Thoughts on African Colonization Part 16

Of this I am sure: no man, who is truly willing to admit the people of color to an equality with himself, can see any insuperable difficulty in effecting their elevation. When, therefore, I hear an individual--especially a professor of Christianity--strenuously contending that there can be no fellows.h.i.+p with them, I cannot help suspecting the sincerity of his own republicanism or piety, or thinking that the beam is in his own eye. My bible a.s.sures me that the day is coming when even the 'wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid, and the wolf and the young lion and the fatling together;' and, if this be possible, I see no cause why those of the same species--G.o.d's rational creatures--fellow countrymen, in truth, cannot dwell in harmony together.

How abominably hypocritical, how consummately despicable, how incorrigibly tyrannical must this whole nation appear in the eyes of the people of Europe!--professing to be the _friends_ of the free blacks, actuated by the purest motives of benevolence toward them, desirous to make atonement for past wrongs, challenging the admiration of the world for their patriotism, philanthropy and piety--and yet (hear, O heaven!

and be astonished, O earth!) shamelessly proclaiming, with a voice louder than thunder, and an aspect malignant as sin, that while their colored countrymen remain among them, they must be trampled beneath their feet, treated as inferior beings, deprived of all the invaluable privileges of freemen, separated by the brand of indelible ignominy, and debased to a level with the beasts that peris.h.!.+ Yea, that they may as soon change their complexion as rise from their degradation! that no device of philanthropy can benefit them here! that they const.i.tute a cla.s.s out of which _no individual can be elevated_, and below which, _none can be depressed_! that no talents however great, no piety however pure and devoted, no patriotism however ardent, no industry however great, no wealth however abundant, can raise them to a footing of equality with the whites! that 'let them toil from youth to old age in the honorable pursuit of wisdom--let them store their minds with the most valuable researches of science and literature--and let them add to a highly gifted and cultivated intellect, a piety pure, undefiled, and unspotted from the world, _it is all nothing_--they would not be received into the _very lowest walks of society_--admiration of such uncommon beings would mingle with _disgust_!' Yea, that 'there is a broad and impa.s.sible line of demarcation between every man who has _one drop_ of African blood in his veins and every other cla.s.s in the community'! Yea, that 'the habits, the feelings, all the prejudices of society--prejudices which neither _refinement_, nor _argument_, nor _education_, nor RELIGION itself can subdue--mark the people of color, whether bond or free, as the subjects of a degradation _inevitable_ and _incurable_'! Yea, that '_Christianity_ cannot do for them here, what it will do for them in Africa'! Yea, that 'this is not the fault of the colored man, NOR OF THE WHITE MAN, nor of Christianity; but AN ORDINATION OF PROVIDENCE, _and no more to be changed than the_ LAWS OF NATURE'!!!

Again I ask, are we pagans, are we savages, are we devils? Search the records of heathenism, and sentiments more hostile to the spirit of the gospel, or of a more black and blasphemous complexion than these, cannot be found. I believe that they are libels upon the character of my countrymen, which time will wipe off. I call upon the spirits of the just made perfect in heaven, upon all who have experienced the love of G.o.d in their souls here below, upon the christian converts in India and the islands of the sea, to sustain me in the a.s.sertion that there _is_ power enough in the religion of Jesus Christ to melt down the most stubborn prejudices, to overthrow the highest walls of part.i.tion, to break the strongest caste, to improve and elevate the most degraded, to unite in fellows.h.i.+p the most hostile, and to equalize and bless all its recipients. Make me _sure_ that there is not, and I will give it up, now and for ever. 'In Christ Jesus, all are one: there is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female.'

These sentiments were not uttered by infidels, nor by worthless wretches, but in many instances by professors of religion and _ministers of the gospel_! and in almost every instance by reputedly the most enlightened, patriotic and benevolent men in the land! Tell it not abroad! publish it not in the streets of Calcutta! Even the eminent President of Union College, (Rev. Dr. Nott,) could so far depart, unguardedly I hope, from christian love and integrity, as to utter this language in an address in behalf of the Colonization Society:--'With us they [the free people of color] have been degraded by slavery, and _still further degraded by the mockery of nominal freedom_.' Were this true, it would imply that we of the free States are more barbarous and neglectful than even the traffickers in souls and men-stealers at the south. We have not, it is certain, treated our colored brethren as the law of kindness and the ties of brotherhood demand; but have we outdone slaveholders in cruelty? Were it true, to forge new fetters for the limbs of these degraded beings would be an act of benevolence. But their condition is as much superior to that of the slaves, as happiness is to misery. The second portion of this work, containing their proceedings in a collective capacity, shows whether they have made any progress in intelligence, in virtue, in piety, and in happiness, since their liberation. Again he says: '_We have endeavored_, but endeavored in vain, _to restore them either to self-respect, or to the respect of others_.' It is painful to contradict so worthy an individual; but nothing is more certain than that this statement is altogether erroneous. We have derided, we have shunned, we have neglected them, in every possible manner. They have had to rise not only under the mountainous weight of their own ignorance and vice, but with the additional and constant pressure of our contempt and injustice. In despite of us, they have done well. Again: '_It is not our fault that we have failed_; it is not theirs.' We _are_ wholly and exclusively in fault. What have we done to raise them up from the earth? What have we _not_ done to keep them down? Once more: 'It has resulted from a cause over which neither they, nor we, can ever have control.' In other words, they have been made with skins not colored like our own,' and _therefore_ we cannot recognise them as fellow-countrymen, or treat them like rational beings! One sixth of our whole population _must_, FOR EVER, in this land, remain a wretched, ignorant and degraded race,--and yet n.o.body be culpable--_none but the Creator_ who has made us _incapable_ of doing unto others as we would have them do unto us!

Horrible--horrible! If this be not an impeachment of Infinite Goodness,--I do not say intentionally but _really_,--I cannot define it.

The same sentiment is reiterated by a writer in the Southern Religious Telegraph, who says--'The exclusion of the free black from the civil and literary privileges of our country, depends on another circ.u.mstance than that of character--a circ.u.mstance, which, as it was entirely beyond his control, so it is unchangeable, and will for ever operate. This circ.u.mstance is--_he is a black man_'!! And the Board of Managers of the Parent Society, in their Fifteenth Annual Report, declare that '_an ordination of Providence_' prevents the general improvement of the people of color in this land! How are G.o.d and our country dishonored, and the requirements of the gospel contemned, by this unG.o.dly plea!

Having satisfied himself that the Creator is alone blameable for the past and present degradation of the free blacks, Dr. Nott draws the natural and unavoidable inference that 'here, therefore, they must be _for ever debased, for ever useless, for ever a nuisance, for ever a calamity_,' and then gravely declares (mark the climax!) 'and yet THEY, [these ignorant, helpless, miserable creatures!] AND THEY ONLY, are qualified for colonizing Africa'!! 'Why then,' he asks, '_in the name of G.o.d_,'--(the abrupt appeal, in this connexion, seems almost profane,)--'should we hesitate to encourage their departure?'

Nature, we are positively a.s.sured, has raised up impa.s.sable barriers between the races. I understand by this expression, that the blacks are of a different species from ourselves, so that all attempts to generate offspring between us and them must prove as abortive, as between a man and a beast. It is a law of Nature that the lion shall not beget the lamb, or the leopard the bear. Now the planters at the south have clearly demonstrated, that an amalgamation with their slaves is not only possible, but a matter of course, and eminently productive. It neither ends in abortion nor produces monsters. In truth, it is often so difficult in the slave States to distinguish between the fruits of this intercourse and the children of white parents, that witnesses are summoned at court to solve the problem! Talk of the barriers of Nature, when the land swarms with living refutations of the statement! Happy indeed would it be for many a female slave, if such a barrier could exist during the period of her servitude to protect her from the l.u.s.t of her master!

In France,[W] England,[X] Spain, and other countries, persons of color maintain as high a rank and are treated as honorably as any other cla.s.s of the inhabitants, in despite of the 'impa.s.sable barriers of Nature.'

Yet it is proclaimed to the world by the Colonization Society, that the American people can never be as republican in their feelings and practices as Frenchmen, Spaniards or Englishmen! Nay, that _religion_ itself cannot subdue their malignant prejudices, or induce them to treat their dark-skinned brethren in accordance with their professions of republicanism! My countrymen! is it so? Are you willing thus to be held up as tyrants and hypocrites for ever? as less magnanimous and just than the populace of Europe? No--no! I cannot give you up as incorrigibly wicked, nor my country as sealed over to destruction. My confidence remains, like the oak--like the Alps--unshaken, storm-proof. I am not discouraged--I am not distrustful. I still place an unwavering reliance upon the omnipotence of truth. I still believe that the demands of justice will be satisfied; that the voice of bleeding humanity will melt the most obdurate hearts; and that the land will be redeemed and regenerated by an enlightened and energetic public opinion. As long as there remains among us a single copy of the Declaration of Independence, or of the New Testament, I will not despair of the social and political elevation of my sable countrymen. Already a rallying-cry is heard from the East and the West, from the North and the South; towns and cities and states are in commotion; volunteers are trooping to the field; the spirit of freedom and the fiend of oppression are in mortal conflict, and all neutrality is at an end. Already the line of division is drawn: on one side are the friends of truth and liberty, with their banner floating high in the air, on which are inscribed in letters of light, 'IMMEDIATE ABOLITION'--'NO COMPROMISE WITH OPPRESSORS'--'EQUAL RIGHTS'--'NO EXPATRIATION'--'DUTY, AND NOT CONSEQUENCES'--'LET JUSTICE BE DONE, THOUGH THE HEAVENS SHOULD FALL!'--On the opposite side stand the supporters and apologists of slavery in mighty array, with a black flag on which are seen in b.l.o.o.d.y characters, 'AFRICAN COLONIZATION'--'GRADUAL ABOLITION'--'RIGHTS OF PROPERTY'--'POLITICAL EXPEDIENCY'--'NO EQUALITY'--'NO REPENTANCE'--'EXPULSION OF THE BLACKS'--'PROTECTION TO TYRANTS!'--Who can doubt the issue of this controversy, or which side has the approbation of the Lord of Hosts?

In the African Repository for September, 1831, there is an elaborate defence of the Colonization Society, in which occurs the following pa.s.sage:--'It has been said that the Society is unfriendly to the improvement of the free people of color while they remain in the United States. _The charge is not true._' I reiterate the charge; and the evidence of its correctness is before the reader. The Society prevents the education of this cla.s.s in the most insidious and effectual manner, by constantly a.s.serting that they must always be a degraded people in this country, and that the cultivation of their minds will avail them nothing. Who does not readily perceive that the prevalence of this opinion must at once paralyze every effort for their improvement? For it would be a waste of time and means, and unpardonable folly, for us to attempt the accomplishment of an impossible work--of that which we know will result in disappointment. Every discriminating and candid mind must see and acknowledge, that, to perpetuate their ignorance, it is only necessary to make the belief prevalent that they 'must be for ever debased, for ever useless, for ever an inferior race,' and their thraldom is sure.

I am aware that a school has been established for the education of colored youth, under the auspices of the Society; but it is sufficient to state that none but those who consent to emigrate to Liberia are embraced in its provisions.

In the Appendix to the Seventh Annual Report, p. 94, the position is a.s.sumed that 'it is a well established point, that the public safety forbids either the emanc.i.p.ation or _general instruction_ of the slaves.'

The recent enactment of laws in some of the slave States, prohibiting the instruction of free colored persons as well as slaves, has received something more than a tacit approval from the organ of the Society. A prominent advocate of the Society, (G. P. Disosway, Esq.,) in an oration on the fourth of July, 1831, alluding to these laws, says,--'The public safety of our brethren at the South requires them [the slaves] to be kept ignorant and uninstructed.' The Editor of the Southern Religious Telegraph, who is a clergyman and a warm friend of the colonization scheme, remarking upon the instruction of the colored population of Virginia, says:

'Teaching a servant to read, is not teaching him the religion of Christ. The great majority of the white people of our country are taught to read; but probably not one in five, of those who have the Bible, is _a christian_, in the legitimate sense of the term. If black people are as depraved and as averse to true religion as the white people are--and we know of no difference between them in this respect--teaching them to read the Bible will make christians of _very_ few of them. [What a plea!] ...

If christian masters were to teach their servants to read, we apprehend that they would not feel the obligation as they ought to feel it, of giving them oral instruction, and often impressing divine truth on their minds. [!!] ... If the free colored people were generally taught to read, _it might be an inducement to them to remain in this country_. WE WOULD OFFER THEM NO SUCH INDUCEMENT. [!!] ... A knowledge of letters and of all the arts and sciences, cannot counteract the influences under which the character of the negro _must_ be formed in this country.... It appears to us that a greater benefit may be conferred on the free colored people, by planting good schools for them in Africa, and encouraging them to remove there, than by giving them the knowledge of letters to make them contented in their present condition.'--[Telegraph of Feb. 19, 1831.]

Jesuitism was never more subtle--Papal domination never more exclusive.

The gospel of peace and mercy preached by him who holds that ignorance is the mother of devotion! who would sequestrate the bible from the eyes of his fellow men! who contends that knowledge is the enemy of religion!

who denies the efficacy of education in elevating a degraded population!

who would make men brutes in order to make them better christians! who desires to make the clergy infallible guides to heaven! Now what folly and impiety is all this! Besides, is it not mockery to preach repentance, and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, to the benighted blacks, and at the same time deny them the right and ability to 'search the scriptures' for themselves?

The proposition which was made last year to erect a College for the education of colored youth in New-Haven, it is well known, created an extraordinary and most disgraceful tumult in that place, (the hot-bed of African colonization,) and was generally scouted by the friends of the Society in other places. The American Spectator at Was.h.i.+ngton, (next to the African Repository, the mouth-piece of the Society,) used the following language, in relation to the violent proceedings of the citizens of New-Haven: 'We not only _approve the course_, which they have pursued, but we _admire the moral courage_, which induced them, _for the love of right_, (!) to incur the censure of both sections of the country.'

As a farther ill.u.s.tration of the complacency with which colonizationists regard the laws prohibiting the instruction of the blacks, I extract the following paragraph from the 'Proceedings of the New-York State Colonization Society, on its second anniversary:'

'It is the business of the free--_their safety requires it_--to keep the slaves in ignorance. Their education is utterly prohibited. Educate them, and they break their fetters. Suppose the slaves of the south to have the knowledge of freemen, they would be free, or be exterminated by the whites. This renders it necessary to prevent their instruction--to keep them from Sunday Schools, and other means of gaining knowledge. But a few days ago, a proposition was made in the legislature of Georgia, to allow them so much instruction as to enable them to read the bible; which was promptly rejected by a large majority. I do not mention this for the purpose of _condemning the policy_ of the slaveholding States, but to lament its _necessity_.'

Elias B. Caldwell, one of the founders, and the first Secretary of the Parent Society, in a speech delivered at its formation, advanced the following monstrous sentiments:

'The more you improve the condition of these people, the more you cultivate their minds, the more _miserable_ you make them in their present state. You give them a higher relish for those privileges _which they can never attain_, and turn what you intend for a blessing into a curse. No, if they must remain in their present situation, _keep them in the lowest state of ignorance and degradation_. The nearer you bring them to the condition of _brutes_, the better chance do you give them of possessing their apathy.'

So, then, the American Colonization Society advocates, and to a great extent perpetuates the ignorance and degradation of the colored population of the United States!

In a critical examination of the pages of the African Repository, and of the reports and addresses of the Parent Society and its auxiliaries, I cannot find in a single instance any impeachment of the conduct and feelings of society toward the people of color, or any hint that the prejudice which is so prevalent against them is unmanly and sinful, or any evidence of contrition for past injustice, or any remonstrance or entreaty with a view to a change of public sentiment, or any symptoms of moral indignation at such unchristian and anti-republican treatment. On the contrary, I find the doctrine every where inculcated that this hatred and contempt, this abuse and proscription, are not only excusable, but the natural, inevitable and incurable effects of const.i.tutional dissimilitude, growing out of an ordination of Providence, for which there is no remedy but a separation between the two races. If the free blacks, then, have been 'still further degraded by the mockery of nominal freedom,' if they 'must always be a separate and degraded race,' if 'degradation must and will press them to the earth,' if from their present station 'they can never rise, be their talents, their enterprise, their virtues what they may,' if 'in Africa alone, they can enjoy the motives for honorable ambition,' the American Colonization Society is responsible for their debas.e.m.e.nt and misery; for as it numbers among its supporters the most influential men in our country, and boasts of having the approbation of an overwhelming majority of the wise and good whose examples are laws, it is able, were it willing, to effect a radical change in public sentiment--nay, it is at the present time public sentiment itself. But though it has done much, and may do more, (all that it can it will do,) to depress, impoverish and dispirit the free people of color, and to strengthen and influence mutual antipathies, it is the purpose of G.o.d, I am fully persuaded, to humble the pride of the American people by rendering the expulsion of our colored countrymen utterly impracticable, and the necessity for their admission to equal rights imperative. As neither mountains of prejudice, nor the ma.s.sy shackles of law and of public opinion, have been able to keep them down to a level with slaves, I confidently antic.i.p.ate their exaltation among ourselves. Through the vista of time,--a short distance only,--I see them here, not in Africa, not bowed to the earth, or derided and persecuted as at present, not with a downcast air or an irresolute step, but standing erect as men destined heavenward, unembarra.s.sed, untrammelled, with none to molest or make them afraid.

FOOTNOTES:

[V] Walker's Appeal.

[W] Why is it that the free people of color are now, in almost every part of our country, threatened with banishment from State to State, and with hunting from city to city, until there shall be no place for the soles of their feet in this their native land? Is it because they are in reality, as slaveholders tell us, an inferior race of beings? No, my friends: their consistent conduct, their polished manners, and their great respectability, wherever they have enjoyed the advantages of equality of education and equality of motives, proclaim the contrary.

The true cause of this almost universal prescription is to be found in the melancholy fact that we have been guilty of the most atrocious injustice to their forefathers and to themselves. We would therefore now banish the evidence of our guilt from before our eyes: for whom a man has injured, he is almost sure to hate. Some of the finest men I met with, during a residence of three years in London and Paris, were the offspring of African mothers. There no distinction is made in any grade of society, on account of color. I have repeatedly seen black gentlemen sitting on the sofas, conversing with the ladies, at the hospitable mansion of that universal philanthropist, LAFAYETTE; and there were no persons present who appeared more respectable, or who were more respected.--[Address of Arnold Buffum, President of the New-England Anti-Slavery Society, delivered in Boston, Feb. 16, 1832.]

[X] In England, it is common to see respectable and genteel people open their pews when a black stranger enters the church; and at hotels, n.o.body thinks it a degradation to have a colored traveller sit at the same table. We have heard a well authenticated anecdote, which ill.u.s.trates the different state of feeling in the two countries on this subject. A wealthy American citizen was residing at London for a season, which time the famous Mr Prince Saunders was there. The London breakfast hour is very late; and Prince Saunders happened to call upon the American while his family were taking their morning repast. Politeness and native good feelings prompted the lady to ask her guest to take a cup of coffee--but then the _prejudices of society_--how could she overcome _them_? True, he was a gentleman in character, manners and dress; but he had a black skin; and how could white skins sit at the same table with him? If his _character_ had been as black as perdition, the difficulty might have been overcome, however reluctantly; but his _skin_ being black, it was altogether out of the question. So the lady sipped her coffee, and Prince Saunders sat at the window, occasionally speaking in reply to conversation addressed to him. At last all retired from the breakfast table--and then the lady, with an air of sudden recollection, said, 'I forgot to ask if you had breakfasted, Mr Saunders! Won't you let me give you a cup of coffee?' 'I thank you, madam,' he replied, with a dignified bow, 'I am engaged to breakfast with the PRINCE REGENT this morning!'

We laugh at the narrow bigotry of the Mahometan, who feels contaminated if a Christian shares his dinner, and who will not give his vile carca.s.s burial, for fear of pollution. Is our prejudice against persons of color more rational or more just? The plain fact is, our prejudice has the same foundation as that of the Mahometan--both are grounded in pride and selfishness. A law has lately pa.s.sed in Turkey, imposing a fine upon whoever shall call a Christian a dog. _Let us try to keep pace with the Turks in candor and benevolence._--[Ma.s.sachusetts Journal and Tribune.]

SECTION X.

THE AMERICAN COLONIZATION SOCIETY DECEIVES AND MISLEADS THE NATION.

It is now about fifteen years since the American Colonization Society sprang into existence--a s.p.a.ce of time amply sufficient to test its ability. In its behalf the pulpit and the press (two formidable engines) have been exerted to an extraordinary degree; statesmen, and orators, and judges, and lawyers, and philanthropists, have eloquently advocated its claims to public patronage. During this protracted period, and with such powerful auxiliaries, a careless observer might naturally suppose that much must have been accomplished towards abolis.h.i.+ng slavery. But what is the fact? Less than one hundred and fifty souls have been removed annually to Africa--in all, about two thousand souls in fifteen years!!--a drop from the Atlantic ocean--a grain of earth from the American continent! In the mean time, the increase of the slaves has amounted to upwards of _half a million_! and every week more than _one thousand_ new-born victims are added to their number. Before a vessel, with one hundred and fifty pa.s.sengers, can go to and return from Africa, more than ten thousand slave infants will have been added to our population: while she is preparing to depart, or waiting for a fair wind, the increase will freight her many times.

The following eloquent and comprehensive Circular (published last year in London by Capt. Charles Stuart, in consequence of the visit of Elliott Cresson, an agent who was sent out to dupe the philanthropists of England) exhibits the inefficiency and criminality of the Society in a striking light:

'AMERICAN COLONIZATION SOCIETY. LIBERIA.--This Society was formed in the United States, in 1817.

Its Thirteenth Annual Report has just reached this country.

Its object, as expressed by itself, (see the Thirteenth Report, page 41, app. 9, art. 2,) "Is to promote and execute a plan for colonizing the free people of color, residing in 'the United States' in Africa, or such other place as Congress shall deem most expedient."

The facts of the case are these:

1. That the United States have about 2,000,000 enslaved blacks.

2. That they have about 500,000 free blacks.

3. That both these cla.s.ses are rapidly increasing.

4. That both are exceedingly depressed and degraded.

The duty of the United States to them, is the same exactly as we owe to our colored fellow-subjects in our slave colonies, viz.

to obey G.o.d, by letting them go free, by placing them beneath wise and equitable laws, and by loving them all, and treating them like brethren; that is to say, the unquestionable duty of the people of the United States is to emanc.i.p.ate their 2,000,000 slaves, and to raise the 500,000 free colored people to that estimation in their native country which is due to them.

But the American Colonization Society deliberately rejects both of these first great duties, and confines itself to the colonization in Africa of the free colored people. They say, in page 5, of their Thirteenth Report, "To abolition she could not look--and need not look." It "could do nothing in the slave States for the cause of humanity;" and in page 8, "Emanc.i.p.ation, with the liberty to remain on this side of the Atlantic, is but an act of dreamy madness."

Now in thus deliberately letting the great crime of negro slavery alone; and in thus subst.i.tuting a little restricted act of very dubious benevolence to a few, for the great and sacred duty of right which they owe to all,--they hurt the great cause of everlasting truth and love, in the following particulars:

1. By offering to the nation a hope, at which many of their best men seem eagerly grasping, of getting rid of the colored people abroad--they conduce more and more, as this hope prevails, to keep out of mind the superior, unalterable, and immediate duty of righting them at home.

2. By removing whatever number it be, from their native country, the number which remains must be diminished,--and the more the number which remains is diminished, the more helpless will they become--the less will be the hope of their ever recovering their own liberty--and the more and longer will they be trampled upon.

3. The more the people of the United States (and this is equally true of Great Britain) subst.i.tute a _half-way_ duty, difficult, expensive, and partial as it must be, and criminal as it unquestionably is--for the _whole_ duty which they owe their negro fellow-subjects, of putting them, before the law, upon a par with themselves--the less will they be likely to feel their sin in continuing to wrong them; and the less they feel their sin, the less likely will they be to repent of it, and to do their duty.

4. The greater the number of slaves transported, the greater will be the value of the labor of those who remain; the more valuable their labor is, the greater will be the temptation to over-labor them, and the more, of course, they will be oppressed.

5. The American Colonization Society directly supports the false and cruel idea that the native country of the colored people of the United States, is not their native country, and that they never can be happy until they either exile themselves, or are exiled; and thus powerfully conduces to extinguish in them all those delightful hopes, and to prevent all that glorious exertion, which would make them a blessing to their country. In this particular, the American Colonization Society takes up a falsehood, as cruel to the colored people, as it is disgraceful to themselves; dwells upon it, as if it were an irrefragable truth; urges it, as such, upon others; and thus endeavors with all its force, to make _that practically true_, which is one of the greatest stains in the American character; which is one of the greatest scourges that could possibly afflict the free colored people; and which, in itself, is essentially and unalterably false. For be the pertinacity of prejudice what it may, in a.s.serting that the blacks of America never can be amalgamated in all respects, in equal brotherhood with the whites, it will not the less remain an everlasting truth, that the wickedness which produced and perpetuates the a.s.sertion, is the only ground of the difficulty, and that all that is requisite to remove the whole evil, is the relenting in love of the proud and cruel spirit which produced it. Could the American Colonization Society succeed in establis.h.i.+ng their views on this subject, as being really true of the people of the United States, it would only prove that the people of the United States were past repentance; that they were given over, through their obstinacy in sin, finally to believe a lie; to harden themselves, and to perish in their iniquity. But they have not succeeded in establis.h.i.+ng this fearful fact against themselves; and as long as they continue capable of repentance, it _never_ can be true, that the proud and baneful prejudices which now so cruelly alienate them from their colored brethren, may not, will not, must not, yield to the sword of the Spirit, to the Word of G.o.d, to the blessed weapons of truth and love.

The American Colonization Society is beautiful and beneficial as far as it supports the cause commenced at Sierra Leone, by introducing into Africa, civilization, commerce, and genuine Christianity--by checking the African slave trade--and by serving in love the emigrants who choose to pa.s.s to Liberia.