xt7mkk948009 https://exploreuk.uky.edu/dips/xt7mkk948009/data/mets.xml Breckinridge, Robert J. (Robert Jefferson), 1800-1871. 1831  books b92-155-29772085 English A.G. Hodges, printer, : Frankfort, Ky. : Contact the Special Collections Research Center for information regarding rights and use of this collection. African Americans Colonization Africa. Address delivered before the Colonization society of Kentucky  : at Frankfort, on the 6th day of January, 1831 / by Robert J. Breckinridge. text Address delivered before the Colonization society of Kentucky  : at Frankfort, on the 6th day of January, 1831 / by Robert J. Breckinridge. 1831 2002 true xt7mkk948009 section xt7mkk948009 
AN



          DELIVERED BEFORE THE




COLONIZATION SOCIETY OF KENTUCK1,








    On the 6th day of January, 1   1.






         BY ROBERT J. BRECKINRIDGE.




      Let the oppressed go free ........... ISAJAr, LVIl. 6.






              FRANKFORT. K.
    A. X. VIODGES, PRINTER, COMMENTATOR OFFICE.
                 ................
                   1831

 












    At a meeting of the Kentucky Coloni'ation Society, Januaay Ot8 -
e1831-
  Resolved, unanimously, That the thanks of the Society are due to Ro-
bert J. Breckinridge, Esq. for the very able and eloquent address deliver-.
.d by him, on this evening, and that Dr. Luke Munsell, John H. Hanna
and James W. Denny, Esq'rs. be a committee to wait on him, and re-
quest a copy Ibr publication.
                            AlL     H, WINGATE, Rec. Sec'y,.






                                               JANUARY 7th, 1831..

            In answer to your note of yesterday, and in compliance witas
the request of the Colonization Society of Kentucky, expressed in the res-
olution accompanying it, you will receive herewith a copy of the address
alluded to.
                     Very respectfully, your ob't serv't,
                                      ROd J. BRECKINRIDGE.
  L. XMunsef,
  Jno. H. Hanna and
  Iam, W. Denny, Esfri.


 




.1 DDRE M.



   WHEN the great Lawgiver of the Jews was perfecting that rer
 markable feature of his code, by which, at the end of every sev-
 en years, the debtor, the servant, an(l the oppressed, amiong the
 Hebrews, were to go out free among their brethren, he enforc-
 ed its observance by the most striking anti personal of all argu-
 ments: "Thou shalt remember that those vast a bondinan in the
 land of Egypt, and the Lord thy God re(leemed thee."  Again,
 after the lapse of a thousand years, when Israel was shorn of all
 her temporal glories, and the feel)le remnant that gathered out
 of all the East around the sceptre of the house of David, was
 restored from a long and grievous captivity, it was among the first
 and most solemn exclamations of their gratitude: "We were
 bondmen, yet our God hath not forsaken us in our bondage."
   If there be any that now hear mny voice who have aided in
working out the civil redemption of this large empire; if there
be any whose kindred have poured out their blood in achieving
the glories which have fallen upon us; if there be any who cher-
ish the high exploits of our mighty ancestors, and cultivate an
unquenching love for the free and noble institutions which have
descended to us, I beseech them to couple with the lofty emo-
tions belonging to such scenes, the solemin recollection, that "we
were bondmen." If any who hear nle have been led, by the
power of the everlasting God, into the liberty of his 6wn sons,
an(l who rejoicing in the hope of eternal life, look back upon the
bondage out of which their souls have been re(leelned, with un-
utterable gratitude to [1im who gave himself for them, I pray
them to bring to the discussion which lies before us, those feel-
ings which are produced by the deep and sa4cred assurance, that
"our God hath. not forsaken us it our l)ondage."
  And will He not remember others also  We have his own
assurance, that "Ethiopia shall soon stretch out her hands unto
God." Will his justice sleep for ever Will lie not "behold
the tears of such as are oppressed"  Will he not "judge the
poor" Will he not "save the children of the needy " Will he
not "break in pieces the oppressor' The forsaken, the afflict-
ed, the smitten of men, will he also utterly cast off And who
shall stand in the way of his righteous indignation  I ho shall
resist the stroke of his Almighty arm, or shiield us from his fierce
and consuming wrath Alas! for that people, who resistinI all
flie lessons of a wise experience, blind to tile unchaii-aing t;urse

 
                              4
of the providence of God, and (leaf to the continual admonitions
of his eternal word, will madly elect to brave the fury of his
just and full retribution! "Because I have called, and ye refus-
ed; I have stretched out my hand, and 11o man regarded; but
ye have set at nought all my counsel, and would none of my re-
proof: I also will laugh at your calamity ; I will mock when
your fear conteth; when your fear coulleth as desolation, and
your destruction comneth as a whirlwind; when distress and an-
giiish cometh upon you: Then shall they seek me, but shall not
find me. "
   Stuth thoughts habitually crowd ulton me when I contem-
plate those great pei sonal and national evils, from which the
system of operations which I stand here to advocate, seems to
offer us -some p)rospec't of deliverance. The scheme of African
Colonization, as exhibited by our National Society and its va-
rious auxilaries, is a most noble conception. It is a stupendous
plan-spanning the Atlantic and encircling in its wide embrace
a nation of slaves, and a continent of heathens.
  Africa is classed as one of the great divisions of the earth, and
is a vast peninsular continent, extending from the 37th degree of
north, to about the 34th degree of south latitude; and from the
17th degree of west, to the 51st degree of east longitude. Its
greatest length is about five thousand miles, and its greatest
breadth more than four thousand. Considering its peculiarly
advantageous situation, it is surprising that, in all ages, it has
been comparatively so little known )by the rest of the world;
for standing, as it were, in a central position, between the other
three quarters, it affords a much more ready communication
with Europe, AMia and America, than they do with each other.
It is opposite to Europe along the Mediterranean, whose shores
were the nursery of our race, in a line froui east to west, for al-
mnost a thousand miles, the distance being seldom one hundred
miles, amid never that many leagues. It is over against Asia for
a distance of owe thousand three hundred miles, tile whole
length of the Red Sea, whose breadth sometimes does n ot ex-
ceed fifteen miles, and seldom one bundred and fifty. Its coast,
for two thousand miles, lies opl)osite to America, at a distance
of from five hundred to seven hundred leagues, if we include
the islands; whereas America is scarce any where nearer to Eu-
rope than ofie thousand leagues, nor to Asia, except inl the in-
hospitableclimtiate of Kainschatka, than two thousand five hun-
dred leagues.
  At a period to which profane history does not reach, but on
which the word of God shedls its holy light, Africa was planted
by the descendants of Ham, the son of Noah. Cush settled in
Lower Egypt, and from him were descended the ancient Xthio-
pians, known to us as the Nubians and Abyssinians, and emnbrac-

 
                               5
ing, also, those unknown nations inhahitine the equatorial re-
gions of that continent.  lisrantim peopled what tvas known to
the antients as the Tlhebais, 11ermnop)olis, Memphis, aril the Del-
ta of the Nile-to us, as Upper and Lower Evlpt. From hild
al;o were (lescende(l, amono- other people of Awrica, the itilhari-
tants of Colchlis, the ancestors of the varlike Philistines, whose
descendants, until this day, if learned men are to be cre(dited,
have occupied so large a space on the page of history. Plint
peopled Lybia and Mauiritania, emnbraving the kingdoin of Fez,
the Deserts, Algiers, and other p)ortions. From these, with
such additions as einigration anald frequent conquiiest have given,
it is probable that all the nations of Africa, however divided,
mixed, or dispersed, originally came.
  Agrenor, an Egyp)tian, founded the Plicenecian Commonwealtil
and the Republic of ryre. Cad inus, the son of Aoenor, found--
ed the Republic of Thebes, and intro(luce(l the use of letters in-
to Greece. Cecrops, at the head of all Egyptian colony, found-
e(l the Athenian State, and gave laws to the barbarous hordes of
Attica. If p)rofane tra(hition is to be creditedI, these and other
colonies from Africa, were dIriveen out from their native regions
bv the first of the Shepherd Kings, (who were themselves the
Amelekites, descendants of Canaan, another son of Ham,) who
devastated Egypt at the head of two hundred antd forty thotis-
and warriors, and established at 'lanais, the seat of that empire,
under whose iron sway the chuosen people of Gold groanre(, undier
a (espotism so bitter ill its pro-aress, so awful in its overthrow.
There are several reflections here which wonderfully illuastrate,
Ul)OF this fated race, the vicisitudes whic h bel(ng to all that iV
human. They who gave to our ancestors the first model of
those institutions which d eserve to he called free, have the lolgl-
est bowed down nuder insupportable oppression.  They wno,
gave to Europe the first knowle(dge of the arts, and of huinan let-
ters, have been shrouded in the lo:nuest and the deepedt intel4m
lectual darkness. They wvho. in the career of resistless victory,
first established the principle of natioanal, perpetual andt heredi-
tary slavery, have the sorest, and the inost uanpitied, wept mial-
der that deep and unmnitigated curse.
  Certain lortions of Africa were, as early as amy other regions,
erectedl into regliar (oknniuuities, after tile re-peojing tile
earth by the descendants of Noith.  That so ate of those coma-
munities very early attaiiled to a high dep ree of cultivation,
wealth and(l power, there is abundaiat evidence ill profane hiisto-
ry, in the Holy Scriptures, and ill those extraordinary nionil-
ments of taste and magalificence, xvlaich placed beyond the lar-
thest verge of knowviedge, and ais it were, beside its regular cur-
rent, yet remain thie wonder aral aitoni.- haae.AL of iaankind. That
their progress iln illinmorality afnd UriHe. wa. equaal to their ad-

 
                              6
vance in civilization, there remains no room to doubt. He who
has d(welt muc hi on such subjects, may consider this as in no way
diflerent from the ordinary course of events, and as accounting
well enough for many of thee calamities whi(h have befallen them
in subsequent ages. I dispute not with philosophy; but there
is another view of the imatter-and I would that philosophy
were more frequently etiti(ed to such contemplations-which
has appeared to tne zuost solemn andl striking. Egypt was the
most powerful of the kingdoins of Africa for many ages. As it
stood on tie threshhold of the only entrance to that continent
accessible to the ancients, algal was itself the mediumn of all inte-
rior communication with it; as its boundaries, if well defined
at all, were not accuratelh knowni to the nations of Asia and Eu-
rope; as their knowledge of her surrounding, tributary and al-
lied states was still less accurate; as it was the uniform habit of
all ancient conquerors, of whom Egypt produciCed many, to man-
ifest the most extravagant pretensions to granideur and empire;
in fine, from a variety of such considerations, it is mnanifrst to
every scholar, that wvhen the ancients speak of Egypt, their
meaning is inost generally to be understood as of a country vast-
ly more extensive, than we, with our better knowledge, would
attach to that ten in. If indce(l we should frequently understand
themt as mearinig all Africa kitown to them, we should not, per-
haps, be far from the correct view of the subjects
  At a period in her history scarcely less prosperous than any
that had precetled it, and wvhen she stood forth famous in arts
and arms, the queen of nations; when there appeared before-
hand, no probability of great reverses, and the Prince who fil-
led her throne, b)oasted, as we are informed by Herodotus, "that
no God could deprive him of his kingdomn;" just then, when it
would appear to human observation that the mercies of God
were powred out profusely on Africa, his decree went forth a-
gainst her: "Fromt the tower of Svene, even unto the border of
Ethiopia," the curse of the Most -ligh clave unto the land. The
seed of his chosen had been enticed and betrayed; they had re-
posed upon her, and been pierced with many sorrows. "Thou
art like a younl lion of the nations'"-"'I will spread my net o-
ver thee"-"I vwill scatter the Egyptians among the nations"-
"I will make manu people aiiiazed at thee"- Ashur is there
and all her comupany"-"'T' here is Elati and all her multitudlc"
-'There is Meshieck, Tubal, and all her intiltitude"-"'There
is Edow, her kings, anti all her prinizes"-,Tbiere be the prin-
ces of the North, all of them, and all the Zidonians"-"It shall
be the basest of the kingrdoms; neither shall it exalt itself any
more above the nations; for I will (iinunish them, that they shall
no miore rule over the nations." For mnore than two thousand
years the annals of every people attest the fulfilmelnt of this re'

 

xhiar1iahle prophecy. Conquered by the Persians, tinder Camnhy
ses, within fifty years after this prediction; conquered again by
the Macedonians; subjugated and pillaged by the Roiuans, and
made the theatre of many of their bloodiest wars; overwhelm-
ed by the Saracens; suhbjigated, scourged and inade dessolate
by the Mamelukes; devastated by the Turks; overrun by the
French; for a hundred generations, made the battle field of na-
tions, and tile constant victim of them all; and worse than all,
her children, for centuries together, swept into distant and hope-
less bondage-scattered and sifted throughout the universe, as
it is this day.
The discovery of America, which was destined to exert so exten-
sive and so benign an influence upon the European race, the de-
scendants of Japhet, adldled increased bitterness to the cup of afflic-
tion which seemed already overflowing for the children of Ham.
The first adventurers to the western continent and the islands a-
long the atlantic coast, without the least remorse, red uced the sim-
ple and ignorant aborigines to a servitude so Monstrous, that in the
island of Hispaniola alone, from the year 1508 to 1517, the In-
dians were reduced, by the the brutal oppression under which
they groaned, from sixty thousand to fourteen thousand souls;
and the extinction of this miserable remnant was hastened bv
more aggravated calamities. You will observe that this whole-
sale butchery was perpetrated tinder thessameexecrable pretence
of political necessity, under which every public crime which
has disgraced our race, has found its constant defence. It was
sanctioned by a formal decree of the king of Spain, ",that the ser-
vitude of the Indians was warranted by the laws both of God
and man." I have no intention of entering into details which
are not necessary to the complete understanding of the subject
before me. And perhaps enough has been said to show how
easy was the transition fromn Indian to Africani subjugation; from
crime perpetrated on a feeble and nearly extinguished1 race, to
similar crime inflicted on one mimore robust, inote (legrad(led. and
therefore more suitable to the purposes of an insatiable rapaci-
ty. Barthelemi de las Casas, Bishop of Chiapa, heading the
little band of ecclesiastics who still recognized tile oblijoations
of justice and humanity to the Indians, beset the Spaiiish throne
with prayers in their behalf, until bv a fatality, singular and
most unhappy, lie saw their chains, which it was the object of
his life to break, rivited forever; and those whom lie had de-
signated, in the madness of his zeal, as their substitutes in wretch-
edness, become only their fellows in slavery. As early as 1503,
a few negroes had been sent to the new world. In 1511 Ferdi-
nand permitted their importation in large numbers. Charles
the Fifth, on his accession to the throne, rejecting what was
'who and humane in the plans of Las Cauas, and adopting 60

                                8

 wuch of them as was abhorrent to every virtuious feeling, grant-
 led an exclusive pTtewt to one of his Flemish havourites, to im-
 port four thousand negroes into America. The patent was sold
 to certain Genoese merchants for twenty five thousand ducats.
 The Portuguese had found the trade in slaves, which had been
 long aholished in Europe, one of the first advantages derived
 from the discoveries in Africa. The Genoese, under the patent
 of the Emperor, found no (liffic(lity in procuring the victims of
 their avarice, and "ere the first who brought into regular form
 that commerce in the souls and bodies of inen, between Africa
 ancl Amierica, whiili iiflicts, of all things else, the most inideli
 ble stain on the character of' mankind.
   The first settleineits which were made by the En glish on the
 continent of North Aneriva, were tindler the auspices of Corpo-
 rations, or individuals, to whomii extensive grants hadl been madhe
 b  the English crown. 'I lie company that settled the colony
 of Virginia had monop11)olized its coultlerte up to the year 1620.
 In that vear,this nionopoly was given tup, an(l the tra(le opened.
 A DutAh vessel from the coast of Guinea, availing itself of the
 commercial liberty whiti prevailed, brought into James river
 twentv Atricans, who were immne(diately purchasel as slaves.
 An ordinance that all heathen persons might he held as slaves,
 an(1 that their descesidanits, although christians, might be con-
 tinnied in slavery, sealedl on this (ontinent the doomi of the
 wretched African.  Such was the inception of slavery in the U-
 nited States. Such wva. the first settlement among IIs, of an op-
 pressed and suflering race, which has aui-mented by a very rap-
 id propagation, and continual importation, in soniewhat more
 than two centuries, frolik twentv ouls, to two millions. Vir-
 ginia, the most ancient of our commnornwealths, wats the first of
 them to lend hersell to the oj)j)ressioII of these unhappy mep.
 Holland, who had, withmin forty years, emancij)ate(h herself from
 a foreign despotism, lnse(l the large resources which grew up un-
 der the shade of her recovered liberty, to deliver over an Unof-
 fending people to hopeless bondage; and, that the climax of cu-
 pidity and turpitude might he aptly adjusted, the whole matter
 was concIuide(l in the name of Christianity.
 Men were not so slow in discovering the evils of the unnatur-
 al condition of society, whose origin amiong us I have been at-
 tempting to disclose. As early as 1698, a settleanent of Quakers
 near Germantown, iii Pennsylvaniia, publickly expressed their
 opinion of the unrighteonsness of human bonidage. And from
 that day till the present, there have flourished in our country,
 men of large and just views, who have not ceased to pour over
this subject a stream of clear and noble truth, and to importune
their (;ountry, by every motive of duty atd a(lvantage, to wipe
from her escutcheon the staiun of humn teusrs. They have not

 
                              9
lived in vain. In better times their counsels will be heard.
When the (lay comes, an(l come it smrely will, when, th ought
out this broad empire, not an aspiration shall go upto thethrone
of God, that does not emanate from a freeman's heart, they
will live in story, the apostles of that hallowed reign of peace,
fandl men will quote their names to adorn the hiohest lessons of
wisdom, and enforce, by great examples, the practice of high and
virtuous actions.
  With the increase of the number of slaves, became more ap-
parent the injuries inflicted by slavery itself, upon every inter-
est associated with it. The voice of reason and humanity be-
gan to be listened to, when that of interest Uttered its sounds in
unison. What in(livi(luals had long foreseen, some of our coin-
munities began at length to apprehend and to lprovidle against.
A duty on the importation of slaves was laid by New York, in
1753, by Pennsylvania, in 1762, and by New Jersey, in 1769.
Virginia, the first to introduce them, was also the earliest in set-
ting the example of their exclusion. In 1778, in the midst of
civil war, she pult upon the pages of her history, an en during
record of her respect for those rights of other men, for which
she was freely pouring out her own blood, by probibiting the
introduction of slaves into any of her ports. In 1780, Peninsvl-
vania passed a law for the gradual abolition of slavery, which
has the merit of being the earliest legislative proceeding of the
kind in any country. All the states, north and east of Mary-
land, have since passed similar laws. On the azdoption of the
Federal Constitution, Congress was authorized to prohibit, at
the end of twenty years, the importation of' negroes into any
part of the United States; and the power was exercised at the
amppointed time. No slaves have, therefore, been legally brought
into this nation since the year 180S.
  After the close of our revolutionary war, many negroes who
fled from their masters, and sought protection with the British
armies (luring its progress, were scattered through the Bahama
Islands, and Nova Scotia. Others had foundl their way to Ellg.
land. In 1787, a private company in Enuland sent four hun-
dlre(d of thein, with their own consent, to Sierra Leone, on the
western coast of Africa. About five years afterwards, twelve
hundred of those from Nova Scotia were transported to Sierra
Leone, by the British government. The Maroons, from Jamai-
ca, were remnovel thither in 1805. The hostility of the French,
the opposition of the natives, the selection of a situation which
proved to he unfortunate in many local particulars, and perhaps
more than either, the heterogeneous materials of which that set-
tlement was composed, for somne years, retarded its growth. All
these difficulties, however, have been surmounted.  Ihat colo-
ny contains more than twenty thousand souls, of whow wore
                             B

 


'than three fourths are re-captured Africans, whose rapacious
owners had destined them for foreign bondage. Towns are,
reared up, churches and schools established, agricldture has be-
come a settled pursuit, and society has p)ut on a regular and sta-
ble appearance.
   For some years anterior to 1816, the project of colonizing the
free blacks of this country in Africa, had occupied the serious
consideration of individuals in several parts of the union. The
rapid accumulation of free negroes, who amoumtedi, at that pe-
riod, to two hundred and ten thousand, to which number they
had grown from sixty thousand, in twenty six years, become a
subject of general anxiety; in somne of the states laws were p'.ss-
ecl annexing the condition of banishment to emancipation. The
idea of colonizing them was probably first suggested in this
country from  the success which attended the establishment at
Sierra Leone. It was known, moreover, that the Portuguese,
the French, the Danes, and the English, had establishe(l white
settlements along the coast of Africa, from the Cape (le Verd to
the Cape of Good Hope. More than a century ago the French
had established a post on the Seniegal, four hiinidreil miles from
its mouth. At Congo, the Portuguese had grown into a consid-
erable colony. At the southern extremity of Africa, the Dutch
anrd English had spread over a country larger than the southern
peninsula of Europe. It was not then a question requiring se-
rious debate, wvhether America could do what many nations had
done before. In 1802, Mr. Jefferson, then President of the U-
nited States, in compliance witch the request of the Virginia le-
gislature, communicated by Governor M onroe, entered into ne-
gotiations, wvhich proved unsuccessful, with the Sierra Leone
company, and afterwards with Portugal, to proctire a situation
for an American colony of blacks in Africa. The project con-
tinued to gain strength, until, on the 21st day of December, 1816,
the first public meeting to form  a Colonization Society in this
country, was held at Washington City; and shortly afterwards
the American Society was established, under the patronage of
many of the most distinguished citizens of this nation.
  Formed under such auspices, at such a crisis, and for such an
object, this society has steadily pursued its onward course, the
object of many a bitter sarcasm, of various and contradictory
accusation, of flippant and mImost iml)ertinent contempt, and of
grave and deep reproach. Full of the noble ardour which be-
longs to generous enterprise, it has triumphed at every step), and
,won its way to the confidence anti applause of men. It numbers
over one hundred and sixty auxiliary societies; eleven states have,
by their legislatures, recommended it to the patronage of Con-
gress; and all the leading sects of evangelical Christians in the
fnited States, have, through their highest ecclesiastical tribu-

 
                              11
nals, testified their cordial approbation of its operations. The
colony established at Liberia, under it auspices, occupies a fer-
tile, and to the black constitution, a salubrious region, extend-
in.g froml Gallinas river to the territory of Kroo Seltra, a dis-
tance of two hundred an(l eighty miles along the western coast
of Africa, and from twenty to thirty miles in the interior. A-
bout one thousand eight hundled colonists, who, have been sent
there from the United States, with about half as many more re-
captured Africans, constitute an independent, republican, and
christian community, in the miidst of that benighted land. The
rights of our holy religion are regularly observed, and its pre-
cepts as well obeyed as among ourselves. Schools are regular-
ly condlul(ted for the education of the youth of the colony, and
many children of the natives are also training in them. All the
institutions of a young, though very flourishing, community are
in successful operation, I have recently seen severalnumbers of a
weekly newspaper, published by a free man of colour at Mon-
rovia, containing notices of the various interests which indicate
a well established and prosperous little state. Notices of popil-
lar elections, of the condition of the military force and the pub-
lic defence, of public roads opened and repaired, of the improve-
ment and transfer of estates, of mercantile prosperity and com-
mercial enterprise, of the little incidents of social life, and what
is not less striking and indicative of the state of the people, lite-
rary notices, and light efforts in the belles lettres, for the grati-
fication of the popular taste. Such traits as these impress us, not
less strongly with the existing condition of affairs at Liberia,
than those interesting details of its growth, prosperity and gen-
eral advancement, which are regularly given to the American
public from authentic sources, and which I could not now re-
capitulate, without an inexcusable trespass upon your patience.
The result of the whole is full to the point, that one great object
of the Colonization Society has been completely attained. A col-
ony has been actually established, possessing all the elements of
permanent and boundless prosperity. The germ of a great and
cultivated nation has already taken root in the midst of Africa.
The leaven of Christianity is already mixed up with the mass of
her dark and absurd superstitions. How Much feebler was the
origin of all those astonishing triumphs of civilization, by which
the little states of Greece stamped her indelible name upon the
very front of human glory! How small, compared with the ac-
tual condition of Liberia, was the beginning of the Roman state
-stern, wise, and unparalleled as she was-whose power over-
shadowed the face of tile whole earth, and transmuted every
thing into the likeness of itself! And who shall say that, when
two celituries have passed away, the continent of Africa shall not
behold millions of free and ckristian men, lifting up their hearts

 

                               12
 in thanksgiving to the God of their fathers, and in grateful recobl
 lections of the pilgrims of Mesurado, in like manner as we cher-
 ish the recollection of the landing at Plymouth Rock.
    The American Colonization Society has 1)robablv succeeded
 to the extent of its original expectation. It proposed to estab-
 lish a colony of free blacks, from the United States, with their
 own consent, in Africa; an(l tilus to show hy the fact, the possi-
 bility of removing that population from the United States, it,
 such a manner as would decide(lly improve the condition of those
 unhappy persons, and greatly ameliorate the state of society a-
 mong ourselves. It was originally objected, that the plan would
 be rendered impracticable at its threshhold, by the impossibility
 of procuring emigrants. Experience has shown that many mnore
 were always desirous of emigrating than the society bad the
 means of removing. At this time not less than three thousand
 individuals would gladly remove to Liberia, if the necessary
 funds could be procured. It was also objected, that the expense
 of removal would be so great as to prevent its being carried to
 any useful extent. This was clearly absurd, unless it had been
 shown that it was necessarily more costly to remove a free-negro
 to Africa from America, than a slave to America from Africa;
 and that our national resources were smaller when our popula-
 tion was ten millions, than whmen it was three millions. The ex-
 periment has shown that emigrants may lie sent out for twenty
 dollars each; a sum equal in value to about three months labour
 of an adult male slave in most of the slave-holding states. It was
 farther objected, that the unhealthiness of tlie climate was an in-
 surmountable obstacle in the way of colonizing any part of Afri-
 'ca. The facts stated in a former part of this address, the ac-
 counts of all travellers who have visited that continent-esp)e-
 cially of Mungo Park, who saw more of its interior than all oth-
 er Europeans-and the uniform experience of the American cob'
 ony, leave no room to doubt that the region of country owned
 bv it, is pleasant, and to the black constitution, extremely salu-
 brious. It was also asserted, that if all these obstacles were o-
 vercome, and i colony established, it would be unable to sup-
 port itself against the native tribes in its neighborhood. This
.ieavil also has been answered by experience. In 1822, when the
settlement was weak and tbut recently established, it was fully
competent to carry on, and terminate with success, a war with
the native tribes. The result of that war was so decidedly fa-
vourable to the colony, that the colonial agent, Mr. Ashmumi, in
his report for 18t5, says, "our influence over thein is unbound-
ed, it is more extensive than I dare, at this early period, risque
mv character for veracity by asserting. But I beg leave to refer,
at least, to facts already communicated, to our military expedi-
tiors into the heart of the country uninterrupted, to our jpur-

 
                              13
 chase of the Saint Pauls, admission into the Grand Bassa, and
 acquisition of the Sesters. On severaVoccasions of alarm fronx
 the interior, the whole population of the country has been rea-
 dy to throw itself into our arms for protection."  What adds
 greatly to the security of the colony, hoth froin internal and for-
 eign enemies, is the connexion of the agent of our government
 for recaaptured Africans, withlthe affairs of the establishment.
 That agent is also the society's colonial agent; the re-captured
 Africans of whloui he has the charge, by authority of an act of
 Congress, form a part of tAie coloyiv, anld their protection of ne-
 cessity involves its security. Mr. Stockton, of the United States'
 Navy, was one of the signers of the treaty, by which a part of
 the territory was ceded to the societv. Captain Sp'ence built a
 fort on the Cape, at the public expense, supplied it with guils,
 and the American flag was hoisted on its battlemients.  Ile, also,
 left an armed schooner for the better protection of the colony.
 The agent for re-captured Africans, as already stated, is appoint-
 ed by the authority of our government, and is supported by it.
   We have then a practical illustration of the ratniier in which
three liundre(l thousand free negr