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1834.]

COLONIZATION SOCIETY.

mate which is not witness to their toils. Falkland Island, that seemed
too remote an object for the grasp of national ambition, is but a stage and
a resting-place in the progress of their victorious industry." Human na-
ture is of all countries and ages, and what has elevated it here may enno-
ble it in Africa. If in vanquishing opposition, in surmounting obstacles,
in subduing the hardness and taming the wildness of unintelligent nature,
making her to pay tribute to civilization, and her wilderness to become
fruitful fields, our minds have gained power, will the people of colour gain
nothing from a like discipline. It is yet to be seen whether their experi-
ence will prove an anomaly in the history of men. And to elevate the
man of colour in one part of the world is to do a general benefit to his race.
That the Colonization Society exerts a powerful moral influence, favora-
ble to emancipation, is, as far as I know, the unanimous opinion of the
friends of the colored people at the South. Their opinion is, also, that the
present Anti-Slavery measures at the North retard emancipation. Is no
value to be attached to their judgment in the case?

The friends and foes of the Society profess equally to adopt, as their rule
of conduct, the precepts of Christ. In regard to Slavery, as in regard to
all other great moral and political evils, I agree generally with Dr. Cox,
that the remedy is the "genuine influence of the Gospel of Christ." But I
deny that this can prove instantly, and wholly effectual. For some of the
physical evils of the world, even such as have originated in moral causes,
there is no immediate remedy. It is remarked by Coleridge, that "an evil
which has come on gradually, and in the growth of which, all men have,
more or less, conspired, cannot be removed otherwise than gradually, and
by the joint efforts of all." It is impossible, instantly, to render the igno-
rant enlightened, the poor independent, and the long degraded and oppress-
ed qualified for all the immunities and privileges of self-government. The
general prevalence of Christianity would not render this possible. But
experience forbids the hope, that Christianity will at once pervade all
hearts, and genuine Christians often find their duties more or less modified
by the circumstances of the society in which they are placed, by the char-
acters and actions of those who constitute that society.

The perfect law of liberty, "thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself," is designed to be the law of order in the world, comprehending, regulating, controling all the duties of man to man. It refers each individual to his own bosom, for a standard by which he may judge of his neighbour's claims on him; his own self-regard is to be the measure of his charity.Rightly interpreted, this law makes it no duty for a man, to treat all other men alike, to treat them as they may desire to be treated, or to deem one man's interest as valuable as that of many. He is bound to treat every other man as his conscience decides, he might reasonably expect that other to treat him, in an exchange of circumstances. He must estimate other men's interests in society, as he would reasonably expect his own to be estimated, were he in their condition. Governments are ordained of God for the good of men. But those who administer them, must regard the general good as paramount to that of individuals. If, as is remarked by South, "in the government of the visible world, the Supreme Wisdom itself, submits to be the author of the better; not of the best, but of the best possible, in the existing relations; much more must all human legislators give way to many evils, rather than encourage the discontent that would lead to worse remedies." "Salus populi suprema lex," is founded in the law of nature, and of Christ. The governing MIND, in the body politic, is morally bound to take care for the safety and life of the body. If evils exist, if the system be diseased, this MIND must judge of the particular remedies, the time and mode of their application, and that the general body

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be not endangered by the suddenness or violence of their action. men are born into a state of society, unnaturally constituted, they must take things as they are, and endeavour to make them as they should be, without needless delay, and by all practicable means. Those who have the power, must exercise it benevolently, as in the sight of God, and responsible to Him. Whatever there may be in the Slavery of the South, that violates the law of Christian love, and I believe there is much, is to be unhesitatingly condemned. Of the system, I cannot better express my own views than in the words of the illustrious Robert Hall:

"Slavery, considered as a perpetual state, is as incapable of vindication as the trade in slaves; they are integral parts of the same system, and in point of moral estimate, must stand or fall together."

"But here we are most anxious to guard against the misrepresentation of our sentiments. Convinced, as we are, that negro slavery is most iniquitous in its origin, most mischievous in its effects, and diametrically opposite to the genius of the British Constitution, we are yet far from proposing a sudden revolution. Universal experience shows, that in the body politic, no less than in the natural, inveterate diseases admit only of a slow and gradual cure; and we should deprecate an immediate emancipation, almost as much as the planters themselves, from a full conviction that the debasing operation of slavery, long continued, disqualifies its subjects for performing the functions and enjoying the immunities of a free citizen."

While the Christian religion lends no sanction to the system, it lends none to measures tending to its sudden and violent overthrow. It developes principles, and inculcates precepts, which will certainly remedy it, when their influence becomes general in any community, and it is the glory of our religion, that the whole process of its operations is beneficial, as well as the END, towards which the whole process tends. It prompts "every man to measure his efforts by his power, and his sphere of action, and do all he can do," for mankind; and society to do the same. Its great and benevolent revolutions are begun in the individual soul. It enlightens the conscience, sways the will, and softens the heart. Its meek disciple is commanded to withdraw from "the strifes of words, the railings, the evil surmisings, the perverse disputings of men," who aggravate the sorrows of the suffering, increase the selfishness of the selfish, and pour oil upon the fires of revenge.

To a kind, fair and candid discussion of the slavery question, there can be no reasonable objection. It has been well said, "that half truths are the most dangerous of all errors;" and these must be "removed by the whole truth." The influence of the whole truth can never be injurious where the minds of men are capable of comprehending it.

That in the principles of the Anti-Slavery Societies of the North, is much error mixed with some truth; that the language and measures adopted to illustrate and defend them, are incapable of justification and tending to produce most fearful results, is among my clearest convictions. I deprecate them as hostile to the union of the States, to the best interests of the colored population, and as putting in jeopardy the peace and safety of whole communities at the South. I do not presume to question the motives of the members of these Societies; but I should be deaf to the voice of History, I should be blind to all the lights of human experience, I should forget the nature of man, could I believe their efforts were not adapted to stir the deepest and most terrible elements of society-elements which once wrought into fury, will shake the land, if not cover it with blood.Reason is powerless in the hurricane of the passions.*

*The compound poisons used not unfrequently to excite discontent among the lower orders, who may suffer from the errors or the unequal operations of governments, are thus

"I have met," says Coleridge, "with men, who at the commencement of the revolution, were travelling on foot through the French provinces, and they bear witness that in the remotest villages, every tongue was employed in echoing and enforcing the doctrines of the Parisian journalists; that the public highways were crowded with enthusiasts, some shouting the watchword of the revolution; others disputing on the most abstract principles of the universal constitution, which they fully believed all the nations of the earth were shortly to adopt; the most ignorant among them confident of his fitness for the highest duties of a legislator; and all prepared to shed their blood in the defence of the inalienable rights of a selfgoverned people. The more abstract the notions were, with the closer affinity did they combine with the most fervent feelings and all the immediate impulses to action." God preserve us from the horrors of that day, when confidence between men shall no longer exist, and all sympathies and motives be absorbed in the instinct of self-preservation. Upon the question, whether the principles of the Colonization Society, or those of its opposers, shall prevail, may depend, I humbly conceive, the peace and happiness of the country.

Who will not rejoice to see rising on the shores of Africa a Christian State? A few small spots of light relieve the darkness of this vast continent, in which from sixty to one hundred millions, Pagans, Mahomedans and slaves, remain unvisited and unblest by the friends of man. If even the citizens of a heathen Empire could not be insensible to the moral beauty of the sentiment expressed in the words "Homo sum, et humani nihil, a me alienum puto," if knowledge, civilization, christianity, be of any use, surely an enlightened and religious people, will not want motives for building up in Africa a social fabric, representative of the good to be realized from piety and liberty and law. They will believe that from this fabric the light and voice of wisdom will go forth to guide the steps, reform the manners, cheer the hearts, revive the hopes and save the souls of millions. With all its difficulties, misfortunes, Liberia prospers beyond any thing in the history of colonization. Evils, abuses may exist there, but they can and will be remedied. The materials which constitute it may be rude and unformed, but they will be wrought into order and beauty and strength. It has ever been the purpose of the friends of this colony, that Christian education should keep pace with its growth.And their confidence is, that established on right principles, and possessing a Christian character, it will regenerate the intellectual and moral state of the people of Africa.

They rejoice that the benevolent, and particularly that the ladies, in our large cities, have resolved to prepare teachers for Africa, and to sustain described by a foreign writer who has looked deeply into the springs of human action:→ 1st. "Bold, warm, and earnest assertions, it matters not whether supported by facts or no; nay, though they should involve absurdities and demonstrable impossibilities."

2nd. "Startling particular facts, which, dissevered from their context, enable a man to convey falsehood while he says truth."

3rd. "Arguments built on passing events, and deriving an undue importance from the feelings of the moment."

4th. "The display of the defects without the accompanying advantages, or vice versa. 5th, "Concealment of the general ultimate result behind the scenery of local and particular consequences."

6th. "Statement of positions that are true under particular conditions, to men whose ignorance or fury make them forget that these conditions are not present, or lead them to take for granted that they are."

7th. "Chains of questions, especially such questions as the persons best authorized to propose are ever the slowest in proposing; and objections intelligible of themselves, the answers to which require the comprehension of a system."

8th. "Vague and commonplace satire, stale as the wine in which flies were drowned last summer," &c. &c.

an adequate number of schools in Liberia and among the neighbouring tribes.

Those who feel bound to extinguish the light which holy and self-sacrificing men have suffered and died to kindle on the African coast, represent the evils in the colony and the present debt of the Society, as proofs of the futility of the scheme and ominous of its total ruin. As conclusively might they show, that, the misfortunes, attending in their early stages, the American colonies, ought to have led to their abandonment, that eternal night should have covered their glorious promise. The embarrassments of the Society have been produced, mainly, by causes incidental to the nature of the enterprise, not to have been foreseen nor prevented.— Yet the experience of these causes, may teach lessons how to provide against their recurrence, and to gain more for the future, than has been lost by the past.

Whether the greater portion of our colored population will ever find a home in Africa, is a question alike impossible and unimportant to answer. That all the tendencies of the Society are good for the whole colored race, that it interferes with or obstructs no other wise and judicious measures for their benefit, but approves of them, is enough, without defining the extent of its ultimate and final effects. The almost miraculous consequences of colonization on our own shores, may enable us to augur something of the greatness and grandeur of these effects. It will be for after ages to witness them. The mariner, who two centuries hence, shall guide his ship from the pillars of Hercules to the Cape of Good Hope, may see his nightly way illumined by the lights of a hundred cities, a constellation fair as Orion or the beaming Cross, signal placed in heaven by God's own hand, to rebuke the undevout, and to call to worship the ransomed disciple.

Though I have all faith, though I give all my goods to feed the poor, and my body to be burned, said Paul, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing. He may well consider, that he has rendered his country and mankind, some service, who at times, when men's spirits are troubled, and their passions mutiny, can speak a word to calm that ocean whose first dark heavings should not be disregarded. The public mind of a nation is a deep and mighty element, capable of being so moved as to defy control and lose every attribute of humanity but its malignant power. To the shadow of an abstract right, France, with the watchword of Freedom on her lips, erected an altar to Liberty on the bones of citizens murdered by herself, and drenched it in human blood. Let the North and the South become arrayed against each other on the subject of our colored population, and we may indeed tremble for our country. And never, while I live, will I cease to urge every friend of the colored race, every friend of freedom and the Union, to cultivate peace, brotherly kindness, and charity, the threefold bond of our strength, and usefulness and glory.

From the Christian Mirror, May 8.

The African Repository for April, is the most important number of that work, which has come into our hands this long time. Among the excellent variety which occupies its pages, is a letter from Gerrit Smith, Esq., full of piety, philanthropy and faith. He seems more encouraged than ever at the prospects of the Colonization Society; and we cannot but hope, that his expectations will be realized. We regret that we have not room for so lovely an exhibition of the Christian spirit, as this letter furnishes

us.

DEFENCE OF THE COLONIZATION SOCIETY.

A correspondent of "The Friend," a respectable Journal published at Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, having assailed the American Colonization Society, its defence has been undertaken in the columns of the same print. We have great pleasure in subjoining the essays of our advocate. The mass

of facts which has been brought together, and his ability and candor in managing his subject entitle these numbers to a careful perusal by all who may have adopted the erroneous opinion which it is their purpose to rcfute:

IN FAVOR OF COLONIZATION.--No. 1.

MR. EDITOR, A correspondent, in your paper of the 13th of March, promises, hereafter, to attempt to show that the American Colonization Society is anti-christian in its principle. Now, sir, I have for years believed this Society to be entirely christian in its principles, its objects and its results. Still, I can promise your correspondent, that from me his arguments shall receive a patient hearing, and with your permission, a candid examination.

The array of facts, which takes up his first communication, does not amount to much. The remarks made in January last, at the annual meeting of the Society, it ought to be recollected, were made on the spur of the moment, and without that knowledge of the whole facts, which have since been laid before the public, by the new Board of Managers. Your correspondent himself has fallen into the same error, in the note at the close. If he had consulted the late exposition of the Board, he would have found facts which would have led him to a very different result.

Owing to the manner in which the accounts at the colony were permitted to accumulate, it is necessary to go back to 1830 in any estimate which may be made. For although, at one time since 1830, the books here showed a balance in favor of the Society, yet at no time was there, in fact a balance in its favor.

The case he puts would then stand thus:

Receipts for 1830,

1831,

1832,

1833,

Debt,

$26,583 51

27,999 15

40,365 08

37,242 45

45,645 72

$177,835 91

During these four years, the number of emigrants sent out was 1589.

This exhibit reduces the expense, as stated by your correspondent, nearly one half.— But even this view does not do justice to the subject. There were many objects of a permanent nature, during these four years, requiring large expenditures, which will not again be required. Some of these were for buildings-for the purchase of Grand Bassa, and the founding the settlement there for the opening of roads, and the expense of arms and fortifications. It is admitted, that at the colony there was a painful want of care and economy. The sickness of the last year, the failure of the rice crop, and its consequent high price, all tended to increase the expense, and ought all to be taken into the account in making an estimate.

IN FAVOR OF COLONIZATION-No. 2.

Z.

MR. EDITOR: Your correspondent "J. L." will not, I hope, complain of my delay in noticing his remarks, when he is informed, that I am at a great distance from him. His comparison between the good men "who support grog shops, and encourage the use of ardent spirits," and the good men who support the Colonization Society, must pass for what it is worth.

His number in your paper of the 20th March, contains three distinct charges

1. The Society teaches the doctrine, that slavery cannot be abolished, and hence that it must exist, and we have no right to demur, or to say any thing on this delicate subject. 2. That the free blacks are not fit, and ought not, and must not remain among us. 3. It disparages them, and fosters a wicked prejudice against them, and thus makes their condition intolerable.

These are grave and serious charges. It is to be presumed that the writer believes them, and stands prepared to prove them. But his belief is not argument; I deny the charges in all their parts; and I call for thy proof, and the facts on which they are founded. If he should answer, that by the abstracts given, he has proved these charges; let it be

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