Herald of the times. [volume] (Newport, R.I.) 1849-1856, 1851-08-28


il would have smothered itself at Mon
rovia and Cape Palmas and no more
would have, at this time, been heard Of
it. But against the wishes Of its friends
against their best endeavours, il has
been kept back, until each succeeding
ship-load Of enigrants having had time
to establish themselves, the result has
been the present well-ordered govern
crnments on the coast Of Africa.
] have here dwelt upon, as distinct
proposition, the effect Of circumstances
as they exist in this country, in pro-
ducing a conviction Oh the minds Of
the free colored people that this is not
to be their abiding place. / will ven-
turc to mention to you one or two cas-
es within my own recent personal ex-
perience as illustrative Of my opinion.
Within two months, a colored cler-
gyman of the Methodist Church, call
ed on me, as the President of tic
Maryland State Colonization Society,
for some information connected with
the Socie,ys affairs he had at one
time, years since, seeded from the
religious society to which he belonged,
and was enabled through his activity
and popularity to build up church
for himself The cause of his seces-
sion was the stand which the Metho-
dist Episcopal Church had taken in
favor of the scheme of Colonization, to
which the person alluded to was then
bitterly opposed. lie was a well-in.
formed man on general subjects, and
had been practising physic, with sue.
cess, among his own colour, for several
| years. After his business was conclu-
ded, ! asked him to tell me frankly,
why he was going to Africa, not only
with his own family, but with some
fifty or sixty of his friends, who pro-
posed to accompany him. His ans
wcr rs nearly as | Gun recollect, in
words, was this My practice as a
physician has been gradually increas-
ing from year to year, and Is now lar
ger than ever it was. My patients are
generally the same indiyidutls--my
popularity. as far as can Judge, is un-
impaired, but my income has been grow
ing less and less, and Is now less than
ever it was. My wife and myself have
been struck with this, Of course, and
for year or two have been discussing
the cause of it, and have come to the
conclusion,-indccd sir, We had no
other t. come TO o,--that the ability 10
\ pay me diminished as the condition
of my patients grew worse and worse
in pccuniary matters. They got less
money than they used to get, white men
where getting into places which they
used to hl. Others OF my friends WITH
whom | consulted had come to the
same conclusion; we saw no chance of
things getting better; and therefore we
are gong to Africa, whi C there is a
Society ready and willing to pay our
expenses, and before the times grow
darker than they are"
Another colorcd man, a drayman of
more than ordinary Intelligence, doing
well, earning enough money for his
support and able to lay by something,
gave me as his reason for going, that
the Irish and Germans were getting
nto his business that the old feeling
imong the whites which had induced
them to employ colored men by pref
| ercnce, no longer cXisted-that every
year made matters worse, and that,
seeing this, he determined to cmigrate
while he was still! young enough to do
something in his new home.
run the risk of wearying you, with
these anecdotes, but falling within my
own knowledge, they are to me cor
roboration strong of the views which
are here expressed in regard to the i'm
perious effect OF the circumstances
have referred to.
But it may be said, that, admitting
all this, the Coloniza alton Society is
wholly incompetent to the end it
aims at. Now, good deal depends
upon what that aim is; if it is to remove
the entire free colored population of
the United States, with means to be
obtained from legislatures and ndivid-
uals-then Colonization is a drop in
the bucket, and not worth prosecuting
as a political undertaking 1t will do
then as missionary scheme, will help
in the suppression of the slave trade,
but will do nothing more. This Is
most freely granted. But if its aim is,
or has been, to establish such colo
ny as the Republic OF Liberia, which,
growing in prosperity year after year,
shall gradually become as attractive to
the free colored man, as the United
States is to the foreign immigrant, -
emigration to which will b eprolnot-
ed, not merely by its attractlvencss but
by circumstances in this country rapid
ly accumulatng and forcing the com
viction on the free black mans mind
that the day will come when there will
be no alternative but extlrpatiop or re-
moval-then say, as | do say in the
firm belief impressed on my mind
by close attention to the subject Tor
near thirty wears, that Colonization
has already fulfilled its great mission
that it exists now on y to facilitate
what nothing can prevent that the
day aud the hour are at hand when
the exodus must take place; not per-
haps in this year or the next, IN tins
upnerntion ar I'M that of oilr children