Part 3
O my country! what atonement canst thou make for such bloody crimes? What fountain, but that which flows from Calvary, can wash away thy crimson stains? In vain wouldst thou offer “many thousands of rams, or ten thousands of rivers of oil. The blood of thy firstborn would not expiate thy transgression, nor the fruit of thy body, the sin of thy soul.” Mic. vi. 7. “Though thou wash thee with nitre, and take thee much soap, yet thine iniquity is marked before me, saith the Lord God.” Jer. ii. 22. I beseech thee, do not aggravate thy guilt, and provoke anew the wrath of heaven, by justifying thy deeds or pleading innocent of the charge. “For thy sin is written with a pen of iron, and with the point of a diamond; it is graven on the table of thy heart, and” if not “upon the horns of thy altars,” it is inscribed in the archives of thy cabinet, and whilst thy children shall read the legacies of their fathers they shall remember and bear witness of thy crimes, to the latest posterity. Fly, O fly, in the first place, to the fountain of a Saviour’s bleeding veins, and there be washed from all thy pollution: and then, as a testimony of thy gratitude, that much, very much is forgiven thee, summon all thy energies to repair the injuries thou hast done. “Proclaim liberty to thy captives; say to the prisoners, go forth; and to them that are in darkness, show yourselves.” Isa. xlix. 9. Restore them to “the land of their fathers’ sepulchres,” and let them once more peacefully enjoy the inheritance of their ancestors. Wherever they may have been born, Africa is their home. Though transported to the most distant countries, and situated in the most temperate regions of the globe, and transmitted through a series of generations, they still retain in the constitution of their frames, and on the whole surface of their bodies, the title of heaven to those torrid climes. The God of nature has evidently determined, that they shall never be divested of their original inheritance. Though “the descendants of Cush can never change their skin,” yet the time will come when their souls shall be made white in the blood of the Lamb; and then, in their own land, which God allotted to their progenitor, they shall stretch forth their hands to God, and under their own vine and fig-tree enjoy the fruit of their labours, without any to molest or make them afraid.
There is one consideration more, by which I would urge the claims of this subject. If the people of the United States cannot be extensively aroused to undertake the redress of African wrongs, from motives of humanity, and a sense of duty, the apprehension of personal danger may with propriety be awakened in their minds. God deals with nations, in this world, on a different principle from what he deals with individuals.—The wicked man is often permitted to prosper in his sins, and to die without pain; because the righteous retributions of justice await him in the eternal world.—But wicked nations exist, in their national capacity, only in this life. Therefore, if national sins are ever visited with the indignation of heaven, it must be in the present world. Hence, we may draw the conclusion, that if American slavery is offensive to God, the judgments of heaven are now impending over this guilty nation. And in what form they will descend, we need not the spirit of prophecy to prognosticate. In several of the slave-holding states, the black population is already nearly equal to the white; and the ratio of increase is so much in their favour, that, in the course of a few years, they will be far the most numerous. During the period of ten years intervening between the last United States’ census and the preceding, the following was the ratio of increase in several states:
In Kentucky, the blacks increased 57 per cent, whites only 37 per cent. Tennessee, the blacks increased 80 per cent, whites only 57 per cent. Georgia, the blacks increased 40 per cent, whites only 30 per cent. North-Carolina, the blacks increased 22 per cent, whites only 11 per cent. South-Carolina, the blacks increased 26 per cent, whites only 8 per cent. And in Louisiana as early as 1810 there were 5 blacks to every four white men.
It is obvious, that, at this rate, in the course of a few years, those districts of our country will be covered with a black population; in comparison with which, the whites will appear as grasshoppers before them. Now I ask, in such a state of things, what can hinder the blacks from arising, and after avenging all their wrongs, by slaying their opposers, taking possession of those very lands as the reward of their own and their fathers’ labours? Do you say, their minds are incapable of such an enterprize? Look at St. Domingo; what has been effected there by the African race, in as ignorant and degraded a state as is any where witnessed in our own country! And what will our blacks need, but a few resolute spirits to concentrate their efforts and direct their energies? And if the genius of negroes is so far debased in our own country, that nature cannot produce them here, they can easily be furnished from the kingdom of Hayti. Though that little empire is now at peace with us and the world, yet black men have always a peculiar sympathy for their own colour. Besides this, many of our own free blacks have already gone, and many more will still go to that island, to enjoy all the blessings of liberty, civilization and science; leaving many of their brothers and children and connexions in bondage among us.—And do you think that a black man’s memory is so treacherous, or his heart so callous, that he can forget, or not feel for the wrongs of his own flesh and blood? Depend upon it, my hearers, on the shore of that sea-beaten isle, many a champion will stand, and while he looks to the north and rejoices in the privileges which he is permitted to enjoy, he will long to impart them to those he has left behind; and if nothing is done, on your part, to redress the wrongs of Africa, before you are aware, the alarm of war, the din of arms, and the rage of conflagration will have laid in ruins the fairest portions of our land.[4]
Footnote 4:
If any are disposed to style this mere conjecture, be it so: but it is no more than what has already occurred, and may occur again. The revolution in St. Domingo originated in France, and was planned by a Society called _Amis de Noirs_, or Friends of the Blacks, organized in Paris for the express purpose of aiding the negroes in recovering their liberty; of which La Fayette and other distinguished citizens were the patrons. And the first individual that drew his sword, was a mulatto who had been educated in Paris, and sent to his native isle to deliver his coloured brethren from bondage.
Do I hear the inhabitants of the north say, “If such events should be realized, the desolation will not come nigh us; and we will not interfere to avenge the slaughter of slave-holders!” And are you then prepared to perjure yourselves? You have sworn to maintain the union of these states, at the price of your treasures and your lives; and are you now meditating treason and rebellion in your hearts? You have become a party to the guilt of slavery, and will you desert your friends when the contract on the part of heaven is to be fulfilled?
But if you are verily guilty in this matter, do not imagine that you can evade the punishment of such a crime. It is the righteous God of heaven that pleads the cause of the oppressed: and, though the scene of battle may not be laid at your doors; though the fiercest wrath may be poured out upon those portions of our country where slavery has existed in its most extensive and cruel forms; yet the hand of justice will, in some way or other, mete out to every district the full tale of its desert. Let us hear no more then of local jealousies and feelings, but as the sin has involved us in a _common guilt_, let us aim at a common and timely expiation. The path of present duty lies open before us, and it is only by diligent and faithful perseverance therein, that we can expect to escape the indignation of heaven.
This is a concern in which every citizen of the country is interested; whether he is now or ever has been a slave-holder or not: and there is something for every one to do. The sympathies of every heart must be aroused; the patronage of every purse must be secured in favour of these incipient measures to remedy the evil; publick attention must not only be aroused by an occasional effusion, but be kept awake by frequent communications; the general government must be convinced that it is not enough to countenance, they must approve and aid this humane undertaking—that the fountain of guilt springs from the foundation of our Capitol, and that the principal remedy must be applied there; our state legislatures must be made to feel that they also have imbrued their hands in African blood, and that not a moment is to be lost in washing away the stain. Every motive that can interest the philanthropist, the patriot, the Christian and the Christian Missionary is presented in this subject, and he that can be insensible of its influence is unworthy to occupy a place in human society, unless in the capacity of “a servant of servants.”
May the voice of timely warning arouse us, before the sword of sleepless justice smite our souls.
● Transcriber’s Notes: ○ Missing or obscured punctuation was silently corrected. ○ Typographical errors were silently corrected. ○ Inconsistent spelling and hyphenation were made consistent only when a predominant form was found in this book. ○ Text that was in italics is enclosed by underscores (_italics_).