The illustrations of the superior force of the opposite principle, have been necessarily drawn, in the greater number of instances, from those parts of the earth where, although possessed of great natural resources, the inhabitants have been sunk in slothful habits, from the absence of the stimulants that best call forth those resources, and the powers of human labour and invention. Those systems of political economy, therefore, in which a greater influence is ascribed to indolence, than to that activity, mental and physical, which is the main spring of all improvement, because connected with increase of enjoyment, the desire of possessing and transmitting property and a dominion over others, must be false. The occasional recurrence of gluts, is a symptom of the faulty distribution of capital and of a disturbance in the regular exchanges of its products, and not a proof that man must cease to produce from the want of consumption, in the ordinary way.

But those writers who are not advocates of the passion for expense, appear to lay too much stress on the necessity of accumulation. Whilst one class of economists seem apprehensive, therefore, that men will spend too freely, another appear to dread, that they will accumulate too fast. Both apprehensions we think equally unreasonable. These desires are in equilibrium in the conduct of the majority of men, when left to their natural impulses, and the enjoyment of the fruits of their labours. There is an equal absurdity in the doctrine that teaches the necessity of unproductive consumption, to a balance between produce and expenditure, as in that which is the foundation of sumptuary enactments.

The length to which we have extended these remarks, preeludes us from explaining the points of difference between us and Dr. Cooper, on the subject of population. We hope, however, at no very distant period, to redeem the promise with which we set out, in noticing the very useful contribution he has made to science, by his "Elements of Political Economy."

ART. VIII.-The Tenth Annual Report of the American Society, for Colonizing the Free People of Colour of the United States. With an Appendix. Washington. Way & Gideon, 1827.

THAT the institution of slavery is attended with some evils, and those not inconsiderable ones, we readily admit; though we think that it is also attended with advantages which, in some degree, compensate for them. That the scale of evil preponderates-that, upon the whole, domestic servitude is not, with a view to the general circumstances of the world, the best of all possible institutions-even this proposition, it is not our purpose

to controvert.

We believe, however, that much as the subject has been discussed, it is not yet thoroughly understood. We think that in the various publications unfavourable to slavery, which have appeared in print, the evils have been exaggerated, and the compensating circumstances, in a great measure, overlooked. We are of opinion, that on this subject, there exists and has existed for some time past, both in this country and in England, a great deal of uninformed and misguided zeal ; as much, perhaps, as on any, that has ever employed the thoughts and pens of men; and, that many of those who conceive themselves to be best informed and best qualified to instruct, and who have taken the greatest pains to enlighten others on the subject, are grossly ignorant, not only of facts but of the very principles upon which a judgment is to be formed. And, what is most surprising of all, some individuals among ourselves, instead of attending to what passes before their own eyes and under their own observation, are content to take up their opinion, ready-made, from the haphazard speculations and vehement invectives of these enlightened and benevolent, though distant instructors. We believe also, that most or all of the schemes which have been proposed for the abolition of slavery, or the mitigation of its evils, are useless or impracticable, or dangerous, and likely to do infinitely more harm than good.

We do not, however, purpose, at present to enter at large into the discussion of these topics. We shall have occasion to recur to them, perhaps, in the course of our future labours. Our views in this article shall be exclusively confined to the plans of the Society, whose name appears at the head of it.

This institution has gone on from the very beginning, with much energy and zeal. This report announces, that its success can no longer be considered as doubtful. A colony has been

established, which has every prospect of prosperity. The views of the Society enlarge, with the successful progress of their labours. The present Report announces, that an application will be made to Congress, during its present session, for an appropriation to aid them in prosecuting their schemes; and a late article in a popular Periodical Journal, which appears to be intimately connected, both with the Society and the present administration of the government, seems to have been designed to make an impression on the public mind, favourable to the success of such an application.

Public opinion, on the whole, appears to have been thus far favourable to their undertaking-decidedly so in the non-slaveholding states. In the slave-holding states it has been more divided; but even in these, the Society reckons, amongst its members, some of the most enlightened and distinguished of our citizens.

Our own opinions, we confess, are unfavourable to the institution, and we take this early opportunity to state some of our objections to it, even at the risk of doing so in rather a hasty and imperfect manner. They are,—

That so long as the operations of the Society are confined to its avowed objects, it will be nearly or entirely useless to the United States at large, and utterly so to the Southern states:

That its operations, however, are not intended to be confined to the objects at present avowed; and we would not lightly expose ourselves to the dangers of an ambiguous policy:

That the means by which the main ulterior object (the abolition of slavery) is to be effected, so far as we are able to form any conjecture concerning them, are likely to prove dangerous to the peace and safety of the slave-holding states:

That if this object is to be effected at any time, it must be by the slave-holding states themselves; and that the interference of others who have not a common interest, and will not be exposed to common dangers with them, is most seriously to be deprecated.

We utterly deny the constitutional right of Congress to make the appropriation proposed; and the justice and expediency of the measure, even if it were constitutional.

We have no faith in power, which has a natural and necessary tendency to encroachment. We apprehend, that if the General Government conceives itself authorized to interfere in this way, for remedying the evils of slavery, it may, in future, interfere by more direct and short-handed legislation on the subject; and to this we should look forward as the source of all imagina

ble calamity to the Southern states, and to the whole confederacy.

Although, if the operations of the Society were, in good faith, confined to its avowed objects, we should have little interest in them, and perhaps no right to find fault with them; yet, we have a right to complain that they have, in many respects, been so conducted as to be calculated to produce, and to have actually produced, in some degree, a feeling of alarm and insecurity in one portion of our population, and of discontent and insubordination in another.

The avowed object of the Society is to diminish the number of free-coloured persons in the United States, or to prevent their increase by encouraging and aiding their voluntary emigration to Africa. And some of its members seem anxious that their object should not be misunderstood. Mr. Clay, in his speech, asks, "what is the true nature of the evil of the existence of a portion of the African race in our population. It is not that there are some, but that there are so many of a different caste." In another passage, "the object of the Society was the colonization of the free coloured people, not the slaves, of the country. Voluntary in its institution, voluntary in its continuance, voluntary in all its ramifications, all its means, purposes and instruments are also voluntary."

The Society tell us that they have established an orderly and prosperous colony. This may be a very good thing, and very gratifying to a benevolent mind. The individuals who have established themselves in Liberia, may possibly have improved their own condition, and elevated the hopes of their posterity. But, with these considerations, we have, at present, nothing to do. We are considering the benefit that is to result from the project to the United States-in a national point of view, as the friends of the Society are fond of expressing it. In this light, we ask, how are the objects of the Society to be considered as a national concern, so as to entitle it to the assistance of Congress, and the aid of the public funds? Particular neighbourhoods may, for aught we know, have been benefited, by getting rid of troublesome individuals; but is the Federal Legislature invoked, is it authorized, and was it established to transport vagrants?

Since the Society has been in operation, it has transported to Africa, not more than a few hundred persons. During the same period, according to Mr. Clay's calculation, the increase of free coloured people in the United States, has been about sixty thousand, and of coloured persons, of all descriptions, between four and five hundred thousand. The simple stating of this

proposition, would seem to go far towards determining the question, as to what extent the Society is likely to be useful in diminishing the number of coloured persons in the United States, or checking their increase. But the Society allege, that the limited extent of their operations, has been owing to their limited pecuniary means, and, that they have hitherto found as many emigrants willing to go, as they were able to send. We think, however, that there are obvious and conclusive reasons for believing, that whatever amount of funds the Society may have at its disposal, its operations can never become much more extensive than they already are—we mean, of course, so long as they shall be confined to the voluntary emigration of those already free. Every body knows that nine-tenths of them will not go. We are told of the spirit of enterprise, which prompts men to explore and to settle new countries. But in the most enterprising community, it is but a small proportion of the population that can be thus excited. We have never, except

in very early stages of society, heard of a whole people's emigrating en masse. A vast majority of the human race are essentially unenterprising, and will endure much hardship and misery, before they will risk a great change.*

It may be true, that if the colony continues to prosper, the disposition to emigrate will increase and spread. But the process will be exceedingly slow-the work of many years; and long before this disposition can become general, the subjects of this benevolent scheme, will have multiplied far beyond any means which the Society can ever be expected to possess, of transporting them. Mr. Clay supposes, that if six thousand could be removed annually, the numbers of the free coloured population would remain stationary. We do not believe, if the whole revenue of the United States were at the command of the Society, they could find two thousand recruits for the colony in a year, unless by tempting them with exorbitant bounties. We are surrounded by numbers of this class of persons, and we hesitate not to affirm, that so far as we are able to form a judgment, there is not an individual among them, of any sort of respectability, who could be induced to go. One family only, we believe, has ever gone from South-Carolina. A few recruits have been picked up in North-Carolina and Virginia; none from the states South and Southwest of us. Speaking as to our own state, with respect to which, we are, of course, best informed, we know of no class of persons less disposed to change their place of

*Adam Smith somewhere remarks, that after all that has been said of the levity and inconstancy of mankind, human creatures are, of all others, the most difficult

to move.