Chapter V: Section I

THE AMERICAN COLONIZATION SOCIETY IS PLEDGED NOT TO OPPOSE THE SYSTEM OF SLAVERY.

Having concluded my introductory remarks, I now proceed to substantiate my accusations against the American Colonization Society, by marshalling in review the sentiments of those who first originated it, and who are its efficient managers and advocates. It is obvious that, with my limited means, and in a book designed for a cheap circulation, I shall not be able to enter into so minute a detail as the present exigency demands, or make those comments which might serve more fully to illustrate the character of this association. It should be stated, moreover, that I have not made any particular effort to procure materials for this work, being satisfied that those which have almost accidentally fallen into my hands, contain ample and conclusive evidence of the unworthiness of the Society. A vast number of the Reports of auxiliary bodies in various parts of the country, of orations and sermons and essays in favor of African colonization, are beyond my reach, and must remain unconsulted. If more proof be demanded, it shall be given to the public. There is not a sound timber in this great Babel: from the foundation to the roof, it is rotten and defective.

I shall not stop to interrogate the motives of those who planned the Society. Some of them, undoubtedly, were actuated by a benevolent desire to promote the welfare of our colored population, and could never have intended to countenance oppression. But the question is not, whether their motives were good or bad. Suppose they were all good--would this fact prove infallibly that they could not err in judgment? Do we not almost daily see men running headlong into wild and injurious enterprises with the very best intentions? There is a wide difference between meaning well and doing well. The slave trade originated in a compassionate regard for the benighted Africans; and yet we hang those who are detected in this traffic. I am willing to concede that Robert Finley and Elias B. Caldwell were philanthropic individuals; and that a large number of their followers are men of piety, benevolence and moral worth. What then? Is the American Colonization Society a beneficial institution? We shall see hereafter.

The history of this Society is familiar to the public. It was organized about the commencement of the year 1817. The first public meeting to consider the expediency of such an organization was held on the 21st of December, 1816, at which the Hon. Henry Clay presided; but I have never seen its official proceedings. It was addressed by Mr Clay, _Mr Randolph_, Mr Caldwell, and other gentlemen, from whose speeches extracts will shortly be given.

It is my purpose in this section to show, first, the original design of the Society; secondly, that it is still strictly adhered to; and, lastly, that the Society is solemnly pledged not to interfere with the system of slavery, or in any manner to disturb the repose of the planters. Upon the rigid observance of this sinful pledge depends its existence; a single violation of it would be fatal. I want no better reason than this, to wage an uncompromising warfare against it. No man has a right to form an alliance with others, which prevents him from rebuking sin or exposing the guilt of sinners. Every individual is bound to oppose the system of slavery in the most direct, strenuous, unfaltering manner--bound by the ties of brotherhood, by the spirit of Christianity, by the genius of republicanism, by the dictates of humanity, by the requirements of justice, by the love of country, by duty to his God. He cannot suppress his voice, nor stop his ears to the groans of the prisoners, and be innocent. If he hide the truth because it may give offence--if he strike hands in amity with a thief--if he leave the needy and oppressed to perish--God will visit him with plagues. Now the language of the non-slaveholding members of the Colonization Society to the owners of slaves is virtually as follows:--'The free people of color are a nuisance to us, and plotters of sedition among your slaves. If they be not speedily removed, your _property_ will be lost, and your lives destroyed. We therefore do solemnly agree, that, if you will unite with us in expelling this dangerous class from our shores, we will never accuse you of robbery or oppression, or irritate your feelings by asserting the right of the slaves to immediate freedom, or identify any one of you as a criminal; but, on the contrary, we will boldly assert your innocence, and applaud you as wise and benevolent men for holding your slaves in subjection until you can cast them out of the country.' I say, this is _virtually_ their language, as I shall soon indisputably show. Thus we are presented with the strange spectacle of a procession composed of the most heterogeneous materials. There go, arm-in-arm, a New-England divine and a southern kidnapper; and there an ungodly slaveholder and a pious deacon; each eyeing the other with distrust, and fearful of exciting a quarrel, both denouncing the poor, neglected, despised free black man as a miserable, good-for-nothing creature, and both gravely complimenting their foresight and generosity in sending this worthless wretch on a religious mission to Africa!

I cannot exhibit the folly and wickedness of this alliance in a clearer light than by inserting the following extract of a letter from Capt. Charles Stuart, of the English Royal Navy, one of the most indefatigable philanthropists in England:

'The American Colonization Society looks abroad over its own
country, and it finds a mass of its brethren, whom God has been
pleased to clothe with a darker skin. It finds one portion of
these free! another enslaved! It finds a cruel prejudice, as
dark and false as sin can make it, reigning with a most
tyrannous sway against both. It finds this prejudice respecting
the _free_, declaring without a blush, "We are too wicked ever
to love them as God commands us to do--we are so resolute in our
wickedness as not even to desire to do so--and we are so proud
in our iniquity that we will hate and revile whoever disturbs us
in it--We want, like the devils of old, to be let alone in our
sin--We are unalterably determined, and neither God nor man
shall move us from this resolution, that our free colored fellow
subjects never shall be happy in their native land." The
American Colonization Society, I say, finds this most base and
cruel prejudice, _and lets it alone_; nay more, it directly and
powerfully supports it.

'The American Colonization Society finds 2,000,000 of its fellow
subjects most iniquitously enslaved--and it finds a resolution
as proud and wicked as the very spirit of the pit can make it
against _obeying_ God and _letting them_ go free in their native
land. _It lets this perfectly infernal resolution alone_, nay
more, it powerfully supports it; for it in fact says, as a fond
and feeble father might say to some overgrown baby before whose
obstinate wickedness he quailed, "Never mind, my dear, I don't
want to prevent your beating and abusing your brothers and
sisters--let that be--but here is a box of sugar plums--do pray
give them one or two now and then." The American Colonization
Society says practically to the slaveholders and the slave party
in the United States, "We don't want to prevent your plundering
2,000,000 of our fellow subjects of their liberty and of the
fruits of their toil; although we know that by every principle
of law which does not utterly disgrace us by assimilating us to
pirates, that they have as good and as true a right to the equal
protection of the law as we have; and although we ourselves
stand prepared to die, rather than submit even to a fragment of
the intolerable load of oppression to which we are subjecting
them--yet never mind--let that be--they have grown old in
suffering, and we in iniquity--and we have nothing to do now but
to speak _peace_, _peace_ to one another in our sins. But if any
of their masters, whether from benevolence, an awakened
conscience, or political or personal fear, should emancipate
any, let us send them to Liberia--that is, in fact, let us give
a sugar plum here and there to a few, while the many are living
and dying unredressed--and while we are thus countenancing the
atrocious iniquity beneath which they are perishing." In this
aspect I find the American Colonization Society declaring itself
a substitute for emancipation, and it is in this aspect that I
contend with it, and that I proclaim it, _as far as it has this
character_, no farther, a bane to the colored people, whether
enslaved or free, and a snare and a disgrace to its country.'

The second article of the Constitution of this Society is in the following language:

'The object to which its attention is to be _exclusively_
directed, is to promote and execute a plan for colonizing (with
their consent) the free people of color residing in our country,
in Africa, or such other place as Congress shall deem most
expedient. And the Society shall act, to effect this object, in
co-operation with the General Government, and such of the States
as may adopt regulations upon the subject.'

The following citations abundantly sustain the charge, that the Society has not swerved from its original design, and does not oppose the system of slavery:

'Whilst he was up, he would detain the Society for a few
moments. It was proper again and again to repeat, that it was
far from the intention of the Society to affect, _in any
manner_, the tenure by which a certain species of property is
held. He was himself a slaveholder; _and he considered that kind
of property as inviolable as any other in the country_. He would
resist as soon, and with as much firmness, encroachments upon it
as he would encroachments upon any other property which he held.
Nor was he disposed even to go as far as the gentleman who had
just spoken, (Mr Mercer) in saying that he would emancipate his
slaves, if the means were provided of sending them from the
country.'--[Speech of Henry Clay.--First Annual Report.]

'It was proper and necessary distinctly to state, that he
understood it constituted no part of the object of this meeting,
to touch or agitate in the slightest degree, a delicate
question, connected with another portion of the colored
population of our country. It was not proposed to deliberate
upon or consider at all, any question of emancipation, or that
which was connected with the abolition of slavery. It was upon
that condition alone, he was sure, that many gentlemen from the
South and West, whom he saw present, had attended, or could be
expected to co-operate. It was upon that condition only, that he
himself had attended.'--[Speech of Mr Clay before the Society,
Jan. 1, 1818.--Second Annual Report.]

'It had been properly observed by the chairman, as well as by
the gentleman from this District (Messrs Clay and Caldwell) that
there was nothing in the proposition submitted to consideration
which in the smallest degree touched another very important and
delicate question, which ought to be left as much out of view as
possible, (Negro slavery.) * * * Mr R. concluded by saying, that
he had thought it necessary to make these remarks, being a
slaveholder himself, to shew, that, so far from being connected
with the abolition of slavery, _the measure proposed would prove
one of the greatest securities to enable the master to keep in
possession his own property_.'--[Speech of John Randolph at the
same meeting.]

'Your committee would not thus favorably regard the prayer of
the memorialists, if it sought to impair, _in the slightest
degree_, the rights of private property, or the yet more sacred
rights of personal liberty, secured to every description of
freemen in the United States.

'The resolution of the legislature of Virginia, the subsequent
acts and declarations, as well as the high character of the
memorialists themselves, added to the most obvious interest of
the states who have recently sanctioned the purpose, or
recognized the existence of the American Colonization Society,
exclude _the remotest apprehension of such injustice and
inhumanity_.'

--[Report of the committee of the House of Representatives of
the United States, on the memorial of the President and Board of
Managers of the Colonization Society.--Second Annual Report.]

'An effort for the benefit of the blacks, in which all parts of
the country can unite, of course _must not have the abolition of
slavery for its immediate object_. NOR MAY IT AIM DIRECTLY AT
THE INSTRUCTION OF THE BLACKS. In either case, the _prejudices_
and _terrors_ of the slaveholding States would be excited in a
moment; and with reason too, for it is a well-established point,
that _the public safety forbids either the emancipation or the
general instruction of the slaves_.' * * * 'It [African
Colonization] is an enterprise in which _all parts of the
country can unite_. The grand objection to every other effort
is, that it excites the _jealousies_ and _fears_ of the south.
But here is an effort in which the southern people are the first
to engage, and which numbers many of their most distinguished
men among its advocates and efficient supporters.'--[Review of
the Reports of the Society, from the Christian
Spectator.--Seventh Annual Report.]

'It will be seen at home and abroad, that the American
Colonization Society, while it _properly enough_ stands aloof
from the question of slavery, and the abolition of slavery,'
&c.--[Report of William McKenney.--Eighth Annual Report.]

'The objects of this institution are well known to the world;
for no concealment whatever has ever been intended. The Society
aims at the removal of free persons of color; _it interferes, in
no way whatever, with the rights of property_.'--[Speech of G.
W. Custis, Esq.--Ninth Annual Report.]

'We are reproached with doing mischief by the agitation of this
question. The Society goes into no household to disturb its
domestic tranquillity; it addresses itself to no slaves to
weaken their obligations of obedience. _It seeks to affect no
man's property._'--[Speech of Mr Clay.--Tenth Annual Report.]

'The Committee to whom was referred the memorial of the American
Colonization Society, have had the subject under consideration,
and now report:

'That upon due consideration of the said memorial, and from all
other information which your committee has obtained, touching
that subject, they are fully satisfied that no jealousies ought
to exist, on the part of this or any other slaveholding State,
respecting the objects of this Society, or the effects of its
labors.'--[Report of a committee of the Legislature of Delaware,
Feb. 8th, 1827.]

'The Society has reiterated the declaration that it has no
ulterior views diverse from the object avowed in the
constitution; and having declared that it is in nowise allied to
any Abolition Society in America or elsewhere, is ready whenever
there is need TO PASS A CENSURE UPON SUCH SOCIETIES IN
AMERICA.'--[Speech of Mr Harrison of Virginia.--Eleventh Annual
Report.]

'We have the same interests in this subject with our southern
brethren--the same opportunity of understanding it, and of
knowing with what _care_ and _prudence_ it should be approached.
What greater pledge can we give for the moderation and safety of
our measures than our own interests as slaveholders, and the
ties that bind us to the slaveholding communities to which we
belong?'--[Speech of Mr Key.--Same Report.]

'The second objection may be resolved into this; that the
Society, under the specious pretext of removing a vicious and
noxious population, is secretly undermining the rights of
private property. This is the objection expressed in its full
force, and if your memorialists could for a moment believe it to
be true in point of fact, they would never, _slaveholders as
they are_, have associated themselves together for the purpose
of co-operating with the Parent Society; and far less would they
have appeared in the character in which they now do, before the
legislative bodies of a slaveholding State. And, if any instance
could be now adduced, in which the Society has ever manifested
even an intention to depart from the avowed object, for the
promotion of which it was originally instituted, none would with
more willingness and readiness withdraw from it their
countenance and support. But, from the time of its formation,
down to the present period, all its operations have been
directed exclusively to the promotion of its one grand object,
namely, the colonization in Africa of the free people of color
of the United States. It has always protested, and through your
memorialists it again protests, that _it has no wish to
interfere_ with the delicate but important subject of slavery.
It has never, in a solitary instance, addressed itself to the
slave. It has never sought to invade the tranquillity of the
domestic circle, nor the peace and safety of
society.'--[Memorial of the Auxiliary Colonization Society of
Powhatan, to the Legislature of Virginia.--Twelfth Annual
Report.]

'Therefore she looked, and well might she look, to colonization
and to colonization alone. To abolition _she could not look_,
and need not look. Whatever that scheme may have done,
heretofore, in the States now free, it had done nothing and
could do nothing in the slave States for the cause of humanity.
This subject he rejoiced to know was now better understood, and
all began to see that it was _wiser_ and _safer_ to remove, by
colonization, a great and otherwise insuperable impediment to
emancipation, _than to act upon the subject of emancipation
itself_.'--[Speech of Mr Key.--Thirteenth Annual Report.]

'Our Society has nothing to do directly with the question of
slavery.' * * * 'Whilst the Society protests that it has no
designs on the rights of the master in the slave--or the
property in his slave, which the laws guarantee to him,'
&c.--[Speech of Gerrit Smith, Esq.--Fourteenth Annual Report.]

'Its primary object now is, and ever has been, to colonize, with
their own consent, free people of color on the coast of Africa,
or elsewhere, as Congress may deem expedient. And, Sir, I am
unwilling to admit, under any circumstances, and particularly in
this Hall, that it ever has swerved from this cardinal
object.'--[Speech of Mr Benham.--Fourteenth Annual Report.]

'Something he must yet be allowed to say, as regarded the object
the Society was set up to accomplish. This object, if he
understood it aright, _involved no intrusion on property_, NOR
EVEN UPON PREJUDICE.'--[Speech of Mr Archer of
Virginia.--Fifteenth Annual Report.]

'That the effort made by the Society should be such as to unite
all parts of the country--such as to be in any degree ultimately
successful, it was necessary to _disclaim all attempts for the
immediate abolition of slavery, or the instruction of the great
body of the blacks_. Such attempts would have excited alarm and
jealousy, would have been inconsistent with the public safety,
and defeated the great purposes of the Society.' * * * 'It is
pleasing to learn that the Friends, who at first were not
favorable to the Society, _having been inclined to the immediate
abolition of slavery_, are coming into what we deem the _more
wise policy_ of encouraging emancipation by
colonization.'--[Speech of Harmanus Bleecker, Esq. at the Second
Anniversary Meeting of the New-York Colonization Society, April
14, 1831.]

'The plan of colonization seems _the only one entitled to the
least consideration_.'--[Speech of M. C. Paterson, Esq. on the
same occasion.]

'Nor will their brethren of the North desire to interfere with
their constitutional rights, or rashly to disturb a system
interwoven with their feelings, habits, and prejudices. A golden
mean will be pursued, which, at the same time that it _consults
the wishes_, and _respects the prejudices_ of the South, will
provide for the claims of justice and Christianity, and avert
the storm of future desolation.'--[Speech of Lucius Q. C. Elmer,
Esq.--First Annual Report of the New-Jersey Colonization
Society.]

'Views are attributed to us, that were never entertained, and
our plan is tortured _into a design to emancipate the Slaves of
the South_. We are made to disregard this description of
property, and to touch without reserve the rights of our
neighbors. We are said to tread this almost forbidden ground
with firm step, and a hardihood of effort is imputed to us,
which, if true, might well excite the indignation of our
southern citizens.--But, Sir, our Society and the friends of
colonization wish to be distinctly understood upon this point.
From the beginning they have _disavowed_, and they do yet
_disavow_, that their object is _the emancipation of the
slaves_. They have no wish, _if they could_, to interfere in the
smallest degree with what they deem the most interesting and
fearful subject which can be pressed upon the American public.'
* * * 'There is no people that treat their slaves with so much
kindness and with so little cruelty. Nor can I believe that we
shall meet with any serious opposition from that quarter, when
our object is distinctly understood--when it is known that our
operations are confined exclusively to the free black
population. That this is our _sole_ object, I appeal with entire
confidence to the constitution of our Society and to the
constitution and Annual Reports of the Parent Institution.' * * *
'We again repeat--that our operations are confined to the free
black population, and that there is no ground for fear on the
part of our southern friends. We hold their slaves as we hold
their other property, SACRED. Let not then this slander be
repeated.'--[Speech of James S. Green, Esq. on the same
occasion.]

'Nothing has contributed more to retard the operations of the
Colonization Society than the mistaken notion that it interferes
directly with slavery. This objection is rapidly vanishing away,
and many of the slaveholding States are becoming efficient
supporters of the national society. In the Senate of Louisiana
during its last session, resolutions were adopted expressive of
the opinion that the object of this Society was deserving the
patronage of the general government. An enlightened community
now see, that this Society infringes upon no man's rights, that
its object is noble and benevolent--to remedy an evil which is
felt and acknowledged at the north and south--to give the free
people of color the privileges of freemen.'--[From a Tract
issued by the Massachusetts Colonization Society in 1831, for
gratuitous distribution.]

'This institution proposes to do good by a single specific
course of measures. Its direct and specific purpose _is not the
abolition of slavery_, or the relief of pauperism, or the
extension of commerce and civilization, or the enlargement of
science, or the conversion of the heathen. The single object
which its constitution prescribes, and to which all its efforts
are necessarily directed, is, African colonization from America.
It proposes only to afford facilities for the voluntary
emigration of free people of color from this country to the
country of their fathers.'--[Review on African
Colonization.--Christian Spectator for September, 1830.]

'It interferes in nowise with the right of property, and hopes
and labors for the gradual abolition of slavery, by the
voluntary and gradual manumission of slaves, when the free
persons of color shall have first been transferred to their
aboriginal climate and soil.'--[G. W. P. Custis, Esq.--African
Repository, vol. i. p. 39.]

'Does this Society wish to meddle with our slaves as our
rightful property? I answer _no_, I think not.'--[African
Repository, vol. ii. p. 13.]

'They have been denounced by some as fanatical and visionary
innovators, pursuing without regard to means or consequences, an
object destructive of the rights of property, and dangerous to
the public peace.' * * * 'The sole object of the Society, as
declared at its institution, and from which it can never be
allowed to depart, is 'to remove with their own consent, to the
coast of Africa, the free colored population, now existing in
the United States, and such as hereafter may become free.'' * * *
'In pursuing their object, therefore, (although such
consequences may result from a successful prosecution of it,)
the Society cannot be justly charged with aiming to disturb the
rights of property or the peace of society. Your memorialists
refer with confidence to the course they have pursued, in the
prosecution of their object for nine years past, to shew that it
is possible, without danger or alarm, to carry on such an
operation, notwithstanding its supposed relation to the subject
of slavery, and that they have not been regardless, in any of
their measures, of what was due to the state of society in which
they live. They are, themselves, chiefly slaveholders, and live,
with all the ties of life binding them to a slaveholding
community. They know when to speak and when to forbear upon
topics connected with this painful and difficult subject. They
put forth no passionate appeals before the public, seek to
excite no feeling, and avoid, with the most sedulous care, every
measure that would endanger the public tranquillity.' * * * 'The
managers could, with no propriety, depart from their original
and avowed purpose, _and make emancipation their object_. And
they would further say, that if they were not thus restrained by
the terms of their association, they would still consider any
attempts to promote the increase of the free colored population
by manumission, _unnecessary_, _premature_, and _dangerous_.'
* * * 'It seems now to be admitted that, whatever has any bearing
upon that question, must be managed with the utmost
consideration; that the peace and order of society must not be
endangered by indiscreet and ill-timed efforts to promote
emancipation; and that a true regard should be manifested to the
feelings and the fears, and even the _prejudices_ of those,
whose co-operation is essential.'--[Memorial of the Society to
the several States.--A. R. vol. ii. pp. 57, 58, 60.]

'To found in Africa an empire of _christians and republicans_;
to reconduct the blacks to their native land, without disturbing
the order of society, the laws of property, or the rights of
individuals; rapidly, but legally, _silently_, _gradually_, to
drain them off; these are the noble ends of the colonization
scheme.'--[African Repository, vol. ii. p. 375.]

'Nor have I ever been able to see, for my part, why the
patronage of Congress to a benevolent and patriotic Society,
which, without interfering, in the smallest degree, with that
_delicate interest_, only aims to remove what we all consider as
a great evil--our free people of color--(and which evil _does_
interfere with that interest,) should excite the jealousy or
spleen of our most watchful and determined advocates of state
rights.'--[Idem, p. 383.]

'Recognising the constitutional and legitimate existence of
slavery, it seeks not to interfere, either directly or
indirectly, with the rights which it creates. _Acknowledging the
necessity by which its present continuance and the rigorous
provisions for its maintenance are justified_, it aims only at
furnishing the States, in which it exists, the means of
immediately lessening its severities, and of ultimately
relieving themselves from its acknowledged evils.'--[Opimius in
reply to Caius Gracchus.--African Repository, vol. iii. p. 16.]

'_It is no abolition Society_; it addresses as yet _arguments to
no master_, and disavows with horror the idea of offering
temptations to any slave. IT DENIES THE DESIGN OF ATTEMPTING
EMANCIPATION, EITHER PARTIAL OR GENERAL; it denies, with us,
that the General Government have any power to emancipate; and
declares that the States have exclusively the right to regulate
the whole subject of slavery. The scope of the Society is large
enough, but it is in nowise mingled or confounded with the broad
sweeping views of _a few fanatics_ in America, who would urge us
on to the sudden and total abolition of slavery.' * * * 'The
first great material objection is that the Society does, in
fact, in spite of its denial, meditate and conspire the
emancipation of the slaves. To the candid, let me say that there
are names on the rolls of the Society too high to be rationally
accused of the duplicity and insidious falsehood which this
implies; farther, the Society and its branches are composed, in
by far the larger part, of _citizens of slaveholding States_,
who cannot gravely be charged with a design so perilous to
themselves. To the uncandid disputant, I say, let him put his
finger on one single sentiment, declaration or act of the
Society, or of any person, with its sanction, which shows such
to be their object: there is in fact no pretext for the charge.'
* * * 'Let me repeat, the _friends_ of the Colonization Society,
three-fourths of them are SLAVEHOLDERS; the legislatures of
Maryland, Georgia, Kentucky and Tennessee, all slaveholding
States, have approved it; _every member_ of this auxiliary
Society is, _either in himself, or his nearest relatives,
interested in holding slaves_.' * * * 'Once more; this Society
is no way connected with certain Abolition Societies in the
country. To these the Colonization Society would say, "Your
object is unattainable, your zeal dangerous, and nothing can
give it the right direction or the right temperature, but your
surrendering your plan to ours: be convinced, that if the blacks
are ever to be removed from us, it will be by the free will of
the owners, and by means of the opportunity which our _innocent_
plan of an asylum for such as may be sent will afford."'--['The
Col. Society Vindicated.'--Idem, pp. 197, 200, 202, 203.]

'They can impress upon the southern slaveholder, by the strength
of facts, and by the recorded declarations of honest men, that
the objects of the Colonization Society are altogether pure and
praiseworthy, and _that it has no intention to open the door to
universal liberty_, but only to cut out a channel, where the
merciful providence of God may cause those dark waters to flow
off.'--[Idem, vol. iv. p. 145.]

'About twelve years ago, some of the wisest men of the nation,
(_mostly slaveholders_,) formed, in the city of Washington, the
present American Colonization Society. Among them were men high
in office, who had spent many years in studying the interests of
their country, and who could not, therefore, be suspected of
short-sighted enthusiasm, or any secret design of disturbing the
rights or the safety of our southern citizens.' * * * 'You will
observe, first, that _there is to be no intermeddling with
property in slaves_. THE RIGHTS OF MASTERS ARE TO REMAIN SACRED
IN THE EYES OF THE SOCIETY. The tendency of the scheme, and one
of its objects, is to _secure slaveholders, and the whole
southern country_, against certain evil consequences, growing
out of the three-fold mixture of our population.'--[Address of
the Rockbridge Col. Society.--Idem, p. 274.]

'It is true, their operations have been confined to the single
object, colonization.--They do nothing directly to effect the
manumission of slaves.--They think nothing can be advantageously
done in favor of emancipation, but by means of colonization, of
which emancipation will be a certain consequence that may be
safely and quietly awaited.'--[Mr Key's Address.--Idem, p. 303.]

'The Colonization Society, as such, have renounced wholly the
name and the characteristics of abolitionists. On this point
they have been unjustly and injuriously slandered. They need no
such barrier to restrict them, as the sentiment of Mr Harrison,
for their operations are entirely in a different department.
INTO THEIR ACCOUNTS THE SUBJECT OF EMANCIPATION DOES NOT ENTER
AT ALL.'--['N. E.'--Idem, p. 306.]

'Being, chiefly, slaveholders ourselves, we well know how it
becomes us to approach such a subject as this in a slaveholding
state, and in every other. If there were room for a reasonable
jealousy, we among the first should feel it; being as much
interested in the welfare of the community, and having as much
at heart, as any men can have, the security of ourselves, our
property and our families.' * * * 'Our object is, not to prevail
upon the master to part with his slave, for that we leave to his
own reflection and CONVENIENCE; but to afford to those masters
who have determined, or may determine, to manumit their slaves;
provided they can be removed from this country, the means of
removing them to a place where they may be really free,
virtuous, respectable and happy.--Nothing can be more innocent
and less alarming.'--[Review of Mr Tazewell's Report.--Idem, p.
341.]

'The American Colonization Society has, at all times, solemnly
disavowed any purpose of interference with the institutions or
rights of our Southern communities.'--[Idem, vol. v. p. 307.]

'From its origin, and throughout the whole period of its
existence, it has constantly disclaimed all intention whatever
of interfering, in the smallest degree, with the rights of
property, or the object of emancipation, gradual or immediate.
_It is not only without inclination_, but it is without power,
to make any such interference. It is not even a chartered or
incorporated company; and it has no other foundation than that
of Bible Societies, or any other christian or charitable
unincorporated companies in our country. It knows that the
subject of emancipation belongs exclusively to the several
States in which slavery is tolerated, and to individual
proprietors of slaves in those States, under and according to
their laws.' * * * 'The Society presents to the American public
_no project of emancipation_.' * * * 'Its exertions have been
confined exclusively to the free colored people of the United
States, and to those of them who are willing to go. It has
neither _purpose_ nor power to extend them to the larger portion
of that race held in bondage. Throughout the whole period of its
existence, this disclaimer has been made, and incontestible
facts establish its truth and sincerity. It is now repeated, in
its behalf, that the spirit of misrepresentation may have no
pretext for abusing the public ear.'--[Mr Clay's Speech.--African
Repository, vol. vi. pp. 13, 17, 19.]

'The Society, from considerations like these, whilst it
disclaims the remotest idea of ever disturbing the right of
property in slaves, conceives it to be possible that the time
may arrive, when, with the approbation of their owners, they
shall all be at liberty; and, with those already free, be
removed, with their own consent, to the land of their
ancestors.'--[African Repository, vol. vi. p. 69.]

'_It is not the object of this Society to liberate slaves, or
touch the rights of property_. TO SET THEM LOOSE AMONG US WOULD
BE AN EVIL MORE INTOLERABLE THAN SLAVERY ITSELF. It would make
our situation insecure and dangerous.'--[Report of the Kentucky
Col. Soc.--Idem, p. 81.]

'It contemplates no purpose of abolition: it touches no slave
until his fetters have been voluntarily stricken off by the hand
of his own master.'--[Speech of John A. Dix, Esq.--Idem, p.
165.]

'What has awakened that spirit of suspicion and enmity which is
now manifested by these men in every form of open and active
hostility? Can it be attributed to any departure of the Society
from its avowed original design and principles? We maintain that
it cannot; we maintain that the character of the Society has
from the commencement been uniformly the same, and that its
proceedings have been consistent with its character. Were or are
the design and principles of the Society hostile to the rights
and interest of the Southern States? We maintain that they were
and are not; but on the contrary, are worthy to be cherished by
the citizens of these States, and to be sustained with all their
energies as means of their political and moral strength.' * * *
'The _free_ people of color alone are to be colonized by the
Society, and whether the benefits of its scheme are ever to be
extended to _others_, is a question referred to those to whom it
pertains as a matter of right and duty to decide.' * * * 'The
Colonization Society would be the last Institution in the world
to disturb the domestic tranquillity of the South.'--[Defence of
the Society.--Idem, pp. 197, 207, 209.]

'This Society, here in the outset, most explicitly disclaims all
intention to interfere in the smallest degree with the slave
population. It is with the free colored population alone, and
that too, with their own consent, that this Society proposes to
act.'--[Address of the Maryland State Colonization Society to
the People of Maryland.]

'To the slaveholder, who had charged upon them the wicked design
of interfering with the rights of property under the specious
pretexts of removing a vicious and dangerous free population,
they address themselves in a tone of conciliation and sympathy.
We know your rights, say they, and we respect them--we know your
difficulties, and we appreciate them. _Being mostly slaveholders
ourselves_, having a common interest with you in this subject,
an equal opportunity of understanding it, and the same motives
to prudent action, what better guarantee can be afforded for the
just discrimination, and the safe operation of our measures? And
what ground for apprehension that we, who are bound to you by
the strongest ties of interest and of sympathy, should intrude
upon the repose of the domestic circle, or invade the peace and
security of society? Have not the thirteen years' peaceful, yet
efficient, operations of our Society attested the _moderation of
our views_ and the safety of our plans? We have protested from
the commencement, and during our whole progress, and we do now
protest, that we have never entertained the purpose of
intermeddling with the private property of individuals. We know
that we have not the power, even if we had the inclination, to
do so. Your rights, as guarantied by the Constitution, are held
sacred in our eyes; and we should be among the foremost to
resist, as a flagrant usurpation, any encroachment upon those
rights. Our only object, as at all times avowed, is to provide
for the removal to the coast of Africa, with their own consent,
of such persons of color as are already free, and of such others
as the humanity of individuals, or the laws of the different
states, may hereafter liberate. Is there any thing, say they, in
this proposition at war with your interest, your safety, your
honor, or your happiness? Do we not all regard this mixed and
intermediate population of free blacks, made up of slaves or
their immediate descendants, as a mighty and a growing evil,
exerting a dangerous and baneful influence on all around
them?'--[Address of Cyrus Edwards, Esq. of Illinois.--African
Repository, vol. vii. p. 100.]

'It was never the intention of the Society to interfere with the
rights of the proprietors of slaves; nor has it at any time done
so.'--[Address of R. J. Breckenridge of Kentucky.--Idem p. 176.]

'The specific object to which the entire funds of the
Institution are devoted, is simple and plainly unexceptionable
in this respect, that it interferes with no rights of
individuals, and with no law of the land.' * * * 'It embraces in
its provisions only the free. It does not interfere--it desires
not to interfere, in any way, with the rights or the interests
of the proprietors of slaves. _It condemns no man because he is
a slaveholder_; it seeks to quiet all unkind feelings between
the sober and virtuous men of the North and of the South on the
subject of slavery; it sends abroad no influence to disturb the
peace, and endanger the security and prosperity of any portion
of the country.'--[Character and Influence of the Colonization
Society.--African Repository, vol. vii. pp. 194, 200.]

'Can it be a ruthless scheme of political speculation, which
would trample, with rude and unhallowed step, upon the rights of
property, to gratify the visionary and fanatical projects of its
authors? No: this is impossible. Yet such is the language of
intemperate opposition, with which this Society has been
assailed by its enemies.' * * * 'Equally absurd and false is the
objection, that this Society seeks indirectly to disturb the
rights of property, and to interfere with the well-established
relation subsisting between master and slave. The man who avows
such monstrous purposes as these, and seeks to shelter himself
under the sanction and authority of the American Colonization
Society, is a base traitor to the cause which it seeks to
advance--AN ENEMY OF THE WORST AND MOST DANGEROUS STAMP, because
he assumes the specious garb of a friend and coadjutor. Let him
stand, or let him fall, by the verdict of an insulted and
outraged community--but do not make liable for his acts a great
Institution, whose real friends will be the first to reject and
discountenance him, and to mark upon his forehead in indelible
characters, "This is a traitor to the cause of his country and
the cause of humanity."--It is true that the friends of the
American Colonization Society have permitted themselves to
entertain the high and exalted hope, that, by its influences,
ultimate and remote, the burdens which are incident to slavery
may be greatly mitigated, and possibly the evil itself at some
future day be entirely removed. But mark, Mr President, and mark
well, ye hearers, the grounds upon which this hope is founded.
It could not be sustained by any effort, direct or indirect, to
invade the rights of the slaveholding community, for the plain
and palpable reason, that the effort itself would furnish the
most certain means of defeating the object in view, even
supposing the friends of the Society reckless enough to
entertain it. It would denote on the part of those who made it,
an extremity of madness and folly, wholly unprecedented in the
history of the world, and if persevered in, would dissolve the
government into its original elements, even though the principle
of union which holds it together were a thousand-fold stronger
than it is.' * * * 'Surely the friends of the Colonization
Society have done nought either to alarm the honest fears of the
patriot, or excite the morbid sensibilities of the
slaveholder.'--[Address delivered before the Lynchburg Auxiliary
Colonization Society, August 18, 1831.]

'While, therefore, _they determined to avoid the question of
slavery_, they proposed the formation of a colony on the coast
of Africa, as an asylum for free people of color.' * * * 'The
emancipation of slaves or the amelioration of their condition,
with the moral, intellectual, and political improvement of
people of color within the United States, _are subjects foreign
to the powers of this Society_.'--[Address of the Board of
Managers of the American Colonization Society to its Auxiliary
Societies.--African Repository, vol. vii. pp. 290, 291.]

'The American Colonization Society was formed with special
reference to the _free_ blacks of our country. With the
_delicate subject_ of slavery it presumes not to interfere. And
yet doubtless from the first it has cherished the hope of being
in some way or other a medium of relief to the entire colored
population of the land. Such a hope is certainly both innocent
and benevolent. And so long as the Society adheres to the object
announced in its constitution, as it hitherto has done, the
master can surely find no reasonable cause of anxiety. And it is
a gratifying circumstance that the Society has from the first
_obtained its most decided and efficient support from the
slaveholding States_.'--[Sermon, delivered at Springfield,
Mass., July 4th, 1829, before the Auxiliary Colonization Society
of Hampden County, by Rev. B. Dickinson.]

'The American Colonization Society in no way directly meddles
with slavery. It disclaims all such
interference.'--[Correspondent of the Southern Religious
Telegraph.]

'This system is sanctioned by the laws of independent and
sovereign states. Congress cannot constitutionally pass laws
which shall tend directly to abolish it. If it ever be abolished
by legislative enactments, it must be done by the respective
legislatures of the States in which it exists. It never designed
to interfere with what the laws consider as the rights of
masters--it has made no appeals to them to release their slaves
for colonization, nor to their slaves to abandon their masters.
With this delicate subject, the Society has avowedly nothing to
do. Its ostensible object is necessarily the removal of our free
colored population.'--[Middletown (Connecticut) Gazette.]

'With slaves, however, the American Colonization Society has _no
concern_ whatever, except to transport to Africa such as their
owners may liberate for that purpose.'--[Oration delivered at
Newark, N. J., July 4th, 1831, by Gabriel P. Disosway, Esq.]

'It disclaims, and always has disclaimed, all intention
whatever, of interfering in the smallest degree, direct or
indirect, with the rights of slaveholders, the right of
property, _or the object of emancipation, gradual or immediate.
It knows that the owners of slaves are the owners, and no one
else--it does not, in the most remote degree, touch that
delicate subject_. Every slaveholder may, therefore, remain at
ease concerning it or its progress or objects.'--[An advocate of
the Society in the New-Orleans Argus.]

It were needless to multiply these extracts. So precisely do they resemble each other, that they seem rather as the offspring of a single mind, than of many minds. A large majority of them come in the most official and authoritative shape, and their language is explicit beyond cavil.

Here, then, is a combination, embracing able and influential men in all parts of the country, pledging itself not only to respect the system of slavery, but to frown indignantly upon those who shall dare to assail it. And what is this system which is to be held in so much reverence, and avoided with so much care? It is a system which has in itself no redeeming feature, but is full of blood--the blood of innocent men, women and children; full of adultery and concupiscence; full of darkness, blasphemy and wo; full of rebellion against God and treason against the universe; full of wrath--impurity--ignorance--brutality--and awful impiety; full of wounds and bruises and putrefying sores; full of temporal suffering and eternal damnation. It is, says Pitt, a mass, a system of enormities, which incontrovertibly bid defiance to every regulation which ingenuity can devise, or power effect, but a total extinction; a system of incurable injustice, the complication of every species of iniquity, the greatest practical evil that ever has afflicted the human race, and the severest and most extensive calamity recorded in the history of the world. Fox calls it a most unjust and horrible persecution of our fellow creatures. The Rev. Dr. Thomson declares it is a system hostile to the original and essential rights of humanity--contrary to the inflexible and paramount demands of moral justice--at eternal variance with the spirit and maxims of revealed religion--inimical to all that is merciful in the heart, and holy in the conduct--and on these accounts, necessarily exposed and subject to the curse of Almighty God. It is, says Rowland Hill, made up of every crime that treachery, cruelty and murder can invent. Wilberforce says, it is the full measure of pure, unmixed, unsophisticated wickedness; and scorning all competition or comparison, it stands without a rival in the secure, undisputed possession of its detestable pre-eminence. In this country, slavery is a system which leaves the chastity of one million females without any protection! which condemns more than two millions of human beings to remediless bondage! which authorises their sale at public vendue in company with horses, sheep and hogs, or in a private manner, at the pleasure of their owners! which, under penalty of imprisonment, and even death, forbids their being taught the lowest rudiments of knowledge! which, by the exclusion of their testimony in courts, subjects them to worse than brutal treatment! which recognizes no connubial obligations, ruthlessly severs the holiest relations of life, tears the scarcely weaned babe from the arms of its mother, wives from their husbands, and parents from their children! But who is adequate to the task of delineating its horrors, or recording its atrocities, in full? Who can number the stripes which it inflicts, the groans and tears and imprecations which it extorts, the cruel murders which it perpetrates? or who measure the innocent blood which it spills, or the degradation which it imposes, or the guilt which it accumulates? or who reveal the waste of property, the perversion of intellect, the loss of happiness, the burial of mind, to which it is accessary? or who trace its poisonous influence and soul-destroying tendency back for two hundred years down to the end of time? None--none but God himself! It is corrupt as death--black as perdition--cruel and insatiate as the grave. To adopt the nervous language of another:--The thing I say is true. I speak the truth, though it is most lamentable. I dare not hide it, I dare not palliate it; else the horror with which it covereth me would make me do so. Wo unto such a system! wo unto the men of this land who have been brought under its operation! It is not felt to be evil, it is not acknowledged to be evil, it is not preached against as evil; and, therefore, it is only the more inveterate and fearful an evil.[H] _It hath become constitutional._ IT IS FED FROM THE STREAM OF OUR LIFE, and it will grow more and more excessive, until it can no longer be endured by God, nor borne with by man.

And this is the system, with which, as the reader has seen, the American Colonization Society is resolved not to interfere; and with the upholders of which, ministers of the gospel and professors of religion of all denominations have made a treaty of peace! Tell it not abroad--publish it not in the capitals of Europe--lest the despots of the old world take courage, and infidelity strengthen its stakes!

If men who are reputedly wise and good--if religious teachers and political leaders, those whose opinions are almost implicitly adopted, and whose examples are readily followed by the mass of the people--if such men suppress their voices on this momentous subject, and turn their eyes from its contemplation, and give the right hand of fellowship to the buyers and sellers of human flesh, is there not cause for lamentation and alarm? The pulpit is false to its trust, and a moral paralysis has seized the vitals of the church. The sanctity of religion is thrown, like a mantle, over the horrid system. Under its auspices, robbery and oppression have become popular and flourishing. The press, too, by its profound silence, or selfish neutrality, or equivocal course, or active partizanship, is enlisted in the cause of tyranny--the mighty press, which has power, if exerted aright, to break every fetter, and emancipate the land. If this state of things be not speedily reversed, 'we be all dead men.' Unless the pulpit lift up the voice of warning, supplication and wo, with a fidelity which no emolument can bribe, and no threat intimidate; unless the church organise and plan for the redemption of the benighted slaves, and directly assault the strong holds of despotism; unless the press awake to its duty, or desist from its bloody co-operation; as sure as Jehovah lives and is unchangeable, he will pour out his indignation upon us, and consume us with the fire of his wrath, and our own way recompense upon our heads. 'Ah, sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evil doers, children that are corrupters! When ye spread forth your hands, I will hide mine eyes from you; yea, when ye make many prayers, I will not hear: _your hands are full of blood_. Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; cease to do evil; learn to do well; _seek judgment, relieve the oppressed_, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow. If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land: but if ye refuse and rebel, ye shall be devoured with the sword: _for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it_.'

I know the covert behind which colonizationists take refuge. They profess to be--and, doubtless, in many instances are--aiming at the ultimate emancipation of the slaves; but they are all for _gradual_ abolition--all too courteous to give offence--too sober to be madmen--too discreet to adopt _rash_ measures. But I shall show, in the progress of this work, that they not only shield the holders of slaves from reproach, (and thus, by assuring them of their innocence, destroy all motives for repentance,) but earnestly dissuade them from emancipating their slaves without an immediate expulsion. Fine conceptions of justice! Enemies of slavery, with a vengeance!

Suppose a similar course had been pursued by the friends of Temperance--when would have commenced that mighty reformation which has taken place before our eyes--unparalleled in extent, completeness and rapidity? Suppose, instead of exposing the guilt of trafficking in ardent spirits, and demanding instant and entire abstinence, they had associated themselves together for the exclusive purpose of colonizing all the drunkards in the land, as a class dangerous to our safety and irremediably degraded, on a spot where they could not obtain the poisonous alcohol, but could rise to respect and affluence--how would such an enterprise have been received? Suppose they had pledged themselves not to 'meddle' with the business of the traders in spirituous liquors, or to injure the 'property' of distillers, and had dwelt upon the folly and danger of 'immediate' abstinence, and had denounced the advocates of this doctrine as madmen and fanatics, and had endeavored, moreover, to suppress inquiry into the lawfulness of rum-selling--how many importers, makers and venders of the liquid poison would have abandoned their occupation, or how many of the four hundred thousand individuals, who are now enrolled under the banner of entire abstinence, would have been united in this great enterprise? Suppose, further, that, in a lapse of fifteen years, this association had transported two thousand drunkards, and the tide of intemperance had continued to rise higher and higher, and some faithful watchmen had given the alarm and showed the fatal delusion which rested upon the land, and the Society should have defended itself by pointing to the two thousand sots who had been saved by its instrumentality--would the public attention have been successfully diverted from the _immense evil_ to the _partial good_? Suppose, once more, that this Society, composed indiscriminately of rum-sellers and sober, pious men, on being charged with perpetuating the evils of intemperance, with removing only some of the fruits thereof instead of the tree itself, should have indignantly repelled the charge, and said--'We are as much opposed to drunkenness, and as heartily deprecate its existence, as any of our violent, fanatical opposers; but the holders of ardent spirit have invested their capital in it, and to destroy its sale would invade the right of _property_; policy at least, bids us not to assail their conduct, as otherwise we might exasperate them, and so lose their aid in colonizing the tipplers.' What would have been accomplished? But no such logic was used: the duty of immediate reform was constantly pressed upon the people, and a mighty reform took place.

Colonizationists boast inordinately of having emancipated three or four hundred slaves by their scheme, and contemptuously inquire of abolitionists, 'What have _you_ effected?' Many persons have been deceived by this _show_ of success, and deem it conclusive evidence of the usefulness of the Colonization Society. But, in the first place, it is very certain that none of these slaves were liberated in consequence of the faithful appeals of the Society to the consciences of the masters; for it has never troubled their consciences by any such appeals. Secondly, it is obvious that these manumissions are the fruits of the uncompromising doctrines of abolitionists; for they are calculated to bring slaveholders to repentance, and they will yet liberate other slaves to be caught up and claimed by the Society as trophies of its success. Thirdly, it has been shown that while this Society (allowing it the utmost that it claims) is effecting very little and very doubtful good, it is inflicting upon the nation great and positive evil, by refusing to arraign the oppressors at the bar of eternal justice, and by obstructing the formation of abolition societies. It rivets a thousand fetters where it breaks one. It annually removes, on an average, two hundred of our colored population, whereas the annual increase is about seventy thousand. It releases some scores of slaves, and says to the owners of more than two millions--'Hold on! don't emancipate too fast!'

What have the abolitionists _done_? They have done more, during the past year, to overthrow the system of slavery, than has been accomplished by the gradualists in half a century. They have succeeded in fastening the attention of the nation upon its enormities, and in piercing the callous consciences of the planters. They are reforming and consolidating public opinion, dispelling the mists of error, inspiring the hearts of the timid, enlightening the eyes of the blind, and disturbing the slumbers of the guilty. Colonizationists gather a few leaves which the tree has cast off, and vaunt of the deed: abolitionists 'lay the axe at once to its roots, and put their united nerve into the steel'--nor shall their strokes be in vain--for soon shall 'this great poison-tree of lust and blood, and of all abominable and heartless iniquity, fall before them; and law and love, and God and man, shout victory over its ruin.'

Has the reader duly considered the fatal admissions of the advocates of the colonization scheme, presented in the preceding pages? Some of them it may be serviceable to the cause of truth and justice to recapitulate.

1. _The Society does not aim directly at the instruction of the blacks: their moral, intellectual and political improvement within the United States, is foreign to its powers._

2. _The public safety forbids either the emancipation or the general instruction of the slaves._

3. _The Society properly enough stands aloof from the question of slavery._

4. _It is ready to pass censure upon abolition societies._

5. _It involves no intrusion on property, nor even upon prejudice._

6. _It has no wish, if it could, to interfere in the smallest degree with the system of slavery._

7. _It acknowledges the necessity by which the present continuance of the system and the rigorous provisions for its maintenance are justified._

8. _It denies the design of attempting emancipation either partial or general: into its accounts the subject of emancipation does not enter at all: it has no intention to open the door to universal liberty._

9. _The rights of masters are to remain sacred in the eyes of the Society._

10. _It condemns no man because he is a slaveholder._

Each of these particulars deserves a volume of comments, but I am compelled to dismiss them in rotation with a single remark.

1. One reason assigned by the Society for refusing to promote the education of our colored population, is, a dread of exciting 'the _prejudices_ and _terrors_ of the slaveholding States'! Is it credible? As far, then, as this Society extends its influence, more than two millions of ignorant, degraded beings in this boasted land of liberty and light have nothing to hope: their moral, intellectual and political improvement is foreign to its powers! Cruel neglect! barbarous coalition! A sinful fear of rousing the prejudices of oppressors outweighs the claims of the contemned blacks, the requirements of the gospel, the dictates of humanity, and the convictions of duty. Will this plea avail aught at the bar of God? Millions of our countrymen purposely kept in darkness, although we are able to pour daylight upon their vision, merely to gratify and protect their buyers and sellers!

2. There never was a more abominable or more absurd heresy propagated, than the assumption that the public safety would be jeoparded by an immediate compliance with the demands of justice: yet it has obtained among all orders of society. Even ministers of the gospel, who are bound to cry aloud, and spare not,--to lift up their voices like a trumpet, and show this guilty nation its sins,--to say to the holders of slaves, 'Loose the bands of wickedness, undo the heavy burdens, let the oppressed go free, _and break every yoke_,'--even they fly to this subterfuge, and deprecate a general emancipation. On this subject, 'they know not what they do;' they reason like madmen or atheists; they advance sentiments which unhinge the moral government of the universe, and directly encourage the commission of the most heinous crimes. How long would any one of their number retain his situation, if he were to preach in explicit terms to his congregation as follows?--'My dear hearers, if any among you are daily oppressing the weak, or defrauding the poor, do not cease from your robbery and cruelty at once, as you value your own happiness and the welfare of society! Relax your tyrannous grasp gradually from the throat of your neighbor, and steal not quite so much from him this year as you did the last!'--But they emphatically hold this language whenever they advise slaveholders not to repent _en masse_, or too hastily. The public safety, they say, forbids emancipation! or, in other words, the public safety depends upon your persistance in cheating, whipping, starving, debasing your slaves! Nay, more--many of them, horrible to tell, are traffickers in human flesh! 'For this thing which it cannot bear, the earth is disquieted. The gospel of peace and mercy preached by him who steals, buys and sells the purchase of Messiah's blood!--rulers of the church making merchandize of their brethren's souls!--and Christians trading the persons of men!'[I]

3. The system of slavery is full of danger, outrage, desolation and death--'a volcano in full operation'--a monster that is annually supplied with sixty thousand new victims, devoured as soon as born--and yet the Colonization Society 'properly enough stands aloof' from it!! It utters no lamentations--makes no supplications--gives no rebukes--presents no motives for repentance!

4. The Society is not only ready to pass, but it is constantly bestowing its censure upon abolition societies. It represents their members as guided by a visionary, wild and fanatical spirit, as invaders of rights which are sacred, incendiaries, disturbers of the peace of society, and enemies to the safety and happiness of the planters. Determining itself to avoid the question of emancipation--to leave millions of human beings to pine in bondage without exposing the guilt of the oppressors--it endeavors to prevent any other association agitating the subject. Hence between colonization and abolition societies there is no affinity of feeling or action; and hence arises the cause, inexplicable to many, why they cannot pursue their objects amicably together.

5. The attempt of the Society to conciliate the holders of slaves must result either in disappointment, or in an abandonment of the path of duty. If they are guilty of robbery and oppression, they must be arraigned as criminals, or they never will reform: for why should honest, benevolent men change their conduct? If, through a false delicacy of feeling or cringing policy, their wickedness be covered up, alas for the slaves, and alas for the regeneration of the south! all hope is lost.

6. The Society has no wish, _if it could_, to interfere with the system of slavery! Monstrous indifference, or barbarous cruelty! And yet it presumes to occupy the whole ground of the controversy, and to direct the actions of the friends of the blacks throughout the land! By the phrase '_interfere_,' is meant no desire to contest the claims of the planters to their bondmen, or to kindle the indignation of the people against their atrocious practices.

7. It appears that all those terrible enactments which have been made for the government of the slaves--such, for example, as forbid their learning to read under the penalty of stripes, and even death--are acknowledged by the Society to be necessary for the maintenance of order! What a concession!

8. Sometimes we are told that the Society is aiming at the liberation of all the slaves, and then that it has no design of attempting either partial or general emancipation: so contradictory are its assurances! It is manifest that it does not mean to touch the question of slavery; and hence the imperious necessity of forming abolition societies.

9. The rights of masters are to remain sacred in the eyes of the Society! What rights? Those by which the intelligent creatures of God are bought and sold and used like cattle? those which are founded upon piracy, cruelty and outrage?[J] Yes! This, then, is an abandonment of the ground of right and justice, and ends the controversy between truth and error.

10. It condemns no man because he is a slaveholder! Certainly, then, it allows that slaveholders are upright men--not guilty of fraud--not oppressors--not extortioners! and that the slaves are truly and justly their property--not entitled to freedom--not better than cattle--not conscious of evil treatment--not worthy of remuneration for their toil--not rational and accountable beings!

FOOTNOTES:

[H] The term evil is used here in a criminal sense. I know that colonizationists regard slavery as an evil; but an evil which has been _entailed_ upon this land, for the existence of which we are no more to blame than for the prevalence of plague or famine.

[I] 'If the most guilty and daring transgressor be sought, he is a Gospel Minister, who solemnly avows his belief of the Presbyterian Confession of Faith, or the Methodist Discipline, and notwithstanding himself is a Negro Pedler, who steals, buys, sells, and keeps his brethren in slavery, or supports by his taciturnity, or his smooth prophesying, or his direct defence, the Christian professor who unites in the kidnapping trade. Truth forces the declaration, that every church officer, or member, who is a slaveholder, records himself, by his own creed, a hypocrite!' * * 'To pray and kidnap! to commune and rob men's all! to preach justice, and steal the laborer with his recompense! to recommend mercy to others, and exhibit cruelty in our own conduct! to explain religious duties, and ever impede the performance of them! to propound the example of Christ and his Apostles, and declare that a slaveholder imitates them! to enjoin an observance of the Lord's day, and drive the slaves from the temple of God! to inculcate every social affection, and instantly exterminate them! to expatiate upon bliss eternal, and preclude sinners from obtaining it! to unfold the woes of Tophet, and not drag men from its fire! are the most preposterous delusion, and the most consummate mockery.' * * * 'The Church of God groans. It is the utmost Satanic delusion to talk of religion and slavery. Be not deceived: to affirm that a slaveholder is a genuine disciple of Jesus Christ, is most intelligible contradiction. A brother of Him who went about doing good, and steal, enslave, torment, starve and scourge a man because his skin is of a different tinge! Such Christianity is the Devil's manufacture to delude souls to the regions of wo.'--REV. GEORGE BOURNE.

[J] 'We are told not to meddle with vested rights: I have a sacred feeling about vested rights; but when vested rights become vested wrongs, I am less scrupulous about them.'--_Speech of Rev. Mr. Burnett, of England._