Chapter IX: Part 9

He would pass next to a fourth general objection against Mr. Thompson's testimony, as regards America, which was, that much of it was in the strictest sense, positively untrue. For instance, Mr. Thompson had twice put a runaway slave forward upon the platform at London; or at least connived at the doing of it; who stated of his own knowledge, that a Mr. Garrison, of South Carolina, had paid 500 dollars for a slave, that he might burn him, and that he had done so without hindrance or challenge, afterwards. This statement Mr. T. has never yet contradicted in any one of his numerous speeches, although he must have known it to be untrue. I have myself several times directed his attention to the subject, and yet the only answer is, "expressive silence." Then I distinctly challenge his notice of the case; and while I solemnly declare, that according to my belief, whoever should do such an act in any part of America, would be hung: I as distinctly charge Mr. Thompson, with giving countenance to, and deriving countenance from this wilful misstatement.

As an other instance of the same kind, you are told that a free man was sold from the jail at Washington city, as a slave, without even the form of a trial; which is farther aggravated by the assertion that this is vouched as a fact, on the testimony of 1000 signatures. This matter, when Mr. Thompson's own proof is produced, resolves itself into this: that Mr. Thompson said, there had been a thousand signatures to a certain paper, which said, that a certain man taken up as a runaway slave, said he was free! If he was a slave, the whole case falls; whether he was a slave or not, was a fact that could have been judicially investigated and decided, if the person most interested, or any other, had chosen to demand it. So that in point of fact, Mr. Thompson's whole statements, touching this oft repeated case, are all purely gratuitous. And with what horror, must every good man hear that Mr. Thompson, within the last two or three weeks, told a crowd of people in Mr. Price's Chapel, Devonshire Square, London, in allusion to this very case, that the poor black had "DEMONSTRATED HIS FREEDOM," and afterwards been "sold into everlasting bondage!" And yet upon this fiction he bases one of his most effective "illustrations of American slavery," and some of his fiercest denunciations of the American people. Oh! shame, where is thy blush! He could if time permitted exhibit other cases,--in principle perhaps worse than these; in which neither the false assertions of Moses Roper--nor the pretended evidence of misrepresented petitions existed to make a show of evidence; and which nothing but the most extraordinary ignorance, or recklessness could explain. Such are the assertions made by himself or his coadjutors in his presence, that slaves are brought to the district of Columbia from all the slave states for sale; that five years is the average number, that slaves carried to the Southern States live; that slaves without trial, or even examination, were often executed, by tens, twenties, and even thirties; that the banner of the United States, which floated over a slave dealing congress, in the midst of the slave market of the entire nation, had the word "_Liberty_" upon it (which single sentence contained three misstatements;) that religious men weighed children in scales, and sold them by the pound like meat;--that there were 2,000,000 of slaves in America who never heard the name of Christ; that no white man would ever be respected after he had been seen to shake hands with a man of colour; all which _unnameable_ assertions are contained, along with double as many others like them, in one single newspaper (the London _Patriot_ of June 1, 1835;) and in a portion of the report of only two of Mr. Thompson's meetings! Alas! for poor human nature! Having now gone through all that his time permitted him to say, of the proof against America, he would lay before them some counter testimony upon several parts of this great subject. He had at one time greatly feared that he might be obliged to ask them to believe his mere word, perhaps in the face of other proof; but through the providence of God, he had been put in possession of a very limited file of American newspapers, from the contents of which he thought he should be able to make out as strong a case for the truth, as he had proved the case against it to be weak and rotten. There were so many denominations of Christians in America, that he would only tire the meeting by enumerating them. They were of every variety of name and opinion. As to many of them he knew but little, and the present audience perhaps less. The Societies of Friends generally did not tolerate slaveholding among their members; neither did the Covenanters. The Congregationalists, or Independents, had not, he believed, a dozen churches in all the Slave States, and, of course, they should be considered as exempt from the charge. It was, however, the less necessary to occupy ourselves in general remarks, inasmuch as Mr. Thompson had laid the stress of his accusations on the three great denominations of America. "He took all the guilt of this system, and he laid it where? On the Church of America. When he said the Church, he did not allude to any particular denomination. He spoke of Baptists, Presbyterians, and Methodists, the three great props--the all-sustaining pillars of that blood-cemented fabric." Such were the words of Mr. T., and it would therefore be needless to trouble ourselves about the minor, if we could settle the major to our satisfaction. As to two of these denominations, he should say but little; his chief and natural business being to defend that one of which he knew most. In regard to the Baptists, he was sorry to be obliged to say, that he believed they were the least defensible of the three denominations, now principally implicated; indeed that some of their Associations had taken ground on the whole case, from which he entirely dissented,--and which, he was sure, had given great pain to the majority of their own brethren. He begged leave to refer them to the work of Drs. Cox and Hoby, just through the press, in which he presumed, for he had not seen it, they would find an authentic and ample information on this and every other point relating to that denomination in America. In relation to the Methodists, his knowledge was both more full and more accurate. Their discipline denounced Slavery, and prohibited their Members from owning slaves, and though their discipline itself was not carried into effect with rigid exactness, he did not believe that there was a Methodist Church in the United States, or upon the Earth, which owned slaves, as a Church. He believed that very few Methodist preachers--indeed, almost none, owned any slaves, and nothing but the most direct proof could for a moment make him believe, that one of them was a slave-dealer. The whole sect, or at least the great majority of it, might be considered as fairly represented, in the following Resolutions passed in the Conference, held at Baltimore; and which could be a set off to those read by Mr. Thompson, from one of the northern Conferences.

METHODIST'S RESOLUTIONS ON ABOLITION.

At a late meeting of the Baltimore Annual Conference of the
Methodist Episcopal Church held at Baltimore, the following
preamble and Resolutions were unanimously adopted, and the
names of all the members and probationers present, in number,
one hundred and fifty-seven, were subscribed, and ordered to
be published. The secretary was also directed to furnish Rev.
John A. Collins, with a copy for insertion in the Globe and
Intelligencer, of Washington City.

Whereas great excitement has pervaded this country for some
time past on the subject of abolition; and whereas such
excitement is believed to be destructive to the best
interests of the country and of religion; therefore

1. _Resolved_, That "we are as much as ever convinced of the
great evil of slavery."

2. That we are opposed in every part and particular to the
proceedings of the abolitionists, which look to the immediate
indiscriminate, and general emancipation of slaves.

3. That we have no connexion with any press, by whomsoever
conducted, in the interest of the abolition cause.

As to his own Connection, the Presbyterian, he would go as fully as his materials permitted, into the proof of their past principles, and present posture. And in the first place he was most happy to be able to present them with an abstract of the decisions of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America. He found it printed in the New York Observer, of May 23, 1835, embodied in the proceedings of the Presbytery of Montrose, and transcribed by it no doubt from the Assembly's digest.

As early as A. D. 1787, the Synod of N. York and Philadelphia
issued an opinion adverse to slavery, and recommended
measures for its final extinction; and in the year 1796 the
General Assembly assured "all the churches under their care,
that they viewed with the deepest concern any vestiges of
slavery which then existed in our country;" and in the year
1815 the same judicatory decided, "that the buying and
selling of slaves by way of traffic, (meaning, doubtless, the
domestic traffic,) is inconsistent with the spirit of the
gospel." But in the year 1818, a more full and explicit
avowal of the sentiments of the church was unanimously agreed
on in the General Assembly. "We consider, (say the Assembly,)
the voluntary enslaving of one part of the human race by
another, as a gross violation of the most precious and sacred
rights of human nature; as utterly inconsistent with the law
of God, which requires us to love our neighbor as ourselves;
and as totally irreconcilable with the spirit and principles
of the gospel of Christ, which enjoin, that "whatever ye
would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them." They
add, "It is manifestly the duty of all Christians who enjoy
the light of the present day, when the inconsistency of
slavery, both with the dictates of humanity and religion, has
been demonstrated, and is generally seen and acknowledged, to
use their honest, earnest and unwearied endeavors to correct
the errors of former times, and as speedily as possible, to
efface this blot on our holy religion, and to obtain the
complete abolition of slavery throughout Christendom and if
possible, throughout the world."

If, said Mr. B., he had expressed sentiments different from these, or if he had inculcated as the principles of his brethren any thing different from these just and noble sentiments, let the blame be heaped upon his bare head. These sentiments they had held from a period to which the memory of man runneth not to the contrary. Here tonight, 3000 miles off, God enabled him to produce a record proving an antiquity of half a century, in full maturity! How grand, how far sighted, how illustrious is truth--compared with the wretched and new born, and blear eyed fanaticism that carps at her! These are the principles of the Presbyterian church of the United States. She has risen with them, she will stand, or, if it be God's will, she will fall with them. But she will not change them less or more. The General Assembly is but now adjourned. They have had this question before them--perhaps have been deeply agitated by its discussion. But so tranquilly does my heart rest on the truth of these principles, and on the fixed adherence to them, by my brethren, that nothing but a feeling that it would be impertinent, in one like me, to vouch for a body like that, could deter me from any lawful gage, that all its decisions will stand with its ancient and unaltered principles. In accordance with these principles the great body of the members of that church had been all along acting.--There were about 24 synods under the care of the General Assembly, of which about one third were in the slave country. The number was constantly increasing, on which account, and in the absence of all records, he could not be more exact. The synods in the free states stood, he believed, without exception, just where the Assembly stood, on this subject. In the slave states, much had been done--much was still doing--and in proof of this as regarded this particular denomination--in addition to what he had all along declared, with reference to the great emancipation party, in all of those states, he asked attention to the several documents he was about to lay before them. The first was a series of resolutions appended to a lucid and extended report, drawn up by a large committee of Ministers and Elders of the synod of Kentucky--in obedience to its orders after the subject had been several years before that body. That Synod embraces the whole state of _Kentucky_, which is one of the largest slave states in the Union. The resolutions are quoted from the New York Observer, of April 23, 1836.

1. We would recommend that all slaves now under 20 years of
age, and all those yet to be born in our possession be
emancipated, as they severally reach their 25th year.

2. We recommend that deeds of emancipation be now drawn up,
and recorded in our respective County Courts, specifying the
slaves we are about to emancipate, and the age at which each
is to become free.

This measure is highly necessary, as it will furnish to our
own minds, to the world, and to our slaves, satisfactory
proof of our sincerity in this work; and it will also secure
the liberty of the slaves against contingencies.

3. We recommend that our slaves be instructed in the common
elementary branches of education.

4. We recommend that strenuous and persevering efforts be
made, to induce them to attend regularly upon the ordinary
services of religion, both domestic and public.

5. We recommend that great pains be token to teach them the
Holy Scriptures; and that to effect this, the instrumentality
of Sabbath Schools, wherever they can be enjoyed, be united
with that of domestic instruction.

The plan revealed in these resolution, was the one of all others, which most commended itself to his (Mr. B.'s) judgment. And he most particularly asked their attention to it, on an account somewhat personal. He had several times been publicly referred to in this country, as having shown the sincerity of his principles in the manumission of his own slaves. He was most anxious that no error should exist on this subject, which he had not at any time, had any part in bringing before the public, and which, as often only as he was forced to do so, had he explained. The introductory remarks of the Chairman, had laid him under the necessity of such an explanation, which had not so naturally occurred, as in this connexion. He took leave, therefore, to say, that this Kentucky plan, was in substance the one he had been acting on for some years before its existence; and which he should probably be among the earliest, if his life was spared, fully to complete. He considered it substantially the same as their system for West India Emancipation; only more rapid as to adults, more tardy, cautious, and beneficent as to minors; and more generous, as being wholly without compensation. In plans that affect whole nations, and successive generations, questions of _time_ are of all others, least important; of all others the most proper to make bend to the necessities of the case. He went only to say further, that his brother, the Rev. Dr. Breckinridge, of whom Mr. Thompson speaks with such affectation of scorn, had entered this good field before him, and taken one course with his manumitted slaves. That a younger brother, whose name, along with nine other beloved and revered names, is attached to this Kentucky report, had also entered it before him; and taken a second course, a different course still, in liberating his. When he came, last of all, he had taken still a third, different from each; while other friends had pursued others still. What wisdom their combined, and yet varied experience could have afforded, was of course useless; now that all the deepest questions of abstract truth, and the most difficult of personal practice, were solved by instinct, and carried by storm.

The next extract related to the great slave holding State of North Carolina, and revealed a plan for the religious instruction and care of the souls of the slaves, intended to cover the States of Virginia, Georgia, and South Carolina, all slave States of the first class, as well as the one in which it originated. Its origin is due to the Presbyterian Synod, covering the whole of that State. The extract is from the New York Observer of June 20, 1835.

RELIGIOUS INSTRUCTION OF SLAVES.

"The Southern Evangelical Society," is the title of a
proposed association among the Presbyterians at the South,
for the propagation of the gospel among the people of color.
The constitution originated in the Synod of North Carolina,
and is to go into effect as soon as adopted by the Synod of
Virginia, or that of South Carolina and Georgia. The voting
members of the Society are to be elected by the Synods.
Honorary members are created by the payment of thirty
dollars. All members of Synods united with the Society, are
corresponding members; other corresponding members maybe
chosen by the voting members. Article 4th of the
Constitution, provides that "there shall not exist between
this Society and any other Society, any connexion whatever,
except with a similar Society in the slave holding States."
Several resolutions follow the Constitution; one of these
provides that a presbytery in a slave holding district of the
country, not united with a Synod in connexion with the
Society, may become a member by its own act. The fifth and
sixth resolutions are as follows:

_Resolved_, 5, That it be very respectfully and earnestly
recommended to all the heads of families in connexion with
our congregations, to take up and vigorously prosecute the
business of seeking the salvation of the slaves in the way of
maintaining and promoting family religion.

_Resolved_, 6, That it be enjoined upon all the presbyteries
composing this Synod, to take order at their earliest
meeting, to obtain full and correct statistical information
as to the number of people of color, in the bounds of our
several congregations, the number in actual attendance at our
several places of worship, and the number of colored members
in our several churches, and make a full report to the Synod
at its next meeting, and for this purpose, that the Clerk of
this Synod furnish a copy of this resolution to the stated
Clerk of each Presbytery.

The next document carried them one State farther South, and related to South Carolina, in which that horrible Governor M'Duffie, who seems to haunt Mr. Thompson's imagination with his threats of "death without benefit of clergy," lives, and perhaps still rules. It is taken from the same paper as the next preceding extract;

RELIGIOUS INSTRUCTION OF SLAVES.

We cheerfully insert the following letter from an intelligent
New Englander at the South.

_To the Editor of the New York Observer._

I am apprehensive that many of your readers, who feel a
lively interest in the welfare of the slaves, are not
correctly and fully informed as to their amount of religious
instruction. From the speeches of Mr. Thompson and others,
they might be led to believe that slaves in our Southern
States never read a Bible, hear a gospel sermon, or partake
of a gospel ordinance. It is to be hoped, however, that
little credit will be given to such misrepresentations,
notwithstanding the zeal and industry with which they are
disseminated.

What has been done on a single plantation.

I will now inform your readers what has been done, and is now
doing, for the moral and religious improvement of the slaves
on a single plantation, with which I am well acquainted, and
these few facts may serve as a commentary on the unsupported
assertions of Mr. Thompson and others. And here I could wish
that all who are so ready to denounce every man that is so
unfortunate as to be born to a heritage of slaves, could go
to that plantation, and see with their own eyes, and hear
with their own ears, the things which I despair of adequately
describing. Truly, I think they would be more inclined, and
better qualified to use those weapons of light and love which
have been so ably and justly commended to their hands.

On this plantation there are from 150 to 200 slaves, the
finest looking body that I have seen on any estate. Their
master and mistress have felt for years how solemn are the
responsibilities connected with such a charge; and they have
not shrunk from meeting them. The means used for their
spiritual good, are abundant. They enjoy the constant
preaching of the gospel. A young minister of the Presbyterian
church, who has received a regular collegiate and theological
education, is laboring among them, and derives his entire
support from the master, with the exception of a trifling sum
which he receives for preaching one Sabbath in each month for
a neighboring church. On the Sabbath, and during the week,
you may see them filling the place of worship, from the man
of grey hairs to the small child, all neatly and comfortably
clothed, listening with respectful, and in many cases, eager
attention to the truth as it is in Jesus, delivered in terms
adapted to their capacities, and in a manner suited to their
peculiar habits, feelings and circumstances; engaging with
solemnity and propriety in the solemn exercise of prayer, and
mingling their melodious voices in the hymn of praise.
Sitting among them are the white members of the family
encouraging them by their attendance, manifesting their
interest in the exercises, and their anxiety for the eternal
well-being of their people. Of the whole number, forty-five
or fifty have made a profession of religion, and others are
evidently deeply concerned.

Let me now conduct you to a Bible class of ten or twelve
adults who can read, met with their Bibles to study and have
explained to them the word of God. They give unequivocal
demonstrations of much interest in their employment, and of
an earnest desire to understand and remember what they read.
From hence we will go to another room, where are assembled
eighteen to twenty lads, attending upon catechetical
instruction, conducted by their young master. Here you will
notice many intelligent countenances, and will be struck with
the promptitude and correctness of their answers.

But the most interesting spectacle is yet before you. It is
to be witnessed in the Infant School Room, nicely fitted up
and supplied with the customary cards and other
appurtenances. Here every day in the week, you may find
twenty-five or thirty children, neatly clad and wearing
bright and happy faces. And as you notice their correct
deportment, hear their unhesitating replies to the questions
proposed, and above all when they unite their sweet voices in
their touching songs, if your heart is not affected and your
eyes do not fill, you are the hardest-hearted and driest-eyed
visitor that has ever been there. But who is their teacher?
Their mistress, a lady whose amiable Christian character and
most gifted and accomplished mind and manners are surpassed
by none. From day to day, month to month, and year to year,
she has cheerfully left her splendid halls and circle of
friends, to visit her school room, where, standing up before
those young immortals, she trains them in the way in which
they should go, and leads them to Him who said, "suffer
little children to come unto me."

From the Infant School room, we will walk through a beautiful
lawn half a mile, to a pleasant grove commanding a view of
miles in extent. Here is a brick chapel, rising for the
accommodation of this interesting family; sufficiently large
to receive two or three hundred hearers. When completed, in
beauty and convenience it will be surpassed by few churches
in the Southern country.

On the plantation you might also see other things of great
interest. Here a negro is the overseer. Marriages are
regularly contracted. No negro is sold, except as a
punishment for bad behavior, and a dreaded one it is. None is
bought, save for the purpose of uniting families. Here you
will near no clanking of chains, no cracking of whips; (I
have never seen a blow struck on the estate,) and here last,
but not least, you will find a flourishing Temperance
Society, embracing almost every individual on the premises.
And yet the "Christianity of the South is a chain-forging, a
whip-plaiting, marriage discouraging, Bible-withholding
Christianity!"

I have confined myself to a single plantation. But I might
add many most interesting facts in regard to others, and the
state of feeling in general, but I forbear.

Yours, &c
A NEW ENGLAND MAN.

He would now connect the peculiar and local facts of the preceding statement, with the whole community of slave holders, in the same State, and show by competent and disinterested testimony, the real and common state of things. The following extracts were from a letter printed in the New York Observer, of July 25, 1835:

I have resided eight years in South Carolina, and have an
extensive acquaintance with the planters of the middle and
low country. I have seen much of slavery, and feel competent
to speak in regard to many facts connected with it.

What your correspondent has stated of the condition of one
plantation, is in its essential points a common case
throughout the whole circle of my acquaintance.

The negroes generally, in this State, are well fed, well
clothed, and have the means of religious instruction.
According to my best judgment, the work which a slave here is
required to do, amounts to about one third the ordinary labor
commonly performed by a New England farmer. A similar
comparison would hold true in regard to the labor of
domestics. In the family where I reside, consisting of nine
white persons, seven slaves are employed to do the work. This
is a common case.

In the village where I live, there are about four hundred
slaves, and they generally attend church. More than one
hundred of them are members of the church. Perhaps two
hundred are assembled every Sabbath in the Sunday Schools. In
my own Sunday School are about sixty, and most of them
professors of religion. They are perfectly accessible and
teachable. In the town of my former residence, in New
England, there were three hundred free blacks. No more than
eight or ten of these were professors of religion, and not
more than twice that number could generally be induced to
attend church. They could not be induced to send their
children to the district schools, which were always open to
them, nor could they generally be hired to work. They are
thievish, wretched and troublesome. I have no hesitation in
saying, and I say it deliberately, it would be a great
blessing to them to exchange conditions with the slaves of
the village in which I now live. Their intellectual and moral
characters, and real means of improvement, would be promoted
by the exchange.

There are doubtless some masters who treat their slaves
cruelly in this State, but they are exceptions to the general
fact. Public opinion is in a wholesome state and the man who
does not treat his slaves kindly, is disgraced.

Great and increasing efforts are made to instruct the slaves
in religion, and elevate their characters. Missionaries are
employed solely for their benefit. It is very common for
ministers to preach in the forenoon to the whites, and in the
afternoon of every Sabbath to the blacks. The slaves of my
acquaintance are generally contented and happy. The master is
reprobated who will divide families. Many thousands of slaves
of this State give evidence of piety. In many churches they
form the majority. Thousands of them give daily thanks to God
that they or their fathers were brought to this land of
slavery.

And now, perhaps, I ought to add, that I am not a
slave-holder, and do not intend to continue in a slave
country; but wherever I may be, I intend to speak the TRUTH.

The next document related particularly to _Virginia_,--the largest and most powerful of the Slave States; but had also a general reference to the whole south, and the whole question at issue. The sentiments it contained were entitled to extraordinary consideration, on account of the source of them. Mr. Van Renselear, was the son of one of the most wealthy and distinguished citizens of the great free state of New York. He had gone to Virginia, to preach to the slaves. He had every where succeeded; was every where beloved by the slaves, and honored by their masters. He had access to perhaps forty plantations,--on which he from time to time preached,--and which might have been doubled, had his strength been equal to the work. In the midst of his usefulness--the storm of abolition arose. Mr. Thompson, like some baleful star landed on our shores; organized a reckless agitation, made many at the north frantic with folly--and as many at the south furious with passion. Mr. Van Renselear, like many others, saw a storm raging which they had no power to control; and like them withdrew from his benevolent labors. The following brief statements made by him at a great meeting of the colonization society of New York, exhibit his own view of the conduct and duty of the parties.

The Rev. Cortlandt Van Renselear, formerly of Albany, but who
has lately resided in Virginia, addressed the meeting, and
after alluding to the difference of opinion which prevailed
among the friends of Colonization, touching the present
condition and treatment of the colored population in this
country, proceeded to offer reasons why the people of the
North should approach their brethren in the South, who held
the control of the colored population, with defference, and
in a spirit of kindness and conciliation.

These reasons were briefly as follows: 1. Because the people
of the South had not consented to the original introduction
of slaves into the country, but had solemnly, earnestly, and
repeatedly remonstrated against it. 2. Because having been
born in the presence of slavery, and accustomed to it from
their infancy, they could not be expected to view it in the
same light as we view it at the North. 3. Slavery being there
established by law, it was not in the power of individuals to
act in regard to it as their personal feelings might dictate.
The evil had not been eradicated from the state of New York
all at once: It had been a gradual process, commencing with
the law 1799 and not consumated until 1827. Ought we to
denounce our Southern neighbors if they refuse to do the work
at a blow? 4. The constitution of the United States tolerated
slavery, in its articles apportioning representation with
reference to the slave population, and requiring the
surrender of runaway slaves. 5. Slavery had been much
mitigated of late years, and the condition of the slave
population much ameliorated. Its former rigor was almost
unknown, at least in Virginia, and it was lessening
continually. It was not consistent with truth to represent
the slaves as groaning day and night under the lash of
tyranical task-masters. And as to being kept in perfect
ignorance, Mr. V. had seldom seen a plantation where some of
the slaves could not read, and where they were not encouraged
to learn. In South Carolina, where it was said the gospel was
systematically denied to the slaves, there were twenty
thousand of them church members in the Methodist denomination
alone. He knew a small church where out of 70 communicants,
50 were in slavery. 6. There were very great difficulties
connected with the work of Abolition. The relations of
slavery had ramified themselves through all the relations of
society. The slaves were comparatively very ignorant; their
character degraded; and they were unqualified for immediate
freedom. A blunder in such a concern as universal abolition,
would be no light matter. Mr. V. here referred to the result
of experience and personal observation on the mind of the
well-known Mr. Parker, late a minister of this city, but now
of New-Orleans. He had left this city for the South with the
feeling of an immediate abolitionist; but he had returned
with his views wholly changed. After seeing slavery and
slave-holders, and that at the far South, he now declared the
idea of immediate and universal abolition to be a gross
absurdity. To liberate the two and a half millions of slaves
in the midst of us, would be just as wise and as humane, as
it would be for the father of a numerous family of young
children to take them to the front door, and there bidding
them good bye, tell them they were free, and send them out
into the world to provide for and govern themselves. 7.
Foreign interference was, of necessity, a delicate thing, and
ought ever to be attempted with the utmost caution. 8. There
was a large amount of unfeigned Christian anxiety at the
South to obey God and do good to man. There were many tears
and prayers continually poured out over the condition of
their colored people, and the most earnest desire to mitigate
their sorrows. Were such persons to be approached with
vituperation and anathemas? 9. There was no reason why all
our sympathies should be confined to the colored race and
utterly withheld from our white southern brethren. The
apostle Paul exhibited no such spirit. 10. A regard to the
interest of the slaves themselves dictated a cautious and
prudent and forbearing course. It called for conciliation:
for the fate of the slaves depended on the will of their
masters, nor could the north prevent it. The late laws
against teaching the slaves to read had not been passed until
the Southern people found inflamatory publications
circulating among the colored people. 11. The spirit of the
gospel forbade all violence, abuse and threatening. The
apostles had wished to call fire from heaven on those they
considered as Christ's enemies; but the Saviour, instead of
approving this fiery zeal, had rebuked it. 12. These Southern
people, who were represented as so grossly violating all
Christian duty, had been the subjects of gracious blessings
from God in the outpourings of his Spirit. 13. When God
convinced men of error, he did it in the spirit of mercy; we
ought to endeavor to do the same thing in the same spirit.

The only remaining testimony relates to the states of Louisiana and Mississippi, in the south west. The letter from which it is taken is written by a son of that Mr. Finley, who perhaps more than any one else, set on foot the original scheme of African colonization; and whose name, as a man of pure and enlarged benevolence and wisdom, the enemies of his plans quote with respect. The son well deserves to have had such a father.

_New-Orleans, March 12, 1835._

In my former letter I gave you some account of the leading
characters amongst the free people of color who recently
sailed from this port in the Brig "Rover." for Liberia. I
then promised you in my next to give you some account of the
emancipated slaves who sailed in the same expedition. This
promise I will now endeavor to fulfil, and I will begin with
the case of an individual emancipation, and then state the
case of an emancipated family, and conclude with an account
of the emancipation of several families by the same
individual.

The first case alluded to is that of a young woman
emancipated by the last will and testament of the late Judge
James Workman, of this city, the same who left a legacy of
ten thousand dollars to the American Colonization Society.
Judge Workman's will contains the following clause in
relation to her, viz:--"I request my statu liber, Kitty, a
quarteroon girl, to be set free as soon as convenient. And I
request my executors may send her, as she shall prefer, and
they think best, either to the Colonization Society at
Norfolk, to be sent to Liberia or to Hayti; and if she prefer
remaining in Louisiana, that they may endeavor to have an act
passed for her emancipation; if the same cannot be attained
otherwise; and it is my will that the sum of three hundred
dollars be paid to her after she shall be capable of
receiving the same. I request my executors to hold in their
hands money for this purpose. I particularly request my
friend John G. Greene to take charge of this girl, and do the
best for her that he can." Mr. Greene provided her with a
handsome outfit, carefully attended to her embarkation, and
the shipment of her freight, and placed her under the care of
the Rev. Gloster Simpson.

The next case, alluded to above, is that of a family of
eleven slaves emancipated for faithful and meritorious
services, by the will of of the late Mrs. Bullock, of
Claiborne county, Miss. Mrs. Moore, the sister and executrix
of Mrs. Bullock's estate, gave them 700 dollars to furnish an
outfit and give them a start in the colony.

The third and last case alluded to above, consisted of
several families, amounting in the whole to 26 individual
slaves belonging to the estate of the late James Green, of
Adams county, Mississipi. The following interesting
circumstances concerning their liberation, were communicated
to me by James Railey, Esq., the brother-in-law and acting
executor of Mr. Green's Estate. Mr. Green died on the 15th of
May, 1832, the proprietor of about 130 slaves, and left Mr.
Railey, his brother-in-law, and his sisters, Mrs. Railey and
Mrs. Wood, executors of his last will and testament. Mr.
Green's will provides for the unconditional emancipation of
but one of his slaves--a faithful and intelligent man named
Granger, whom Mr. Green had raised and taught to read, write,
and keep accounts. He acted as foreman for his master for
about five years previous to his death. Mr. Green, by his
will, left him 3000 dollars, on condition that he went to
Liberia, otherwise, 2000 dollars. Provision was also made in
the will for securing to him his wife. Granger has been
employed since the death of Mr. Green, until recently, as
overseer for Mr. Railey, at a salary of 600 dollars per
annum. Granger declines going to Liberia at present on
account of the unwillingness of his mother to go there. She
is very aged and infirm, and he is very much attached to her.
She was a favorite slave of Mr. Green's mother, who
emancipated her and left her a legacy of 1000 dollars.
Granger came to this city with Mr. Railey to see his friends
and former fellow-servants embark: and when he bade them
farewell, he said, with a very emphatic tone and manner, "I
will follow you in about 18 months."

The executors of Mr. Green's estate were by no means slack in
meeting the testator's wishes concerning these people. Mr.
Railey accompanied them to New-Orleans, and both he and Mrs.
Wood, who also was in New-Orleans while they were preparing
to embark, took a lively and active interest in providing
them with everything necessary for their comfort on the
voyage, and their welfare after their arrival in the Colony,
and placed in my hand 7000 dollars for their benefit, one
thousand dollars of which were appropriated towards the
charter of a vessel to convey them to the Colony, with the
privilege of 140 barrels freight--sixteen hundred dollars
towards the purchase of an outfit, consisting of mechanics'
tools, implements of agriculture, household furniture,
medicines, clothing, &c., and the remaining four thousand
four hundred dollars, partly invested in trade, goods, and
partly in specia, were shipped and consigned to the Governor
of Liberia, for their benefit, with an accompanying
memorandum made out by Mr. Railey, showing how much was each
one's portion.

I will close this communication by relating one additional
circumstance communicated to me by Mr. Railey, to show the
interest felt by Mr. Green in the success of the scheme of
African Colonization. The day previous to his death, he
requested Mr. Railey to write a memorandum of several things
which he wished done after his death, which memorandum
contains the following clause, viz:--"After executing all my
wishes as expressed by Will, by this memorandum, and by
verbal communications, I sincerely hope there will be a
handsome sum left for benefitting the emancipated negroes
emigrating from this State to Liberia; and to that end I have
more concern than you are aware of."

I am authorized by the Executors to state that there will be
a residuum to Mr. Green's estate of twenty or thirty-five
thousand dollars, which they intend to appropriate in
conformity with the views of Mr. Green expressed above.

Yours, &c.,
ROBERT S. FINLEY.

And now I rest the case, and commit the result to an enlightened public. Here are my proofs and arguments showing as I believe conclusively, that the slanderous accusations against my country and my brethren which I have come to this city to repel,--are not only false, but incredible. Here are my testimonials, few and casually gathered up, but yet, as it seems to me, irresistibly convincing, that the people and churches of America--in the very thing charged,--have been and are acting, a wise, self-denying and humane part. That they should move onward in it as rapidly as the happiness of all the parties will allow, must be the wish of all good men. That obstacles should be interposed through the error, the imprudence, or the violence of well meaning but ill-judging persons, is truly deplorable. But that we should be traduced before the whole world, when we are innocent; that we should first be forced into most difficult circumstances, and then forced to manage those circumstances in such a way as to cause our certain ruin, by the very same people; or in default of submitting to both requirments, be forced first into war, and afterwards into a state of bitter mutual contention, only less dreadful than war itself, is outrageous and intolerable. While we justly complain of these things, we discharge ourselves of the guilt attributed to us, and acquit ourselves to God and our consciences, of all the fatal consequences likely to follow such conduct.

* * * * *

MR. THOMPSON rose, and spoke in nearly the following words:

_Mr. Chairman_,

If I were to say that I rose on the present occasion without a feeling of anxiety regarding the issue of the discussion now drawing to a close, I should say what is not the truth. I cannot remember that I ever stood before an auditory in a more interesting or responsible position. The question before us is one of momentous magnitude; and that branch of it which to-night claims our special attention, is of all others, the most solemn and delicate. I am, therefore, anxious, deeply anxious, respecting the impression which shall rest upon the minds of this assembly, when I have occupied the attention of yourself and of it, for a portion of time equal to that which has been expended by my opponent. If, however, I were to say that I rose with any feeling of alarm in the contemplation of the result of that ordeal through which I am about to pass, I should speak that which would be equally at variance with the truth. So far from indulging any fear, or wishing to propitiate this audience, I pray that for the sake of truth, humanity, and the country represented by my opponent; for the sake of our character in the sight of God at the audit of the great day; there may be a severe, jealous and impartial judgment formed, according to the evidence which shall be submitted. Or, if it be impossible to hold the balance strictly even, I ask that the bias for the present, may be in favor of my opponent. It is true, I am not an American. It is true, I was in the United States but fourteen months. It is true, I never crossed the Potomac; never saw a slave, unless that slave had been brought to the North by some temporary resident. Receive, therefore, with caution and suspicion my statements. Let there be every discount upon my assertions which my youth and rashness, my want of observation and experience demand. At the same time I ask that every proper degree of respect shall be paid to the witnesses I shall bring before you; and that however my testimony may be doubted, theirs at least may have the weight which their character, and station, and opportunities shall appear to entitle them to.

I am accused of monstrous injustice towards America, when I say that in that country slavery wears its most horrid forms. In saying this, I must not be understood as speaking according to the actual physical condition of the slave, or even of his legal and political condition, apart from the religion and institutions of the land in which he lives. I judge not by the number of links in his chain; the number of lashes inflicted on his back; the nature of his toil, or the quality or quantity of his food. It is, when irrespective of the treatment of the body, I find two millions of human beings regarded as merchandise; ranked with the beasts of the field, and reduced by the neglect of their immortal minds to the condition of heathens; it is when I find this awful system in full operation, surrounded by the barriers and safeguards of the Law and the Constitution, in the United States of North America; the land of Republicanism, and Christianity, and Revivals, that I say, Slavery in America wears a form more horrid than in any other part of the world. Yes, Sir; when I am told that in that land, liberty is enjoyed to a greater extent than in any other country; that the principles on which this liberty and independence rest are these: "God created all men free and equal." "Resistance to Tyrants is obedience to God;" and see also two millions of captives; their dungeon barred and watched by proud Republicans, and boasting Christians; I turn with horror and indignation away, exclaiming as I quit the sickening scene, Slavery wears its most loathsome form in the United States of America!

Before I come to that portion of my Address which I shall present as a reply to Mr. Breckinridge, I beg to say one word in vindication of the character and temper of American Abolitionists; and I am glad on this occasion to be able to cite the testimony of a gentleman, whom Mr. Breckinridge has not declined to call his friend; I mean James G. Birney, Esq., formerly residing in the same State with Mr. B., and now in Cincinnati. Mr. Birney made a visit to the North last year, for the purpose of ascertaining for himself, by actual observation and intercourse, the real character of the Abolitionists, and the manner in which they prosecuted their work. Having done this, he thus writes:

Last spring I attended the Ohio Anti-Slavery Convention; was
present at the several meetings of the American Anti-Slavery
Society in New York, and at the Anti-Slavery Convention held
in Boston. On these several occasions, I became acquainted,
and deliberated with, it may be, not less than one thousand
persons, who may be fairly set down as among the most
intelligent of the abolitionists. Subjects on which the most
diverse opinions were entertained, and which to ambitious and
untrained minds would be agitating and dissensious in the
extreme, were discussed with the most calm and unruffled
composure. And while some of the leading journals were
teeming with the foulest and the falsest charges of moral and
political turpitude; while there were produced in their
assemblies placards, calling on the mob for appropriate
deeds, and designating the time and place of holding their
meetings, that its violence might know at what point it might
most effectually spend itself; yet, never elsewhere have I
seen so much of sedate deliberation of sober conclusion, of
dignified moderation, sanctified by earnest prayer to God,
not only for the oppressed, but for the oppressor of his
fellow; not only for such as they loved, but for their
slanderers, and persecutors, and enemies.

The above is a fair account, so far as my knowledge enables
me to speak, of the character of those whom you are pleased
to describe "a band of fanatical abolitionists." Light and
rash minds, unaccustomed to penetrate to the real causes of
great revolutions in public sentiment, will, of course, think
and speak contemptuously of them, while the philosophic
observer clearly sees, that such antagonists of error, armed
with so powerful a weapon as the Truth, must, at all times,
be invincible; and that in the end they will be triumphant.

A word, too, before I come to the state of the churches, with regard to Mr. Breckinridge's concluding topic last evening; to which I had not, of course, any opportunity to reply; and, as the time allotted for this discussion is now determined, I shall be permitted to dwell a few moments on the subject. Mr. Breckinridge did, I am ready to acknowledge, with tolerable fairness, state the views of the abolitionists with regard to prejudice against color; that it was sinful, that it ought to be abandoned, and that the colored man should be raised to the enjoyment of equal civil and religious privileges with the whites. But after he had laid down, generally speaking correctly, the views of the abolitionists, he proceeded to put the most _unfair_ interpretation upon those views, and strangely contended that they were directly aiming to accomplish the amalgamation of the races in the fullest sense of that word. Once again, I _deny_ this. Once again I appeal to all that the abolitionists have ever written or spoken: to their published, official, solemn, authoritative disclaimers; and I say on my behalf and on theirs, that with the intermixture of "the races," as they are called, (a phrase I do not like,) the abolitionists have nothing to do. What they have ever contended for is this, that the colored man should now be delivered from the condition of a beast; that he should cease to be regarded as the property of his fellow man; and that according to the laws of the state regulating the qualifications of citizens, he should be admitted to a participation of the privileges that are enjoyed by other classes of the community. We have never asked for more. We have left the doctrine of amalgamation to be settled by our opponents. The slave holders are the amalgamationists whose licentiousness has gone far to put an end to the existence of a black race in the South, and who are still carrying on, to use their own expression, "a bleaching system," whitening the population of the South, so that you may now discover all shades of colored persons; from those who are so fair that they are scarcely distinguishable from the whites, to the pure black of the unmixed negro. But my opponent defeated himself. While attempting to expose the folly and wickedness of amalgamation, he at the same time contended that the thing was physically impossible; that even a partial amalgamation could only be brought about by polygamy or prostitution, but that general amalgamation was hopeless, because physically impossible. If the thing be utterly beyond the reach of the abolitionists, why dread it as an evil? Why not let the abolitionists pursue their foolish and impracticable schemes? Why so much wrath against them for aiming at that which nature has rendered unattainable. I leave Mr. Breckinridge to find his way out of this difficulty in the best manner he is able.