with ridicule and reproach; that persecution would assail them on the right hand and on the left; that the dungeon would yawn for their bodies; that the dagger of the assassin would gleam behind them; that the arm of power would be raised to crush them to the earth; that they would be branded as disturbers of the peace, as fanatics, madmen and incendiaries; that the heel of friendship would be lifted against them, and love be turned into hatred, and confidenceinto suspicion, and respect into derision; that their worldly interests would be jeoparded, and the honor and emoluments of office would be withheld from their enjoyment. Knowing

all this, still they dare all things, in order to save their country by seeking its purification from blood. Will the base and the servile accuse them of being actuated by a hope of reward? Reward! It is the reward which calumny gives to virtue-the reward which selfishness bestows. upon benevolence; but nothing of worldly applause, or fame, or promotion. Yet they have a reward-and who will blame them for coveting it? It is the gratitude of the suffering and the oppressed—the approbation of a good con.. science—the blessing of the Most High.

'Tempt them with bribes, you tempt in vain;
Try them with fire, you'll find them true.'

To deter such souls from their purposes, or vanquish them in combat, is as impossible as to stop the rush of the ocean when the spirit of the storm rides upon its mountain billows. They are hourly increasing in number and strength, and going on from conquering to conquer. Convert after convert, press after press, pulpit after pulpit, is subdued, and enlisted on the side of justice and freedom.

A grave charge is brought against me, that I am exciting your rage against the whites, and filling your minds with revengful feelings? Is this true? Have not all my addresses

and appeals to you had just the contrary effect upon your minds? Have they not been calculated to make you bear all your trials and difficulties in the spirit of Christian resignation, and to induce you to return good for evil? Where is the calumniator who dares to affirm that you have been turbulent and quarrelsome since I began my labors in your behalf? Where is the man who is so ignorant as not to know or perceive that, as a people, you are constantly improving in knowledge and virtue? No, brethren; you will bear me a unanimous testimony, that I have not implanted in your minds any malice towards your persecutors, but, on the contrary, forgiveness of injuries. And I can as truly aver that, in all my intercourse with you as a people, I have not seen or heard any thing of a malignant or revengeful spirit. No: yours has been eminently a spirit of resignation and faith, under the most aggravating circumstances.

I will notice but one other charge which the enemies of our cause have brought against me. It is, that I am unduly exciting your hopes, and holding out to your view prospects of future happiness and respectability which can never be realized in this country. Pitiful complaint! Because I have planted a solitary rose, as it were, in the wilderness of suffering in which your race has so long wandered, to cheer your drooping hearts, I am sharply reproved for giving even this little token of good things to come-by those, too, who make loud professions of friendship for you, that is, if you will go to Liberia, but who are constantly strewing in your path briars and thorns, and digging pits into which you may stumble to rise no more. These querulous complainants, who begrudge every drop of comfort which falls upon your thirsty lips, as a miser mourns the loss of a penny, seem to forget or discard the promise of Jehovah, that the wilderness shall bud and blossom like the rose.' I have faith to believe that this promise will ultimately be fulfilled, even in

this land of republicanism and Christianity. Surely I may be pardoned, when so many are endeavoring to break down all your rising hopes and noble aspirations, if I urge you not to despair, for the day of redemption will assuredly come. Nay, I may still be forgiven, if I transcend the limits of probability, and suffer my imagination to paint in too glowing colors the recompense which is to be yours; since, strive as I may, I can scarcely hope to equalize the heartcrushing discouragements and assaults made by your ene

mies.

All things considered, you have certainly done well, as a body. There are many colored men whom I am proud to rank among my friends; whose native vigor of mind is remarkable; whose morals are unexceptionable; whose homes are the abode of contentment, plenty and refinement. For my own part, when I reflect upon the peculiarities of your situation; what indignities have been heaped upon your heads; in what utter dislike you are generally held even by those who profess to be the ministers and disciples of Christ; and how difficult has been your chance to arrive at respectability and affluence, I marvel greatly, not that you are no more enlightened and virtuous, but that you are not like wild beasts of the forests. I fully coincide with the sentiment of Mr. Jefferson, that the men must be prodigies who can retain their manners and morals under such circumstances. Surely, you have a right to demand an equal position among mankind.

O, if those whose prejudices against color are deeply rooted-if the asserters of the natural inferiority of the people of color, would but even casually associate with the victims of their injustice, and be candid enough to give merit its due, they could not long feel and act as they now do. Their prejudices would melt like frost-work before the blazing sun; their unbelief would vanish away, their contempt be turned

into admiration, their indifference be roused to benevolent activity, and their dislike give place to friendship. Keeping aloof from your society, ignorant of the progress which you are making in virtue, knowledge and competence, and believing all the aspersions of malice which are cast upon your character, they at length persuade themselves that you are utterly worthless, and nearly akin to the brute creation. Cruel men! cruel women! thus hastily and blindly to pass condemnation upon those who deserve your compassion, and are worthy of your respect!

Be this your encouragement, in view of our separation. Although absent from you in body, I shall still be with you in spirit. I go away, not to escape from toil, but to labor more abundantly in your cause. If I may do something for your good at home, I hope to do more abroad. In the mean time, I beseech you fail not, on your part, to lead quiet and orderly lives. Let there be no ground whatever for the charge which is brought against you by your enemies, that you are turbulent and rude. Let all quarrelling, all dramdrinking, all profanity, all violence, all division, be confined to the white people. Imitate them in nothing but what is clearly good, and carefully shun even the appearance of evil. Let them, if they will, follow the devices and perform the drudgery of the devil; but be ye perfect, even as your heavenly Father is perfect. Conquer their aversion by moral excellence; their proud spirit by love; their evil acts by acts of goodness; their animosity by forgiveness. Keep in your hearts the fear of God, and rejoice even in tribulation; for the promise is sure, that all things shall work together for good to those who love His name.

As for myself, whatever may be my fate-whether I fall in the spring-time of manhood by the hand of the assassin, or be immured in a Georgia cell, or be permitted to live to a ripe old age-I know that the success of your cause is

not dependant upon my existence. I am but as a drop in the ocean, which, if it be separated, cannot be missed.

My own faith is strong-my vision, clear-my consolation, great. Who art thou, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel thou shalt become a plain: and he shall bring forth the headstone thereof with shoutings, crying, Grace, grace unto it.' Let us confidently hope, that the day is at hand, when we shall be enabled to celebrate not merely the abolition of the slave trade by law but in fact, and the liberation of every descendant of Africa, wherever one exists in bondage under the whole heavens.

To My Birth-Place.

WHETHER a persecuted child of thine

Thou deign to own, my lovely native place,*
In characters that Time cannot efface,
Thy worth is graved upon this heart of mine.
Forsake me not in anger, nor repine

That with this nation I am in disgrace:
From ruthless bondage to redeem my race,
And save my country, is my great design.
How much soe'er my conduct thou dost blame,
(For Hate and Calumny belie my course,)
My labors shall not sully thy fair fame;

But they shall be to thee a fountain-source
Of joyfulness hereafter when my name
Shall e'en from tyrants a just tribute force.

* NEWBURYPORT, Mass.