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No man, says Algernon Sidney, can have a right over others, unless it be by them granted to him: That which is not just, is not law; and that which is not law, ought not to be in force: Whosoever grounds his pretensions of right upon usurpation and tyranny, declares himself to be an usurper and a tyrant—that is, an enemy to God and man—and to have no right at all: That which was unjust in its beginning, can of itself never change its nature: HE WHO PERSISTS IN DOING INJUSTICE, AGGRAVATES IT, AND TAKES UPON HIMSELF ALL THE GUILT OF HIS PREDECESSORS: The right to be free is a truth planted in the hearts of men, and acknowledged so to be by all who have hearkened to the voice of nature, and disproved by none but such as through wickedness, stupidity, or baseness of spirit, seem to have degenerated into the worst of beasts, and to have retained nothing of men but the outward shape, or the ability of doing those mischiefs which they have learnt from their master the devil.

The following is the indignant, emphatic, eloquent language of HENRY BROUGHAM, on the subject of slave property :

Tell me not of rights-talk not of the property of the planter in his slaves. I DENY THE RIGHT-I ACKNOWLEDGE NOT THE PROPERTY. The principles, the feelings of our common nature, rise in rebellion against it. Be the appeal made to the understanding or to the heart, the sentence is the same that rejects it. In vain you tell me of the laws that sanction such a claim! There is a law above all the enactments of human codes-the same throughout the world, the same in all times-such as it was before the daring genius of Columbus pierced the night of ages, and opened to one world the sources of power, wealth and knowledge; to another, all unutterable woes ;such it is at this day it is the law written by the finger of God on the heart of man; and by that law, unchangeable and eternal, while men despise fraud, and loathe rapine, and abhor blood, they shall reject with indignation the wild and guilty fantasy, that.man can hold property in man! In vain you appeal to treaties, to covenants between nations. The covenants of the Almighty, whether the old or the new, denounce such unholy pretensions. To those laws did they of old refer, who maintained the African trade. Such treaties did they cite, and not untruly; för by one shameful compact, you bartered the glories of Blenheim for the traffic in blood. Yet, in despite of law and of treaties, that infernal traffic is now destroyed, and its votaries put to death like other pirates. How eame this change to pass? Not assuredly by parliament leading the way; but the country at length awoke; the indignation of the people was kindled; it descended in thunder, and smote the traffic, and scattered its guilty profits to the winds. Now, then, let the planters beware-let their assemblies beware-let the government at home beware-let the parliament beware! the same country is once more awake,-awake to the condition of negro slavery ; the same indignation kindles in the bosom of the same people; the same cloud is gathering that annihilated the slave trade; and, if it shall descend again, they, on whom its crash shall fall, will not be destroyed before I have warned them; but I pray that their destruction may turn away from us the more terrible judgments of God!'

Is this the language of fanaticism? Is Henry Brougham a madman ?

The following extracts must close the evidence in support of my third allegation, that the Colonization Society disregards the fundamental principle of human liberty and equality, that man cannot hold property in man :

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‹ Let me ask, who can wish under existing circumstances that the constitution should be altered, when it must bring with it a violation of property-and when that violation of private property must engender such hostility of feelings, and elicit such bitter vituperation? The whole Union would feel a concussion, and no one can count the costs of the contest. * * * By means of our colony, they may remove their slaves and restore them to freedom-and at the same time no way jeopardize the safety of themselves or their property.'— [Proceedings of the First Annual Meeting of the New-Jersey Colonization Society.]

'The establishment of our colony will afford facilities to proprietors for completing in Africa the exercise of the right which can only be partially exercised in this country, of disposing of our property, in our own way, without injury to the community.’—[Fourteenth Annual Report.]

What audacity do those advocates of the Society exhibit, who use, in reference to beings made a little lower than the angels, language like this--' disposing of our property in our own way'' we hold their slaves, as we hold their other property, SACRED !! * If they really mean and believe what they say, it is something more heinous than impertinence to urge the planters to dispossess themselves of their property by colonization; and if the slaves belong of right to them,—are on a par with goods and chattels,-how idle, how supremely ridiculous it is to mourn over their wretched condition, to sigh for their emancipation, to declaim against the evil and wickedness of slavery, or even to denounce the slave trade! But the unfortunate blacks are not now, and never can be, the property of the planters; consequently the claims of their pretended owners are no better than those of the pirate or highway robber.

*Is there no difference between a vested interest in a house or a tenement, and a vested interest in a human being? No difference between a right to bricks and mortar, and a right to the flesh of man-a right to torture his body and to degrade his mind at your good will and pleasure? There is this difference,the right to the house originates in law, and is reconcilable to justice; the claim (for I will not call it a right) to the man, originated in robbery, and is an outrage upon every principle of justice, and every tenet of religion.'-Speech of Fowell Buxton in the British Parliament.

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SECTION. IV.

THE AMERICAN

COLONIZATION

SOCIETY INCREASES THE

VALUE OF SLAVES.

I COME now to my fourth charge, which, although not more serious or consequential than any of the foregoing, may possibly create more surprise,—namely, that the Society increases the value of slaves, and adds strength and security to the system of slavery. It is the discovery of this fact that is so wonderfully, and to many superficial observers so inexplicably, increasing the popularity of the Society at the south. It would require more pages of this work than its necessarily contracted limits permit, to sum up minutely the evidence on this point, and to give those illustrations which might serve more clearly to establish its validity. The most common, as it is the most potent, argument used by colonization agents among slave owners, to secure their patronage, is,- The successful prosecution of our scheme will remove the chief source of danger to yourselves, and enable you to hold your property in greater security the presence of free persons of color among your slaves is eminently calculated to make them insubordinate, and to procure their violent emancipation.' This argument, I say, is introduced into every conversation, and every public address, and every essay; and whoever carefully consults the numbers of the African Repository, through seven volumes, will find it repeated in almost every appeal to the south.

I choose to consider the testimony of southern men, in regard to the invigorating effects of the colonization enterprise upon the system of slavery, conclusive. Here is a very small portion of it: more may be found under the sixth section of this work.

The object of the Colonization Society commends itself to every class of society. The landed proprietor may ENHANCE THE VALUE OF HIS PROPERTY by assisting the enterprise.'-[African Repository, vol. i. p. 67.]

But is it not certain, that should the people of the Southern States refuse to adopt the opinions of the Colonization Society, [relative to the gradual abolition

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'The removal of every single free black in America, would be productive of nothing but safety to the slaveholder, nor would the emancipation of as many as the benevolence of individual masters would send off, as far as I can see, be productive of disaffection among the remainder, more than the example of such as are every day set free, and sent to the Ohio or elsewhere; and if so large a part should ever be set free as to create discontent among the remainder, (and nothing but the emancipation of a great majority can do this,) yet that remainder must then, from the terms of the proposition, be so much diminished, as to be easily kept down by superior numbers.'-[Idem, vol. iii. p. 202.]

The tendency of the scheme, and one of its objects, is to secure slaveholders and the whole Southern country, against certain evil consequences, growing out of the present threefold mixture of our population.'-[Idem, vol. iv. p. 274.]

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We all know the effects produced on our slaves by the fascinating, but delusive appearance of happiness, exhibited in persons of their own complexion, roaming in idleness and vice among them. By removing the most fruitful source of discontent from among our slaves, we should render them more industrious and attentive to our commands; and by rendering them more industrious and obedient, we should naturally secure their better treatment-we should ameliorate their condition. Our enemies have admitted that good would result from the removal of this class. Caius Gracchus declares, that if the Society could attain "this single object in good faith, (the removal of the free people of color) he should, perhaps, be among the last citizens in the commonwealth-who would raise his voice against it," and the author of the CRISIS (who is doubtless regarded as authority in South Carolina) acknowledges, "that there is no doubt but that if we in the South, were relieved of this population, it would be better for our southern citics, where they principally reside." Nothing can be more plain then, than that the Colonization Society, in its efforts to remove the free people of color, is accomplishing a work to which the citizens of the South, whether friends or foes to the Society, have given their decided approbation.'[Idem, vol. vi. p. 205.]

If, as is most confidently believed, the colonization of the free people of color will render the slave who remains in America more obedient, more faithful, more honest, and, consequently, more useful to his master,' &c.-[Second Annual Report.]

There was but one way, [to avert danger,] but that might be made effectual, fortunately! It was to PROVIDE AND KEEP OPEN A DRAIN FOR THE EXCESS BEYOND THE OCCASIONS OF PROFITABLE EMPLOYMENT. Mr Archer had been stating the case in the supposition, that after the present class of free blacks had been exhausted, by the operation of the plan he was recommending, others would be supplied for its action, in the proportion of the excess of colored population it would be necessary to throw off, by the process of voluntary manumission or sale. This effect must result inevitably from the depreciating value of the slaves ensuing their disproportionate multiplication. The depreciation would be relieved und retarded at the same time, by the process. The two operations would aid reciprocally, and sustain each other, and both be in the highest degree beneficial. It was on the ground of interest, therefore, the most indisputable pecuniary interest, that he addressed himself to the people and Legislatures of the slaveholding States.'-[Speech of Mr Archer.-Fifteenth Annual Report.]

'Every motive which operates on the minds of slaveholders, tending to make the colonization of the free blacks an object of interest to them, should operate in an equal degree to secure the hearty co-operation of the government of every slaveholding State.'—[African Repository, vol. vii. p. 176.]

None are obliged to follow our example; AND THOSE WHO DO NOT, WILL FIND THE VALUE OF THEIR NEGROES INCREASED BY THE DEPARTURE OF OURS.'-[An advocate of colonization in the Western (Ky.) Luminary.]

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So far from its having a dangerous tendency, when properly considered, it will be viewed as AN ADDITIONAL GUARD TO OUR PECULIAR SPECIES OF PROPERTY.'-[An advocate of the Society in the NewOrleans Argus.]

'The slaveholder, who is in danger of having his slaves contaminated by their free friends of color, will not only be relieved from this danger, but THE VALUE OF HIS SLAVE WILL BE ENHANCED.'—[A new and interesting View of Slavery. By Humanitas, a colonization advocate. Baltimore, 1820.]

It is perfectly obvious, that whatever tends to weaken and depress the present system, must render the holding of slaves less desirable, and the prospect of emancipation more auspicious. Cherishing this conviction, thousands of individuals in this country, and tens of thousands in Great Britain, are led by conscientious motives to abstain from the use of productions raised by slave labor, and to prefer those only which are the fruits of the toil of freemen. They believe in the soundness of the axiom, that the receiver is as bad as the thief;' and knowing that the slaves are held in bondage not on the ground of benevolence, or because their liberation would endanger the public safety, but because they are profitable to their owners, they also believe that the consumers of slave goods contribute to a fund for supporting slavery with all its abominations; that they

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