VALEDICTORY DISCOURSE, 
 
 DELIVERED 
 
 BEFORE THE Cmcmj\rATI OF CONNECTICUT, 
 
 In HARTFORD, JULY Ath, 1804, 
 
 AT TKS 
 
 DISSOLUTION OF THE SOCIETY, 
 
 ,\ 
 
 Br D-: HU3IFHREYS, 
 
 LATE MINISTER PLENIPOTENTIARY OF THE UNIfED SfAfES 
 , OF AMERICA^ AT THE COURT OF MADRID. 
 
 PUBLISHED AT THE REQUEST OF THE SOCIETY. 
 
 boston; 
 
 PRINTED BY GILBERT AND DEAN, No. 78, State-Street 
 
 1804, ^ 
 

 t^ l/ai&diotory ^ldcoiiT<iey ^"^, 
 
 3'Di-^^^l®<'4n'.rjS:JR5ni 
 
 My Friends and Fellow-Citizens ! 
 
 ON this auspicious return of a day, so just- 
 ly dear for having been distinguished by the 
 declaration of Independence, it was a first duty 
 to offer our most humble and hearty thanks to 
 the Supreme Governor of the Universe, for this 
 renewed instance of his goodness, and for all the 
 inestimable favours which he hath vouchsafed to 
 bestow upon us. That sacred duty performed, 
 it is not unbecoming the character of men, who 
 duly prize the blessings of civil society, under 
 the safeguard of a good government, to inter- 
 change their congratulations on so happy an oc- 
 casion. From the Cincinnati the pleasing office 
 has devolved on me, to felicitate this numerous 
 and respectable assembly. May your Happiness 
 be completed by the attainment of the objects of 
 your reasonable wishes ! and may you assist in 
 the celebration of many of these festivals, under 
 such delightful circumstances, as will furnish en- 
 creasing motives for joy and gratitude ! Before 
 I proceed to make some general observations, on 
 the best means of perpetuating the blessings of 
 that Independence which we are convened to eel- 
 
L 4 3 
 
 ebrate, permit me to perform the more appropri- 
 ate business of the day, as it relates to the Soci- 
 ety, on whose behalf I have the honour to ad- 
 dress you. 
 
 Mr FlilENDS OF THE ClNCJl^NATI ! 
 
 You will naturally expect, that the Com- 
 mittee, appointed at your last annual Meeting, to 
 apply to the Legislature for an Act of Incorpo- 
 ration for securing the benefits of the pecuni- 
 ary part of your institution, should make a re- 
 port of their proceedings. The Memorial, which 
 has been printed, will render it unnecessary to enter 
 into any detail, of the specific mode in which the 
 subject was presented. Two of your committee 
 now present (for one gentleman named on it, 
 was then, as he is now, absent in a distant part 
 of the Union) having been admitted at the bar 
 of both houses, to sustain the prayer of the peti- 
 tion by such oral explanations and arguments as 
 they might think proper to adduce, endeavoured, 
 by all the fair representations in their power, 
 to demonstrate the reasonableness and expedien- 
 cy of a compliance with it. In the House of Re- 
 presentatives the subject received the most dis- 
 passionate and liberal discussion ; and leave was 
 given by a very great majority to bring in a bill 
 in form, according to the prayer of the Memo- 
 rial. But unfortunately in the other house, where 
 the manner in which the question was discussed, 
 and tlie reasons vdiich induced the decision, caji- 
 
I 5 1 
 
 not be so *distinctly known, it was negatived. We 
 think it but just to add, that this was done upon 
 mature deliberation; and after that Honorable Bo- 
 dy had been assured, that their refusalto grant such 
 protection to the fund of this society, as they were 
 in the habit of granting to those of ail other as- 
 sociations of citizens indiscriminately, 'must op- 
 erate as its death-warrant. We have no ground 
 for flattering ourselves with a hope that any oth- 
 er application would be more successful. What 
 hope can we entertain of removing jealousy from 
 the few minds, where, as in a congenial soil, it 
 lias been taking root for twenty years, while 
 from all others it has been eradicated ? That 
 jealousy was the principal cause, why the majori- 
 ty in that house refused to concur in affording 
 protection to the charitable part of your institu- 
 tion, cannot be doubted, and ought not to be con- 
 cealed. For we will not pay so bad a compli- 
 ment to their understandings, as to believe, what- 
 ever may have been pretended, they could have 
 supposed, it was possible that your fund should 
 be preserved much longer, for its original desti- 
 nation, without being protected by a legislative 
 act. They m^ust, then, have judged the evil to 
 be apprehended from the Society's continuance 
 would overbalance the good to be expected from 
 the preservation of so considerable a fund, des- 
 tined for so beneficent a purpose. It would have 
 
 * Notwithstanding- the debates in this house are with closed doors, 
 the principal reasons wliich were offered on thi^ question have trans- 
 pired. 
 
C 6 3 
 
 been more frank and manly to have avowed the 
 real inducements by which they were actuated. 
 But, whatever they were, in the judgment of 
 your Committee, it will be in vain to attempt to 
 resist them any farther. The small majority in 
 the upper house, had unquestionably a right to 
 do what they have done. To acquiesce is our 
 obligation. 
 
 When interrogated verbally in the House of 
 Representatives, concerning the motion made at 
 our last annual meeting for the dissolution of the 
 Society ; I answered, that I had been opposed to 
 the measure then as premature — ^but that, if we 
 should not succeed in our application for obtain- 
 ing the legislative interference which we had so- 
 licited, I would give my suffrage for its annihila- 
 tion, whenever the question should be again pro- 
 posed. Such is my unalterable resolution. I can- 
 not refrain from expressing a wish, that the fund 
 may be so converted into annuities, by calcula- 
 tion on tontine principles, as to supply a com- 
 fortable* maintainance for life, to those who have 
 heretofore received a yearly allowance. Little 
 pecuniary aid will now be required for the wi- 
 dows, since their children are now no longer a 
 charge to them. Nothing farther is necessary for 
 the orphans — they have arrived at manhood, and 
 are capable of taking care of themselves. But a 
 cheerful and decent competence should attend 
 the closing days of every debiUtated veteran, who 
 
C 7 3 
 
 might otherwise have been left to the un- 
 feeling neglect of a thankless world* At least, 
 my small share shall never be withdrawn, for any- 
 other purpose. And, in case of our doing any- 
 thing definitive, a committee ought doubtless to 
 be raised to ascertain the amount belonging to 
 every grade of oiEcers and to devise such arrange- 
 ments as may be deemed expedient for disposing 
 of it. 
 
 Ere I pass from this part of my discourse to 
 other topics, I cannot but arrest my thought on 
 the short periods for which these annuities will be 
 wanted. I cannot but stop to reflect, if life be yet 
 strong within us, how much the most robust are 
 changed, since we served in the war, which end- 
 ed by the acknowledgment of our Independence. 
 After I had been fourteen years out of my coun- 
 try, on returning to it, well might we reciprocal- 
 ly perceive an alteration of features. Perhaps 
 not a former particle of these changeable bodies 
 remains. In what then can we recognize our 
 identity? Consciousness still survives, while 
 many of our companions, once healthful in ap- 
 pearance, and gay in deportment, have ceased 
 from recollection in the forgetfulness of the 
 grave. Of those who were most advanced in 
 years, when they joined the army, few are now 
 living. Where are your Generals, and do the 
 Patriots of the Revolution live forever ? Where 
 is WASHINGTON, whom ye all had the satisfac* 
 
C « 3 
 
 tion of knowing — whom ye all loved, and vcnc- 
 rated ? Are not his ashes at Mount Vernon, and 
 his fame extended over the habitable globe? 
 Whatever difference in political opinions may 
 have occasioned men to form different estimates 
 of the characters of others, on his, all seemed to 
 be uniform. I will not recal the profound af- 
 fliction which you felt in common with your 
 countrymen, when you first knew your friend, 
 your father, was no more. 
 
 It must, however, be confessed, the apparent 
 warmth of the government at the time of his 
 death, to do honour to his memory, has since 
 been strangely cooled. His glory is not dimin- 
 ished by his yet wanting the Statue, long since 
 voted, and the Maiisoleu7n more recently proposed 
 in Congress. But is the number of republics, 
 which have been guilty of the basest ingratitude 
 to their best benefactors, still to be augmented ? 
 The cold disquisitions, bandied about in the Na- 
 tional Legislature, on the quantity of marble, ne- 
 cessary to support and extend his reputation ; 
 and on the quantity of Dollars which the public 
 Economies would allow to be taken for the 
 purpose from the treasury, then overflowing, 
 will be consigned to the faithful tablet of histo- 
 ry. And fortunate will it be for those, who have 
 refused or neglected to pay the tributary hon- 
 ours due to a WASHtNOTON, if their names can 
 escape execration, by being lost in oblivion. 
 
C 9 ] 
 
 It is not improper to pay a passing tribute 
 of respect to the memories of other officers who 
 have departed this Ufe, since any annual oration 
 has been deUvered before your Society. I recol- 
 lect to have seen on the obituary lists an account 
 of the death of a Captain Butler, who behaved 
 with the greatest gallantry in St. Clair's defeat, 
 where his brother, the General, was slain ; and 
 where he saved another brother from the Sava- 
 ges : — Of Hamtramck, a bold volunteer, born in 
 Canada, who devoted himself to the American 
 cause through our Revolution ; and since the 
 peace, commanded a regiment on our regular 
 establishment: — Of Strong, a respectable mem- 
 ber of your Society, who likewise died in the 
 command of a regiment at one of the western 
 posts : — Of Walton White, a Lieutenant 
 Colonel of Cavalry, who served with considera- 
 ble credit in the Southern Campaigns : — Of the 
 veteran Bauman, a German by birth, and a val- 
 uable officer of artillery : — Of the brave Hand, 
 a native of Ireland, bred in the British service, 
 who was an excellent Tactician, and Adjutant 
 General of our army at the close of the war : — 
 And of the meritorious Morgan, a man illustri- 
 ous for much vigour and perspicuity of mind, in 
 a remarkably tall and well-proportioned body, 
 who led a rifle company, through the desert to 
 Quebec, at the commencement of hostilities ; who 
 v/as singularly useful in the Campaign of 1777, 
 B 
 
[ lo ] 
 
 in the capture of the British army at Saratoga ; 
 and who was honoured with a gold medal by- 
 Congress, for his distinguished conduct in defeat- 
 ing, with an inferior force, a select Corps of the 
 enemy at the Cowpens. But who is there so 
 ypung, as not to have heard the name and achiev- 
 ments of the gallant Morgan ? 
 
 And shall we not commemorate with becom- 
 ing distinction, the heroic death of the Rev. Dr. 
 Hitchcock, Chaplain of the Rhode Island Brig- 
 ade ? He waited' the approach of the Idng 
 of terrors with truly christian fortitude ; for 
 he was strong in the faith of the religion 
 which he professed. You remember him well, 
 since the brigade to which he belonged, was 
 often encamped in the line with yours. A few 
 weeks before he breathed his last, I saw him 
 pale and emaciated. Raising himself on his 
 bed, he said — " I have but little time to live — I 
 hope I am prepared to die — I sent for you to see 
 you once more— to bid you farewell. We have 
 passed many pleasant hours together — may wt 
 meet in abetter world ! and may Heaven bless, 
 wath its choicest benedictions, my friends and my 
 Country !" — Utterance failed — But I seem still 
 to feel the feeble grasp of the hand, that preluded 
 the long silence which was to ensue. 
 
 Within the narrow circle of months measur- 
 ed by three or four waxing and waning moons — 
 within the very view of this church, we have yet 
 
to mourn the loss of another, and, to me, more 
 intimate friend. Behold, from hence, the man- 
 sion, the hospitable mansion, where Wads- 
 worth lived 1 He wasonce the President of your 
 Society. He was always the protector and the 
 guardian of the widow, the fatherless, and the 
 distressed. It is the least part of his eulogium to 
 say, that he filled many of the most important 
 ^places of pubtic Ufe, with the highest applause. 
 A Washington knew how to appreciate his 
 worth. No man in this country, I am justified 
 in asserting, was ever better acquainted with its 
 resources, or the best mode of drawing them 
 forth for the pubHc use. His talents for and dis- 
 patch of business, were unrivalled. His services, 
 at some periods of the war, incalculable — ^but he 
 injured his constitution extremely, by his extra- 
 ordinary exertions. In effect, by his patriotic ex- 
 ertions, he sacrificed his health, and brought on 
 an early old age. I have known few men pos- 
 sessed of a more original genius — none of a kind- 
 er disposition, or more incorruptible integrity. 
 His usefulness did not terminate with his milita- 
 ry career. As a farmer, it is presumed, no per- 
 son in New-England ever contributed more to- 
 wards improving the breed of horses and other 
 kinds of useful animals. To him the farmers con- 
 tiguous to Connecticut River, are under great ob- 
 ligations, for the introduction of the Piaister of 
 
 * See Note (a) 
 
C I. 2 
 
 Paris as a manure, as well as for several other 
 improvements in rural economy. With the 
 advantages of only a grammar-school educa- 
 tion, his conceptions were so clear, his ideas 
 so correct, and his explications so luminous, 
 that he might justly be praised as one of our 
 most enlightened and influential statesmen, re- 
 plete with practical knowledge. In his social 
 and domestic relations, as a friend, a husband, a 
 brother, a parent, he transcended all praise. Long 
 will his name be held in grateful remembrance 
 by the inhabitants of this city. But no more will 
 he be seen at their civic feasts, in the grove which 
 he planted for them ; and *where the festive 
 board will this day be spread for m.any who now 
 hear me. Yet there, perchance, when in times 
 to come, they shall speak of him to their chil- 
 dren, they will say — " a good man is gone from 
 amongst us." — We, his brothers of the Cincinna- 
 ti, when a few more years shall have mingled 
 with the past, must follow. Then, w^hile we, 
 one by one, quit the scene to new actors, who 
 will remain to weep for the last of of us ? 
 
 But let us avert our eyes from a perspective, 
 which is perhaps surrounded with too many sor- 
 rowful images not to interrupt the pleasures of 
 the day ; and let us see what little good we can 
 yet do to our country by our examples. Fifteen 
 
 * In this grove numerous companies liavc dined en this anniversary, 
 i'ur several years past. 
 
[ 13 3 
 
 years ago, on the 4th of July, I descanted at large, 
 before this Society, on the political situation of 
 the country. You will doubtless have it in re- 
 membrance, that this was immediately after the 
 adoption of the Federal Constitution. The pre- 
 diction of the national happiness, in reserve for 
 us, has been more speedily verified, than I my- 
 self had expected. The time will not allow me 
 to enquire how much of this happiness is to be 
 ascribed to that form of government, and ho v/ 
 much to the different administrations — how so 
 great good was acquired, and how it is in dan- 
 ger of being lost. In free governments there is 
 always a struggle for power. But whosoever 
 may be in or out of the exercise of pov/er, I am 
 confident, the Republic cannot long continue 
 flourishing and independent,unlessMoDE ration. 
 Industry, Justice and Valour be the charac 
 teristics of the citizens. 
 
 In some of your anniversary addresses, such 
 elaborate dissertations have been made on the in- 
 stitutions and habits of this State, that I shall con- 
 tent myself with recommending what, from the 
 sense in which I wish them here to be under- 
 stood, I shall style the Civil Virtues — Modera- 
 tion, Industry, Justice and Valour. With- 
 out these a state cannot prosper and be in safety, 
 however well contrived and balanced its consti- 
 tution — however sagaciously its laws may be fra- 
 med, or however ably executed. After treating 
 
[ H ] 
 
 of these general heads, I shall take notice of two 
 particular events, which have lately happened to 
 our nation. As this is the last time I shall ever 
 address you in public, I will not suffer so favour- 
 able an opportunity to pass, without bearing tes- 
 timony, in the most unequivocal terms, against 
 every species of Tyranny. And I shall then con- 
 clude my discourse, by bidding a final adieu to 
 the Society. 
 
 The observation, that, in this embryo stage 
 of existence, every thing is maiiked with the 
 stamp of imperfection, is not the less pertinent on 
 this occasion, and ought not to be the less pro- 
 ductive of mutual indulgence for our infirmities, 
 for having been often repeated. How confined 
 are 'the limits of the human understanding! how 
 defective or inaccurate the knowledge, which 
 the greatest proficients can boast ! the Slaves of 
 passion, the Dupes of prejudice, and not uncom- 
 monly the Victims of appetite, to what miscon- 
 ceptions, errors and crimes are we not constant- 
 ly exposed ! Who amongst us has not experi- 
 enced that the same objects have appeared to 
 him, at one moment, entirely different from 
 v/hat they did at another ? And how should it 
 be otherwise, when those objects are so liable to 
 be coloured by the jaundice in our own eyes, to 
 be magnified or diminished by the fault of the 
 medium of vision, or distorted by the oblique 
 direction from whence, they are viewed ? Yet, 
 
C '5 ,3 
 
 without making any allowance for human imbe- 
 cility, how prone are we to consider all, not only 
 erroneous but criminal, who do not coincide with 
 us in sentiment ? Even wc of the Cincinnati, 
 who have passed together the morning of life, 
 when the heart is peculiarly susceptible of the 
 tender and lasting impressions of friendship, 
 and who belong to the same amiable and benev- 
 olent fraternity, whenever we differ in politics, 
 can scarcely behold each other without aversion 
 and malevolence. 
 
 Ought these things to be so ? Or ought not 
 a temper of moderation, to dictate a conciliatory 
 conduct ? Did wc not, as a band of brothers, 
 combat for American Liberty ? Have we not a 
 common country ? Are not our interests essen- 
 tially the same ? Who then can see, without pain, 
 the prevalence of dissentions, animosities and ha- 
 treds ? Who but must lament, that misrepre- 
 sentation anddetraction, for party purposes, have 
 become almost systematic ? It is sometimes objec- 
 ted, as an assumed fact unfavourable to our U- 
 nion, that we have no national character and na- 
 tional manners, to give stability to principle and 
 attachment to country. However specious this 
 objection may be, as applied elsewhere, let it 
 be remembered, few districts with equal popula- 
 tion, in any part of the world, are more homo- 
 geneous in these respects than New-England. 
 The inhabitants are mostly descended from an 
 
C i6 ] 
 
 unmixed origin. The distinguishing features of 
 their religion are the same — and their institutions, 
 laws and manners, remarkable for similarity. Here 
 are the bones of our ancestors — and here the for- 
 tunes of our future generations. And well may 
 we delight to turn our first regards on that indus- 
 try, which has been the scource of a great por- 
 tion of our New-England prosperity. 
 
 Employment of time, in some honest cal- 
 ling, is productive of better riches, than mines of 
 silver and gold. No nation Vv-as ever more in- 
 debted to industry for its progress in improve- 
 ments than theUnited States; and perhaps no part 
 of them, more than Connecticut. This can nev- 
 er be too frequently mentioned, or too much 
 commended. National felicity commonly en- 
 creases or diminishes, with the encrease or di- 
 minution of national industry. Hov/ much 
 wiser is it to prevent wretchedness and mendici- 
 ty, by enabling and inducing all persons in the 
 community to gain a livelihood by labour, than 
 neglecting this, (as happens in some countries of 
 Europe) to be obliged afterwards, to make expen- 
 sive establishments, by taxes and hospitals, for 
 paupers and beggars ? Protected industry can- 
 not frequently enough be held forth to the pub- 
 lic view, as the cause of the wealth of nations. 
 Wealth thus procured, I shall presently attempt 
 to show, is less likely to be followed by corrup- 
 tion of morals and prostration of energies, than, 
 
C 17 ] 
 
 when suddenly accumulated, without exertion 
 and without frugality. Nay, moral cliaracter is 
 often favorably influenced by it. Good or 
 bad habits are somewhat in proportion to activ- 
 ity and slothfulness. The former is a living and 
 salutary stream — the latter a dead and pestilen- 
 tial lake. By the first, men's tastes are fitted to 
 relish innocent and elegant enjoyments ; by the 
 last, gross sensuality. Industry and Virtue — In- 
 dolence and Vice — are nearly convertible term.s. 
 The republican character is, more than others, af- 
 fected by industry or indolence. It would be a 
 solecism to assert, that industrious citizens could 
 form vicious, or indolent citizens, virtuous Re- 
 publics. Enervating idleness, attended by an in- 
 ordinate love of pleasure, seems incompatible with 
 every masculine and heroic quality. Nor can 
 a nation of Sybarites, under any form of gov- 
 ernment, defend themselves effectually against 
 any powerful invader. It is not fickle fortune, 
 but calculated effort, that makes and keeps men 
 free and happy. When they become habitually 
 sluggish, immoral, ignorant or indifferent to 
 their interests, they are far advanced towards the 
 brink of perdition, and ready to fall an easy prey 
 to a crafty Demagogue or daring Despot. 
 
 To render subservient to human use a wilder- 
 ness, lately howling in fearful barbarity, is the no- 
 ble task which has been performed on the very 
 C 
 
[ i8 ] 
 
 place where we are now assembled. Where can 
 we find a more beautiful prospect, than on these 
 banks of Connecticut River ? What object can 
 exceed in charms, that view of our species, in 
 which the hardy cultivator, after having strug- 
 gled successfully with savage Nature, is seen 
 enjoying the spoils of conquest, with an exult- 
 ing conviction that no terrestrial power can wrest 
 them from him ? And if this personijication may 
 for a moment be continued, how magnificent 
 and interesting is the spectacle, when the same 
 Nature herself, once rustic and rude, now em- 
 bellished and adorned, appears the loveliest cap- 
 tive that ever fell to the lot of a conqueror ! Com- 
 pared to this, what are their Briseis or their He- 
 len ? Compared to this glorious compensation, 
 for what is, in my judgment, the sublimest enter- 
 prize attemptedand proudest achievement accom- 
 plished by man, how despicable are the gorge- 
 ous pomp and gaudy pageantry of victors return- 
 ed from battle, decorated with the brightest bau- 
 bles that ever excited the longings of ambition, 
 and crowned with the fairest wreaths w]iich were 
 ever reaped from the desolated earth ? 
 
 Our State has, in its transactions,been gener- 
 ally guided by the eternal rules of Justice. By 
 Justice alone, can our confederated Empire be 
 established. In aid of this, it is to be hoped, 
 several circumstances, which have an influence 
 on our character and manners as a people (in 
 
C 19 ] 
 
 this section of the United States, in particular) 
 may contribute towards the duration of our re- 
 publican forms of government. A rigorous 
 climate, that tries the body by alternate extremes 
 of heat and cold ; and a rugged soil, which re- 
 quires persevering toil to draw a subsistence from 
 it, will naturally make a hardy race of inhabi- 
 tants. The stubborn materials of which our in- 
 dependent yeomanry are composed, will not suf- 
 fer them readily to be shaped into the pUable au- 
 tomatons of despotism. It has been apprehend- 
 ed that the rapid increase of wealth in a country 
 like ours, where the citizens in the seaports, are 
 animated by such a spirit of commercial enterprizc, 
 would produce refinements ; that refinements 
 would be attended with luxury and effeminacy ; 
 and that these would be followed by the loss of liber- 
 ty. Were all parts of our seitlements like our large 
 towns, this might possibly be the case. But the 
 vast quantity of land to be settled, its superiority 
 in quality over most of that which is already lo- 
 cated, the facility of obtaining farms by persons in 
 moderate circumstances, and their natural pro- 
 pensity to make such a permanent provision 
 for their families, will doubtless continue Agricul- 
 ture as the principal business, in United Ameri- 
 ca, for many years. We need not fear that trade 
 will gain an undue ascendancy in our affairs. 
 May no fascinating allurements of conquest ever 
 operate more powerfully in seducing us from the 
 pursuits of agriculture! God forbid we 
 
t 20- -r 
 
 should \^43h for wealth or grandeur, by despoil- 
 irig others of the fruits of their labour ! And 
 what have we to do v»dth ambition ? What ad- 
 vantage can we figure to ourselves, which caanot 
 be better obtained by peace than war ? Is it 
 plunder— 13 it splendor, which we v^ant ?— No ! 
 Agriculture, with her attendants, Navigation, 
 Commerce, and Manufactures, v/ill afford ample 
 means of gratif^dng all our reasonable desires. 
 Industry and Morals are the strong founda- 
 tions of public felicity. But splendid fortunes, 
 suddenly acquired, without the ordinary process 
 of acquisition, are not friendly to Industry and 
 Morals. What tendency have piracy and pil- 
 lage, but to cherish idleness and debauchery ? 
 May not territories be too extensive, particular- 
 ly for republican forms of government? And shall 
 the pride of counting a few more millions of a- 
 cres of land, or a few more millions of men un- 
 der the same domination, stimulate mankind to 
 seek plausible pretexts for carrying devasta- 
 tion into foreign countries ? If the United States 
 could, without cost, without bloodshed, make 
 more extensive conquests than were ever made 
 before, they should not be thus tempted to 
 their ruin. To be happy at home, and capable 
 of defendincc ourselves aojainst attacks from a- 
 broad, should bound our ambition. But should 
 any power be so unjust and so i^npolitic as to 
 force us into a war, then ought we not to hesi- 
 tate to make him feel his folly, by assailing him in 
 the most vulnerable point. 
 
[ zi 3 
 
 No maxim was ever so well calculated to al- 
 lay jealousy and preserve peace, as that of " doing 
 to others as we would they should do unto us.'* 
 This is a subiimer doctrine than was ever taught 
 by uninspired philosophy. The precept is an e- 
 manation from pure Religion — the practice, a 
 proof of unsophisticated Justice. This is the 
 righteousness which exalts a nation — while the 
 reverse, is the sin w^hich is the reproach to any 
 people. Yet, considering the perverse passions 
 by which the conduct of mankind is frequently 
 influenced, it is indispensably necessary to be pre- 
 pared tK) repel force by force. For notwithstand- 
 ing all the possible justice which we can practise 
 to others, we may be, as we have been, compel- 
 led to resort to arms for the defence of our in- 
 alienable rights. 
 
 To inspire our nation with military ardour 
 and enthusiasm, appears essential to our exist- 
 ence. Effeminacy, cowardice, and dissension, 
 in a country marked for invasion by its wealth 
 and weakness, leaves every thing to be appre- 
 hended from unprovoked aggression. A commu- 
 nity consisting of farmers, merchants, and me- 
 chanics, regardless of the means of defence, will 
 not long maintain its independence. 
 
 Examples of patriotism and courage, if 
 needed, shall not however be wanting. You, 
 Veterans ! can yet stand in the desperate breach. 
 
i: 2a 2 
 
 or die in the last ditch. The war-horse, dis- 
 charged from his troop as broken down by- 
 hard service, forgets not the sound of the 
 trumpet. Nor would the clashing of swords or 
 the shout of invasion strike your ears in vain. Is 
 there not many an aged hero now in my view, 
 who could say in the language of the immortal 
 bard — 
 
 « Though I look old, yet I am strong and lusty ; 
 
 For in my youth I never did apply 
 
 Hot and rebellious liquors in my blood ; 
 
 Nor did not with unbashful forehead woo 
 
 The means of weakness and debility ; 
 
 Therefore my age is as a lusty winter, 
 
 Frosty but kindly." 
 
 At the first alarm, would you not again gird 
 on the harness ? Would you not teach such ar- 
 mies as might come for conquest or plunder — ar- 
 mies of boys born since you gained the prize of 
 freedom for which you contended — I say, would 
 you not teach them, you are still men ? Would 
 you not show them, that the knees of the silver 
 greys do not so totter beneath the weight of 
 arms, as to refuse their post in the front of the 
 battle ? If we fall like ripe fruits in autumn, 
 another progeny, beauteous with the promise of 
 spring, will succeed, to cause our loss to be soon 
 forgotten. And shall there be found, among 
 them, one poltron who would refuse to enroll 
 himself in the ranks ? Who among you, young 
 
I *3 3 
 
 men ! will belie the blood of your fathers, or 
 raise a blush on the face of those who bore you ? 
 What mother would not sooner shed a tear at 
 the dishonour of a living son, than on hearing he 
 had fallen covered with honorable wounds, and 
 fighting gloriously to the last gasp, in defence of 
 his country ? Where is the virgin, whose se- 
 cret affections followed her lover to the field, 
 who would not treat him with ineffable con- 
 tempt at his return, should he have misbehaved 
 before the enemy ? Veterans ! with your exam- 
 ples of valour — Youths ! with your pledges of 
 duty — ^your country is safe from fear of subjuga- 
 tion by a foreign foe. 
 
 It is neither within the compass of my time 
 or intention to speak of internal dangers ; or to 
 say any thing of the apprehensions which do ex- 
 ist,that one member of the confederacy is striving 
 to acquire and perpetuate a predominance in the 
 councils of the nation, fatal to the equal rights of 
 the rest. It is, however, but too well known to 
 be denied, that the public mind is now unusually 
 agitated, by the approaching election of Chief 
 Magistrates. This violent ferment seems likely 
 to be renewed with the recurring period, once in 
 every four years. Perhaps it is an evil inherent 
 in elective governments. In the present state of 
 human nature, I do not know of any remedy. 
 But with all its imperfections and inconveniences, 
 I know not myself, nor have learned from others, 
 
C =4 ] 
 
 how the Federal Constitution could be replaced 
 by one less exceptionable. I am, therefore, earnestly 
 desirous of giving it a fair experiment. I expect no- 
 thing perfect. In case of change — I expect nothing 
 better—-nothing so good. It is the first real trial of 
 a well organized Representative Government. It 
 is the last hope of true republicans. For if it 
 fails of success, what government can we look 
 for, but such an one as shall be imposed by chance 
 or force ? It will then be too late for delibera- 
 tion. 
 
 I MUST now be permitted, as I have stated 
 wasNa part of my design, to offer a few observa- 
 tions on two national events, which have taken 
 place since our last annual meeting. The first is 
 the *cession of Louisiana by France to the Uni^ 
 ted States. It belongs not to me to scrutinize the 
 motives of the First Consul for this transferrence. 
 If they arose from the conjuncture, I do not per- 
 ceive that we have a right to complain of any 
 thing insidious or unfair in the bargain. At the 
 time of the negociation, a war betv/een England 
 and France was highly probable. Our Negocia- 
 tors acted with that prospect before them. Gov- 
 ernment has ratified the treaty. It v/ili form a me- 
 morable epoch, as exhibiting, in the estim.ation 
 of many of our citizens, the first national act to- 
 wards an unnecessary enlargement of empire. 
 "By them., the addition of this immense region, to 
 
 * «ee Note (b) 
 
C ^5 ] 
 
 our jurisdiction, has been reprobated— by others 
 it has been applauded, and celebrated with rejoic- 
 ings. If I have not participated in them, it v/as, 
 I know in my conscience, not because I viewed the 
 subject as a question that divided the sentiments of 
 particular descriptions of men, or because I was 
 actuated by party feelings ; but because I am se- 
 riously apprehensive of disastrous consequences. 
 Possessing, as v/e did, an extent of country more 
 than sufficient for every purpose of cultivation 
 and population, no m.ore* could be wanted. In 
 this light, it was useless. In another point of 
 view, as it furnished proof of the existence of a 
 disposition for aggrandizement, it was more to be 
 deprecated. Shall we not have sufficient inhabit- 
 ants for defence, by natural increase, within our 
 ancient limits ? and are we not already spread over 
 as much territory as can be well governed under 
 the representative system which we have chosen, 
 without embarrassment ? Is an individual likely 
 to be happier at his fire side, or protected with 
 more efficacy or economy, by being confounded 
 in a mass of thirty millions of souls, than by 
 composing part of the present population of the 
 United States ? Will Louisiana add to our na- 
 tional strength ? Who, but Land-jobbers and 
 Negro-Owners, will reap any emolument from it ? 
 Will it not prove rather detrimental, than benefi- 
 cial, to the public ? May it not involve us in dis- 
 
 See Note fcj 
 
 D 
 
C 26 3 
 
 putes respecting its limits ? and must it not in 
 expenses, for some time, for its government and 
 protection ? It will tend to retard the sak and 
 improvement of our other unlocated districts. It 
 will likewise thin the old settlements of inhabi- 
 tants, by attracting settlers from them. And, 
 what is infinitely more pernicious, with all this 
 assistance, it cannot be cultivated to advantage 
 without the introduction of great numbers of Af- 
 ricans. An abomination, sooner or later, I fear, 
 to be expiated in blood ! Let those who wish 
 for the encrease of slaves, rejoice in this new 
 nursery for them. I cn\y not their sensations. 
 With such labour, the produce will become ex- 
 ceedingly profitable to the slave-holders. Popu- 
 lation will multiply with incredible rapidity. 
 And the centre of empire will ere long be car- 
 ried hundreds of miles southv/ard of the present 
 seat of government. These are no fictions — 
 no exaggerations. I beseech every sincere friend 
 of the Union, to divest himself of local preju- 
 dices and party feelings ; and to think seriously on 
 this state of things. What effect it will have on 
 the property of the inhabitants of the eastern and 
 middle states, I leave them to decide ; as well as 
 on the species of republicanism which will cha- 
 racterize their fellow-citizens, in the newly-acquir- 
 ed territory. Every candid person must also be 
 left to judge for himself, whether this event will 
 be likely to contribute to the preservation or 
 destruction of the Union ! I solemnly declare, it 
 
C 27 ] 
 
 would give me unspeakable pleasure to find 
 my fears had been as groundless as they 
 are sincere and afflictive. 
 
 I HAVE never had but one opinion on the 
 true policy of restraining ourselves within 
 our original limits, except so far as might be ne- 
 cessary for rounding our republic ; by natural 
 and visible, instead of artificial and imaginary 
 lines of demarkation. The Missisippi appeared a 
 boundary of the former description, designed by 
 nature as the barrier of empire. On this account, 
 and no other, I considered it as a desirable thing 
 for us to purchase the Floridas, at a just price« 
 I wished for no meadows, but such as could be 
 made by cultivation — no mines, but such as 
 should be discovered by the *plough — no fruits 
 planted, or cities built, by the industry of others. 
 Yet the growth and continuance of the prosperi- 
 ty of the inhabitants on the western waters depended 
 so exclusively on the navigation of the Missisippi 
 and the possession of New-Orleans, that their ac- 
 quisition seemed indispensable. And no inhab- 
 itant of those countries must be indulged the 
 permission of saying, he w^as a more strenuous 
 advocate for the measure, than myself. To 
 prove that my sentiments of the impolicy and 
 impracticability of debarring us from the natural 
 benefits, offered by the munificence of the Crea- 
 tor, are not recently adopted, I wdll cite a para- 
 graph, which I wrote when Minister in Portugal ^ 
 
 See Note fdj 
 
C a8 ] 
 
 to Mr. Carmichael, then Charge d' Affaires 
 for the United States in Spain. 
 
 " G05 changed Iberia I in thy dotage dream, 
 To shut from use long Missisippi's stream 1 
 But first, go turn it backward Irom its course, 
 And make that world of waters seek their source ! 
 Go, level Calpe's cliff with conqu'ring ire, 
 Quench redd'ning Etna's cataracts of lire ; 
 Go, prison wild tornadoes in thy cage, 
 Blot day's bright star, and still mad ocean's rage ; 
 Then may'st thou hope to chase us from the wave, 
 Which God, for navigation, form VI and gave." 
 
 The second national event, to which I alluded, 
 is the loss of the frigate Philadelphia, and the 
 captivity of the officers and crew at Tripoli. I 
 will not repeat, what has often been intimated, 
 that this misfortune would not probably have 
 happened, had a suitable number of small armed 
 vessels been employed to cruize with our squad- 
 ron in the Mediterranean. But I find no diffi- 
 culty in declaring publicly, I believe, if the block- 
 ade had been properly maintained, the Bashaw 
 would long ago have solicited peace from us, on 
 our own terms. It only remains to repair the 
 waste of time by greater exertions ; and to extri- 
 cate our countrymen, as soon as we can, from 
 their deplorable slavery. Oh ! Slavery ! with 
 what a bitter draught is thy chalice filled ? 
 And must the sons and brothers of those 
 who fought for Independence, drink it to the 
 dregs ? Having been more conversant with Bar- 
 
t 29 ] 
 
 bary negociations than any other man in Ameri- 
 ca, I might be allowed to paint the condition of 
 our countrymen, condemned to chains, in more 
 gloomy colours. But yon meridian sun would 
 have reached the western horizon, ere I had fin- 
 ished ; and, if I am not mistaken in the mettle 
 you are made of, your feelings will supply the 
 picture. Too much praise can hardly be given 
 to the Executive, for the zeal now manifested 
 for bringing this war to a speedy conclusion. 
 And, happily for us, on this subject unanimity 
 prevails, to the best of my knov/ledge, through- 
 out every department in the Union. 
 
 Is slavery less *slavery in a Christian than in a 
 Mahometan country ? I entreat your attention, 
 while I plead the general cause of humanity. In 
 such a cause it is right to appeal to your sensibil- 
 ity as well as your reason. It is now no longer 
 time to flatter petty tyrants, by acknov/ledging 
 that colour constitutes a legitimate title, for hold- 
 ing men in abject and perpetual bondage. In 
 support of this usurpation, what can be urged 
 but the law of the strongest ? Yet societies for 
 promoting the abolition of negro-slavery must 
 act with great wisdom and caution, or they will 
 be in danger of doing more mischief than good. 
 They are engaged in opening a passage hedged on 
 every side with thorns, and obstructed by almost 
 insurmountable obstacles. It is difficult to answer 
 
 * See the extracts from No. 1 to 7, ia the Appendix. 
 
C so 1 
 
 the initial question, " What is to be done with 
 hereditary slaves ?'* Owing to the unfortunate 
 treatment to which the)^ have been destined by 
 birth, most of them are without instruction, and 
 without morality. Can they suddenly be made 
 fit subjects for liberation ? I own, I am no friend to 
 sudden manumission — because it would be doing 
 much injury to the proprietors — and because the 
 condition of the slaves, destitute of forethought, 
 industry, and a sense of moral obligations, would 
 perhaps be but little mended. And the commu- 
 nity could not fail to suffer, for a while, by their 
 idleness, penury and vice. It was to have been 
 hoped, that the current of public opinions, and 
 the concurrence of testam.entary bequests, would 
 have prepared the blacks by degrees, for tasting 
 the cup of liberty, without intoxication. Oh ! 
 gracious Heaven, must the shackles be yet rivet- 
 ed on endless generations ? Certainly many phi- 
 lanthropic possessors of slaves have united with 
 others, in the hope that some prudent means 
 might be devised for gradual emancipation. But 
 the introduction of thousands of native Africans 
 into South Carolina, the present year, has at least 
 postponed the accomplishment of that hope. Poor 
 and unsatisfactory indeed, is the excuse that 
 these will only supply the place of the negroes, 
 who would otherw^ise have been brought there 
 from Maryland and Virginia. In one case, the 
 number of slaves in the country remained the 
 same — in the other, it is augmented. Against 
 
C 31 3 ' 
 
 this augmentation, this sin of a scarlet die, I dare 
 to raise my voice. I am sensible that what I now 
 say, cannot be confined to this audience. Print- 
 ing, that marvellous improvement on the inven- 
 tion of the ancients for communicating their ideas 
 in writing ; that magical power of the moderns, 
 for speaking, if the expression may be permitted, 
 with more facility to the most distant eye, sends 
 forth articulated sounds to the uttermost corners 
 of the earth. Fearless of offending, I have long 
 ago attacked tyranny in his strong holds. If 
 sentiment and principle can be more forcibly im- 
 pressed by poetry than prose, I will again use the 
 former, without apology, in carrying them home 
 to the bosoms of my old companions in arms. 
 
 Heard ye a voice within, instinctive urge, 
 To check the progress of unpitying war, 
 
 Wrench from the grasp of tyranny his scourge, 
 Ajid crush ambition in his crimson car ? 
 
 That voice we heard, when Britain's long-fam*d host 
 Our yeomen, new to arms, in battle smote ; 
 
 In love of country every passion lost. 
 Our ravish'd souls to liberty devote. 
 
 If we to Heav'n our unavailing vows 
 
 For Poland raised — ^besought Heav'n's righteous Lord, 
 To rend the wreath from Austria's, Prussia's brows, 
 
 And break of baneful leagues the *threefold cord ; 
 
 With horror mark'd the Empress of the North, 
 Her wheels yet reeking o'er the fmooned host, 
 
 * The coalition of Russia, Austria, and Prussia, for the partition 
 f)f Poland. 
 
 t Few readers will have occasion to be informed, that the banners 
 ©f the Ottoman troops have crescent moons, for their armorial emblems. 
 
C 32 3 
 
 Rouse thj2 dull Russ, and call the Cossac fortb 
 From darksome dens of everlasting frost : 
 
 1/ we on changeful Gaul, not coldly gaz'd, 
 But lov'd the fair reforms by patriots plann'd, 
 
 Till, fir'd by crimes, our indignation blaz'd, 
 That democrats enrag'd should rule the land : 
 
 if t^CoLUMBiA*s sons a tear I ow'd, 
 
 Her captive seamen chained at Algiers long ; 
 
 If for their --ATongs, my eyes, a fountain, flow'd, 
 And thunder'd from my tongue the wrathful song : 
 
 Of every class, ye proud oppressors ! hear ! 
 
 Monarchs and demagogues who realms enslave, 
 Or ye who purchase bondmen* far and near, 
 
 I hate your conduct, and your anger brave. 
 
 And chief, ye despots ! to the strain attend ! 
 
 Shall coward millions to your will succumb ? 
 At your capricious nod whole nations bend, 
 
 Or for resistance find a sudden tomb ? 
 
 To Heav'n be praise ! — that Gothic spell is o'er, 
 When, luU'd by witcheries, Europe slept supine, 
 
 And only dream'd of superstitious lore, 
 Prescriptive powV and regal rights divine. 
 
 Strange seems to Beings groping dim in dust, 
 
 That He, whose light and dark enchantment broke. 
 
 At times (his ways inscrutable as just) 
 Still suffers man to smart beneath a yoke. 
 
 Ah I why will He, blest Arbiter on high. 
 
 His bow with thunder charg'd and bickering fire, 
 
 Not bare bis arm to bid his terrors fly, 
 
 And earth's fierce Troubler's at his frown expire ? 
 
 * This reFers to the late repeal of the law in South Carolina, which 
 prohibited tlie importation of slaves. Since wliicb, thousands have 
 been introduced into that State from Africa. 
 
r 33 3 
 
 Though conscience oft, their raging pride to tame, 
 Shall make them curse their triumphs earn'd by guilt, 
 
 Compeird to hate their very idol, fame, 
 
 And drink, inebriate, of the blood they spilt : 
 
 A retribution in unjoyous climes, 
 
 Remains to make the moral scheme complete — 
 Be joyful, earth I unburden'd of their crimes ; 
 
 And, Hell I rise grim, their coming shades to greet 
 
 And less shall plagues pursue those planter-lords, 
 Who, for proud wealth in slaves, their lot applaud ; 
 
 Yet boast of liberty with guileful words, 
 
 And preach " all men v/ere equals made by God" ? 
 
 Are ye the lords who treat your slaves as brutes ? 
 
 Heav'ns I how your deeds and doctrines disagree I 
 Speak not of freedom ! — for your lip pollutes 
 
 Your holy oath, " that man by birth is free." 
 
 Blush not these men, to government elect, 
 Thy cause, Equality ! who quaintly plead — 
 
 And talk of declarations that protect 
 
 Man's natural rights — ^nor name that hateful deed 
 
 Themselves have done — to hold their blacks enthrall'd, 
 To dole no daily *food save stinted com— - 
 
 With whips to drive them, faint, with fetters gall'd — • 
 To tasks unending — and of hope forlorn ? 
 
 Say, then, perfidious \ — say, are ye alone-— 
 Exclusive patriots ? — Freedom's only friends ? 
 
 Your eye-balls cas'd in scales, your hearts in stone, 
 On you the frenzy ing curse of Heav'n descends, 
 
 * One peck of Indian corn, in the grain, is the only food allowed to 
 each slave for seven days, on many plantations. See the essay on the 
 use of maize in the Appendix. 
 
[ 34 1 
 
 Hum's forerunner ! every art ye use 
 To cheat the crowd with hberty's sweet name ; 
 
 With hypocritic cant promote your views, 
 
 Ingreasef your slaves, and giory in your shame. 
 
 Was it for this, incomparably bold, 
 
 Led by your godlike chief, through climates far, 
 W^e brav'd the summer's heat, the winter's cold, 
 
 Breasting the dreadful enginery of war 
 
 Through eight long years, in many a gory field, 
 
 High in the van, the starry flag unfurl'd, 
 Till peace (with hcroe»' blood the treaty seal'd) 
 
 Confirm'd man's equal rights in this new world ? 
 
 What ! while we hear the clank of slavery's chains, 
 Mix'd with discordant sounds of patriot zeal ; 
 
 While love of freedom throbs through veteran veins, 
 For Afric's sons shall we no pity feel ? 
 
 How long in vain shall Afric's race be mourn'd ? 
 
 In hopeless bondage, unredt;em'd, how long ? 
 No hand to help — v/ith cries for justice spurn'd— 
 
 Cringe at the cutting of the penal thong ? 
 
 Ye planters I bashaws I cast one kind regard 
 
 On blacks ftom Guinea brought for barter'd gold ; 
 
 Or, blind to hiterest as of feeling hard. 
 
 Can ye with cruel scorn their woes behold ? 
 
 Will no good angel on the Lybean shore. 
 Dash the curst vessel destin'd to our climes ; 
 
 Ere yet augmented slaves with flames and gore 
 
 Ilett)rt thsir wrongs, and measure crimes for crimes ? 
 
 Behold ! — oh, horror li— Ha.tti's bloody strand I 
 Mark I. how the lesson erst by white-men giv'n, 
 
 t There are individuals in the United States, who hold mors of 
 ^eir fellow-creatures in slaveFy, than either of the Baibaiy Powers. 
 
C 35 3 
 
 Not vainly taught the barbarous sable band, 
 
 To claim the birth-right held alone from Heav*n« 
 
 Dark rose the negroes— -'twas the dread resolve, 
 
 That right to rescue, er with it expire, 
 Bade the strong bolts that bound their flesh dissolve, 
 
 Like flaxen cords before devouring fire. 
 
 Once whitemen triumph'd — blackmen now are free ; 
 While fearful noises fluctuate on the v/ind, 
 . Late victors fly for safety to the sea, 
 
 And not a haughty master lags behind. 
 
 Thou blot on nature, Slavery I disappear J 
 Yet, monster 1 yet, a moment, from thy mouth, 
 
 Shall gall and venom tinge the verdant year, 
 And blast the glories of the boasted South. 
 
 Then, bright through bursting clouds, the aurora trace \ 
 Though long the night, and murky low'r'd the sky, 
 
 Lift up your heads i ye much enduring race ! 
 Lift up your heads ! for your redemption's nigh. 
 
 My Friends and Felloiv Citizens ! 
 
 I NOW take my leave of you, in offering 
 my best acknowledgments for your polite and 
 flattering attention to this discourse- May our 
 country be prosperous and safe, by Modera- 
 tion, Industry, Justice and Valour, when 
 not only the tongue which now implores that 
 valedictory blessing, but every other in this as- 
 sembly, shall be silent in death ! and may the 
 stain of slavery be, one day effaced 1 You Jj^e 
 been witnesses of our conduct — ^you have heard 
 our respect for the decision of our rulers, even 
 when we believed they were influenced by an un« 
 
I 36 3 
 
 reasonable prejudice. Had we the inclination, 
 how have we the ability, to become a previleged 
 order, dangerous to the liberty of the Republic ? 
 To prove we will not, is in our power. Perhaps 
 a page is vacant in the annals of America, to re- 
 ceive the proceedings of this society, on this an- 
 niversary. We may then expect more justice from 
 posterity, than from the present age. For myself, I 
 scorn to live the object of jealousy, when its malig- 
 nity maybe avoided, by dissolving this connection. 
 This medal of the society of the Cincinnati, Gen. 
 Washington caused to be procured in France ; 
 and he gave it to me as a present, with his own 
 hand. For the giver's sake, I will keep it as a preci- 
 ous relick ; but from this hour, I shall never wear 
 it, not even on the proud day consecrated to 
 independence. 
 
 Mr Friends of the Cincinnati ! 
 
 The most painful part of the solemnity still 
 remains. — To bid an adieu until the consumma- 
 tion of all things, is to pronounce an awful word. 
 Whatever may be your determination, as to the 
 continuance or dissolution of our Society ; under 
 the circumstances which have been related, my 
 part is decided. I cannot reconcile it to my idea 
 of propriety, ever again to attend your tsmmsss&p&r 
 MiiBi meetings. The behaviour of one branch of the 
 Legillature has accelerated the feparation, which in 
 a few years must have been inevitable. I shall see 
 yourfaces nomore. May the sunfliine of conscience 
 
C 37 ] 
 
 gild your setting day — and may you enjoy every 
 species of felicity which you can desire for your* 
 selves ! For the last time — farewell. Ye surviv- 
 ors of thousandsjwho died fighting for the glorious 
 cause of Liberty — Ye remnants of yourselves in 
 better days — Ye Veterans of the revolutionary 
 army, farewell ! — ^Farewell, forever ! 
 
 ujuuniunwaJmvaiilnlB^wmnkgijE 
 
 AT this meeting, a vote was passed for the dissolution 
 of the Society ; the Members or their legal heirs ha\iiig a 
 right to withdrawthe proportion of the fund belonging to them. 
 A number of the Officers determined to leave their share to 
 be divided among such as had been accustomed to receive 
 some annual assistance from this Society, 
 
 *rtf*» 
 
APPENDIX, 
 
 Kote (a.) 
 The Honourable Jeremiah Wadsworth was for many 
 vcars a Magistrate, member of the State Legislature, and 
 Representative in Congress, An honourary degree was con- 
 ferred on him by Yale College ; and he was an associate ia 
 several institutions established to promote the prosperity ot 
 his country, and increase the happiness of mankind. A let* 
 ter written by him, on the introduction of a species of wheat, 
 which resists, better than any other, the ravages of the Hes- 
 sian fly, has been published. His successful attempts in ap- 
 plying the Plaister of Paris as a manure, has brought it into 
 extensive use on the bordei^ of Connecticut River, to the 
 great profit of the farmers. The breed of horses in his neigh- 
 bourhood, has been rendered much better than it was former- 
 ly, by means of the stock which he imported from Eng- 
 land. Some of the black-cattle and hogs which he raised on 
 his farm, it is believed, were not inferior to any which have 
 been bred in the United States. He was amongst the first to 
 apply for, and obtain one of the Merino Rams, imported 
 from Spain two years ago, to meliorate his flock of sheep. 
 Has not the m^emory of such a man, who has laboured so 
 ardently and so successfully to be serviceable to his fellow cit- 
 izens, more claims to an honourable notice in the records of 
 merit, than those of the homicides (vulgarly called heroes) 
 who have laid waste so many of the fair portions of the world, 
 for the sole purpose of being knovrn and applauded by poster- 
 ity ' 
 
L 39 J 
 
 J^Qte (b) 
 The question whether the possession of Louisiana will b^ 
 ndvantageous or disadvantageous to the United States, un- 
 doubtedly involves considerations of the greatest importance. 
 It ought to be discussed with equal delicacy and fairness. The 
 splendid view of the addition of such an immense region to out- 
 territory, is calculated to dazzle and astonish the boldest im- 
 agination. To those who prefer problematical and eventu- 
 al grandeur to solid and actual happiness, there can be no 
 doubt this vast enlargement of our limits must appear one of 
 the most glorious events which could have taken place. I 
 am fully persuaded, there are honest and well-informed pat- 
 riots, who entertain tliis opinion. In this number, I should 
 naturally include Dr. Ramsay, of South Carolina. It is since 
 the preceding discourse has been in the press, I have seen 
 th-e Oration of that gentlemen, delivered on the 12th of May- 
 last, at Charleston, in celebration of the acquisition of Louisia- 
 na. However I may regret to differ in judgment, on so im- 
 portant a point, from a person whose talents and morals I 
 hold in so high estimation ; I cannot feel myself relieved, by 
 any thing he has suggested, from my apprehensions of the 
 dangerous consequences, which seem inevitable. Had it UQt 
 been for the incidental manner in which I treated this subject, 
 I should have offered several other reasons which operated in 
 forming my opinion, unless I had suppressed them from a 
 dread of aiding in giving birth or nourishment, to local preju- 
 dice or policy. I did beUeve, and I have found nothing to 
 change that belief, that, if we were faithful to ourselves, and 
 continued within our ancient hmits, we should be competent 
 to defend ourselves, against the secret machinations or open as- 
 saults of all the powers, which might be disposed to injure or 
 annoy us. This opinion I supported, with at least sufficient 
 zeal, in an argument with Gen. St. Cyr, Ambassador of 
 France, at Madrid, in presence of the whole diplomatic corps, 
 while the subject of Louisiana was in agitation, a few days be- 
 fore I left that capitol. I am neither afraid or ashamed to a- 
 TOW, at present, the same opinion, together with the additiau- 
 
t ^^ 3 
 
 al one, which I expressed on that occasion ; that, if we were 
 unfaithful to ourselves, by becoming a disunited people, what- 
 ever our numbere might be, nothing could secure us from 
 sharing the fate of other nations, in the same predicament : 
 and thlt, possessing the natural, moral and political advanta- 
 ges with which we had been favored, we could claim little pity 
 for our lot, in case we should lose our independence, by our 
 discord and folly. And I went so far as ttfask Gen. St. Cyr, 
 (who always appeared to me, a gentleman, a soldier, and a 
 statesman) whether the French armies would have ever pene- 
 trated into Holland, Germany, Switzerland, and Italy, in the 
 manner which they had done, but for the great numbers 
 of friends they found in those countries ? 
 
 On the subject of increasing our population by emigrations, 
 mentioned by Dr. Ramsay, as much to be desired, I conceive, 
 I cannot do better than to quote the sentiments of Mr. Jef- 
 ferson, communicated to a foreigner in the time of our revo- 
 lutionary war ; and consequently sevei^l yeai^s before the in- 
 flux of emigrants from Europe,who have in a manner inundated 
 some parts of cur conntiy. His words, in his Notes on Vir- 
 ginia, are as follow : 
 
 " Here I will beg leave to propose a doubt. The present desire of 
 America, is to produce rapid population by as gTcat importations of fo- 
 reigners as possible. But is this founded in good policy ? The advan- 
 tage proposed is the multiplication of numbers. Now let us suppose 
 '(for example only) that in this state, we could double our numbers in 
 one year by the importation of foreigners ; and tliis is a greater acces- 
 sion than the most sanguine advocate for emigration has a right to ex- 
 pect. Then I say, beginning with a double stock, we shall attain any 
 given degree of population only 27 years and three months sooner than 
 if we proceed on our single stock. If we propose four millions and a 
 half as a competent population for this state, we should be 54| years 
 attaining it, could we at once double our numbers ; aiid 81 f yeai's, if 
 we rely on natural propagation, *3 may be seen by the foUowinj table •• 
 
41 
 
 Proceeding on our \ Proceedbig on a 
 present stock, \ double stock. 
 
 1781 1 
 
 567,614 1 
 
 1,135,228 
 
 18U8 1 
 
 - 
 
 1,135,228 1 
 
 2,270,456 
 
 1835 1 
 
 2,270,456 1 
 
 4,540,912 
 
 1862 1 
 
 4,540,912 1 
 
 
 " In the first column are stated periods of 27| years ; in the second 
 are our numbers, at each period, as they will be if we proceed on our ac- 
 tual stock ; and in the third are what they would be, at the same pe- 
 riods, were we to set out from the double of our present stock. I 
 have taken the term of four milUons and a half of inhabitants for ex- 
 ample's sake only. Yet I am persuaded it is a greater number than 
 the country spoken of, considering how much inarable land it contains, 
 can clothe and feed, without a material change in the quaUty of their 
 diet. But are there no inconveniences to be thrown into the scale a- 
 gainst the advantage expected from a multiplication of numbers by 
 the importation of foreigners ? It is for the happiness of those united 
 in society to harmonize as much as possible in matters which they 
 must of necessity transact together. Civil government being the sole 
 object of forming societies, its administration must be conducted by 
 common consent. Ev'ery species of government has its specific prin- 
 ciples. Ours perhaps is more peculiar than those of any other in the 
 universe. It is a composition of the freest principles of the English con- 
 stitution, with others derived from natural reason. To these nothing 
 can be more opposed than the maxims of absolute monarchies. Yet, 
 from such, we are to expect the greatest number of emigrants. They 
 will bring with them the principles of the governments they leave, 
 imbibed in their early youth ; or, if able to throw them off, it will be 
 in exchange for an unbounded licentiousness, passing, as is usual, 
 from one extreme to another. It would be a miracle were they to 
 stop precisely at the point of temperate liberty. These principles, 
 with their language, they will transmit to their children. In propor- 
 tion to their numbers, they will share with us the legislation. They 
 will infuse into it their spirit, warp and bias its directions, and render 
 it a heterogeneous, incoherent, di8tra,gted mass. I may appeal to ex- 
 
t 4* J 
 
 perieiice, during' the present contest, for a verification of these corijec- 
 tui'es. But, if they be not certain in event, are they not possible, are they 
 ziot probable ? Is it not safer to wait with patience 27 years and three 
 months long-er, for the attainnnent of any degree of population desired 
 or expected ? Mav not our g-overnment be more homogeneous, more 
 peaceable, more durable ? Suppose 20 milUons of republican Ameri- 
 cans thrown all of a sudden into France, what would be the condition 
 of t!iat kingdom ? If it would be more turbulent, less happy, less 
 strong-, we mvay believe that the addition of half a million of foreign- 
 ers to our present numbers would produce a similar eftiect here. If 
 they come of themselves, they are entitled to all tiie rights of citizen- 
 sliip r but I doubt the expediency of inviting them by extraordinary 
 encom-agements. I mean not that these doubts should be extended to 
 the importation of useful artificers. The policy of that measure de- 
 pends on very different considerations. Spare no expense in obtain- 
 ing them. They will after a wliile go to the plough and the hoe ; 
 but, in the mean time, they will teach us something we do not know. 
 It is not so in agriculture. The indhTerent state of that among us 
 does not proceed fi'om a want of knowledge merely ; it is from our 
 liaving such quantities of land to waste as we please. In Europe the; 
 object is to make the most of their land, labor being abvmdant ; here 
 it is to make tlie most of bur l^bor, land being abaudant.'*^ 
 
 In justice to the liberality of Mr. Jefferson's sentiments 
 on negro-slavery, which he considers a great political and mor- 
 al evil, I cannot forbear to add the following quotation .: 
 
 "Under the mild treatment our slaves experience,, and their whole- 
 some, though coarse food,, this blot in our country increases as fast, 
 or faster, than the whites. During the regal government, we had at 
 one time obtained a law, which imposed such a duty on the importation 
 of slaves, as amounted nearly to a prohibition, when one inconsiderate 
 assembly, placed under a pecuharity of circumstances, repealed tJie 
 law. This repeal met a joyfvil sanction from the then sovereign, and 
 no devices, no expedients, which could ever tifter be attempted by 
 the subsequent assemblies, and they seldom met without attempting 
 them, could succeed in getting the royal assent to a renewal of the du- 
 \v. In the very first session held under the republican government, 
 the assembly passed a law for the perpetual prohibition of the impor- 
 tation of slaves. This will in some measure slop the increase of this 
 great political and moral evil, Avhile the minds of our citizens m?-y be 
 lipening for a complete emancipation of human nature.'* 
 
I . 43 1 
 
 Notv/ithstanding all the blessings which we are about to 
 confer on the aborigines (according to the opinion of some 
 statesmen) by making extensive establishments in Louisiana ; 
 it would be consolatory to me, to be con\inced, our encroach- 
 ment on their hunting ground, will not redound more to their 
 injury, than our society will be to their benefit. Wherever 
 the settlements of the whites have advanced, the natives have 
 become extinct or been obliged to retire into the wilderness. 
 Their destinies, in this respect, seem almost preternatural, 
 even where they have been treated with an uncommon share 
 of justice and humanity. In the Atlantic States scarcely a 
 vestige remains. All attempts to civilize and christianize 
 them, have hitherto been attended with partial and imperfect 
 success. In spite of these discouragements, we should not 
 be weary in making further efforts, in regard to the tribes 
 or remains of tribes within our ancient limits. How far we 
 are required to seek new subjects for experiments, and how 
 far their good is the primary end we have in view, I shall 
 leave politicians and casuists to decide. 
 
 Mte (c) 
 To obviate by anticipation any imputatation of inconsisten- 
 cy which might be made, I take the liberty to state the fol- 
 lowing facts. I did not concur in opinion with those who 
 Were for using forcible means in the first instance, for the re- 
 covery of our right of deposit at New Orleans, which had 
 been suspended by the Intendant ; because, I believed the Spa- 
 ish government too just to authorise such a proceeding ; be- 
 cause, I was utterly opposed to any measure which might 
 encourage a disposition for war, conquest, and extension of 
 territory, the consequences of which could not be calculated ; be- 
 cause, I was persuaded the right thus wantonly suspended, might 
 be obtained better by negociation than force ; and because in 
 case it should not be thus amicably obtained, I had no doubt 
 of our ability to recover it Iw force, whsnevcr ^ve might think 
 it expedient. 
 
C 44 3 
 
 When I called to take leave of President Jefferson, on 
 returning to the eastward from Washington, in January, 
 1803, among other things, he said to me, " I see they have 
 got your name also into the nevi^s-papers." On my asking 
 him, " where, and how ;'* he replied, '" In Cheetham's A- 
 merican Citizen, in which he charges you by name, with be- 
 ing the author of a piece in some other paper, advising the im- 
 mediate attack of the Spanish settlements — a charge of which 
 we can all readily acquit you.*' 
 
 In truth, I have never seen to this day, either Cheet- 
 ham's paper in which this false charge is contained, or the 
 piece to which he alluded. 
 
 Kote (d) 
 
 *^No mines but such as should be discovered by the plough.'* 
 By these expressions, it is not meant, that the useful and the 
 precious metals can be dispensed with, in the present stage of 
 civilized society ; but that it would generally be more advan- 
 tageous for us to purchase such portions of those articles as Ave 
 may want, with the produce of our labour in other vocations, 
 than to explore the bowels of the earth for them. It is well 
 known, that the countries which have the most valuable mines, 
 are not the richest ; but, I believe, it w^as never known, that a 
 nation, with the most industry and the best government, was 
 not among the happiest. 
 
 io^o^o^ig^^^y^o^oA 
 
 I HAVE suggested to the Rev. Dr. Morse, that an in- 
 vestigation and statement of the measures taken by the States 
 situated east of Maryland, for the gradual extinction of Slave- 
 ry, could scarcely fail of being an acceptable article, if insert- 
 ed in a future Edition of his useful Geography. It is hoped 
 the Public will be favored with such an addition. In the mean 
 time, I will annex, by way of Notes, a few quotations, with 
 respect to its existence in other parts of the Union, together 
 
C 45 ] 
 
 with the opmions of different persons on the subject of holding 
 Africans in bondage. 
 
 Kote 1. 
 
 That there are yet serious advocates for the lawfulness of 
 J^egrO'Slavery^ tvill be evident from the folhtving criticism^ ex* 
 tractedfrom the American Review andLiterary Journal^for 1801, 
 page 236, on a work entitled : 
 
 "The Doctrine of perpetual Bondage reconcilable with the infi- 
 nite Justice of God, a truth plainly asserted in the Jewish and Chris- 
 tian Scripture. By John Beck." 
 
 On this work the Reviewers observe, that 
 
 ♦• This Pamphlet, which is dedicated to the good People of Geor- 
 gia and South Carolina, contains two Sermons in which iJie author 
 endeavours to justify Negro-Slavery, on scriptural grounds. He a- 
 vows it to be his wish and design to counteract the exertions of the 
 Manumission Societies which have been, for some time, formed in the 
 middle and Eastern States. And he confidently hopes, that after the 
 perusal of his work, no christian can hesitate to acknowledge the law- 
 fulness of holding Africans in perpetual bondage. 
 
 *' It would be difficult for us to express the mingled emotions of 
 contempt and indignation, which were excited in oiu* minds by the 
 perusal of this weak and iniquitous performance. Had any one at- 
 tempted to excuse the practice, which has, at one time or another, 
 prevailed in every part of our country, and which especially reigns in 
 the southern States, from the actual habits of the people, from the 
 dangers of immediate emancipation, and from the difficulty of apply- 
 ing any remedy to the evil, we could have listened to him with pa- 
 tience. We are sensible that our Southern Brethren, on these 
 grounds, labour under real and most painful embarrassment respec- 
 ting their slaves ; and we know that many of them deplore the ne- 
 cessity (for so they profess to view it) of continuing the evil. But to 
 find a person attempting to defend the practice upon principle ; endeav- 
 ouring to reconcile it with the eternal dictates of justice and human- 
 ity ; and above all, pretending to find in the word of God a support for 
 such an execrable infringement of every fundamental right of our 
 common nature, is truly astonishing. We had supposed there M\as 
 Bsarcely an individual in America who would venture to avow princi- 
 
L' 46 ] 
 
 pies so absurd and wicked ; and wc would fondly believe that Mr* 
 Beck has the disgraceful singularity ofstanding alone among the cit- 
 izens of Georgia, in holding and propagating such opinions. 
 
 ** We shall not so far trespass on the patience of our readers as t« 
 present them with any analysis of, or extract from, this wretched effort 
 of ignorance and error. Such frivolous reasoning — such perversions of 
 scripture — such unblusliing attempts to subvert every principle of jus- 
 tice and benevolence — and such false charges of corrupt design in the 
 manumission societies in the middle and eastern states — could only ex- 
 cite disgust. And we will add, that, if every sin recorded in the sa- 
 cred history, as having been practised by the Israelites, be a proper ex- 
 jample for imitation ; and if every prophetic intimation of what wicked 
 men should, in after times, do, under the impulse of selfishness and 
 corrupt passions, were to be considered a rule of duty, then the most 
 atrocious crimes of which man is capable, may be defended from 
 Bcrlpture- 
 
 «' We are sensible, that, on the subject of slavery in general, a due 
 regard to the situation of the southern States, renders it proper that we 
 should speak with caution. Summmn jus , sxirtirna injuria. But such 
 an insult on the humane and religious feelings of our coimtrymen as 
 this pamphlet presents, ought not to pass without notice and reproba- 
 tion. And we-have no doubt that a large portion even of slaveholders, 
 in every part of America, would be ashamed to adopt the language and 
 argujnaents of Mr. Beck." 
 
 2iote Ko. 2. 
 Extract from tlie Monthly Magazine, printed at Newyork, 
 February, 1800. 
 
 " THOUGHTS ON THE PROBABLE TERMINATION OF NE- 
 GRO SLAVERY IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.'*' 
 
 *' In the five Atlantic Southern States, according to the late enu- 
 meration, there were about 1,160,000 free inhabitants, and 630,000 
 negro slaves. A man of an inquisitive temper, can hardly fail of turn- 
 ing often in his mind, a fact of so much importance, and endeavouring 
 to trace the consequences that may hereafter flow from so considera- 
 ble a distinction in complexion and privileges of the people of thos« 
 States. 
 
 "It may, in the first place, be. observed, that the /ree are to the 
 ^^a'ves in a less proportion than pko to one ; tliat of the whole number of 
 
t 47 2 
 
 people, more than one third are destitute of any right of property, ei* 
 cept of their score or two of cabbages or turnips, planted in their lord's 
 ground.and in the few trinkets with which they bedeck themselves arid 
 their wives upon holidays ; are destitute of the benefits of education 5 
 have never been supplied with moral or religious principles, and are 
 bound to the service of their masters who buy and sell them Lke cattle ; 
 and on whom they depend for slieher, food, clothing, and the em- 
 ployment of their time, just as the mules and oxen are dependent. 
 
 " Those States differ from the least ci\ilized parts of Europe in va- 
 rious respects. The free-born in Livonia and Ingria are not, in gene- 
 ral, so well instructed as the free-born of Virginia, and the C:aolinas ; 
 but the serfs enjoy higher privileges than the negroes ; partake tlie re» 
 ligion of tlieir masters; are connected not with the person, but with 
 the land ; have more extensive rights of property ; enjoy more ex- 
 emptions from labour, and are less restrained in chusing, retaining and 
 governing their habitation and families. The nuniber of serfs, more- 
 over, is prop'ortionably less than that of negroes. The comparison, 
 therefore, is somewhat to the disadvantage of this part of our country. 
 
 <' One difference between Europeans and us is particularly re- 
 markable. The serfs are of the same stock as their lords. They 
 sprang originally from the same soil ; they vary, in consequence of 
 education, opinion and acquired habits, but not in form, lineaments 
 and hue, from each other. With us, circumstances are widely diffe- 
 rent. In that conspicuous property of coloui*, v/e and our slaves are 
 not different, but opposite ; our badges of distinction are black and 
 white. In shape andhneaments our diversity is very great." 
 
 After indicating several general causes which may tend 
 to accelerate or retard the abolition of Slavery in the United 
 States, the writer proceeds to express his ideas in the follow- 
 ing terms : 
 > 
 *' In America, the current of opinion sets strongly against negro 
 
 servitude. The maxims and spirit of our religion are generally sup- 
 posed to discountenance the practice of slavery, and, by one sect of 
 christians, are believed to be wholly incompatible with it. Our mo- 
 ral sentiments and reasonings tend likewise to the same end ; but, 
 above all, the fundamental rules of our government have a real or ap- 
 parent hostility with every species of slavery. 
 
 *' I shall not inquire whether this hostility be real or apparent. It 
 is sufficient for my purpose to remark, that there are many who deeja 
 
I 48 ] 
 
 ttcgro slavery to be expressly abolished by our Constitutions ; many 
 who believe that to be the virtual or implied meaning of our laws, and 
 there are few or none who are not convinced that this system is pro- 
 ductive of more evil than good ; and, however they may decide upon 
 its abstract legality or equity, do not hesitate to condemn it as injuri- 
 ous to individuals and national prosperity . These opinions are daily 
 gaining ground, and their tendency undoubtedly is to facilitate manu- 
 
 ** The great bar to manumissions, is the imaginary interest of pro- 
 prietors. This operates, with relation to posterity, but with diminish, 
 ed influence ; thus manumissions are more common by the last will 
 of proprietors than by any other means. The frequency of this wiU 
 increases through the influence of example, as well as of those princi- 
 ples which have been mentioned above. 
 
 *' The Southern States are, comparatively, deserts. A few dis- 
 tricts on the sea-board are planted with *rice, maize, and tobacco ; 
 but the Western regions are unoccupied except by panthers and deer. 
 These, however, will quickly be stocked by people who will migrate 
 hither from the east and the north. The new-comers will bring with 
 them habits, if not opinions, incompatible with slavery. They will 
 till their fields and shock their corn with their own hands. Their 
 numbers have hitherto increased and will continue to increase with a 
 rapidity imexampled in the history of any former nation. The natur- 
 al powers of propagation, to which every external circumstance will 
 be propitious, will be aided by the influx of strangers from the north. 
 If the number of slaves be at present only one third of the whole, how 
 speedily will that proportion sink to one fifth, one eighth, and even to 
 one tenth ? 
 
 ** As the proportion of freem.en increases, it must be expected that, 
 every moral cause tending to annihilate servitude, will increase in 
 force. Having no interest to obstruct the operation of tlieir reason or 
 humanity, the manners and opinions pf those who hold no slaves, will 
 be likely to gain the ascendant over those of slave-holders. Maxims 
 of justice become popular in proportion as the opposition between 
 those maxims and the interest of individuals is removed. All the ob- 
 jections arising from expediency will lose their force when the dis- 
 proportion between whites and blacks is carried to a high degree by 
 the rapid progress of the new settlements. Comprehensive schemes 
 gf emancipation may possibly be dangerous, when the number of slaves 
 
 * Since this ivas xjritteji, the aiUivation of cotter kas tecg^nc an object 
 •f very great importance. 
 
C 49 3 
 
 is one half or one third of the whole ; but this danger is aniiihllated 
 whenlt dwindles to a fifteenth or a twentieth. 
 
 »* One may venture, upon pretty sure foundations, to predict the 
 rate of this decrease. Supposing the propagation will do no more 
 than keep up the present stock, which is the most that can be granted, 
 and supposing that the future increase of white population be equal to 
 the past, it will follow, that, in sixty years, the slaves will not be more 
 than one twenty-fifth part of the whole. It is quite probable, indeed, 
 considering the progressive popvdarity of manumission, and the un- 
 friendly influence of servitude on the multiplication of our species, that 
 slavery will nearly disappear from the United States in a less period 
 than sixty years.'* 
 
 Kote Ko. 3. 
 Extract from an Essay on the use of Maize, (Indian 
 Corn) in the Monthly Magazine and American Review for 
 the year 1799. 
 
 " The most lenient and Indulgent treatment consists in allowing 
 each neg^ro, in addition to his maize, which, in this case, is ground 
 and baked by slaves allotted for the purpose, as many salted her- 
 rings as he can eat, and twice or thrice a week he is allowed to ban- 
 quet upon pickled pork. A man, the limits of whose appetite are 
 not prescribed by his master, will eat three herrings, each weighing 
 four ounces, at a meal. He makes two meals per day. His meat 
 therefore amounts, daily, to 1^ lb. He has hkewise a rood or two of 
 land, round his hut, which he may cultivate on Sundays and holidays 
 in what manner he pleases. In this garden he raises potatoes, pease, 
 beans, and the like, which greatly heighten the diversity of his ban- 
 quets ; or which he exchanges for spirits, molasses, dainties or cloth- 
 ing. He will likewise raise a fowl or two, and will sometimes, in con- 
 junction with his fellow servants, perhaps, make out to rear a hog ; 
 which his master will give him the necessary means of pickling. In 
 some cases tasks are prescribed to the slave, which his industry may 
 dispatch so as to gain a day or two in the week, to be employed lo his 
 own advantage. This is the utmost limit of indulgence. 
 
 '*-The opposite extreme of rigour consists in abridging the negi'o of 
 all leisure but that of Sundays and a few days at Cliristmas ; and of 
 dispensing weekly to each slave eight quarts of Maize, in the grain. 
 They are driven to the field on Monday morning, and continue there 
 day and nig^hi until Saturday evening. Besides tbeii appointed tasks 
 
 G 
 
t 50 J 
 
 tliey ai'C to grind their corn, and prepare the "meal, with water 
 bi-ought from a neighboring- spring, and at a fire on the spot. They 
 are utter strangers to flesh or fish, to every kind of condiment, even 
 to salt. Their fi)od is absolutely and simply Indian meal mingled 
 with water. This is spread upon a board and placed before the fire. 
 The hoe, the usual instrument of their labour, has sometimes been 
 made the instrument of their cookery, whence has arisen the term hoe- 
 cake ; but in cases of extreme hardship, this office must be perform- 
 ed by a board, the hoe being in constant use until the moment of 
 beginning their repast. This description is by no means exaggerated. 
 Every one acquainted with the country, will recollect more than one 
 planter, who possesses between two and three hundi-ed slaves, and 
 whose provision is simply and absolutely and invariably, one peck or 
 eight quarts of unground Mai^e per week. This is ground, sifted and 
 eaten by the same persons, and is unaccompanied by flesh or fish, by 
 molasses, sugar, or even salt. This, therefore, may be considered as- 
 a complete instance of the exclusive use of Maize. 
 
 " In estimating the influence of this diet, we may be led by at- 
 tendant circumstances into errors. The rigour which is exercised 
 with regard to food, extends to every other particular ; to their dwel- 
 ling, clothing, tasks, and especially to punishments. These unhappy 
 beings usually appear half naked, emaciated and dejected. They 
 form a melancholy contrast to the plump, spirited and laughing fig- 
 ures, whom their good fi^rtune has placed under a more lenient gov- 
 ernment. How much of tliis emaciation and dejection is to be imput- 
 ed to the kind or quantity of their provision, it is difficnlt to 
 ascertain. 
 
 " I have detailed the limits of indulgence on the one hand and of 
 rigour on the other. There are, of course, numerous intermediate de- 
 j^rees. One of these degrees consists in dispensing weekly a fixed, 
 though limited, provision. Herrings constitute always a part of this 
 provision ; but the grain is never less than eight quarts a week. 
 Hence it should appear that eight quarts, without any additional in- 
 gredient, are insuflicient for wholesome subsistence." 
 
 The writer then proceeds to ofTer an ingenious calculation 
 on the great benefits which might be conferred on these poor 
 slaves, by introducing a different, but easy and cheap, mode 
 of cooking the Indian meal. The curious nature of the ob- 
 servations, it is hoped, will justify the following quotation» 
 
C 51 3 
 
 « Admitting-, however, that with moderate tasks, with all the 
 Tjenefits of cookery, with comfortable clothing- and shelter, with in- 
 tervals of leisure and amusement, eight quarts per week should be 
 deemed sufficient, let us see what will be the amount of daily pro- 
 vision, and compare it with the experiments of Count Rumford. 
 
 «' A bushel of Maize (in grain) will weigh • • 
 
 «* And produces of meal 
 
 " A peck or fourth of a bushel, will therefore 
 
 produce of meal • 
 
 '** This dvided into seven portions per day - 
 "This will make of hasty-puddmg - - - 
 
 lb. 
 
 oz. 
 
 61 
 
 
 
 45 
 
 
 
 11 
 
 4 
 
 1 
 
 6 
 
 4 
 
 8 
 
 *' Count Rumford informs us that he dined upon one 1 lb. 1^ oz. of 
 this pudding, so that the negro's daily portion of corn would afford, 
 if made into hasty-pudding, more than four meals equivalent to ouif 
 author's dinner ; a quantity, which, according to this estimate, 
 ought amply to supply the daily wants of a single person, 
 
 «« It is not to be forgotten, however, that water properly combined 
 with other substances has been proved to be eminently nutricious ; 
 and that hasty-pudding has a larger proportion of water than can be 
 produced by any other mode of preparation. The negro is compelled 
 to turn his meal into dough, and to bake it without permitting fer- 
 mentation, and as soon as it is made. By this mode the benefits of 
 cookery are almost wholly lost. Suppose, however, that the hoe-cake 
 retains as much air and moisture as well fermented bread. Meal, by 
 fermentation and baking, is supposed to gain one third of its weight, 
 so that 1 lb. 6 oz. of meal will produce of hoe-cake, 1 lb. 13 oz. 
 which is about two ounces more than the product in hasty-pudding, of 
 half a pound of meal. Hence it follows, that though the negro may 
 famish and die upon his daily allowance made into hoe-cake, the same 
 portion made into hasty-pudding, might constitute an ample supply for 
 two days. Hence we infer the great importance of cookery." 
 
 JVote JVb. 4. 
 Extract from the Literary Review and American Reg- 
 ister for Octol>er, 1803. Pag;e 30. 
 
 CRITICISM ON, 
 
 " A view of South Carolina^ a^} resjiects her natural and civil 
 concerns^ by Jqhn Drayton. 
 
 ** After discussing, very fuUy, the agriculture of the state, the au- 
 thor proceeds to make some fev/ remarks on negro-slavery. On this 
 
[ 52 ] . 
 
 delicate topic it is but justice to all parties to hear what a shrewd and 
 caildid judge has to say in defence of negro servitude. 
 
 ' In the pursuits of agriculture, slaves were introduced into tliii 
 state : and importations from Africa soon supplied the planter with as 
 many negi-oes as he was able to purchase. This gave a rapid increase 
 to tlie settlement, and riches of the lower country ; when otherwise, its 
 richest lands v/ould not have been worth the cultivating. They conse- 
 quently became a vested property in their respective owners, by the 
 laws of the land ; and however paradoxical it may appear, their owners 
 on obtaining their independence, and a right by the constitution and 
 government of this state, and these United States, thence flowing, to 
 be protected inthcir persons and property y had an indefesible right in them, 
 ^V■ithoutthe reach of laws to alter, unless by their own consent, or by 
 suitable compensation. Notwithstanding, however, this barrier, 
 which has been, and will continue to be placed against any innova- 
 tions respecting this property ; many are the efforts which are not on - 
 ly tried individually, but collectively, to weaken this right of property ; 
 and ultimately, to change its very nature. The impropriety appears 
 greater ; as these attempts flow, not from our own citizens, for they 
 'knovi their rights and interests better; but from those of the Northern 
 States ; who are less acquainted with them. With as much propriety 
 might we request them to dismiss their horses from the plough ; as for 
 us to dismiss these people from labour. For in both cases, lands of excel- 
 lent quality, which are cultivated by thevi, 'cvould revert to a state of nature. 
 And with the same reason might they be asked to give the money out 
 of their pockets, in order to equalize the situation of every person ; as 
 the people of the southern states be requested to nlake changes in this 
 property, which would materially affect the fortunes they possess. And 
 notwithstanding this impropriety, societies have intruded so far, as to 
 send addresses to the different branches of our legislature ; recom- 
 mending certain modes, which they deem most eligible for us to pursue 
 in this respect ; and all this for the good of the whole fiimily of mankind ! 
 The reception which these addresses have met M'ith, renders an}^ fur- 
 ther comment on them umiecessary. This much however may be said 
 
 that if it be an evil, it will sooner, or later, effect its own cure ; and 
 
 if it be a sin, it is the happiness of those nxho are not engaged in it, to be 
 safe from any of its future calamities. 
 
 ' Should We for a moment enquire, what is the situation of ne- 
 groes in Africa ; we shall find them generally in a state of slavery ; 
 liable to be sold for the luxury of their princes, or, as following the 
 chances of war. Some few are stolen from their parents, and others 
 ai-e taken by deception and iraud. But the great mass which have 
 
r 53 2 
 
 been broug-ht to South Caroiina, only exchanged one slaven^ for anoth- 
 er ; and that too, w/fZ) viany adva?itages injavor cjf their present skua' 
 tion in this country. There, they are subject to the uncontroled pleas- 
 ure of princes ; and are sometimes even slaug-htered for the ceremo- 
 nies of their funerals. Neither life nor property is secured to them. 
 But force, oppression, and injustice, are the great engines of their 
 government. Here, laws are passed for their security and protection. 
 They are worked by certain tasks, Vvhich are not unreasonable ; and 
 when they are diligent in performing them, they have some hours of 
 the day to themselves. Hence they are encouraged to plant for their 
 o\vn emohmient ; raise poultry for their own use, or for sale ; and are 
 protected in the property which they thus acquire . With good mas- 
 tcrs they are happy and contented ; and instances are known, where 
 they have declined an offered freedom. It is now prohibited by la-j) 
 to work them more than certain hoiu's of the day, during different por. 
 tions of the year ; and their owners ave liable to a penalty, if they do 
 not feed and clothe them in a suitable manner. Should they treat 
 them cruelly, they are amenable to a court of justice for the same. If 
 a slave be killed in the heat of passion, fifty pounds sterling {^forfeit- 
 ed to the *state : and if wilfully murdered, one hundred pounds ster- 
 ling is forfeited in like manner by the person offending, and he is ren- 
 dered forever Incapable of holding, exercising, enjojing, or receiving 
 the profits of any office, place, or emolument, civil or military, within 
 this state. And in case such person shall not be able to pay the said 
 penalty, or forfeiture, he is liable to be sent to any frontier garrison of 
 the state ; or to be comiTiitted to prison, or a work-house, for seven 
 years ; and during that time be kept at hard labovir. Their importa- 
 tion has been prohibited since the year 1788 ; not, however, a\ ithout 
 struggles in our legislature, respecting it. But, nevertheless, num- 
 bers of them have been introduced into this state, both by land and 
 water ; and that smuggling, which Mr. Edwards, in his history of the 
 West Indies, sagaciously predicted would happen in such case, has ac- 
 tually taken place in a great degree. f What the different importa- 
 tions of negi'oes, into this state, from time to time, may be, is not in 
 tny power to relate. But the census, which was taken of the popula- 
 tion of tliis state in 1801, by direction of the federal government, gives 
 us the number of them, about that time, amountmg to 146^151 ; since 
 
 * What a poor defence is this, if it should appear that these laws are nev- 
 er executed, these penalties never le-ded, these forfeitures riever exacted ! 
 
 t See Edward^s History of the West Indies, Ato. vol. II. page 115, 115. 
 And also page 503, et. seq. of the appendix rfths same volume. 
 
I 
 
 54 
 
 Vhich period, their numbers have no doubt increased, as well by birtliB, 
 as by smug-g'llng". 
 
 * Had not Ihis agricultural strength been furnished South Caroli- 
 na, it is probable, in the scale of commerce and importance, she would 
 have been numbered among the least respectable states of the union. 
 At this moment, the extensive rice fields which are covered with grain, 
 would pre sent nothing but deep swamps, and dreary forests ; inhabited 
 by panthers, bears, wolves, and other wild beasts. Hence, the best 
 lands of this state would have been rendered useless; while the pine 
 lands, from their barren natures, although they might maintain the far- 
 mer, would have done little towards raising the state to its present im- 
 portance. At its first settlement, the fci-Lile lands, in the upper coun- 
 trv, were not known ; or if they were, surrounded by Indian nations, 
 they ofl'ered no retreat to tlie calm exertions of the farmer ; wliere wars 
 interrupted navigation, and unopened roads would arrest from him the 
 profits of his industry. But, should it be asked, why the swamps and 
 low lands in th-e lower countrj^ cannot be cultivated by whites,, and with- 
 out the labour of negroes ? I would answer, these situations are partic- 
 ularly unhealthy, and unsuitable to the constitution of white persons : 
 v/hilst that of a negro is perfectly adapted to its cultivation. He can, un- 
 covered, stand the sun's meridian heat ; and labour his appointed time, 
 cxposedto the continual steam, which arises from the rice grounds; 
 whilst a white person could barely support himself under the shade, 
 surrounded by such a relaxing atmosphere. He c&n luork for hours i?t 
 mud andvoater, f which he is obliged to do in the rice culture, in ditching and 
 draining,) without injury to himself ; whilst to a white this kind of la- 
 bour would Tdc almost certain death. Should these observations be 
 founded on fact, (which it is believed they are) they sufficiently^' w^f/;^' 
 the present condition of this state, in the kind of property to which we 
 immediately refer. And, while we lament the iniquitous passions, 
 which originally introduced slavery into this state ; it is with satisfac- 
 tion we can assert, that their condition is far ameliorated to what it for- 
 merly was. Tliey have their houses, their gardens, their fields, their 
 dances, their holydays, and their fejists. And, as far as is consistent 
 with our government, they enjoy privileges and protections, in some 
 cases, superior to the poor whites of many nations ; and in others e- 
 gxial to the mildest slavery in any part of the world. It may be said, 
 this is still slavery. True. But, as was observed, it is preferable 
 fo the condition of the peasantry of some countries. How many tracts 
 of land arc there on this globe, whose inhabitants cannot boast as muck 
 good ? How many thousands are there, who labour from morning until 
 flight, and from season to season, for at best a beggarly subsistence ; 
 »fcose terure tleY^erdfi en th« ^n'iM of a orince, at oncenias-ter of their 
 
i: 55 ] 
 
 fortunes and liberties ? With them the father may in vain attempt tm 
 raise up his son for his support and comfort ; lM.it when the time ar- 
 rives, and with increasing years, he comes to useful manhood ; he is 
 torn from the presence of his parents, and the endearments of his rela- 
 tions ; to swell the pageantry of a com't — or to confound the liberties 
 •f his country. 
 
 ' This is what may be seen on the theatre of human life ; continu- 
 ally chequered with good and evil, happiness and misery. The phi- 
 lanthropist may seek perfection and happiness among the human race ; 
 but he will never find it complete. The philosopher may plan new 
 laws, and new systems of government ; w'hich practice too often de- 
 clares but the effervescence of fancy, and unequal to the end propo- 
 sed. Nature, governed by unerring laws which command the oak to 
 be stronger than the willow, the cypress to be taller than the shrub ; 
 has at the same time imposed on mankind certain restrictions, which 
 can never be overcome. She has made some to be poor, and others 
 to be rich ; some to be happy and others to be miserable ; some to be 
 slaves, and others to be free. The subjects, or people, on which these 
 principles are enforced, may be changed by industry, intrigues, fac- 
 tions or revolutions ; but the principles can never be altered ; they 
 will shew themselves again, with the same force, on new subjects ; un- 
 changeable in their natures, and constant in their effects. So woods 
 may be cut down, and the lands on which they grow may be made to 
 produce grains, which nature never planted there. But withhold the 
 hand of cultivation ; and nature immediately causes weeds and plants 
 to spring up again ; and, in course of time, covers them with her dark 
 retreats, and stately forests.* 
 
 " We have marked in italics the passages in tiiis extract, on 
 which the friend of negro liberty will be inclined to meditate. We 
 should have been much better pleased with our author, if he had ad"- 
 mitted the iniquity of the traffic, and urged these considerations rather 
 to account for and excuse, than \o justify the practice. Had he insist- 
 ed on the enormous evils which wowld accrue even to the blacks 
 themselves, from general or partiiil emancipation^ rather than on the 
 abstract right of the planters, to the persons of the blacks, as to the 
 persons of their hogs and sheep, he would have gained a favoiu-abl* 
 audience, even with the greatest enemies of slavery, and have take* 
 tlie strongest ground even with its friends.'* 
 
 JVote Xo. 5. 
 Extract from an Address on the subject of abolishing iie» 
 gro slavery, in the United States of America, dated, Pliiladel- 
 
[ S6 1 
 
 phia, January 13, 1804. Signed Matthew Franklin, Fre^i- 
 dent. Othxiel Alsop, Secretary. 
 
 " TO THE PEOPLE OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 Fellow Citizens, 
 
 The American Convention for promotinf^ the abolition of Slave- 
 ry and improving the condition of the African race, assembled for the 
 purpose of deliberation upon such matters as relate to the design of 
 their institution, believe it their duty to address you at this time ; not 
 with a view to descant on the horrours of slavery, or its incompatibil- 
 ity with sound policy, with justice, with morality, and with the spirit 
 and doctrines of Christianity ; for besides that, the circumscribed na- 
 ture of such an address, necessarily precludes lengthy animadversion, 
 these are topics which have been so repeatedly and ably discussed, as 
 to leave little room for additional argument or new illustration. The 
 feelings and the judgment have been often addressed with all the 
 strength of reason and the powers of eloquence, and although preju- 
 dice may blind the eyes of some, and avarice close the avenues of sen- 
 sibility in others, we derive consolation from the assiu-ance, that the 
 wise and tlie good, the liberal and the considerate of all classes of the 
 community, lament the existence of slavery, and consider it as a dark 
 stain intlie annals of oiu- covmtry. We do not even hesitate to believe 
 that many who hold slaves by demise, acknowledge the injustice of the 
 tenure ; but perplexed in the contemplation of the embarrasment in 
 which they find themselves, are ready to exclaim, *' what shall we do 
 with them ?" We would willingly include these among the number of 
 our friends, and entreat them to unite in the removal of an evil so just- 
 ly and almost universally deplored. 
 
 " A principal object of our concern, is, to rouse tlie attention of 
 the public to the continued— may we not say increasing ne cessity of 
 exertion. We fear many have taken up an idea, that there is less oc- 
 casion now than formerly, for active zeal in promoting the cause of the 
 oppressed African : but when it is remembered that there are about 
 nine hundred thousand slaves in our country ! that hundreds of vessel* 
 do annually sail from our shores to traffic in the blood of our fellow- 
 men ! and that the abominable practice of kidnapping is carried on to 
 an alarming extent ! surely it will not be thought a time for supine- 
 ness and neglect. Ought not rather every faculty of the mind to be 
 awakened ? And in a matter wherein the reputation and prosperity of 
 these United States are so deeply involved, is it possible any can re- 
 H\ain, as indiiTerent and idle spectators ? 
 
C SI 1 
 
 the gross and violent outrages committed by a horde of kidnap- 
 pers call aloud for redress. We have reason to believe there is « 
 complete chain of them along our sea coast, from Georgia to Maine. 
 For the victims of this shocking business, they find a ready markel 
 among the southern planters. 
 
 To complain of injustice, or petition for redress of gi-ievance, can- 
 not be mistaken for rebelUon against the laws of our country. ' We 
 Ument, therefore, the existence of statutes in the State of North 
 Carolina, prohibiting individuals the privilege of doing justice to the 
 ttnfortimate Slave, and to their own feelings, by setting him at Hber- 
 ty ; and we learn with the deepest regi-et, that the State of South 
 Carolina has recently repealed the law prohibiting the importation of 
 •laves into that State. Such appears to be the melancholv fact ; but 
 we cannot restrain the involuntary question— Is this possible ? Is the 
 measure of iniquity not yet filled ? Is there no point at which you 
 wiU stop ? Or was it necessarj' to add this one step to the climax of 
 foUy, cruelty and desperation > Oh, Legislators ! we beseech you to 
 reflect, before you increase the evils which surround you in gloomy 
 ♦nd frightful perspective ! 
 
 Beholding with anxiety the Increase rather than the diminution 
 ef Slavery and its dreadful concomitants, we earnestly request the 
 zealous co-operation of every friend to justice and ever>' lover of his 
 country. It is an honorable, a virtuous, and a humane cause in 
 which we have embarked. Much good has already been effected, 
 but much remains to be done ; and under the divine blessing, may 
 Xve not confidently hOpe, that, in proportion to the sincerity of our 
 motives, and the temperate, firm and persevering constancy of our 
 exertions, wiU be our success and peacefid reward ? Those who 
 live contiguous to the sea-ports, in particular, we wish may be stimu- 
 lated to vigilence, that none of those shameful acts of atrocity adver- 
 ted to, may elude deserved punishment : and our fellow citizens of 
 the Eastern States arerespectfiilly invited to pay attention to the clan- 
 destine traffic in slaves carried on from some of their ports. Such dar- 
 ing infractions of the laws of our country require prompt and decisive 
 measures. 
 
 Many aspersions have been cast upon the advocates of the freedom 
 •f the Blacks, by malicious or interested men ; but conscious of the 
 rectitude of our intentions and the disinterestedness of our endeav- 
 ours, we hope not to be intimidated by censure from performing the 
 part assigned us. We frankly own that it is our wish to promote % 
 
 H 
 
C 58 3 
 
 ! eu 
 
 rencral emancipation ; and. In doing this, it is our belief that we 
 seiitially proinote the true interests of the state. Although many in. 
 conveniences may result from a general liberation of the people of 
 colour ; yet those which flow from their continuance in slavery must 
 be infinitely greater, and are every day increasing. It is, therefore, 
 in our estimation, desirable that this object shovdd be brought about 
 v/ita as much speed as a pru.lent regard to existing circumstancef 
 and the safety of the country will admit. Sut in all our endeavouri 
 for its accomplishment, we hope to move with care and circumspec 
 lion. We pointedly disavow the most distant intention to contravene 
 any existing law of the states collectively or separately.— We will no% 
 knowingly infringe upon the nominal rights of property, although 
 those rights may only be traced to our statute books ; and while we 
 desire to be supoorted in our endeavours to defend the cause of tne 
 oppressed, we uope that discretion and moderation will characterize 
 all our proceedings. We feel with others the common frailUes ot hu^ 
 manity, and, therefore, cannot expect an exemption from erroiu-. The 
 best intentions are sometimes inadvertently led astray ; a lively 
 zeal in a good cause may occasionally overleap the bounds of discre- 
 tion : although, therefore, individuals may in some instances have sut- 
 fered their zeal to exceed knowledge; yet we repeat that the line ot 
 conduct which we approve and which is consonant with the spirit and 
 design of our institutions, is in strict conformity with a due submission 
 to existing laws and to the legal claims of our fellow ciUzens. On thi^ 
 ^ound we think we have a just claim to the countenance and support 
 of all liberal minds-of aU who dehght in the real prosperity of their 
 country and in the multiplication of human happiness. 
 
 We conclude in the expression of a hope, that the Supreme Dis. 
 poser of events wiU prosper our labours in this work of justice ; and 
 hasten the day wlien liberty shall be proclaimed to the captive, and 
 this land of boasted freedom and independence be relieved from the 
 opprobrium which the sufferings of the oppressed Africans now cast 
 upon it." 
 
 A'bte M, 6. 
 If the reader wishes to trace the progress of reflection in 
 the untutored mind of an African, by which he is sometimes 
 induced to prefer death to slavery, let him peruse the elegant 
 stanzas of Rose oe. 
 
 <« From the thicket the man-hunter sprung, 
 
 My cries echoed loud thro* the air t 
 There was fury and wrath on his tongue, 
 
 lie was deaf to the cries cf despair. 
 
/^ 2> i^S 
 
 C 59 3 
 
 Accurst be the mercilesB band 
 
 That his love could from Marraton tear ; 
 And blasted this impotent hand. 
 
 That was sever'd from all 1 held dear \ 
 
 Flow, ye tears ; down my cheeks ever flow ! 
 
 Still let sleep from my eye-lids depart ! 
 And stiU may the arrows of woe 
 
 Drink deep of the streams of my heart ! 
 But, hark !— on the silence of night, 
 
 My A DDE la's accents I hear ; 
 And mournful beneath the wan light, 
 
 I see her lov'd image appear. 
 
 Now sinking amid the dim ray. 
 
 Her form seems to fade on my view j 
 O, stay thee ! my Addela, stay ! 
 
 She beckons and I must pursue. — 
 To-morrow the white-man in vain 
 
 ShaU proudly account me his slave ; 
 My shackles I plunge in the main, 
 
 And rush to the realms of tlie brave .» 
 Other poets have expressed their feelings in the foUovr- 
 ing strains. 
 
 «« From Guinea's coast pursue the lessening sail. 
 And catch the soimds that sadden every gale. 
 Tell, if thou canst, the sum of sorrows there ; 
 • Mark the fixt gaze, the wild and frenzied glare. 
 The racks of thoc-ht and freezmgs of despair I 
 But pause not then— beyond the western wave. 
 Go, view tlie captive bartered as a slave ! 
 Crush'd till his high heroic spirit bleeds. 
 And from his nerveless frame indignantly recedes." Rookr*. 
 
 « And sure, since Heav'nisjust, the western skies 
 Shall see, ere long, some Sparticus arise. 
 To bid our slaves the christians* yoke disown. 
 And seize the land they labour, as their own. 
 Behold, the hero bursts oppression's bands. 
 The blood of ruiiian's reeking on his hands ! 
 Hark ! how he echoes Freedom's honour'd name. 
 And boasts how \'ict'ry vindicates his claim ! 
 See, round their chief the jetty nation throngs 1 
 What horrid vengeance answers all their wrongs ! 
 Extermination steeps the trembling shore— 
 Europa's robbers Uft the Ush no more j 
 
r 60 1 
 
 Vindictive justice sweeps the race away ; 
 Our toil of ages perish'd in a day.'* 
 
 Lord Gardenston's imitation of Horace, Lib. 1. Ode S. 
 
 " Oh ! ye, who at your ease 
 Sip the blood-sweetened beverag-e ! thoughts like these 
 Haply ye scorn. I thaiik thee, gracious God ! 
 That I do feel upon my cheek the glow 
 Of indignation, when beneath the rod 
 A sable brother wriths in silent woe.'* §outh2tC« 
 
 «' Hear him ! ye Senates ! hear this truth subhme. 
 
 He who allows oppression, shares the crime.'* Darwi* , 
 
 *' Yes, in that generous causcj forever strong, 
 The patriot's virtue, and the poet's song , 
 , Still, as the tide of ages rolls away, 
 
 Shall charm the world, unconscious of decay.** 
 
 «' Yes, there are hearts, prophetic hope may trust, 
 That slumber yet in uncreated dust. 
 Ordained to fire th' adoring sons of earth. 
 With every charm of wisdom and of worth. 
 
 And say, Supernal Powers ! who deeply scan 
 ' Heav'n's dark decrees, unfathom'd yet by man » 
 
 When shall the world call dov.n, to cleanse her sham«, 
 
 That embryo spirit, yet without a name — 
 . That friend of natui-e, whose avenging hands, 
 
 Shall burst the Lybian's adamantine bands ?'* Campbell. 
 
 JVote A'b. 7. 
 
 Richmond^ June 13, 1804. 
 " On Monday evening last, a negro girl about 12 years of age, was 
 found dead in the ho\ise of a person who resides in this city. An in- 
 quest was held on the body of the deceased, and the verdict says, 
 that her death ws.^ probably occasioned by the shameful chastisement 
 which she had received. — We are informed, that the sight of the 
 gashes produced by the whip, on the body of this unfortunate daUgh- 
 ter of Africa, excited mingled emotions of detestation and horrour. 
 The master of the house was taken on a warrant, the next morning, 
 and examined before one of the city magistrates. — The evidence ad. 
 duced on this occasion, was deemed insufficient to convict him of th« 
 crime ; and he remains for trial until the day of judgment. 
 
 «* It is, on one hand, a duty incumbent on slaves to be obedient to 
 their masters, while on the other it is the duty of masters to re- 
 member mercy. A man who can inflict punishment, being his own 
 judge, and that in a degree sufficient to deprive a human being of life, 
 nraust not only be one of the most detestable of all tyrants, but the 
 ttitisi miserable of all human beings that exist upon eartli.**