benevolence and ardent zeal of Mr. Caldwell in the cause of religion and
human happiness; yet, it is out of my power to unite with him in his
opinion, of the utility of subjecting _men_ of any colour, or any
situation whatever, to "_the lowest state of degradation and
ignorance_," and, as near as possible, "_to the condition of brutes_."
Right education and knowledge should teach the legitimate slave
fortitude, and the advantages of submission, duty, and fidelity; and
should elevate the free man, of whatever colour, above the unhallowed
crime of despising himself for its having been ordained this or that
tint, or for its being obnoxious to those who have been created with a
different colour, or with none at all. Ask Capt. Paul Cuffee, Prince
Saunders, and many other well educated and worthy persons of African
extraction, whether they hate themselves, or whether any body else
possessing common sense, hates them, because they cannot _repeal_ the
laws of nature; or because there is a political and physical propriety
in their being considered as foreigners and aliens in _our_ country.

Mr. Caldwell, having considered the various positions in which it had
been respectively proposed to establish the colony, and expressing his
preference of Africa, enlarged upon the greater importance of selecting
that quarter of the globe, "in the belief and hope of thereby
introducing civilization and the christian religion, &c." correspondent
to the sentiments of Mr. Clay. "The great movements (said he) and mighty
efforts in the moral and religious world, seem to indicate some great
design of Providence on the eve of accomplishment. The unexampled and
astonishing success attending the various and numerous plans which have
been devised and which are now in operation in different parts of the
world, and the union and harmony with which christians of different
denominations unite in promoting these plans, clearly indicate a Divine
Hand in their direction. Nay, sir, the subject on which we are now
deliberating has been brought to public view, nearly about the same
time in different parts of our country. In New Jersey, New York,
Indiana, Tennessee, Virginia, and perhaps other places not known to me,
the public attention seems to have been awakened, as from slumber, to
this subject."

Mr. Caldwell remarked, that "it is a great national object, and ought to
be supported by the public purse. And that, as had been justly observed
by the honourable