Part 2

Permit us to offer you a few remarks on the subject of personal decoration--this is a snare which Satan still triumphantly lays, even for professing Christians who indulge in fashionable and extravagant apparel, forgetful of the apostolic injunction, "Let your adorning not be that outward adorning, of plaiting the hair, and of wearing of gold, or of putting on of apparel; but let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price." Our hearts have been comforted in our intercourse with you, by observing that there is little gaudy or superfluous dress to be seen, in such places of worship as we have visited; we regard it as one evidence of the purity of your morals, and your just sense of that decorum which ought to characterise every Christian assembly. A Christian legislator has said that the trappings of the vain world would clothe the naked, and we affectionately entreat you to cultivate such a sense of your accountability to God, and the allegiance you owe to Him, that your dress may be such as becomes men and women professing godliness. To you this branch of religious duty is of double importance. A large proportion of you are obliged to obtain a subsistence by your daily labor; some of you are filling the responsible office of teachers, and it is of great consequence that you expend in the most judicious and profitable manner what is thus hardly earned, and that you set an example of Christian moderation and simplicity to your companions and your pupils.

Another reason for the practice of Christian economy in all your expenditures, is, that extravagance either in living or in apparel, has a deleterious influence on the poorer classes of our community, both colored and white; it draws a line of division between the rich and the poor, which is destructive of that equality, that sweet fellowship of feeling, which God designed should exist among his creatures; it creates factitious distinctions in society, which are utterly at variance with the law of love that Christ gave as a governing principle to his disciples. When he designed to do us good, he took upon himself the form of a servant--surely we should love and honor this office, He took his station at the bottom of society, He voluntarily identified himself with the poor and the despised, He manifested a peculiar interest in those classes which we are wont to treat as our inferiors, because He designed to elevate them, to give a moral impulse to their character, and to make them new creatures. He wanted them to behold in Him a model to imitate, as well as to give them the unspeakable advantage of mingling with Him in near and intimate communion. This was no doubt a powerful incentive to them to emulate their divine friend, and render themselves worthy companions of the Lord Jesus. None of us can stoop as low as our Saviour did, because the same infinite distance cannot exist between created beings; but we may as far as our frailty admits, imitate His blessed example; we may like Him, make ourselves of no reputation; we may, like Him, sit down at the table of the despised publican and sinner, and cheer the abodes of the humble and the poor by our presence and our love. This interchange of social visits, this meeting together as suppliants at a throne of grace, will form a bond of union stronger than any that can exist, while the rich and the educated stand at a distance from the poor, and invite them to come up, without advancing near enough to stretch forth the hand to assist their efforts. Our minds are solemnly impressed with the necessity of practising this duty, both among the colored and white population, and it would gladden our hearts to see you taking the lead in this Christ-like enterprise. We are persuaded that if we would labor effectually for the moral and intellectual elevation of the poor, we must condescend to men of low estate; we must identify ourselves with them, and place ourselves on their level; we must, by our example as well as our precepts, teach them that moral worth is our standard of excellence, and that we are living in the practical acknowledgement of that sublime precept "One is your master, even Christ, and all ye are brethren." Whilst we press this duty upon our colored brethren and sisters, we feel that it is equally incumbent upon all, and desire through divine assistance to be strengthened to perform it.

We wish also to suggest the importance of cultivating the virtue of personal and domestic neatness; we believe it contributes essentially to the purity of the heart, and that attention to the neatness of our persons, and the order of our habitations, has a happy influence on the temper and the understanding, as well as the morals. We are aware that it is often difficult, where necessity compels us to use one apartment for every purpose, to preserve that order and cleanliness which is desirable, but we believe where the wish prevails, much may be accomplished, even in very unfavorable circumstances. Many of you sustain the relations of servants in families; this places you in a very responsible situation, because it brings you under the daily observation of those, who have been educated with deep-rooted prejudices against you, and it affords the best opportunity of proving that these prejudices are as unfounded, as they are unjust--of exhibiting in your deportment, that moral loveliness which will constrain those who regard themselves as your superiors, to acknowledge that worth can neither be determined by the color of the skin, nor by the station occupied. You have it in your power, by a faithful and conscientious discharge of your duties, to secure the highest wages for your services, and by a prudent and economical use of those wages, to obtain for your children, if not for yourselves, the blessing of a good education, but we affectionately exhort you not to enter into any engagements as domestics, which will deprive you of the privilege of reading the Scriptures, and attending a place of worship, this being a duty which is imperatively called for as an evidence of our allegiance to the King of kings. Carefully avoid families which pay little or no respect to the Sabbath, that you may escape the contamination arising from such intercourse. We have regretted seeing so many of our colored friends engaged as servants in hotels and steam-boats; these places are not calculated to cherish moral and religious feeling, and they afford few facilities for the cultivation of the mind. Agricultural pursuits would contribute more to independence and elevation of character, and however much we may be disposed to aid you, it will be after all by your own exertions that you will rise to that situation in society, which we desire to see you occupy.

The establishment of good schools is another very important means of aiding in the great work of moral and intellectual elevation; to promote this object every exertion should be made. On the rising generation depends in a great measure the success of that enterprise, which aims at establishing Christian and Republican equality among the citizens of these United States. Let us then labor to implant in the minds of our children a love for useful learning, to imbue them thoroughly with religious feeling, to train them to habits of thinking, of industry and economy, to lead them to the contemplation of noble and benevolent objects, that they may regard themselves as responsible beings upon whom high and holy duties devolve. Let them come up to the help of the Lord in the mighty work in which we are engaged, prepared by education and enlightened piety to aid in the great moral conflict between light and darkness, which now agitates our guilty country. Anti-Slavery Societies, embracing in their Constitutions, abstinence from slave labor products, as far as this can be done. Peace Societies, based on the principle that all war is inconsistent with the gospel. Temperance Societies, on the principle of abstinence from all that can intoxicate, and Moral Reform Societies should be organized throughout our land wherever it is practicable. The formation of Maternal Associations, Dorcas Societies, Reading & Conversation Companies, and above all, Meetings for Prayer will have a salutary influence in combining efforts for improvement. Whenever you can unite with white associations, it will be productive of reciprocal benefit, because it will tend to remove that unchristian prejudice which "bites like a serpent, and stings like an adder." You may have to suffer much in thus commingling, but we entreat you to bear hardness as good soldiers of Jesus Christ, that your children, and your children's children, may be spared the anguish you are compelled to endure on this account. To carry forward these various schemes of elevation and improvement, money is absolutely requisite, and if all that is saved from unnecessary expenses be lent to the Lord to advance the great work of Reformation, as well as devoted to charitable purposes it will be treasure laid up in heaven, which neither moth nor rust can corrupt.

Another subject which is worthy of your consideration is the consistency of abstaining, as Abolitionists, from the use of slave labor products, as far as is practicable. The conviction that this is a duty, is gaining ground among the friends of emancipation, and we doubt not that the self-denial which it will probably demand on our part, will arouse the conscience of the slaveholder, by demonstrating that we are willing to sacrifice interest and convenience to principle. To the toil-worn slave, it will minister unspeakable consolation, to hear, while bending over the rice, or sugar, or cotton field, and writhing under the lash, that his friends at the North feel a sympathy so deep for his sufferings, that they cannot partake of the proceeds of his unrequited toil. Think you not it would cheer his agonized heart, and impart renewed strength to endure his affliction, to know that his blood was not spilt for the gratification of those who are trying to obtain for him the blessing of liberty. We entreat you to give this evidence of your love to those who have emphatically fallen among thieves, then, although you cannot pour the wine and the oil into their corporeal wounds, nor dress with mollifying ointment, the bloody gash of the drivers' whip, you may minister to their mental comfort, and soothe their broken hearts. Let it not be imagined that the slaves of the South are destitute of intelligence, or ignorant of what is doing at the North; many a noble mind is writhing there in bondage, and panting for deliverance, as the hart panteth after the water brooks. Mr. Goode, in the legislature of Virginia in 1832, when he brought in the resolution which produced the celebrated debate in that body, "earnestly pressed upon the House, the effect of what was passing upon the minds of the slaves themselves. Many of them he represented as wise and intelligent men, constantly engaged in reflection, informed of all that was occurring, and having their attention fixed upon the Legislature." And we have been informed on good authority, that a slave in one of the Southern states, one of those whose soul never bowed to the yoke of bondage, said, that himself and his fellow sufferers spent many a midnight hour in discussing the probable results of the abolition movements, and were firmly persuaded that their redemption from bondage would finally be effected, though they knew not exactly by what means it would be accomplished. Every fugitive slave who is carried back, bears to his unhappy countrymen an account of all that is doing. Every freeman who falls into the ruthless fangs of the kidnapper, spreads information at the South, of all our efforts for the abolition of slavery, and we put it to any one of ourselves, whether, if we were wasting our energies, and toiling in cheerless bondage, it would not be some alleviation to know, that there were those who loved us so tenderly, and felt for us so keenly, that they would not participate in the luxuries which were the fruit of our extorted and unrequited labor.

It has been urged, and with some plausibility, that the use of the products of slave labor, is one of the "little things" connected with the great cause of abolition. Admitting it to be little, is it therefore unimportant? Does not the reproof of our Redeemer exactly apply to this case, when in speaking of the tithe of mint, annise and cummin, and the weightier matters of the law, he says, "This ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone;" but however small it may appear, it involves a great principle, because it really encourages the traffic in human flesh, by offering to the slaveholder an inducement to perpetuate the system of oppression from which he derives his unrighteous gains. Another hackneyed objection is, that our abstaining will not lessen the quantity grown, and other consumers will soon be found. With this we have nothing to do; we might on the same premises, purchase and hold slaves, because if we do not, others will. No doubt much inconvenience and some privation must be endured, but this will be continually decreasing, as West India productions will furnish a substitute. In some instances the use of cotton cannot perhaps be avoided by the poor, but still much may be done, and those of us who have made the experiment can testify that our abstinence has strengthened us for the work we are engaged in, and that there is a sweet feeling of conscious integrity that gladdens our hearts. "I will wash mine hands in innocency, so will I compass thine altar, oh Lord." In proportion as the demand for free labor products increases, the supply will increase, and the greater the quantity of such articles which is thrown into the market, the more their price will lessen. Besides "allowing the labor of a slave for six years, to produce all the various slave-grown products which anyone may use during the course of his life, would not he who was so occupied be in effect the slave of such an one during the time he was thus employed?" This is a solemn and affecting consideration, and can be most correctly weighed when we are on our knees before God; it is a matter between Him and every individual soul, and he alone can settle it.

We believe it was the want of that principle which we have been endeavoring to inculcate, "Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself," that gave birth to the scheme of expatriating our colored brethren to Africa. We do not design to attribute unhallowed motives to all who engaged in this crusade against the rights and happiness of free American citizens; many, we believe, like our beloved brother, Gerrit Smith, embarked in this enterprise without examining the principles of the Society, deluded by the false, though plausible assertion, that the colored man could not rise in his native land to an equality with his white compatriots, and desirous to do them all the good that circumstances admitted. Nevertheless, we are constrained to believe what you have so often asserted, and so keenly felt, that "The Colonization Society originated in hatred to the free people of color." We rejoice that you early detected the fallacy and the iniquity of this scheme; that you arose in the dignity of conscious rights, in the majesty of moral power, in the boldness of injured innocence, and exposed the cruelty and unrighteousness of a project, which, had it been carried fully into execution, would have robbed America of some of her best and most valuable citizens, and exiled from our shores, those whose hearts are bound to their country by no common bonds, even by the holy bonds of sympathy for their "countrymen in chains." A project which would have poured upon the shores of Pagan Africa, a broken hearted population, prepared by mental suffering to sink into a premature grave. A band of exiles, who had been exposed against their judgment and their will, to all the nameless trials which belong to the settlement of colonial establishments, and all that anguish which must have been endured under the reflection that they had been banished from the land of their birth, merely to gratify an unhallowed prejudice when their country needed their services, when there was abundant room in the land, though not in the hearts of their countrymen. We admire your noble and uncompromising resistance to this scheme of oppression, and your children will thank you to the latest generation. We honor you for the undaunted and generous resolutions which you passed soon after the Colonization Society came into existence, when the spontaneous language of your hearts was embodied in the following sentiments:

"Whereas, our ancestors (not of choice) were the first successful cultivators of the wilds of America, we their descendants, feel ourselves entitled to participate in the blessings of her luxuriant soil, which their blood and sweat manured, and that any measure, or system of measures, having a tendency to banish us from her bosom, would not only be cruel, but would be in direct violation of those principles which have been the boast of this republic.

_Resolved_, That we view with deep abhorrence the unmerited stigma attempted to be cast upon the reputation of the free people of color, by the promoters of this measure, "that they are a dangerous and useless part of the community." When in the state of disfranchisement in which they live, in the hour of danger they ceased to remember their wrongs, and rallied round the standard of their country.

_Resolved_, That we will never separate ourselves from the slave population in this country: they are our brethren by the ties of consanguinity, of suffering, and of wrong; and we feel that there is more virtue in suffering privations with them, than enjoying fancied advantages for a season.

_Resolved_, That having the strongest confidence in the justice of God, and in the philanthropy of the free states, we cheerfully submit our destinies to the guidance of Him who suffers not a sparrow to fall to the ground without his special Providence."

We praise the Lord, that while the white man slumbered over the wrongs of his enslaved countrymen, or stretched out his hands to rivet the bondman's chains, or to thrust his brother from his side, your sympathy and your compassion, like that of the beneficent Redeemer, was wakeful and active, and called forth from the depths of your souls the following soul-stirring appeal. Where, oh! where were the hearts of Americans, that they responded not to your call?

"We _humbly_, respectfully, and fervently entreat and beseech your disapprobation of the plan of colonization now offered by the "American Society for Colonizing the Free People of Color of the United States." Here, in the city of Philadelphia, where the voice of the suffering sons of Africa was first heard--where was first commenced the work of abolition on which heaven has smiled (for it could have success only from the great Master); let not a purpose be assisted which will stay the cause of the entire abolition of slavery in the United States, and which may defeat it altogether--which proffers to those who do not ask for them what it calls _benefits_, but which they consider _injuries_--and which must ensure to the multitude, whose prayers can only reach you through us, _misery_, _sufferings_, and _perpetual slavery_."

Nor can we pass by unnoticed the noble conduct of our sister in Ohio, who, when her father proposed to bring her to the North, where she might pass for a white woman, and settle upon her a comfortable independence, replied that she would never forsake her people--that she would rather suffer with them than enjoy all the advantages he promised. We do homage to the virtue which preferred to endure affliction with the oppressed, rather than to bask in the sunshine of worldly prosperity and popular favor.

But for the dignified opposition which you manifested--but for the developments which you made of the real designs and fearful consequences of colonization, your guilty country would probably have added to her manifold transgressions against the descendants of Africa, the transcendant crime of banishing from her shores those whom she has deeply injured, and whom she is bound by every law of justice and of mercy to cherish with peculiar tenderness. But for your virtuous and uncompromising hostility to the Colonization Society, a portion of our countrymen might never have been disabused of the idle and fallacious expectation, that this scheme would cure the moral evil of slavery, and put an end to the horrible slave traffic carried on on the coast of Africa. You saw that the root of the evil was in our own land, and that the expatriation of the best part of our colored population, so far from abolishing slavery, would render the condition of the enslaved tenfold more hopeless. You saw that the only means of destroying the slave trade, was to destroy the spirit of slavery; and how just have been your conclusions, let the following testimonies declare--we extract from an official communication to the secretary of the Navy, by Captain Joseph J. Nicholson of the Navy:--"The slave trade, within the last three years, has seriously injured the colony. Not only has it diverted the industry of the natives, but it has effectually cut off the communication with the interior. The war parties being in the habit of plundering and kidnapping for slaves all whom they meet, whether parties to the war or not, the daring of the slaver increases with the demand for slaves, which could not of late be supplied by the usual means; and within a year four slave factories have been established almost within sight of the Colony."

The following statement is taken from the "Colored American:"--A vessel arrived at Halifax on the 12th ult., from Kingston, Jamaica, which reports, that when two days out she fell in with a Spanish slaver bound to Havana, having four hundred poor wretched beings on board, in a state of starvation. Forty had died for want of food. The captain stated that the poor creatures had, during the past month, subsisted on rice water." Had we not been blinded by interest and by prejudice, our reason might have taught us that as long as the republic of the U. S. is a mart where human flesh and souls of men are bought and sold, so long will European and American cupidity furnish human merchandise for this detestable commerce. Thousands of slaves have been introduced into the United States through the island of Cuba, since the slave trade was declared piracy by our national legislature. We stand before the world as a nation of hypocrites, and you are equally concerned, as American citizens, to labor to bring your country to a sense of her crimes. You are equally concerned to do all that can be done, to arrest the progress of the spirit of colonization, which takes our countrymen from their native land without their consent, by giving them the cruel alternative of slavery or banishment, breaks up the tenderest ties of nature and casts them on a foreign soil. And what is our international slave trade, but compulsory colonization. "There have been transported--doubtless without their consent--from the older slave states to Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Arkansas, during the year 1836, the enormous number of two hundred and fifty thousand slaves."--_Eman._