judices of slave-holders. Not only are the blacks excluded in that State from the benefit of public schools, but with a refinement of cruelty unparalleled, they are doomed to idleness and poverty, by a law which renders a white man who employs a colored one to labor for him one hour, liable for his support through life!! By a late law of Maryland, a free negro coming into the State, is liable to a fine of fifty dollars for every week he remains in it. If he cannot pay the fine, he is sold. In Louisiana, the penalty for instructing a free black in a Sunday School, is, for the first offence, five hundred dollars; for the second offence, DEATH!! Such, in a greater or less degree, is the situation of three hundred thousand of our fellow-citizens; and the only comfort, the only consolation, the only mitigation of their sufferings, which a Society, said to be “full of benevolence, and the hallowed impulses of Heaven's own mercy," proposes, or even wishes for them, is their transportation to Africa! Is this a harsh assertion? Let us attend to the proofs that THE SOCIETY DISCOURAGES ALL ATTEMPTS TO IM PROVE THE CONDITION of the FREE BLACKS. We have already seen, that the managers of the American Colonization Society officially declare, that, in their opinion, no human power can remove the causes which prevent the improvement and elevation of the free negroes to any considerable extent in this country; and that the New York Society, in addressing the Legislature, express their desire, that the provisions in the constitution and statute book of that State relative to the blacks, may “stand in all their rigor." The provision in the constitution here alluded to, is that recent one, which, by requiring a freehold qualification, virtually deprived the blacks of the elective franchise, which the fathers of the revolution had given them. In the Convention by which the new constitution was formed, many of the most distinguished citizens and able lawyers, including Rufus King and Chancellor Kent, had protested against this proscription as unjust and anti-republican; but the Colonization Society declare to the Legislature, without whose consent this provision cannot be changed, that they wish it to stand in all its rigor. Not contented with giving their sanction to past acts of injustice, the Society use their influence with the Legislature to prevent its benevolent operation in future. Their Memorial proceeds :-"Persuaded that their condition here is not susceptible of a radical and permanent improvement, we would deprecate any legislation that should encourage the vain and injurious hope of it." The Connecticut Colonization Society, in their address already quoted, denies that even "religion itself" can subdue the prejudices existing against these people. The same address authoritatively decides, that the free blacks "constitute a class by themselves, a class out of which no individual can be elevated." The Kentucky State Colonization Society, in their official address, say, "It is against this increase of colored persons, who take but a nominal freedom, and cannot rise from their degraded condition, that this Society attempts to provide." Af. Rep. VI. 82. "The people of color must, in this country, remain for ages, probably forever, a separate and distinct caste, weighed down by causes powerful, universal, invincible, which neither legislation, NOR CHRISTIANITY, can remove." Af. Rep. Edit. Art. VII. 196. "We have endeavored, but in vain, to restore them (the free negroes) either to self respect, or to the respect of others. It is not our fault that we have failed. It is not theirs. It has resulted from a cause over which neither we nor they can ever have control." Speech of Rev. Dr. Nott before N. York Col. Soc. This last extract claims attention from the extraordinary assertions which it contains, and from the high character of the author. No explanations are given of the vain endeavors which have been made to restore the blacks either to self respect, or to the respect of others. When, where, by whom, and how were these efforts made? Dr. Nott is addressing the State Society, and speaks in the plural number. We confess we see nothing like such efforts in the Memorial of that Society to the Legislature. It is moreover to be recollected, that the American Society, in its address to its auxiliaries, warns them against such efforts. "The moral, intellectual, and political improvement of people of color within the United States, are objects foreign to the powers of this Society." Address of the Am. Col. Soc. to its auxiliaries. Af. Rep. VII. 291. Let us see also what two religious colonization papers say on this subject. "If the free people of color were generally taught to read, it might be an inducement to them to remain in this country; we would offer them no such inducements." Southern Religious Telegraph, Feb. 19, 1831. "It must appear evident to all, that every endeavor to divert the attention of the community, or even a portion of the means which the present crisis so imperatively calls for, from the Colonization Society, to measures calculated to bind the colored population to this country, and seeking to raise them to a level with the whites, whether by founding colleges, or in any other way, tends directly in the proportion that it succeeds, to counteract and thwart the whole plan of colonization." New Haven Religious Intelligencer, July, 1831. We perceive from these extracts, that the improvement of the free blacks is represented by Colonizationists as impossible, and of course it is folly to attempt what is impracticable. The very attempt, moreover, is calculated to counteract and thwart the whole plan of Colonization, as far as it succeeds. But this is not all. Some might think the obligations of Christianity required us to instruct the ignorant, and to succor the oppressed. To remove this prejudice, we are assured that even Christianity cannot help the negro in America! When before, has the power of our blessed religion in changing the heart, subduing evil affections, and removing unholy prejudices, been questioned by professing Christians? The influence of the gospel of Christ, has led thousands and tens of thousands to offer themselves as willing victims at the stake or in the amphitheatre-it has prostrated the temples, the altars, and the gods of paganism—it has triumphed over ancient and endeared superstitions-it has delivered the Hindoo from the fetters of caste, and tamed the North American savage, and yet according to Coloniza tionists, it is utterly impotent, when brought into collision with the prejudices of American Christians, towards an unhappy portion of their fellow countrymen! And what unsuccessful experiments justify this depreciation of the gospel of Jesus Christ? When have those who thus speak of the inefficacy of religion in subduing these sinful prejudices, tried its power? When have Colonizationists warned Christians that the negro is created by the same Almighty Being, descended from the same parent, redeemed by the same Saviour, and made an heir of the same immortality with themselves? When have we been reminded by them of that heart-searching declaration which will be uttered by the Judge at the last day, "inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these my brethren, ye did it not to me?" Admitting that the blacks who have gone to Africa have improved their condition, what is the total amount of good thus effected? Of the 319,467 free negroes in the United States, 2,122 have in the last 18 years been sent to Liberia. Supposing them to be happy in their new abode, at what a deplorable sacrifice of the happiness of their brethren here, has their own been purchased! To raise funds for their transportation, our churches and halls, in all parts of the United States, have rung with reproaches and accusations against the free people of color. Orators, preachers, legislators, have denounced them as nuisances, vile excrescences on the body politic; ignorant, depraved, debased, and utterly incapable of improvement and elevation. The laws oppressing them have been vindicated, and all legislation deprecated, that would even encourage the hope of their permanent improvement. And is it possible that this general and united effort to prevent these people from rising, and to render them odious to the community, should have no practical effect on public opinion and conduct? Already do we hear their forcible expulsion from the country, urged in petitions, and advocated in our State Legislatures. He must be wilfully blind to passing events, who does not perceive that the persecution of these people is increasing in extent and malignity. Lafayette remarked in his last visit with astonishment, the aggravation of the prejudices against the blacks, and stated that in the revolutionary war, the black and white soldiers messed together without hesitation. In no instance, perhaps, has Colonization had so direct and obvious an influence in augmenting the injuries and oppression of this unhappy race, as in Connecticut. To that State have good men long rejoiced to look as to a bright pattern of a Christian republic. There they beheld political liberty in its highest perfection, and so divested by the influence of religion, of those irregularities of conduct which too often attend it, that the State was proverbially distinguished as "the land of steady habits." In no part of the world were the blessings of education more highly valued, or more generally diffused. The Colonization Society had there taken a strong hold on the affections of the people, and had found in Connecticut, divines and politicians, and in the religious periodicals of New-Haven, zealous and able champions. a The city of New-Haven had been long, alike distinguished for its literary institutions, and for the sobriety and piety of its inhabitants. It is not, therefore, surprising that some of the most intelligent and influential of our colored citizens, were led to believe that New-Haven would be a proper site for a school for their children, and that such a school would there find generous patrons. In 1831, a convention was held in Philadelphia of delegates from the free colored people in other States, and it was determined that an effort should be made to raise funds for " Collegiate school, on the manual labor system." A committee was appointed to carry the plan into execution. This committee published in Philadelphia, "An appeal to the benevolent," in which they stated the necessity of the proposed school, on account of the difficulty which colored children experienced in gaining admission into ordinary seminaries, or mechanical establishments; and that the proposed seminary would be located at New-Haven, and "established on the self supporting system, so that the student may cultivate habits of industry, and obtain a useful mechanical or agricultural profession, while pursuing classical studies." Bishops White and Onderdonk, and the Rev. Doctors Mc Auley, Bedell, and Ely, of Philadelphia, gave the Com |