witnessed 
 all that you have said concerning us and the emigrants from other 
 states. A number of them do not like us ; but they can t help 
 themselves. We strive to do that that is right and no more. We 
 have been the founders of almost all the different settlements, and 
 there is some of us would leave property, if we could do no other 
 way, and do all that we can for New Virginia. You may judge 
 that there is some of us that would not be satisfied in no other co 
 lony while ever there was one called New Virginia. I am here at 
 this place, building the agency s house, which will be done m 
 short if nothing happens ; and I have also on hand a small schooner 
 
280 
 
 of 25 tons burthen, building her myself, which is the third one that 
 I have built ; and this one I had named a year ago. I thought of 
 the place where I was raised, and called the then intended vessel 
 the Rappahannock of Virginia, I will now say something about 
 the coast. I am well acquainted from as high up as the Galinas, 
 and as low down as Batton, which is about two hundred and sixty 
 miles from the Cape, that is from Monrovia; and I do not know 
 of any place that can be got but one that is to say good place but 
 one, which place is called Baffa Bay . It have a fine harbour ; it 
 have a small river; but I do not know how far it runs in the inte 
 rior. The country is called Tassin. I had a factory at that place 
 in 1833. The natives are very willing that there should be a co 
 lony settled there. They sent up here about four months ago, for 
 the agent to send some people down there with me. This place is 
 about thirty or thirty-five miles from Sinno, and at least seventy 
 miles from this place. I have nothing at present; but am in hopes 
 that the God which I am striving to serve may be with you, and 
 all the society. May the grace of God be with you now and for- 
 evermore. Amen. I am 
 
 WILLIAM DRAPER." 
 
 "The American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions 
 have established a missionary station at Fair Hope, Cape Palmas, 
 where they have one missionary, the Rev. John Leighton Wilson, 
 one printer, Benjamin Van Rensselaer James, and one female 
 assistant missionary, Mrs. Wilson total three. 
 
 "Mr. and Mrs. Wilson represent themselves as enjoying good 
 health and much solid happiness. The more they know of their 
 field of labour, the more reason do they find to think highly of it. 
 Mr. W. has made three tours, the past year, into the interior. One 
 was to the chief town in the Bololo territory, thirty miles from the 
 station. Another was to a considerable town on the Cavally river, 
 twenty miles from its mouth, and thirty-five from Fair Hope. The 
 third, made last spring, was to Grabba, eighty-five miles from the 
 town last mentioned, and one hundred and twenty from the station. 
 He describes the country in the interior, and especially along the 
 Cavally river, as of surpassing beauty and fertility. The popula 
 tion also is greater than was supposed. A circle, with a radius of 
 thirty miles from Cape Palmas, would embrace, it was thought, 
 from forty to fifty thousand souls. 
 
 "The boarding school is an interesting feature in this mission. 
 The number of scholars is fifty, a fourth part of whom are females. 
 One of the lads gives evidence of piety, and others are silently in 
 quiring what they must do to be saved. There are four day schools, 
 including one at Rocktown, containing about one hundred pupils. 
 The day schools are taught by coloured people. Seven hundred 
 copies of a First Reading Book of the Greybo Language, of six 
 teen pages, have been neatly printed at the mission press. 
 
 "The people in the surrounding country," says Mr. Wilson, in 
 a letter to the board, dated January 28th, "are more and more de- 
 
281 
 
 sirous of missionaries. Before our brother White was taken sick 
 he received applications from four different settlements, to make 
 his abode with them. The fact being understood that he was to 
 live at Cape Palmas, we received delegates from two kings, with 
 the request that we would send them to America, with letters, 
 (books,) that they might get white men for themselves. As one 
 of these men stood in the middle of the floor urging, in broken 
 English, his own cause, our dear brother White was affected almost 
 to tears. Said he, Oh that our dear brethren at home could hear 
 this man for themselves if I live they shall hear it. He will 
 never communicate it; but in his name I lay it at their feet." 
 
 "The board have also a mission among the Zoolahs in South 
 Africa, having two missionary stations and five missionaries, one 
 of them a physician, one physician, and four female assistant mis 
 sionaries- total ten. This mission is prospering, and promises to 
 do much for the cause of Christ among the poor heathen of that 
 land. 
 
 "In concluding their report, the managers would express their 
 deep conviction more deep by another year s experience, that the 
 plan of African colonization is eminently the friend of the South. 
 The prohibitions of the i ree states, with regard to the admission of 
 the free blacks, is well known, and should the example of Missis 
 sippi be followed by the other slave-holding states of the south 
 west as it must be soon either a channel must be opened for 
 this population to flow off in the direction of Africa, or it must 
 multiply among us in a new ratio of increase, to its own ultimate 
 injury, and the prejudice of the public good; therefore the early 
 preparation of an asylum on a large scale, is called for, not only by 
 the principles of sound policy, but by the much higher considera 
 tions of humanity and justice." 
 
 "Twenty years have elapsed since the fathers of the 
 institution "assembled on that occasion, and the fruits of 
 their wisdom and benevolence are now maturing in the 
 growth and prosperity of Christian communities on the 
 African coast but recently the home of barbarism, su 
 perstition, and the refuge of crime. The great experi 
 ment they proposed, has been tried, and proved success 
 ful. They have demonstrated both its practicableness 
 and beneficence before their country and the world. It 
 remains for the American people to decide whether a 
 scheme which a private association, with scanty resources, 
 derived mostly from individual contributions, opposed by 
 hostile opinions at every step of its progress, and obliged 
 to meet and conquer all the difficulties of colonization in 
 a distant, wild, and savage country, has so well com- 
 
282 
 
 menced, shall be accomplished in all its magnitude, by 
 the public treasure and power. We rejoice to know that 
 the subject of appropriating funds in aid of this object, is 
 under consideration, both in the legislatures of Virginia 
 and Pennsylvania." 
 
 Thus we see that some of the first men in all the 
 south are colonizationists, and some of the best of the 
 free coloured population look to colonization s the pro 
 per remedy by which those now free may enjoy in the 
 land of their fathers that freedom. On the subject of 
 colonization, at present, we will only add an extract from 
 the letter of a coloured man, read on the same occasion, 
 and making a few other quotations and remarks, dismiss it. 
 We have alluded to public sentiment in the south on the 
 subject of colonization. We cannot set this forth better 
 than it is done in this same report of the Virginia Colo 
 nization Society. They say : 
 
 "The evidences of public favour exhibited toward this enterprise 
 in Virginia,, during the past year., the board take pleasure in report 
 ing, are more numerous and unequivocal than those of any similar 
 period of time, since their connection with the society. It is well 
 known., that the friends of the object made an effort to obtain from 
 the last legislature, such an alteration of the act of 1833, as would 
 render the appropriation therein made, available; being satisfied 
 that the legislature of that year never could have intended that act 
 to remain a dead letter. They failed to obtain the alteration ; but 
 evidence has accumulated since, to prove the fact, (of which the 
 best informed had at the time no doubt,) that the sentiments of the 
 people of the state were not represented by the vote taken upon 
 the proposed alteration. And although the managers do not intend 
 to renew their application, being of opinion that such application 
 will be more effectually made by the people themselves, they 
 would report to the society, that their correspondence has, up to 
 this date, extended over about fifty counties ; from these, evidences 
 of unpopularity have been received but in one instance. It ap 
 pears, from the testimony of the most respectable gentlemen, that 
 this enterprise is warmly approved by the great majority of the 
 citizens of various parts of the country. Assurances have been 
 received from gentlemen of the first standing, and of extensive ac 
 quaintance, that in many of the counties below Richmond, the 
 objects of the society are regarded with general approbation. In 
 view of these facts, and in view of the known sentiments of the 
 great lights of Virginia, from Gen. Washington to Chief Justice 
 Marshall, the hope of more liberal aid is confidently indulged. In 
 the judgment of the board, the time cannot be far distant when all 
 
283 
 
 must see, that the Colonization Society has been uniformly faith 
 ful to the interests of the South, and that it proposes still to further 
 those interests, to the extent of its ability. In their judgment it has 
 a direct and powerful tendency to suppress fanatical and dangerous 
 excitements, by whatever cause provoked, as shown in the history 
 or the past year, both at the north and the south, and in this opinion 
 they are happy to find themselves sustained by the governor of 
 Maryland, in his late message to the legislature of that state. He 
 uses the following language : We herewith present the Annual 
 Report of the Board of Managers appointed under the act of 1831, 
 entitled an act relating to the people of colour of this state, and it 
 gives us pleasure to call the attention of the legislature, to the dili 
 gence arid success of the gentlemen whose gratuitous services have 
 been rendered to the state, since the adoption of the system indi 
 cated in the act last mentioned. The plan of independent state 
 action, first suggested in Maryland pursued by the state society, 
 and countenanced by the managers of the state fund appears to 
 us to be that which is best suited to the condition of the slave-hold 
 ing states of the union. It repudiates all foreign and unsolicited 
 interference, whether by the general government, societies or indi 
 viduals, with the subject of slavery, Avithin the limits of the states 
 where it exists, and leaves it to each state, exclusively, to adopt 
 such measures in regard to it, as are suited to its peculiar circum 
 stances. The plan has been so far successfully pursued, as will 
 be seen by the accompanying report, that there is now in prospe 
 rous existence on the coast of Africa, a settlement of emigrants 
 from this state, under the separate control of the State Coloniza 
 tion Society, appropriated to the use of emigrants from Maryland, 
 and now capable of receiving any number that may be prepared to 
 emigrate. 
 
 "When the proceedings of our last annual meeting reached the 
 colony, a public meeting was called, the proceedings of which ap 
 pear in two letters addressed to the corresponding secretary of this 
 society. The following are extracts : f At a public meeting of a 
 number of citizens of this place, it was, on motion, Resolved, That 
 the proceedings of the sixth annual meeting of the Virginia Colo 
 nization Society, together with Mr. Maxwell s speech, be read. 
 On motion. Resolved, That we hear with great pleasure, that the 
 people of Virginia are turning their attention more effectually to 
 colonize their own people on the west coast of Africa. On motion, 
 Resolved, That a committee of five be appointed to correspond with 
 the Virginia Colonization Society, and give said society such infor 
 mation as they may think best, for the furtherance of their cause. 
 Another colonist, a native of Richmond, writes as follows : That 
 colonization has done this, (alluding to the improved condition of 
 the emigrants,) the colonies planted on the coast of Africa are a 
 standing proof, and done this too under every possible embarrass 
 ment. -It was with peculiar satisfaction, I read a few days ago, a 
 resolution expressive of the determination of Virginia to settle a 
 colony on this coast, to be called New Virginia. To me, who 
 
284 
 
 am a Virginian by birth, the intelligence was peculiarly gratifying. 
 For, notwithstanding existing circumstances impel me to the se 
 lection of a distant country, as a place of residence, yet I cannot 
 but feel a degree of attachment to the land that gave me birth, and 
 I am thereby prepared to take a lively interest in every thing that 
 concerns its projected colony. I need not say that it would afford 
 me the utmost pleasure to do any thing in my power to facilitate 
 your designs, in the way of giving information about the coast or 
 otherwise. } 
 
 "To the credit of these colonies it ought to be recorded, that 
 although the most vigorous efforts were made by the abolitionists 
 to poison their minds, by actually sending to Africa and distribut 
 ing among them, their inflammatory papers, public meetings were 
 called, and by a series of strong resolutions, the abolitionists were 
 rebuked. 
 
 "On motion of Rev. I. Revey, Resolved, That this meeting en 
 tertain the warmest gratitude for what the American Colonization 
 Society has done for the people of colour, and for us particularly ; 
 and that we regard the scheme as entitled to the highest confidence 
 of every man of colour. 
 
 "On motion of Mr. H. Teage, Resolved, That this meeting re 
 gard the colonization institution as one of the highest, holiest, and 
 most benevolent enterprises of the present day. That as a plan 
 for the melioration of the condition of the coloured race, it takes 
 the precedence of all that have been presented to the attention of 
 the modern world. That in its operations, it is peaceful and safe; 
 in its tendencies, beneficial and advantageous. That it is entitled 
 to the highest veneration, and unbounded confidence of every man 
 of colour. That what it has already accomplished, demands our 
 devout thanks and gratitude, to those noble and disinterested phi 
 lanthropists who compose it, as being under God, the greatest 
 earthly benefactors of a despised and oppressed portion of the 
 human family. 
 
 " Whereas, it has been widely and maliciously circulated in the 
 United States of America, that the inhabitants of this colony are 
 unhappy in their situation, and anxious to return. On motion of 
 Rev. B. R. Wilson, Resolved, That the report is false and mali 
 cious, and originated only in design to injure the colony, by call 
 ing off the support and sympathy of its friends ; that so far from a 
 desire to return, we should regard such an event as the greatest 
 evil that could befall us." 
 
 "During the past year, one new settlement has been added to 
 the eight previously existing on the coast. This is at Sinoe, be 
 tween Bassa Cove and Cape Palmas, and is under the patronage 
 of the State Colonization Societies of Mississippi and Louisiana. 
 We have now the best evidence that the colonies are turning their 
 attention chiefly to agriculture and the useful arts. Various socie 
 ties, lyceums, &c. have been formed among them for their im 
 provement. Among the articles which offer a rich reward to 
 colonial industry, may be enumerated the palm tree, the various 
 
285 
 
 and important uses of which are well known. An American mis 
 sionary, stationed upon the borders of Maryland, in Liberia, writes 
 at a recent date, that he explained the doctrines of the Christian 
 religion to an assembly of six hundred natives, in the open air. 
 He had also a school of one hundred boys, some of them the sons 
 of the kings of the country, many of whom, as reported by Capt. 
 Nicholson, could read the English language with ease and pro 
 priety. By the aid and protection of the English and American 
 colonies, the work of christianizing the native tribes is advancing 
 from many points toward the interior. The English have posses 
 sion not only at Sierra Leone and Cape Coast Castle, but also upon 
 the Gambia and Senegal. The English Wesleyans have in the 
 settlements upon the Gambia, five hundred and thirty- eight mem 
 bers of their communion, and two hundred and twenty scholars ; 
 and at other points more than one thousand members, and twelve 
 hundred scholars. The progress of Christianity in Africa will be 
 greatly facilitated by the English commerce, which is taking pos 
 session of the Niger, and by the influence of the American mer 
 chant, who is turning with much interest, to the many sources of 
 profitable trade unfolded by the colonists of Liberia. But we are 
 reminded that the favourable picture here drawn, of the condition 
 and prospects of Africa, is but comparatively true, when con 
 trasted with the past history of that miserable continent. From 
 the movements of different nations, we cannot doubt that the de 
 cree for the moral and political regeneration of Africa has gone 
 forth ; but the work of executing it is immense, and yet to be per 
 formed. Subjected from time immemorial, to a systematic and 
 terrible aggression to robbery and murder, from the pirates of all 
 nations, her wrongs cannot be redressed in a day." 
 
 With some of the coloured men named in this report 
 we are personally acquainted, and we would trust their 
 judgments in the matters herein alluded to, as soon as 
 we would trust those of any men. 
 
 To confirm what is herein stated we will appeal lastly 
 to the absolute fact, that colonization is regenerating 
 Africa. At least sixty missionaries of different denomi 
 nations are now at work on the borders of the different 
 colonies among the heathen, on the western coast of 
 Africa alone, independent of ministers in colonies. Hun 
 dreds of children have been educated ; many young and 
 old people have been converted to Christianity, and the 
 cry of the chiefs and tribes is, "Send God man from big 
 America ! Africa man, fool man ! Merica man, book 
 man ! Send book book heap of book." This is the 
 cry that comes from bleeding Africa, which the abohtion- 
 
 25 
 
286 
 
 ists will not hear, and which they strive to suppress. 
 We have seen in another part of this work that this is 
 a method that is natural. We have shown also that any 
 other is unjust. We now show that this is practicable. 
 If we look for one moment at the increasing trade of 
 Africa, and take into the account that as trade increases, 
 so also will necessarily increase the facilities of transporta 
 tion, and the desire on the part of the free coloured popu 
 lation to go thither, for they see and know that they can 
 not enjoy freedom here. Experience proves to them 
 daily that this is a fact. A passage to Africa now costs 
 but about $25, and they are aided to procure this pas 
 sage ; who would have believed that one hundred thou 
 sand foreigners could be transported in a year, almost 
 imperceptibly, to the United States, and yet the number 
 often exceeds this. Only let this nation unite to show 
 the free coloured people that it is to their advantage to 
 go, thousands will be ready thousands are now ready ; 
 the means of removal are constantly augmenting, and the 
 day is not far distant, when on the wings of almost every 
 breeze, ships will be borne over the blue waters of the 
 Atlantic freighted with the sons and daughters of Africa, 
 carrying back to the land of their fathers, the great bless 
 ings of civilization, light, liberty and religion. And as 
 masters and mistresses desire voluntarily to set their 
 slaves free, there will be a home provided ready to re 
 ceive them. The condition of the slave population here 
 will become better by a thousand fold. Their owners 
 will abide in a state of safety, and have the greater desire 
 to reward the faithfulness of their servants by a permis 
 sion to return to their "fatherland." This also is the 
 safe plan. It removes from this country a class of per 
 sons, called free, whose anomalous condition is such that 
 they must ever continue comparatively at least in a state 
 of degradation. Here they never can enjoy equal rights 
 and equal privileges ; this is impossible, this is unnatural, 
 unjust, and it is also unsafe. To remove them to Africa 
 cuts off at one stroke all danger to either party. Whilst 
 it frees America from the curse of such a population, it 
 exalts the coloured man in Africa to all the rights of a 
 
287 
 
 freeman, it brings Africa itself under the benign influence 
 of civilization and religion. It raises the savage to the 
 blessedness of civilized life ; it pays back the debt due by 
 the civilized world to that oppressed portion of our globe, 
 and will ultimately cause that every African river shall be 
 alive with ships and boats engaged in exporting and im 
 porting articles of trade. The comforts of every clime 
 shall be carried thither. The slave trade now denounced 
 as piracy will be ended, fields will be cultivated, cities 
 will rise up as by magic, churches will rear their lofty 
 steeples toward the skies, and point to God as their 
 owner. The Sabbath morning will be hailed with the 
 sound of "the church-going bell," "the wilderness and 
 the solitary place shall rejoice and become glad, and the 
 desert itself shall blossom as a rose." Already the work 
 is begun. Thank heaven, it is not in the power of abo 
 litionism to stop the current ! The tide sets toward 
 Africa. Thither the free coloured race are bending their 
 course. Their vacant places here are rapidly supplied by 
 a free white population from abroad. Missionaries, 
 teachers, printers, have gone, and others are on the way, 
 or ready to go to Africa. Thousands of good and true 
 men are already on those shores with their families and 
 ministers. Kings and whole tribes are asking for schools 
 and the gospel, and America says they shall have them. 
 The day is not distant, when the morning shall break 
 after a long and dreary night, the clouds shall disperse, 
 and the sun of gospel light and civilization shall arise 
 with meridian splendour, "and the glory of the Lord 
 shall cover the earth as the waters cover the great deep." 
 Africa shall Africa must be redeemed. She as well as 
 other dark nations calls for help, and help shall come. 
 
 "From Greenland s icy mountains, 
 
 From India s coral strands, 
 Where Afric s sunny fountains 
 
 Roll down their golden sands 5 
 From every ancient river, 
 
 From every palmy plain, 
 They call us to deliver 
 
 Their souls from error s chain." 
 
288 
 
 Shall it be done ? The south says it shall. What will 
 the north say ? Blessed be God, there are ten to one in 
 the north and the east who say in the language of their 
 noble son, the pious Cox, a missionary to Africa, u ArRi- 
 
 CA MUST BE REDEEMED ! LET A THOUSAND MISSIONA 
 RIES FALL BEFORE AFRICA IS GIVEN UP." To which 
 
 let every Christian respond a hearty AMEN. 
 
PART VIII. 
 
 DR. CHANNING S PAMPHLET ON "THE ANNEXATION OF TEXAS." 
 HIS SPECIAL OBJECT IN ADDRESSING IT TO THE HON. HENRY 
 CLAY. BRITISH PREDILECTIONS ITS ORIGIN, THIS PROVED BY 
 QUOTATIONS FROM DR. C. ITS SUBJECT NOTHING MORE NOR 
 LESS THAN SLAVERY. ITS GENERAL OBJECT. TEXAS DISCOV 
 ERED BY LA SALLE, A PART OF THE LOUISIANA PURCHASE, AND 
 CONSEQUENTLY, ONCE, A COMPONENT PART OF THE UNITED 
 STATES TERRITORY. CAPTAIN WEAVER S PAMPHLET IN AN 
 SWER TO GORISTIZA. CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN DON LUIS 
 DE ONIS AND HON. J. Q.. ADAMS. ARTICLES OF TREATY BE 
 TWEEN SPAIN AND THE UNITED STATES. THE LETTERS OF 
 MR. NICHOLAS BIDDLE, LATE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED 
 STATES BANK, AND PROFESSOR HARE, OF THE UNIVERSITY OF 
 PENNSYLVANIA, ON THE ANNEXATION OF TEXAS. REMARKS 
 OF GEN. HENRY STEWART FOOTE. APPLICATION OF DR. C 7 S 
 PRINCIPLES TO HIMSELF. THE PROPER OBJECT OF OUR RE 
 MARKS AND QUOTATIONS. 
 
 THE third pamphlet of Dr. Charming is on the annex 
 ation of Texas to the United States, and we proceed 
 now to examine it. At first view there appears to be 
 something very remarkable in the fact, that Dr. Chan- 
 ning has addressed this strange appeal to the Hon. 
 HENRY CLAY. To that senator, who threw himself into 
 the breach on the Missouri question, the representative of 
 a slave-holding state, himself a slaveholder, and who has 
 been already marked and excommunicated by abolition 
 ists, and one of those senators, too, who sustained that 
 noble prayer of Mississippi for the acknowledgment of 
 Texan independence. But all this will vanish when we 
 reflect that through the influence of Mr. Clay s name, 
 25* 
 
290 
 
 Dr. C. hoped the better to succeed in obtaining "access," 
 to use his own language, "to many who would turn away 
 from the consideration of his thoughts before they were 
 presented in a more general form," and by this aid, 
 "scale the barrier which now excludes from the south a 
 certain class of (abolition) writings of the north." We 
 are not surprised at this back-handed blow at that dis 
 tinguished statesman, the honourable senator from Ken 
 tucky. Our surprise is much greater at an expression of 
 reluctance, on the part of Dr. C. to enter on this subject, 
 not, at the fact that he does it, or the means he uses in 
 doing it. We would have thought it more in keeping if 
 he had frankly avowed his determination to do all in his 
 power, and "leave," as he says, "no stone unturned" to 
 insult and injure the south. This would have been con 
 sistent. Dr. C s apology for appearing before the public, 
 taken in connection with the fact that he had called up, 
 and brought already twice before the American people, 
 the Subject of Slavery, is adding insult to injury. Dr. 
 C. is willing to select any topic when he desires to accom 
 plish an end, and in the sequel we shall see that, however 
 he may have entered upon it with "great reluctance," 
 he has done it with a bitterness and rancour which show 
 how much he delights in this work of division. We 
 therefore clear him, as he is wont to clear himself, of 
 "caution, circumlocution, and plausible softenings of lan 
 guage," and in our remarks shall have to show him, as 
 we believe he is, a downright, open, violent abolitionist, 
 who on this, as on other points, is determined that the 
 south, the constitution to the contrary notwithstanding, 
 shall bend or break. 
 
 The first points we propose to consider are the true 
 origin, and then the avowed object of this pamphlet. 
 W r e leave the real question of the annexation of Texas 
 with our statesmen and the country. We are to consider 
 Dr. C s pamphlet, and we shall do this apart from those 
 considerations which do now or may hereafter point out 
 the true policy of this country respecting the annexation 
 of Texas. We are truly sorry to say that on reading it 
 carefully and calmly, we are forced to the conclusion, 
 that it forms only a part of that plan, which has been so 
 
291 
 
 long and systematically carried on, by some men, whereby 
 to attack, insult, and the better to assault the south, and 
 destroy all its proper, and legitimate or constitutional in 
 fluence, in the councils of this great confederacy. We 
 have no intention to enter ourself as one among those, 
 whose very existence is dependent on the way-side, par 
 tisan, political slang of the day. Far, very far from this 
 are both our purpose and desire. But when we coolly 
 consider that system of opposition which has been for 
 many years carried on both in and out of congress, when 
 we behold the unnatural alliances which are formed with 
 foreign associations, the better to succeed in that opposi 
 tion, by sundry societies, as well as distinguished indivi 
 duals, he must be blind indeed who does not perceive 
 that the true origin of all this, is "opposition to the 
 south." The cry is, "raze it, raze it, to the very foun 
 dations thereof." Were we to come out and charge Dr. 
 Channing and others with a want of patriotism, we should 
 be excommunicated from the pale of Christianity, and pa 
 triotism too, as being wanting in charity and all the feel 
 ings that bind fellow-citizens together. Be that as it 
 may, our doctrine is, "by their works ye shall know 
 them. 5 And when we hear the fulsome praise, and be 
 hold the sycophantic adulation of tyrant England, a 
 slave-holding government; and know that individuals 
 are sounding her acts in high places, to wound, insult, 
 injure, and oppress a portion of their own countrymen, 
 we frankly confess that, for ourselves, we cannot unite in 
 proclaiming them as samples of patriotism. Dr. C. can 
 not be ignorant of the fact that slavery was imposed on 
 the south by Great Britain, and that the north aided as 
 far its means and interests went in what abolitionists are 
 wont to call that "bloody and black-hearted work." Dr. 
 C. knows that the constitution of the United States se 
 cures to the south its right of property in their slaves, 
 and that as one of the reserved rights of the slave-holding 
 states, the free states have no right to interfere in it at 
 all, no, not even the congress of the United States, any 
 more than the south has the right to petition congress to 
 order a black husband and a black wife from the south, 
 
292 
 
 for every white woman and white man of the north. 
 And yet this question is presented where they have no 
 right to bring it, and more than once has this union been 
 on the point of a dissolution, by such rash and impudent 
 interference. 
 
 In that system which has been carried on, the slave- 
 holding states have just cause of complaint that many have 
 sought almost constantly, to monopolize the entire trade 
 of the south, and render it tributary to and dependent on 
 them, for all those fabrics which southerners, from the 
 nature of their population are forced to use. English 
 predilections, an extravagant, and a protective tariff and 
 the intermeddling with slavery, one institution of the south 
 with which foreign states have no right to interfere, have 
 one after the other been brought on, until the union has 
 been on the verge of dissolution. There is no American 
 who feels as he ought to feel, that will not denounce 
 British interference, with our concerns. And yet when 
 we look over Doctor Channing s tract on the annexation 
 of Texas, we perceive this to be one of the prime sources 
 from whence originated that work. His very first reason 
 is that "England has a moral interest in this question, 
 a strong public feeling impels that government to resist as 
 far as may be the extension of slavery." We suppose 
 Dr. C. means by "as far as may be" in the United 
 States. "England," says he, "is a privileged nation." 
 With the exception of the promulgation of Christianity, 
 says the Doctor, "I know not a moral effort so glorious, 
 as the long, painful, victorious struggle of her philanthro 
 pists, against the concentration of all horrors, cruelties, 
 and crimes, the slave trade. Her recent emancipation 
 act, is the most signal expression afforded by our times 
 of the progress of civilization and a pure Christianity. 
 He knows not that history records a national act so dis 
 interested, so sublime." And have the United States done 
 nothing against the slave trade? is a nation that holds a 
 hundred millions of Hindostanese, in bondage the most 
 abject, the very pink of morality ? what does such language 
 mean? of what is it indicative; but to that sycophantic 
 bowing, which characterized some during the last war to 
 the power that dared to rob our ships, and impress and 
 
293 
 
 murder our brothers on the high seas. It is a part of that 
 very plan that did jeopard the liberty of our country, at 
 the moment in which, the vile Cockburn and his corrupt 
 and polluted soldiery led on by negroes, as their pilots and 
 guides, were robbing alike the hen-roosts and warehouses, 
 stealing slaves, imprisoning the aged, and insulting and 
 striving to ravish the fair daughters of the south. This is 
 the moral nation, these are the Christians, and Christianity 
 shall surely "die with them." 
 
 How insulting is the language used by Dr. C. in this 
 virtual exposition of the origin of his piece against "the 
 annexation of Texas, to the United States." "England 
 is a privileged nation." England has the right to interfere 
 in our concerns. "England has a moral interest as well 
 as a political one," and England has the right to say, do 
 this if you dare to both Texas and the United States. 
 She may turn her negroes free on the Island of Jamaica, 
 to fall back from order, civilization and religion, and 
 endanger our peace, liberty and lives. She may interfere 
 in our matters, she "is a privileged nation." She may 
 send a vile wretch, a Thompson here, to raise routs and 
 riots in our midst, and, let the south stand still, all is well. 
 Our northern brethren may form, associations, and unite 
 with such in England the "privileged nation" to overwhelm 
 the south in ruin, and all is right. How dare the south 
 resist the will of such a renowned and mighty power. 
 Here is developed the British predeliction, here we behold 
 "the cloven foot," and here too is the true origin of all Dr. 
 Channing s efforts. 
 
 But let us look next at the object. That this is a di 
 rect attack upon the south and an effort to curtail and 
 prevent her influence in the councils of this nation is so 
 apparent, "that he who runs may read." We do not 
 mean by this, that Dr. C. only attacks the institutions of 
 the south, and seeks to vilify and insult it by a repetition 
 of his stale dogmas concerning slavery, but he comes out 
 openly and boldly with that which has long been the ob 
 ject of certain persons, and avows that his design is not 
 only to prevent an augmentation of the value of slaves, 
 but that the north should resist the annexation of Texas, 
 because it would be strengthening the South. When we 
 
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296 
 
 when the attention of all France was directed toward 
 Canada, ROBERT CAVALIER DE LA SALLE embarked for 
 fame and fortune to New France, and at the death of 
 Marquette, he dwelt at the outlet of Lake Ontario. After 
 exploring the lakes Ontario and Erie, he returned to 
 France, obtained the rank of nobility, and had granted to 
 him a large domain in America, and the exclusive privi 
 lege of trading with the five nations. From 1675 to 
 1677, he erected houses and cultivated fields in what was 
 then a vast wilderness. Having heard of the wander 
 ings of DE SOTO, and the Iroquois Indians having point 
 ed out the course of the Ohio, he formed the plan of 
 opening a trade between Europe and the Mississippi, 
 with whose waters, the Ohio, he knew evidently mingled 
 its vast streams. Repairing again to France, he made 
 arrangements to carry out his plan. On his return he 
 ascended the lakes, in the first vessel, built under his own 
 direction, that ever ploughed their waters ; and after en 
 countering great dangers and immense toil, he penetrated 
 to the Illinois country. There he learned the course of 
 the Mississippi. He despatched his faithful comrade, 
 Louis Hennepen, to examine the Upper Mississippi, 
 whilst he went to the French settlements, and then re 
 turned with the stores necessary for rigging a brigantine, 
 and in the early part of 1682, he and his men descended 
 the great Mississippi river to the sea. He took formal 
 possession of that vast country for FRANCE, and gave to 
 it the name of LOUISIANA, in honour of Louis XIV. In 
 1683, he returned to Quebec, thence to France ; and in 
 July, 1684, a fleet of four vessels left Rochelle, in France, 
 for Louisiana, and sometime early in 1685, they landed, 
 after enduring many hardships, much disappointment and 
 delay, at a place on Matagorda bay, but not without 
 losing their store-ship. Ascending the river, he selected 
 a site for, and erected a fort, the bay of Matagorda being 
 on the south and east. There they built their houses, and 
 there, in what is now called Texas, was the first settle 
 ment of the Louisiana country made. France took for 
 mal possession of this country, and its arms were carved 
 on the native lofty trees of that lovely land. "And by 
 
297 
 
 no treaty or public document, except the general cession 
 of Louisiana, did she ever relinguish the right to that 
 province as colonized under her banners, and made still 
 more surely a part of her territory, because the colony 
 found there its grave." 
 
 LA SALLE, in attempting, after various reverses, to 
 seek for and obtain help of his countrymen, was killed 
 on his way. His nephew being murdered by two of his 
 men, he went to seek after him, and ascertain the cause 
 of his delay. Overtaking the murderers, he was shot 
 down by one of them, and his remains, after being de 
 spoiled, were left on the prairie, naked and without bu 
 rial., to be devoured by wild beasts. Thus he fell, and 
 there in the great Mississippi valley, he who was its dis 
 coverer, slept the sleep of death, destined to be remem 
 bered through all time, as the father of colonization in 
 that vast region. From the history of his course, we 
 have given this contracted outline, and of the first settle 
 ment in Louisiana, in order to establish the fact, that 
 Texas formed a part of the territory of Louisiana. To 
 the United States it belonged under the Louisiana treaty, 
 and if were not included therein, it belongs at this day to 
 France. 
 
 Our remarks are not intended by any means, "to impair 
 existing treaties," but to show that all the country disco 
 vered by La Salle, on the Mississippi, was disposed of 
 by France to the United States. This disposition was 
 made in 1803, by treaty, for $60,000,000 with all the 
 sovereignty, &c. thereof. We are happy in being able 
 not only to confirm what we here say, on this subject, 
 by a reference to the very best historians, but by reference 
 also to the correspondence of the Hon. J. Q. ADAMS 
 and the Spanish minister, Don Luis de Onis, who negoti 
 ated the Florida treaty with him, in 1819. We have 
 also read with deep interest, a work written by Capt. 
 WILLIAM A. WEAVER, in answer to an abusive pamphlet 
 put out some years since, by M. E. Garostiza, the Mexi 
 can minister. Captain Weaver s answer is a noble de 
 fence of his country s claims, and the character ot 
 government. But few know the man that thus nobly 
 26 
 
298 
 
 defended them, against the unwarrantable, and insulting 
 attacks of an unpolished foreigner. Accidentally this 
 book came to our notice. Its author was once our 
 schoolmate, we were born and raised in the same village, 
 and partly educated in the same school. We cannot tell 
 the gratification that we have felt in referring to and 
 drawing upon the valuable resources of an old school 
 mate, and with great pleasure we recommend it to the 
 perusal of all who wish to understand the Texan question. 
 Our limits prevent many quotations from his valuable col 
 lection of documents; but we feel it a duty to point 
 to those sources, from which the intelligent reader may 
 derive positive information on this subject. 
 
 We must also refer here to a fact already alluded to. 
 It is that by one article of the Louisiana treaty, all the 
 inhabitants of that tract of country sold to the United 
 States by France, were to be citizens of the said states, 
 and were in due time to be received with their own con 
 sent into the union. Texas according to the evidence 
 adduced by Mr. Adams in his correspondence with De 
 Onis, the Spanish minister, did belong, under that treaty, 
 to the United States. De Onis not only admitted this, 
 but on his return home, wrote a book to justify his sale of 
 Florida, and regain the favour of his government and 
 fellow-citizens, who supposed him partial to the United 
 States. To disprove this, his pamphlet was full of vitu 
 peration against this country ; yet was evidently intended 
 to procure the ratification of the Florida treaty, then 
 suspended by the Spanish government, and whilst he ac 
 complished this he also received a mission to Naples as 
 a reward and evidence of favour. 
 
 "From a geographical description of the United States, 
 with the contiguous British and Spanish possessions, in 
 tended as an accompaniment to Mellish s map of these 
 countries, we have the following: In the year 1684, 
 La Salle sailed from France with a small squadron, for 
 the purpose of establishing a colony on the Mississippi; 
 but missing the mouth of that river, he reached the Bay 
 of St. Louis, called by the Spaniards, and marked on the 
 map, the Bay of St. Joseph. Here three of his vessels 
 were cast away. The greatest part of the men and goods 
 
299 
 
 were saved; but he himself was taken ill. Upon his re 
 covery, he took regular possession of the country, formed 
 a settlement, and built a fort, which is now known by the 
 name of Fort Matagorda. At this time there were no 
 other settlements in that part of the country, so that the 
 right of France became unquestionable ; and all the sub 
 sequent settlements of Spain to the east of the Rio del 
 Norte, were regarded as usurpations. In the year 1721, 
 continues Mellish, a very elaborate geographical work 
 was published in London, entitled a new General Atlas, 
 containing a geographical and historical account of all 
 the empires, kingdoms, and other dominions of the world ; 
 with the maps laid down according to the observations 
 communicated to the English Royal Society, and the 
 French Royal Academy of sciences ; in this atlas there 
 is a map entitled A map of Louisiana, and the River 
 Mississippi, inscribed to William Law, of Lawreston, 
 Esq. This map furnishes evidence, as to the western 
 limits of Louisiana, of the highest authority, and fixes the 
 boundary line on the west side of the Rio del Norte, to 
 the Rio Salado, answering to the Rio Puerco, on the mo 
 dern maps. It is continued along that river to near its 
 source. Upon these data the western boundary of Louisi 
 ana is constructed (in Mellish s map.) It takes the Rio 
 del Norte to the River Puerco, then along that river to 
 the chain of mountains which forms the dividing ridge 
 between it and the Rio Colorado ; then along that ridge 
 to beyond Santa Fe, where it bends towards the Rio 
 del Norte, near the latitude of 38 degrees north ; then 
 along the Rio del Norte, to its source, where a note is 
 inserted, expressing that the limits of Louisiana on that 
 quarter are undefined. Again, in the description of the 
 Rio del Norte, Mellish says, at the River Puerco, the 
 Rio del Norte again becomes the south-western boundary 
 of Louisiana. We have quoted somewhat liberally 
 from the book of Mellish, which accompanied his map, 
 because we find there a triumphant refutation of the bold 
 assertion made by Barley, in his communication, that in 
 1812 none disputed, or in his own words, it would have 
 been regarded as absolute insanity to dispute the Sabine 
 as the boundary between the United States and the inter- 
 
300 
 
 nal provinces. Did not Mr. Monroe dispute it? Did 
 not Mr. Adams demonstrate the Rio Bravo del Norte as 
 the boundary? Did not Don Onis, in 1820, admit the 
 claim of the United States to that boundary to have been 
 valid ? Is Mellish an authority who proves nothing? 
 
 "An impartial public will judge, says Mr. Onis, 
 whether the treaty of the 22nd February, 1819, (which 
 is improperly called a treaty of cession, as it is in reality 
 one of exchange or permutation of one small province for 
 another of double the extent, richer and more fertile,) de 
 serves the epithet of disgraceful, under which it has been 
 painted to his majesty, and whether I have not in it at 
 tended to the honour and interest of the nation. I will 
 agree however, that for greater perspicuity, I might have 
 extended the third article in the following terms : In ex 
 change, the United States ceded to his majesty the pro 
 vince of Texas/ &c. as the government wish me to ex 
 press it ; but as I had in the correspondence which is in 
 serted, for three years, contended that that province be 
 longed to the king, it would have been a contradiction to 
 say in the treaty, that the United States ceded it to his 
 majesty, the same thing being obtained by the terms in 
 which it is expressed, the limits that adjudge it to his 
 majesty being fixed. 
 
 "We also refer the reader to the able and lucid reply of 
 the honourable John Q. Adams, wherein was set forth so 
 fully the just claim and sound title of the United States 
 to the Rio Bravo del Norte ; that the Spanish minister 
 himself acknowledges the truth of the positions of Mr. 
 Adams, and frankly admits that he had for three years 
 contended for what he knew to be the property of the 
 United States. During a part of the discussion, Mr. 
 Monroe conducted the negotiation on the part of the 
 United States. Having quoted the frank and unbiassed 
 opinion of Mr. Onis, as expressed in Spain in 1820; we 
 give also the following extract from a letter from Mr. 
 Monroe to Mr. Onis, in 1816. With respect to the 
 western boundary of Louisiana, I have to remark, that 
 the government has never doubted, since the treaty of 
 1803, that it extended to the Rio Bravo; satisfied I am, 
 if the claims of the two nations were submitted to an im* 
 
301 
 
 partial tribunal, who observing the principles applicable 
 to the case, and tracing facts as to discovery and settle 
 ment on either side, that such would be its decision. The 
 discovery of the Mississippi as low down as the Arkan 
 sas, in 1673, and to its mouth in 1680, and the establish 
 ment of settlements on that river, and on the Bay of St. 
 Bernard, on the western side of the Colorado, in 1685, 
 under the authority of France, when the nearest settle 
 ment of Spain was in the province of Panuco, are facts 
 which place the claim of the United States on ground 
 not to be shaken. It is known that nothing occurred 
 afterwards on the part of France to weaken this claim. 
 The difference which afterwards took place between 
 France and Spain, respecting Spanish encroachments 
 there, and the war which ensued, to which they contribu 
 ted, tend to confirm it. 
 
 "Thus we behold, by the concurrent testimony of both 
 parties to the negotiation of the treaty of 1819, what 
 were the opinions of the adverse negotiations. On the 
 6th of February, 1819, Mr. Adams presented to Don 
 Luis De Onis the project of an article, describing the 
 western boundary. Article : It is agreed that the wes 
 tern boundary between the United States and the territo 
 ries of Spain shall be as follows: Beginning at the mouth 
 of the river Sabine, on the Gulf of Mexico, following 
 the course of said river to the thirty-second degree of 
 latitude, the eastern bank, and all the islands in the river 
 to belong to the United States, and the western bank to 
 Spain, thence due north/ &c. Three days afterwards, 
 on the 9th of February, 1819, Don Luis De Onis trans 
 mitted to the secretary of state of the United States, a 
 project of a treaty, with an English translation, from the 
 fourth article of which we make the following extract: 
 The boundary line between the two countries, shall be 
 gin on the Gulf of Mexico, at the mouth of the river 
 Sabine, in the sea, continuing north, along the middle of 
 that river to the thirty-second degree of latitude, thence 
 by a line due north, &c. In the counter project of Mr. 
 Adams, on the 13th of February, it is proposed the third 
 article shall read thus: The boundary line between the 
 two countries west of the Mississippi, shall begin on the 
 26* 
 
302 
 
 Gulf of Mexico, at the mouth of the river Sabine, in the 
 sea ; continuing north, along the western bank of that 
 river to the thirty-second degree of latitude, thence by a 
 line due north, &c. By the above quotations from the 
 several projects of those ministers, it appears that the 
 two pregnant words continuing north, were interpola 
 ted by M. Onis, and adopted by Mr. Adams, as they now 
 stand in the treaty. Are they without meaning? Or 
 rather is not a north course, from a determined point, a 
 more definite term, and more precise than that of depend 
 ing upon mere nomenclature in a country, then almost a 
 terra incognita, and whose geography is but indiffe 
 rently settled at the present day." From all this it must 
 plainly appear to the intelligent reader, that Texas, to its 
 utmost southern and western boundary, was the property 
 of the United States. That this vast and valuable tract 
 of country, a portion of the south, gained under the Lou 
 isiana treaty, was sold by Mr. Adams to the Spanish 
 government, and that De Onis boasted that he had sold 
 Florida for its value, (virtually cash,) five millions of dol 
 lars, and had also gained Texas, a territory equal in 
 extent to at least ten small states, of the size of Ken 
 tucky. The south had no claims on the Hon. Mr. Adams, 
 but it had on Mr. Monroe, and it will not soon forget 
 that he winked at and encouraged the disposition of a 
 portion of its territory ; but we forbear. The deed is 
 done, a part of the Louisiana purchase was disposed of 
 to gain Florida, a peninsula already conquered by Gen. 
 Jackson. Texas is free. Free from Spain, free from 
 Mexico, free from the United States. A sovereign, inde 
 pendent nation, acknowledged such, and the arbiter under 
 heaven of her own course and her own destiny. But let 
 us stop and ask here, is it possible, that when she was 
 willing to return and take her proper position as one of 
 the confederated sovereign states of this union, to bring 
 back for nothing to the United States all that was thus 
 wantonly sold, and more too, we ask is it, can it be pos 
 sible that any just reason shall be assigned why it may 
 not be done? Dr. C. assigns reasons which in our esti 
 mation cannot have, at least ought not to have, any weight. 
 The first is that to receive Texas, "would be to perpetu- 
 
303 
 
 ate slavery." And does not the doctor know that Texas 
 is a slave-holding country already? Does he not know 
 that whether received into this union or not, it will con 
 tinue such for a time at least. Does he not know, that 
 slaves under its constitution, a constitution pronounced 
 by the Hon. Henry Clay the best in the world, can 
 never be free there. Texas says when coloured men 
 are emancipated here, let them remove to Africa. That 
 is their home, and that their proper place. But why does 
 Dr. C. press this question .now 1 Has not Texas with 
 drawn all application for admission into this union? This 
 question is not before the people of the United States 
 now. So far from this she has taken her stand among 
 the nations of the earth, and must and will go on from 
 prospering to prosper. With this question, "the annexa 
 tion of Texas," we have nothing to do. We repeat, we 
 leave it with politicians and our countrymen. The south 
 itself is not agreed, it is possible, on this subject. We 
 know not their opinions, we have never sought to know 
 them. But we have something yet to do with Dr. C. 
 about lugging this question before the American people, 
 that under the cover of the "Annexation of Texas," and 
 the name of that great man, Mr. Clay, whose opinions 
 he knew to be directly averse to abolitionism, he might 
 attack the south, insult her feelings, and run over the old 
 story already told twice, and stereotyped by abolitionists, 
 of slaves starved, oppressed, insulted, and reduced to a 
 condition worse than that of brutes, by southerners, who 
 are men "stealers," "kidnappers," "pirates," "murderers, 
 and worse than murderers." 
 
 We are happy to have it in our power to give the rea 
 der two letters, which we consider an admirable reply 
 to Dr. Channing s last tract about Texas. The one was 
 written by Mr. Biddle, late president of the United I 
 Bank, and the other by Professor Hare, of the University 
 of Pennsylvania. They are to be found in that excelleni 
 work, a History of Texas, and Texans, by Gen. Footc, 
 of Mississippi. This history we recommend to ou 
 ders, as a most interesting account of that delightful 
 country, and its brave, enterprising and chivaln 
 bitants". And especially do we recommend the 1 
 
304 
 
 above alluded to. Indeed they form a succinct and un 
 answerable answer to Dr. Channing s book on the annexa 
 tion of Texas. If Gen. Foote had seen (which he had 
 not) Dr. C s. tract on this subject, when he published 
 those letters, he could not have placed before the Ame 
 rican public, a much better antidote against the poisonous 
 matter that has been disseminated to the injury of the 
 brave Texans, in both Europe and the United States. 
 The extract from Mr. Biddle s letter referred to, is as 
 follows : 
 
 "The question of Texas is strangely misunderstood in 
 the United States, because it is treated as a mere party 
 question, to be decided of course by political passions and 
 party interests. If I am somewhat less influenced by 
 these feelings, it is probably owing to the circumstance, 
 that, for thirty-five years, I have been familiar with the 
 subject. You know that I began my public life as the 
 secretary of the American minister at Paris, in 1804, 
 when all the details of the purchase of Louisiana, of which 
 TEXAS then formed a part, passed through my hands; 
 and when, afterwards, the government sent a party to 
 explore the new purchase, I prepared for the press,* the 
 history of that expedition, known as the Travels of Lewis 
 and Clark. These circumstances have made me better 
 acquainted with Texas than most of our countrymen, 
 and they may perhaps inspire some confidence in the 
 opinions I am about to express, with regard to the his 
 tory and present state of that country ; and 
 
 "First of its history: To the common apprehension, 
 Texas is some wild waste region, wholly unknown to the 
 United States, which certain American adventurers have 
 wrested from its true original owner, Mexico. Nothing 
 can be more erroneous than all this. The facts are, that 
 when Louisiana was purchased from France, this very 
 Texas was claimed as an integral part of it claimed as 
 belonging to the United States, as much as New Orleans 
 did that for a series of years the claim was constantly 
 and vigorously maintained that, although, in 1819, the 
 United States, in their anxiety to obtain Florida, yielded 
 to the government of Old Spain their claim on a part of 
 Texas, yet immediate endeavours were made to recover 
 
305 
 
 it, and that for more than thirty years, every administra 
 tion, of every party, and almost every prominent leader 
 of all parties, have anxiously sought to bring Texas into 
 the union. Of these facts in their order. 
 
 "1st. On the 28th of January, 1805, Mr. Pinckney and 
 Mr. Monroe, the plenipotentiaries of the United States, 
 acting under the instructions of Mr. Madison, the secre 
 tary of state of Mr. Jefferson, addressed a letter to Mr. 
 Cevallos, the Spanish secretary of state, in which they 
 say: We have the honour to present to your excellency 
 a paper on this subject, which we presume proves in the 
 most satisfactory manner, that the boundaries of that 
 province, (Louisiana.) as established by the treaties re 
 ferred to, are, the river Perdido to the east, and the Rio 
 Bravo to the west. The facts and principles which jus 
 tify this conclusion, are so satisfactory to our government, 
 as to convince it, that the United Stales have not a better 
 right to the island of New Orleans, under the cession re 
 ferred to, than they have to the whole district of territory 
 which is above described. This territory, bounded on 
 the west by the Rio Bravo, called indiscriminately Rio 
 Bravo, Rio Bravo del Norte, and Rio del Norte to which 
 the United States assert as good a right as they have to 
 New Orleans, is this identical Texas. 
 
 "2. The progress of years weakened nothing of the 
 force of this claim. On the 12th of March, 1818, Mr. 
 Adams, the American secretary of state, in a letter to 
 Mr. Onis, the Spanish minister, repels the very sugges 
 tion of any doubt that Texas belonged to the United 
 States. You know, sir, says he, and your own notes 
 furnish themselves the most decisive proofs, that France, 
 while she held the colony of Louisiana, never did consi 
 der the Mississippi as the western boundary of that pro 
 vince/ She always claimed the territory which you 
 call Texas, as being within the limits and forming part 
 of Louisiana. Notwithstanding these solemn declara 
 tions, it was thought so desirable, in the general dilapi 
 dation of the Spanish monarchy, to prevent the transfer 
 of Florida to a foreign power, that on the 22d of February, 
 1819, a treaty was made with Old Spain, and not with 
 Mexico, by which, in consideration of the cession of Flo- 
 
306 
 
 rida to the United States, they agreed to pay five millions 
 of dollars, and to recognize the boundary of the Sabine, 
 which both parties knew was not the real boundary, but 
 only a conventional line for the occasion. This compro 
 mise, although acquiesced in from the strong desire to 
 possess Florida, satisfied neither political party in the 
 United States. Mr. Clay vehemently denounced it, and 
 he introduced into the house of representatives a decla 
 ratory resolution That the equivalent proposed to be 
 given by Spain to the United States, for that part of 
 Louisiana lying west of the Sabine, was inadequate, and 
 that it would be inexpedient to make a transfer thereof 
 to any foreign power. 
 
 "3d. The error of that treaty indeed soon became ma 
 nifest, as the upper regions of the Mississippi became 
 settled when Texas was seen stretching its broad ex 
 tent between the Gulf of Mexico and Arkansas and 
 Missouri and all the future states to the Rocky moun 
 tains, and barring against the United States the best outlet 
 to the Pacific. Accordingly, Mr. ADAMS, the same 
 statesman who had signed the treaty, had not been ele 
 vated to the presidency more than a few days, when 
 almost his first act was to try to recover and bring into 
 the union this very same country of Texas. On the 26th 
 of March, 1825, his secretary of state, Mr. Clay, instructed 
 Mr. Poinsett, the American minister in Mexico, that the 
 boundary of the Sabine was too near the United States 
 that a change was desirable, and therefore, the president 
 wishes you to sound it (the Mexican government,) on 
 that subject, and to avail yourself of a favourable dispo 
 sition, if you should find it, to effect that object. This 
 overture being unsuccessful, a new and more vigorous 
 effort was made on the 15th of March 1827, when Mr. 
 Clay instructed Mr. Poinsett to propose the purchase of 
 the whole country to the Rio del Norte, being the present 
 Texas. The boundary says he, which we prefer is 
 that which beginning at the mouth of the Rio del Norte 
 in the sea, shall ascend that river, thence to the forty se 
 cond degree of latitude, and by that degree to the Pacific. 
 To obtain this, the president authorizes you to offer to 
 the government of Mexico, a sum not exceeding one mil- 
 
ROT 
 
 lion of dollars ; and farther, that the treaty may contain 
 a provision similar to that in the Louisiana and Florida 
 treaties, for the incorporation of the inhabitants into the 
 union, as soon as it can be done consistently with the 
 principles of the federal constitution. 
 
 "4th. The same efforts made by Mr. Adams, were pur 
 sued by his successor, MR. JACKSON, who in the first 
 month of his presidency, took measures to purchase 
 Texas and bring it into the union. Mr. Van Buren, his 
 secretary of state, wrote to Mr. Poinsett, on the 25th of 
 August, 1829. It is the wish of the president that you 
 should without delay open a negotiation with the Mexi 
 can Government for so much of the province of Texas as 
 is hereinafter described, or for such part as they may be 
 induced to cede to us. The territory he adds, of which 
 a cession is desired by the United States, is all that part 
 of the province of Texas, east of a line from the centre of 
 the great Prairie, between the Nueces, and the Rio del 
 Norte, north to the forty second degree of latitude, where 
 that line would strike our present boundary. For this 
 country, which you perceive is much less than that asked 
 for by Mr. Adams, which went at once to the Rio del 
 Norte, he was authorized to give a sum not exceed 
 ing four millions of dollars ; but so strong are the 
 president s convictions of its great value to the 
 United States, that he will not object if you should 
 find it indispensably necessary, to go as high as five 
 millions. Mr. Van Buren adds, The treaty may 
 also contain a provision similar to that in the Lou 
 isiana and Florida treaties for the incorporation of the 
 inhabitants into the union, as soon as it can be done con 
 sistently with the principles of the federal constitution. 
 This negotiation being abortive, it was revived .on the 
 4th of August, 1835, when Mr. Forsyth, the secretary of 
 state, instructed Mr. Butler, the representative of the 
 United States in Mexico, to negotiate for a boundary 
 from the eastern bank of the Rio del Norte to the thirty- 
 seventh degree of latitude, thence along that paralle to 
 the Pacific, and a further sum, which in the public 
 despatches is of course left in blank, w^as placed at his 
 disposal in addition to the five millions previously au- 
 
308 
 
 thorized. You will thus perceive, that under all our poli 
 tical parties, a constant effort has been made, first, to re 
 tain Texas as belonging to the union, and when that fail 
 ed, to purchase it and bring it into the union. 
 
 "Now as to its present state and prospects: During 
 these negotiations for the purchase of Texas, the inhabi 
 tants of the country themselves, over whom the govern 
 ment of Mexico had, in the progress of the revolution, 
 been substituted for their mother country, Spain, deeming 
 themselves oppressed by this Mexican dominion, revolted 
 against it declared their independence, and finally ex 
 pelled the Mexican armies from their country. Now in 
 that civil war, as in all other civil wars, it is superfluous 
 for foreign nations to inquire which side was right, or 
 which wrong, and whether the alleged causes of throw 
 ing off the Mexican yoke were suflicient. All struggles 
 for a change of government are mere rebellions until 
 success makes them revolutions, and the causes of both 
 must forever remain in the debateable land of history. 
 It is too late to discuss the merits of the revolt of the 
 Spaniards against the Moors the revolt of the Dutch 
 against the Spaniards the revolt of the English against 
 the Stuarts the revolt of the French against the Bour 
 bons of the Americans against the English of the 
 Mexicans against the Spaniards or now of the Texans 
 against the Mexicans. The question after all is a mere 
 question of fact. Who administers the government 
 Who directs the physical power of the country? Now in 
 the case of Texas we have all the elements of an inde 
 pendent government. An executive, legislative, and ju 
 diciary organization after the best models a military 
 power a naval power. There has not been for three 
 years a hostile Mexican on her soil. She is acknow 
 ledged by her nearest and strongest neighbour her flag 
 is commercially acknowledged by France and by Eng 
 land, though for obvious reasons an avowed political 
 recognition of a recent colony is delayed and I have no 
 doubt that Mexico herself will soon do as Spain did with 
 respect to Mexico, yield to circumstances, and recognize 
 the independence of Texas, whom she has not the re 
 motest chance of conquering, and whose hostility she 
 may well dread. 
 
309 
 
 "One of the earliest acts of the Texan government was 
 a proposal to join the United States. This it did, not 
 merely from a natural attachment to the older states 
 from which the Texans had emigrated, but because they 
 were aware how constantly that annexation had been 
 sought by the states themselves. Fortunately for Texas- 
 very unwisely, in judgment for the United States, the 
 proposal was declined. It was declined in one of those 
 wild paroxysms of public excitement to which all free 
 people are exposed. Men s minds were heated with the 
 fierce discussions about the abolition of slavery, and they 
 would see in Texas nothing but a new field for slavery 
 and a dangerous increase of power to the slave-holding 
 states. It was in vain to say that Texas could not pos 
 sibly add a single slave to the union that by her own 
 constitution she had prohibited the foreign slave trade, 
 and that her admission into the union, by bringing her 
 under our own laws forbidding the slave trade, was the 
 most effectual mode of suppressing that trade and that, 
 therefore, her only influence on the slave question would 
 be, to weaken the evil of slavery by diffusing it, and to 
 furnish an out-let for the black population of the Atlantic 
 states, so as to relieve them gradually from their slaves. 
 Then with regard to political power. Both Mr. Adams 
 party and Mr. Jackson s party had endeavoured to bring 
 Texas into the union had agreed to stipulate with a 
 foreign power, and thus pledge irrevocably the public 
 faith, that Texas should be introduced into the union as 
 Louisiana was, without any restriction as to the number 
 of states into which she should be divided, or the number 
 of slaves she might contain ; and she asks admission 
 merely as a single state, with no power of division except 
 what may be allowed by a majority of the other states. 
 It was in vain to say all this, because it was only reason 
 and the question was to be decided by party passions. 
 The result was, that after offering five millions for a part 
 of Texas, the whole came to us for nothing, and we re 
 fused it that after endeavouring to bring it into the 
 union in such a way as to make six or eight slave-holding 
 states, we declined to receive it even as a single indivi- 
 
 27 
 
310 
 
 dual state. These caprices of our legislation I mention, 
 to show that the rejection of the offer had no relation 
 whatever to the character or condition of Texas, but was 
 occasioned by causes entirely of domestic policy. The 
 effect, however, of the refusal upon Texas herself, is to 
 make her at once a great empire leaving her resources 
 under her own control, and placing her in a position 
 much better than that of the states of the union. For 
 the difference between them is this : The old states who 
 had originally their own lands have sold them all. The 
 new states being formed out of the territory belonging to 
 the federal government, never had any lands and as both 
 the old and the new states have surrendered their whole 
 power over commerce to the federal government, they 
 derive no revenue whatever from the exports or imports 
 within their limits. On the other hand the government 
 of Texas is the absolute owner of the whole public do 
 main within its borders and the exclusive receiver of all 
 duties on exports or imports which it may choose to levy. 
 She is, in fact, a state like one of ours, though not ac 
 tually in the union but with all the social and political 
 guarantees which a state can offer. She is not a state in 
 this only, that she has a national domain and a revenue 
 power which no state in the union possesses, Look at 
 both these resources and first of the lands. She has a 
 public domain estimated at from 100,000,000 to 150,000,- 
 000 of acres. These, I understand, are for the most part 
 cotton-lands, richer than the cotton-lands of any of our 
 cotton-growing states, destined to be covered with the 
 cotton plant and sugar cane, and offering the attraction 
 rarely combined of an exuberant soil, &c. a healthy cli 
 mate, with a great variety of products to tempt the ad 
 venturous industry of our people. My impression, too, 
 is that as there lies on the east of the Rocky Mountains 
 an immense region where the cultivation of the soil is 
 very difficult and unproductive, the stream of population, 
 instead of going directly across those mountains, will 
 turn to the south of them and that the great route to 
 the Pacific, the only resting place of our people, will be 
 along the Gulf of Mexico, through the lower south-west 
 ern states and Texas. The effect will be to give a con- 
 
311 
 
 slant increase to the value of the lands in Texas so that 
 these 100,000,000 or 150,000,000 of acres of land must 
 be considered as synonymous with at least as many dol 
 lars. The public lands in Mississippi, often less valuable 
 than those of Texas, sold at public auction, three years 
 ago, for $5, or $10, or even more an acre, while the 
 government minimum price was $1 25. 
 
 "Then, as to the duties. The crowded population of a 
 country disinclined to manufacture, will require large 
 importations of foreign goods. Their abundant exports 
 will furnish the means of paying for them, and the du 
 ties on commerce, though fixed at a very low rate, as 
 from policy they would naturally be, cannot fail toyield 
 an abundant revenue. Here then is a country, for a part 
 only of which the United States offered $5,000,000 ten 
 years ago, a country without any debt with an eco 
 nomical government with a public domain of at^least 
 100,000,000 of acres, and an unlimited revenue from 
 customs. Nor is their disposition to pay less than their 
 ability. You have heard in Europe as we have heard in 
 America, a thousand wild stories about Texas. But all 
 the new states have had in their turn to run this gauntlet 
 of prejudice the youngest state, like the youngest pupil 
 at college, being obliged to bear the jokes and taunts of 
 his seniors. But those who administer the affairs of the 
 new commonwealth, are highly respectable gentlemen, 
 who have been in the public employ of their native states, 
 and have carried with them those deep-rooted opinions 
 of the sanctity of contracts and the value of public faith 
 which characterize all the states of the union." 
 
 The letter of Dr. Hare to Dr. Channing, also alluded 
 to in the above remarks, we now give. It reads thus: 
 
 "To THE REV. DR. CHANNING: 
 
 "My dear sir : About the beginning of this month I received 
 your kind letter, and your well written pamphlet, respecting the 
 annexation of Texas to the United States. I should be willing, 
 agreeably to your suggestion, to join with my townsmen in a meet 
 ing for the purpose of deprecating such a connection with that 
 country. But, on the other hand, I am not insensible to the dis 
 advantage of having an independent sovereignty so near to us, and 
 should not be surprised, allowing for the usual diversity of human 
 opinion if some of my fellow-citizens should consider the evils ot 
 
til 
 
 the test? of the two. I mnrave, however, that against 
 annexation of Texas it may verr justlv be urged, by the states 
 
 which shvery is not permitted, that although tlu rfutty 
 
 tting to abide by their agreement with their o& confederates, 
 that three-fifths of the slave pnymliltnm shall be KfMtoented. they 
 mre not willing *> admit MM* confederates upon these tvnditiottSk 
 imstemd of seeking to benefit Texas., by admitting that republic into 
 the union, I should wish to see the United States step torward as 
 % mediator between that country and Mexico, and thus to avert 
 the evik of a continued war. 
 
 "By a few uiittioas, probably, especially should the payment be 
 guarantied by the United Stated the Texans could purchase a re 
 cognition of their sovereknty. The funds could te obtained in 
 Engbnd. to be paid in that country bv Texan produce, and in 
 Mexkv in British manu&cuures ; no dnmihrmmtage which the United 
 Steles could suffer as security for the debt, would be equal to those 
 vising from a enalWiqw* of war in their vicinity. If such aa 
 aynangement could he mfcujl into by a compromtse. as a conside- 
 tation tor me abandojouent of the scheme of ann^Tafton no doubt 
 uU have many warm advocates. 
 
 -1 do mot concur widi you in thmHng the resistance of the 
 Texans to Santa Anna a$ unjustifiabte. They had settkxi in Texas 
 with the understanding tint they were to be Kdrr a ft&nrf 1^9^ 
 cmMiMl. It follows, in my opinion > that when Santa Anna usurp 
 ed the control of the whoie country . and endeavoured to establish 
 a consolidated geienanent, the Texans were no longer held if 
 Aeir engagements the breach of covenant was on the aide of the 
 gowmment of Mexico, mot on AMIS. Having deposed Iturtede 
 under the banner of liberty, Santa Anna endeavoured afterwards 
 lo establish a descode authority far himself. Of course he was 
 an hypocrite as well as mm usurper. It appears to me the Texans 
 had beem unwise lo have submitted to him. Thev mi^hu like the 
 Greek sutgeets of the Ottoman empire, ere k>& have had to pay 
 1 tir fni i iiiui lUf II lirxti 
 
 ither ^wWK^or u imlitrn on be fairly ju^ed by an 
 fatriKl ifMidirrf qf r%^l. It can hardly be urged against a 
 munity mat thej are not more correct than any other comm . 
 No one can, more than I, abhor the principle so often painfully 
 acted om, that nught gives r^ht. But the ri^it of conquest being 
 llnnrt universaibr the basis oi^xisting national sovete%pty, ii" the 
 oceupmtiom of the wilds of Texas add another instance of tne cata- 
 , it appears on various accounts one of Aft least blamable 
 
 om record. Invading a thickly settled country, already cukivato 
 and enriched by the labours of miitmt proprietors . is evidently 
 m nu greater wrong, mud requires, on the part of the invader, a far 
 harder heart than taking possession of m country in an unsettled 
 
 "Besides^ if wrong has been dome in the occupttion of T 
 
 .: .;.> :--. /: :: :J.: A:-;- . -;>. v.: :. : >: .- ^ . .V.v. .;;..-.> 
 w... -;-,-;: ^iJ. .; .. ; -. ; .; ,..: : ^ .. ;: ; :.-.:--,v..;- 
 
313 
 
 was the abode of the last mentioned race, it does not appear that 
 they were desirous of submitting to Santa Anna. But admitting 
 that these Texan.s are invaders, not iustifiabJ< 
 who are not now enjoying the fruit of similar wrongs cast on them 
 reproach. Is there any nation in Christendom of which me ter 
 ritory is not due to the right of conquest? Can the people of the 
 United States, or the descendants of Pizarro or Cortes, complain 
 with justice of the Texans ? Let the clemency shown to the 
 butchering army of Santa Anna and its bloodthirsty leader be 
 contrasted with the sanguinary career of the conquerors of Peru 
 and Mexico. In the former instance we see clemency towards a 
 most cruel enemy ; in the latter, kindness and hospitality were 
 repaid with slaughter, persecution, and ignominious slavery. 
 
 "To an anarchical government there can be no moral tie. Alle 
 giance and protection being inseparable, the cessation of me one 
 terminates the other. The dependence of one province upon others 
 always lias been, and must be, a mere question of expediency. 
 The first question will be, is separation desirable ? The next, is it 
 practicable ? or will the cost, in blood and treasure, be too great 
 to make it expedient to attempt a secession. 
 
 "It is not improbable that a desire to employ slave labour, with 
 out which they could not expect the emigration of men of pro 
 perty from the neighboring states, may have been one of the mo 
 tives for their efforts to obtain independence ; but if there were 
 otherwise a sufficient incentive to the change, would it be charita 
 ble to put the worst construction on their conduct of which the 
 case admits? I fully concur with you that slavery ought not to 
 be countenanced by the individual, unless under the fielief that 
 the general welfare of the community in which it exists, taking 
 both the slave and the master into view, require its continuance. 
 But, while coinciding in this opinion, I have never been able to 
 imagine any practicable plan for emancipation in our southern 
 states. If any such plan has been devised, I have never heard of 
 it. The beneficial result of that resorted to by Great Britain a 
 still contested. Were all the whites in the dove *tat& removed, the 
 blacks remaining their own master*, I believe that within a few yean 
 they would be found less happy than at present. Such has been the 
 consequence of the extirpation of the whites in Hayti. I believe 
 that the whites could exist better without them, than they could 
 without the whites. But if, agreeably to the opinion of the philan 
 thropists, whose pecuniary interests and personal safety are not 
 to be hazarded by the innovation, a feasible plan of abohtioncould 
 be devised, how could it be executed ? Evidently it must be ac 
 complished in one of two ways either with the consent and co 
 operation of the communities within whose sovereignty it prevails, 
 or by civil war. The latter would be deprecated by every ft 
 Christian and virtuous friend of abolition. To countenan 
 measures pregnant with the horrors of anarchy and msurre 
 is evidently inconsistent with religion or philanthropy. It follows 
 that the heads and hearts of the slaveholders are the only tribunal 
 27* 
 
314 
 
 to which an appeal can be made, and to this you appeal with elo 
 quence and zeal ; and I presume would not make the effort unless 
 you entertained some hope of success. In the indulgence of this 
 hope I cannot join with you. I believe that our SOUTHERN PLANT 
 ERS are generally a kind hearted, hospitable, hrave, and magnani 
 mous race of men ; still as they are not above human nature, I 
 should be hopeless of an appeal to them on a question respecting 
 which they deny our right or ability to judge for them, and which 
 they conceive to hazard by its disturbance, not only the means f by 
 which they do live/ but the personal safety of themselves and all 
 those whom they hold dear. Before I could feel warranted in med 
 dling with the municipal regulations of any country, I must be 
 convinced that my interference will not do mischief instead of 
 good; and that I have both a moral and constitutional right to 
 move in the affairs in point. But were it, in my opinion, neither 
 immoral nor illegal to interfere, I should deem it incumbent on me 
 to perform all those duties which are unquestionable, and within 
 my immediate control, in the first place, and then to give attention 
 to such as are less obligatory, and beyond my reach. While it 
 pleases the Deity to allow certain evils, it is vain for man to put 
 forth his puny might. 
 
 "Faithfully, your friend, 
 
 "ROBERT HARE. 
 "To the Rev. Dr. Charming. 1 
 
 We cannot forbear giving our readers some of the 
 pithy, though plain, yet appropriate and judicious remarks 
 of Gen. Foote on these letters, in connection with the 
 course of some on this subject. They may seem to many 
 too severe, but let it be remembered that abolitionism is 
 a desperate, a pestilential disease, that must necessarily 
 require a desperate remedy. Gen. Foote says : "Rea 
 der, this is the same Mr. Adams who is now striving, 
 not to bring into the union this same country of Texas, 
 but to keep it out of the union, by vehement agitation, in 
 congress and out of it. This is the same statesman who, 
 in 1827, as Mr. Biddle, without the least hostile intent 
 towards his friend Mr, Adams, incidentally shows, au 
 thorized Mr. Clay to instruct Mr. Poinsett to propose 
 the purchase of the whole country to the Rio del Norte, 
 being the present Texas. This is the same statesman 
 under whose direction Mr. Clay then said to Mr. Poin 
 sett : The president authorizes you to offer to the gov 
 ernment of Mexico, a sum not exceeding one million of 
 dollars/ for this identical Texas. This is the same states- 
 
315 
 
 man at whose instance, too, Mr. Clay said to Mr. Poin- 
 sett: The treaty may contain a provision similar to that 
 in the Louisiana and Florida treaties, for the incorpora 
 tion of the inhabitants into the union, as soon as it can be 
 done consistently with the principles of the federal con 
 stitution. 
 
 "Well may Mr. Biddle say, as he does in his letter : 
 Both parties, Mr. Adams and Mr. Jackson s party, had 
 agreed to stipulate with a foreign power, and thus pledge 
 irrevocably the public faith that Texas should be intro 
 duced into the union, as Louisiana was, without any re 
 striction as to the number of states into which she was 
 divided, or the number of slaves she might contain, and 
 now, when she asked admission as a single state, the re 
 sult was, that after offering four millions for a part of 
 Texas, the whole came to us for nothing, and we refused 
 it ; that after endeavouring to bring it into the union in 
 such a way as to make six or eight slave-holding states, 
 we declined to receive it as a single individual state." 
 
 "It would be unbecoming a southern man to urge that 
 the veteran politician of Quincy, (certainly without the 
 least design,) inflicted serious injury upon the abolition 
 cause by refusing to throw the banner of the union over 
 Texas four years ago ; since, had Texas been admitted 
 then as a single state, she would have been, according to 
 the views of some, within the constitutional range of that 
 terrible abolition artillery, whose missiles are constantly 
 flying in all directions over the republic : let this matter 
 be settled among those interested. But I may be permit 
 ted here to suggest, that it is one of the most surprising 
 facts that has occurred in American history, that a pre 
 sident of the United States (Mr. Adams) should in 1827, 
 have agreed to the admission of the region, called Texas, 
 into the union (in the words of Mr. Biddle) <as Louisiana 
 was : and yet the same gentleman should, under the in 
 fluence of that chimera, which seems to have continually 
 haunted his imagination, as to the growing power of 
 south and west, for more than twenty years past, have 
 spoke as he did of this same purchase of Louisiana, and 
 of Mr. Jefferson, the purchaser, <in the year 1839, n 
 Jubilee Speech, at New York/ I will ofter no observa- 
 
316 
 
 lions on the glaring inconsistency there unfolded to view; 
 I shall say not a word in defence of the illustrious dead 
 from the ill-natured assailment of an individual who, 
 while Mr. Jefferson lived, was professedly his devoted 
 friend and enthusiastic admirer; but one fact is certain, 
 that until Mr. Adams shall emerge from the predicament 
 in which he stands of having deliberately sanctioned what 
 he denominated a flagrant violation of the constitution, 
 a pernicious and corrupting example of an undissembled, 
 admitted prostration of the constitution/ Texas will have 
 but little to fear from his hostility, however may be his 
 endeavours to injure her, and to persuade the poor old 
 ladies of his vicinage to get up petitions upon which to 
 harangue the house of representatives, and to harass the 
 peace of the republic. 
 
 "Twenty years hence, when ex-president Adams, shall 
 have found commune with his reverend ancestors, beyond 
 the visible firmament, the friends of Texas and the Tex- 
 ans will, in all probability be heard to recite the language 
 of his own jubilee oration, applying it to him and his 
 huge budget of petitions, saying : "upon the opening of 
 Pandora s box. Hope was left behind. Hitherto no seed 
 of deadly aconite has generated into pestilential poison ;" 
 and I rejoice to know that Mr. Adams jubilee oration of 
 one hundred and twenty pages, all drawn up for the pur 
 pose of showing that the states were never sovereign, and 
 that the federal constitution had derived its validity and 
 binding force alone from the people of the union as a 
 consolidated mass, was, four days ago, completely coun 
 teracted by a single sentence which fell from the lips of a 
 true disciple of Thomas Jefferson, a man beloved and 
 admired, and confided in, by good men and true of all 
 parties, JOHN TYLER of Virginia, who, on taking the 
 oath of office as second officer of this great republic, in 
 his address to the senate, among other truths, said : u here 
 are to be found the immediate representatives of the 
 states, by whose sovereign will the government has been 
 spoken into existence." 
 
 Many of the remarks of General Foote respecting Mr. 
 Adams, are equally applicable to Dr. Channing, and it is 
 a remarkable fact, that with the assistance of Mr. Biddle 
 
317 
 
 and Professor Hare, he has absolutely answered the 
 most material parts of Dr. C s. last book, on slavery, so 
 far as Texas is concerned. We say slavery, for after all, 
 slavery is its basis, slavery its subject, and to promote 
 abolitionism its great object. This being the case we 
 humbly conceive that in our investigation of it, we have 
 at least with the aids which we have called in, answered 
 most if not all of the material points in this subject, and 
 according to promise, have examined Dr. C s three 
 tracts. 
 
 We here solemnly declare to our readers and the pub 
 lic, that we have no political object in view, and have 
 strove to avoid any party or political cast which this 
 subject would, almost necessarily, force us to assume. 
 We go for our country, for this union of states, a union 
 upon that foundation which our brave and patriotic 
 fathers, with WASHINGTON at their head, laid, to secure its 
 permanency and future glory. We have not noticed nor 
 shall we, Dr. Channing s argument founded on the crimi 
 nality of resistance to the Mexican government by Texas. 
 As Mr. Biddle has suggested what he says respecting 
 this, would be equally applicable to that resistance which 
 in revolutionary times, these United States made to the 
 government of Great Britain. We cannot, however, for 
 bear asking the doctor if it be so iniquitous for Texas to 
 resist the Mexican government, is there no iniquity in 
 abolitionists, with Dr. Channing at their head, resisting 
 the constitution and laws of these United States, by pub 
 licly proclaiming to heaven and earth that they are 
 "bound" on the subject of slavery "by no law," and that 
 resistance to abolitionism "will ultimately demand the 
 separation of the states." And that they do not desire to 
 live under the laws and government of a country admit 
 ting such a principle, that resistance is meretorious and 
 to be neutral a crime. So far as we are personally con 
 cerned we take nothing that Dr. C. has said to ourselves. 
 We have long since learned not to wear a cap which 
 does not fit us. If Dr. C. had offended us personally, 
 we trust there is a charity to cover every fault, and a 
 heart to forgive every wrong. But the attack is one 
 upon our country, on Virginia, the state that gave us 
 
318 
 
 birth, of all others dearest to us. It is one published to 
 the world, it is one that opens to every man a door for 
 a plain, pointed and frank expression of his opinion, and 
 we believe that it is a direct attack, not only on all the 
 slave-holding states, but on every lover of the union 
 throughout these United States. We have spoken plainly 
 and with frankness. We intended to do so. Some of 
 our expressions may be considered harsh, we know not 
 how to sweeten, as some do, a bitter pill. Perhaps we 
 are naturally tart; but we are willing to submit what we 
 have here written to the judgment of the candid and con 
 siderate (abolitionists of course excepted,) of every name, 
 of every sect and party, whether in religion or politics, 
 north or south, and let them compare our bitterest ex 
 pressions with some of the ungenerous, and cutting, and 
 uncharitable remarks of Dr. C. We do not dread the 
 issue when patiently heard, though that hearing be had in 
 the land of the pilgrims. The sons of New England we 
 do believe, will frown into the dust, by nine out of ten, 
 any attempt, though made by the learned Dr. C. and 
 Judge Jay, to dissolve our UNION, and destroy this 
 REPUBLIC. 
 
PART IX 
 
 AN APPEAL TO THE NORTH AND THE SOUTH, WITH SOME OJ - 
 SERVATIONS ON CLARKSON J S LETTER TO THE CLERGY OF 
 THE SLAVE-HOLDING STATES. A NOTICE OF THE EXCEL 
 LENT SPEECH OF THE HON. ROBERT J. WALKER BEFORE 
 THE SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES, AND SOME 
 QUOTATIONS FROM IT. CONCLUDING REMARKS. 
 
 THINK not friends and fellow-citizens of the north and 
 the east, that any remarks which have been made in the 
 foregoing pages, are intended to wound and insult you. 
 We have been trained by a father whose name is now 
 written in the dust, to deal frankly and candidly with all 
 men. In the exercise of our own independence, a right in 
 which you rejoice, we have honestly expressed our views. 
 If in doing this, if by any quotations we have made we 
 wound any, rest assured it has not been because that we 
 delight to do so and none can lament it more than we. 
 But in the defence of that condition in which the south 
 has been placed by circumstances over which she had no 
 control originally, and even now cannot control as it 
 would, we have spoken our opinions plainly and openly. 
 The slaves are here, they are in our midst, they were 
 forced on the south : with a perfect knowledge of these 
 facts, your fathers entered into a solemn covenant with 
 ours, and will you upturn the whole when you cannot 
 better the condition of the slaves, and by so doing may 
 involve them and perhaps us, your fellow-citizens in a 
 destruction that shall be complete? Do you know that 
 the first attempt of this kind, the first blow that shall ever 
 be struck, will be but the signal, that shall bring death 
 and ruin on the colored race, from the Potomac to the 
 
320 
 
 Gulf of Mexico ? You must not think that the south 
 ern states are disposed to encourage the trade in slaves. 
 They, with but few exceptions, are averse to it. In their 
 collective and legislative as well as their individual capa 
 city they have resisted it to the utmost. They have been 
 as we have shown, before the north in resistance to the 
 slave trade. This is a well attested fact. 
 
 Some time last spring there came up a case before the 
 Supreme Court of the United States, commonly called 
 the Mississippi slave case, entitled in the records of the 
 court, "Groves et al. v. Slaughter, 5 "involving the power 
 of congress and the states to prohibit the inter-state slave 
 trade." This case was argued elaborately on both sides, 
 and excited great interest in all, as in it was involved a 
 most interesting constitutional question. ROBERT J. 
 WALKER, Esq. one of the United States senators for 
 Mississippi, appeared and answered as the attorney for 
 Mr. Groves, one of the defendants. Mr. Walker is not 
 only a distinguished senator, but from what we have 
 heard in Washington of this speech for the defendant, and 
 from the speech itself, we gather that he is also a dis 
 tinguished jurist. The legal and historical information, 
 the eloquent appeals, and the powerful reasonings of this 
 speech, we must frankly confess, have completely capti 
 vated us, and will doubtless interest all. We commend 
 it to your perusal. Born and educated, (as we are in 
 formed,) in one of the free states, now an adopted son of 
 Mississippi, whom she delights to honour, such argu 
 ments and such appeals as are to be found in that speech 
 must necessarily have a most powerful influence both at 
 home and abroad. From it we cannot forego the plea 
 sure of making some quotations, and of placing them, 
 fellow-citizens of the north and east, before you, as a 
 true specimen of southern feeling on this delicate subject. 
 Before we could procure a copy thereof, we had fin 
 ished our inquiry and examination. We should have 
 been truly gratified to have had access to it in time to 
 have made many extracts from various parts of it. We 
 must, however, content ourselves with the selection of a 
 few portions thereof, and of placing them before you as 
 a part of our appeal. This we do without the knowledge 
 
321 
 
 of Mr. Walker, and without the opportunity of asking 
 his consent. For this liberty we hope to be pardoned, 
 and also for the naming him, comparatively a stranger to 
 us, we hope to find as we believe we shall, an ample 
 apology in his kindness. Convinced that Mr. Walker 
 ardently and anxiously wishes the perpetuity and welfare 
 of this union, we know he cannot, he will not, object to the 
 use of any portion of his speech, to aid in the accomplish 
 ment of an end that is so desirable. 
 
 After giving a lucid exposition of the constitution and 
 law, and illustrating the true meaning and force of va 
 rious cases which have come up before the Supreme 
 Court of the United States, and those of individual slates, 
 Mr. Walker remarks thus, upon the decisions of the High 
 Court of Errors and Appeals of the state of Mississippi, 
 on the subject of this inter-state slave trade, and upon 
 that of slavery in the south in general. 
 
 "I approach now the final question raised by our op 
 ponents in their printed brief, as follows : But* assuming 
 that the constitution of Mississippi does not contain a 
 clear and incontestible prohibition of the introduction of 
 slaves, as merchandize, within its limits then there re 
 mains, in the last place, to be considered fourthly, a grave 
 and important question, which this court will have to 
 decide; and that is, whether it is competent to any state 
 in the union, by its separate authority, either in its con 
 stitution or its laws, to regulate commerce among the 
 several states, by enacting and enforcing such a prohibi 
 tion? The constitution of the United States vests in 
 congress the power to regulate commerce with foreign 
 nations, and among the several states, and with the In 
 dian tribes. The power must be regarded as exclusively 
 possessed by congress. The municipal laws of a state 
 may, perhaps, decide what shall be the subjects of pro 
 perty; but when they have so decided, when they have 
 stamped the character of property on any particular 
 movables, they cannot interdict the removal of similar 
 movables as merchandize, from any other state, whose 
 laws also recognize them as property. Such an interdic 
 tion would be a regulation of commerce among the 
 28 
 
322 
 
 states ; and if a state can make it, it may prohibit the 
 introduction of any produce from another state. South 
 Carolina may prohibit the introduction of live stock from 
 Kentucky, and Kentucky may prohibit the introduction 
 within her limits, of the cotton or rice of South Carolina. 
 It is not intended to argue that a state, which does not 
 tolerate slavery, is bound to admit the introduction of 
 slaves, to be held as property, within its limits; and the 
 reason for excluding them is, that, by the laws of the 
 free states, slaves cannot be held in bondage. The case 
 before the court is, that of the transportation of slaves 
 from one slave state to another slave state. I concur 
 with our opponents, that this is indeed, a grave and im 
 portant question ; the most so, in my judgment, which 
 has ever been brought up for the determination of this 
 court. The power to regulate commerce among the 
 states is supreme and exclusive/ it is vested in congress 
 alone, and if under it, congress may forbid or authorize 
 the transportation of slaves from state to state, in defiance 
 of state authority, then indeed, we shall have reached a 
 crisis in the abolition controversy, most alarming and 
 momentous. 
 
 "In their petitions to congress by the abolitionists, they 
 assert the power here claimed, and call upon that body 
 to exercise it by legislative enactments, in regard to the 
 sale and transportation of slaves from state to state. 
 These petitions have been repeatedly rejected or laid on 
 the table, as seeking an object beyond the constitutional 
 power of congress, by overwhelming majorities of both 
 houses; but if this court, as the interpreter of the consti 
 tution of the union, in the last resort, now inform congress 
 that this power is vested in congress alone, no one can 
 predict the consequences. Let it be observed, also, that 
 whilst all these laws of all the slave-holding states on 
 this subject are asked to be pronounced unconstitutional, 
 the laws on the same subject, of the free states, as they 
 are designated by our opponents, are sought to be placed 
 above the power of congress on this question. A dis 
 tinction is thus directly made, by our opponents, between 
 the free states and the slave states, as contradistin 
 guished in their brief on this question ; and the free 
 
323 
 
 states are asked to be regarded as sovereign, and the 
 slave states as subject states, upon all the points involved 
 in this controversy. Thus it follows, that the contract 
 sought to be enforced in this case, could not be enforced 
 if made in Massachusetts, because prohibited by her con 
 stitution ; but that the same identical contract can be en 
 forced if made in the state of Mississippi, although ex 
 pressly prohibited by the constitution of that state. Mas 
 sachusetts, then, possesses sovereign and absolute power 
 over this subject, and Mississippi no power whatever. 
 
 "The constitution is then to have the same uniform 
 effect throughout all the states, as regards the supreme 
 and exclusive power of congress to regulate commerce 
 among the states ; but this power is to range undisturbed 
 throughout all the slave states, striking down all their 
 laws and constitutions on this subject, whilst the same 
 power is arrested at the limits of each one of the free 
 states, of this union. Such is the degrading attitude in 
 which every slave-holding state is placed by this position. 
 But, let me ask, is not the admission of our opponents, 
 that this power of congress cannot enter the limits of the 
 free states/ conclusive I The history of the constitution 
 of the union shows that the want of uniformity, as re 
 gards regulations of commerce, was the great motive 
 leading to the formation of that instrument. It was the 
 sole cause assigned in the resolutions of Virginia, (of Mr. 
 Madison) of 1785 and 1786, as a consequence of which 
 was assembled the convention which framed the consti 
 tution of the union. To Mr. Madison and to Virginia 
 belong the undisputed honour of assembling that conven 
 tion ; and the sole object avowed in the Virginia resolu 
 tions was, by the adoption of the constitution, to procure 
 for all the states uniformity in their commercial regula 
 tions. Virginia had endeavoured, prior to the adoption 
 of the constitution, to regulate commerce between her 
 ports and those of other stales and nations, but she found 
 that these regulations only drove this commerce to the 
 rival ports of Maryland. She negotiated with Maryland 
 to adopt similar regulations, but Maryland ascertained 
 that she could not adopt them without driving her com 
 merce to Pennsylvania, nor Pennsylvania without New 
 
324 
 
 York, nor New York without New England. Absolute 
 and perfect uniformity was required to give due effect to 
 regulations of commerce among all the states ; and hence 
 the call of the convention which formed the constitution 
 of the union, at the instance of Virginia, to establish this 
 uniformity. If, then, this power to regulate commerce 
 among all the states upon the principle of perfect unifor 
 mity, cannot, as regards the transportation and sale of 
 slaves, have the same uniform effect in all the states, but 
 can be exerted in and between some states only, and not 
 in others, it is a conclusive argument, that as regards 
 this local and peculiar question of slaves, and their sale 
 and transportation from state to state, was never design 
 ed to be embraced under the authority of congress to 
 regulate commerce among the states. The power to 
 regulate commerce among the states, is a power to regu 
 late commerce among all the states ; and by regulations 
 of perfect uniformity, applying to all, and exempting none. 
 But Massachusetts, it is conceded, may, as regards the 
 transportation into, and sale of slaves in that state, exempt 
 herself from the operation of the power of congress to 
 regulate commerce, and from all laws of congress on 
 that subject. Yet this power is not only to operate with 
 perfect uniformity, but is declared by our opponents to 
 be supreme and exclusive. And may this power be 
 thus struck down as regards a single state, by the opera 
 tion of state laws and state authority? Does any one 
 state possess the authority to exempt herself from a power 
 vested in congress alone, and prohibited to the states ? 
 Js this the tenure, at the will of a state, by which congress 
 holds its powers, and especially those which are supreme 
 and exclusive? It is said, Massachusetts may exempt 
 herself from the operation of this power, by declaring 
 slaves not to be property within her limits. But is there 
 any way in which a state may exempt itself from the 
 operation of a power vested in congress alone ; or does 
 this exempting power depend on the mode in w r hich it is 
 exercised by a state ? But Massachusetts, it is said, may 
 exempt herself from the operation of this power of con 
 gress, by declaring slaves not to be property within her 
 limits ; and if so, may not Mississippi exempt herself in a 
 
325 
 
 similar manner, by declaring, as she has done, that the 
 slaves of other states shall not be merchandize within her 
 limits. Cannot the state say, you may take back these 
 slaves from our limits, but they shall not be an article of 
 merchandise here ; or may she not say, your slaves in 
 in other states shall not be introduced for sale here, or if 
 so, our laws will emancipate them ; or as Maryland now 
 does, send them to Africa, if they will go, and if not, con 
 tinue them as slaves in the state, but annul the sale by 
 the importer ? And must the slate have previously eman 
 cipated all negroes who had been slaves within her lim 
 its, in order that she may be permitted to emancipate or 
 forbid the sale of other negroes introduced as slaves from 
 other states? A certain number of negroes are now 
 slaves in Mississippi, and articles of merchandise by vir 
 tue of state laws and state power, within her limits. Now 
 it is conceded, that the state may declare all these not to 
 be slaves, or not to be merchandize, within her limits. 
 Yet it is contended she may not make the same declara 
 tion as to the negroes of other states when introduced 
 into the state. 
 
 "A state may, it is conceded, establish or abolish slavery 
 within her limits; she may do it immediately, or gradu 
 ally and prospectively ; she may confine slavery to the 
 slaves then born and living in the state, or to them and 
 their descendants, or to those slaves in the state, and those 
 introduced by emigrants, and not for sale, or those to be 
 introduced within a certain date. All these are exer 
 cises of the unquestionable power of a state, and over 
 which congress has no control or supervision. Or may 
 congress supervise the state laws in this respect, and say 
 to Massachusetts, and the other six states, who with her 
 have abolished slavery, slaves from other states shall not 
 against your laws be sold within your limits ; but in all 
 the remaining nineteen states where slavery does still 
 exist, your laws against the sale of slaves from other 
 states, shall be nugatory. Or may congress again, as 
 between these nineteen states, say to New Jersey, Penn 
 sylvania, &c., you have confined slavery to the slaves 
 already within your limits, and make all born after a 
 certain date, free ; slaves from other states shall not there- 
 28* 
 
326 
 
 fore be sold in your states, but in all the other states, 
 where the existing slaves, as well as their offspring, are 
 held in bondage, all other slaves may be sold within your 
 limits, from other states ; if this be not so, slaves from 
 other states may be sold in Pennsylvania, Connecticut, 
 Rhode Island, and New Jersey. Negro men who are 
 held as slaves elsewhere, cannot be imported and sold as 
 slaves in these states ; because although negro men now 
 there, are held and may be sold as slaves, yet the descend 
 ants of the female slaves, if there be any born hereafter, 
 are to be free. And can it be seriously contended that 
 this is so, and that upon an examination of the various 
 conflicting provisions of state laws in this respect, as to 
 slavery within their limits, shall depend the question 
 whether congress, against the consent of the states, shall 
 force upon some states, and not upon others, the sale of 
 slaves within their limits, under a general comprehensive, 
 uniform, supreme, and exclusive power to regulate com 
 merce among all the states. The power to declare 
 whether men shall be held in slavery in a state, and 
 whether those only of a certain colour, who are already 
 there, shall be held in slavery, or be articles of merchan 
 dize, and none others, or whether others introduced from 
 other states shall also be held in slavery, or be articles 
 of merchandize within her limits is exclusively a state 
 power, over which it never was designed by the consti 
 tution, that congress should have the slightest control, to 
 increase or decrease the number who should be held as 
 slaves within their limits, or to retard or postpone, or in 
 fluence in any way, directly or indirectly, the question of 
 abolition. Such a power in all its effects and conse 
 quences, is a power, not to regulate commerce among 
 the states, but to regulate slavery, both in and among the 
 states. It is abolition in its most dangerous form, under 
 the mask of a power to regulate commerce. It is clearly 
 a power in congress to add to the number of slaves in a 
 state against her will, to increase, and to increase indefi 
 nitely, slavery and the number of slaves in a state, against 
 her authority. And if congress possess the power to in 
 crease slavery in a state, why not also the power to de 
 crease it, and to regulate it at pleasure? Now it is a 
 
327 
 
 power as conceded to increase slavery against the will of 
 a state, within its limits, whence it would follow, that if 
 a state desires more slaves, congress, under the same 
 power, may forbid the transportation of slaves from any 
 state to any other state, and thus decrease slavery as 
 regards any state, against her will and pleasure. The 
 truth is, if congress possess this power to regulate the 
 transportation and sale of slaves, from state to state, as it 
 may all other articles of commerce, and slaves are to be 
 placed on the same basis, under this supreme and exclu 
 sive power to regulate commerce, authority over the 
 whole subject of slavery between and in the states, would 
 be delegated to congress. And yet how strangely incon 
 sistent are the arguments of the abolitionists ; they say 
 men are not property by virtue of any laws of congress 
 or of the states ; and yet that as such, commerce in them 
 among the states may be regulated by congress, and by 
 congress alone. We say, the character of merchandize, 
 or property, is attached to negroes, not by any grant of 
 power in the constitution of the United States, but by 
 virtue of the positive law of the states in which they are 
 found ; and with these states alone rests the power to 
 legislate over the whole subject, and to give to them, or 
 take from them, either the whole or from any part or 
 number of them, those already there, or those that may 
 be introduced thereafter, in whole or in part, the charac 
 ter of merchandize or property, at their pleasure, and 
 over all which state regulations congress has not the 
 slightest power whatever. That this is so, follows from 
 the admission, that a state can abolish slavery, and make 
 all the slaves within her limits cease to be property. 
 Massachusetts, it is said, may do this; and may, when 
 done, prevent the sale of slaves within her limits. But 
 may she therefore declare that horses, or cattle, or 
 cotton, or any other usual article of commerce, shall not 
 be property within her limits, and thereby prevent the 
 sale by the importer of similar articles, introduced from 
 abroad, or from any state in the union within her limits ? 
 Not unless she can abolish property and commerce, so 
 far as she is concerned with all foreign nations, and with 
 all her sister states, or regulate it at her pleasure, or pre 
 scribe the articles in regard to which it shall exist. 
 

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330 
 
 within the commercial power, by declaring them not to 
 be property within her limits, she may make the same 
 declaration as to any or all other articles embraced by 
 this power of the constitution ; forbid their importation 
 or sale within her limits, and thus regulate at her plea 
 sure, or annihilate the commerce between that state and 
 all the other states. It follows then as a consequence, 
 either that each state at its pleasure may, as to that state, 
 annihilate the whole commercial power of congress, by 
 declaring what shall or shall not be property within her 
 limits, or that slaves were designated by the constitution 
 as persons, and as such, never designed to be embraced 
 in the power of congress to regulate commerce among 
 the states. The commerce to be regulated was among 
 the several states. Among what states ? Was it among 
 all, or only some of the states ? Was it a national or 
 sectional commercial code, which congress was to adopt? 
 Was it to operate between Virginia and Massachusetts ? 
 Was it a regulation that would operate only between two 
 states ; but not as between one of these states, and ano 
 ther remote or adjacent state? Was it a regulation con 
 fined to particular states, and to be changed by those 
 states, as from time to time they might change their 
 policy upon any local question, and was it a local or ge 
 neral commerce ? Could it regulate by compulsory enact 
 ments an inter-state commerce in particular articles be 
 tween certain states, because those states permitted an 
 internal commerce in similar articles ; but be authorized 
 to extend no similar regulations to other states forbidding 
 such internal commerce? If so, congress. must look to 
 state laws to see what articles are vendible in a state, or 
 what internal commerce is authorized by it within its 
 limits, before it can apply a general regulation of com 
 merce to that state. Or does the authority of congress 
 to regulate the external or internal state commerce, de 
 pend upon the manner in which a state exercises its own 
 power of regulating its internal commerce ? If so, and 
 this be the rule as to slaves as embraced in the commer 
 cial power, it must be the same as to all other articles 
 embraced in the same power; and the power of congress 
 in regulating commerce among the states will depend 
 
331 
 
 upon the permission of each state in regulating its inter 
 nal commerce. But not only was this uniformity in regu 
 lations of commerce required by the nature and national 
 object of the grant ; but the constitution, in the same ar 
 ticle in which the power is given to congress to regulate 
 commerce among the states, expressly declares, that No 
 preference shall be given by any regulation of commerce 
 or revenue, to the ports of one state over those of ano 
 ther. Now, if Massachusetts and Mississippi both forbid 
 by law the introduction of slaves as merchandize, and 
 congress enact a law, or this court make a decree, by 
 virtue of which, slaves are forced into the ports of Missis 
 sippi for sale, but cannot be forced for the same purpose 
 of sale into the ports of Massachusetts, a direct prefer 
 ence is given by a regulation of commerce, to the ports 
 of one state over those of another. It is a preference, if 
 one state may be permitted to exclude from introduction 
 for sale within her ports, what another state is compelled 
 to receive for sale. It is a preference which is asked in 
 this case, to follow as a regulation of commerce, by vir 
 tue of this very provision in the constitution itself, and in 
 the absence of all congressional enactments, as if the con 
 stitution created these very preferences as to commerce, 
 which it was the very object of that instrument to pro 
 hibit. 
 
 "As, then, it is conceded by our opponents, that the 
 laws of Massachusetts do prohibit the introduction of 
 slaves in her ports, and are constitutional, the same ad 
 mission must follow as to the laws of Mississippi, forbid 
 ding the introduction of slaves in her ports ; or a preter- 
 ence will be given by 1 the constitution itself, by a regula 
 tion of commerce, to the ports of one state over those of 
 another. But these state laws are not regulations of 
 commerce, but of slavery. They relate to the social re 
 lations which exist in a state; the relation of master and 
 slave ; they define the person to whom that relation 
 shall be extended, and how and under what circumstances 
 it shall be further introduced into the state. Each state 
 has exclusive power over the social relations which shall 
 exist, or be introduced within her limits, and upon what 
 terms and conditions, and what persons or number of 
 
332 
 
 persons shall be embraced within these regulations. The 
 condition of master and slave is a relation; it is univer 
 sally designated as the relation of master and slave ; and 
 whether this relation shall be confined to the slaves al 
 ready within the limits of the state, or be extended to 
 others to be introduced in future, is a matter exclusively 
 within the power of each state. The relation of master 
 and slave, of master and apprentice, of owner and re- 
 demptioner, of purchaser and convict sold, or guardian 
 and ward, husband and wife, parent and child, are all re 
 lations depending exclusively on the municipal regulations 
 of each state ; and over which, to create or abolish, 
 limit or extend, introduce or exclude, or regulate in any 
 manner whatever, congress has no authority ; and con 
 gress can no more say that a state shall have forced 
 upon her more slaves than she desires, because there are 
 slaves there, than that a state shall have more apprentices 
 than she desires, because there are apprentices within 
 her limits. I speak as a question of law, and not as in 
 stituting any moral comparison between slaves and ap 
 prentices ; for from the ranks of the latter have risen 
 some of the greatest and best men, and purest patriots. 
 The master has the right, not created by the constitution 
 of the United States, or to be regulated by it, but created 
 and regulated by state laws, to the services of the slave 
 for life, the time prescribed by the laws of the state. The 
 master has the right to the services of the apprentice for 
 the time prescribed by the laws of the state ; and both, if 
 the state permits, may assign to others their right to 
 these services under the directions of state laws. Can 
 therefore the right to the services of an apprentice, as 
 signable in one state, be assigned in another state against 
 her will, with the introduction of the apprentice there, 
 because the services of other apprentices already there, 
 are assignable in that state ? 
 
 "Under the laws introduced into at least two of the 
 free states of this union, malefactors might have been 
 sold for a term as long as life, and their services might 
 be assignable for life by the purchaser at public sale, to 
 any third person whatever ; these malefactors, in the lan 
 guage of the constitution of the union, in regard to slaves, 
 
333 
 
 were "persons bound to service" for life, and their ser 
 vices for life assignable by their masters; and yet could 
 these malefactors, thus assignable, be introduced into, and 
 be lawfully transferred in any other state, against her 
 Jaws, because other malefactors already there, were there 
 assignable ; yet, a malefactor bound to service for life, 
 purchased by his master at public sale, and liable to be 
 sold by his owner, is as much his property in contempla 
 tion of law, as the slave can be of his master. He is in 
 fact a slave, having forfeited his liberty, and subjected 
 himself to perpetual services by his crimes; a manner in 
 which the most rigid moralists admit that servitude may 
 be justifiably established. Yet. such slaves cannot be 
 transported and sold from state to state; though by the 
 very constitution of Ohio and other of the free states, 
 slavery is expressly authorized therein, for the punish 
 ment of crimes. It does not exist in Mississippi as in 
 the free states, only as a punishment for crimes, but 
 from a state necessity, equally strong and powerful ; the 
 necessity of self-government, and of self-protection, and 
 as best for the security and welfare of both races. Sla 
 very in Mississippi is a relation of perpetual pupilage and 
 minority, and of contented dependence on the one hand, 
 and of guardian care and patriarchal power on the other, 
 a power essential for the welfare of both parties/ With 
 us the slaves greatly preponderate in numbers, and it is 
 simply a question whether they shall govern us, or we 
 shall govern them ; whether there shall be an African or 
 Anglo-American government in the state; or whether 
 there shall be a government of intelligent white free men, 
 or of ignorant negro slaves, to emancipate whom would 
 not be to endow them with the moral or intellectual pow 
 er to govern themselves or others, but to sink into the 
 same debasement and misery which marks their truly 
 unhappy condition in the crowded and pestilent alleys ol 
 the great cities of the north, where they are called free, 
 but they are in fact a degraded caste, subjected to the 
 worst of servitude, the bondage of vice, of ignorance, of 
 want and misery. And if such be their condition where 
 they are few in number and surrounded by their sympa 
 thising friends, how would it be where there are hundreds 
 29 
 
334 
 
 of thousands of them, and how in states where they 
 greatly preponderate in number? Their emancipation, 
 where such is the condition of the country, would be to 
 them the darkest abyss of debasement, misery, vice and 
 anarchy. Arid yet to produce this very result, is the 
 grand object of that party in the north that demands of 
 congress to regulate trade among the states, not really 
 with the view to prohibit that traffic, for it is prohibited 
 by the slave-holding states, but with an ultimate view to 
 emancipation as an incidental consequence from the 
 action of congress over the subject. And here let me 
 observe, that an adherence by the south to the policy in 
 w hich they are now united, in abolishing as states the 
 inter-state slave trade, and the support of that power and 
 of that policy on the part of the states, by the decree of 
 this court, and the denial of the power of congress, will 
 do much to secure the continuance of that policy and to 
 silence the most powerful of the batteries of abolition. 
 
 "Another great mistake, maintained in the north by 
 this party, is the ground now assumed in claiming this 
 regulating commercial power of congress, that by the 
 law of the slave-holding states, slaves are merely chattels 
 and not persons, and therefore are subjected to the power 
 of congress to regulate commerce among the states. If 
 it be intended to convey the idea that slaves are designed 
 to be deprived by the laws of the south of the qualities 
 and character of* persons, and of the rights of human 
 beings, and to degrade them in all things to the level of 
 chattels, of inanimate matter, or of the brutes that perish, 
 it is a radical error, and one that has been too long cir 
 culated uncontradicted by the abolitionists. In some of 
 the states, they are designated as real, as immovable 
 property. Is it therefore designed to deprive them of the 
 power of locomotion, or to convert them into a part of 
 the land or soil of a state ? Far otherwise. Nor does 
 their designation as general property convert them into 
 mere chattels, and deprive them of the character of human 
 beings. In the south this is well understood, and no such 
 meaning is attached to these terms, but in the north they 
 are seized on and perverted, as if slaves were regarded 
 and treated by us as inanimate matter. No, they are, in 
 
335 
 
 every thing essential to their real welfare, regarded as 
 persons ; as such they are responsible and punishable for 
 crimes; as such to kill them in cold blood is murder ; to 
 treat them with cruelty or refuse them comfortable cloth 
 ing and food, is a highly penal offence ; as such they are 
 nursed in sickness and infancy, and even in old age, with 
 care and tenderness, when the season of labour is past. 
 To call them chattels or real estate, no more makes them 
 in reality land or merely inanimate matter, than to call 
 the blacks of the north freemen, makes them so in fact. 
 When the constitution of Mississippi, and laws made in 
 pursuance thereof, require that slaves shall be treated 
 with humanity, commands that they shall be well clothed 
 and fed, and that unreasonable labour shall not be exact 
 ed, are these provisions applicable to a mere chattel, 
 which the owner may mutilate or destroy at pleasure ? 
 No. The master has no right to the flesh and blood, the 
 bones and sinews of any man under the laws of the south ; 
 this is an abolition slander, and the right is to the services 
 of the slave, so declared expressly in the laws of the 
 south, and so recognized in the constitution of the United 
 States, where slaves are described as persons bound to 
 service or labour, and so unanimously decided by the 
 highest court of our state. Jones case, Walker s Miss. 
 Rep. 83. The right of the master is to the services of 
 the slave, a right accruing only by virtue of the law of 
 the state, and upon the terms therein prescribed. The 
 rights of the master and slave are reciprocal under the 
 laws of the south ; the right of the master is to the servi 
 ces of the slave for life, and the right of the slave as 
 secured by law, to humane and proper treatment, to com 
 fortable lodging, food and clothing, and to proper care in 
 infancy, sickness and old age. These are the wages 
 paid, and that must be paid by the master ; and if the 
 doctrine of the abolitionists be correct, that slave labour 
 is dearer than free labour, then higher wages are thus 
 paid in the south than in the north for the same amount c 
 labour; and that it is much higher wages than is paid .to 
 the toiling and starving millions of Europe, no candid 
 man will deny. Let me be accused of making no com 
 parison between slaves and my countrymen, the free 
 
336 
 
 white labourers of all the states. No; they are fitted 
 morally and intellectually for self-government, and the 
 slaves are not so fitted ; and therefore, even for their 
 own benefit, must be controlled by others. In truth, 
 then, slavery is a condition of things ; it is a relation, the 
 relation of master and slave, the status servi of the Ro 
 man and Grecian law, so designated and recognized as a 
 relation in the days of the Jewish Theocracy, as well as 
 under the Christian dispensation. By all these laws it 
 was designated as a relation, and as such we have seen it 
 expressly recognized in the constitution of the United 
 States, where slaves are called persons held to service of 
 labour. How far they shall be so bound is exclusively a 
 question of state authority, and over which the congress 
 of the union possess not the slightest authority. The 
 states and the states only can say what persons shall be 
 bound to service, and when they shall be released, and to 
 what persons this relation shall be extended, and whether 
 it shall be confined to those slaves already within the 
 limits of a state, or be enlarged so as to include all others 
 who may be introduced within their limits; and it is the 
 abolitionists who must wholly deprive the slaves of the 
 character of persons, and reduce them in all respects to 
 the level of merchandize, before they can apply to them 
 the power of congress to regulate commerce among the 
 states. 
 
 "We have seen in the course of this argument, that 
 ten of the twelve states which framed the constitution, 
 have passed laws, many of them cotemporaneous with 
 the formation of the constitution or almost immediately 
 after, prohibiting the introduction from other states, of 
 slaves for sale, and have enforced these laws. The simi 
 lar provisions have been made in effect by all the states 
 in their laws or constitutions, and that these provisions 
 have all been enforced, that the supreme judicial tribunal 
 of every state, (where the question has been made,) have 
 again and again, during a period of more than fifty years, 
 declared these laws to be valid ; and that the Supreme 
 Court of the United States have, again and again, unani 
 mously recognized their constitutionality, and carried 
 them into execution ; that at least six of the new states 
 
337 
 
 have affirmed in their constitutions the power to pass 
 those laws, and that congress (sometimes by an unani 
 mous vote) have on all those occasions, commencing in 
 1792, and terminating in 1836, conceded that these con 
 stitutions affirming this power, were not repugnant to 
 the constitution of the United States. Does not all this 
 settled action of all the departments of the governments 
 of the states, and of the United States, fix the construc 
 tion of the constitution in this respect, and leave it no 
 longer an open question for the investigation of this 
 court. This court have declared that <a cotemporary 
 exposition of the constitution practised and acquiesced 
 under for a period of years, fixes the construction, and 
 the courts will not shake or control it. 1 Cranch, 299. 
 And now, will this court, by a single decree, overthrow 
 the law as settled for more than fifty years, by all the de 
 partments of the governments of the states, and of the 
 union ? If so, it must sacrifice at once a hetacomb of 
 acts and decisions, and change the structure of the go 
 vernment itself. It would be a judicial revolution, more 
 sudden and overwhelming in its effects, than the last 
 great revolutions in France and England, which were 
 little more than changes of dynasty. I have called it a 
 revolution, not a usurpation ; but the most daring usurper 
 never effected so sudden and extensive a change in the 
 civil and political rights, and settled internal policy of a 
 nation. These have been generally spared by conquerors 
 and usurpers, or if not spared, they were not subverted 
 by a single decree, to be at once proclaimed and exe 
 cuted. But here, the moment this decree shall be record 
 ed, the revolution will have commenced and terminated, 
 and this court will re-assemble among the fragments of 
 laws subverted, and decisions overthrown. The consti 
 tutions of six of the states, the laws of all upon this 
 subject, and a series of uninterrupted judicial decisions 
 for more than half a century, will be at once obliterated. 
 With them will fall the acts of congress upon this ques 
 tion, from the admission of the first, to the last of the 
 new states, and many confirmatory decisions of this tri 
 bunal. This decree affects the past, the present and 
 
 29* 
 
338 
 
 future. Reaching back to 1788, it annuls all the state 
 laws forbidding the introduction of slaves, and re-enslaves 
 all, and the descendants of all that were liberated by those 
 statutes. And all this is to be effected by a single decree ; 
 no time allowed to prepare for the mighty change, but it 
 is to be the work of an instant. 
 
 "So much for the past and present, and now for that 
 dark and gloomy future, when this court, having annulled 
 all the state laws on this subject, shall announce that it is 
 a question over which the power of congress is supreme 
 and exclusive. Could the union stand the mighty shock, 
 and if it fell, we look upon the victims of anarchy and 
 civil war, resting wearied for the night from the work of 
 death and desolation, to renew in the morning the dread 
 ful conflict? Throwing our eyes across the Atlantic, 
 shall we behold the consequences, when the overthrow 
 ing of this union, this second fall of mankind, shall be 
 there promulgated ? Shall we there see those daring 
 men, now pleading the cause of self-government around 
 the thrones of monarchs, sink despairing from the con 
 flict, amid the shouts of tyrants exulting over the pros 
 trate libei ties of man. And who can expect such a decree 
 from this tribunal ? No, this court will now prove, that 
 however passion or prejudice may sway for a time any other 
 department of this government, here the rights of every 
 section of this union are secure. And when, as 1 doubt 
 not, all shall now be informed, that over the subject of 
 slavery, congress possesses no jurisdiction ; the power of 
 agitators will expire, and this decree will be regarded as 
 a re-signing and re-sealing of the constitution. * 
 
 Will not this speech, will not the acts and deeds of 
 southern legislatures will not the resistance that they 
 have yielded to the foreign as well as domestic or inter 
 state slave trade, convince our brethren of the north that 
 there is no disposition to blink this question. That the 
 south is ready to meet it and does meet it full in the face. 
 And that all our efforts are used, so far as is consistent 
 and safe, to ameliorate and better the condition of the 
 African race, under the circumstances in which they are 
 placed. We make no appeal to abolitionists, properly 
 such. We appeal to those who are yet undecided, to 
 
339 
 
 those who resist abolitionism direct and immediate, here, 
 in our midst ; we appeal to the friends of our union, the 
 lovers of a country so dear to every patriot, to the friends 
 and supporters in the north of the cause of humanity 
 and our common Christianity, and ask, will brethren 
 abide by the constitution and union of our common coun 
 try ? We have married your daughters, and your sons 
 have married ours. They dwell in our midst and are 
 ready to share our fate. Will you consent that the mid 
 night assassin, upon the beck or call of abolitionism, shall 
 be let loose on your children to butcher them and us, and 
 break down our union, bought so dear, at no less a price 
 than the life s blood of your own fathers? Around the 
 altars of your God we have worshipped, we are members 
 of the same churches, servants of the same Saviour, de 
 scended from the same stock, destined, we trust, to live 
 in the same heaven. At one fell stroke will you sever us 
 forever from you? Will you force us to withdraw our 
 selves and our trade from your cities, and cut your ac 
 quaintance, and have no intercourse? We trust not. 
 Finally, will you consent that fanatics shall put the fire 
 brand to our dwellings, render our country desolate, dis 
 honour our wives, pollute our daughters, apply the knife 
 to our throats, the dagger to our bosoms, and slaughter 
 with us your own children, to carry out the cruel policy 
 of Great Britain, that knows to feel for none but herself? 
 Shall one or more of the stars and stripes on our national 
 flag, that has waved in triumph over the blue waters of 
 every ocean in the hour of battle, as in times of peace, 
 and on the land as on the sea, be stricken forever from 
 the same? Shall your ministers, God s messengers, and 
 ours, and you and we, meet no more at the same altar, 
 not worship harmoniously under the wide-spreading 
 branches of the tree of liberty, where none dare to make 
 us afraid? And shall we be forced to withdraw our so?is 
 and daughters from your schools, and dismiss those whom 
 we have employed as their teachers, and let there be a line 
 of separation now and forever ? Brethren, what say 
 you? Ah, dark will be the day when these things come 
 to pass. We pray that that tongue may be struck dumb, 
 and that arm be paralized, that would aid in the accom- 
 
340 
 
 plishment of an end so vile and so base. May heaven, in 
 mercy, grant our prayer! 
 
 We invite you, brethren of the north and east, we beg, 
 we entreat you, if you will not hear and read us, read 
 attentively, and with coolness and calmness, the admirable 
 speech of senator Walker and those of others herein 
 quoted. We believe that no intelligent, candid man, 
 can peruse the same, without coming to the same de 
 cision with the United States Court, so far as his own 
 mind is concerned. Can you, fellow-citizens, believe that 
 such a man as Governor Gilmer, of Virginia, a man not 
 only pure as a politician, but like Caesar s wife, free from 
 suspicion, would sacrifice the highest honour of his native 
 state, so freely conferred on him, unless there had been 
 a deep and an abiding conviction that foreign inter 
 ference in the internal concerns of a state would blast 
 forever our fondest hopes of the permanency of this re 
 public? We pray you ponder your ways before it is too 
 late I 
 
 But we turn for a moment to the south. We have 
 spoken freely already respecting the duties devolving on 
 it. We have said that slaves are a trust, placed by the 
 providence of God in the hands of southerners, and every 
 master is called to discharge his duties, with forbearance, 
 patience and fidelity. If we know any thing of our own 
 heart, we have never felt disposed to waver respecting 
 our duty; but have openly and publicly proclaimed the 
 obligations of those owning slaves to train and govern 
 them so as to ameliorate and better their condition here, 
 and guide them, that their end may be everlasting life. 
 
 Many of you, fellow-citizens, have extensive farms. 
 At a small expenditure two or three neighbours can erect 
 a neat church, in which your families (when at home) 
 and servants may regularly worship. A few hundred 
 dollars will provide a minister who has been raised among 
 you, and knows the character of the colored man. Let 
 such an one be obtained in every neighbourhood to be 
 their pastor and your chaplain. Many have done this, in 
 some of the southern states ; and whilst the moral cha 
 racter of their servants has been bettered abundantly, 
 they have in most instances by their attention, industry, 
 
341 
 
 and faithfulness, amply remunerated their owners. Some 
 of the most interesting coloured congregations of the 
 south, thus provided for, are now under the care 
 of self-mortifying, self-denying ministers, chosen with 
 special reference to the benefit of the coloured people. 
 
 When there is a church in your vicinity, you must not 
 only give your servants permission to go, but see that 
 they do go. Make them regard the Sabbath as a day 
 of rest and worship. In order to do this, give them time 
 to wash their clothing and dispose of those articles during 
 the week, which may be made by them for sale, that God s 
 Holy Law may not be infringed by you, or "your man 
 servant, or maid servant." "Re?nember the Sabbath day 
 to keep it holy." Permit no ardent spirits to be used. 
 The use of this has done the negroes and Indians more 
 harm than an age can repair, and many a master has it 
 ruined, for time and eternity. You know the demoraliz 
 ing effects of hundreds of free negroes being Dithered 
 together in neighborhoods. These often induce the slaves 
 to plunder the property of their masters, to sustain them 
 in idleness, prodigality, and the worst of vices. To re 
 medy this evil and better the condition of the slaves as 
 well as the free coloured people, unite your efforts to co 
 lonize the latter and let all, as their owners free them, be 
 sent out full to AFRICA, there to aid in civilizing and re 
 forming the numerous heathen of that vast continent. 
 
 The efforts used by abolitionists to provoke, insult and 
 degrade you in the estimation of your fellow-citizens and 
 the world, should only incite you to pursue still your on 
 ward course in seeking to ameliorate the condition of your 
 slaves, and to discharge all the high and holy duties de 
 volving on you, whilst they, in God s providence, are 
 under your care. Frankness and candour, however, 
 constrain us to say, it does behoove you to be on your 
 guard. Fanaticism is the most dangerous of all the in 
 fluences, to which man is subject. Opposition only makes 
 it more ardent, until it naturally exhausts its own fury, 
 or is constrained by the force of circumstances to yield ; 
 or is at once overpowered by the weight of public opinion, 
 and public authority. If, however, they persist in sending 
 and circulating their inflammatory tracts and emissaries, 
 
342 
 
 to stir up and excite, on the one hand, the slaves to deeds 
 of insurrection and crime, and on the other, to provoke 
 the owners to violence and cruelty, it is your duty to take 
 care of yourselves, your wives, your children, and your 
 servants too. Therefore you ought, not only to resist them, 
 but hold no communications by trade or otherwise with 
 such. 
 
 Your overseers should be men of piety and tried inte 
 grity, who will not be found instigating the slaves to evil, 
 by inculcating bad principles or by cruelty. One aboli 
 tionist employed as such may do more harm than one 
 thousand of a different cast. If our northern and eastern 
 brethren will not regard our constitutional rights and re 
 spect our condition, then let them, their goods and their 
 wares stay at home, and let us purchase them elsewhere, 
 and import, if we cannot make them ourselves. Say not 
 we cannot get them. The products of your farms will 
 command all the necessary means, and the money will 
 bring them from any portion of the globe. 
 
 We have just received a pamphlet written by an En 
 glishman, THOMAS CLARKSON, sent through the public 
 mails of the United States, and addressed to ministers in 
 the slave-holding states, in which at one fell stroke he 
 cuts them all off , as the vilest of the vile, among all the 
 vile hypocrites of God s earth, because they do not de 
 nounce you as "rogues," "adulterers," "fornicators," 
 "perjured," "villanous murderers." It is entitled "A 
 letter to the clergy of various denominations in the SLAVE- 
 HOLDIIVG STATES OF AMERICA, by Thomas Clarkson. 
 Second edition. 1 And a copy of it is designed to be sent 
 to every minister whose name could be obtained in 
 all the south. The vile slanders of this abominable 
 tract, sent out by this abolition chief, at the call of 
 a party of fanatics, are almost without a parallel for pre 
 sumption and impudence, even among the deeds of abo 
 litionists. And shall the descendants of those who bared 
 their bosoms to the fiery ball to deliver and secure, free 
 from British tyranny, these states, join hands with such 
 impudent foreigners, to crush forever the south, that fair 
 portion of our republic. 
 
 In closing our remarks in which we have fearlessly 
 advanced our opinions, opinions which we believe to be 
 
343 
 
 both true and tenable, we calmly ask is it not time for 
 the south, and is it not time lor the north, as well as the 
 south to wake up? Is it not time for the south to wake 
 up, when in the city of Montreal alone, it is computed, 
 (and we have the evidence before us,) that upwards 
 of twenty thousand coloured persons, who have ab 
 sconded from their owners in the south and south 
 west are there collected by abolition and British aid, and 
 are now to be transported to Jamaica free of ait charge. 
 Is it not time for this entire nation to wake up to the im 
 minent danger which threatens to overwhelm them and 
 their liberties. England aspires to be the mistress of me 
 world, she seeks to dictate to every power on eartii. 
 Her annual expenditures are 8110,000,000, which added 
 to the support of a national church and the interest on her 
 national debt alone, amounts to the enormous sum, inde 
 pendent of other charges, of $210,000,000, by which, the 
 one-third of the wages of every laborer is consumed. 
 Such are subject to a capitation tax. Poor creatures ! 
 plunged in poverty and wretchedness, deprived of the pit 
 tance, afforded by their daily earnings, reduced to abso 
 lute starvation, so that one-sixth of her whole population 
 are paupers. And yet she not only dares to dictate to this 
 nation, but silently smuggles into Jamaica the slaves of 
 the south and south-west, by the way of Canada, free of 
 charge. Her emissaries audaciously attempt to insult 
 alike the PRESIDENT of the United States and the com 
 mon labourer, the minister in the sacred desk, and the 
 hearer in his pew. We have before us at this moment a 
 letter from a gentleman in England, in which are these 
 remarks, that evidently have their meaning. 
 
 "Our philanthropic zeal for the suppression of the 
 slave trade makes a good cloak to cover our jealousy 
 of your commerce there and in the Indian Archipelago. 
 I cannot but deeply regret to see the hostile feeling grow- 
 in^- up in this country against America. One thing has 
 contributed much to this and that is the bitter spirit 
 of the abolitionists here towards the slave states.* 
 feeling has bqen roused up of late by the vilest ha 
 rangues of some delegates from the American Anti- 
 
 * See the Foreign Quarterly Review. 
 
344 
 
 Slavery party, who have been holding forth in all our 
 large towns in a most violent manner. When they hear 
 all these things from Americans, they believe them, and 
 truly long for a war, in order to land some few thousands 
 of coloured troops from Jamaica, proclaim liberty to the 
 slaves and destroy the whole union by a servile war. 
 Such is the wish of a great part of the religious world, as 
 they (these abolitionists) call themselves. Depend upon 
 it, your abolitionists at home and their delegates here have 
 done more to hinder the boundary question from being 
 fairly settled, than any other class of people or any indi 
 vidual whatever." 
 
 Such also have been the effects of abolitionism in the 
 West Indies, that not long since an attempt, as is well 
 known, was made by the negroes of Jamaica on Cuba 
 itself. One was arrested in New Orleans, calling himself 
 a British subject, who hailed from the same island. And 
 what will be the end if these things be permitted by those, 
 who may stop at once the torrent by breasting it. We 
 ask once for all, is it not time for the south to wake up? 
 
 The day has certainly come for action, and if by an 
 intercourse, the result of trade, our peace is to be endan 
 gered ; if by sending our SONS and DAUGHTERS northward 
 and eastward to be educated, we are to expose their feel 
 ings to the insults of a fanaticism the vilest imaginable ; 
 if by the admission of hawkers and pedlars in our midst, 
 we are to open our doors to midnight assassins, wretches, 
 who would stir up our slaves to deeds of cruelty and 
 murder; if our WIVES and DAUGHTERS are to be dis 
 honoured, our sons, brothers, and fathers to be slaugh 
 tered, through the instrumentality of fanatics, who, 
 filled with spiritual pride, are impertinent in audacity, 
 dexterous in hypocrisy, artful, cunning, low in their 
 views, and base in their purposes, then let us bid the north 
 and the east an adieu forever.* Let us prepare to manu- 
 
 * A gentleman with whom we are personally and intimately acquainted, has 
 been travelling and visiting- the colleges in the United States, to interest their 
 professors and students, and induce them to unite with thousands of others who 
 have petitioned congress to provide a school for soldiers children, to be located 
 on a portion of the public land in the south. He called on one of the northern 
 colleges, and on his arrival in one of our cities, received an answer that they 
 would unite in his petition, provided his school should be open for blacks as 
 well as whites. 
 
345 
 
 facture our own fabrics, encourage our own merchants, 
 raise up and liberally^endow the schools and colleges of 
 the south, educate there those sons and daughters, strong 
 in that .very union which is denounced by northern and 
 eastern fanatics. Let us say to all the earth that the 
 power, mental, moral and physical, with which the God 
 of nature has endowed us, and all the advantages arising 
 from the strength of our position, shall be improved and 
 exercised to prevent an interference in the internal con 
 cerns of our states. Let no man or set of men dare to 
 meddle with our rights, civil or social, individual or col 
 lective, religious or political. 
 
 Brethren of the north and the south, the east and the 
 west once more we appeal to you, we appeal to every 
 American, and in the name of our common country ask, 
 will you permit your unnatural enemies to urge on this 
 glorious union to a dissolution ? Do you not perceive the 
 tremendous consequences which must necessarily ensue ? 
 Alas ! they cannot be fully known till that day when the 
 earth and its works shall be burned up. A part of them 
 only can be developed, when probably it is too late to 
 provide an ample remedy. The history of fanaticism is 
 too well understood for you to trust to its delusive smiles 
 its sycophantic fa w flings its hypocritical professions 
 its whinings and rantings. It is a torrent rushing down a 
 tremendous steep ready to overwhelm all in ruin. It 
 knows nothing of selj -distrust t mcdcsty, humility, love 
 and Christian forbearance. Fanatics and enthusiasts in 
 their own estimation are ever right, and their notions 
 and dogmas are the only rule of faith and practice. To 
 this you must bow or bear their curse. Resists 
 think, is an iniquity not to be pardoned. Can it\ _-<rrtJ 
 be wrong, in view of all these facts, for us to rcnclude 
 with the advice of HIM "who spake as never man sj^ake?" 
 "WHAT I SAY UNTO OKE, I SAY UKTO ALL, 
 WATCH." 
 
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