only been rendered the
more dark and gloomy, by the conduct of the free colored men of that
Province. And when we couple the results there with those of the West
Indies, it must be obvious to all, that what has been attempted for the
colored race is wholly impracticable; that in its present state of
advancement from barbarism, the attainment of civil and social equality,
with the enlightened white races, is utterly impossible.

It would appear, then, that philanthropists have committed a grave error
in their policy, and the sooner they retrace their steps the better for
the colored people. The error to which we refer, is this: they found a
small portion of colored men, whose intelligence and moral character
equaled that of the average of the white population; and, considering it
a great hardship that such men should be doomed to a degraded condition,
they attempted to raise them up to the civil and social position which
their merits would entitle them to occupy. But in attempting to secure
equal rights to the enlightened negro, the philanthropists claimed the
same privilege for the whole of that race. In this they failed to
recognize the great truth, that free government is not adapted to men in
a condition of ignorance and moral degradation. By taking such broad
ground--by securing the largest amount of liberty for a great mass of
the most degraded of humanity--they have altogether failed in convincing
the world, that freedom is a boon worth the bestowal upon the African in
his present condition. The intelligent colored man, who could have been
lifted up to a suitable hight, and maintained his position, if he had
been taken alone, could not be elevated at all when the whole race were
fastened to his skirts. And this mistake was a very natural one for men
who think but superficially. Despotic government is repugnant to
enlightened men: hence, in rejecting it for themselves, they repudiate
it as a form of rule for all others. This decision, plausible as it may
appear, is not consistent with the philosophy of human nature as it now
is; nor is it in accordance with the sentiments of the profound
statesmen who framed the American Constitution. They held that only men
of intelligence and moral principle were capable of self-government;
and, hence, they excluded from citizenship the barbarous and
semi-barbarous Indians and Africans, who were around them and in their
midst.

In discussing the results of emancipation in the Un