ld in
this case be too strong to be effectually resisted by any but
those who had gained by a previous course of useful employment
the firmest footing in the confidence and attachment of their
country. It is with them, therefore, I am persuaded, that the
subject of emancipation must originate; for they are the only
persons who have it in their power effectually to arouse and
enlighten the public sentiment, which in matters of this kind
ought not to be expected to lead, but to be led; nor ought it to
be wondered at that there should prevail a degree of apathy with
the general mass of mankind, where a mere passive principle of
right has to contend against the weighty influence of habit and
interest. On such a question there will always exist in society a
kind of _vis inertia_, to arouse and overcome, which requires a
strong impulse, which can only be given by those who have
acquired a great weight of character, and on whom there devolves
in this case a most solemn obligation. It was under these
impressions that I looked to you, my dear Sir, as the first of
our aged worthies to awaken our fellow-citizens from their
infatuation to a proper sense of justice, and to the true
interest of their country; and by proposing a system for the
gradual emancipation of our slaves, at once to form a rallying
point for its friends, who, enlightened by your wisdom and
experience, and supported and encouraged by your sanction and
patronage, might look forward to a propitious and happy result.
Your time of life I had not considered as an obstacle to the
undertaking. Doctor Franklin, to whom, by the way, Pennsylvania
owes her early riddance of the evils of slavery, was as actively
and as usefully employed on as arduous duties after he had past
your age as he had ever been at any period of his life.

With apologizing for having given you so much trouble on this
subject, and again repeating my thanks for the respectful and
flattering attention you have been pleased to pay to it, I renew
the assurances of the great respect and regard which makes me
most sincerely yours

EDWARD COLES.

Coles went west to find a suitable location for settlement but was
delayed in carrying out the enterprise by serving on a special mission
to Russia in 1816. H