e who regard the slavery question as the
only, or the principal difficulty, are greatly mistaken. The _negro_
question is far deeper. It is not slavery, as a mere political
institution, that is sustained in the South, but the greater question of
the intermingling and equality of races. In this aspect, it is far more
a question of race than of slavery. If, as among the Greeks and Romans,
the white race were enslaved here, the institution would instantly
disappear. Among the many millions of the population of the South, less
than a tenth are slaveholders. Why, then, is it, that the
non-slaveholding masses there support the institution? It is the
instinct, the sentiment, the prejudice, if you please, of race, almost
universal and unalterable. It is the fear that if the slaves of the
South were emancipated, the non-slaveholding whites would be sunk down
to their level. But let the non-slaveholders of the South know that
colonization abroad would certainly accompany gradual emancipation, and
they would support the measure. They do not wish the Africans among
them; but if that must be the case, then they desire them to remain as
slaves, and not to be raised to their own condition as freemen, to
degrade labor and reduce its wages, as they believe. Abolition alone,
touches then merely the surface of this question. It lies far deeper, in
the antagonism of race, and the laws of nature. In this respect there is
a union of sentiment between the masses, North and South, both opposing
the introduction of free blacks.

Should the slaves be gradually manumitted and colonized abroad with
their consent, and the North be thereafter reproached with aiding to
force slavery upon the South, we could then truly say, that we had
finally freely united with the South in expending our treasure to remove
the evil. The offence of our forefathers would then be gloriously
redeemed by the justice and generosity of their children, and made
instrumental in carrying commerce, civilization, and Christianity to the
benighted regions of Africa. Nor should the colonization be confined to
Africa, but extended to 'Mexico, Central and Southern America' (as
proposed in my Texas letter of the 8th January, 1844), and to the West
Indies, or such other homes as might be preferred by the negro race.

From my youth upward, at all times and under all circumstances, whether
residing North or South, whether in public or in private life, I have
ever supported gradual eman