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 DELIVERED BEFORE THE 
 
 AFRICAN SOCIETY IN BOSTON, 
 
 15th of JULY, 1822, / / •" 
 
 ON THE. 
 
 ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION 
 
 OF THE 
 
 ^mutim ot tne Slalje Kv^tit, 
 
 BY REV. THADDEUS MASON HARRIS, D. D. 
 
 BOSTON : 
 
 PRINTED BY PHELPS AND FARNHAM. 
 No. 5, Court Street. 
 
 1822. 
 
DISCOURSE. 
 
 ACTS XVII. 26. 
 
 GOD HATH MADE OF ONE BLOOD ALL NATIONS TO DWELL UPON 
 THE FACE OF THE EARTH, AND HATH DETERMINED THE 
 TIMES BEFORE APPOINTED, AND THE BOUNDS OF THEIR 
 HABITATION. 
 
 We are here taught that the human race have a common 
 Creator, a common origin, and a common nature. They 
 are " made of one blood ;" a kindred fluid circulates through 
 their veins. " Their hearts are fashioned alike." However 
 they may be distinguished by outward circumstances, or 
 differ in complexion, they possess the same affections, pas- 
 sions, and sensibilities. In the exercise of these affections, 
 they become endeared to each other. In the regulation and 
 due government of these passions, they respect each others' 
 rights, and avoid whatever would be injurious to the individ- 
 ual, or disturb the social state. And, by cherishing their 
 sensibilities, they are disposed to take a kind interest in each 
 X)thers' welfare, and prompted to constant endeavours to 
 promote it. " They are to dwell upon the face of the earth," 
 as joint inheritors of the soil, and sharers in its produc- 
 tions. " God hath determined for them the times before ap- 
 pointed," that there should be a succession of generations : 
 and as, by the increase of mankind, families multiply to 
 
tribes, and tribes to nations, Divine Providence prescribed 
 " the bounds of tiicir lia})itation 5" so that the respective ter- 
 ritories of each are designated, that they might not be en- 
 croached upon nor invaded.* 
 
 With all this provision for social order and happiness, 
 mankind ought to live together as members of one large 
 family ; though separating from each other as they settle in 
 the world, yet not disunited nor estranged ; and, having a 
 common interest, zealously engaged in promoting it. But 
 the history of our species discovers to us how litde this has 
 been regarded by them. Instead of continuing to prove " how 
 good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in 
 unity," they became selfish, sought to monopolize the boun- 
 ties of nature, and aimed more at private gratification than 
 the general benefit. Those who had obtained but a small 
 share of what were considered the goods of life, grew envi- 
 ous of those who had more. Hence arose cupidity; and, to 
 obtain what was coveted, resort was had to fraud or rapine. 
 This occasioned contention. Those who possessed most 
 power, or could bring the greater number to share with 
 them as freebooters, were enabled to plunder the feeble and 
 make a spoil of the unresisting. Where opposition was at- 
 tempted, it served only to increase the contest with those 
 •who suffered wrong. Sometimes injuries provoked retalia- 
 tion. Invasion of each others' rights led to oppression, and 
 incensed the passions to war. Such as were not slain in the 
 conflict were taken captives, and subjugated to their con- 
 querors, or sold as slaves to others. — Such was the origin of 
 SLAVERY in ancient times. War was its hateful parent, 
 TYRANNY its crucl mastcr, and degradation and suffering 
 its remorseless lot. 
 
 If the claims of humanity were disregarded, it might 
 have been supposed that, when the injunctions of religion 
 
 ♦ Compare Deuteronomy xxxii. 8. 
 
were added, they would have proved of avail to siihdue 
 "those inordinate lusts and passions whence come wars and 
 fightings," especially that the mild and gracious system of 
 Christianity would have restrained men from those excesses 
 which had prevailed among heathen and uncivilized nations, 
 and have rendered those who became its converts as much 
 superior to other men in benignity and tenderness, as the 
 benevolence of the gospel was to that of every other religious 
 institution in the world. And certain it is that, through the 
 prevalence of our blessed religion, the condition of those 
 who were kept in bondage was greatly improved ; and that, 
 in compliance with its principles, the Christian emperors 
 enacted many laws to check the licentiousness of masters, 
 and require them to treat their slaves with lenity and kind- 
 ness.* An eminent historian, discussing the causes which 
 weakened the feudal system and finally abolished slavery in 
 Europe in the XlVth century, observes, " The gentle spirit 
 of the Christian religion, together with the doctrines which 
 it teaches concerning the original equality of mankind, as 
 well as the impartial eye with which the Almighty regards 
 men of every condition, and admits them to a participation 
 of his benefits, are inconsistent with servitude. But in this, 
 as in many other instances, considerations of interest and the 
 maxims of false policy, led men to a conduct inconsistent 
 with their principles. They were so sensible, however, of 
 the inconsistency, that to set their fellow Christians at liberty 
 from servitude was deemed an act of piety highly meritori- 
 ous and acceptable to heaven. The humane spirit of the 
 Christian religion struggled long in this respect with the max- 
 ims and manners of the world, and contributed more than 
 
 • See Instit. lib. I. tit. VIII. Digest, lib. I. tit. VI. 12. lib. XLVIII. 
 tit. VIII. XL Novell. XXII. c. VII. &c. See, also, Univ. Hist. vol. XV, 
 p. 574—577. 
 
any other circumstance to introduce the practice of manu- 
 mission.''* 
 
 In the XVth century slavery had ceased throughout Eu- 
 rope ; but, at the commencement of the XVIth century, the 
 discovery of America and of the western and eastern coasts 
 of Africa, gave occasion to the introduction of a new species 
 of slavery. It took its rise from the Portuguese, who, in 
 order to supply the Spaniards with persons able to sustain 
 the fatigue of cultivating their possessions in America, partic- 
 ularly the islands, opened a trade between Africa and Ameri- 
 ca for the sale of negroes as slaves.t 
 
 The expedient of employing Africans for labour upon the 
 plantations was not long peculiar to the Spaniards, being af- 
 terwards adopted by other nations, as they acquired pos- 
 sessions in the West Indies ; and, to supply the demand, 
 the trade in slaves was undertaken by all the maritime na' 
 tions in Europe. Thousands of both sexes and of all ages,f 
 acquired by stratagem or force, and retained by compulsion 
 and violence, were torn away from their relations and 
 friends, from their fields and flocks, from their home and 
 country, from every connection that was dear to them, and 
 every thing that was valuable in life, to be carried into un- 
 sparing and hopeless captivity, interminable exile and bon- 
 dage. These unoffending victims to rapacity and avarice 
 were " compelled to labour, without wages or any kind of 
 remuneration, for those to whom they were under no obli- 
 gation by any law, human or divine, to submit ;" and were re- 
 duced to the most abject and humiliating state of degradation 
 and misery in which it is possible for human beings to exist. 
 
 On the cruel treatment connected with the capture, the 
 transportation, and the sale of those who were thus wrongful- 
 
 • Robertson's View of the State of Europe, Introd. to his History of 
 Charks V. JVo/e XX. See also Dv Cange. Glossar. " Manumissio.^^ 
 
 t See Note A. ^ Note B. 
 
ly deprived of their liberty, no good mind can reflect but 
 with sentiments of commisscration and horror. I stop not 
 to state how inconsistent the infliction of such wrongs and 
 sufferings is, not merely with the common principles of hu- 
 manity, but with the decencies of civilization ; nor how 
 truly astonishing it is that the perpetration of such 
 enormities should have been suffered among .nations calling 
 themselves Christians. We can account for it only by sup- 
 posing that " the nature of the trade and of the slavery was 
 but little known, except to those immediately concerned in 
 them ; and it is obvious that these would neither endanger 
 their own interest nor proclaim their own guilt by exposing 
 it." 
 
 At length the inhumanity, the rapacity, the sordid avarice, 
 and the callous barbarity of those who engaged in procuring 
 and vending slaves were exposed ; and a moral abhorrence 
 of the nefarious traffic has been universally excited in the 
 public mind. Men of benevolent principles, who had influ- 
 ence in society, used their endeavours to have these atroci- 
 ties prevented, and were indefatigable and persevering in 
 their exertions to procure the enaction of laws, first for (he 
 restriction of the inhuman commerce, and eventually for its 
 abolition. You have often been reminded, my friends, of 
 the result of these exertions in Great Britain ; and in their 
 success have felt the most animating joy. You have been 
 informed, too, of the endeavours of the British government 
 by treaties with other nations to engage them to desist from 
 the trade ;* as also, that the Congress at Vienna, composed 
 of plenipotentiaries from five of the principal powers of 
 Europe, on the 8th of February, 1815, made a solemn en- 
 gagement in the face of mankind, " to effect the universal 
 abolition of the slave trade," which they denounce as " a 
 scourge which has so long desolated Africa, degraded 
 Europe, gtnd afflicted humanity."! 
 
 * Note C. t Note D. 
 
Spain, though not a party in the original engagement, yet 
 soon after, in a treaty with England, stipulated for the imme- 
 diate abolition to the north of the equator, and for its final 
 and universal abolition on the 30th of May, 1820. 
 
 Portugal, likewise, has stipulated that the Portuguese 
 slave trade on the coast of Africa should entirely cease to 
 the northward of the equator, and engaged that it should be 
 unlawful for her subjects to purchase or trade in slaves ex- 
 cept to the southward of the line. The precise period at 
 which the entire abolition is to take place in Portugal does 
 not appear to be finally fixed ; but the Portuguese ambassa- 
 dor, in the presence of the Congress at Vienna, declared 
 that Portugal, faithful to her principles, would not refuse to 
 adopt the term of eight years, — which term will expire in 
 the year 1823. 
 
 The result of this triumph of justice over oppression is, 
 that at this time, among the European states, there is not a 
 flag that can lawfully cover this inhuman traffic to the north 
 of the equator. It is deeply to be lamented, however, that 
 in some most flagrant instances, these various laws and 
 regulations have been evaded, and the groans of the oppress- 
 ed Africans have been heard mingling with the winds that 
 pass over the murmuring waves.* But be not disheartened, 
 my friends. Think not that your race are always to be 
 victims to the rapacity and cupidity of desperate and lawless 
 men. No ! God will vindicate their wrongs ; and, under 
 his merciful and favouring providence, effectual measures 
 will be taken, not only to prevent the recurrence of these 
 atrocities, but to convey peace, and civilization, and the 
 blessings of religion to all the tribes of Africa. 
 
 Having intimated some of the measures pursued by Great 
 Britain and the European powers for the discontinuance of 
 this unnatural commerce in the human species, I propose to 
 
 * Note E. 
 
make a few remarks upon what has been done in our own 
 country. 
 
 You know that your people were brought for slaves to 
 the southern parts of this country at the times of their early 
 settlement; not first by the colonists themselves, but by 
 merchants of the parent country for their use. As popula- 
 tion increased, the demand for them became greater, and 
 the traffic more considerable ; so that, at the time of the 
 American revolution, great numbers were held in ignomini- 
 ous bondage. 
 
 Notwithstanding the zeal of the colonies to assert their 
 rights, and to resist what they called oppression ; and their 
 great explicitness in declaring that all men are equal, and that 
 liberty is the hirth-rlght of all, and an inalienable property ; 
 yet they could not at once give that freedom to others which 
 they so resolutely claimed for themselVes. The delegates, 
 however, in the first Continental Congress, seemed to have 
 felt the inconsistency of retaining one portion of the inhabi- 
 tants in slavery, while they were asserting the rights and 
 liberties of the whole ; and accordingly passed and promul- 
 gated a resolution, on the 6th of April, 1776, that " no slaves 
 should be imported into any part of the confederation:"* 
 thus determining to prevent the increase of an evil, the ex- 
 istence of which they could not but lament. 
 
 The vast territory north-west of the Alleghany mountains 
 having been ceded to the United States, Congress, to make 
 permanent regulations for it, passed an ordinance for its 
 government, dated 13th of July, 1787; the sixth article of 
 which enacts, that " there shall be neither slavery nor in- 
 voluntary servitude in the said territory, otherwise than in 
 the punishment of crimes whereof the party shall have been 
 duly convicted." How this national statute was violated 
 
 * See Journals of Congress for 1776. 
 2 
 
10 
 
 when slavery was allowed to Missouri, on its admission into 
 the Union, you have heard with astonishment.* 
 
 When, to consolidate the union of the several states, and 
 to perpetuate the blessings of liberty, the Federal Constitu- 
 tion was formed, a reference was had to this degraded part 
 of the community ; but though full powers were possessed 
 for the entire and immediate suppression of the farther im- 
 portation, yet by way of compromise with the slave-holding 
 states, and in accommodation to their views and requisi- 
 tions,! it was deemed expedient to postpone the suppression 
 for hoenty years. " It were doubtless to be wished, (says 
 Mr. Madison|) that the power of prohibiting the importation 
 of slaves had not been postponed until the year 1808, or 
 rather that it had been suffered to have immediate operation. 
 But it is not difficult to account either for this restriction on 
 the general government, or for the manner in which the 
 whole clause is expressed. It ought to be coHsidered as a 
 great point gained in favour of humanity, that a period of 
 twenty years may terminate forever, within these states, a 
 traffic which has so long and so loudly upbraided the bar- 
 barism of modern policy ; that within that period it will re- 
 ceive a considerable discouragement from the Federal Gov- 
 ernment, and may be totally abolished, by a concurrence of 
 the few states, which continue the unnatural traffic, in the 
 prohibitory example which has been given by so great a 
 majority of the Union." 
 
 Though there was to be so long a suspension of the work 
 of mercy, yet Congress repeatedly gave to the world pledges 
 of their wish and of their determination wholly and forever 
 to abolish a traffic which president Monroe, in his message of 
 1820, described as "disgraceful to the civilized world." 
 Laws have been multiplied for its restriction and prohibi- 
 iion;|| penalties increased in severity ; as an ultimate expe- 
 
 * Note F. t Note G. X See a paper of his in " (he Federalist.''' 
 II Note H. 
 
11 
 
 dient for its termination, it has been branded with its appro- 
 priate name of " Piracy," and those who shall be found en- 
 gaged in it are subjected to capital punishment ; and, under 
 the authority of these acts, and for more effectually enfor- 
 cing the provisions of them, some of our armed ships have 
 been employed on the coast of Africa.* 
 
 The importation of slaves being prohibited, we look for- 
 ward to the gradual emancipation of such as are yet held in 
 bondage ; and rejoice that the Colonization Society interests 
 itself so zealously in behalf of such as obtain freedom. 
 
 It would be gratifying to learn, that the condition of those 
 who are yet held in slavery was more comforta})lc, and that 
 attention was paid to their improvement ; but we have heard, 
 with deep regret, the inhabitants of the southern states re- 
 proached with neglectful indifference towards this degraded 
 and wretched portion of American population. Even a 
 munificent donation, sent to relieve those who had suffered 
 by a desolating fire, was rejected, because it was forwarded 
 with a request that the people of colour should be partakers 
 of the relief;! and the liberal bequest of the venerable 
 and philanthropic Kosciusco is impeded in its kind appropri- 
 ation.! We are informed, too, that these hapless beings are 
 not only subjected to the most laborious drudgery, " and their 
 lives made bitter with hard bondage ;" but that they are 
 brought up in the most deplorable ignorance ; are not in- 
 structed in the rudiments of religion ; and are even denied 
 the privilege of hearing preachers, who, from compassionate 
 motives, have offered to make them acquainted with the du- 
 ties and doctrines of Christianity.|| Here, then, is a large 
 
 • Note I. t Note J. t Note K. 
 
 II Our newspapers frequently state these things : it might seem in- 
 vidious to quote the paragraphs. Something may be learnt from Dr. 
 Torrey's Picture of Domestic Slavery^ and Dr. Griffin's Pica for 
 Africa, p. 32—34. 
 
12 
 
 number of our fellow beings, who live where the highest de« 
 gree of civil liberty is professed, and yet remain excluded 
 from it ; and where that spiritual liberty wherewith 
 Christ has made us free is enjoyed, without sharing any of 
 its advantages ; and who are destitute of all the sources of 
 consolation and enjoyment which belong to a human, moral, 
 intellectual being! Alas! that the gloom of servitude is 
 not brightened by some rays of mental and moral light, and is 
 suft'ered to gather with its deepest shades over that grave, 
 "which is looked forward to with hope only because " there 
 the wicked cease from troubling and there the weary will be 
 at rest ; the voice of the oppressor be no more heardj and the 
 servant be free from his master." 
 
 There is something appalling in this reflection. It is a 
 consideration of fearful import : for, when we think of the 
 Supreme Being as the Judge and Vindicator of the oppress- 
 ed, and the Avenger of their wrongs, we must look forward 
 with apprehension to the day of righteous retribution.* Well 
 might Mr. Jefferson say, " I tremble for my country when 
 . I reflect that God is just ; that his justice cannot sleep for- 
 ever ; that considering numbers, nature, and natural means 
 only, a revolution of the wheel of fortune, an exchange of 
 situation, is among possible events, — that it may become 
 probable by supernatural interference ! The Almighty has 
 no attribute which can take side with us in such a contest."! 
 But I turn from these fearful forebodings, to make some 
 remarks upon the former and present condition of people of 
 colour in the state of Massachusetts. 
 
 Although in early times in this state there were Africans 
 in several families who were purchased as slaves, yet they 
 were always treated humanely ; were well fed and clothed ; 
 wTre instructed by their masters and mistresses, particular- 
 
 * Note L. 
 t Notes on Virginia^ p. 173. Philadelphia edition, 1788. 
 
13 
 
 ly on the Lord's day; and were required to be present 
 morning and evening, when the family were called together 
 to hear the Bible read and to unite in prayers ; their chil- 
 dren were baptized, and, when old enough, were sent to 
 school ; and, in short, their condition was merely that of 
 servants, not of slaves. Indeed, the practice itself of do- 
 mestic slavery is altogether repugnant to the institutions and 
 feelings of the people of New England, and to that remarka- 
 ble spirit of wholesome and rational liberty by which this 
 Commonwealth, in particular, has been greatly distinguished 
 from the earliest period. 
 
 In the year 1641, it was ordained that " none shall be held 
 in bond slavery, villinage, or captivity, unless it be lawful 
 captives taken in just wars, such as willingly sell themselves 
 and are sold to us ; — and such shall have the liberty and 
 Christian usage, which the law of God established in Israel 
 concerning such persons doth morally require." 
 
 A most honourable and humane resolve was passed in the 
 General Court in the year 1646, against "the heinous and 
 crying sin of man-stealing" on the coast of Guinea, in order 
 to obtain persons to carry into captivity.* 
 
 In the early part of the XVIIIth century, the venerable 
 Judge Sewall interested himself warmly in behalf of the 
 African%who were subjected to bondage.! 
 
 In 1767 a bill was brought into the General Court against 
 " the unwarrantable and unnatural system of enslaving 
 mankind, and to prevent the importation of slaves into the 
 province." 
 
 At the time of the revolution it became customary for 
 masters to give liberty to their servants, and those who did 
 
 * The resolve, and the case on which it is founded, are recited in the 
 
 Report of a Committee of the General Court of Massachusetts, I6th 
 
 January, 1822, respecting free negroes and mulattoes, — That Report 
 
 contains, also, a most interesting history of the acts and regulations of the 
 
 Court respecting slaves. 
 
 t Note M. 
 
14 
 
 not do it voluntarily, were sued by the negroes for their 
 freedom. 
 
 The abolition of slavery in Massachusetts was virtually 
 effected by the Constitution established in the year 1780;* 
 though the law by which it was completely effected was not 
 passed till the 26th of March, 1788 ; — " seventeen years be- 
 fore the abolition in Denmark, the earliest European aboli- 
 tion." This law received the signature of John Hancock, 
 Esq. then governor of this Commonwealth. That eminent 
 patriot was a warm friend to the liberties of the Africans in 
 our country ; he is remembered, by some whom I now ad- 
 dress, with high sentiments of veneration and gratitude ; and 
 his name is inscribed on the triumphant banner borne in 
 your procession this day. 
 
 It has been remarked that, " in the first census of the in- 
 habitants of the United States, in the year 1790, no other 
 than free persons were returned from Massachusetts, the 
 only state in the Union which at that time did not contain 
 slaves, and the only state represented in the first Congress 
 held at New York in 1789, which had formally abolished 
 slavery." 
 
 From these statements it must be apparent to you, my 
 friends, that the lines have fallen to you in pleasant places, 
 and that you have a goodly heritage. Yours are tJie privi- 
 leges of liberty, secured by the immunities of that free 
 constitution of government under which you live, improved 
 by the advantages of knowledge, and sanctified by the influ- 
 ence of religion. You live among those who acknowledge 
 and respect your rights and franchise, who are disposed to 
 treat you with kindness, and from whom you are daily re- 
 ceiving tokens of civility and favour. You live among those 
 who take a kind interest in your improvement, and have 
 assisted you in the erection of this commodious house for 
 
 * Note N. 
 
15 
 
 public worship ; and the very street in which it is erected 
 bears the name of one who was an able vindicator of your 
 cause.* There was raised up for jou a liberal benefactor 
 in the late Abfel Smith, Esq. who left you a legacy to 
 support a school for the education of your children :t and 
 it is gratifying to know that the institution is in a flourishing 
 state ; that a private school, under the care of the wife of 
 your worthy and pious pastor, has obtained kind patronage ; 
 and that the Sunday School is well attended. I most sin- 
 cerely commend you for your correct and decorous deport- 
 ment, for the disposition which you show to be known and 
 regarded as good and useful members of society, for your 
 ambition to have your children well instructed and brought 
 up in good moral principles and habits, and for your own 
 respect for religion, and regular attendance upon public 
 worship. I sincerely congratulate you upon all the advan- 
 tages with which you are favoured, and hope that you will 
 continue to make a good use of them, and that they will be 
 increased and perpetuated. I rejoice with you in the gladness 
 of this day ; and trust that by your decorum and tempe- 
 rance, you will gain approbation in the view of the communi- 
 nity, do honour to yourselves, and have a fund of pleasant 
 reflections to enrich the joys of to-morrow, and to enliven 
 all your future anticipations. 
 
 Accept my cordial wishes for your welfare, temporal and 
 spiritual. Though you are as strangers in a foreign land, 
 yet, through the blessed gospel, and the privileges offered 
 you in Christ Jesus, you may become fellow citizens with 
 the saints, and share the glorious liberty of the sons of God. 
 
 With all the cheering emotions which this occasion in- 
 spires, let us mingle those of fervent piety. Let us pray for 
 oppressed Africa, the land of your fathers. God grant that 
 it may be protected from the spoiler, and that its inhabitants 
 
 * Note O. t Note P. 
 
16 
 
 may not only remain unmolested, but may become civili- 
 zed, and receive the knowledge and the advantages of the 
 Christian religion ! — Let us pray for those who are returning to 
 those shores to form a new colony. May they be preserved 
 in health, and be greatly prospered ! — Let us pray for your 
 devoted kindred in captivity. May their hardships be allevi- 
 ated, and the wrongs which they suffer be redressed ! — 
 Let us pray for those who interest themselves in behalf of 
 the oppressed Africans. May their exertions be crowned 
 with the most hopeful success, and rewarded into their 
 own bosoms with the best of divine blessings ! — Let ms, 
 also, pray for those v lo shall add their bounty to the con- 
 tribution which is now olirited. May they have a recom- 
 pense in the life whicj now is, and a more abundant re- 
 ward in the life and \/orld to come. 
 
 Finally. Let us all look forward to another world, 
 where undisturbed freedom and everlasting happiness are 
 to be enjoyed. There may we all meet, and be accepted 
 by the mercy of God, the common parent of us all, through 
 Jesus Christ our Saviour ! 
 
 AMEN. 
 
mms). 
 
 NOTE A. 
 
 THIS disgraceful commerce is said to hWe begun in the year 1508, 
 when the first importation of negro slavqs w .s made into Hispaniola from 
 the Portuguese settlements on the western co^jsts of Africa. 
 
 [See Anderson's Histvry of Commerce^ VI. 336. 
 
 '• The shores of Hispaniola were the first American soil polluted by the 
 footsteps of an African slave, and they were the first to witness his emanci- 
 pation ; the land wliich first drank his tears, was the first drenched in the 
 blood of his oppressors ; and the mountains which first re-echoed the sound 
 of the lacerating scourge, were the first which reverberated the signal of 
 his triumph. He is now the lord of the soil he ignobly tilled for others, 
 and waves the banner of freedom over the scenes of his former ignominy 
 and suffering. The voice of God speaks loudly in this event,— let the 
 nations look to it." [Christian Disciple, for January and February, 
 1822. p. 39. The whole article deserves careful perusal. 
 
 The Abbe Raynal, in his History of the West Indies, Vol. IV. p. U8, 
 Book XI. has an address to the inhabitants of Hispaniola, (more usually 
 called St. Domingo,) written several years before the revolution there, 
 which seems prophetic of that event : 
 
 "If interest alone can have influence over you, listen to me once more. 
 Your slaves stand in no need either of your generosity or your counsels, in 
 order to break the sacrilegious yoke of their oppression. Nature speaks a 
 more powerful language than philosophy or interest. Already have two 
 colonies of fugitive negroes been established, to whom treaties and power 
 have given a perfect security from your attempts. These are so many 
 indications of the impending storm, and the negroes only want a chief 
 sufficiently courageous to lead them to vengeance and slaughter. 
 
 " Where is this great man whom nature owes to her afflicted, oppressed, 
 and tormented children ? Where is he ? He will undoubtedly appear. He 
 will shew himself. He will lift up the sacred standard of liberty. This 
 3 
 
18 
 
 venerable signal will collect around him the companions of his misfortunes. 
 They will rush on with more impetuosity than torrents. They will leave 
 behind them in all parts indelible traces of their just resentment. Span- 
 iards, Portuguese, English, French, Dutch, all their tyrants, will become 
 the victims of fire and sword. The plains of America will suck up with 
 transport the blood which they have so long expected, and the bones of so 
 many wretches heaped upon one another during the course of so many 
 
 centuries will leap for joy. Then will the Black Code be no more ; and 
 
 the TV/lite Code will be a dreadful one, if the conqueror only regards the 
 right of reprisals." 
 
 NOTE B. 
 
 " In a few years the number exported varied from ^fifly to an hundred 
 thousand. In 1791 the British importations alone amounted to seventy- 
 four thousand.'"' 
 
 " It is calculated that Africa has been drained of no less than one hundred 
 andfifty thousand of its inhabitants annually ; and that, in the year 1817, 
 two hundred and forty thousand slaves \\ere exported from the coast of 
 Africa." 
 
 " The extension of the trade for the last 25 or 30 years must, in a degree, 
 be conjectural ; but the best information that can be obtained on the sub- 
 ject furnishes good foundation to believe, that during that period, the 
 number of slaves withdrawn from Western Africa amounts to upwards of 
 a million and a half ; the annual average would be a mean somewhere 
 between fifty and eighty thousand. [Report of Committee to Congress, 
 February 9, 1821. 
 
 " In the last twelve months [1820] not less than sixty thousand Africans 
 have been forced from their country, principally under the colours of 
 France." [Sir George Collier's Report. 
 
 The importation into South Carolina in the year 1783 was as follows : 
 
 From Africa and the West Indies 1003 
 
 From St. Augustine, &c 167 
 
 1170 
 
 The 7ie.Tt year (1784) were imported from Africa ) ^qoq 
 and the West Indies S 
 
 From St. Augustine 1372 
 
 5392 
 
 Negroes imported into South Carolina in 1783 & 1784 . . . . 6562 
 
 [See Holmes's Jinnals^ Vol. II. p. 468. 
 
19 
 
 NOTE C. 
 
 Treaty between his Britanic majesty and his most faithful majesty, 
 sisjned at London, 28th July, 1817 — and his Catholic majesty at Madrid, 
 23d September, 1817 — and the king of the Netherlands, at the Hague, 4tli 
 May, 1S18. 
 
 NOTE D. 
 
 The plenipotentiaries of the powers composing the Congress at Vienna 
 declare — " that they could not better honoiir their mission, fulfil their duty, 
 and manifest the principles which guided their august sovereigns, than by 
 labouring to realize their engagement to effect the universal abolition of 
 the slave trade, and by proclaiming in the name of the sovereigns their de- 
 sire to put an end to a scourge, which has so long desolated Africa, de- 
 graded Europe, and afflicted humanity : and in making this declaration 
 known to Europe and to all the civilized nations of the earth, the said 
 plenipotentiaries flatter themselves they shall engage all other governments, 
 and particularly those who, in abolishing the traffic in slaves, have already 
 manifested the same sentiments, to support them with their suffrages in a 
 cause, of which the final triumph will be one of the greatest monuments of 
 the age which undertook it, and which shall have gloriously carried it into 
 effect." 
 
 In transcribing this most noble declaration, I am reminded of a remark 
 of the celebrated M. Necker. In his work of the French finances, pub- 
 lished in 1784, referring to the slaves in the colonies, he expresses a strong 
 disapprobation of the execrable trade, and throws out the idea of a general 
 compact, by which all the European nations should agree to abolish it ; 
 and he indulged the pleasing hope that it might take place even in the 
 present generation. 
 
 NOTE E. 
 
 " It appears that the number of ships carrying French colours has multi- 
 plied to an extent altogether incredible on any other supposition, than 
 that adventurers of all other nations, and particularly of this country, have 
 assumed a French disguise. It has been officially stated to our govern- 
 ment, upon the most respectable authority, that two hundred thousand 
 slaves have been carried off from the coast of Africa, by vessels under the 
 French flag, in the course of the last year." [See Memorial of the Auier- 
 ican Colonization Society, presented to Congress Qth of February, 1822, 
 
20 
 
 NOTE F. 
 
 Whe:/ an application was made by the Missouri Territory to be admit- 
 ted as one of the United States, and ivith the permission to hold slaves, 
 it was generally believed that Congress could not grant such an indulgence ; 
 that it would be a violation of the Bill of Rights, on which our Constitution 
 was founded, as well as of the principles of justice and humanity, and 
 repugnant to the very spirit of liberty, M'hich is the pride and boast of 
 a professed nation of freemen. Both in the Senate and Congress 
 the question whether Missouri should be admitted with or without the 
 restriction was agitated in warm debate, and in some most impressive 
 speeches. All that learning, humanity, a regard to sound policy, and a 
 respect to the principles of our free and republican forms of government 
 could adduce, exhibited with the most powerful and persuasive eloquence, 
 failed of effecting their benevolent purpose ! Their pleadings fell upon 
 deafened ears, and moved not hearts indurated by selfishness. The Bill 
 for the admission of Missouri into the Union, ivithout the restrictive clause 
 prohibiting slavery, passed the House of Representatives, though only by 
 a lean majority of four votes : — against the restriction, 90 — for the restric- 
 tion, 86. So that Missouri is permitted to become a slave-holding state. 
 
 It is impossible to describe the feelings of surprise and regret which this 
 decision has occasioned in the New England States. The friends of hu- 
 manity and freedom are palsied at tlie shock. Not only will this be the 
 means of continuing and extending the most disgraceful practice of keep- 
 ing slaves, but of opening a new market for the sale ; and thus furnish 
 slave traders and kidnappers with inducements to procure, per fas aut 
 nefas, new supplies by importation. We are thus reminded of a fine 
 apostrophe by Dr. Beattie : 
 
 " Let it not any longer be said that slavery is countenanced by the 
 bravest and most generous people on earth ; by a people who are ani- 
 mated with that heroic passion, the love of liberty, beyond all other nations, 
 ancient or modern, and the fame of whose toilsome but unwearied perse- 
 verance in vindicating at the expense of life and fortune the sacred rights 
 of mankind, will strike terror into the hearts of sycophants and tyrants, 
 and excite the admiration and gratitude of all good men to the latest 
 posterity V [Essay on Truth, Part 111, Ch. 2. 
 
 NOTE G. 
 
 In the Convention most of the states were anxious to insert a provision 
 authorizing the inimediafe total abolition of tlie slave trade. This was 
 resisted peremptorily by Georgia and South Carolina, and the compromise 
 
21 
 
 was at length effected which is found in the ninth section of the first article 
 of the Constitution. The earnestness of those two states was further shown 
 by their insisting on the security in the fifth article against any amendment 
 to the Constitution affecting the faculty reserved to them of continuing to 
 prosecute the trade for twenty years. 
 
 In the debates of the Virginia Convention respecting the Federal Con- 
 stitution, Mr. Madison declared—" The southern states would not have 
 entered into the Union of America without the temporary permission of 
 the slave trade. And if they were excluded from the Union, the conse- 
 quence might be dreadful to them and to us."—" If South Carolina and 
 Georgia should disunite from the other states for not indulging them in 
 the temporary continuance of this traffic, they might solicit and obtain aid 
 from foreign powers." [p. 322. 
 
 NOTE H. 
 
 " The act of Congress of the 22d of March, 1794, contains provisions that 
 no citizen or citizens of the United States, or foreigner, or any other person 
 coming into, or residing within the same, shall, for himself or any other per- 
 son whatsoever, either as master, factor, or owner, build, fit, equip, load, 
 or otherwise prepare, any ship or vessel, within any port or place of the 
 United States, nor shall cause any ship or vessel to sail from any port or 
 place within the same, for the purpose of carrying on any trade or traffic in 
 slaves to any foreign country ; or for the purpose of procuring from any 
 foreign kingdom, place, or country, the inhabitants of such kingdom, place 
 or country, to be transported to any foreign country, port, or place, what- 
 ever, to be sold or disposed of as slaves, under the penalty of the forfeiture 
 of any such vessel, and of the payment of large sums of money by the per- 
 sons offending against the directions of the act. 
 
 " By an act of the 3d of April, 1798, in relation to the Mississippi Territory, 
 to which the constitutional provision did not extend, the introduction of 
 slaves, under severe penalties, was forbidden, and every slave imported 
 contrary to the act, was to be entitled to freedom. 
 
 " By an act of the 10th of May, 1800, the citizens or residents of this 
 country were prohibited from holding any right or property in vessels em- 
 ployed in transporting slaves from one foreign country to another, on pain 
 of forfeiting their right of property, and also double the value of that right in 
 money, and double the value of their interest in the slaves ; nor were they 
 allowed to serve on board of vessels of the United States employed in the 
 transportation of slaves from one country to another, under the punishment 
 of fines and imprisonment, nor were they permitted to serve on board of 
 foreign ships employed in the slave trade. By this act, also, the commis- 
 
22 
 
 sioned vessels of the United States were authorized to seize vessels and 
 crews employed contrary to the act. 
 
 " By an act of the 28th of February, 1803, masters of vessels were not 
 allowed to bring into any port (where the laws of the state prohibited the 
 importation) any negro, mulatto, or other person of colour, not being a na- 
 tive, a citizen, or registered seaman, of the United States, under the pain 
 of penalties ; and no vessel, having on board persons of the above de- 
 scription, was to be admitted to an entry ; and if any such person should 
 be landed from on board of any vessel, the same was to be forfeited. 
 
 " By an act of the 2d of March, 1807, the importation of slaves into any 
 port of the' United States was to be prohibited after the 1st of January, 
 1808, the time prescribed by the constitutional provision. This act con- 
 tains many severe provisions against any interference or participation in the 
 slave trade, such as heavy fines, long imprisonments, and the forfeitures of 
 vessels ; the President was also authorized to employ armed vessels to 
 cruise on any part of the coast where he might judge attempts would be 
 made to violate the act, and to instruct the commanders of armed vessels 
 to seize, and bring in, vessels found on the high seas contravening the pro- 
 visions of the law. 
 
 "•By an act of the 20th of April, 1818, the laws, in prohibition of the 
 slave trade, were further improved. This act is characterized with a pecu- 
 liarity of legislative precaution, especially in the eighth section, which 
 ' throM's the labour of proof upon the defendant, that the coloured persons 
 brought into the United States by him, had not been brought in contrary to 
 the laws. 
 
 " By an act of the 3d of March, 1819, the power is continued in the Presi- 
 dent to employ the armed ships of the United States, to seize, and bring 
 into port, any vessel engaged in the slave trade by citizens or residents of 
 the United States ; and such vessels, together with the goods and effects on 
 board, are to be forfeited and sold, and the proceeds to be distributed, in 
 like manner, as is provided by law for the distribution of prizes taken from 
 an enemy ; and the officers and crew are to undergo the punishments in- 
 flicted by previous acts. The President, by this act, is authorized to make 
 such regulations and arrangements as he may deem expedient, for the safe 
 keeping, support, and removal beyond the limits of the United States, 
 of all such negroes, mulattoes, or persons of colour, as may have been 
 brought within its jurisdiction, and to appoint a proper person or persons 
 residing on the coast of Africa, as agent or agents for receiving the negroes, 
 mulattoes, or persons of colour, delivered from on board of vessels seized in 
 the prosecution of the slave trade. 
 
 " And in addition to all the aforesaid laws, the present Congress, on the 
 15th of May, 1820, believing that the then existing provisions would not be 
 sufficiently available, enacted, that if any citizen of tiie United States, being 
 
23 
 
 of the crew or ship's company of any foreign ship or vessel, engaged in the 
 slave trade, or any person whatever, being of the crew or ship's company 
 of any ship or vessel, owned in the whole, or in part, or navigated for, or 
 in behalf of, any citizen or citizens of the United States, shall land from any 
 such ship or vessel, and on foreign shore seize any negro or mulatto, not 
 held to service or labour, by the laws of either of the states or territories of 
 the United States, with intent to make such negro or mulatto a slave, or 
 shall decoy or forcibly bring, or carry, or shall receive such negro or mulat- 
 to, on board any such ship or vessel, with intent as aforesaid, such citizen 
 or person shall be adjudged a pirate, and on conviction shall suffer death.'''' 
 
 NOTE T. 
 
 I BEG leave to refer to the " Report of the case of the Jeune Eugenie, 
 determined in the Circuit Court of the United States for the first circuit at 
 Boston, December, 1821, with an Appendix, by W. P. Mason, Reporter, 
 Boston, 1822" — and to the Review of this Report, in tlie Christiaw 
 Disciple for January and February, 1822. 
 
 NOTE J. 
 
 The distressing fire in Savannah, the capital of Georgia, called out very 
 liberal contributions for the relief of the sufferers, particularly in the middle 
 and northern states. In the city of New York the sum of twelve thousand 
 dollars was promptly subscribed, and forwarded with a request that such 
 people of colour as were sufferers might share in the distribution. This 
 gave umbrage to the City Council, who sent back, to the Donation Com- 
 mittee of New York the sum subscribed, because encumbered with such 
 a condition ! 
 
 NOTE K. 
 
 The patriotic General Kosciusco bequeathed a fund exceeding twenty 
 thousand dollars, in the hands of President Jefferson, to be laid out in 
 the purchase of young female slaves, who are to be educated and eman- 
 cipated. General Cooke, of Virginia, has, at the request of Mr. Jef- 
 ferson, undertaken the administration of this trust, in the hope that the 
 difficulties opposed to the wishes of the testator, under the existing laws 
 of Virginia, may be obviated, in accordance with the terms of his will, by 
 incorporating the bequest with the funds of the American Society for 
 
24 
 
 colonizing free people of colour, under the sanction and controul of a 
 Court of Equity. 
 
 NOTE L. 
 
 Lv the Federalist, Mr. Madison writes thus — " May it not happen, in 
 fine, that the minority of citizens may become a majority of persons, by 
 the accession of alien residents, of a casual concourse of adventurers, or of 
 those whom the constitution of the state has not admitted to the rights of 
 suffrage ? I take no notice of an unhappy species of population abounding 
 in some of the states, who, during the calm of regular government, are 
 sunk below the level of men, but who, in the tempestuous scenes of civil 
 violence, may emerge into the human character and give a superiority of 
 strength to any party with which they may associate themselves.'" 
 
 I make an extract from a pamphlet entitled " Free remarks on the 
 spirit of the Federal Constitution, the practice of the Federal Government, 
 and the obligations of the Union respecting the exclusion of slavery from 
 the territories and new states." Philadelphia, 1819. 
 
 " It will be finally encumbered by the slave population. 
 
 " The last of these consequences is especially appalling, when we con- 
 sider that no country in which personal slavery has prevailed to any 
 considerable extent has escaped servile wars ; and that the fruits of a 
 century of civilized industry, the proudest monuments of the most refined 
 art, and the most admirable creations of state wisdom, may be laid waste 
 in the struggles, and forever lost in the triumph of the desperate multitude, 
 whom a jealous policy had debarred from knowing their value, and a 
 cruel yoke prepared for every excess of havoc. History, both ancient and 
 modern, is full of examples of furious and destructive revolt." 
 
 NOTE M. 
 
 Hon. Samuel Sewall, afterwards Chief Justice of the Superior Court, 
 in 1700, addressed a Memorial to the Legislature of Massachusetts, which 
 was afterwards printed in a pamphlet, and bore the title of " the selling 
 of Joseph," and in which he pleaded the cause of the oppressed Africans, 
 both as a lav/yer and as a Christian. 
 
 Being desirous of seeing this Memorial, I applied to Rev. Samuel 
 Sewall of Burlington, a descendant of the Judge, who, though not 
 possessed of the tract, obligingly communicated to me the following extract 
 from his ancestor's manuscript Journal, referring to it. 
 
 " 1700. Fourth day, June 19 Having been long and much dissat- 
 isfied with the trade of fetching negroes from Guinea, 1 had a strc#g 
 
25 
 
 inclination to write something about it, but it wore off. At last, reading 
 Bayne, Ephes.* about servants, who mentions Blackamoors, I began to 
 be uneasy that I had so long neglected doing any thing. When I was thus 
 thinking, in came brother Belknap to show me a petition lie intended to 
 present to the General Court for the freeing a negro and his wife, who 
 were unjustly held in bondage. And there is a motion by a Boston Com- 
 mittee to get a law that all importers of negroes shall pay 404. per head, to 
 discourage the bringing of them: and Mr. C. Mather resolves to publish 
 a sheet to exhort masters to labour their conversion : which makes me 
 hope that I was called of God to write this apology for them. Let his 
 blessing accompany the same!" 
 
 NOTE N. 
 
 The first article of the Declaration of Rights asserts, " All men are born 
 free and equal ;'' which was inserted with a particular view to the libera- 
 tion of the negroes on a general principle. Some persons, however, doubt- 
 ed the extent of this principle until the trial of a case at the Supreme 
 Judicial Court of iMassachusetts in 1783, the decision of which was in 
 favour of a negro, on the ground of the above article in the Constitution. 
 
 [See Coll. Hist. Soc. IV. 206. 
 
 On the origin and progress of attempts for the abolition of slavery in 
 Pennsylvania, see Historical Collections, N. S. Vol. VIII. p. 183. 
 
 NOTE O. 
 
 The African Meeting House is in Belknap street.— In Dr. Eliot's 
 biographical notice of Rev. Jeremy Belknap, D. D. is the following 
 account ; 
 
 "An ingenious young man in this town, [Boston,] at the desire of a 
 West India merchant, had written in favour of the African trade, using all 
 the arguments which can be gathered for the lawfulness of slavery from the 
 scriptures and the practice of nations. He took the signature of John 
 Marsham ; and seemed to court the controversy, as one able to maintciin 
 his ground and confute his opponents. These essays being published in 
 
 • The work referred to is Bayne's Commentary on the Ephesians, 
 Lpndon, 1658, fol. and the particular passage was the Vlth chapter, 
 5th verse. 
 
 4 
 
26 
 
 the newspapers were answered through the same channel by several able 
 and ingenious hands. Among the bes': pieces were those which proceeded 
 from the pen of Dr. Belknap." 
 
 In the IVth volume of the publications of the Historical Society of 
 Massachusetts, are the answers of Dr. Belknap to queries respecting the 
 slavery of Africans, which contain several very interesting particulars. 
 
 NOTE P. 
 
 Abiel Smith, Esq. of Boston, left by will, for the support of a school 
 for African children, $4,000 of 3 per cent, stock ; 30 shares in Newbury- 
 port Turnpike ; 20 shares in Second New Hampshire Turnpike ; 17 shares 
 in the Kennebeck Bridge ; 5 shares in the bridge at Tiverton, R. I. and 
 5 in the Bathinsr House. 
 
27 
 
 jyUMBER of Slaves in the United States according to the Census taken 
 in Virtue of the Jict of Congress of the 14th of March, 1820, and 
 the Jict of the Sd of March, 1821. 
 
 
 
 1 MALES. 1 
 
 FEMALES. 1 
 
 
 s 
 •2 
 
 13 
 
 in > 
 
 0) !-. 
 
 T3 
 
 > 
 Id 
 
 3 
 
 lb 
 
 =25 
 
 .2 V 
 
 in p. 
 
 01 b 
 
 ■■a 
 _>> 
 
 u 
 
 <2 Ji 
 
 STATES AND 
 TERRITORIES. 
 
 01 
 
 T3 
 
 a 
 
 in £0 
 
 13 3 
 
 <= a 
 
 2 § 
 
 >> 
 
 o a 
 
 Ml 
 ctf S 
 
 13 
 
 a 
 
 3 
 
 1 « 
 a " 
 
 0) 
 in 'O 
 
 S:i2 
 
 II 
 
 ° -f 
 
 in C 
 
 |l 
 
 
 to 14 
 
 S 
 
 s 
 
 S 
 
 to 14 
 
 u; ■■« 
 
 u. 
 
 U 
 
 to 26 
 
 to 45 
 
 45 iic. 
 
 to 26 
 
 to 45 |45 &c.| 
 
 Maine 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 JN'ew Hampshire 
 
 
 
 
 
 ■ 
 
 
 
 
 Massachusetts . . . 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Rhode Island 
 
 
 2 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 14 
 
 2 
 
 3 
 
 3 
 
 22 
 
 Connecticut 
 
 
 
 
 13 
 
 24 
 
 
 
 13 
 
 47 
 
 Vermont . . 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 New York 
 
 
 1,861 
 
 1,624 
 
 932 
 
 671 
 
 1,544 
 
 1,579 
 
 1,065 8I2| 
 
 New Jersey . 
 
 
 860 
 
 1,583 
 
 917 
 
 628 
 
 592 
 
 1,285 
 
 1,036 
 
 656 
 
 Pennsylvania 
 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 18 
 
 65 
 
 3 
 
 2 
 
 36 
 
 85 
 
 Delaware . 
 
 
 1,244 
 
 839 
 
 337 
 
 135 
 
 979 
 
 611 
 
 233 
 
 131 
 
 Maryland 
 
 
 24,736 
 
 14,846 
 
 10,718 
 
 6,073 
 
 22,740 
 
 13,403 
 
 9,3o2 
 
 5,520 
 
 Virginia . . 
 
 
 96,881 
 
 52,791 
 
 45,43« 
 
 23,164 
 
 92,468 
 
 51,972 
 
 40,691 
 
 21,748 
 
 North Carolina 
 
 
 48,914 
 
 27,511 
 
 19,395 
 
 10,731 
 
 45,055 
 
 25,663 
 
 18,326 
 
 9,422 
 
 South Carolina (ex- > 
 cept Kershaw) \ 
 
 50,346 
 
 31,484 
 
 30,868 
 
 14,417 
 
 48,364 
 
 33,064 
 
 29,690 13,550 
 
 Georgia 
 
 33,204 
 
 19,541 
 
 16,249 
 
 6,922 
 
 32,141 
 
 19,879 
 
 15,631 6.089 
 
 Alabama . . 
 
 
 9,665 
 
 6,563 
 
 4,200 
 
 1.352 
 
 9,140 
 
 6,141 
 
 3,779 1,039 
 
 Mississippi . . 
 
 
 7,016 
 
 4,600 
 
 4,061 
 
 1,173 
 
 6,677 
 
 4,807 
 
 3,506 
 
 974 
 
 Louisiana 
 
 
 11,675 
 
 10,876 
 
 10,520 
 
 3,495 
 
 10,763 
 
 11,672 
 
 7,758 
 
 2,305 
 
 Tennessee 
 
 
 20,314 
 
 10,078 
 
 6,529 
 
 2,826 
 
 19,251 
 
 11,153 
 
 7,192 
 
 2,764 
 
 Kentucky 
 
 
 31,469 
 
 17,132 
 
 10,944 
 
 4,369 
 
 29,231 
 
 17,407 
 
 11,801 
 
 4,379 
 
 Ohio . , . 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Indiana • . , 
 
 
 43 
 
 37 
 
 11 
 
 7 
 
 40 
 
 21 
 
 21 
 
 10 
 
 Illinois . . . 
 
 
 170 
 
 179 
 
 133,' 66 
 
 139 
 
 128 
 
 71 
 
 31 
 
 Missouri . . . 
 
 
 2,491 
 
 1,511 
 
 852 487 
 
 2,281 
 
 1,461 
 
 855 
 
 284 
 
 Territory of Michigan 
 
 
 
 1 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 Territory of Arkansas 
 
 323 
 
 276 
 
 143 78 
 
 293 
 
 268 
 
 157' 79| 
 
 District of Columbia 
 
 1,245 
 
 775 
 202,248 
 
 671 
 
 316 
 77,0131 
 
 1,311 
 323,014 
 
 990 
 201,509 
 
 696 
 151,922 
 
 373 
 
 1 Grand Total . . 
 
 342,460 
 
 162,950 
 
 70,320 
 
 N. B. The opinion of General Washington, first president of the United States, 
 on the subject of slavery, may be learned from passages in his will respecting the eman- 
 cipation of those he held. The opinion of President Jefferson is quoted in page 12 
 of the preceding discourse ; of President Mabison in pages 10, 21 & 24 ; and of 
 President Monroe in page 10. 
 
LEJa'l2