o that date,
there had been no abatement of the hostile feeling of the whites toward
the blacks, nor any improvement in the social and moral condition of the
blacks themselves.

In 1849, the Elgin Association went into operation. Its object was to
concentrate the colored people at one point, and thus have them in a
more favorable position for intellectual and moral culture. A large body
of land was purchased in the Township of Raleigh, and offered for sale
in small lots to colored settlers. The measure was strongly opposed, and
called out expressions of sentiment adverse to it, from the people at
large. A public meeting, held in Chatham, August 18, 1849, thus
expressed itself:

"The Imperial Parliament of Great Britain has forever banished slavery
from the Empire. In common with all good men, we rejoice at the
consummation of this immortal act; and we hope, that all other nations
may follow the example. Every member of the human family is entitled to
certain rights and privileges, and no where on earth are they better
secured, enjoyed, or more highly valued, than in Canada. Nature,
however, has divided the same great family into distinct species, for
good and wise purposes, and it is no less our interest, than it is our
duty, to follow her dictates and obey her laws. Believing this to be a
sound and correct principle, as well as a moral and a Christian duty, it
is with alarm we witness the fast increasing emigration, and settlement
among us of the African race; and with pain and regret, do we view the
establishment of an association, the avowed object of which is to
encourage the settlement in old, well-established communities, of a race
of people which is destined by nature to be distinct and separate from
us. It is also with a feeling of deep resentment that we look upon the
selection of the Township of Raleigh, in this District, as the first
portion of our beloved country, which is to be cursed, with a systematic
organization for setting the laws of nature at defiance. Do communities
in other portions of Canada, feel that the presence of the negro among
them is an annoyance? Do they feel that the increase of the colored
people among them, and amalgamation its necessary and hideous attendant,
is an evil which requires to be checked? With what a feeling of horror,
would the people of any of the old settled townships of the eastern
portion of this Province, look upon a measure which had for its avowed
object, the effe