from its opponents, we are, on that account, as well as from our regard for fair and manly argument, disposed to notice it with sorrow on our own side of the question. Nay, as it is the very mode of representation which Dr. Reese justly complains of in Mr. Jay's work, he ought to have kept far aloof from the same in his rebukes and criticisms. These remarks ought not to be taken as undervaluing the work of Dr. R., to which we shall have occasion to refer in different places, as containing sound argument; but such things are exhibitions of human frailty in pious men, and prompt us to exclaim, "Who can understand his errors? cleanse thou me from secret faults!"

The attitude taken by Mr. Jay, in the preface to his work, is very noble and imposing. He flings aside all extraneous questions, and comes up to the argument with the air of a man strong enough to grapple with the very elements of a great subject, and honest enough to disdain all unfair or even questionable advantages, in the argument. But we shall quote the entire preface, and suffer it to make its own impression.

No allusion has been made in the following pages, to certain popular objections to the Colonization Society; nor have any cases of individual cruelty been cited, to illustrate the evils of slavery. It is proper, that the reasons for this departure from the ordinary mode of discussing these two subjects, should be given, that they may not be misunderstood.

The objections I have omitted to notice, are, the mortality to which the emigrants are exposed, in consequence of the climate of Liberia ; the demoralizing traffic which the colonists have carried on with the natives, in rum and military stores; and the improvident application of the funds of the society, which has rendered it bankrupt.

These objections, serious as they are in themselves, are not inseparable from the system of colonization. Another and more salubrious site may be selected; the traffic complained of may be discontinued ; and the fiscal affairs of the society may hereafter be managed with prudence and economy. But there are inherent evils in the system, and it is important, that the public attention should not be diverted from these evils, by the contemplation of others, which are only accidental.

So, also, it is important, that the sinfulness of slavery should not be merged in that of its unauthorized abuses. Many contend for the lawfulness of slavery, who readily admit the sinfulness of insulated cases of cruelty. It has, therefore, been my object to show, that, admitting the slaves to be treated as a prudent farmer treats his cattle-that they have enough to eat, are sheltered from the inclemency of the weather, and are not subjected to a greater degree of severity than is necessary to extort from them a due amount of labor,-American slavery is, nevertheless, a heinous sin, and like every other sin, ought to be immediately abandoned." Jay, pp. v,

vi.

This preface of Mr. Jay's is altogether based upon an idea which we have long and earnestly endeavored to bring to the attention of our opponents on the subject of colonization; that if the errors of colonization are not inherent in the system, but are such

as may be thrown off, and still leave standing a system of benevolence and practical value, then they are bound to labor, not for the destruction of the scheme, but for the reform of its errors and abuses. Precisely upon this idea it was, that, in the outset of this review, we presented the scheme of colonization such as it was at first, and always has been, in the minds of the great body of its truly benevolent supporters; in order that every man, taking the scheme in its elementary aspect, and stripped of all contingent and extraneous qualities, might clearly see his duty respecting the subject in this view. And now, with a great part of our candid readers, the work of argument inay be, at this point, closed at once, and a permanent and immovable conviction fastened on the mind. For let such as are really looking for the truth, turn back to our account of what New-England friends of colonization have always designed it to be, and let them say if that is not a project which is at once noble in its design, and simple in the execution, and free from all mixture of pernicious error,-bearing the traces of its heavenly origin, and impregnable in the truth of its principles. That it is such, a great array of the faithful declare their united belief. If this belief is well-founded, all the errors of colonization, however much they may avail on the question of its reform, avail nothing on the question of its extirpation,-all the reproaches that may be justly heaped upon it, reach not the deep foundations of our attachment to it. Let the errors be attacked,hunted down, if you will, but let the unexceptionable principles receive that attachment of the heart which are their due. Even the religion of Christ was once buried up in the abominations of popery; and Luther, when he attacked and overthrew those abominations, became the great reformer; but had he aimed at the principle, by reason of the abuses, he would have been Voltaire, and no longer Luther.

And now that Mr. Jay has, to a certain extent, addressed himself to meet the question of colonization in its own relations, and not as embarrassed by any contingent errors or mistakes, it is to be hoped, that the attitude thus taken will be maintained throughout all the work which is to follow.

Mr. Jay has discussed the subject of colonization under the five following heads: "1. Origin, constitution and character of the American Colonization Society. 2. Influence of the Society on the condition of free persons of color. 3. Influence of the Society on Africa, suppression of the slave-trade. 4. Influence of the Society on Africa,-diffusion of civilization and christianity. 5. Influence of the Society on slavery."

There is no propriety in speaking contemptuously of this plan of Mr. Jay's, nor of its execution. It is by far the best meditated and most well-directed attack upon colonization, which, as far as we know, that cause has had to sustain. He who planned the

attack, has made his dispositions with a view to command every avenue which the society claims to have opened, leading to happy results at home or abroad, for slaves or freemen, for christianity or civil society; and this, evidently, in the hope of the utter annihilation of the scheme in every department, and with such apparent effect at first, that he now lies in his tent, dreaming, doubtless, of success. We ourselves have not been insensible of the vigor of the effort. Mr. Jay has made his assertions in language so bold, and with so strong a general honesty of purpose; he has backed them with so many quotations from pamphlets and speeches, old and new, official and unofficial, and has so linked them into one apparent system, by his mode of arrangement and exhibition, that one is almost persuaded, against his own consciousness and the evidence of extended observation, that himself and his fellows have all along been acting from an impulse of hatred: to the blacks, instead of a desire for their welfare. And inasmuch as truth has been our object in reading, as it now is in writing, we are free to say, that we have been able to see some things in the colonization scheme, which we have long known to be weak,—to be even more weak than we had supposed, and have opened our eyes upon some injurious influences of colonization, which had before escaped our notice altogether. But it is not in place to make any extended remarks upon them here.

Chapter first of this work, is a kind of "statement of the case" against colonization, to be sustained afterwards in the body of the book. Of course it is impossible here to quote much of the author's own language; and we shall give the substance of what is said, and what, as we understand it, is meant in this chapThe substance is, that the idea of colonizing free blacks, originated in the legislature of a slave state, (Virginia,) and that the colonization society was organized at the instance and under the management of slave-holders; that this society has prefaced its constitution by no preamble, setting forth the motives and sentiments of its signers, and recognizes no one principle of duty or policy; that this omission was probably intended in order that the three classes of those who love the blacks, and those who are weary of the blacks, and those who desire to make slavery secure, night co-operate in harmony; that, in fact, a heterogeneous multitude has entered and jostled each other, missionaries, slavedealers, christians, profligates, friends of human rights, and oppressors of the negro; that between these characters there has been a set compromise of principle, so that certain fundamental opinions are by consent suppressed, while unimportant ones are freely uttered, and borne with commendable patience on both sides, the advocate of slavery forbearing to justify it in the abstract, and its opponents agreeing to its lawfulness in present circumstances, while the actually miserable condition of the slave is

a forbidden topic; that both the oppressors and the friends of the free negro, dwell on and even aggravate his degradation, to prove the humanity of banishing him, and neither make any effort to remove or lessen the oppression; that any denunciation of slavery as sinful, would be unconstitutional, yet, inasmuch as money is needed, it is permittted to represent the society as an antidote to slavery,that the society gives an unanimous, vigorous and persevering opposition to present manumission, and this because it is expedient to conciliate the slave-holders; that many supporters of the society are interested in the American slave-trade, and to attempt the suppression of this, would be unconstitutional, while the Afri can slave-trade is violently denounced, inasmuch as it interferes with the slave-dealer's interests; that to hold up the free blacks to detestation is constitutional, but to recommend them to the sympathy of christians, and propose measures for their improvement, would be such a departure from the "exclusive" objects of the society, that no member has been rash enough to make the attempt, but that it has been quite constitutional to vindicate the laws which trample them in the dust; that the constitution forbids the transportation of blacks, without "their consent," but that it is very constitutional to justify and encourage such oppression of them, as shall compel them to seek a refuge from American cruelty in the wilds of Africa; and finally, that expediency has been adopted as the standard of right and wrong, instead of the revealed will of God.'

This chapter is closed by some satisfactory observations upon the propriety of making use, in substantiating these allegations, of the language of individual members of the Colonization Society, as well as that of the Board of Managers.

Such, then, is the picture which Mr. Jay has drawn of colonization, as it has been, and also, it should be observed, as it must be: (for Mr. Jay will not so soon change the attitude he has but just taken in his preface, and attack colonization upon the ground of "objections," which, "serious as they are in themselves, are not inseparable from the system.") Some of our readers will think, that we have deepened the lines, to make the picture odious; but this is not the fact: nothing has been deepened or added, but, on the other hand, many of the less prominent lines and shades have been neglected, for the want of space to introduce them.

But what say we to the picture as it stands? Why we say, that in the first place, as to Virginia colonization, we know nothing of the motives which led to its proposal; but almost every one knows, that the actual plan of colonization, which came into effect, and resulted in the formation of the national society at Washington, had its origin in some benevolent and pious minds of the free Yet Mr. Jay, having named many circumstances to connect the origin of this society with slave-holders as its patrons, has

states.

not even named the men who were properly its founders, and who were not slave-holders; and had he named them, he must himself, as it would seem, have felt the incongruity, not to call it, as Mr. Jay would do in a similar case, the outrage, of attributing to a deliberative body, of which they formed a part, the design of inviting to a co-operation with themselves the negro-haters of the country, by carefully avoiding an avowal of motives and principles. It is a remark of Dr. Reese, that Mr. Jay has so arranged his paragraphs and worded his expressions, as to carry an impression, that the meeting at Washington, which resulted in the formation of that society, was consequent upon the Virginia resolutions, and of a piece with them; when, in fact, it had no connection, and took place two days earlier.* The omission of a preamble may possibly have allowed to the supporters of the colonization scheme a wider latitude of character than is usual in our benevolent institutions; but this character is, almost of course, determined by the feelings with which the avowed purpose of the society is looked upon; and as the purpose of this particular association is distinctly stated to be the colonization of free people of color, with their own consent, either abroad or at home, very different characters would unite in the scheme, according to their different views of its bearings, however explicit the avowal of motives might have been so that this does not stand essentially upon a different ground

* Some two or three oft-repeated facts, of which Mr. Jay would seem to be ignorant, may be stated in this place.

1. Granville Sharp founded the colony of Sierra Leone, in 1787, because he found in London and in Nova Scotia considerable bodies of free blacks, in a degraded and suffering condition, whom he [and was he indeed a negro-hater?] knew not how to benefit in any way so well as by colonization.

2. In 1789, the Rev. Samuel Hopkins, D. D., of Newport, R. I., who was neither a slave-holder nor the son of a slave-holder, wrote to Grauville Sharp, that the progress of emancipation in the United States was encouraging; that "the circumstances of the freed blacks are in many respects unhappy, while they live here among the whites;" and, that "a number of religious blacks, with whom he was acquainted, wished to be formed into a distinct church, and to have a black appointed to be their pastor," "and then to go, with all the blacks who shall be willing to move with them to Africa,"" and there maintain the profession and practice of christianity, and spread the knowledge of it among the Africans, as far as they shall have opportunity; at the same time cultivating their lands, and introducing into that bitherto uncivilized country, the arts of husbandry, building," etc., "and raising tobacco, coffee, cotton, indigo, etc., for exportation, as as well for their own use." He added, "This plan I have had in view for some years, and have wished and attempted to promote it."

3. The Rev. Dr. Finley, of New-Jersey, well known for his zeal in behalf of the oppressed and suffering, is believed to have been the first to propose a society for this purpose, and was very active in promoting it.

4. Samuel J. Mills, while traversing the United States, on his humble and noiseless, yet most efficient agencies for good, became convinced, that no plan was more important in the great system of efforts for the world's salvation, than the plan of African colonization from America. It was with him, at the north and at the south, a subject of conversation and of prayer; and when, in the winter of 1816-17, he was informed that a society for that purpose was about to be formed, he hastened to Washington, and arrived there just in time to attend a meeting, which was held at the house of Elias B. Caldwell, the evening before the formation of the society, to implore God's blessing on the enterprise.