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

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

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

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

From the Christian Mirror, May 8.

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

us.

DEFENCE OF THE COLONIZATION SOCIETY.

We

A correspondent of "The Friend," a respectable Journal published at Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, having assailed the American Colonization Society, its defence has been undertaken in the columns of the same print. have great pleasure in subjoining the essays of our advocate. The mass of facts which has been brought together, and his ability and candor in managing his subject entitle these numbers to a careful perusal by all who may have adopted the erroneous opinion which it is their purpose to rcfute:

IN FAVOR OF COLONIZATION.--No. 1.

MR. EDITOR, A correspondent, in your paper of the 13th of March, promises, hereafter, to attempt to show that the American Colonization Society is anti-christian in its principle. Now, sir, I have for years believed this Society to be entirely christian in its principles, its objects and its results. Still, I can promise your correspondent, that from me his arguments shall receive a patient hearing, and with your permission, a candid examination. The array of facts, which takes up his first communication, does not amount to much. The remarks made in January last, at the annual meeting of the Society, it ought to be recollected, were made on the spur of the moment, and without that knowledge of the whole facts, which have since been laid before the public, by the new Board of Managers. Your correspondent himself has fallen into the same error, in the note at the close. If he had consulted the late exposition of the Board, he would have found facts which would have led him to a very different result.

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

The case he puts would then stand thus:

Receipts for 1830,

1831,

1832,

1833,

$26,583 51

27,999 15

40,365 08

37,242 45

45,645 72

Debt,

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

$177,835 91

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

IN FAVOR OF COLONIZATION-No. 2.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

IN FAVOR OF COLONIZATION.-No. 3.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

ago.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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