distinguished from each other by physical as
well as other characteristics.

The consent of the individuals is another pre-requisite in the
plan of removal. At present there is a known repugnance in those
already in a state of freedom to leave their native homes, and
among the slaves there is an almost universal preference of their
present condition to freedom in a distant and unknown land. But
in both classes, particularly that of the slaves, the prejudices
arise from a distrust of the favorable accounts coming to them
through white channels. By degrees truth will find its way to
them from sources in which they will confide, and their aversion
to removal may be overcome as fast as the means of effectuating
it shall accrue.

The difficulty of replacing the labour withdrawn by a removal of
the slaves, seems to be urged as of itself an insuperable
objection to the attempt. The answer to it is--1, that
notwithstanding the emigrations of the whites, there will be an
annual and by degrees an increasing surplus of the remaining
mass; 2, that there will be an attraction of whites from without,
increasing with the demand, and, as the population elsewhere will
be yielding a surplus to be attracted; 3, that as the culture of
tobacco declines with the contraction of the space within which
it is profitable and still more from the successful competition
in the West, and as the farming system takes the place of
planting, a portion of labour can be spared without impairing the
requisite stock; 4, that although the process must be slow, be
attended with much inconvenience, and be not even certain in its
result, is it not preferable to a torpid acquiescence in a
perpetuation of slavery, or an extinguishment of it by
convulsions more disastrous in their character and consequences
than slavery itself?

In my estimate of the experiment instituted by the Colonization
Society, I may indulge too much my wishes and hopes, to be safe
from errors. But a partial success will have its virtue, and an
entire failure will leave behind a consciousness of the laudable
intentions with which relief from the greatest of our calamities
was attempted in the only mode presenting a chance of effecting
it.

I hope I shall be pardoned for remarking, that in accounting