, and indiscriminate
emancipation,) it was a scheme of the slaveholder to perpetuate
slavery.'--[Idem, vol. ii. pp. 12, 254, 336.]

'Slavery, in its mildest form, is an evil of the darkest
character. Cruel and unnatural in its origin, no plea can be
urged in justification of its continuance, but the plea of
necessity--not that necessity which arises from our habits, our
prejudices, or our wants; but the necessity which requires us to
submit to existing evils, rather than substitute, by their
removal, others of a more serious and destructive character. It
was this which produced the recognition of slavery in the
constitution of our country; it is this which has justified its
continuance to the present day; and it is in this only that we
can find a palliation for the rigors of our laws, which might
otherwise be considered as the cruel enactments of a dark and
dismal despotism. There have not, I am aware, been found wanting
individuals to deny both the existence and the obligations of
such a necessity. There are men, actuated in some instances, by
a blind and mistaken enthusiasm, and in others, by a spirit of
mischievous intent, loudly calling on us, in the names of
justice and humanity, for the immediate and unqualified
emancipation of our slaves. To men of this description, it is in
vain to point out the inevitable effects of such a course, as
well on the objects of their real or pretended solicitude, as on
the community in which they exist. It is in vain to assure them,
that while the preservation of the latter would require a policy
even more rigorous than pertains to slavery itself, the
short-lived and nominal freedom of the former must end in their
ultimate and utter extinction. All this is of no consequence.
Provided slavery be abolished in name, it matters not what
horrors may be substituted in its room.' * * * 'The scope of the
Society is large enough, but it is in no wise mingled or
confounded with the broad sweeping views of _a few fanatics_ in
America, who would urge us on to the sudden and total abolition
of slavery.'--[Af. Rep. vol. iii. pp. 15, 197.]

'What is to be done? Immediate and universal emancipation will
find few, if any advocates, among judicious and reflecting men.'
* * * 'There is a portion of our brethren, who have been
laboring for many y