so understood. I wish to know distinctly, whether this be the proof, on which these charges are to be supported. He professes to give extracts from the 13th, 14th and 15th annual reports of the Society. I must request him when he gives abstracts, hereafter, to favor us with a reference to the page. The expressions given are not to be found in the reports of the Board of Managers. Some of them I have found, in the speeches of individual members, but in every instance the connection is disregarded. One line from a page here, and another line from a page there; one sentiment from this speech, another sentiment from that. In the only page to which he has referred, I am sorry to find that he has given but one half of the sentence; and even the whole sentence, to be fairly treated, must be taken in connection with what precedes and with what follows it.

Hoping that his next number may give us some other proof, than the sayings and opinions-disjointed and torn from their context, of individual members-to sustain the heavy charges made against this Society, I beg leave to submit a few remarks, which lie at the very foundation of this discussion.

The Colonization Society has but a single object in view: "To colonize the free people of colour on the coast of Africa, with their own consent." The subject of slavery and anti-slavery are different subjects. As a society, this association have no opinions on these subjects. Their members may be slave-holders, or they may be opposed to slavery in all its forms. This is my case, and that of many others who are members of this society.On the subject of slavery, we disagree with some other members, but we do agree on the propriety of providing an eligible and christian home for the free colored man, in the land of his fathers. Agreeing on this point, which is the only object of this association, am I to say to the other members, we disagree on other points, and therefore we cannot act together on this, although on this we are agreed: Certainly not. On such principles there is not one of our benevolent societies that could exist a single day. All experience shows, that our Society can properly conduct but one object. "But we do not protest against slavery." Certainly, as a society, we do not. Neither does the Bible Society, nor the Missionary Society; nor the Temperance Society.

But the Society is supported by a class who indulge a wicked prejudice against colour.' This is a very indefinite charge. It ought to have been preceded by a definition of what is "a wicked prejudice against colour." I am not conscious for one, that I entertain such a prejudice. Yet I am free to admit, that I have some strong feelings on the subject. I am unwilling that my son should marry a colored woman; I am unwilling that my daughter should be the bride of a negro bridegroom. Others may call this a "wicked prejudice." They may have no such antipathies; if so, it would be wicked in them to have such feelings. For myself I cannot admit that it is wicked in me to have them. But although I have these prejudices, if that must be the word, still it is not my object "to crush this class in the dust beneath our feet." Such is not the object of this Society, but the very reverse. The object is to elevate them, and through them to elevate and civilize, and send the rich blessing of the gospel, to benighted Africa. Let me ask if this has not in part been already done? Has not the colony in Liberia already been a resting place for our missionary societies? Could the beloved mission family, sent out by the Western Board, have gone to Africa, if the colony had not been planted there? The door is now open for as many missionaries as the church may send, and in the dispensation of Divine Providence, that door has been opened by this very Society, so much spoken against. Is this the fruit of "an anti-christian society."

A prominent part of the second number is again in a note at the close. He seems to intimate, that Mr. Frelinghuysen wished a favorable report, whether the truth would justify such a report or not; and that such a report as was thus called for, has been made. If this writer choose to rest his cause on the charge of a wilful intention of the Board of Managers to deceive the Christian public, so be it. Between him who makes such a charge, and them against whom the charge is made, your readers will decide. March 25, 1834.

IN FAVOR OF COLONIZATION.-No. 3.

Z.

MR. EDITOR: The 3d number against the Colonization Society, (Mar. 22,) is chiefly taken up in denouncing the evils of slavery. That is not the issue between your correspondent, J. L., and myself. If he had chosen to discuss that subject without also denouncing the Colonization Society, I would not at this time have troubled you with these remarks. But that is not the order of the day; and as he has chosen to connect these two subjects, in due time I will examine that branch of the argument. For the present, however, I enter my protest against the practice of holding the Colonization Society responsible for the opinions and expressions of its individual members. Let us calmly examine the principles and tendencies of this Society, and if these be found unchristian, then let it be condemned. But let it not be condemned by disjointed extracts from the speeches of individuals. That some of its friends in their speeches or communications have advanced sentiments not to be justified, may be admitted, without in the least affecting the principle and tendencies of the Society. These distinctions are so plain it is unnecessary to illustrate them. Let us, however, refer to these extracts.

1834.]

The first is said to be from the 14th report. As no page is given, I have not been able to find it either in the report or speeches, but I do not say it is not there.

The second is Vol. 4, page 306. This is from an anonymous writer.

The third is, Vol. 2, page 188. This is an extract from the address of C. C. Harper to the voters of Baltimore.

The last is Vol. 3, page 26. This is from a paper printed in Indiana, quoted in the Repository, avowedly to show the state of public opinion in that quarter.

It is my settled conviction that the tendency of this Society is of vital importance to Missionary operations in Africa, to put an end to the slave trade, to elevate the people of colour -and by its moral effects to lessen the evils of slavery. If health and time be granted, in due season I shall examine each of these important items. In this number I choose to illustrate the first of these, mentioned incidentally in my last communication.

There are now in the neighborhood of Liberia two ordained missionaries, with their wives, and a young lady as a teacher sent out by the Methodist Episcopal church. There are three ordained missionaries, and the wife of one of them, and also a colored man as an assistant missionary, sent out by the Western Board of Foreign Inissions. It is underThis in fact is but the comstood to be the intention of these societies, to strengthen and enlarge these missions, as fast as the churches may furnish the men and the means. mencement of missionary effort for benighted and bleeding Africa. The door in the providence of God has been thrown wide open. The glory of our churches, may truly be said to be, their missions among the heathen; and most truly in the case of Africa, is the spirit of God now saying to the churches,-"Arise, shine, for the glory of the Lord has arisen upon you." But by what agent has God in his providence opened this door? Let us see what was the condition of the present field of labor of our missionaries a few years ago.

Dr. E. Ayres and Lieut. Stockton came to anchor in the St. Paul's river, on 11th Dec. 1821. Next day they landed at Kings Crootown. "It had been represented to us as unsafe to go on shore without being armed, and that we should certainly be murdered and robbed. But we determined to go unarmed, as an evidence that our aim was pacific.While sitting and waiting for the king, under the shed of a Crooman, the people kept collecting, most of them with knives hanging to their sides. At length there came five or six armed with muskets. I began to think there might be some truth in the reports. We were now surrounded by fifty or sixty armed in this way." Appendix 6, Annual Report, page 60.

"On the 13th we again went to meet his majesty; after sitting three hours in palaver, the unfortunate subject of the slave trade was broached, and we again broke up the palaver."-page 61. "There is scarcely a spot on the coast, which does not show traces of the slave trade, with all its attendant horrors. The arrival of a slave ship in any of the rivers, on the windward coast, is the signal for war between the natives. The hamlets of the weaker party are burnt, and the miserable survivors are carried off and sold as slaves." Letter of marquis Londonderry to Sir Charles Stuart. March 26th, 1822. Appendix 6, Report, page 57.

"I can affirm with confidence, that at least 2000 slaves are annually shipped from the Bay between Cape Mount and Montserado." Mr. Ashmun to the Sec. Navy, Dec. 7th, 1823. Appendix 7, rep. page 52. "The sale and transportation of slaves, I regret to state, are continued here (Montserado) without restraint or disguise." Mr. Ashmun to Capt. Spence, 31st March, 1823.

"The head men declared that they never had any intention to sell Cape Montserado, because the spot was consecrated to one of their deities or beings of superstitious idolatry, and it was the cause for which they made war against the colony." Capt. Spence to Sec. Navy, June 27th, 1823. page 58.

These extracts could be multiplied to any extent, showing conclusively that the slave trade existed along the whole African coast. Let us now see from the testimony of eye witnesses the state of feeling and depth of moral depravity of the natives where this horrid traffic exists.

"I saw 400 slaves at Badagry crammed into a small schooner of eighty tons. The appearance of these unhappy beings was squalid and miserable in the extreme. They were fastened by the neck in pairs: only one-fourth of a yard of chain being allowed to each, and driven to the beach by a parcel of hired scoundrels, whilst their associates in cruelty were in front, pulling them along by a narrow band, their only apparel, which encircled

their waists.

On leaving their native shores, the wretched slaves, set up a wild and dismal lament; but their tears failed to soften the hearts of the relentless christians, who huddled them hastily into the holds of the vessels, and the cries of the Africans were heard no more." Landers' 1st Journal, Vol. 2, page 239.

"Badagry being a general mart for the sale of slaves, it frequently happens that the market is overstocked or no buyers are to be found. In these cases the maintenance of the The King, unwilling to bear the expense, the slaves devolves solely upon government. causes an examination to be made, when the sickly, the old, and infirm are selected and chained by themselves. Next day they are pinioned, conveyed to the banks of the river,

and, with a weight about their necks, are cast into the stream, and there left to perish by the pitiless Badagrions. Slaves who from other reasons are rejected by the merchants, undergo the same punishment, or are left to endure more lively torture at the sacrifices; by which means hundreds of human beings are annually destroyed." Page 250.

"The remnant of the unpurchased slaves, who are not drowned with their companions, and prisoners taken in war, are reserved for sacrifice to their gods; which horrid ceremony takes place at least once a month; besides a grand sacrifice once a year. Each victim being conducted to the Fetish tree, a flask of rum is given him to drink, and while he is swallowing, a fellow stealing behind with a heavy club inflicts on the back of his head a violent blow with the murderous weapon. He is then taken to the Fetish hut and beheaded and the blood received into a gourd; the body is cut open and the heart extracted entire, and while yet quivering with life presented to the king first, and afterwards to his wives and generals, who all make an incision in it with their teeth. It is then affixed to the point of a spear, and with the blood and headless body paraded through the town followed by hundreds. The remains of the heart are then cast to the dogs, and the body, cut in pieces, is stuck on the Fetish tree, where it is left till wholly devoured by the birds of prey." Page 263.

"By accident I saw this much talked of Fetish tree, a few days only after the celebra. tion of one of the grand yearly sacrifices; and it was the most ghastly and appalling object which I had ever beheld. While proceeding to the coast we missed our way, and did not for some time discover our error. We had not advanced many miles into the country before our noses were saluted with the most overpowering effluvia, like that exhaled from putrid substance. The smell at length became wholly insupportable, and I was obliged to cover my mouth and nose with a thick handkerchief. The so much dreaded Fetish tree then suddenly burst upon my sight; its enormous branches literally covered with fragments of human bodies; and its majestic trunk surrounded by irregular heaps of human skulls. The tree stands in the centre of a large piece of open ground in the centre of the forest and is the largest tree I had ever seen. Thousands of vultures, which had been scared away by our unwelcome intrusion, were yet hovering round and over this disgusting food, and now and then pouncing fearlessly on a half devoured arm or leg. Although scenes of horror had become habitual and familiar to me, my feelings encountered a more violent shock while staring at the overwhelming scene than I had ever before experienced; the huge branches of the Fetish tree groaning beneath their burden of human flesh and bones, sluggishly waving in consequence of the sudden retreat of the birds of prey; the intense heat of a vertical sun: the intolerable stench of the corrupt corpses, the heaps of human heads and skulls; the awful stillness and solitude of the place disturbed only by the frightful screaming of voracious vultures as they flapped their sable wings almost in my face, all tended to overpower me; my heart sickened within me; a dimness came over my eyes; my legs refused to support me, and turning my head I fell senseless into the arms of Jowdie, my faithful attendant. Pasce assisted to bear me from the scene of blood, and the two blacks emptying a calabash of water on my head and face, I slowly revived; and after a slight refreshment, pursued my journey by another path." Page 265. Such was the condition of Africa before the colony of Liberia was planted there.There Satan had his seat, and rained with the despotism of the bottomless pit. The churches of Christ in the United States, beheld her lost and helpless condition; but to behold this moral death, and to weep and pray over it, appeared to be all that could be done. Prayers indeed ascended in her favor to the throne of grace, that the way might be opened for the entrance of the True Light, and those prayers, blessed be God, were answered, and were answered too by the instrumentality of this very Society, now so much abused and vilified. The sons and daughters of the churches are now there. The devoted missionary has planted the standard of the Prince of Peace, and unfurled the banner of the cross, on that very Mount, so recently sacred to the demons of the heathen; and there, at thismoment, are the children of the heathen in the Sabbath Schools, clustering around their teachers,--and on that blood-stained coast the sound of the gospel is heard;-Zion, the city of our solemnities is there, and better than all, there has rested, and now rests, the blessing of Zion's King.

I confess that to me, it is a matter of astonishment, and deep and most painful feeling, to see good men, men who love the Saviour and the Saviour's cause, arrayed in most deadly and determined opposition, to that very Society which God in his providence has made the very means of enabling his churches in the United States, to occupy these dark places so full of horrid cruelty. "Thy kingdom come," is the daily prayer of many of these men. "Let the Colonization Society perish, perish Liberia," is their daily work. Suppose they succeed in their work,-in opposition to their prayers,-suppose the Society is put down at home, in a few years the begom of desolation will sweep over the colony, some of the colonists will return to the United States, others will become incorporated with the heathen, the missionaries are driven out; the slave-trade, with all its horrors, again pollutes the whole coast, the standard of the cross gives place to the altar of the bloody demon of Montserado, the fetish tree is again bedewed with human blood. The grave of Coxe, dishonored and despised, is enclosed by the fetish hut,-and his honored and hallowed name must be erased from our memories. His dying words, that true and touching speci

1834.]

men of the moral sublime-"Let thousands fall before Africa is adandoned," is but the effusion of derangement and folly. His life and his labors, and the lives and labors of Mills and Ashmun, have all been in vain.

To effect these results, we see societies formed, printing presses erected, men of talents, of wealth and influence, many of them men of piety zealously, some of them recklessly engaged. My soul almost sickens at the thought; because, if they succeed, our entire missionary operations in Western Africa must be abandoned. But these men, with all their efforts cannot succeed. I know how vain is all human reasoning when presented to Z. minds previously occupied with a darling object; but I know, on the other hand, who has said, that "Ethiopia shall stretch out her hand unto God." March 31, 1834.

IN FAVOR OF COLONIZATION.-No. 4.

MR. EDITOR:-Your correspondent, J. L., assumes in his 4th number, that the Colonization Society is evil, and only evil; that no good it may do, will cure the wickedness inherent in the Institution. Do what good it may, it is still the upas tree. But may I be permitted to ask, where has all this been proved? Certainly not in his first four numbers; unless indeed we take unqualified assertion for proof. In my second number I called on him to sustain his charges; and I hope that call will yet be answered. It will be no answer, however, to prove that the free blacks ought to be better treated in the United States than they now are. Although I cannot with him consider the black man as But what "a white man," because I am not yet prepared for an amalgamation of the two races, still I wish more attention were paid to the moral elevation of this class among us. has that to do with colonization? I wish from my heart that every free colored person and every slave were sincere Christians; but I am yet to learn in what possible way the Colonization Society interferes with any measures pointed out in the Bible to expect this great and desirable end. How we injure those in the United States by building up a Christian colony in Africa for those willing to go there, requires some proof. Until that proof is afforded, I will pursue the course already indicated, to show the advantages, and Christian tendencies of the Colonization cause.

in

One of the favorable tendencies of the Colonization Society, as claimed by its friends, is its salutary and decisive influence in putting a stop to the slave trade. Í this number to commence the examination of this branch of the argument.

propose

This part of the subject, it will be admitted by all, is of great and deep importance. I propose to examine, first the efforts that have been made by the Government of the United States, and the Governments of Europe, in opposition to this iniquitous traffic; then the result of those efforts, on the trade itself; and finally what effect the Colony of Liberia has had, or may have against the same demoralizing trade. In the dry detail of referring to laws and treaties, I hope your readers will not weary. Although they will find no appeals here to the imagination, yet here are facts, without which, no just decision can be

made.

The traffic in negroes was commenced in the beginning of the 16th century, by the Portuguese, and after them by all the nations of Europe, who had colonial possessions.When the slave trade became general, it became a great source of profit, to the petty African despots, and gave rise to interminable wars and outrages, which struck at the root of all social ties. Some writers estimate the number thus sold into slavery, during the last three centuries, at forty millions. This estimate is quite uncertain, but we know the number must have been very great.

The first opposition to this barbarous traffic, which I have been able to find, was by the general court of Massachusetts. In 1545, a law was made "prohibiting the buying and selling of slaves, except those taken in lawful war or reduced to servitude for their crimes, by a judicial sentence, and these were to have the same privileges as were allowed by the laws of Moses."-4th Vol. Mass. Hist. Col. page 195.

The courts of justice of Massachusetts, when the subject of slavery was brought before them, sustained and went beyond the legislature. The first trial took place in 1770, and terminated in favor of the negroes. In this suit, several blacks had sued their masters for their freedom and for wages for past services.-Same Vol. page 202.

Virginia, by a series of 23 acts, the first passed in 1699, brought the whole force of her legislative authority to bear against this traffic. On the 1st of April, 1772, her most eloquent memorial against this trade, was presented to the British Throne. In October, 1778, during the tumult and pressure of the revolutionary war, this trade, under heavy penalties, was prohibited.-Tucker's Blackstone, Vol. 2, Appendix, p. 49.

Most of the other states, before the adoption of the constitution of the United States, also prohibited this demoralizing traffic.

The Friends, or Quakers, at an early period, stood up for the rights of this unfortunate race. Their opposition commenced as early as 1727. In 1751, they abolished slavery among themselves. In 1772, by the efforts of Granville Sharp, the English cours decided, that slavery could not exist in England. This great and good man, was the soul of

all the efforts in England, to put a stop to the slave trade. In 1783, Wilberforce presented the first petition to Parliament. In prosecution of this holy cause, the philanthropists of Great Britain persevered, till the 10th of June, 1806, when the House of Commons declared the slave trade inconsistent with justice, humanity, and sound policy; and on the 6th of February, 1807, the act of Parliament passed, fixing the 1st of January, 1808, for the final abolition of this traffic.

By the constitution of the United States, Congress had no power to prohibit this trade, till January 1st, 1808. But long before that period, various acts of legislation passed, containing rigorous penalties, all tending to suppress this traffic.

The act of 22d of March, 1794, under the penalty of forfeiture of the vessel and heavy damages, prohibited any of the citizens of the United States or persons residing therein, from carrying slaves for sale to any foreign kingdom.

By the act of 3rd of April, 1798, all slaves carried into the Mississippi territory, to which the constitutional provision did not extend, were declared to be free.

By the act of 10th of May, 1800, citizens and residents, under heavy penalties, were prohibited from holding any right or property, or services, in vessels engaged in transporting slaves from one foreign country to another. The public ships of the United States were authorized to seize such vessels and crews.

The act of 28th of February, 1803, under heavy penalties, forbid masters of vessels from landing slaves in any state, where the state laws forbid their importation.

By the act of 2nd of March, 1807, the importation of slaves into the United States, was prohibited after the 1st of January, 1808, the time prescribed by the constitution. This act contains many severe provisions against any participation in the slave trade; such as long imprisonments, heavy fines, forfeiture of vessels, &c. The navy, also, was to be employed in bringing the offenders to justice. This act went into operation on the day when the British act of Parliament prohibited the traffic.

By the act of 20th of April, 1818, the prohibitory laws were further improved. Among other precautionary provisions, the labor of proof was thrown upon the defendant.

By the act of 3rd of March, 1819, the penalties of former acts were extended to the officers and crews of the offending vessels. The President was authorized to return the recaptured Africans to Africa, and appoint agents there to receive and take care of them. In addition to all these, by the act of 15th of May, 1820, the slave trade was declared to be piracy, and all those engaged in it, should be adjudged pirates, and on conviction, shall suffer death.

In the mean time, by the noble and persevering efforts of Great Britain, all Europe had been aroused to the iniquity of this immoral and pernicious traffic, and various legislative and diplomatic measures were adopted against it.

On the 8th of February, 1815, the five principal powers of Europe, at the Congress of Vienna, made a solemn engagement that the traffic should be made to cease.

In Denmark, the trade, by law, ceased on the 1st of January, 1803. In Sweeden, on the 3rd of March, 1813.

Napoleon, in 1814, on his return from the Isle of Elba, interdicted the slave trade; and on the 30th of July, 1815, Talleyrand announced to Lord Castlereagh, that the slave trade was thenceforward, forever, and universally forbidden to their subjects.

The Netherlands stipulated for its abolition on the 4th of May, 1818.

Spain promised, in her treaty with Great Britain, of 30th of September, 1817, to abolish the slave trade entirely, on the 31st of October, 1820; and Great Britain, on the 9th of February, 1818, paid her £400,000 sterling, as an indemnity to Spanish subjects.

Portugal, in her treaty in 1817, stipulated to abolish the traffic north of the Equator, and at the same time agreed, that in 1823, the traffic should cease south of that line, England agreeing to pay her £300,000 sterling as an indemnity. By the treaty with Brazil of the 3rd of November, 1826, the entire trade, by her subjects, was to cease in three years from that date.

By the treaties with Spain, Portugal, the Netherlands and Brazil, it was further stipulated that the reciprocal right of search should exist between them respectively, and the British Government; and that mixed courts of adjudication should be created, at Sierra Leone, Havana, and Rio de Janeiro. Each of these courts consisted, on the part of each Government, of one commissioner judge, one arbitrator, and one secretary.

From this examination, it appears that every Government in Christendom, has, for years, been arrayed against the continuance of the slave trade. Laws have been enacted, treaties have been formed, judicial decisions have been multiplied, and ships of war have been commissioned to arrest the progress of a traffic stained with blood, murderous to its objects, and searing and blasting every thing human in the hearts and the souls of its perpetrators. The effect of these mighty efforts, and the success, or rather the want of success which has resulted from them, I propose to examine in my next number. April 7th, 1834.

IN FAVOR OF COLONIZATION.-No. 5.

Z.

MR. EDITOR:--After perusing the 5th number of your correspondent "J. L." I am led