Chapter XI: Part 11

"On the Sabbath, November 14, they attended public worship in
Rev. Mr. Pennington's church. In the afternoon the church was
filled. An address was made by the writer, and the Mendians read
in the Testament and sang a hymn. Collection eight dollars. In
the evening a meeting was held in the Centre Church, Rev. Dr.
Hawes's. Notices were read in the other churches, and handbills
had been posted the previous day. The church, in every part, was
crowded, and large numbers were unable to obtain admittance. Dr.
Hawes opened the meeting with prayer. The services were of an
interesting character. Collection eighty dollars. Dr. Hawes
interrogated Kin-na. He said, 'The Mendi people believe in a
Great Spirit, although they do not worship him. They know they
have souls. We think,' said Kin-na, 'we make clothes. Dog can't
do this. He no soul, but we have.' He said on another occasion,
when asked if his people believed in a future state, 'The Mendi
people all Sadducees.' Kin-na said that they 'owe every thing to
God. He keep them alive, and give them free. When he go home to
Mendi, they tell their brethren about God, Jesus Christ, and
heaven.' Fu-li, on a former evening, being asked, 'What is
faith?' replied, 'Believing in Jesus Christ, and trusting in
him.' Their answers to questions show that they have read and
that they understand the Scriptures, and hopes are entertained
that one or two at least know experimentally the value of
religion. The fact that there is no system of idolatry in Mendi
for missionaries to oppose and the natives technically to adhere
to, is an encouraging fact with regard to the contemplated
mission. Another pleasing and remarkable fact exists: labor is
suspended every seventh day, and has been from time immemorial.
They do not engage in any religious services, but dress in their
best apparel, feast on that day,--as some do here,--visit, &c.
This day, 15th, Rev. Mr. Gallaudet and Mr. Brigham have invited
the Mendians to visit the Deaf and Dumb Asylum and the Insane
Institution. On a person's giving, by signs, the deaf and dumb
alphabet to Mar-gru, one of the girls, she, in a few minutes,
repeated nearly the whole. They told Mr. Brigham that there were
insane people and idiots in Mendi, and described their actions
and the treatment of them. Two of the Mendians will be detained
as witnesses in Hartford this day, in a cause appealed from a
lower court. Some of the Mendians were grossly assaulted at
Farmington some time since, on a training day; and those who
committed the assault and battery were convicted and fined. An
appeal was taken. When thus assailed, the Mendians, as usual,
exhibited their peaceful disposition, and said, 'We no fight.'
On Wednesday there is to be a large fare meeting at
Farmington--on which occasion Dr. Hawes is to preach. In a few
days the Mendians will embark from New York. May the Lord
preserve them, and carry them safely to their native land, to
their kindred and homes. Su-ma, the eldest, has a wife and five
children. Cinque has a wife and three children. They all have
parents or wives, or brothers and sisters. What a meeting it
will be with these relations and friends, when they are descried
on the hills of Mendi! We were invited to visit other places,
but time did not allow of longer absence. I must not forget to
mention that the whole band of these Mendi are teetotallers. At
a tavern where we stopped, Ban-na took me aside, and with a
sorrowful countenance, said, 'This bad house--bar house--no
good.' But the steam boat is at the wharf, and I must close. The
collections in money, on this excursion of twelve days, is about
one thousand dollars, after deducting travelling expenses. More
money is needed to defray the expenses of the Mendians to their
native land, and to sustain their religious teachers. Very truly
yours,

"LEWIS TAPPAN."

But to conclude the narrative of these interesting Africans. After all the trickery on the part of the U.S. government, it was finally decreed by the Supreme Court, that the Mendians were free persons, and might go whither they pleased. They were unanimous for returning to their native country. The Mendian negroes, thirty-five in number, embarked from New York for Sierra Leone, on the 27th of the 11th month, (November,) 1841, on board the barque Gentleman, Captain Morris, accompanied by five missionaries and teachers. The British government has manifested a praiseworthy interest in their welfare, and will assist them to reach their own country from Sierra Leone. Their stay in the United States has been of immense service to the anti-slavery cause, and there is reason to hope that under their auspices, Christianity and civilization may be introduced into their native country.

APPENDIX F. P. 76.

EXTRACT FROM AN ESSAY BY WILLIAM JAY, "_On the Folly and Evils of War, and the Means of Preserving Peace._"

"But, after all that can be said against war, and after the
fullest admission of its folly, cruelty, and wickedness, still
the question recurs, how can it be prevented? It would be an
impeachment of the Divine economy to suppose that an evil so
dreadful was inseparably and inevitably connected with human
society. We are informed, by Divine authority, that wars proceed
from our lusts; but our lusts, although natural to us, are not
invincible. He who admits the free agency of man, will not
readily allow that either individuals or nations are compelled
to do evil. The universal prevalence of Christian principles
must, of necessity, exterminate wars; and hence we are informed,
by revelation, that when righteousness shall cover the earth,
'the nations shall learn war no more.'

"And are we to wait, it will be inquired, till this distant and
uncertain period for the extinction of war? We answer, that
revelation affords us no ground to expect that all mankind will
previously be governed by the precepts of justice and humanity;
but that experience, reason, and revelation, all unite in
leading us to believe that the regeneration of the world will be
a gradual and progressive work. Civilization and Christianity
are diffusing their influence throughout the globe, mitigating
the sufferings and multiplying the enjoyments of the human
family. Free institutions are taking the place of feudal
oppressions--education is pouring its light on minds hitherto
enveloped in all the darkness of ignorance--the whole system of
slavery, both personal and political, is undermined by public
opinion, and must soon be prostrated; and the signs of the times
assure us that the enormous mass of crime and wretchedness,
which is the fruit of drunkenness, will, at no very remote
period, disappear from the earth.

"And can it be possible, that, of all the evils under which
humanity groans, war is the only one which religion and
civilization, and the active philanthropy of the present day,
can neither remove nor mitigate? Such an opinion, if general,
would be most disastrous to the world, and it will now be our
endeavor to prove that it is utterly groundless. * *
* *

"We have often seen extensive national alliances for the
prosecution of war, and no sufficient reason can be assigned why
such alliances might not be formed for the preservation of
peace. It is obvious that war might instantly be banished from
Europe, would its nations regard themselves as members of one
great Society, and erect a court for the trial and decision of
their respective differences.

"But we are told that such an agreement among the nations is
impossible. It is unquestionably so at present, for the obvious
reason, that time is necessary to enlighten and direct public
opinion, and produce a general acquiescence in the plan, as well
as to arrange the various stipulations and guaranties that would
be requisite. It is certainly not surprising, that those who
suppose a congress of nations for the maintenance of peace, can
only be brought about by a simultaneous movement of the various
states and kingdoms of the earth, who are to continue to battle
with each other till the signal is given for universal peace and
harmony, should be startled at the boldness and absurdity of the
project. But this boldness and absurdity belong not to the
project we advocate. We have no expectation whatever of any
general, much less simultaneous effort of mankind in behalf of
peace. A congress for the decision of national differences,
instead of arising in the midst of the present military policy
of Europe, must be preceded by an extensive, although partial
abandonment of war, and will be the _effect_ and not the cause
of the general diffusion of pacific sentiments.

"Hence it is in vain to look for a sudden and universal
cessation of war, even among civilized and Christian nations.
But reason and experience warrant the hope that some one State
may be led to adopt a pacific policy, and thus set an example
which through the blessing of Providence, and the prevalence of
Christian principles, may usher in the reign of universal peace.

"But by whom, and in what way it will be asked, is this example
to be set? It may be a feeling of national vanity, and it may be
a reference to the peculiarities of our local, social, and
political condition, that inspires the hope, that to the United
States is to be reserved the glory of teaching to mankind the
blessings of peace, and the means of preserving them. *
*

"But in _what way_ are we to make the experiment? Certainly in
the way least likely to excite alarm and opposition. In every
effort to promote the temporal or spiritual welfare of others,
we should consider things as they really are, and not merely as
they ought to be, and we should consult expediency as far as we
can do so, without compromising principle. * * *

"Of all the nations with whom we have relations, none probably
enjoy in an equal degree our good will, as France. No spirit of
rivalry in commerce or manufactures exists between us, no
adjacent territory furnishes occasion for border aggressions and
mutual criminations, while our past relations afford subjects of
pleasing and grateful recollection, and at present we see no
prospect of the interruption of that harmony which has so long
subsisted between the two nations.

"Let us suppose that under these propitious circumstances, a
convention should now be concluded between the two governments,
by which it should be agreed, that if unhappily any difference
should hereafter arise between us, that could not be adjusted by
negociation, neither party should resort to arms, but that they
should agree on some friendly power, to whom the matter in
difference should be referred, and whose decision should be
final; or that if it should so happen that the parties could not
concur in selecting an umpire, that then each party should
select a friendly power, and that the sovereigns or states thus
selected, should, if necessary, call to their aid the assistance
of a third.

"To what well founded objections would such a treaty be subject?
It is true that treaties of this kind have been of rare
occurrence, but all experience is in their favor. Vattel remarks
(Law of Nations, book II., chap. 18,) 'Arbitration is a method
very reasonable, very conformable to the law of nature, in
determining differences that do not directly interest the safety
of the nation. Though the strict right may be mistaken by the
arbitrator, _it is still more to be feared that it will be
overwhelmed by the fate of arms_. The Swiss have had the
precaution in all their alliances among themselves, and even in
those they have contracted with the neighboring powers, to agree
beforehand on the manner in which their disputes were to be
submitted to arbitrators, in case they could not adjust them in
an amicable manner. _This wise precaution has not a little
contributed to maintain the Helvetic Republic in that
flourishing state which secures its liberty, and renders it
respectable throughout Europe_.'

"But it may be said, a nation ought not to permit others to
decide on her rights and claims. Why not? Will the decision be
less consistent with justice, from being impartial and
disinterested? It is a maxim confirmed by universal experience,
that no man should be judge in his own cause; and are nations
less under the influence of interest and of passion than
individuals? Are they not, in fact, still less under the control
of moral obligation? Treaties have often been violated by
statesmen and senators, who would have shrunk from being equally
faithless in their private contracts. Is it to be supposed that
the government of a friendly power, in a controversy between us
and France, in which it had no interest, and with the
observation of the civilized world directed to its decision,
would be less likely to pronounce a fair and impartial judgment
than either France or ourselves?

"But we can decide our own controversies for ourselves, it is
said; that is, we can go to war and take our chance for the
result. Alas, 'it is an error,' says Vattel, 'no less absurd
than pernicious, to say that war is to _decide_ controversies
between those who, as in the case of nations, acknowledge no
judge. It is _power_ or _prudence_ rather than right that
victory usually declares for.'--Book III. Chap. 3.

"The United States chose to decide for themselves the
controversy about impressment, by appealing to the sword. In
this appeal they of course placed no reliance on the propriety
and justice of their claims, since such considerations could
have no influence on the fate of battle; but they depended
solely on their capacity to inflict more injury than they would
receive themselves, and this difference in the amount of injury
was to turn the scale in our favor. Our expectations, however,
were disappointed. Our commerce was annihilated, our frontier
towns were laid in ashes, our capital taken, our attempts upon
Canada were repulsed, with loss and disgrace; our people became
burthened with taxes, and we were at last glad to accept a
treaty of peace which, instead of containing, as we had fondly
hoped, a formal surrender on the part of Great Britain of the
right of impressment, made not the slightest allusion to the
subject.

"Let us now suppose that a treaty similar to the one we have
proposed with France had, in 1812, existed between Great Britain
and the United States; the question of impressment would then
have been submitted to one or more friendly powers.

"It is scarcely possible that the umpires could have given any
decision of this question that would have been as injurious to
either party as was the prosecution of the war. Had the claims
of Great Britain been sanctioned, some American seamen would, no
doubt, have been occasionally compelled to serve in the British
navy; but how very small would have been their number compared
with the thousands who perished in the war; and how utterly
insignificant would have been their sufferings resulting from
serving on board a British instead of an American vessel, when
weighed against the burdens, the slaughters, the conflagrations,
inflicted on their country in the contest? If, on the other
hand, the decision had been in our favor, Great Britain would
have lost a few seamen from her navy, but she would have saved
the lives of a far greater number, and she would have been
spared an amount of treasure which would have commanded the
services of ten times as many sailors as she could ever hope to
recover by impressment.

"It is not, however, probable, that the umpires, anxious to do
right, and having no motive to do wrong, would have sanctioned,
without qualification, the claims of either party.

"We can scarcely anticipate any future national difference which
it would not be more prudent and expedient to submit to
arbitration than to the chance of war. However just may be our
cause, however united our people, we cannot foresee the issue of
the contest, nor tell what new enemies we may be called to
encounter, what sacrifices to bear, what concessions to make.

"We have already partially commenced the experiment of
arbitrament, by referring no less than three of our disputes to
the determination of as many friendly powers. A difference as to
the meaning of an article, in our last treaty of peace with
Great Britain, was referred to the Emperor of Russia, who
decided it in our favor. The question of our northern boundary
was referred to the King of the Netherlands; and although the
line he assigned was not the one claimed by either party, it was
vastly less injurious to each, than would have been one month's
hostility on account of it. Our disputes with Mexico were
verging rapidly to open war, when they were happily submitted to
the King of Prussia, and are now in the course of satisfactory
adjustment.

"A treaty with France of the character proposed, would greatly
increase our importance in the estimation of all Europe--as it
would permanently secure us from her hostility. It would be seen
and felt, that whatever other nation might enter into collision
with us, it could not expect the aid of France, but that under
all circumstances we should enjoy the friendship and commerce of
our ancient ally. These considerations would not be without
their influence on England. She has colonies near us which we
may capture, or essentially injure, and which cannot be defended
by her, but at very inconvenient expense. A war with us must
ever be undesired by her, for the obvious reason that in such a
contest she has little to gain and much to lose. Our treaty also
with France would deprive England of the aid of the only nation
that could afford her effectual assistance in a war against us.
She would therefore, find it her interest to avail herself of a
similar treaty, and thus to secure herself from hostilities
which on many accounts she must wish to avoid. Once assured by
such treaties of permanent peace with France and England, we
should find our alliance courted by the other powers of Europe,
who would not readily consent that those two nations should have
exclusively the uninterrupted enjoyment of our great and growing
commerce. They would think it a matter of prudence also, to
avoid the risk of collision with a powerful republic, that had
already secured the permanent friendship of France and England;
and they would hasten to contract similar treaties. Under such
circumstances, every consideration of policy would prompt our
South American neighbors to desire that their amicable relations
with us might remain uninterrupted; and to them we might offer
the same stipulations with full confidence of their cordial
acceptance.

"And will it be said that all this is visionary and impossible?
The plan we propose rests on no supposed reformation in the
passions and propensities of mankind; but upon obvious
principles of national interest, deduced from reason and
experience, and susceptible of the plainest demonstration. It is
a plan adapted to the existing state of civilized society, and
accommodated to the passions and prejudices by which that
society is influenced. It is indeed perfectly consistent with
the precepts of Christianity, but it is also in accordance with
the selfish dictates of worldly policy.

"To this plan we can imagine only one plausible objection, which
is, that the treaties would not be observed. It is readily
admitted that if the only guaranty for the faithful observance
of these treaties consisted in the virtue and integrity of those
who signed them, the confidence to be reposed in them would be
faint indeed. Happily, however, we have a far stronger guaranty
in national interest and in public opinion. * * *

"Dismissing then all idle fears that these treaties, honestly
contracted and obviously conducive to the highest interests of
the parties, would not be observed, let us contemplate the rich
and splendid blessings they would confer on our country.
Protected from hostile violence and invasion by a moral defence,
more powerful than armies and navies, we might indeed beat our
swords into ploughshares and our spears into pruning hooks. The
millions now expended in our military establishments could be
applied to objects directly ministering to human convenience and
happiness. Our whole militia system, with its long train of
vices and its vexatious interruptions of labor, would be swept
away. The arts of peace would alone be cultivated, and would
yield comforts and enjoyments in a profusion and perfection of
which mankind have witnessed no example. In the expressive
language of Scripture, our citizens would each 'sit under his
own vine and under his own fig tree, with none to make him
afraid,' and our peaceful and happy republic would be the praise
and glory of all lands. * * * * *

"It is impossible that a scene so bright and lovely should not
attract the admiration and attention of the world. The extension
of education in Europe, and the growing freedom of her
institutions, are leading her population to think, and to
express their thoughts. The governments of the eastern
continent, whatever may be their form, are daily becoming more
and more sensitive to public opinion. The people already restive
under their burdens, would soon discover that those burdens
would be greatly diminished by the adoption of the American
policy. Before long, some state would commence the experiment on
a small scale, and its example would be followed by others. In
time these conventions would give way to more extended pacific
alliances, and a greater number of umpires would be selected;
nor is it the vain hope of idle credulity, that at last a union
might be formed, embracing every Christian nation, for
guarantying the peace of Christendom, by establishing a tribunal
for the adjustment of national differences, and by preventing
all forcible resistance to its decrees.

"It is unnecessary to discuss, at this time, the character and
powers with which such a tribunal should be invested. Whenever
it shall be desired, little difficulty will be experienced in
devising for it a satisfactory organization; that it is possible
to form such a court, and that next to Christianity it would be
the richest gift ever bestowed by Heaven upon our suffering
world, will be doubted by few who have patiently and candidly
investigated the subject.

"But many who admit the advantages and practicability of the
plan we have proposed, will be tempted to despair of success, by
the apparent difficulty of inducing an effort for its
accomplishment. Similar difficulties, however, have been
experienced and overcome. The abolition of the slave trade, and
the suppression of intemperance were once as apparently hopeless
as the cessation of war. Let us again recur for instruction and
encouragement to the course pursued by the friends of freedom
and temperance. Had the British abolitionists employed
themselves in addressing memorials to the various courts of
Europe, soliciting them to unite in a general agreement to
abandon the traffic, they would unquestionably have labored in
vain, and spent their strength for nought. They adopted another
and a wiser course. They labored to awaken the consciences of
their own countrymen, and to persuade them to do justice and to
love mercy; and thus to set an example to the rest of Europe,
infinitely more efficacious than all the arguments and
remonstrances which reason and eloquence could dictate.

"In vain might moralists and philanthropists have declaimed for
ages on the evils of drunkenness, had no temperance society been
formed till all mankind were ready to adopt a pledge of total
abstinence. The authors of the temperance reformation did not
lavish their strength and resources in attempting to convince
the world of the blessings of temperance, but forming themselves
into a temperance society, gave a visible and tangible proof
that the principle they recommended was not merely expedient but
practicable. And surely if we desire to persuade mankind that
war is an unnecessary evil, it is indispensable that we should
be able to point them to some instance in which it has been
safely dispensed with; nor can we hope to effect a change in the
opinion of Europe, while our own people remain unaffected by our
assertions and arguments.

"Here then must be the field of our labors; and let those labors
be quickened by the reflection, that while they are aimed at the
happiness of the human race, they are calculated to confer on
our beloved country a moral sublimity which no worldly glory can
approach.

"But what are the means we shall use? The same by which the
commerce in human beings was destroyed, and which are now
driving intemperance from the earth--_voluntary associations and
the press_.

"Let the friends of peace concentrate their exertions in Peace
Societies; and let the press proclaim throughout our land, in
all its length and breadth, the folly, the wickedness, and the
horrors of war; and call on our rulers to provide for the
amicable adjustment of national differences. In the first treaty
that shall be formed for this purpose we shall behold the dawn
of that glorious day, the theme of prophets and the aspirations
of saints, when nation shall not lift up sword against nation,
neither shall they learn war any more.

"The present age is propitious to the enterprise. It is an age
of energy and of freedom. All the powers of mind are in full
activity, and every eye and every ear is open to the reception
of new truths. Science and philanthropy are daily achieving
triumphs which the past century dared not imagine. The world is
no longer governed by princes and senates, but by public
opinion, and at the fiat of this mighty potentate, ancient
institutions are levelled in the dust. Let this despot wield
only a delegated authority, and each individual, however humble,
can enhance or diminish his power. Who, then, will refuse to
lend his assistance to enable public opinion to say to the
troubled nations, 'peace--be still;' and to compel the rulers of
the earth to refer their disputes to another tribunal than the
sword.

"In this cause every man can labor, and it is a cause in which
every man is called to labor, by interest and by duty. But it is
a cause that peculiarly claims the zeal and devotion of
Christians. They are the servants of Him who is not only the
mighty God and the everlasting Father, but the Prince of Peace.
They know that war is opposed to all his attributes, and
contradicts the precepts of his word. Conscience gives her
sanction to the means we have proposed, and prophecy assures us
of the accomplishment of the object to which they are directed.
Why, then, will not Christians use the talents and influence
given them from above to effect this consummation? Let them not
plead, in excuse for listlessness and indifference, that it is
God alone who 'maketh wars to cease to the end of the earth.' In
the moral government of the world, the purposes of its Almighty
Ruler are accomplished by his blessing upon human means. He has
promised that righteousness shall cover the whole earth; and in
reliance on this promise, his servants are now bearing the
everlasting Gospel to every nation and kindred, and tongue and
people. He has also promised that nations shall learn war no
more, and in his faithfulness we have all the incentive which
certainty of ultimate success can give to human exertion. And in
what cause can the energies of Christian benevolence be more
appropriately exercised? To prevent war is to avoid the effusion
of human blood, and the commission of innumerable crimes and
atrocities;--it is to diffuse peace, and comfort, and happiness,
through the great family of man,--it is to foster the arts and
sciences which minister to the wants of society,--it is to check
the progress of vice,--to speed the advance of the gospel,--to
rescue immortal souls from endless misery,--and to secure to
them a felicity as durable as it is inconceivable.

"To him who in faith and zeal labors in this great and holy
cause a rich reward is secured. While doing good to others, he
is himself a sharer in the blessing he bestows. The very
exercise of his benevolent affections affords a pure and
exquisite delight, and when he enters the world of peace and
love, he shall experience the full import of those cheering, but
mysterious words--Blessed are the peace makers, for they shall
be called the children of God."'

APPENDIX G. P. 89.

OPIUM WAR WITH CHINA.

"TO THE CHRISTIAN PUBLIC OF GREAT BRITAIN.

"In again appealing to you in reference to the opium war in China, I will begin by quoting the following extracts from a letter which I addressed to you on the 19th of the Third Month, 1840.

"'It is now too notorious to render needful entering at large
into the subject, that the guilty traffic in opium, grown by the
East India Company, to be smuggled into China, at length
compelled the Chinese Government to vindicate the laws of the
Empire, which prohibit its introduction, and to take decisive
measures for the suppression of the traffic, by the arrest of
the parties concerned in it at Canton, and the seizure and
destruction of the opium found in the Chinese waters.[A] It is
also well known that the superintendent of the British trade,
(Capt. Elliott) so far compromised his official character and
duty, as to take under his protection one of the most extensive
opium smugglers, and thus rendered himself justly liable to the
penalties to which they were obnoxious; and at the same time
gave, as far as was in his power, the sanction of the British
nation to this unrighteous violation of the Chinese laws.

[Footnote A: "See 'Thelwall's Iniquities of the Opium Trade,'
and 'King's Opium Crisis,'"]

"'The following fact is, however, not so generally known. An
individual,[B] now in this country, who has acquired immense
wealth by this unlawful trade, has been in communication with
the Government, and his advice, it is presumed, has in no small
degree influenced the measures they have adopted; though a
leading partner in a firm to which a large proportion of the
opium that was destroyed belonged; and at the very time he was
claiming compensation, or urging a war with China, his house in
India was sending armed vessels loaded with opium, along the
coast of China, and selling it in open defiance of the laws of
that Empire. This information, with the names of the vessels and
the parties concerned, the number of chests of opium on board,
the enormous profits they were realizing, et cet., was some time
ago communicated to the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs,
on authority which he did not and could not dispute.'

[Footnote B: "This individual is in the new House of Commons,
professedly as a reformer, and represents a borough which
formerly sent to that House one of its most upright members, who
has now retired from public life.]

"On the 7th of April, Sir James Graham brought forward a motion
in the House of Commons, in reference to this subject, but in a
manner which gave it so much of a party character, that our
cruel injustice to the Chinese, and the disgraceful conduct of
our Government in attacking them, was lost sight of by many,
whose professed principles ought to have made them foremost in
condemning these proceedings. The Whig Ministry having intimated
they would resign if Sir J. Graham carried his motion, every
other consideration was forgotten in anxiety lest a political
party should be injured or lose office.

"This feeling not only pervaded the supporters of the Government
in the House of Commons, but also extended to many leading
religious professors of various denominations; and thus no
public feeling sufficiently strong could be raised to counteract
in Downing-street, the combined and powerful influence of the
East India Company and the wealthy opium smugglers; though
public meetings were held in London and many places in the
country, and petitions forwarded justly deprecating this war, as
one of almost unparalleled iniquity. At the meeting in the
metropolis, which was held at Freemason's Hall, and at which the
Earl of Stanhope presided, the following resolutions were
passed:--

"'1. That this meeting, whilst it most distinctly
disavows any party or political objects, and deprecates
most strongly any such construction being put upon its
efforts, deeply laments that the moral and religious
feeling of the country should be outraged--the character
of Christianity disgraced in the eyes of the world--and
this kingdom involved in war with upwards of three
hundred and fifty millions of people, in consequence of
British subjects introducing Opium into China, in direct
and known violation of the laws of that Empire.

"'2. That, although the Chinese have not been heard in
their defence, the statements adduced by the advocates
of the war, clearly establish the fact, that the East
India Company, the growers of and traffickers in opium,
and British subjects who received the protection of the
laws of China, have been, throughout, the wrong doers;
therefore this meeting (without reference to the
conviction of many, that all war is opposed to the
spirit and precepts of the gospel,) holds it to be the
bounden duty of the government immediately to effect an
equitable and pacific settlement of the existing
differences with China.

"'3. That all traffic in opium with the Chinese being
contraband, the opium which was surrendered to their
government was justly confiscated; and that to demand
payment from the Chinese, to make reprisals upon them,
or, for this country to give compensation to the British
merchants thus engaged in smuggling, would be to
sanction and even grant a premium on crime.

"'4. That the petition now read be adopted by this
meeting, and presented to both Houses of Parliament; and
that the Right Honorable Earl Stanhope be requested to
present the same to the House of Lords, and Lord Sandon
to the House of Commons.

"'5. That the resolutions of this meeting be published
at the discretion of the Committee; and that a copy of
them in the Chinese language be transmitted, through the
High Commissioner Lin, to the Emperor of China.'

"Since this period, I have been in company with several
Englishmen who were at Canton at the time of the seizure of the
opium; and though some of them were concerned in the trade
themselves, and were naturally biassed in favor of their own
country, they all agreed in condemning the proceedings of the
English. I have recently spent some time in the United States,
whose intercourse with China is extensive and frequent, and
where the merits of this case are clearly understood by many of
the most intelligent and candid-minded citizens; and these,
without any exception, considered the acts of the British
government in this matter as some of the most flagrant that ever
disgraced a civilized, much less a Christian people.

"On my return to this country I found a new administration
entering upon office; the members of which have, for the most
part, condemned the conduct of their predecessors in relation to
this war; and I again, therefore, venture to appeal to the
_Christian_ public of my country that they may, without delay,
forward petitions, or memorials, strongly urging a reference of
the existing differences with China to commissioners mutually
appointed, who shall be authorized to adjust them, and also to
determine upon the best means of entirely suppressing the guilty
traffic in opium. The present government are not yet committed
to this cruel war; and may no difference of political views
deter you from the faithful discharge of this Christian duty!
Even should you not succeed in inducing our rulers to adopt this
course, or the overtures of this country be rejected by the
Chinese, you will have satisfaction in having made the attempt.

"One-third of the human race are now receiving their impressions
of the Christian religion, by its professors waging a murderous
war to compel them to make restitution to the contraband opium
dealers, for the destruction of this deadly poison, which
continues to be grown by the East India Company, and poured into
China in defiance of all laws, human and divine. Besides the
loss of life sustained by the Chinese, and the fearful mortality
amongst the British troops, from the unhealthiness of the
climate, it is probable that little short of ten millions
sterling has already been expended in naval and military
armaments, and the enhanced price of tea and sugar,[A] in the
monstrous attempt to force the Chinese to pay about two millions
to those opium smugglers. All this, be it remembered, is added
to the burdens upon the industry of our own oppressed
population.

[Footnote A: It is well known that the high rate of freights
from Calcutta, in consequence of the shipping required for the
Chinese expedition, greatly contributed to the late extravagant
price of sugar.]

"Earnestly desiring that you may be induced to discharge your
duty as Christians, and whatever may be the result, acquit
yourselves of your share of the national guilt, I conclude with
the words of a friend: 'For my own part, I think the present
distress of the nation may be the retributive chastisement of
our recent atrocious war in China and the East. * *
* All history, and the daily march of events, demonstrate
the perpetual retributive interference of an overruling
providence. Yet this doctrine, proclaimed as loudly by
experience as by revelation, and as legibly written on the page
of history as in the Bible, appears to have not the smallest
practical influence on the most enlightened statesmen, and the
most Christian and enlightened nation in the world.'

"Very respectfully,

"JOSEPH STURGE.

"_Birmingham, 9th Month 30th_, 1841."

"_10th Month 9th_, 1841.

"Since writing the foregoing, the intelligence has arrived that
Canton has been seized; that 'Gen. Sir Hugh Gough calculates the
loss of the Chinese, in the different attacks, at one thousand
killed and three thousand wounded;' that the British have
extracted six millions of dollars as a ransom for evacuating the
city, which the Chinese call 'opium compensation;' and it is but
too evident that the work of the wholesale murder of this
unoffending people has but begun, for Capt. Elliot, who appears
to have been too tender of shedding human blood to please his
employers, is recalled, and is succeeded by Sir H. Pottenger,
who, it is reported, has instructions from Lord Palmerston to
demand _fifteen millions_ of dollars for the opium smugglers,
and the whole of the expenses of the war, and to secure the
right to the British of planting armed factories in the
different Chinese ports.

"Shall history record that no voice was raised by the Christians
of Britain against the employment of their money, and that of
their starving countrymen, in deeds like these!!"

APPENDIX H. P. 119.

LETTER OF A.L. PENNOCK.

The following letter was addressed by Abraham L. Pennock, conveying his resignation of the office of Vice President of the American Anti-Slavery Society, (old organization,) after the occurrence of the painful divisions in the anti-slavery body, which have been already noticed. This letter is written in an excellent spirit, and clearly developes the cause of the separation.

"TO THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE OF THE AMERICAN ANTI-SLAVERY
SOCIETY.

"Other reasons than those which will be presented in this
letter, made it desirable to me to be released from any official
connection with the Anti-Slavery Society. I thought those
reasons so well known to some of the delegates from the
Pennsylvania Society, and withal they were deemed by me of so
much value, that I felt both surprise and regret at
understanding that my name was continued as one of the vice
presidents of the Parent Society. Thus saying, I am,
nevertheless, bound to express my indebtedness for the kind
feeling toward me, and confidence in my love for the slave,
which, doubtless, induced the appointment.

"By an accident to my anti-slavery newspapers, I have just
received the proceedings of the society at the above meeting. I
am sorry to find in them superadded reasons for regret at my
appointment, as that appointment seems to place me in the false
position of appearing to be in favor of its leading measures;
some of which, denunciatory of co-laborers in the abolition
cause, have not my unity.

"In the heavy responsibilities of the former Executive
Committee, I find a sufficient reason for their transfer of the
'Emancipator' and other property for which they stood personally
engaged; and I therefore cannot join in affirming such transfer
to be 'a flagrant breach of trust;' and their answer in
justification of their course, 'an attempt to defend which
betrays an utter disregard of the rights of abolitionists.'

"Believing in the intellectual equality of the sexes, I go fully
for women's rights and duties. They possess a moral force of
immense power, which they are bound to exert for the good of
mankind; including emphatically so, those who are in the
hopeless and most wretched condition of slaves. The belief of
the value of female co-operation is common to the anti-slavery
community; and the only question regarding it which has arisen,
is, whether it shall be exerted in societies and conventions of
women, or in societies and conventions of men and women,
irrespective of sex. The question is of recent date, not even
coeval with the modern anti-slavery enterprise; and the
practice, at the origination of this enterprise, that of
separate action. We can all bear testimony to the powerful
impression upon the public mind, made by women, acting singly or
in societies and conventions, before it was thought of merging
their influence in a joint stock community with their brethren.
Where can we find an anti-slavery organization more potential,
and so dignified, as was the convention of American women? Is it
therefore surprising that the question has not been conclusively
settled by American abolitionists, that women ought to act
identically on the same platform and in the same society with
men; and that the practice, founded on this plan, still remains
measurably local, and, by many conforming to it, is deemed
experimental?

"In convening a World's Convention, no innovation upon the
general social usages was contemplated by our brethren in
England who called it. The convention was meant to be a
convention of men; and what was deficient of explicitness in the
first notice was amply made up in the reiteration of the call.
It was fully known before the appointment of delegates by the
American Anti-Slavery Society that the intention of the
committee of the British and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society was
such as is above explained. The views of the inviting party
being known, it was competent to the invited to accept or reject
the invitation, but not to modify its terms. The American
Society, however, in face of the invitation, with a knowledge of
the extreme sensitiveness of that portion of the British people
whom the Convention would deem it important to conciliate, to
any innovation upon established forms, and itself not united in
discarding the distinctions of sex, resolved to send female
delegates to the Convention, and thus, in effect, to appeal from
the Committee to the paramount authority of the Convention, and
with it to settle the American question.

"In exercising this authority we are to suppose, from the high
moral, intellectual, and philanthropic standing of its members,
the Convention, in adhering to the general usages of society,
meant to perpetuate no injustice; and we know, from their very
respectful attention to the rejected delegates, that they were
influenced by no want of courtesy--I am satisfied that they
acted according to their best impressions of duty, the carrying
out of which was their high aim; and that the Convention was not
the less a World's Convention because it did not embrace both
sexes as its members, or any reforms without the scope of its
call. I cannot unite, therefore, in the resolutions declaring
the proceedings of the British and Foreign Anti-Slavery Society
'arbitrary and despotic;' or the act of the London Conference,
excluding the female delegates of the American Society appointed
in contradiction to the terms of the invitation, as 'highly
disrespectful to the delegates, and to us, their constituents,
tyrannical in its nature, mischievous in its tendencies, and
unworthy of men claiming the character of abolitionists.'

"Thus my views not being in harmony with the action of the
society, in the particulars above referred to, my duty to it and
myself is, to tender you this as my resignation of the office of
Vice President for Pennsylvania, and not to await another
election for withdrawing from it.

"With no heart for the controversies which have got in among my
brethren, the common friends of the enslaved, and which are
sadly wasting their anti-slavery strength, but with a warm heart
for the legitimate objects of the American Anti-Slavery Society,
I shall not cease anxiously to desire its prosperity and speedy
triumph with these just limitations.

"Your friend,

"(Signed) ABRAHAM L. PENNOCK.

"_Haverford, 6th Month 28th_, 1841."

APPENDIX I. P. 146.

GERRIT SMITH'S SLAVES.

_Extract of a Letter from James Cannings Fuller to Joseph Sturge_.

"DEAR FRIEND,--Doubtless thou hast often thought of the visit to
our mutual friend, Gerrit Smith, and dwelt on the recollection
with pleasure. As thou requested me to furnish thee with the
result of the case which was brought under our notice from the
correspondence in the case of Sam and Harriet, I cheerfully
comply, by giving thee a somewhat detailed account, believing it
may be interesting to thee, and not unproductive of benefit to
others.

"There are in America no small number of individuals whose
circumstances, by parental gift or marriage endowments, are
similar to those of our dear friend, Ann Carroll Smith. I would
there were a host prepared, like her and her noble husband, to
do sacrifice of their substance on the altar of human rights.

"Ann Carroll Fitzhugh is the daughter of the late Col. Wm.
Fitzhugh, a slaveholder, who formerly resided in Hagerstown,
Maryland. About twenty-three years ago, he removed to Geneseo,
New York. Twenty human chattels, whom he brought with him,
became free by the law of 1817; the remainder were left on his
plantation, in Maryland. Mammy Rachael, who nursed the Colonel's
wife, on the births of James Fitzhugh and his sister Ann, gave
to the former a boy, who was named Sam; and to the latter a
girl, called Harriet. They grew up together, and ultimately
formed a strong attachment. When Ann Fitzhugh was about eighteen
years old, her brother wrote to inquire if she would give him
Harriet, that she might become Sam's wife. When it is considered
that Ann was young and inexperienced; that she had been educated
to consider slavery right; that the doctrine of inalienable
personal ownership had not then been urged; and that the idea of
bestowing a wife on her brother's slave was naturally pleasing,
it is no marvel that she cheerfully granted the request.

"James Fitzhugh removed from Maryland to Kentucky. In the course
of events, his pecuniary affairs became embarrassed, and
creditors grew clamorous for the adjustment of their claims. His
effects were likely to be sold by the sheriff, and it was
reported he had no legal title to Harriet. Under these
circumstances, Gabriel Jackson prevailed on him to transfer Sam,
his wife, and first-born child, to him, in payment of his debt.
This man afterwards sold them to Samuel Worthington, a cotton
planter of Mississippi; whose letter, in reply to Gerrit Smith,
arrived the day we were at his house; and he being in doubt how
to effect the redemption of the family, and their safe
transportation, thou wilt remember that I agreed to effect both,
to what I shall call the Elysian Fields, or, more properly,
Eden. I started on the 26th of Seventh Month, via Lake Erie and
the Erie Canal, which extends from north to south three hundred
and nine miles through the State of Ohio. From the canal I took
steam-boat down the Ohio, to Maysville, Kentucky. The mistress
of the Eagle Hotel sat at her table as a queen, surrounded by
many slaves. There seemed to be twice as many hands to do the
work as were needful.

"From Maysville to Lexington (sixty-five miles) is the best road
I ever travelled, not excepting the English roads. It is made
and repaired with whitish limestone, from beginning to end. They
told me the repairs were principally made by Irishmen, as slaves
were not to be trusted to do the work. At starting, I observed
that the mail bags were nearly empty; and the driver being
questioned, informed me, that I could carry the whole mail in my
coat pockets. When he told me he was a Pennsylvanian, I asked
whether he could not earn as much in a free, as in a slave
State. He said that eighteen dollars a month was the most he
ever received for driving a team in a free State, and that now
he received thirty dollars a month. This opened the way for a
little anti-slavery talk. 'Last Sunday night,' said he, 'I saw a
big black man making the best of his way for Canada; I might
have stopped him, and had the reward of two hundred dollars,
which was offered.'

"I asked him whether it was best to have God's blessing, with
the fruits of his honest industry, or his curse, with two
hundred dollars blood money. He answered, with moistened eyes,
'I wish all the slaves were free,' to which I responded, 'Amen.'

"Some incidents connected with the escape of this negro, go to
prove that slaves can 'take care of themselves,' by a little
ingenuity, when occasion requires. Thinking it would be more
expeditious, as well as more agreeable, to ride from slavery
than to run from it, he took a horse; whether his master's or
not, I did not ascertain. The turnpike gates were a great
hindrance, and greatly increased the risk of apprehension. To
avoid this, just before reaching a turnpike gate, he let down a
fence, carefully put it up again, to avoid pursuit, passed round
the back of the keeper's house, and came out through the fence
beyond. As he was remounting his horse on one of these
occasions, the driver came up with him. Supposing him to be one
of the keeper's family, he wished him good night, but instantly
discovered by his voice that he was a colored man, putting his
horse to full speed. When he returned to Paynestown, he heard
people talking about a runaway, and told Dr. Whitehead he
believed he had seen the man the night before: 'I hope that
he'll get safe into Canada,' was the reply.

"'How can you say that, and be a slave-holder?' asked the
coachman.

"'I wish there were no slaves,' replied he; 'and as soon as
others will liberate theirs, mine shall go free.'

"Stage coaches afford no facilities to the poor fugitives. By
the law of the United States' Government, no colored man can
drive a mail stage; neither can any colored man ride on one,
unless he is known to be free, or is a slave travelling with his
master. Stage owners incur heavy penalties if they infringe
these rules. A verdict of one thousand six hundred dollars was
lately recovered by a slave-master against the company.

"At Washington the stage was stopped to know if a colored boy
could be put on. 'Yes; where is he?' 'Up at the jail yonder.'
The querist took a seat inside; and soon after I spied a colored
man on the outside, with keepers. He was a re-captured runaway,
who had taken a horse with him, and imitated the Israelites, in
borrowing various other articles, when he escaped from bondage.
He assumed false whiskers and a pair of spectacles; and on
reaching the Ohio river, produced free papers duly stamped with
the county seal. But, unfortunately, when questioned where he
had staid the preceding night, he foolishly attempted to
describe the place, and was thus detected; two hundred dollars
had been offered for him if taken out of the State, and one
hundred dollars if taken in the State. To ride in a stage, with
a man behind, whose legs and arms were fastened together with
rivetted chains and padlocks, was enough to make one feel the
force of Patrick Henry's exclamation, 'Give me liberty, or give
me death!' It was a poor consolation to administer to the
gnawings of his hunger, while beholding his manly frame thus
manacled: but I thought he seemed to eat my gingerbread with a
better relish, when I told him it was made where colored men
were free. At Payne's tavern, in Fairview, the poor fellow had
to undergo an examination from the landlord, and listen to a
homily about truth-telling; so little do slave-holders seem
aware that stealing and lying are constituent parts of their own
system. In the stage office at Lexington, we encountered the man
who claimed this poor fugitive. The driver, who had come with us
the two last stages, was a native of Duchess Co., N.Y.; and he
began to plead with the slave-holder in behalf of the slave. I
heard of another case where the angry master threatened to flog
and sell a recovered runaway, whom he had with him; but the
stage driver remonstrated with him so effectually, that he wept
like a child, and promised forgiveness to his slave.