About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline
LOG IN
LOG IN

1 R. R. Gurley, Letter of Mr. Gurley, on the American Colonization Society 1 (1833)

handle is hein.slavery/ltrgurl0001 and id is 1 raw text is: LETTER OF ItIr. GUILE, ON THE AMERICAN COLONIZATION SOCIETY. Office of the Colonization Society, ll7ashinsglon, April 9, 183.3. DEAR Sta-The Rev. G. T. Bedell having kindly favoured me with a sight of yo'r interesting letter, addressed to himr on the subject of the American Colonization So- ciety, I deem it a duty to that institution, of which I have for several years been See- retary, and a testimonial of but just respect for yourself, to communicate, briefly, tly thoughts in regard to the claims of this Society to the approbation and support of a!l the friends of God and man. And here, may I be allowed to say, that I concur in the opinion expressed by the most illustrious man that England (if not the world) has produced, (Lord Bacon,) that the law of Jesus Christ, '-Do unto others as you would that others should do unto you,' is the perfection of the law of nature and of nations, binding equally upon man as an individual, and as a member of political society ; nor do 1 hesitate to admit, that the American Colonization Society, if it violate in princiFle or practice this law, is unworthy, utterly unworthy of private or public patronage, But though the great law of duty between mal and man is one, immutable and perpetual, yet the action and conduct required by it, are relatively various in different individuals ; and in regard to any one individual, dependent for various iodifcaiens, upon the circumstances in whichi he may be placed. The law of duty as a principle is for ever the same, between parent and child, minister and people,master and servant, ruler and subject; yet no one will deny, that from their co-relative positions result widely varying and varied forms and modes of obedience. That which would be correct conduct in the parent towards the child, the minister towards the people, the master towards the servant, and the ruler towards the subject, would be incorrect in the child towards the parent, the people towards the minister, the servant towards the master, and the subject towards the ruler. Yet, the law of love, published by the Saviour, and enforced and illustrated by his example, defines the ielations and constitutes the imimu- table and eternal principle and ground of obligation between them. And as human rights should be defined, regulated, and measured in the influence and authority of the principle of duty to which we refer, their nature and extent may be, and doubtless ari, no less liable to the variations and in 'adufiertions of circimiiistances, than are the conduct and action by which this principle is most perfectly developed and expressed. It seems unreasonable to deny that the rights of humnan beings may be widely different ; those, for instance, of parents and children, the magistrate and the citizen, the sbipmaster and the sailor, the teacher and the scholar, while between them the obligation of Christian duty may be fully and faithfully discharged. In this connexion 1 beg leave to intro- duce one or two sentences from an article in the Edinburgh Review for July, 1,32, on , the political condition of the Italian states, which seems to me to contain just alnd important sentiments, bearing upon the question which I propose briefly to consider, that of the dtty of .American Christians lowards their coloured population, and the means and measures best adopted to promote their improvement and happiness. We are called on, says the writer of that article, to make good by argument, and, where necessary, by arms, the claims of man, as a member of society, to a distinct and vivid political existence. As man in his social state, is always moving backward or forward, the abstract claim can, in the case of no two societies, be quite alike, and im- portant modifications of it in practice must constantly arise. For the rig4ht of setf-go- vernment, whether on the part of an individual or of a people, isfounded oi the fact, oJ its being a source of happiness to the parties. In this point of view, it can be no fixed quanti- ty ; still less when more general consequences are taken into consideration. To the ex- tent that questions of competition may unfortunately occur, the exercise of the right, and indeed the right itself, must be subordinate to the paramount test of the general happiness of mankind.

What Is HeinOnline?

HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.



Contact us for annual subscription options:

Contact Us

Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?

Log In

profiles profiles most