Discussion on American Slavery

by George Thompson; Robert J. Breckinridge

THIRD NIGHT—WEDNESDAY, JUNE 15.

Mr. BRECKINRIDGE, the subject for discussion this evening by two appointments, was the great cause of colonization, as it presented itself in America; and he was aware that of all the parts of the subject of these discussions there were none on which their opinions were more decidedly made up against what he believed to be the truth. It was, therefore, peculiarly embarrassing for him to enter upon the subject, but he did so with that frankness and candor with which he had entered upon the other topics of discussion; and if he would not show them sufficient reason to commend the principle of colonization to their minds and feelings, he could only expect that they should remain of their present opinions. The scheme of colonization was not a new one in America. It had been spoken of 40 or 50 years ago, by him who in his day ranked next to the father of his country in the affections of the American people, Mr. Jefferson, before he filled the president's chair, while he was president, and afterwards occupied his thoughts with this great scheme. Being himself a decided enemy to slavery, he tried to rouse the minds of his countrymen to the advantages which would arise from the colonizing of the free blacks of America on some part of the Western coast of Africa. With this view he entered into negotiations with the Sierra Leone Company in this country, to receive into their colony free people of color from America; and he also had applied to the Portuguese government, at that time a large African proprietor, for a place where the free blacks might be allowed to colonize themselves. Whether these efforts, which were applauded and aided by many wise and good men, deserved to be praised or blamed, was not the topic to be taken up at present; but they showed that the scheme was one which could not be called a new scheme. This proposal of colonizing the free blacks of America on the West coast of Africa had obtained the approbation of nine tenths of all those throughout America who took any interest in the fate of the black race: for even the great bulk of those who were now in favor of "abolitionism," were at one time the friends of colonization. Whether they had good or bad reasons for the change which had taken place in their opinions, would be more apparent, perhaps, when they arrived at the end of the discussion. It was in the course of the years 1822 or 1823 that the first colonists were sent out from America. He might not be perfectly accurate in his dates, as he gave them from memory, but the present argument did not depend on exact accuracy in that respect. The society for promoting the colonization scheme was organized some years before the date stated above, when an expedition was sent out to explore the coast of Africa with a view to establishing the colony; and afterwards another to purchase territory; and then the colonists were sent out, which he believed took place for the first time after 1820. The society continued to pursue the scheme for a period of 9 or 10 years, and met with no opposition except from some parties in the extreme South; but had the concurrence of almost all the wise, the good, and the benevolent in America. It was not till about 1830 that any very violent opposition was made to the society's operations; and he believed Mr. Garrison was among the first who opposed it, on the ground that its operations were injurious to the interests of the colored race in America. Mr. Arthur Tappan also seceded from the society about the same time, but upon different grounds from Garrison. His opposition arose from the society's not taking up his ground in reference to Temperance. He had no hesitation in saying that Mr. Tappan was right, and that the society was wrong; as they did not go far enough in regard to this point. He the more readily admitted that in this particular Mr. Tappan's views were right, as he was wrong in every other point which he assumed in reference to the society. But it was not till about 1832, that an organized opposition to the society began to manifest itself. In 1833 the American Anti-Slavery Society was established, one of the fundamental principles of which, and perhaps the one they most zealously propagated, was uncompromising hostility to the colonization scheme. In the progress of events too, it turned out that all the friends of colonization did not see alike on all parts of the subject. Many of them thought that the interests involved were too important and too great to be left to a single board of management or staked on a single series of experiments. Some considered that one general principle of operation could not be made broad enough for the circumstances of all the states, and hence arose several separate societies,—as that of Maryland, organized on peculiar principles, which have direct reference to general emancipation; and as those of New York and Philadelphia, which have founded a colony on principles of peace,—the temperance principle being held equally by them and the Maryland society. The general society at Washington assumed the ground of colonizing, on the West coast of Africa with their own consent, persons of color from America who were of good character, and who were free at the time of their being sent out. The Maryland Society went a step farther. They saw that the colonization scheme would have a reflection favorable to emancipation; and they carried on their operations with a direct and avowed reference to the ultimate emancipation of the slaves in that state. The New York and Philadelphia societies were founded, as I have above said, on the principles of temperance and peace—the former principle being common also to the Maryland scheme. The united societies of New York and Philadelphia first took 120 slaves who had been manumitted by the late Dr. Hawes, of Va., and formed them into a colony. The Parent Society's territory in Africa was called Liberia. It was about 100 leagues in length along the coast, about 10 or 15 leagues deep, and there were 5 or 6 settlements, all under the general control of that society. There were in them all about 4,000 colonists, a great portion of whom were manumitted slaves. The colony of the Maryland Society was farther South than that of the Parent Society. It was situated on that point of the coast called Cape Palmas, and was itself called Maryland in Africa. It was under the charge of a board of management in Maryland, and consisted at this time of between two and three hundred colonists, who were chiefly manumitted slaves. The other colony, that belonging to the New York and Philadelphia Society, was at Bassa Cove, and was under the charge of the directors of that society. There were in all about 5000 colonists under the charge of these societies. For the first few years of the existence of the Parent Society, it was supported by a number of gentlemen for different reasons. At the commencement it was not perhaps perfectly clear how it might operate. Some advocated the cause and supported the interests of the society, on the principles of direct humanity to the free colored persons of America. Others again supported it as calculated to produce collateral effects favorable to the slaves, and the general cause of emancipation in the country. Others on the ground that it would enable the country to get rid of the colored population, without much reference to what might be the result to the colored population themselves; just as if in England there were individuals who would promote emigration, to get the country rid of those who were as they supposed given to idleness and a burden upon the country. There may have been some who supported the society from an actual love for slavery, and as a means which they supposed might lessen some of the evils by which it was accompanied. During the first years of the society's operations, many thousands of speeches were delivered, and many hundreds of pamphlets were published about the society, its operations, and their effects; and it was quite possible that Mr. Thompson might be able to bring forward some sentences and scraps from the speeches of a slave-owner, who looked upon the society as a means of perpetuating slavery in America; or he might produce some speech, in which the society was supported as a means of ridding the country of the free people of color, no matter what became of them afterward. But it was uncandid and unjust to take this plan of opposing the cause; because it was well known that whatever might be the case in particular instances, the general fact was, that the great majority of the supporters of the society had always supported it, because of the good effects they anticipated from it in favor of ultimate emancipation, as well as its present and immense benefits to the free blacks. Now I challenge Mr. Thompson to the plain admission, or the plain denial of these statements. If he denies them I am content; for in that case, he will stand convicted in America, for the denial of that which every man, woman and child there knows to be true. If he admits my statements to be substantially true, then the entire point of the charges brought by him and his friends against colonization, is broken off; and all he or they can allege against it, can equally be alleged against every thing, good or bad, that ever existed, namely, that men supported it for various, or even opposite reasons. I go farther—I assert, and call upon Mr. Thompson to admit or to deny it, I care not which—that just in proportion as the cause has developed itself, and its natural and legitimate influences been plainly exhibited—those who favor slavery have cooled in its support, or withdrawn entirely from it—while those who favor emancipation, and desire the good of the free people of color, have, in the same degree, and with increasing cordiality, rather avowed it, insomuch that it will be difficult if not wholly impossible for our evidences of friendship to it, from an avowed friend of slavery, to be culled out of all his scraps, as occurring within the last three or four years. Indeed no persons were more persecuted after what Mr. T. calls persecution in some of the Southern states, than those who advocate the cause of colonization, a fact which began to occur as soon as those slave owners, who desired slavery to continue, clearly saw that the natural result was the ultimate emancipation of the slaves. How far the conduct of Mr. Thompson and his friends was calculated to produce a reaction in the South, and incline moderate and humane masters to the views of the emancipationists, cannot now be determined. But that the increasing wisdom and benevolence of the South will compensate for the folly and phrenzy at the North, there is good reason to hope. He would now proceed to give a few reasons why this scheme of colonization should be supported. But he would first call their attention to a resolution proposed by Mr. George Thompson at a meeting of the Young Mens' Anti Slavery Society of Boston:—

That as the American Colonization Society has been demonstrated to be in its principles unrighteous, unnatural, and proscriptive, the attempt now made to give permanency to this institution is a fraud upon the ignorance and an outrage upon the intelligence of the public, and as such deserves the severest reprobation.

The verbiage of this resolution showed its parentage. No one who had ever heard one of Mr. Thompson's speeches could for a moment doubt the authorship of the resolution. But what were they to think of an individual who, being almost a perfect stranger in America, came forward at a public meeting, and spoke in terms like these of a society, supported and encouraged by the great majority of the nation—embracing in that majority most of what is distinguished by rank, by knowledge, or by virtue, in the country? What but universal execration from the violent, and pity and contempt from all—could be expected to follow such proceedings. And yet London, Edinburgh, and Glasgow, celebrate the prudence of Mr. George Thompson in America, and praise his conduct there on their behalf! It was not demonstrated that the scheme was either unnatural, proscriptive, or foolish. He wished much to hear Mr. Thompson attempt that demonstration. He (Mr. B.) would attempt to prove, on the other hand, that in itself the scheme was good, wise, and benevolent. His first reason was that it was good for the free black population of America, for whose benefit it was intended, whatever might be the opinions entertained regarding slavery; whatever might be the opinion as to the duty of admitting the free colored population to all the rights and privileges of white people; taking it for granted that slavery should be abolished, taking it for granted that the free colored population should have the same rights and privileges as the white population; admitting, as so many have declared, that these free people of color are generally very little elevated above the condition of the slaves; granting the existence of the absurd prejudice among the white population against people of color; taking as true, all the assertions of all, or any parties, on this subject, and then say, if it is not a good, a wise, a humane reason for encouraging the society, that they are able to snatch 1000 or 10,000 of these degraded, ruined, undone, and unhappy people from the condition they are placed in, and plant them in comfort, freedom, and peace in Africa? While Mr. Thompson and his friends were trying their schemes to terminate slavery, and break down prejudice against color—schemes which were likely to be long in progress, if we were to judge by the past—it seemed most extraordinary that they should object to our efforts to take a portion of these people out of the grasp of their present sorrows, and do for them in Africa all that has been done for ourselves in America. Above all things, is it not inexplicable, that they should consider slavery on one side of the Atlantic, better than freedom on the other,—a thought, proving him who held it unworthy of freedom anywhere. If this was not a scheme, full of wisdom, of goodness and benevolence, he know not what wisdom, goodness, or benevolence meant. They proposed to do nothing without the free consent of the colored people. And now, if a similar offer were made to every poor and unfortunate inhabitant of Glasgow, and all of them chose to remain here, except one, and that one were captivated by the account of some distant El Dorado, and chose to push his fortune there, could the rest assume over this one the right of saying, you shall not go; we are determined not to go, and equally determined not to let you go. Yet the abolitionists have been going about, from Dan to Beersheba, not only attacking and vilifying the whites, for proposing to colonize the blacks with their own free consent; but equally attacking the blacks for availing themselves of the offer. And though the colony had been stigmatized as a grave, as a place of skulls, it was the very place fitted by nature for the black population, the land granted by God to their fathers. It is in one sense, then, a matter of no moment, what the causes are which induce the society to make the offer, or the black population to emigrate to Africa—even on the showing of the abolitionists themselves, the colored population are kept in a state of degradation; and it is certainly just and good that means should be afforded them for getting rid of that degradation. In the second place, he maintained that this colonization scheme naturally tended to promote the cause of general emancipation. To illustrate this, Mr. Breckinridge read the following extract from the Maryland report of 1835, p. 17:—

The number of manumissions in the state reported to the board since the last annual report, is two hundred and ninety-nine, making the whole number reported as manumitted, since the passage of the act of 1831, eleven hundred and one.

This extract showed that the scheme did not prevent manumission, but had tended gradually to increase its amount. That this was the intention and actual effect of the colonization scheme, he would now prove to the meeting in so far as regarded Maryland; and if he did so of that state, he supposed they would not find it difficult to believe the same thing of other states, as it was against Maryland that Mr. Thompson had expended his peculiar virulence. Mr. B. then read the following:—

Resolved, That this society believe, and act upon the belief that colonization has a tendency to promote emancipation, by affording to the emancipated slave a home, where he can be happier and better, in every point of view, than in this country, and so inducing masters to manumit, for removal to Africa, who would not manumit unconditionally.—3rd A. Rep. page 5.

Maryland, through her State Society, is about trying the important experiment, whether, by means of colonies on the coast of Africa, slave-holding states may become free states. The Board of Managers cannot doubt of success, however; and in exercising the high and responsible duties devolving upon them, it is with the firm belief that the time is not very remote, when, with the full and free consent of those interested in this species of property, the state of Maryland will be added to the list of the non-slave-holding states of the Union.—3 A. R. page 6.

It has been charged, again and again, against the general scheme, that its tendencies were to perpetuate slavery; and, at this moment, both in this country and in Europe, there are those who stigmatize the labors of men like Finley, Caldwell, Harper, Ayres, Ashmun, Key, Gurley, Anderson and Randall, as leading to this end. Unfounded as is the charge, it has many believers. The colonization law of Maryland is based upon a far different principle; for the immigration of slaves is expressly prohibited, and the transportation of those who are emancipated is amply provided for. In accordance, therefore, with the general sentiment of the public, and anxious that colonization in the state should be relieved from the imputation put upon the cause, resolutions were unanimously adopted, avowing that the extirpation of slavery in Maryland was the chief object of the society's existence.—3 A. R. page 33.

Throughout the report the same current of events was referred to; and they were found to be everywhere the same as to the effects of the colonial scheme on the manumission of slaves. To show the cause of the objections to the scheme by free persons of color, Mr. B. read the following extract:—

The Board would here remark, that in collecting emigrants from among the free persons of color in the state, the greatest difficulty they have experienced has grown out of the incredulity of these with regard to the accounts given to them of Africa. Even when their friends in Liberia have written to them, inviting them to emigrate, and speaking favorably of the country, they have believed that a restraint was upon the writers, and that the society's agents prevented any letter from reaching America, which did not speak in terms of praise of Africa. The ingenuity of the colored people in this state devised a simple test of the reliance that was to be placed in letters, purporting to be written by their friends; which they have, during the last year or eighteen months, been putting into practice. When the emigrant sailed from the United States, he took with him one half of a strip of calico, the other half being retained by the person to whom he was to write when he reached Africa. If he was permitted to write without restraint, and if he spoke his real sentiments in his letter, he enclosed his portion of the calico, which, matching with that from which it had been severed, gave authenticity and weight to the correspondence. Many of these tokens, as they are called, have been received, and their effect has been evident in the greater willingness manifested by the free people of color to emigrate; especially those of them who are at all well judging and well informed.—4 A. R. page 6.

Whatever difficulties now exist as to getting free people of color to avail themselves of the society's scheme and emigrate to Africa, arise in a great degree from the efforts of the abolition party to misrepresent the intentions of the society, and the state and prospects of the colony, to the free colored people of the United States,—thus showing the double atrocity of preventing these people from being benefited, and of traducing those persons who wish to benefit them. In an address from Cape Palmas, by the Colonists to their brethren in America, dated in October, 1834, there was a distinct avowal of the fact that it was better for them that they had gone there; and urging others to come also. Mr. B. then read the following extract from the address:—

Dear Brethren—Agreeably to a resolution of our fellow citizens herewith enclosed, we now endeavor to lay before you a fair and impartial statement of the actual situation of this colony; of our advantages and prospects, both temporal and spiritual.

We are aware of the great difference of opinion which exists in America with respect to colonization. We are aware of the fierce contentions between its advocates and opposers; and we are of opinion that this contention, among the well meaning, is based principally upon the various and contradictory accounts concerning this country and its advantages; receiving on the one hand from the enthusiastic and visionary new comers, who write without having made themselves at all acquainted with the true state of affairs in Africa; and on the other, from the timorous, dissipated and disheartened, who long to return to their former degraded situation, and are willing to assign any reason, however false and detrimental to their fellow citizens, rather than the true one, viz:—that they are actually unfit, from want of virtue, energy and capacity, to become freemen in any country.

We judge that the time which has elapsed since our first arrival, (eight months,) has enabled us to form a pretty correct opinion of this our new colony, of the climate, and of the fitness of our government. Therefore we may safely say we write not ignorantly. And as to the truth of our assertions we here solemnly declare, once for all, that we write in the fear of God, and are fully sensible that we stand pledged to maintain them both here and hereafter.

Of our Government—We declare that we have enjoyed (and the same is for ever guaranteed to us by our Constitution) all and every civil and religious right and privilege, which we have ever known enjoyed by the white citizens of the United States, excepting the election of our chief magistrate, who is appointed by the board of managers of the Maryland State Colonization Society. Other officers are appointed or elected from the colonists.—Freedom of speech and the press, election by ballot, trial by jury, the right to bear arms, and the liberty of worshipping God agreeably to the dictates of our own consciences, are rendered for ever inviolate by the Constitution.

That we may not weary your patience or be suspected of a desire to set forth matters in too favorable a light, we have been thus brief in our statements. It will naturally be supposed, brethren, that the object of this address is to induce you to emigrate and join us. To deny this would be a gross want of candor, and not in unison with our professions at the outset. We do wish it, and we tender you both the heart and hand of good fellowship.

But here again, let us be equally candid with you. It is not every man we could honestly advise or desire to come to this colony. To those who are contented to live and educate their children as house servants and lackeys, we would say, stay where you are; here we have no masters to employ you. To the indolent, heedless and slothful, we would say, tarry among the flesh pots of Egypt; here we get our bread by the sweat of the brow. To drunkards and rioters, we would say, come not to us; you can never become naturalized in a land where there are no grog shops, and where temperance and order is the motto. To the timorous and suspicious, we would say, stay where you have protectors; here we protect ourselves. But the industrious, enterprising and patriotic of what occupation or profession soever; the merchant, the mechanic, and farmer, (but more particularly the latter,) we would counsel, advise and entreat to come and be one with us, and assist in this glorious enterprise, and enjoy with us that liberty to which we ever were, and the man of color ever must be, a stranger in America. To the ministers of the gospel, both white and colored, we would say, come to this great harvest, and diffuse amongst us and our benighted neighbors, that light of the gospel, without which liberty itself is but slavery, and freedom but perpetual bondage.

Accept, brethren, our best wishes; and, praying that the Great Disposer of events will direct you to that course, which will tend to your happiness and the benefit of our race throughout the world,

We subscribe ourselves
Yours, most affectionately,

JACOB GROSS,
WILLIAM POLK,
CHARLES SCOTLAND,
ANTHONY WOOD,
THOMAS JACKSON.

The report having been read, it was then moved by James M. Thompson and seconded, that the report be approved and accepted. The yeas and nays were presented as follows:—

Yeas—Jeremiah Stewart, James Martin, Samuel Wheeler, H. Duncan, Daniel Banks, Joshua Stewart, John Bowen, James Stewart, Henry Dennis, Eden Harding, Robert Whitefield, Nathan Lee, Nathaniel Edmondson, Charles Scotland, Nathaniel Harmon, Bur. Minor, Anthony Howard, James M. Thompson, Anthony Wood, Jacob Gross, Wm. Polk, Thomas Jackson.

Nays—Nicholas Thomson, William Reynolds, William Cassel.

N. B. Those who voted in the negative, declared that the statements contained in the report were true, both in spirit and letter, but they preferred returning to America—whereupon the meeting adjourned, sine die.

A true copy of the record of the proceedings.

WM. POLK.

If any weight was due to human testimony, it was made probable, at least, if not certain, that the intentions of the promoters of the scheme were that it should be most kind to the black man, in all its direct action, and by its indirect influences, the precursor of the abolition of slavery; and if the society had fallen into a mistake, the colonists themselves had also fallen into the same; as in this address they say the scheme has proved successful. He would, therefore, conclude this second reason, by maintaining that he had sufficiently proved that the scheme had been productive of good, not only to the colored population, but also to the cause of universal freedom.

The reasons he would now offer would be more general. And in bringing forward the third head of argument, he observed, that the uniform method which God had selected to civilize and enlighten mankind, and to carry through the world a knowledge of the arts and laws, with all the kindred blessings of civilization, was colonization. Amongst the first commands given by God to man, was to replenish and subdue the earth; and there was a striking fulness of meaning in the expression. While there seemed to exist in the whole human family an instinctive obedience to this command, God had so directed its manifestation, that he believed he might safely challenge any one to show him any one nation which had located the permanent seat of its empire in the native land of its inhabitants. Every nation had been a conquered nation; every people has been in turn enlightened from others, and in turn colonists again. This nation, which has reputed itself the most enlightened in the world, and far be it from him to controvert the opinion in their presence, might trace its superior enlightenment in part to the fact of its having been so much oftener conquered than any other, and the consequent greater mixture of nations among the inhabitants. Again, he observed, that God had kept several races of men distinct, from the time of Noah down to the present day; and in their mutual action upon each other, there was this extraordinary fact, that wherever the descendants of Shem had colonized a country occupied by the descendants of Japhet or Ham, they had extirpated those who were before them. When the descendants of Japhet conquered the descendants of Shem, they were extirpated before them; when the descendants of Shem conquered those of Japhet, the case was the same; and so of the descendants of Ham upon either. But when Japhet conquered Japhet there was no extirpation, and when Shem conquered Shem there was no extirpation, as also of Ham conquering Ham. Now as to the continent of Africa, if history taught any truth, they must roll back all its tide, or Africa was destined to be still farther colonized. As yet, the pestilence, like the flaming sword before the garden of the Lord, had kept the way hedged up, the white man and yellow man away from the spot,—reserved till the fit hour and people came. If we take the bodings of Providence all is well. But if we rely on the lessons of the past, the only means in our power to prevent the ultimate colonization of Africa by some strange race, and the consequent extirpation of its race of blacks, is to colonize it with blacks. If they let Shem colonize there, the blacks will be extirpated; if they let Japhet colonize, the blacks will be extirpated. Africa must be undone, or she must be colonized with blacks; or all history is but one prodigious lie. To Britain seems specially committed, by a good Providence, the destinies of Asia; and we say to her, kindly and faithfully, Enter and occupy, till Messiah come; enter at once, lest we enter before you. To America, in like manner, is Africa committed. To do our Master's work there, we must colonize it by blacks, we must enlighten it by blacks. And when Mr. T. and his friends come to us with their quackery, scarcely four year's old, and require us to forego for it our clearest convictions, our most cherished plans, and our most enlightened views of truth and duty, we can only say to them, "We are much obliged to you, but pray excuse us, gentlemen; we have considered the matter before." Every benevolent and right thinking person must see that the scheme of colonizing Africa by black men, is necessary to enlighten Africa, and prevent the extirpation of the black men there. He would, in the fourth place, take up the question of christianizing Africa, separate from the other question of mere civilization and preservation. There were only three ways, as had been argued, in which the works of missions could be possibly conducted. In an admirable little treatise on the subject, published in this country, and he regretted he knew not the author, or he would name him in pure honor, these methods were ably defined and illustrated. One method was, to send out missionaries, and do the work, as many are now attempting it, in so many lands. Another was, by bringing the people to be converted, to those whom God chose to make the means of their conversion. And when Britain thinks harshly of America about slavery, let her remember, and melt into kindness at the thought, of what we are doing to convert the tens of thousands of Irish Catholics she sends to us yearly. The third way was by colonization; and this, in past ages, has been the great and glorious plan. By this, Europe became what she is; by this, America was Christianized; and he would again refer them to the little book of which he had spoken—which, not being written by a slave owner, nor even an American, might possibly be true—to convince them, that it was, in all cases, a most efficient means to save the world. But in this peculiar case, it seemed to be the chief, if not the only means. The climate suited the black man, while hundreds of whites had fallen victims to it. So peculiar does this appear to me, that I have never been able to comprehend how the pious and enlightened free blacks of America could so long, or at all, resist the manifest call of God, to go and labor for Him in their father land. There she is, "sitting in darkness and drinking blood,"—with a full capacity, and a perfect fitness on their parts, to enlighten, to comfort, and to save her—their mother, doubly requiring their care, that she knows not that she is blind and naked! And yet they linger on a distant shore; and fill the air with empty murmurs, of time and earth, and its poor vanities; and Christian men around them caress and applaud them for their heathen hard-heartedness; and Christian communities, in their strange infatuation, send missions to them, to prevent them from becoming the truest missionaries that the earth could furnish! Shadows that we are, shadows that we pursue! It was, in the fifth place, the only effectual and practical mode of putting an end to the slave trade. There was, indeed, another way—by stopping the demand. But while they disputed the means of stopping the demand, there was another way—the stopping of the supply. This had long been an object dear to several nations. The government of Britain, the government of America, and the governments of several other states, had sent several cruisers to stop the supply; but would any slaves be taken from Africa, if there was even a single city on the western coast, with ten thousand inhabitants, and three vessels of war at their command? They would put an end to the trade the moment they were able to chastise the pirates, or make reprisals on the nations to which they belonged. Why is it we never hear of the stealing of an Englishman, a German, or a Turk? Because the thief knows that reprisals would be made, or that he or some of his countrymen would be chastised or stolen in return. So that all that was required, was to plant a city on the west coast of Africa, and this would give protection to the population of that country. Nothing is plainer, than that any nation which will make reprisals, will have none of the inhabitants stolen. If reprisals were made effective, the slave trade would be immediately stopped. It is the course pursued by Mr. Thompson and his friends, not the course pursued by us, which is likely to continue the slave trade. On one hundred leagues of African coast, it is already to a great degree suppressed; and if we had been aided as the importance of the cause demanded, instead of being resisted with untiring activity, this blessed object might now have been granted to the prayers of Christendom.

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Mr. THOMPSON earnestly hoped that every word which Mr. Breckinridge had that night uttered respecting the principles of the Colonization Society, and what had been effected by that institution, would be carefully preserved; that on other occasions, and by other persons, on both sides the Atlantic, Mr. Breckinridge's arguments might be canvassed, his facts investigated, and his sentiments made known. I shall offer no apology (continued Mr. T.) for referring to a point discussed last evening, but not fairly disposed of. I am by no means satisfied, nor do I think the enlightened, and least of all the Christian world, will be satisfied with the doctrine which for two evenings has been laid down and maintained by Mr. Breckinridge, that America, as a nation, is not responsible before God for the sin of slavery. I cannot, sir, receive that doctrine. I cannot lightly pass it over. Much hinges upon this point, nor will I consent that America shall lay the flattering unction to her soul that she is not her brother's keeper; that any wretches within her precincts may commit soul-murder, and she be innocent, by reason of her wilful, self induced, and self continued impotency. I do not believe the doctrine of "the irresponsibleness of America as a nation" to be politically sound; still less do I believe it to be the doctrine of the Bible.

Sir, I fearlessly charge America, as a nation—as the United States of America—as a voluntary confederacy of free republics—as living under one common constitution, and one common government—with being a nation of slave-holders, and the vilest and most culpable on the face of the earth.

I charge America with having a slave-holding president; with holding seven thousand slaves at the seat of government; with licensing the slave trade for four hundred dollars; with permitting the domestic slave trade to the awful extent of one hundred thousand souls per annum; with allowing prisons, built with the public money, to be made the receptacles of unoffending, home-born Americans, destined for the southern market; with permitting her legislators and the highest functionaries in the state to trample upon every dictate of humanity, and every principle sacred in American independence, by trafficking "in slaves and the souls of men."

I charge America, "as a nation," with permitting within her boundaries a wide spread system, which my opponent has himself described as one of clear robbery, universal concubinage, horrid cruelty, and unilluminated ignorance.

I charge America, before the world and God, with the awful crime of reducing more than two millions of her own children, born on her own soil, and entitled to "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness," to the state of beasts; withholding from them every right, and privilege, and social or political blessing, and leaving them the prey of those who have legislated away the word of life, and the ordinances of religion, lest their victims should at any time see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their hearts, and should assume the bearing, and the name, and the honors of humanity.

I charge America, "as a nation," with being wickedly, cruelly, and, in the highest sense, criminally indifferent to the happiness and elevation of the free colored man; with crushing and persecuting him in every part of the country; with regarding him as belonging to a low, degraded, and irreclaimable caste, who ought not to call America his country or his home, but seek in Africa, on the soil of his ancestors, a refuge from persecution in the land which the English, and the Dutch, and the French, and the Irish, have wrested from the red men, and which they now proudly and self complacently, but most falsely style the white man's country.

I charge all this, and much more, upon the government of America, upon the church of America, and upon the people of America.

It is idle, to say the least, to talk of rolling the guilt of the system upon the individual slave-holder, and the individual state. This cannot fairly be done while the citizens throughout the land are banded, confederated, united. It is the sin of the entire church. The Presbyterians throughout the country are one body; the Baptists are one body; the Episcopalian Methodists are one body; they acknowledge one another; they cordially fellowship one another. They make the sin, if it be a sin, theirs, by owning as brethren in Christ Jesus, and ministers of Him, who was anointed to preach deliverance to the captives, men who shamelessly traffic in rational, blood-redeemed souls; nay, even barter away for accursed gold, their own church members. It is pre-eminently the sin of the church. It is the sin of the people at large. It is said the laws recognize slavery. I reply, the entire nation is answerable for those laws. We hear that the "Constitution can do nothing," that "the Congress can do nothing," to which I reply, Woe, and shame, and guilt, and execration must be, and ought to be, the portion of that people calling themselves Christians and republicans, who can tolerate, through half a century, a Constitution and a Congress that cannot prevent nor cure the buying and selling of sacred humanity; the sundering of every fibre that binds heart to heart, and the dehumanization and butchery of peaceful and patriotic citizens within the territories over which they extend. In whatever aspect I view this question, the people, and the whole people, appear to be, before God and man, responsible, politically and morally, for the sin of slave-holding. They are responsible for the Constitution, with any deficiencies and faults it may have, for they have the power, and it is therefore their duty, to amend it. They are responsible for the character and acts of Congress, for they make the senators and representatives that go there. In a word, they are properly and solemnly responsible for that "system" of which we have heard so much, and for "the workings of that system;" and I declare it little better than subterfuge to say, that the people of America, the source of power, the sovereign, the omnipotent people, are not responsible for the existence of slavery and all its kindred abominations, within the territorial limits of the United States.

The charges which he had here made were important, grave and awful. He made them under the full and solemn impression of his accountableness to mankind, and the God of nations. He believed them to be true; he was prepared to substantiate them. That not one tittle of them might be lost or misrepresented in Great Britain or America, he had penned them with his own hand, out of his own heart, and he was prepared to support them in England, or in Scotland, or in America itself: for he hoped yet again to visit that country, and there resume his advocacy of the cause of the slave.

He would now come to the colonization question, on which he felt completely at home. In adverting to this question, however, he experienced a difficulty, which he had felt on many former occasions, that of not being able to compress what he had to say within the compass of one address. He would not only have to reply to what Mr. Breckinridge had advanced, but he would have to touch on topics which Mr. Breckinridge had overlooked—principles affecting the origin, character, and very existence of that society, which Mr. Breckinridge had taken under his special protection. He (Mr. T.) would show that the improvement of the black man's condition was not the chief object of the Colonization Society; that its operations sprung from that loathing of color which might be denominated the peculiar sin of America. Slavery might be found in many countries, but it was in America alone that there existed an aristocracy founded on the color of the skin. A race of pale-skinned patricians, resting their claims to peculiar rank and privileges upon the hue of the skin, the texture of the hair, the form of the nose, and the size of the calf! But for this abhorrence of color, Mr. B. would not have been contented with the means proposed by the Colonization Society for the amelioration of slavery; he would not have spoken a word of colonization, or of that Golgotha, Liberia.

Acquainted as he (Mr. T.) was with America, he had been able to come to no other conclusion, but that the prejudice of color was that on which the colonization of the free negro was founded. There had been a great deal said of the inferior intellect of the black race, and of a marked deficiency in their moral qualities; but these were not the grounds on which it was sought to expatriate them; the injustice practised towards them rested solely on the prejudice which had been excited against their external personal peculiarities. Every word spoken by Mr. Breckinridge in defence of colonization, went directly to prove this. The whole scheme rested on the dark color of those to be expatriated. Had the sufferers been white in the skin, Mr. B. would have advocated immediate, complete, and everlasting emancipation.

He would now turn to a matter, regarding which he considered Mr. Breckinridge had treated the abolitionists of America with injustice—with unkindness—with something which he did not like even to name. Mr. B. had charged the abolitionists with having published a law as the law of the state of Maryland, which had never been adopted by the legislature of that state; and when he (Mr. T.) had required of Mr. B. evidence in support of his grave allegations, it was in this case precisely as in the case of Mr. Garrison and Mr. Wright,—the proofs were non est inventus. Now, he would ask, was this fair; was it magnanimous; was it generous; was it Christianlike?

The charge had been distinctly made, and then it had been asked of the parties accused to prove a negative. Mr. Breckinridge was not likely to be long in Glasgow, and it was therefore most easy, and most convenient, to prefer charges which could not, even on the testimony of the parties implicated, be answered until Mr. Breckinridge was far away, and the poison had had full time to work its effect. He (Mr. T.) would, however, give it as his opinion, that his fellow laborers on the other side of the Atlantic, would triumphantly clear themselves of this and every other imputation, and finally emerge from the ordeal, however fierce, pure, untarnished, and unscathed.

Such a charge, however, should not be brought against him (Mr. T.). The laws of Maryland, he cited, were to be found in the pages of the Colonization Society's accredited organ, the African Repository, an entire set of which was on the platform, open to inspection.

Mr. Breckinridge had taken great pains to make out a case for the Maryland Colonization Society. This was not to be wondered at. That society was a protege of his own. It had been patronized and fostered by him. For it, it appeared, he had almost suffered martyrdom, when, in advocating its cause in Boston, he had been mistaken for an abolitionist,—in that same city of Boston, where a gentlemanly mob of 5000 individuals, fashionably attired, in black, and brown, and blue cloth, had joyfully engaged in assaulting and dispersing a peaceful meeting of forty ladies.

He had not yet done with the Maryland Colonization Society. He was prepared to prove that it was, taken as a whole, a most oppressive and iniquitous scheme. The laws framed to support it prohibited manumission, except on condition of the removal of the freed slaves; thus submitting a choice of evils, both cruel to the last extent,—perpetual bondage, or banishment from the soil of their birth, and the scenes and associations of infancy and youth. He could show, that free persons of color, coming into the state, were liable to be seized and sold; and white persons inviting them, and harboring them, liable to the infliction of heavy fines.

These, and similar provisions, all disgraceful and cruel, were the prominent features of the laws which had been framed to carry into effect the benevolent and patriotic designs of the Maryland Colonization Society!

That expulsion from the state was the thing intended, he would show from newspapers published in the state. What said the Baltimore Chronicle, a pro-slavery and colonization paper, at the time when the laws referred to were passed? Let his auditory hear with attention.

"The intention of those laws was, and their effect must be, to EXPEL the free people of color from this state. They will find themselves so hemmed in by restrictions, that their situation cannot be otherwise than uncomfortable should they elect to remain in Maryland. These laws will no doubt be met by prohibitory laws in other states, which will greatly increase the embarrassments of the people of color, and leave them no other alternative than to emigrate or remain in a very unenviable condition."

What said the Maryland Temperance Herald of May 3, 1835?

"We are indebted to the committee of publication for the first No. of the Maryland Colonization Journal, a new quarterly periodical, devoted to the cause of colonization in our state. Such a paper has long been necessary; we hope this will be useful.

"Every reflecting man must be convinced, that the time is not far distant when the safety of the country will require the EXPULSION of the blacks from its limits. It is perfect folly to suppose, that a foreign population, whose physical peculiarities must forever render them distinct from the owners of the soil, can be permitted to grow and strengthen among us with impunity. Let hair-brained enthusiasts speculate as they may, no abstract considerations of the natural rights of man, will ever elevate the negro population to an equality with the whites. As long as they remain in the land of their bondage, they will be morally, if not physically enslaved, and, indeed, so long as their distinct nationality is preserved, their enlightenment will be a measure of doubtful policy. Under such circumstances every philanthropist will wish to see them removed, but gradually, and with as little violence as possible. For effecting this purpose, no scheme is liable to so few objections, as that of African Colonization. It has been said, that this plan has effected but little—true, but no other has done any thing. We do not expect that the exertions of benevolent individuals will be able to rid us of the millions of blacks who oppress and are oppressed by us. All they can accomplish, is to satisfy the public of the practicability of the scheme—they can make the experiment—they are making it and with success. The state of Maryland has already adopted this plan, and before long every Southern state will have its colony. The whole African coast will be strewn with cities, and then, should some fearful convulsion render it necessary to the public safety TO BANISH THE MULTITUDE AT ONCE, a house of refuge will have been provided for them in the land of their fathers."

Yet this was the plan of which the American Colonization Society, at its annual meeting in 1833, had spoken in the following terms:—

Resolved, That the Society view, with the highest gratification, the continued efforts of the State of Maryland to accomplish her patriotic and benevolent system in regard to her colored population; and that the last appropriation by that state of two hundred thousand dollars, in aid of African colonization, is hailed by the friends of the system, as a BRIGHT EXAMPLE to other states.

Mr. Breckinridge had lauded the Colonization Society as a scheme of benevolence and patriotism. He (Mr. T.) did not mean to deny that there had been many pious and excellent men found amongst its founders and subsequent supporters, but he was prepared to demonstrate that it had grown out of prejudice, was based upon prejudice, made its appeal to prejudice, and could not exist were the prejudice against the colored man conquered. It had, moreover, made an appeal to the fears and cupidity of the slaveholder, by setting forth, that, in its operations, it would remove from the southern states the most dangerous portion of the free population, and also enhance the value of the slaves left remaining in the country. The doctrines found pervading the publications of the society were of the most absurd and anti-christian character. He would mention three, viz., 1st, that Africa, and not America, was the true and appropriate home of the colored man; 2dly, that prejudice against color was invincible, and the elevation of the colored man, therefore, while in America, beyond the reach of humanity, legislation and religion; and, 3dly, that there should be no emancipation except for the purposes of colonization. How truly monstrous were these doctrines! How calculated to cripple exertion, to retard freedom, and mark the colored man out as a foreigner and alien, to be driven out of the country as soon as the means for his removal were provided. Such had really been the effect of the society's views upon the public mind in America. If the colored man was to be expatriated because his ancestors were Africans, then let General Jackson be sent to Ireland, because his parents were Irish; and Mr. Van Buren be sent to Holland, because his ancestors were Dutch; and let the same rule be applied to all the other white inhabitants of the country. Then would Great Britain, and France, and Germany, and Switzerland recover their children; America be delivered of her conquerors, and the red man come forth from the wilds and the wildernesses of the back country, to enjoy, in undisturbed security, the soil from which his ancestors had been driven. Mr. Breckinridge had said much respecting his (Mr. T.'s) presumption in bringing forward a resolution in Boston, so strongly condemning the measures and principles of the Colonization Society. He (Mr. T.) might be permitted to say, that if he had acted presumptuously, he had also acted boldly and honestly; and that the auditory should know, that the resolution referred to had been debated for one entire evening, and from half past nine till half past one, the next day, with the Rev. R. R. Gurley, the secretary and agent of the Colonization Society, who, for eight or nine years, had been the editor of the African Repository, and was, perhaps, better qualified than any other man in the United States, to discuss the subject—always, of course, excepting his Rev. opponent, then on the platform. He admitted, the resolution was strongly worded; that it repudiated the society as unrighteous, unnatural, and proscriptive; and declared the efforts then making to give strength and permanency to the institution, were a fraud upon the ignorance, and an outrage upon the intelligence and humanity of the community. But this country should know that he had defended his propositions, face to face, with one of the ablest champions of the cause, before two American audiences, in the city of Boston. That the assembly then before him might judge of the character of the debate, and know its result, he would read a few short extracts, taken from a respectable daily paper, published in Boston, and entirely unconnected with the Abolitionists. The editor himself, B. F. Hallett, Esq., reported the proceedings, and thus remarked:—

"One of the most interesting, masterly, and honorable discussions ever listened to in this community, took place on Friday evening and Saturday morning. The hall was as full as it could hold. * * * * * * The whole discussion was a model for courtesy and christian temper in like cases, and did great credit to all parties concerned. We question if a public debate was ever conducted in this city, in a better spirit, and with more ability. There was not a discourteous word passed, through the whole, and no occurrence which for an instant marred the entire cordiality with which the dispute was conducted. It was not men but principles that were contending, and we venture to say that no public discussion was ever managed on higher grounds, or was more deeply interesting to an audience. The resolution was put, all present being invited to vote. It was carried in the affirmative with FOUR voices in the negative."

So said the Boston Daily Advocate.

The following extracts from the published addresses of some of the most eminent and gifted supporters of the Colonization Society, would show, that the compulsory removal of the colored population, had from the first been contemplated. If it was replied, "You cannot find compulsion in the Constitution," he (Mr. T.) would rejoin, No; but herein consists the wickedness and hypocrisy of the scheme; that while it puts forth a fair face in its constitution, it does, really and in truth, contain the elements of all oppression. The written constitution of the Society was but the robe of an angel, covering an implacable and devouring demon. He would make another remark, also, before submitting the extracts in his hand. Mr. Breckinridge had strenuously endeavored to lay the guilt of the oppressive laws in the south upon the Abolitionists, declaring that those laws had resulted from the spread of Anti-slavery principles. From the passages about to be cited, and, more especially, from the words of Mr. Clay, it would be found, that long prior to the "quackery" of the Abolitionists, there had existed harsh and cruel laws, calling forth the regrets and censures of Slaveholders themselves. Even admitting the truth of what Mr. B. had said, did it follow that the truth should not therefore be published. By no means. The Israelites, in their bondage, murmured against the measures of him whom God had raised up to deliver them, and complained that their burdens had increased since Pharaoh had been remonstrated with. He would quote, for the benefit of Mr. B. a very laconic remark, by an old commentator, "When the bricks are doubled, Moses is near."

1. Charles Carrol Harper, Son of General Harper, to the voters of Baltimore, 1826. Af. Repy., vol. 2. page 188. For several years the subject of Abolition of Slavery has been brought before you. I am decidedly opposed to the project recommended. No scheme of abolition will meet my support, that leaves the emancipated blacks among us. Experience has proved that they become a corrupt and degraded class, as burthensome to themselves, as they are hurtful to the rest of society.

Again, page 189, "To permit the blacks to remain amongst us after their emancipation, would be to aggravate, and not to cure the evil."

2. Extracted with approbation from the Public Ledger, Richmond, Indiana, Af. Repy., vol. 3. page 26. "We would say, liberate them only on condition of their going to Africa or Hayti."

3. Extracts from an address delivered at Springfield, before the Hamden Col. Society, July 4th, 1828. By Wm. B. O. Peabody, Esq. published by request of the Society. Af. Repy., vol. 4. page 226. "I am not complaining of the owners of Slaves; they cannot get rid of them; it would be as humane to throw them from the decks in the middle passage, as to set them free in our country." Upon which the following eulogy is pronounced, page 230. "We need hardly say that Mr. Peabody's address is an excellent one. May its spirit universally pervade and animate the minds of our countrymen.

4. Extracts from an Address to the Col. Socy. of Kentucky, at Frankfort, Dec. 17th., 1829, by the Hon. Henry Clay. Af. Repy., vol. 6, page 5. "If the question were submitted, whether there should be immediate or gradual emancipation of all the slaves in the United States, without their removal or colonization, painful as it is to express the opinion, I have no doubt it would be unwise to emancipate them. For I believe that the aggregate of the evils which would be engendered in Society, upon the supposition of such general emancipation, and of the liberated slaves remaining promiscuously among us, would be greater than all the evils of Slavery, great as they unquestionably are."

Again, page 12. "Is there no remedy, I again ask, for the evils of which I have sketched a faint and imperfect picture? Is our posterity doomed to endure forever, not only all the ills flowing from the state of Slavery, but all which arise from incongruous elements of population, separated from each other by invincible prejudices, and by natural causes? Whatever may be the character of the remedy proposed, we may confidently pronounce it inadequate, unless it provides efficaciously for the total and absolute separation, by an extensive space of water or of land, at least of the white portion of our population, from that which is free of the colored."

5. Extracts from the speech of Geo. Washington Park Curtis at the 14th Annual meeting of the Amer. Col. Soc., Af. Repy., vol. 6. page 371-2. "Some benevolent minds in the overflowings of their philanthropy, advocate amalgamation of the two classes, saying, let the colored classes be freed and remain among us as denizens of the empire; surely all classes of mankind are alike descended from the primitive parentage of Eden, then why not intermingle in one common society as friends and brothers. No, Sir; no. I hope to prove, at no very distant day, that a Southron can make sacrifices for the cause of Colonization beyond seas, but for a Home Department in those matters, I repeat no, Sir; no. What right, I demand, have the children of Africa to a homestead in the white man's country?

"If, as is most true, the crimes of the white man robbed Africa of her sons, let atonement be made by returning the descendants of the stolen to the clime of their ancestors, and then all the claims of redeeming justice will have been discharged. There let centuries of future rights, atone for centuries of past wrongs. Let the regenerated African rise to Empire; nay, let Genius flourish, and Philosophy shed its mild beams to enlighten and instruct the posterity of Ham, returning 'redeemed and disenthralled' from their long captivity in the new world. But, Sir, be all these benefits enjoyed by the African race under the shade of their native palms. Let the Atlantic billow heave its high and everlasting barrier between their country and ours. Let this fair land which the white man won by his chivalry, which he has adorned by the arts and elegancies of polished life, be kept sacred for his descendants, untarnished by the footprint of him who hath ever been a slave."

6. Mr. Henry Clay's speech, before the Society, January 1st, 1818—2d Annual Report, page 110. "Further, several of the slaveholding states had, and perhaps all of them would, prohibit entirely, emancipation, without some such outlet was created. A sense of their own safety required the painful prohibition. Experience proved that persons turned loose who were neither freemen nor slaves, constituted a great moral evil, threatening to contaminate all parts of society. Let the colony once be successfully planted, and legislative bodies who have been grieved at the necessity of passing those 'prohibitory laws,' which at a distance might appear to 'stain our codes,' will hasten to remove the impediments to the exercise of benevolence and humanity. They will annex the condition that the emancipated shall leave the country, and he has placed a false estimate upon liberty, who believes there are many who would refuse the boon, when coupled even with such a condition."

Here there was compulsion, both in principle and precept. In the laws of Maryland, and elsewhere, were found abundant evidences of compulsion in practice, and where there were no direct acts forcing them to depart, a public sentiment had been created, which, in its manifold operations, brought the colored man, crushed and hopeless, to the conclusion, that it would be better for him to say farewell to home and country, than remain a proverb and a nuisance amongst a prejudiced and persecuting people. No colored man could justly be said to go to Liberia, or elsewhere, with his free and unconstrained consent, until the laws were equal, the treatment kind, prejudice founded on complexion destroyed, and he presented himself a voluntary agent, and asked the means to transport him to a foreign shore. As one proof that compulsion had been openly and unblushingly advocated, he would quote the words of Mr. Broadnax in the Virginia House of Delegates:——

"It is idle to talk about not resorting to force; every body must look to the introduction of force of some kind or other—and it is in truth a question of expediency, of moral justice, of political good faith—whether we shall fairly delineate our whole system on the face of the bill, or leave the acquisition of extorted consent to other processes. The real question, the only question of magnitude to be settled, is the great preliminary question—Do you intend to send the free persons of color out of Virginia, or not?

"If the free negroes are willing to go, they will go—if not willing they must be compelled to go. Some gentlemen think it politic not now to insert this feature in the bill, though they proclaim their readiness to resort to it when it becomes necessary; they think that for a year or two a sufficient number will consent to go, and then the rest can be compelled. For my part, I deem it better to approach the question and settle it at once, and avow it openly.

"I have already expressed it as my opinion that few, very few, will voluntarily consent to emigrate if no COMPULSORY measure be adopted.

"I will not express, in its full extent, the idea I entertain of what has been done, or what enormities will be perpetrated to induce this class of persons to leave the Slate. Who does not know that when a free negro, by crime or otherwise, has rendered himself obnoxious to a neighborhood, how easy it is for a party to visit him one night, take him from his bed and family, and apply to him the gentle admonition of a SEVERE FLAGELLATION, to induce Kim to consent to go away I In a few nights the dose can be repeated, perhaps increased, until, in the language of the physician, quantum sufficit has been administered to produce the desired operation; and the fellow then becomes PERFECTLY WILLING to move away.

Finally, on this part of the subject, he would cite the Rev. R. J. Breckinridge, who, at the annual meeting of the American Colonization Society, in 1834, had used the following language:—

"Two years ago I warned the Managers of this Virginia business, and yet they sent out TWO SHIP-LOADS OF VAGABONDS, not fit to go to such a place, and they were COERCED away as truly as if it had been done with a CART-WHIP.

His grand complaint against the Colonization Society was this—that instead of grappling with the reigning prejudices of the community, it falsely assumed the insensibility of those prejudices, and proceeded to legislate accordingly. They thus sanctioned and perpetuated the greatest sources of suffering and wrong to the colored population. The prejudice against the people of color had greatly increased since the formation of the Society. The present supporters of the Society were those who thoroughly loathed the free people of color, and the most cruel and sanguinary opponents of the Abolitionists were the boisterous defenders of the American Colonization Society. For example, when a mob assailed the inhabitants in New York, broke up their meetings, assaulted their persons, and sacked the house of Mr. Lewis Tappan, that mob could, in the midst of their ruffian-like and felonious exploits, most unanimously and heartily shout, "Three cheers for the Colonization Society," and "away with the niggers." In travelling in steamboats and stage coaches, he (Mr. T.) had invariably found that his most furious and malignant opponents, and the most determined haters of the black man, were loud in their profession of attachment to the principles and plans of the society. Why had not the wise and benevolent members of the society denounced that prejudice? Because the best among them were themselves partakers of that prejudice. It was evident, from all that Mr. Breckinridge had said, that he was deeply imbued with that prejudice. It gave tone, and color, and direction to all his remarks. Such men might profess to love the black man; but they were likely to be suspected of insincerity, when they uniformly manifested their love by driving the object of it as far away as possible. Such a mode of expressing love was contrary to all our ideas of the natural manifestations of that feeling. If the Colonization Society was indeed so full of benevolence and mercy, how was it that its character was so misunderstood by the colored people, for whose special benefit it had been originated? Surely they were likely to be the best judges of its effect upon their welfare and happiness. What was the fact? The entire free colored population of the United States were opposed to the expatriating project. But his opponent would say it was owing to the abuse poured upon the society by the foul-mouthed Abolitionists. He (Mr. T.) should, however, deprive the gentleman of this refuge, by laying before the meeting a very interesting fact, which would at once show the feeling of the colored people when the plan was first submitted to them. It would show, that in a meeting of three thousand, convened in the city of Philadelphia, to decide whether the society should, or should not, receive their countenance, they decided against it without a dissentient voice. He would lay before them a letter written by a highly respectable, enlightened, and wealthy gentleman of color in Philadelphia, Mr. James Forten. The letter was written to the editor of the New England Spectator, in consequence of a remark made by Mr. Gurley, during the debate in Boston.

Philadelphia, June 10th, 1835.

Rev. W. S. Porter,—Dear Sir,—I cheerfully comply with the request contained in your note of the 3d inst., to give you a brief statement of a meeting held in 1817, by the people of color in this city, to express their opinion on the Liberia project. It was the largest meeting of colored persons ever convened in Philadelphia,—I will say 3000, though I might safely add 500 more. To show you the deep interest evinced, this large assemblage remained in almost breathless and fixed attention during the reading of the resolutions and the other business of the meeting; and when the question was put in the affirmative you might have heard a pin drop, so profound was the silence. But when in the negative, one long, loud, ay, tremendous NO, from this vast audience, seemed as if it would bring down the walls of the building. Never did there appear a more unanimous opinion. Every heart seemed to feel that it was a life and death question. Yes, even then, at the very onset, when the monster came in a guise to deceive some of our firmest friends, who hailed it as the dawning of a brighter day for our oppressed race,—even then we penetrated through its thickly-laid covering, and beheld it prospectively as the scourge which in after years was to grind us to the earth, and, by a series of unrelenting persecution, force us into involuntary exile.

I was not a little surprised to learn that Mr. Gurley professed to be ignorant of this fact; for in the African Repository he reviewed Mr. Garrison's Thoughts on African Colonization; and a whole chapter of the work, if I mistake not, is taken up with the sentiments of the people of color on colonization, commencing with the Philadelphia meeting. Perhaps Mr. Gurley did not read that chapter. But if his memory is not very treacherous, he ought to have known the circumstance, for I related it to him myself in a conversation which I had with him at my house one evening, in company with the Rev. Robert J. Breckinridge, and our beloved friend, William Lloyd Garrison. The subject of colonization was warmly discussed; and I well recollect bringing our meeting of 1817 forward as a proof of our early and decided opposition to the measure. No doubt Mr. Garrison also remembers it.

Three meetings were held by us in 1817. The two first you will find in the "Thoughts on Colonization," part 2d, page 9. Of the protest and remonstrance adopted at the third meeting, I send you an exact copy. It is in answer to an address to the citizens of New York and Philadelphia, calling upon them to aid a number of persons of color, whom they said were anxious to join the projected colony in Africa. Those persons were mostly from the south, and it was to disabuse the public mind on this subject, that our meeting was held.

I remain, with great respect,

Yours, JAMES FORTEN.

He (Mr. T.) could pledge himself that such were still the feelings of the free colored people of America. Wherever they possessed a glimmering of light upon the subject, they utterly abhorred the society, and would as soon consent to be cut to pieces, as sent to any of the colonies prepared for their reception. Was it not then too bad that Christians should be called upon to support a society so utterly at variance with the wishes and feelings of the parties most nearly concerned? As a few moments yet remained, he would occupy it in quoting the opinions of two gentlemen, ministers of religion, and standing high in their own country, who had furnished lamentable evidence of the extent to which prejudice might possess otherwise strong and enlarged minds. The first quotation was from a report of a committee at the Theological Seminary at Andover, Massachusetts, presented to the Colonization Society of that institution in 1823. It was from the pen of the Rev. Leonard Bacon, now pastor of a Congregational church at New Haven, Connecticut.

"The Soodra is not farther separated from the Brahmin, in regard to all his privileges, civil, intellectual, and moral, than the negro is from the white man, by the prejudices which result from the difference made between them by the God of nature. A barrier more difficult to be surmounted than the institution of the Caste, cuts off, and while the present state of society continues, must always cut off, the negro from all that is valuable in citizenship."

The other was his opponent on that platform; who, in a letter to the New York Evangelist, had said, that emancipation, to be followed by amalgamation, at the option of the parties, would be reckless wickedness. But lest he should misrepresent that gentleman, he would turn to the paper, and quote the passage cited.

"I know that any abolition without the consent of the States holding the slaves, is impossible; that to obtain this consent on any terms, is very difficult;—that to obtain it without the prospect of extensive removal by colonization, is impossible; that to obtain it instantly on any terms, is the dream of ignorance; that to expect it instantly with subsequent equality, is frantic nonsense; and that to demand it, as an instant right, irrespective of consequences, and to be followed by amalgamation at the option of the parties, is RECKLESS WICKEDNESS!"

All the alarm created on the subject of amalgamation was totally unfounded. The views of the Abolitionists were simple and scriptural. They held that there should be no distinctions on account of color. That to treat a man with coldness, unkindness, or contempt, on account of his complexion, was to quarrel with the Maker of us all. They held that this prejudice should be given up, and the colored man be treated as a white man, according to his intellect, morality, and fitness for the duties of civil life. They did not interfere with those tastes by which human beings were regulated in entering into the nearest and most permanent relations of life. They confined themselves to the exhibition of gospel truth upon the subject, and left it to an overruling and watchful Providence to guard and control the consequences springing from a faithful and fearless discharge of duty. Mr. Thompson concluded, by observing, that he considered the readiest way to make men curse their existence and their God, was to oppress and enslave them on account of that complexion, and those peculiarities, which the Creator of the world had stamped upon them.

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Mr. BRECKINRIDGE said, he would commence with a slight allusion to two references which had been made to himself by Mr. Thompson. And in regard to certain passages which had been read from speeches of his, he would only say, that he had never written or uttered a single word on this subject, which he would not rejoice to see laid before the British public. But he had a right to complain of the manner in which these passages had been quoted. It was not fair, he contended, to break down a passage, and read only half a sentence, passing over the other half because it would not answer the purpose of the reader; in fact, because it would alter the sense of the passage altogether. He charged Mr. T. with having been guilty of this in the last quotation which he had made, and, in order to show the true meaning of the garbled passage, he would read it as it stood: [See the passage as it appears in Mr. T.'s speech.] He had read this the more particularly, in order to show the consistency of his present opinions with those which he had held and uttered two years ago. They would now perceive, he said, that when the sentence was given entire, he said, that setting the slaves free without reference to consequences, constituted a material and an omitted part of that procedure, which he had characterized as reckless wickedness, whereas by breaking it up in the middle, he was made to say, that to permit voluntary amalgamation, after instant abolition, was by itself to be so considered. He was now ready to defend this statement as he had at first made it.

The next thing he would refer to, was the report of a speech which he [Mr. B.] had delivered at an annual meeting of the American Colonization Society. And with regard to it, if he was in America, he would say, decidedly, that it was not a fair report: that it was an unfair report, got up by Mr. Leavitt, the editor of the New York Evangelist, to serve a special purpose. He would not deny that he had said something which might give a pretext for the report. He had charged the parent society with having been guilty of a gross dereliction of duty to the colony and the cause, in sending away two ships' cargoes of negroes to Liberia, who were not fit for that place, and he believed that those two expeditions had done much to injure the colony itself, as well as to impair public confidence in the firmness and judiciousness of the parent board. They were emigrants unfit to be sent out—the refuse of the counties around South Hampton in Virginia; who were hurried out by the violent state of public sentiment in that region, after the insurrection and massacre there. Like a man conscious of rectitude, he had gone to the very parties concerned, and declared his grounds of complaint; a line of conduct he could not too often commend to Mr. Thompson, and no proof could be more conclusive than this anecdote afforded, that the active friends of colonization in America, however they might differ about details, meant kindly by the blacks, and by Africa. Mr. B. again expressed his surprise that Mr. Thompson should occupy the time of the meeting by repeating his own speeches. He had adverted to this matter before, he said, and as he was in a poor state of health, and had work elsewhere, and as there was much ground yet to go over, and Mr. T. declared his materials to be most abundant, he thought those repetitions might have been spared. They who took the trouble to read the published speeches of this gentleman, would find, that however exhaustless might be the boasted stores of his facts, proofs, and illustrations, about what he called "American Slavery," he was exceedingly economical of them. After reading six or seven of them, he found them so very like each other, that the same stories, in the same order, and the same illustrations, in the same sequence, and the same unfounded charges, in the same terms of unmeasured bitterness, may be often expected, and never in vain. Indeed, so meagre was his supply of wit, even, that it also went on very few changes. The whole case exhibiting a most striking illustration of the truth uttered in a personal sense by one of their own statesmen and scholars, and now proved to be of general application, namely, that when a man resorted to his memory for his jokes, it was very probable that he would draw upon his imagination for his facts. As he [Mr. B.] had been so often asked to produce certain placards for the purpose of substantiating some of his statements, there could be no better connexion in which to call upon Mr. Thompson to bring forward proof of those charges which he brought against certain persons, and classes of persons, unless he wished the world to believe that he had brought those charges without having a single iota of evidence on which to found them. He would call upon Mr. Thompson to bring forward his proofs in support of all those charges, those reckless and extravagant charges, which he brought against the ministers of religion in America. Mr. Thompson had stood before several London audiences with a runaway slave from America, who charged certain individuals with unparalleled cruelty! Amongst other things, with burning a slave alive; a matter to which Mr. T's attention had in vain been called, and his proofs demanded. He would take no further notice of the gross things he had uttered of the president of the United States than to say, that if he (Mr. B.) could condescend to imitate his conduct, and utter ribaldrous things of the king of Great Britain, he should richly deserve to be turned with contempt out of this sacred place. He would proceed, then, with his remarks on the Maryland colonization scheme. They had been told by Mr. T. that the object of the Maryland society was compulsory expatriation, as a condition precedent to freedom. When proof of this was required, he could bring none; and when he (Mr. B.) had showed that it was not so, but that its object was of unmixed good to the blacks, an object accomplished as to many, on their showing, in the proof produced, Mr. Thompson turned round, and said, that it was entirely contrary to his preconceived notions, and repeated statements, and must be false! But facts were better than notions and statements both. And what were the facts in the present case? Why, that on the one hand Mr. Thompson asserts that no slave can be manumitted in Maryland except he will instantly depart the country; whereas Messrs. Harper, Howard and Hoffman assert, in an official report, on the 31st of last December, that 299 manumissions within that state had been officially reported to them within a year, and 1101 within four years. At the same moment I have produced a record of the very names and periods of emigration, of 140, bond and free, all told, who, within the same four years, under the action of the very laws in question, had gone from the state; admitting half of whom to be of those particular manumitted slaves, there would be left 1021 more of them to prove that Mr. T. either totally misunderstood, or mis-stated, that of which he affirms—either way, his assertions are demonstrated to be untrue. As to the laws of Maryland, of which mention had been made, he had not seen them since his visit to Boston two years ago, and in adverting to them he had stated in general terms what he understood them to be. The great object of these laws was said to be the driving out of the free blacks from the state of Maryland. Now that the means taken to promote this end were not of that grinding and iniquitous character which Mr. Thompson had represented them as being, would be sufficiently obvious to the meeting, when it was considered that in that state there were three times the number of free persons of color, than were to be found in the majority of the free states, and considerably more than there were in any other state in the Union. If the laws were found more oppressive in Maryland, how did it come that the free blacks congregated there from all other parts of America? Or if they were set free by the people so much opposed to their increase, why did they not rather go to Pennsylvania, which was separated from Maryland only by an imaginary line, and where free blacks enjoyed almost the same rights as white men? But, again, it was said, that that colonization scheme was an awfully wicked scheme, because it sought to prevent the increase of free persons of color in Maryland. But if this were a grievous sin, were the people of Great Britain not equally guilty in sending away out of the country ship loads of paupers, free whites, to other parts of the globe, in order to prevent the increase of pauperism in this country? Why had not this branch of the subject been adverted to by Mr. Thompson? Why had he not, in the paroxysms of his enfuriated eloquence, while abusing the American colonizationists, not included the king and parliament of Britain for allowing the existence of laws, or if there be no such law, for a practice rife in England, of expatriating thousands of paupers not only by contributions, but at the public expense. He would be told that the paupers were sent away to distant parts of the globe, where they would be more comfortable in every respect than they were at present. And had Mr. T. bowels of compassion only for the black man? Is it lawful to export a white man against his will, at the public charge, while it is unlawful to export a black man, with his free consent, by private benevolence? Is America so detestable a place, that England may lawfully make her the receptacle of the refuse of the poor houses of the realm; while Africa is so sacred a place, that no one that can even do her good is to be permitted to go there from America, if his skin is dark? May Britain say, she has more paupers than she can support, and so make it state policy to force emigration from Ireland, by a system which makes a quarter of the people there beg bread eight months out of twelve, and produces inexpressible distress; and yet is Maryland to be precluded, on any account, or upon any terms, from seeking the diminution, or rather preventing the disproportionate increase, of a population, anomalous, and difficult of proper regulation? He should be most happy to receive an explanation of these strange contradictions! There was another feature of the Maryland laws, which he might mention, which forbade the emigration of slaves into Maryland, even along with their owners. Mr. Thompson had prudently omitted all notice of that enactment, while he had said a great deal about the registration of free persons of color, as if it were a most intolerable hardship. He (Mr. B.) was unable to see in what respect the great hardship consisted. Was not every freeholder in this country registered? But the free black was not allowed to leave the state of Maryland without giving notice, it was said. There was nothing very oppressive in all that. It was no worse interference on the part of the government, than for the king of Great Britain to say to his subjects, You must return home under certain contingencies; you shall not dwell in particular places, nor fight for certain nations. Were the governments of America, because they were republicans, not to have the power which other nations had, of controlling the actions of that portion of their population, whose movements must be regarded by all who regarded the peace of society or the public good. He admitted, that some of the laws in several of the states were hard and severe in reference to the free colored population, but while he said so, it was but fair to add that he considered the conduct of the abolitionists, in spreading their new fangled notions, had done much to alter these laws for the worse. In many instances the bad laws had become worse, and good laws had become bad, solely through the imprudent conduct of Mr. Thompson's associates. And this specific law of registration, and loss of right of residence, by removal for any considerable time out of the state, was obviously intended to prevent free persons of color from going out and becoming imbued with false and bloody theories, and then returning to disturb the public peace. The law says to them, Abide at home, or, if you prefer it, depart, and find a home more to your mind; but if you go, prudence requests us to prohibit your return. Mr. T.'s complaints of this enactment, showed how necessary it was to have made it.

In conclusion, he would recommend to Mr. Thompson, should he ever return to America, he need not be so tremendously prudent in regard to his personal safety, if he would just not be so tremendously imprudent in the principles and proceedings he advocated, and the statements he made with regard to the conduct of the American people. He had now gone over the assertions of Mr. Thompson, regarding the Maryland colonization scheme, and he trusted that he had shown the unfounded nature of those assertions. All that had been said by Mr. T. as to the principles and objects of the colonizationists, and the scope and influence of their course, had no other proof than the writings of those persons, who for some years, had formed a very small portion of the supporters of this great interest; and who, without exception, belonged to those classes, who at first, as had already been admitted, supported it, for reasons, some of which were entirely political, others perhaps severe to the slaves, and others unjust or inconsiderate towards the free blacks. But that directly opposite views, statements and arguments, could be more amply procured from the still greater, and still proportionately increasing party, who support this cause, as a great benevolent and religious operation, must be perfectly known to the individual himself. If he admit this, said Mr. B., it will show his present course to be of the same uncandid kind with all the rest of his conduct towards America, in selecting what answered his purpose; that always being the worst thing he could find, and representing it as a fair sample of all. It will do more, it will show that what he calls proof is no proof at all. But if he denies my repeated representations as to the various classes of the original supporters of the parent society, and the present state of them, I am equally content; as, in that case, all America would have a fair criterion by which to test his statements. As to the Maryland plan, and that pursued by the united societies of Philadelphia and New York, if they have any supporters except such as love the cause of the black man, of temperance, and of peace, the world has yet to find it out.

The time being expired, Mr. B. sat down.

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