Letters to the Hon. William Jay : being a reply to his "Inquiry into the American Colonization and American Anti-Slavery Societies."

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LETTERS

Preface

On the appearance of the " Inquiry" of the Hon. Mr. Jay, into the American Colonization and American Anti-Slavery Societies, I eagerly procured, a copy, and read it throughout with mingled emotions of pain and pleasure. I was pained that so worthy a man should exhibit such evidence of ignorance of the subject on which he undertakes to enlighten the public ; and still more, that such a man should descend from the dignity of his profession and character, to assail and satirize many of the ablest and best men of this nation, and that noblest enterprise of human benevolence, to which the American Colonization Society is consecrated ; and this too on such questionable authorities, as those on which alone, he seems to have been dependent for his statements. But I found pleasure in this renewed demonstration, that the colonization scheme, though assailed by another of the champions among its foes, a man of talents, learning, and piety too, isr nevertheless, so iirmly erect upon the immoveable foundation of light, and love, and truth ; that it comes forth from this fiery ordeal, " like gold seven times tried," and retains all its brilliancy, purity, and strength, untarnished by the process, and triumphing in its own native and heavenborn sublimity.

Such were my impressions when I had finished its perusal ; and a similar estimate of the utter impotency of the book, is, I have since learned, very generally entertained, by those of cur fellow citizens, who are well informed in relation: to the history and operations of the colonization enterprise. I therefore felt no disposition to attempt a reply, for, at that time, I confidently believed that the author had furnished, in the volume itself, abundant materials for his own refutation. I think so still, although I have yielded to the judgment of others, and consented again to engage in this controversy. I feel that I have no other qualification, than a conscientious attachment to the cause of colonization, because of an honest and deliberate persuasion, that it is one of supreme importance to the prosperity of my own country; of unmingled benevolence to the coloured population of this land, whether free or enslaved ; and of rich and unspeakable promise 1*

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to fallen, degraded, and heathenish Africa. But as many of our friends, who agree with me. in my view of the harmlessness of the assault, which Mr. Jay's book contains, express their apprehensions, lest the magic of his name upon its title page, may mislead the " unlearned and unwary," and that multitudes of such may be taught to infer from our silence, that we cannot or dare not meet this " giant" in the field of discussion, they have judged it expedient, from these considerations, that a vindication of the society and its friends from the unjust accusations of the Hon. Judge, is imperiously called for. and, by common consent, the author of thepresent Letters has been urged to the unwelcome task.

That it has not been performed by another and an abler hand, is not less a matter of regret to myself, than it can be to others. For although I do not, in matters of conscience and duty, quail beneath the frowns of any foe, nor shrink from any measure of obloquy and reproach, which I am permitted to share with the wisest and purest men of this nation ; yet, with the evidence of the spirit and temper of the present race of abolitionists, which experience has furnished, unless a man is doubly strong in his own conscious integrity of purpose, and prepared to endure the revilings, and brave the barkings of the whole kennel press, hired for the purpose ; he will neither seek nor desire a conflict with such antagonists as gather around almost every anti-slavery periodical. It is perhaps well, however, that the party should be taught, in the present case, that this Goliath, in whom they glory, can be encountered by the <: least among the hosts of our Israel," and, in the name of that God in whom we trust alone for the success of colonization, I go forth in this defensive war.

In the following Letters, it has been my design to treat the author with all proper respect, while I animadvert upon the contents of his book, with the same freedom with which he has treated the sentiments of colonizationists. I have 'therefore taken up the several chapters of his whole " Inquiry," and brought into view each of his prominent arguments, and the authorities on which he places most reliance ; and in correcting his numerous mistakes, and exposing the contradictions and inconsistencies which abound in the volume, I have not designedly, in any instance, charged upon him an intention to deceive, but attribute his blunders to his recent associations, which have led him to fallacious sources for information , and perverted his own mind, so that, on this particular subject, he has become disqualified for sober thinking. And in offering this apology for the author of the Inquiry, which in candour and Christian charity is his due, we have another striking and melancholy proof of that mental and moral infatuation, which affords the deplorable evidence that the imputation of " fanati-

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cism," however it may be repelled by the zealots for immediate abolitionism, is nevertheless neither unmerited nor unfounded.

Under what other influence save that of pure fanaticism, could an intelligent, virtuous, and respectable citizen, gravely affix his name to a book containing such . perversions of facts, — distortions of meanings,— misquotations of authors, — direct and palpable inconsistencies,— disconnected and incongruous declamation, and such illiberal censoriousness towards his " fellow citizens and fellow Christians," as those of which I have convicted this "Inquiry" of the Hon. William Jay? If the reader can excuse or explain such examples as those pointed out in the following Letters, in any milder and more Christian language than that which imputes them to fanaticism, I shall rejoice, that it may ever hereafter be adopted. I confess for myself, that this is the only mantle to cover them, which it appears to me is furnished, even from the wardrobe of Charity itself.

On the one page we read, that the whole of the slaves in the United States are " kept in ignorance, and compelled to live without God, and to die without hope." And on another we are told, that *' 245,000" of these same slaves are " Christians" and "possess a saving knowledge of the religion of Christ !"

At onetime the Colonization Society is charged with "professing to be a remedy for slavery, and the only one;" — and at another, it is declared, that its "professed constitutional object is exclusively that of colonizing the free blacks and manumitted slaves, and that it has no more right to meddle with slavery or emancipation, than a Bible Society!" On one page, the Colonization Society is called a " powerful institution," and on another, it is called " utterly impotent," a " i&eak, broken-winded, good for nothing team /"

In one place we are told, first, that " the Colonization Society is, in its general influence, decidedly Anti-Christian ;" and that it can " in no sense be termed a religious society ;" and on the same page, it is said that this Colonization Society contains "multitudes of religious men." And again, " The Colonization Society unquestionably comprises a vast number of as pure and devoted Christians, as can be found in this or any other country !"

But if this be not unsophisticated fanaticism, let me ask the reader to affix a softer name to the attempt here made by a good man, to appropriate the sentiments and language of his own father to the support of the scheme of immediate abolition, when that father, distinguished as he was for benvolence to every class of his fellow beings, expressed those sentiments and that language distinctly in behalf of gradual abolition, of which " gradualism" he continued an unwavering advocate, as the extracts from his writings conclusively show.

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But in the reference to Mr. Jefferson, made in several parts of Mr. Jay's book, his sentiments are so palpably perverted from the connexion and design in which they were expressed, that no other evidence is necessary, to convict the author of fanaticism, or wickedness, and the former only is insinuated^, than we have in the following sentence from his writings.

"Nothing is more certainly written in, the- book of fate, than that these people (the slaves), are to, be free, nor is it less certain that the two races, equally free, cannot live in. the same government. Nature, habit, opinion, have drawn indelible lines of distinction between them. It is still in our power to direct the process of emancipation and deportation peaceably, and in such slow degrees., as that the evil will wear off insensibly,. and their place be, pari passu, filled up by free white labourers."

Thus spoke Thomas Jefferson,. than- whom- no man was ever better qualified to judge on. this great subject,.* and yet an attempt, is made to identify him, as well as John Jay, with the visionaryscheme of immediate abolition, and they are both quoted, most inconsistently, for this purpose. If this be not " fanaticism," when resorted to by a good man, by what name shall it be called 1

But I forbear to anticipate any farther the long catalogue of similar testimonies, which my letters exhibit, but would briefly inquire of any reader who is intelligent and candid, whether it is possible to account for such examples, as those to which allusion is made, on any principle consistent with the known-character of the author for learning and piety, except by the imputation of fanaticism 1 And when each successive example of such conversion to the anti-slavery ranks, is accompanied by the evidences of a similar abandonment of all the restraints of reason and- consistency, to what other cause is it to be ascribed 1 And here I am constrained to say, that if the members of the Anti- Slavery Society were not all fanatics, they would by this time discover what is palpably manifest to every body else, that their doctrines and measures are already inflicting accumulated and irreparable mischiefs upon the oppressed race, for whose welfare and happiness they profess exclusive zeal and benevolence, and for whose goodmany of them are doubtless conscientiously labouring. If they would suffer a colonizationist to plead the cause of the poor and needy, and if my voice in behalf of the suffering coloured population, whether free or enslaved, could be heard, amidst the groans of the anti-slavery press and the

* Mr. Birney says, that "Mr. Jefferson was the advocate of all from whom liberty was withheld, bethey white, red, or black." Andyet we see that he was-the advo* cate only of gradual emancipation and deportation, by slow degrees !

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fulminating anathemas of anti-slavery lecturers, I would supplicate rheir mercy, and implore them to desist from their misplaced and misguided philanthropy. In the name of the afflicted free blacks of the north and the south, I would point them to the new and oppressive legislation which they have provoked by their ill-timed endeavours, and the rash impetuosity of their blind and mistaken zeal. And- in behalf of the slaves of this land, I would invoke their humanity and religion, while groaning under already intolerable laws, and beseech them to withhold themselves from efforts, which in their results have already aggravated the number and severity of the privations and hardships which bondage inflicts.

But if my vindication of the Colonization Society disqualifies me from successfully urging my appeal, may I not ask Mr. Jay himself to pause, now that his book has gone forth for the vain though avowed purpose of the " entire prostration" the " utter extinction of the Colonization Society;"— now that he has proclaimed " unrelenting hostility," and beaten up for volunteers to " labour without rest and without weariness" for this great object ; may I be permitted to ask him to pause arid inquire, Cui bono ? Suppose that the Colonization Society, were " utterly extinct," and that you had already effected its " entire prostration" — Let me ask what good purpose or result do your sanguine hopes allow you to anticipate, for the coloured race in the United States whether free or slaves ? In that case the American Anti- Slavery Society would be your only hope of benefiting them, and where should we look for the first fruits of your success. Whose voice would then plead the cause of the oppressed in the slaveholding states'? While your anti-slavery appeals from the forum and the press were " waking up the north," how many of the " millions of slaves in the south" would be thus emancipated, when your orators are excluded from every slaveholding state in the union, and your publications suffered to lie in the post-offices, or committed by thousands to the flames'? And if you could not hope to benefit the slaves, by your labours in the north, what influence would you exert upon the free coloured population of the states south of the Potomac or even in Maryland or Delaware 1 Have not the events of the last two years, demonstrated that these northern anti-slavery efforts, in their effects upon the free blacks of the south, are " evil, only evil, and that continually?"

But shall we look to the non-slaveholding states, and estimate the character of the tree of " immediate abolition" by its " fruits V What then have been the results upon the condition of the free coloured people in New-York "? Within two brief years what scenes have been witnessed in this city and other sections of the state'? Before the last

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year, an instance of insult to persons of colour in this city, under any circumstances, was exceedingly rare. They mingled in all our popular assemblages, and though often genteelly and even fashionably attired, their presence attracted little attention, and provoked no indignity. The intelligent and respectable among them, and there are many such in our city, were uniformly treated with kindness, and a tender sympathy for their depressed condition was generally felt among all classes of the community, which if suffered to grow, could not have failed to be most salutary in its results. Their friends among the whites, were rejoicing in the gradual and successful efforts made for their elevation, and the prospect of improving their condition encouraged the efforts which humanity and religion were making for their improvement. But in an evil hour, the spirit of Garrisonism was infused among these depressed peoplerand the result was first visible among themselves. From having been quiet and unassuming, as the better class of them proverbially were, they now began to assume an attitude of pride and independence. They were taught to regard themselves as perfectly equal to the whites in every aspect, and to attribute their separation, which long custom had rendered tolerable, as the fruits of robbery and oppression. Above all they were taught to abhor the Colonization Society, and to hate its members and friends with a perfect hatred. The idle and visionary hope of political and social equality in every relation, has been drilled into them, until they have lost the characteristics, which until now have been their safeguard from indignity and outrage. And accordingly these poor unfortunates have thence been exposed to outrages which else had never been committed. Apart from the sufferings inflicted upon the innocent and unoffending, during the abolition riots of the last year, they have since been insulted in numerous instances in the streets, and in public assemblages, until it has become dangerous for a coloured person male, or female, to be caught in a crowd. Their clothes have been torn off, they have been beaten and pelted with stones, and other acts of shameful cruelty have been committed upon them, such as were hardly ever known in this community. And why this change in the condition and prospects of the free coloured people of the north? Unquestionably it is the- result of abolitionism, and the leaders of this party are responsible not only for their own acts, but for the altered bearing and conduct of these people themselves, so far as this may have provoked these outrages. From my soul I pity the delusion under which the'coloured people cf the north have been beguiled into circumstances so afflicting to themselves, by the " flattering unction" of these pseudo philanthropists. The truth is becoming more^ and' more apparent, that in the anti-

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slavery crusade against " vincible prejudice," they have created this prejudice where it did not exist, and they have fostered and strengthened it where it did, so that in the less intelligent portion of the community it has acquired an intensity by which it has been converted into cruelty and persecution. And this has been exhibited in so many instances, invariably and directly resulting from the measures of the Anti-Slavery Society, that intelligent men of colour are beginning to feel, in the language of one of them, that " these friends are digging a pit for our destruction." Still, however, multitudes of them are so infatuated by the anti-slavery delusion, that they continue to be inspired with the visionary hope, that they shall soon be elevated to perfect and universal equality with the white race.

I know that the members of the Anti-Slavery Society deceive themselves and others by the notion that if the Colonization Society were annihilated, these evils would no longer exist. They seem to think that but for the provision made by the society to transport to Africa such free persons of colour or manumitted slaves, as wish to go there, all the " prejudice of caste" would wither and die, and no farther obstacle exist in the way of " immediate and unconditional emancipation." But facts are altogether against this hypothesis. The cause of abolition is prosperous only in those sections of the south where colonization is popular, and no where is this cause so hindered as in those slaveholding states, where the society has but few friends. So obvious has been the influence of the Colonization Society in promoting actual abolition, that the true friends of the coloured race, would find a sufficient motive for supporting it in this single feature, if it accomplished nothing else either here or in Africa.

I will only add, that the discreet members of the Anti-Slavery Society, and there are doubtless many such, might find in the class of men with whom they are associated, ample reason to pause and ponder and retreat. It might not be easy to predict who would not become the votaries of abolitionism in any given place, where anti-slavery meetings were held ; but one might readily prophesy who would certainly become such. Individuals and congregations, who are known to be radicals, in church or state ; — prone to ultraism on every subject with which they are connected, are the early converts to anti-slavery lecturers. Let the observation be made in any city, town, village, or congregation, where abolitionism has gained partizans, and it will be found, that however many from among other classes of the population may go over to the party, all those known by their general character to be enthusiasts, visionaries, fanatics, and radicals, in politics or morals, are sure to be included. And if there happen to be a church of any denomination, whose pastor and membership are proverbially

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given up to eccentricities in doctrine or to ultra measures, such church will prove a luxuriant garden for the growth of abolitionism. And though Mr. Jay seems to deprecate the fact that " infidels" are occasionally found among the friends of colonization, yet among his own associates, when he becomes better acquainted, he will find many such. One of these infidels in this city, who is an active friend of temperance as well as of immediate abolition, publicly and unbiushingly avowed the sentiment very lately, that " neither the Anti-Slavery Society nor the Temperance Society, could ever succeed, unless the Bible could be got out of the way .'" And when asked for an explanation, he falsely alleged that the Bible justified both slavery and intemperance, and referred to what he called Scripture proofs, which he said, while the people believed and reverenced, would be an insuperable obstacle to both these societies.

As I have attempted in the following Letters a vindication of the Colonization Society, because this is the chief object of his attack, and because I am in heart and action identified with that enterprise ; — so I have been constrained to carry the war into the enemy's camp, and examine the principles, professions, and tendency of the American Anti-slavery Society, which is the subject of Mr. Jay's affection and eulogy.

Whether the :' free discussion," which Mr. Jay invites, and which anti-slavery orators and presses profess to desire, and which is here attempted, shall be met with a spirit correspondent with their unanimous professions, remains to be seen. Should Mr. Jay think himself misapprehended, or should he be able to maintain any one of the heinous charges against the Colonization Society, which I have denied and repelled by unimpeachable testimony, the opportunity of free discussion is accessible to him, and the public will expect it. To such a reply, or to one from any other respectable source, I shall deem it a duty and pleasure to extend all due regard, and if I cannot sustain myself in the estimation of the discerning public, I am content to suffer the forfeiture. But while I shall feel bound to give respectful notice to any reply to my arguments, or any denial of the facts I record, let it be remembered that no reviling, calumny, or abuse aimed at my humble self, from any quarter, will meet any kind of notice. " I am doing a great work, and cannot come down."

With these prefatory observations, I submit the following Letters to the judgment of the reader.

LETTERS

TO THE

LETTER I. Sir

Having read your "Inquiry into the character and tendency of the American Colonization and American Anti-Slavery Societies," and being convinced that the " character and ten deney" of your own book, demand an "inquiry," at this crisis in public feeling, which you have selected for its publication, I have chosen the form of letters to yourself, as that most con venient for my present purpose. The high regard I entertain for your general character and private worth, so favourably known, and deservedly appreciated among our fellow citizens, will entitle you to my respectful courtesy, and our mutual relationship as professors of a common Christianity, forbid that I should impeach your motives, or impugn either your integrity or benevolence.

The subject of your "Inquiry," however, is to every American citizen, of paramount importance, and to the Christian of absorbing interest. This you seem fully to estimate when you affirm in your Introduction, " If the claims of the Ameri can Colonization Society are founded in truth, they cannot be resisted without guilt /" page 7. And as you have written a volume in " resistance" of those claims, you have been obliged for the sake of your own consistency and justification, to at- I* tempt the proof that they are not "founded in truth." You will forgive me when I say, that you have failed to make out your case, not for lack of talents as a civili in, or of skill as a controversialist, or of learning as a judge, or of sincerity as a Christian, but you have in the present case been self-deceived by " want of information," and therefore you must permit me in turn to " regret most sincerely, that a man possessing the power of doing so much good, should ever, through want op information, so grievously misapply it." p. 162.

In this " Introduction" to your book, which is the subject of criticism in the present letter, your first paragraph makes the astounding affirmation, that in the United States there are 2,245,144 slaves,* "compelled to live without God, and to die without hope, by a people professing to reverence the obligations of Christianity." On such a fact, if true, an appeal might be framed which would awaken heaven and earth, and be " enough to make an angel weep." But is it true, that the whole of our slave -population "live without God!" and do they all "die without hope!" and are they "compelled" to do so by the inhuman monsters, who inhabit this nation? Every reader who finds this hyperbole at the very threshold of

* This estimate of the whole number of slaves in the United States on the 1st of January last, is made from the ratio of increase between 1820 and 1830. And as this description of absolute and compulsory heathenism, is- applied to them all, without exception, we shall look in vain among the publications of the Colonization Society, for any similar instance of " disparaging the free blacks," and " discouraging all efforts for their improvement," as the author's rhetorical nourish here presents of " these millions of slaves." If such be truly the character of the slaves, we should scarcely look for its avowal by an advocate of " immediate abolition," since it presents " an apology for slavery" which would justify the perpetuity of the system, unless they could be immediately transformed by the process of emancipation, and created anew by "instant abolition." The preparation of such heathens for freedom, would indeed be a " triumph of gradualism^ although it must be confessed that this picture of the intellectual and moral degradation. of 2,245,144 of our fellow beings, is enough not ' only to annihilate the hopes of immediate abolitionists, but to fill the hearts of the advocates of gradual emancipation itself with despair. For if the whole of our slave population, at this day, be such as is here represented, then may philanthropy and religion despair of a remedy, and abandon their hopeless efforts. But on more mature reflection, Mr. Jay will acknowledge that he is mistaken, and lament Ms own " want of information."

your book, must conclude that you commenced writing it. in a state of mind and feeling not the best calculated for a grave " inquiry," or you would not thus indiscreetly make such a statement, so utterly " at variance with truth and Christianity," as you charitably charge against the Colonization Society on your 13th page.*

Suffer me to ask whether you had forgotten this sentence when you penned the 132d page of your book? How else do you say in that place, " We will not assert there are no Christians among the slaves, for we trust there are some." And again, " we suppose that 245,000 slaves possess a saving knowledge of the religion of Christ /" Do you mean to say that these 245,000 Christians, who "possess a saving knowledge of the religion of Christ, are compelled to live without God, and die without hope?" And can you persuade yourself, that such a number of Christians, who are the " light of the world," though they be in bonds, can fail to " let their light shine' among the slaves around them, and exert an influence which shall prevent all "these millions from being kept in ignorance, and compelled to live without God and die without hope /" If this be not undervaluing the Christian character, and depreciating the effect of Christian example, to an extent beyond any of the sentiments of the Colonization Society, against which you urge this objection, I fear that you will be grievously misinterpreted, for such will be the natural and le-

* The reader will, I am sure, be surprised and grieved at the extravagance of this sentiment. If it be true, that all the slaves of the United States, are "compelled to live without God and die without hope" what must be the immeasurable guilt and infamy which must attach to those who inflict this compulsion ! Is Mr. Jay aware of the fact that thousands of slaveholders, are his fellow Christians, members of his own and other evangelical churches, in the southern and western states'? Does he not know that very many of these are indefatigably employed in the religious instruction of their slaves, in encouraging and supporting missions to the plantations, on many of which churches are built for the slaves, by these slaveholders, where the gospel and the means of grace are faithfully supported at the expense of the planters'? How then does he charge upon the owners of these slaves, the heinous guilt, the fiend-like crime, of "compelling their slaves to live without God and die without hope'?" If he himself believes this statement, he must regard the entire south as worse than Sodom or Gomorrah, and every owner of slaves as a demon incarnate. I envy not, either his charity or his conscience.

gitimate conclusion of your readers. I confess it is a subject of surprise and affliction to me, that I am, thus early in my notice of your book, required to direct your attention to such glaring inconsistencies and mistakes. I did not expect it from the estimate I had formed of the author, and must deeply regret that the reader should find on the 5th page, this unfounded allegation, and then read on the Sth the profession of a " solemn recollection" on the part of the author, that "no deviation from truth can escape the notice and displeasure of Him unto whom all hearts are open and from whom no secrets are hid !* It is too painful to dwell on this unhappy evidence of the tendency of that malign influence which it is lamentably apparent, you have unconsciously received, by uncongenial proximity with the " spirit of anti-Colonization."