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We have this day to communicate to you a circumstance that will no doubt afford you as much interest as it does to us. The brig Two Nations, Captain Pettier, which had been lately captured by an English cruizer, (at the moment when she appeared before Uragua, with a cargo of ebony,) and carried to Kingston, has been released, the Admiral having declared that no one had a right of capturing the French flag: in consequence of this, the brig returned to Uragua, where she landed 456 logs. Had the wood been good, it would have had a fine sale; but owing to the bad state of the bulk of the cargo, it is of the smallest kind.'

Who can measure the depravity of these wretches, who thus coolly rank the rational creatures of God as billets of ebony wood,' 'logs,' &c.? I am acquainted with but one class of individuals who are as guilty as the slave traders, and they are the owners of slaves. The only difference is, that the former steal the natives of Africa, and the latter purchase them of these pirates, and steal every day the fruits of their labor, and reduce them to the condition of beasts.

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Among the first who protested against the slave trade, (as well as the first to emancipate their slaves,) were the Friends -a people to whom the Africans and their descendants are more indebted than to the civilized world beside. No systematic efforts were made, however, to effect its overthrow through the power of the British Parliament, until Clarkson and Wilberforce began simultaneously their work of abolition. The former explored the intricate labyrinth of this horrid traffic, and dragged forth to the light of heaven, for the detestation of every human soul, the bloody pursuers and abettors thereof. He travelled thousands of miles, by day and by night, to interrogate seamen who had been engaged in the business; he was constantly threatened with assassination by the traders; but he did not pause in his career until he had clearly proved, to the satisfaction of the world, that the slave trade was based upon plunder, rapine and blood. The amazing facts which he accumulated were presented to Parliament by Mr Wilberforce, who, from that hour, (aided by Pitt and Fox and other distinguished members,) bent his undivided efforts to the abolition of the accursed trade. The contest was a long and severe one-more than twenty years in duration. The holders of slaves were then as bitterly opposed to the stoppage of the trade, as they now are

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to the emancipation of their slaves. They remonstrated-they doubted and denied incontrovertible facts-they prophesied horrid consequences—they asked to be let alone in their sin, and resorted to every expedient to avert the impending blow. But in vain did they lash themselves into fury-in vain did they threaten violence—in vain did they complain of infringements upon their rights. The abominations of this traffic, once revealed, could not be buried, but affected the minds of the British people like apparitions. Their indignation kindled from a spark it spread into a flame, until its intensity was such as to melt every fetter. In 1807, the finishing blow was struck, so far as legislation could accomplish aught, by Parliament making the trade piracy.

It is to commemorate this great victory of right over wrong ―of liberty over oppression—that we have assembled this day. As it was one of the greatest moral achievements that had ever been effected on earth; so it deserves to be remembered and celebrated with thanksgiving, not only wherever the descendants of Africa may be found, but wherever the friends of humanity and freedom dwell together. We have all reason to rejoice, whatever may be our complexion-not because the results of this noble transaction have been as beneficial as were anticipated, (for it is painful to state that the slave trade is still carried on with undiminished atrocity and activity,) but because it has awakened a general sympathy in Europe and America both for those who are pining in bondage, and for bleeding, benighted Africa. Its direct influence upon the slave trade has not been perceptibly injurious, but it has exerted, and as long as one human being remains in bondage will continue to exert, indirectly, a powerful influence inimical to the slavery of the human species, and favorable to the cause of universal liberty. It has established a precedent, which, in the midst of surrounding darkness, blazes forth like a pillar of light. The names of Clarkson and Wilberforce will, to the end of time, be watchwords in the mouths of the friends of bleeding humanity. Venerable men! they live, as yet, to receive the benedictions of a grateful people! Would they were present on this occasion, to receive our individual thanks and gratulations! How would

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their dim eyes rekindle with light, and their feeble pulse rise to a strong vibration, and their almost passive hearts beat joyfully with emotion, could they see a portion of that persecuted people for whom they have toiled from youth to old age, assembled together under such happy auspices, presenting such an appearance of comfort, safety and pleasure, to celebrate a deed which they, under God, successfully consummated! Were they before me, I would address them after this manner :- Benefactors of mankind! welcome, thrice welcome, to the shores of America! welcome to the land in which the infant Liberty was born, whose tread is now shaking the nations! welcome to a seat with those for whose improvement and protection you have spent a long life, enduring shame and reproach, perilling your health and reputation and lives, seeking no reward but the approbation of your consciences and the smiles of Heaven, never tiring in your arduous labors, never faltering in feebleness of faith, never diverted from the object of your pursuit! Suffer me to present to you my worthy though still despised colored brethren of Boston. Others may shun their company, and pour contempt upon them, but I am sure that Clarkson and Wilberforce are too humble to treat them with indignity. To you the color of their skin is nothing it is enough that they have souls-that they are rational beings that they belong to the same common family, and are the children of one common Parent. The scorn which separates them from society, but serves to increase your attachment for them. Venerable men! they appreciate your goodness-your toils to effect their deliverance-all that you have done and suffered in behalf of their race. Forgive the feebleness of language—the imperfection of speech. They feel the poverty of words-they can give you nothing but the pressure of the hand, the tear of gratitude, the broken benediction of a full heart. Their prayers for your preservation and happiness are constantly ascending to the Throne of Grace. Encouraged by your example and countenance, they have risen up from the dust, and are making rapid progress in virtue, in knowledge, and in piety. The evidence is before you, and you will not desire a richer reward for your labors.

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Your fame is broader than the Atlantic, and shall be as enduring. It shall blossom and bear fruit in every clime, among every tribe and nation, to the latest posterity. It shall be a living impulse to move the moral world. It is not founded upon rapine and conquest, like an Alexander's or Napoleon's, but upon benevolence and equity. You have not, like them, desolated the earth, and sacrificed thousands of human beings upon the altar of your ambition, but have actively sought to stop the shedding of blood, break the yoke of oppression, and prevent the destruction of human life. You have not, like the priest and the Levite, passed by on the other side, and left the victim of thieves-poor bleeding Africa-to perish; but, like the good Samaritan, have endeavored to heal her wounds and restore her to health. As yet, your names are not familiar to the lips of her benighted children; but when the light of civilization and christianity shall illumine her vast empire, and a river of knowledge, deeper and more fruitful than the Niger or the Nile, shall flow throughout her borders, then shall they recognize you as their noblest benefactors, and offer up incense to God for having raised you up to vindicate their cause.

These things I say, not because you court the applause of men, nor because I hope to gratify your vanity, or thereby secure your esteem. Praise to a good man is scarcely less painful than censure. They are reflections which are naturally suggested in tracing the relation of cause and effect-an active and laborious career of philanthropy and patriotism..

To you, respected sirs, I am personally, and, doubtless, by reputation, unknown. Cherishing, however, the same abhorrence to oppression, the same love of justice, the same attachment to freedom, the same desire to extricate the enslaved from their terrible condition, as yourselves; I have resolved, through divine assistance, and stimulated by your example, to dedicate my life—all that I have, all that I hope to be, to the cause of human liberty. Humble as have been my efforts, I have thus early drawn upon me the maledictions of a large portion of my country men, and, like yourselves, been misunderstood, calumniated, threatened-branded as a madman and fanatic, and deemed worthy of death. If I have not yet experienced enough to put

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my sincerity and endurance to the test, I feel no desire to shrink from any additional trials or perils. In your patient submission under reproach, your perseverance through every obstacle, your fearless avowal of the truth, your uncompromising spirit of justice, your willingness to lay down your lives in this great cause, your final and glorious triumph over the enemies of injured Africa, and above all, in the examples of the Son of God, and the apostles and prophets, and the martyrs to truth in all ages, and in the promises of the gospel, and in the certainty of the. ultimate triumph of justice over fraud, of right over wrong,—I derive all the encouragement and confidence I can need in any situation or under any trials in which I may be placed ;——and if I prove a recreant to my pledge, if I swerve for a moment from the path of duty to avoid reproach or conciliate the ill-will of any living being, I shall deserve the curse of mankind, as I surely shall receive the punishment of Heaven.'

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Among the numerous artifices which were resorted to by those who were interested in the slave trade, to mislead Wilberforce and his associates, was a proposition of Mr. Dundas, in the House of Parliament in 1792, to continue the traffic eight years longer. He pleaded for its respite only for that period, and then he was willing that its death-warrant should be signed —and it should be doomed thenceforward to destruction. And to reconcile them to the idea of thus prolonging, for eight years, the horrors of the slave trade, he proposed that when these eight years should have expired, namely, on the first of January, 1800, then not only should the slave trade be abolished entirely, and for ever, but that every colored child that should be born. in the West Indies, after that day, should be born free.' Had the compromise been accepted, supposing it to have been faithfully executed, there would now scarcely have been left a single slave in the whole extent of the West Indies, instead of upwards of 800,000, as at present. This artifice did not succeed. Mr. Wilberforce felt that he had no right to make such a compromise; and if he had, that there was no probability of its fulfilment some expedient would have been found to prevent its accomplishment.' If he had suffered the public indignation

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