profession as Christians, when this church, the admiration of the worldthis church, so well grounded in doctrine-this church, having for its very name, the "Free Church," gives its sanction to them, and receives their funds towards its support? I am persuaded that the cause of slavery is strengthened by such a state of things. (Hear, hear.)

The Rev. W. CHALMERS, of the Free Church of Scotland, said—As a minister of the Free Church, and as one of the deputation that was sent to America, I hope I shall be permitted to say a few words in reference to what has fallen from the preceding speakers. In doing so, I can feel that I am placing myself in a somewhat false position, as men generally must do when they have to oppose extreme views on a question upon which they substantially agree with their opponents. The odium theologicum which exists in Scotland has laid hold of this question for the purpose of turning it against the Free Church; but I believe that the ministers of that church are pursuing a course which is more likely to lead to the attainment of the common object than the course pursued by those who are opposed to them. To prove that they have no sympathy with slavery or with slave-holders, I beg to read the following remonstance addressed by the General Assembly to the American churches :"There is no question here as to the heinous sin involved in the institution of American slavery; nor can there be any terms too strong to be employed in pointing out the national guilt which attaches to the continuance of that accursed system, and the national judgments which, under the government of a righteous God, may be expected to mark the divine displeasure against it. Neither can there be any doubt as to the duty incumbent upon all American Christians to exert themselves to the utmost, in every competent way, for the purpose of having it abolished. The only difference of opinion that can exist among the members of this church respects the duty of the churches in America, as churches who are called to deal impartially with the evils of slavery, when it forms part of the social system in the community in which they are placed. Even as to this matter, it is believed, that the difference is more apparent than real." My dear brother says that the church to which he belongs can hold no Christian converse with any church containing slave-holders. Now, it is well to remember that those who think with him would have excommunicated the churches in the times of the apostles. ("No, no.") The case of Onesimus has been referred to; but it is evident that Paul acknowledged Philemon as a brother, and at the same time as a possessor of a slave. (Cries of "No, no.") The rev. gentleman then quoted the passage bearing on the point, dwelling particularly on the argument drawn from the fact of Paul sending Onesimus to Philemon when he might have detained him for his own benefit. Now (continued the rev. gentleman), I say to all the American churches, "Emancipate yourselves, it is your duty to do so;" but then I also say, with respect to the case of Philemon and Onesimus, that Paul regarded Philemon as admissible to Christian communion at the same time that he referred to him as the

owner of a slave.

Mr. SCOBLE, the secretary of the Society, here rose and said—I am quite sure that, however interesting this case may be as matter of criticism, this is not an occasion on which we can do justice to it. But I would just put this point for the consideration of our friend, Mr. Chalmers. If the Apostle Paul considered it right to send back Onesimus to Philemon, it must be the duty of this meeting to send back Frederick Douglass to his master. (Hear, hear.)

The REV. W. CHALMERS resumed. I commenced by saying that I might be placing myself in a false position. Unless, however, you mean to say that no man can be a Christian who is the master of a slave (cheers), it must be admitted that this is, after all, a debateable question, and it is one upon which the great majority of Christian churches do not take the view which is held by one or two.

The CHAIRMAN then put the resolution, stated it to be his deliberate conviction that the Free Church of Scotland could not advance the abolition cause more than by sending back the money received from slaveholders; and further, that it was their duty to do this. The resolution was carried unanimously.

Joseph Sturge, Esq., then proposed the following resolution :— "That this meeting, in view of the melancholy facts which have been submitted to them in relation to the present extent and atrocities of the slave-trade, and after] lengthened and painful experience of the incompetency of an armed force to secure its suppression, feel it to be their duty to reiterate their conviction, that, so long as slavery exists, there is no reasonable prospect of the annihilation of the slave-trade, and that the extinction, both of slavery and the slave-trade, will be attained most effectually by the employment of those means which are of a moral, religious, and pacific character."

not to meet it face to face in your country. But the death note is sound-
ing like the distant voice of many waters, and it will yet be swept away
as with the waters of a deluge: 303 Universalist ministers have entered
their protest against the monstrous iniquity of slavery. Every year the
Christian church makes a little advance against the system." I am sure
it would stimulate our friends if the Free Scotch Church were to send
back the money which they have received from the slave-holders of
America. (Hear.) I may also mention an interesting fact, of recent
occurrence, connected with the state of New Hampshire. A member of
the senate having given a vote against slavery, a pro-slavery advocate
was put forward in opposition to him at the next election; but such was
the success of the anti-slavery candidate that he obtained near double
the number of liberty votes that he had done at the previous election.
(Cheers.) The West Indian colonies have been referred to_on this
occasion; and, though I am sorry to interpose between Mr. Douglass
and the meeting, I must read an extract from a gentleman who was for-
merly a slave proprietor, and who has suffered greatly, in a worldly point
of view, by the abolition of the system. This gentleman says, "The
success which has attended that measure (emancipation) in our colonies
ought to cheer and encourage you to proceed. There can be no doubt
that the large proprietors-the monopolists of land and slaves (I among
the rest)-have been great sufferers by the measure-that our dynasty
has departed; but it was one of unrighteousness and unholiness, and it
is right that it should go; and, believe me, that a better ordered, a more
happy, and a more contented peasantry than the late slaves of Jamaica
do not exist in any part of the world, and that I am as sanguine as ever
I was for the ultimate prosperity of the island and its inhabitants, and I
do not think that Cooly importations will, in the slightest degree, add to
its progress, either in civilization or industy." No West Indian planter
could, on hearing his name, dispute this gentleman's fitness to pronounce
an opinion. I can hardly deny myself the satisfaction of reading a few
lines from a letter which I received a few days ago from my friend
Thomas Clarkson, and which was addressed to him from Jamaica
by a coloured friend, named Pennington, who was some time ago
in this country, and who, as you will remember, having, like our
coloured friend on the platform, run away with himself, has since, in
Jamaica, qualified himself to be a minister of a congregation in Con-
necticut. He is now endeavouring to raise money enough to buy his
own freedom and that of his father and mother. Mr. Sturge then read
the communication referred to in which Mr. Pennington says that having
had the most ample opportunities of judging, he found the emancipated
negroes are a peaceable and laborious people; and that although he never
had a doubt that emancipation was a good work, it was now placed beyond
the shadow of a doubt.

In reference to the labour of women, Mr. Pennington, says-" I am frank to say, that the only thing that has given me pain in this respect, is to see the amount of heavy work that is done by females and children.' As to the Coolies, he observes-"I have seen some of the Hill Coolies; the impression I received on seeing them was very painful; they were nearly in a state of nudity, and presented a picture truly revolting to humanity." And in conclusion, he remarks:-"I wish yourself and your worthy coadjutors in England may be assured that you have been instrumental in accomplishing a great work in these islands which can never be undone. The blessing of a gracious God is certainly attending things here. I expect to return to America soon. Oh, that you might be spared to see the day of emancipation in my wicked country." I will only add, in reference to our friend Thomas Clarkson, that although he has now been working in the cause sixty-one years, he still feels as much interest in it as he ever did. (Cheers.) I would shortly allude to another friend whom we have lost since last year, William Knibb. In so doing, I will read an extract from a letter written on board the packet which wafted him for ever from his native shore; and this letter, besides showing how prepared he was for his final charge, or to enter again on his field of labour, mentions the circumstance of his having met with a person who had fled from Cuba, on account of his abolition principles, but whose information showed that even in that benighted island abolition principles were progressing. In this letter William Knibb says "May we not then realize the prayerful hope that ere long truth shall prevail in this awful place of wickedness and crime. May God hasten it in his time." In another part of his letter he says "My health, I am happy to say, is quite in the service of my adorable Saviour. Just so long as it shall please good, and I am anticipating, with prayerful delight, yet further to engage Him would I work in his vineyard, and then retiring from the field, hope for mercy through the blood of the Lamb." Let me, in conclusion, impress upon our friends that these rapid breaches in our ranks should stimulate all who remain to redoubled exertions, that we may be instruments in God's hands in hastening the day when the great object of this Society shall have been accomplished, and slavery, in all its forms, swept from the face of the earth. (Cheers.)

JOSEPH FERGUSON, Esq., briefly seconded the resolution.

After a few observations by the Chairman, reminding the meeting that the employment of force in preventing the carrying on of the slave trade was originally sanctioned by several of the leaders in the Anti-Slavery cause, a view in which he himself concurred, the resolution was put and carried unanimously.

G. THOMPSON, Esq., proposed the next resolution, which was as follows:-

After a few preparatory observations, in which he expressed his concurrence in the view taken, that the money from the slave-holders should be returned by the Free Church of Scotland, he said, the resolution which I have read refers to two points. The first is the utter hopelessness of abolishing the slave-trade, except by the abolition of slavery. I have before often expressed, in public, my opinion that under no possible circumstances can we be justified in taking away life; but on that subject I know many of my friends differ from me. It must be admitted, however, that notwithstanding all the efforts which have been made to put down the slave-trade, its horrors have actually increased; and this strengthens the conviction that it is to the extinction of slavery we ought "That this meeting feels bound solemnly to protest against the recent chiefly to look in struggling for the attainment of this object. I do annexation of Texas to the United States as one of the most iniquitous not wish on this occasion to discuss the question of refusing the produce acts which has ever disgraced the history of nations, whether viewed as of slave-states. As a society, however, we conceive that the produce of to the means by which it has been accomplished, or to the avowed design slave-labour ought to be treated as stolen property. If Englishmen were stolen and forced to labour in the production of articles to be sold in of its supporters-namely, the extension and perpetuation of slavery on some other country, there would be no difficulty in recognizing the force the American continent; but firmly trusting in the righteousness of their of this argument. (Hear, hear.) Our chairman has said that there is cause, and the justice of the Most High, they would call upon their considerable cause of discouragement. There is also great cause for esteemed fellow-labourers in the United States to redouble their exertions encouragement. (Hear, hear.) I have received from America one or two letters which justify me in taking this view. One is from the learned to promote the speedy downfall of that enormous evil. blacksmith, Elihu Burritt. He says:-I receive regularly the Anti- "That in connexion with the subject of American slavery, this meeting Slavery Reporter, and have published the admirable letter of your Anti-feels bound to express its deep indignation and sorrow, not only as the Slavery Society to that of the Christian Alliance. Poor Torrey is at the point of death in the prison at Baltimore, for an act of Christian countless enormities which it heaps upon millions of victims who are charity. Slavery! Slavery! You ought to be grateful that you have treated as property, but the cruel injuries which it also heaps upon those

who were born American freemen, when brought within the power of the Slave States, and convicted of cherishing sympathy with their brethren in bondage; and would especially record its sympathy with Charles T. Torrey, a citizen of New England, now languishing in a dying state in the city of Baltimore, under a sentence pronounced upon him for aiding several slaves to escape from their captivity. This meeting would also express its unfeigned sympathy with the members of Mr. Torrey's family, from whom he has been so unjustly and cruelly torn.

its states, it is still more than ever susceptible to that moral influence which, in the Northern States, they are bringing most powerfully to bear on the Southern States. It is gratifying to know that the cause of American abolition has been one of steady progress down to the present moment, though its agents may not be so numerous as they once were. This is not owing to want of zeal, but to that pecuniary embarrassment which cramps their energies. There is, however, a deeper feeling promising opposition to slavery than has ever before been known. in the Northern States than ever before existed, and more uncom(Loud cheers.)

G. W. ALEXANDER, ESQ., in seconding the resolution, said-It affords me great satisfaction to say a few words to the meeting. It is prominent a place in connexion with the abolishment of slavery, walking a source of pleasure to me to see the son of one who has occupied so in the steps of his venerated father. (Hear, hear.) I draw from this circumstance some encouragement. I trust his example will be followed by men in the prime of life, who will dedicate themselves to the work till it is fully accomplished. Although so much has been done for the slaves, and there is not one to be found within the dominions of Great Britain, yet a large number are still held in bondage, and they have not less claim upon our sympathy than had our fellow-subjects. Indeed, in one respect, they have a greater claim; for their number exceeds those whom we emancipated in the West Indies, and is, perhaps, even greater than all who have been emancipated throughout the British empire. I am not one of those who look at the question with discouragement. When I think of the difficulties that have been removed, and the means by which our object has been attained, I cannot doubt but that the efforts of other countries will be followed by similar success. The evil of American slavery is of constant and increasing magnitude. Few of us can realize to ourselves the dreadful state of things in that country. At the time of the separation of America from this country there were 700,000 slaves; in 1830 there were two millions; at the present time there are nearly three millions of our fellow-men who are there held in cruel, unjust, and ignominious bondage. I am surprised that any one can for a moment vindicate the slave-holder as a Christian man. Let us consider what slavery is. It has been found that wherever slavery exists, a vast amount of cruelty is inevitably practised, and such is the unavoidable consequence, because it is unjust in principle. It denies the poor man the reward of his labour, and punishment must be resorted to to compel it. Slavery is fearfully destructive to human life. The increase has been 8 per cent. less for the ten years ending in 1840 than it was for the ten years ending in 1830; proving to us that since that time it has been more cruel than it was before. The marriage relation is not recognised; the husband and wife may be separated from each other, and parents from their children; indeed, there is no protection whatever for the slave. In the Southern States the slave is not allowed by law to become acquainted with the rudiments of letters, nor is he allowed to read the Scriptures of truth; light must not be poured into his mind, for slavery cannot bear the light. (Cheers.) It may be naturally supposed that, belonging to comparatively a small section of the Christian church, but which is wholly opposed to the continuance of slavery, I can have no sympathy in the conduct pursued by the Free Church with regard to the slave-holders. I do trust that the Free Church of Scotland will yet do her duty in this matter, that they will see that they are fearfully failing in their duty as a Christian Church if they do anything to encourage a system of such unmitigated evil. (Cheers.) I wish to state my deep sympathy with that unhappy man who is a victim of this cruel system. I fear that there is no ground to hope that his life will be spared, but I do trust that the friends of the slave will feel that they have a solemn duty devolving upon them in connexion with his family (loud cheers), and that they will, in the event of his death, adopt his family as their own. With such feeble means as I possess, the family of Torrey shall never want. (Loud cheers.) I would as cheerfully consent that my own family should want bread as the family of that man. (Cheers.) Ĭ do hope that if he dies, the result arising from it will be the same as that which followed the death of the venerated Smith, in Demerara, that it will accelerate the downfal of American slavery. (Cheers.) From the information I possess I do feel strongly convinced that slavery is tottering to its foundation, not only in the United States, but generally in those countries where it exists. I could adduce facts to prove this, but at this late hour I will refrain. I cannot, however, sit down without expressing the deep interest I feel in hearing that anti-slavery newspapers are established not only in the Northern but in the Southern States of America. There is an anti-slavery newspaper published at Baltimore, and another at Lexington, where they could not have existed a few years ago—such is the progres of anti-slavery opinion. I believe there is a prospect of one being established at Washington; and I rejoice that anti-slavery papers are published in France. I have within the last few days received a pamphlet from France, in which the cause is pleaded in a manner that it will be impossible for any man to resist. I hope the day is not far distant when France will follow the example of England, and which will, doubtless, greatly hasten the overthrow of slavery wherever it prevails. (Cheers.)

"That, whilst this meeting cordially sympathize in the objects, and highly appreciate the labours of the Abolitionists of the continent of Europe, and rejoice in the measure of success which has attended their efforts, they would, nevertheless, respectfully urge on them the duty of organizing their forces on the principle of immediate and entire emancipation, and of using their utmost exertions to give it practical effect." After an allusion to the death of Mr. Knibb and Mr. Burchell-the latter occurring on Saturday last-he said-I have lately visited Scotland, and have held there several meetings in connexion with a subject which has already been discussed. (Hear, hear.) There is in Scotland an intense and almost universal feeling in favour of the object which I had in view. (Hear, hear.) This is, in fact, the question of the day, though it requires to be discussed with a just recognition of the talents and virtues of the eminent men who differ from us. But, after paying them a deserved tribute of respect, I must contend that their own deliverance, as read by Mr. Chalmers, requires them to refuse to have fellowship with slave owners. (Cheers.) That deliverance proceeds on the ground upon which we demanded the immediate and unconditional emancipation of the slave. There is no ground which can justify the keeping of any people in the world in a condition of slavery. Where is the warrant? Where the bill of sale? (Cheers.) Yet, we are told, there are some individuals who maintain slavery though they are doctors of divinity, or elders and deacons of churches. Why, does not their profession and their position make the matter worse? (Hear, hear.) I venture to say that these men, who are in many respects irreproachable, are the main support of slavery in the United States. (Hear, hear.) It is by such men as Dr. Plummer and Dr. Smythe that the system is upheld (hear, hear); and the immoral slave owners of the Southern States justify themselves by referring to such examples. (Hear, hear.) The speaker then went into an elaborate argument, to show that Christian principle was opposed to fellowship with slave-owning churches. I cannot (he continued,) "love my neighbour as myself" if I hold him as my slave; I cannot recognise his equality with myself if I hold him as my slave; I cannot render unto him that which is just and equal if I hold him as a slave; I tell Mr. Chalmers that every penny that came from America was the produce of the slaves' uncompensated labour. (Cheers.) Suppose the slaves of a Christian minister were to present themselves before him some morning after he had been preaching to them about the love of God and of all men being equal in his sight, and on the ground of what he had said, were to intimate that they were about to act upon his doctrine by quitting his service, how, in such a case, would the slavemaster act? If he had a right to their persons, there must be some process by which he could recover possession of them; and if they were not liable to punishment, he must have been taking advantage of their ignorance and debasement. (Hear, hear.) The deliverance of the General Assembly clearly recognises the doctrine that the man who recognises property in man is a sinner of the first magnitude; and I assert that every ecclesiastical body in the Southern States has officially, formally, and publicly recognised property in man. They assail the abolitionists of the north for menacing the security of their property, and they have declared slavery to be inconsistent with the word of God. We are told, indeed, while we condemn the dice to spare the gambler-while we condemn the theft not to attack the thief. We cannot take such advice. The antiquity of the wrong is no sanctification of the wrong; you may fetch your sanction fram the antediluvian world, but I still ask, "Whence does the title come, from heaven or from hell?" (Cheers.) He then referred at some length to the circumstances connected with the visit of the deputation of the Free Church to America, and the silence required and observed in the Southern States on the subject of slavery. I tell Mr. Chalmers and his church (he continued) that they are bound to send back the money. (Applause.) I challenge Mr. Chalmers to deny it if It was distinctly understood that there was not one word to be said in the Southern States upon the subject of slavery, nor was there one word. (Cries of "Shame!") I should like to see the text from which the rev. gentlemen preached. I wonder whether any one gave out this text-"Whoso stealeth a man and selleth him, or if he shall be found in his hand, he shall surely be put to death?" (Loud cheers.) I wonder whether they turned to that text in Isaiah, "Is this the fast that I have chosen?" &c., or this, "Owe no man anything?" I tell Mr. Lewis that had he or any other of his brethren taken one of these texts, and spoken in the spirit of their Master, these very men, with Dr. Smythe at their head, would have bounded on the Lynch law, and that they would not have come back either to bring their money or themselves. (Hear, hear.) The men who are now quoting the speeches of Dr. Cunningham and Dr. Candlish, are offering rewards for the self-devoted Abolitionists of the north, who are bold enough to declare that America is guilty in keeping three millions of men in bondage. The Deputation have done more to promote the cause of slavery than all the efforts of the pro-slavery party in that country. (Hear, hear.) I do hope, therefore, that from one end of this land to the other, will be raised a universal shout that shall be heard at the Cannon-mills next week:-"Send back the money." (Loud cheers.) Part of the resolution I have to propose has been anticipated by Mr. Burnet, when he spoke of the efforts made on the Continent, and the duty devolving on the Abolitionists of this country, to admonish and encourage them, ever setting before them the only true and righteous standard on this subject-namely, that slavery is sinful, and ought to be unconditionally abolished. Mr. Sturge has drawn your attention to the situation in which Mr. Torrey is now placed for having asssisted the unfortunate captive to escape from bondage. With regard to Texas, little remains to be done but to express our sentiments as contained in this resolution. Suffice it to say, that Texas is now part and parcel of the American union; but by being brought within its government, and within

he can.

Mr. FREDERICK DOUGLASS then stood forward and was received with enthusiastic cheers. Mr. Douglass, after a brief but interesting narrative of his escape from slavery, and his connexion with the Abolitionists of America, observed - One word with regard to the fact that there is no part of America in which a man who has escaped from slavery can be free. This is one of the darkest spots in the American character. I want the audience to remember that there are those who come to this country who attempt to establish the conviction that slavery belongs entirely to the Southern States of America, and does not belong to the North. I am here, however, to say, that slavery is an American institution (hear, hear), that it belongs to the entire community, that the whole land is one great hunting ground for catching slaves, and returning them to their masters. (Hear, hear.) There is not a spot upon which a poor black fugitive may stand free, no valley so deep, no mountain so high, no plain so expanded, in all that land, that I may enjoy the right to use my own hands without being liable to be hunted by the blood hounds. (Cheers.) Hence I came to this country, and I feel exceedingly glad to be here. (Loud cheers). My master, whom I have accused of being a very mean man, and who hes attempted a refutation of the truth of my narrative, tried to show that he was an excellent man, and he has generously transferred his legal right in my body and soul to his brother. He has actually made his brother a present of the body and bones of Frederick Douglass. His brother must

feel exceedingly rich to-day. (Laughter.) He must feel himself as
wealthy as though he had received a title deed to the planet Mars.
(Laughter and cheers.) He has given every proof of his meanness in giv.
ing me away running. He ought to have given me to his brother, when I
should have been some service to him, but he has made him a present of
a person three thousand miles off. The brother, however, seems very
proud of the gift, and resolves that if ever I touch American soil, I shall
be instantly reduced to a state of slavery. However, it is not to a state of
slavery that they wish now to have me reduced. They have a feeling of
revenge to gratify. (Hear, hear.) I have not only exposed them in the
Northern States, but during the last nine months I have been going the
length of Ireland and Scotland, tearing off the mask from the abomi-
nable system of slavery, and exposing the American slave-holders to
the gaze and indignation of the Christian people of those countries.
(Cheers.) They feel it sensibly, as the periodicals they have coming from
the other side show. They speak as though they felt the statements that
are now being made for their character, by one who has broken the
chain, and has succeeded in reaching a land where he may be free.
(Loud cheers.) There is a great deal said in this country with regard to
the system of American slaving. For my part, I have done speaking of
the system of slavery. I have heard persons who would start up, and
denounce the system in louder language, and more eloquent terms, than I
am capable of using; but, at the same time, would stand apologizing for
the Christian character of the slave-holder, and speaking of him as being
an excellent man as disconnected from the system. Now I have done
with American slave-holders. This matter of holding slaves is an indi-
vidual affair in America, as well as a national one. All attempts to remove
the responsibility of the slave-holder from the individual to the nation, is
erroneous, fallacious, false. All attempts to make it exclusively an indi-
vidual matter are equally wrong - however it is more of an individual
matter than a national one. The slave-holder holds his slave from choice
- he trades in the bodies and souls of his fellow-men, because it is con-
venient for him to do so. He is not compelled, as some have stated in
this country, to hold his slave by law. There is not a single slave-holder
in the United States but what could give liberty to every slave in his
possession. (Hear, hear.) All the arguments, therefore, based on this
position must fall to the ground, since the fact itself does not exist. I
know that there are laws in some of the states making it impossible to
emancipate their slaves on the soil, or making it impossible for them to
remain on the soil in an emancipated state; but there is not a state in the
American Union to which a slave-holder may not take his slaves and give
them that liberty to which they are entitled by the laws of God and of
nature. (Cheers.) One would think, from reading certain statements,
that the religious part of the slave-holders were anxiously desirous to get
rid of their slaves-really praying daily and hourly to be shown some way
by which to get rid of this very troublesome species of property. While
the learned gentlemen in the north of this country are puzzling their
brains in devising some way by which the masters may emancipate
them, there is not a slave in all America so ignorant but what he could
decide the question instantly as to how the master might put him in pos-
session of freedom. (Laughter and cheers.) All that he has to do is to
say-"I relinquish my claim upon you slaves. There is the north star :
it shines upon the British dominions. Go to Canada, and in any of her
Majesty's dominions the slave may be free." (Cheers.) The slave-
holder, therefore, is without excuse in this matter. He is individually
responsible, for while the law permits him to hold a slave it does not com-
pel him.
But I have a word to say about the relation of master and slave
as it exists in the United States. I have had a little opportunity since I
escaped from slavery of investigating the character of slavery as it exists
in other countries, and I am able to say in no country in the world does
it exist in so hateful, so horrible a form as in the United States of
America. I think there is no part of the world where the spirit of slavery
may be seen in so horrible a light as in the United States of America.
Slavery in America is a system of universal concubinage, and all the
churches of this country ought to be made acquainted with it. There is
not a slave-holder in America who does not hold exclusive jurisdiction over
the body and soul-over the mind-the moral perceptions-the affec-
tions of his slave-indeed, over him entirely for time and eternity, in so
far as the occupancy of his time has anything to do with eternity, or his
state beyond the grave. He claims a right to decide on what he shall
work-- how much he shall work-when he shall be punished-by whom
he shall be punished-how much he shall be punished-for what he shall
be punished. He claims a right to determine for him what is virtue and
what is vice-he claims a right to determine all circumstances as to his
conduct. The slave is a marketable commodity in the hands of his
master; he may dispose of his person, and, in cases of extremity, may
kill him, and no law in the United States will punish the guilty perpe-
trator of the murder. Look to South Carolina, they have a law which
commences with a show of humanity, and says that the slave-holder who
does kill his slave shall be punished as though he killed a free black man
unless such slave dies under moderate correction; so that a slave-holder
may deliberately whip his slave to death, and no law takes hold of the
murderer. If the slave-holder shoot him dead upon the spot he would
not be punished unless he was prosecuted by his neighbours; for if
ten thousand slaves were present, not one would be allowed to give testi-
mony against him. But I need not narrate these circumstances of cruelty
to you, and I do not like it myself. I have in the United States felt it
necessary to go into a detail of the cruelty practised on the slaves; but 1
take it there is no need to do a work of that kind in such an audience as
this. There is another mode that will have a better effect on the cause
that I am trying, in my feeble way to advocate; and that is, to point out
the means by which slavery is upheld in the United States. This is the
question that must now be brought before the people of this country.
You all know that slavery is a crime-that it is the vilest system that ever
saw the sun-that so far as the relation of master and slave is concerned,
it is one of those monsters of darkness to which the light of truth is blind.
Now slavery exists in the United States because public opinion upholds
it. Slavery is reputable there because it is not disreputable out of those
states-because its character is not fully known-and because certain per
sons have felt it their duty to cover up their own delinquency in travelling
in America by casting a veil on the bloody enormities that are being prac-be right to send back the money. (Laughter and immense cheering.) We
tised. (Cheers.) At all times whan travelling on my anti-slavery mission,
I felt it my duty to expose this. That slavery in the United States is
reputable, is evident from the fact that you see slave-holders filling the

most important offices in Church and State. A man-stealer is now the
President of the United States-man-stealers are members of the churches
-man-stealers are office-bearers of the churches-man-stealers are doctors
of divinity-man-stealers are actually bishops of churches. (Loud cries of
"Hear, hear.") Man-stealers are ministers-plenipotentiaries at the
various courts of Europe-men stealers are in the American government
at this time; and to trade in the body and soul of a brother is not there
regarded as a crime, because it is not elsewhere regarded as a crime as it
ought to be. (Cheers.) It is to beget the conviction abroad, that slavery
is this crime and ought so to be treated, that I am among you to-day.
Slave holders are not only ministers and members of churches, but they
openly defend it, by quoting the fact of Paul sending Onesimus to Phile
mon, and they allege that that case shows that neither Christ nor his
apostles had any objection to men holding slaves as property. Men are
sold to build churches-babies are sold to buy Bibles. (Loud cries of
"Hear, hear.") The blood sold on the auction block goes into the
treasury of the church, and the pulpit in return covers it with the garb of
Christianity. Our Lord says, "Search the Scriptures, for in them ye
think ye have eternal life;" but these men deny to three millions of
people, the right to learn the name of the God that made them. This is
the religious state of things in America. It has been said to me since I
came here," How can you say these things about the American churches?
Does not the Lord pour out his blessing on those churches? Have they
not had revivals?" "Yes, they have revivals, but the revivals of religion and
revivals of the slave trade go hand in hand together. When the slave
trade is going on most prosperously, then there is the most money given
to support"the gospel" as they call it; but it is not the gospel of Christ,
it is not the gospel according to Matthew, Mark, Luke, or John, but it is
a gospel according to slavery. (Hear, hear.) I must here say a word
upon another topic, for I cannot get the Free Church out of my mind.
(Hear, hear.) I have to charge its deputation that went to the United
States with going to a land where they saw 3,000,000 of people for whom
Christ poured out his precious blood divested of every right, stripped of
every privilege, and denied the right of reading the Word of God. They
are herded together, are sold upon the auctioneer's block, and torn
from each other to satisfy the rapacity of the slave-dealer. That depu
tation, however, did not raise a whisper against this infernal state of things.
In doing this they have inflicted a great wound on the glorious cause of
emancipation, and I will tell you why they have done it. During the last
fifteen years, the Abolitionists have been arduously labouring, amidst all
kinds of odium, to establish the conviction, that holding human beings in
the condition of slaves is a sin against God, and ought so to be regarded
by the churches. They have laboured to create such a moral and religious
sentiment, as would entirely purify the churches of America from all con-
nexion with the slave system. They had succeeded to some extent. In
1830 there was scarcely a church in America that stood out against
slavery, and in 1836 the Methodist General Conference, at its meeting at
Cincinnati decided, "that we have no right, wish, or intention to interfere
with the relation of master and slave, as it exists in the Southern States of
the Union," which was equivalent to saying that they had no right, wish,
or intention to emancipate the slave from his thraldom. The Baptist,
Congregational, and Presbyterian Churches were all linked and interlinked,
woven and interwoven with the slave-holder; they throw around him all
the sanctions of Christianity, and endorse him, as the Free Church is now
doing, as a follower of Christ. The Abolitionists saw the state of things.
They said that slavery was gnawing at the very vitals of the church -- that
it was corrupting it at the very core-and they determined to mete out to
the slave-holder the same treatment that they would to any other thief.
They have succeeded to a considerable extent. In 1840 the northern
churches spoke out on the subject. The Methodist Episcopal Church
has been rent because the northern churches were not willing to have a
man preside over them as a bishop whose hand was stained with the blood
of fifteen souls. (Cheers.) The Baptist Church has been divided on
missionary operations, and they will have no fellowship with the slave-
holder who persists in retaining his slaves in bondage. (Cheers.) There
is a large class of Presbyterians pursuing the same course. We were
looking forward with hope to a speedy purification of the entire church
from all connexion with the slave system when the deputation from the
Church of Scotland bearing the name of " 'Free," a name which re-
minded the slave of that for which his soul panted, visited America. In.
stead, however, of coming to break his yoke, that deputation came to shake
hands with the slave-holders, and to say to the northern churches, you
are wrong in unfellowshipping these men; they are good and pious men,
said one of them, whom the churches of Scotland would do well to imi
tate. (Hear.) In this way they have injured our cause, and they have
done it knowingly. The American and Foreign Anti-Slavery Committee,
soon after the arrival of these gentlemen from the Free Church, put forth
a remonstrance eloquently written, full of pathetic appeal, imploring
them in the name of humanity and of religion, not to stain their cause
by taking blood-stained gifts to build their free churches, and pay their
Free Church ministers in Scotland. (Cheers.) They shut their ears to
this remonstrance. I persist in calling slavery man-stealing; in calling
the slave-holder a thief-and for the best of reasons, because it is his true
name. I know there are some in this country who question my right,
as Mr. Burnet says, to myself-I have run off with stolen property.
These hands do not belong to me-they belong to Captain Hall; well,
I cannot believe it-I beg to differ from the gentleman. (Loud cheers.)
I really think I have a right to myself; all the reasoning of Dr. Chalmers,
and Dr. Cunningham, and Dr. Candlish, and a reverend gentleman who
has addressed us, was based upon the ground that my master has a title
to me; it does not for a moment shake my opinion that I have the best
right to myself. (Cheers.) Feeling this, I cannot consent to go back,
even if some of these gentlemen should try to act the part that the Apostle
Paul did in the case of Onesimus. However, I do not agree with the
opinion that the Apostle Paul recognised Onesimus as the property of
Philemon. The Jewish law says-Thou shalt not deliver a man back
to his master; he shall dwell with thee in the land." I do not think
that if, under Moses and the prophets, it would have been wrong to
return me back to bondage, that in the nineteenth century of the Chris-
tian era it would be right to send me back. I think, however, it would

do not think, however, that the Free Church has any objection to sending back the money on account of the money itself; but I think they have worked themselves up to believe that it would be wrong for them to send it

back, or at least that it would be humiliating to do it. I am rather inclined to this last opinion. (Cheers.) But I know that if they do not send it back they will put themselves in such a relation to the slave-holders that they will demand it to be returned as loudly as we do. They are already denouncing Mr. Lewis, one of the deputation. They say, he dined at our tables, we welcomed him to our pulpits, he took our money, and he never uttered a word against our slavery; but as soon as he got back to Scotland, being stung by the rebukes he has received, he finds it necessary to denounce it. Send back the money. (Cheers.) All their rebukes fall powerless on the slave-holder while they retain the money. The slave-holders say, these men turn round and lecture us on the impropriety of using the very means to get the money by which they have built their churches. (Hear, hear.) If the Free Church would only consult expediency in the matter, and lay aside its pride for a few moments, they will see that it is not only just, but expedient to return the money. There are many parties who have given their tens, and scores, and hundreds of pounds to that Church, who will not contribute another farthing to it while it retains this money. (Cheers.) I was in the Assembly of the Church of Scotland when they came to the conclusion that they would not admit a slave-holder amongst them. We have no means in America of accomplishing the object we have in view, except religious means. We do not ask you to send your army or your navy, but you are bound to use every means within your reach to remove this blot from the country. The world is looking to England on this subject. As early as I can remember, I have thought of England in connexion with freedom, and both foes and friends are still looking there. I would advise you to concentrate your energies on America; for I regard that country as the sheet-anchor of slavery throughout the world. While on the one hand there is a determination on the part of the United States to uphold slavery; on the other, there never was so great a determination among large numbers to get rid of it as at the present time. (Cheers.)

C. CARROLL, Esq., moved :

"That this meeting feel it to be their duty earnestly to protest against the existing schemes of African and Indian immigration into the British colonies, as odious in their character and demoralizing in their results; and, when viewed in connexion with the oppressive system of taxation to which they have given rise, as equally impolitic and unjust. They would, therefore, respectfully yet urgently call on her Majesty's Government to withdraw their sanction from them, and to leave the supply of the labour market to the operation of those natural laws which should, in their judgment, always be allowed to regulate and control it.

"That this meeting would express their deep regret that any portion of her Majesty's subjects should be allowed to be held and used as slaves in foreign countries, contrary to the general law of civilized nations; and that the authorities in slave-holding States should be permitted, in opposition to the express stipulation of treaties, to molest, imprison, and otherwise injure her Majesty's free subjects, on the ground of their colour, repairing to those States on their lawful occasions; and would urge on her Majesty's Government the necessity of taking immediate steps to secure the liberty and protect the persons of the parties referred

to."

to commend me to your consideration in the way of education, by which to claim attention; and you are aware that slavery is a very bad school for rearing teachers of morality and religion. Twenty-one years of my life have been spent in slavery, personal slavery, surrounded by degrading influences such as can exist nowhere beyond the pale of slavery; and it would not be strange, under such circumstances, that I should not betray in what I have to say to you that refinement that is seldom or ever found, except among people that have experienced superior advantages to those which I have enjoyed. (Hear, hear.) But I will take it for granted you know something about the degrading influences of slavery, and that you will not expect great things from me this evening, but such facts as I may be able to advance immediately in connexion with slavery. The subject of American slavery is beginning to attract the attention of the philosophers of all countries-it is a matter to which philosophers, statesmen, and theologians, in all parts of the world, are turning their attention. It is a matter in which the people of this country especially, and Scotland and Ireland, are taking the deepest interest-it is a matter in which all people, who speak the English language, must eventually become interested. It is no longer an obscure question, although there is much yet to be learned. Mr. Douglass, after giving a clear account of the connexion of the whole of the United States with the existence of slavery, and pointed out the fact that although there are 3,000,000 of slaves, there are not more than 300,000 slave-holders, observed - Slavery in the United States is that by which one man claims a right of property in the body and soul of another. The condition of a slave is simply that of the brute beast. He is a piece of property--a marketable commodity in the language of the law, to be bought or sold at the will and caprice of the master who claims him to be his property; he is spoken of, thought of, and treated as property. His own good, his conscience, his intellect, his affections are all set aside by the master. The will and the wishes of the master are the law of the slave. He is as much property as horses. If he is fed, he is fed because he is property. If he is clothed, it is with a view to the increase of his value as property. Whatever of comfort is necessary to him for his body or soul that is inconsistent with his being property, is carefully wrested from him, not only by public opinion, but by the law of the country. He is carefully deprived of everything that tends in the slightest degree to detract from his value as property. He is deprived of education. God has given him an intellect-the slaveholder declares it shall not be cultivated. If his moral perception leads him in a course contrary to his value as property, the slave-holder declares he shall not exercise it. The marriage institution cannot exist among slaves, and one-sixth of the population of democratic America is denied its privileges by the law of the land. What is to be thought of a nation boasting of its liberty, boasting of its humanity, boasting of its Christianity, boasting of its love of justice and purity, and yet having within its own borders 3,000,000 of people denied by law the right of marriage?-what must be the condition of that people? I need not lift up the veil by giving you any experience of my own. Every one that can put two ideas together, must see the most fearful results from such a state of things as I have just mentioned. If any of these 3,000,000 find for themselves companions, and prove themselves honest, upright, virtuous persons to each other; yet in these cases-few as I am bound to confess they are in these cases, the virtuous live in constant apprehension of being torn asunder by the merciless men-stealers that claim them as their property. (Hear.) This is American slavery-no marriage-no education-the light of the gospel shut out from the dark mind of the bondman-and be forbidden by law to learn to read. If a mother teaches her children to read, the law in Louisiana proclaims that she may be hung by the neck. (Sensation.) If the father attempts to give his son a knowledge of letters, he may be punished in one instance, and in another killed, at the discretion of the court. Three millions of people shut out from the light! It is easy for you to conceive the evil that must result from such a state of things. (Hear, hear) I now come to the physical evils of slavery. I do not wish to dwell at length upon these, but it seems right to speak of them, not so much to influence you on this question, as to let the slave-holders of America know that the curtain is being lifted abroad (loud cheers); that we are opening the cell, and leading the people into the dark recesses of what they are pleased to call their "domestic institution." (Cheers.) We want them to know that a knowledge of their whippings, their scourgings, their brandings, their chainings, is not confined to their plantations; but that some negro of theirs has broke loose from his chains (loud applause), has broke up through the dark incrustation of slavery, and is now exposing their deeds of deep damnation to the gaze of the Christian people of England. (Immense cheers.) The slave-holders resort to all kinds of cruelty. If I were disposed I have matter enough to interest you on this question for five or six evenings, but I will not dwell at length upon these cruelties. Suffice it to say, that all the peculiar modes of torture that were resorted to in the West India Islands, are resorted to, I believe, even more frequently in the United States of America. Starvation, the bloody whip, the chain, the gag, the thumb-screw, cat hauling, the cat-o'-ninetails, the dungeon, the bloodhound, are all had in requisition to keep the slave in his condition as a slave in the United States. (Hear, hear.) If any one has a doubt upon this point, I would ask them to read the chapter Dickens' Notes on America. If any man has a doubt upon it, I have here the "testimony of a thousand witnesses," which I can give at any length, all going to prove the truth of my statement. The bloodhound is regularly trained in the United States, and advertisements are to be found in the southern papers of the Union, from persons advertising themselves as bloodhound trainers, and offering to hunt down slaves at fifteen dollars a piece, recommending their hounds as the fleetest in the neighbourhood, never known to fail. (Much sensation.) Advertisements are from time to time inserted, stating that slaves have escaped with iron collars about their necks, and some with bands of iron about their feet; others horribly marked with the lash, others branded with red-hot irons, the initials of their master's name burned into the quivering flesh, and the masters advertise the fact of their being thus branded with their own signature; thus proving to the world, however daring it may appear to nonslave-holders, that it is not regarded discreditable or daring among the slave-holders themselves. The slave-dealer publishes his infamous acts to the world. Of all things that have been said of slavery to which excep tion has been taken by slave-holders, this, the charge of cruelty, stands foremost, and yet there is no charge capable of clearer demonstration than that of the most barbarous inhumanity on the part of the slave-holders

A public meeting was held at Finsbury Chapel, on Friday evening, the 22nd inst., to receive from Frederick Douglass an account of the dreadful condition, both in law and practice, of 3,000,000 of slaves in the United States. The meeting was convened after three days' notice only, but so intense was the interest excited, that every part of this large edifice was crowded to suffocation. On the platform we observed the Rev. Drs. Campbell, Carlile, Godwin, and Fletcher, Revs. J. H. Hinton, John Charlesworth, and J. J. Freeman, G. W. Alexander, Esq., J. T. Price. Esq., G. Thompson. Esq., Stafford Allen, Esq., E. O. Tregelles, Esq., John Scoble, Esq., H. Sterry, Esq., Dr. Oxley, &c. JOSEPH STURGE, Esq., on taking the chair, rose and said :-The object of the present meeting is to hear an address from Frederick Douglass. I will not detain you more than a very short time by any observations of my own, but I wish to remind our friends that the design of this meeting is not to gratify curiosity, or exhibit an extraordinary instance of the development of the power of the human mind under the most disadvan-in tageous circumstances, but to remind every one present, that as a member of the great family of man, he has a duty to perform in endeavouring to accelerate the day when the chains of slavery shall be broken from 3,000,000 of his fellow-creatures now in degrading bondage. (Hear, hear.) Mr. Sturge having adverted to several subjects of interest connected with slavery, and expressed his opinion that the United States would be the next battle field of abolition, observed our friend Douglass will speak of events which have occurred in Scotland. It is well known that the Free Church of Scotland sent a deputation to America, and that the deputation brought back a considerable sum of money from the slave-holding churches. Such is the feeling abroad as to the impropriety of receiving money from such a source, that we hope and believe the Free Church may be induced to send back this money to the place from whence it came. (Cheers.) Having briefly referred to the past history of Frederick Douglass, Mr. Sturge introduced him to the meeting.

F. DOUGLASS rose amid loud cheers, and said--I feel exceedingly glad of the opportunity now afforded me of presenting the claims of my brethren in bonds to so many in London and from various parts of Britain, who have presented themselves on this occasion. I have nothing

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