ability with which it is conducted, over the public mind. In its declaration of principles, after having asserted the inherent right of every human being to "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness," and denounced slavery as “unjust, cruel, oppressive, and dangerous," and as a direct violation of the divine law, "Thou shalt not steal," it says: "This paper will advocate THE ENTIRE AND IMMEDIATE EMANCIPATION OF ALL SLAVES. Such a course will be advocated, because it is the only just, wise, safe, and advantageous course which can be pursued. Facts will be adduced to support appeals; appeals will be made in the spirit of kindness; kindness will be sustained by the force of conviction; conviction will be grounded on the power of truth; truth will be persevered in, until labour shall cease." In pursuance of the resolution of the New England Anti-slavery Society, a convention was called, and was attended by sixty-two delegates from various states, who met together at Philadelphia for the purpose of forming a National Anti-slavery Society. The sittings of this convention lasted three days, during which every branch of the great subject of emancipation was fully and ably discussed. Every day's proceeding was opened and concluded with solemn prayer, and was eminently characterized by the spirit of fraternal love and unanimity. Among the various resolutions passed by the convention it is most gratifying to find the following, viz.: "Resolved-That this convention, acting under a sense of dependance on Almighty God for the accomplishment of the object they have assembled to promote, do affectionately recommend to the Christian church throughout the land, to observe the LAST MONDAY EVENING OF EACH MONTH in a religious manner, to seek and implore the divine aid in behalf of the enslaved and the free people of colour." This emphatic recognition of the divine agency as necessary to the prosperous issue of their cause, forcibly appeals to the pious and prayerful sympathies of British Christians; and it is earnestly hoped, that not a few of them will unite with their transatlantic brethren on the last Monday in each month, to implore the divine blessing on their "work of faith and labour of love.” At the conclusion of its labours the following Declaration of Sentiments was unanimously adopted, and under feelings of the deepest responsibility signed by the members of the convention. A more important and eloquent exposition of Anti-slavery principles was perhaps never written. No hesitation is, therefore, felt in recording the whole of it in these pages. It is worthy of being inscribed in letters of gold. THE Convention assembled in the city of Philadelphia, to organize a National AntiSlavery Society, promptly seize the opportunity to promulgate the following Declaration of Sentiments, as cherished by them in relation to the enslavement of one-sixth portion of the American people. More than fifty-seven years have elapsed since a band of patriots convened in this place, to devise measures for the deliverance of this country from a foreign yoke. The corner-stone upon which they founded the Temple of Freedom was broadly this-" That all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights; that among these are life, LIBERTY, and the pursuit of happiness." At the sound of their trumpet-call, three millions of people rose up as from the sleep of death, and rushed to the strife of blood; deeming it more glorious to die instantly as freemen, than desirable to live one hour as slaves. They were few in number-poor in resources; but the honest conviction that Truth, Justice, and Right were on their side, made them invincible. We have met together for the achievement of an enterprise, without which, that of our fathers is incomplete, and which, for its magnitude, solemnity, and probable results upon the destiny of the world, as far transcends theirs, as moral truth does physical force. In purity of motive, in earnestness of zeal, in decision of purpose, in intrepidity of action, in steadfastness of faith, in sincerity of spirit, we would not be inferior to them. Their principles led them to wage war against their oppressors, and to spill human blood like water, in order to be free. Ours forbid the doing of evil that good may come, and lead us to reject, and to entreat the oppressed to reject, the use of all carnal weapons for deliverance from bondage-relying solely upon those which are spiritual, and mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds. Their measures were physical resistance the marshalling in arms-the hostile arraythe mortal encounter. Ours shall be such only as the opposition of moral purity to moral corruption-the destruction of error by the potency of truth-the overthrow of prejudice by the power of love—and the abolition of slavery by the spirit of repentance. Their grievances, great as they were, were trifling in comparison with the wrongs and sufferings of those for whom we plead. Our fathers were never slaves-never bought and sold like cattle-never shut out from the light of knowledge and religion-never subjected to the lash of brutal taskmasters. But those, for whose emancipation we are striving-constituting at the present time at least one-sixth part of our countrymen,—are recognized by the laws, and treated by their fellow-beings as marketable commodities—as goods and chattels-as brute beasts; are plundered daily of the fruits of their toil without redress ;-really enjoy no constitutional nor legal protection from licentious and murderous outrages upon their persons ;are ruthlessly torn asunder-the tender babe from the arms of its frantic mother-the heart-broken wife from her weeping husband—at the caprice or pleasure of irresponsible tyrants;—and, for the crime of having a dark complexion, suffer the pangs of hunger, the infliction of stripes, and the ignominy of brutal servitude. They are kept in heathenish darkness by laws expressly enacted to make their instruction a criminal offence. These are the prominent circumstances in the condition of more than Two Millions of our people, the proof of which may be found in thousands of indisputable facts, and in the laws of the slave-holding States. Hence we maintain That in view of the civil and religious privileges of this nation, the guilt of its oppression is unequalled by any other on the face of the earth;-and, therefore,-That it is bound to repent instantly, to undo the heavy burden, to break every yoke, and to let the oppressed go free. We further maintain-That no man has a right to enslave or imbrute his brother-to hold or acknowledge him, for one moment, as a piece of merchandise-to keep back his hire by fraud-or to brutalize his mind by denying him the means of intellectual, social, and moral improvement. The right to enjoy liberty is inalienable. To invade it, is to usurp the prerogative of Jehovah. Every man has a right to his own body-to the products of his own labourto the protection of law-and to the common advantages of society. It is piracy to buy or steal a native African, and subject him to servitude. Surely the sin is as great to enslave an American as an African. Therefore we believe and affirm―That there is no difference in principle, between the African slave-trade and American slavery ;— That every American citizen, who retains a human being in involuntary bondage, is, according to Scripture, a man-stealer ;— That the slaves ought instantly to be set free, and brought under the protection of law;- That if they had lived from the time of Pharaoh down to the present period, and had been entailed through successive generations, their right to be free could never have been alienated, but their claims would have constantly risen in solemnity;— That all those laws which are now in force, admitting the right of slavery, are, therefore, before God, utterly null and void; being an audacious usurpation of the Divine prerogative, a daring infringement on the law of nature, a base overthrow of the very foundations of the social compact, a complete extinction of all the relations, endearments, and obligations of mankind, and a presumptuous transgression of all the holy commandments-and that, therefore, they ought to be instantly abrogated. We further believe and affirm That all persons of colour who possess the qualifications which are demanded of others, ought to be admitted forthwith to the enjoyment of the same privileges, and the exercise of the same prerogatives as others; and that the paths of preferment, of wealth, and of intelligence, shall be opened as widely to them as to persons of a white complexion. We maintain that no compensation should be given to the planters emancipating their slaves Because it would be a surrender of the great fundamental principle, that man cannot hold property in man ;— Because slavery is a crime, and therefore it is not an article to be sold ;Because the holders of slaves are not the just proprietors of what they claim;-freeing the slaves is not depriving them of property, but restoring it to the right owner;-it is not wronging the master, but righting the slave-restoring him to himself; Because immediate and general emancipation would only destroy nominal, not real property; it would not amputate a limb or break a bone of the slaves, but by infusing motives into their breasts, would make them doubly valuable to the masters as free labourers; and Because if compensation is to be given at all, it should be given to the outraged and guiltless slaves, and not to those who have plundered and abused them. We regard as delusive, cruel, and dangerous, any scheme of expatriation which pretends to aid, either directly or indirectly, in the emancipation of the slaves, or to be a substitute for the immediate and total abolition of slavery. We fully and unanimously recognise the sovereignty of each State, to legislate exclusively on the subject of the slavery which is tolerated within its limits. We concede that Congress, under the present national compact, has no right to interfere with any of the slave States, in relation to this momentous subject. But we maintain that Congress has a right, and is solemnly bound, to suppress the domestic slave-trade between the several States, and to abolish slavery in those portions of our territory which the constitution has placed under its exclusive jurisdiction. We also maintain that there are, at the present time, the highest obligations resting upon the people of the free States, to remove slavery by moral and political action, as prescribed in the Constitution of the United States. They are now living under a pledge of their tremendous physical force to fasten the galling fetters of tyranny upon the limbs of millions in the southern States;-they are liable to be called at any moment to suppress a general insurrection of the slaves;-they authorize the slave-owner to vote for threefifths of his slaves as property, and thus enable him to perpetuate his oppression ;-they support a standing army at the south for its protection ;-and they seize the slave who has escaped into their territories, and send him back to be tortured by an enraged master or a brutal driver. This relation to slavery is criminal and full of danger-it must be broken up. These are our views and principles-these, our designs and measures. With entire confidence in the over-ruling justice of God, we plant ourselves upon the Declaration of our independence, and upon the truths of Divine Revelation, as upon the Everlasting Rock. We shall organize Anti-Slavery Societies, if possible, in every city, town, and village of our land. We shall send forth agents to lift up the voice of remonstrance, of warning, of entreaty, and rebuke. We shall circulate, unsparingly and extensively, anti-slavery tracts and periodicals. We shall enlist the Pulpit and the Press in the cause of the suffering and the dumb. We shall aim at a purification of the churches from all participation in the guilt of slavery. We shall encourage the labour of freemen over that of slaves, by giving a preference to their productions; and We shall spare no exertions nor means to bring the whole nation to speedy repentance. Our trust for victory is solely in God. We may be personally defeated, but our principles never. Truth, Justice, and Humanity, must and will gloriously triumph. Already a host is coming up to the help of the Lord against the mighty, and the prospect before us is full of encouragement. Submitting this Declaration to the candid examination of the people of this country, and of the friends of liberty all over the world, we hereby affix our signatures to it; pledging ourselves that, under the guidance and by the help of Almighty God, we will do all that in us lies, consistently with this Declaration of our principles, to overthrow the most execrable system of slavery that has ever been witnessed upon earth-to deliver our land from its deadliest curse-to wipe out the foulest stain which rests upon our national escutcheon-and to secure to the coloured population of the United States all the rights and privileges which belong to them as men and as Americans—come what may to our persons, our interests, or our reputations-whether we live to witness the triumph of Justice, Liberty, and Humanity, or perish untimely as martyrs in this great, benevolent, and holy cause. David Thurston Isaac Winslow David Cambell Orson S. Murray Daniel S. Southmayd Amos A. Phelps John G. Whittier Horace P. Wakefield Elisha Wright, Jun. Edwin A. Atlee Bartholomew Fussell David Jones Enoch Mack, 2d John M'Cullough James M. M'Kim William Lloyd Garrison Ray Potter John Prentice George W. Benson Lewis Tappan Jonathan Parkhurst John M. Sturling James M'Crummell Thomas Shipley Levi Sutliff Signed in the Adelphi Hall, in the City of Philadelphia, on the 6th day of December, 1833. These brief notices of the origin and progress of the abolition cause in America demonstrate its purely benevolent and religious character, and the peaceful means by which it expects to accomplish its purpose. It is neither sectarian nor political in its spirit or designs. It aims at the overthrow of the most intolerable and iniquitous system of slavery which exists in the world. The men who conduct it are wise in counsel, and decisive in action; and notwithstanding the fierce and brutal spirit with which they have been continually assailed, it is clear that, from the success which has hitherto attended their labours, the doom of slavery is sealed. SLAVE TRADING AT NEW YORK. [From the New York Emancipator.] THE RUSSIAN FLAG.-It seems that the Emperor of Russia is determined that his flag shall not be used with impunity in carrying on the accursed slave-trade. Reader! what think you of "Hail Columbia, happy land," when the Imperial Autocrat of all the Russias deems it necessary to authorize the following notice to be published in the newspapers of this republic? Has it come to this, that pirates-those enemies of the human race-the slave pirates, the most debased of all pirates, shall make their rendezvous in our harbours, fit out their vessels under our own eyes, and then put to sea in defiance of our laws and magistrates? It is even so. "CONSULAR NOTICE.-Certain individuals, who, in defiance of the laws of their own country, still continue to engage in the African slave-trade, having given cause for suspicion that they intend to make use of the Russian flag as a protection against the right of search and seizure, mutually assumed and conceded by the powers participating in the treaty for the suppression of this nefarious traffic, the undersigned, the Russian Consul General at New York, being specially instructed by his government, gives hereby public notice to all persons whom it may concern, that the Russian flag can in no case be resorted to without the previous permission of the Imperial government, and without legal authorization in due form, and in strict accordance with the laws of the empire; that any proceeding to the contrary shall be considered as a fraud, exposing the persons guilty of it to all its consequences; and that no slave trader, in any circumstances whatever, when seized under the Russian flag, or otherwise, can invoke the aid of the Imperial government to screen him from just and well-merited punishment. STATISTICS OF THE UNITED STATES' SLAVE POPULATION. Ir is commonly supposed that the slavery of the United States is not, like that of the West India sugar colonies, eminently destructive to human life. By many it is thought to be rather friendly to man, as a mere animal. A careful inspection of the census will show this to be a mistake. It will show a system by which nature's geometric power of increase is brought into full play to create a supply of life adequate to an enormously enhanced consumption. It will reveal some of the secrets of the internal slave-trade, and indicate with certainty a catastrophe, to which we are approaching. To place the necessary data before the reader, we give, first, a synopsis of the slave and free colored population, with the ratio of slaves to free whites in 1820 and 1830. |