ANNUAL MEETING.

May 25, 1836. Agreeably to public notice, the annual meeting of the AMERICAN UNION, for the Relief and Improvement of the Colored Race, was held at Tremont Hall, at 5 o'clock, P. M.

HON. WILLIAM REED,

President, in the chair. The meeting was opened with prayer by Rev. JOHN H. CHURCH, of Pelham, N. H. WILLIAM T. EUSTIS was appointed Secretary pro tem. The annual report was presented by Prof. E. A. ANDREWS.

On motion of Mr. B. B. EDWARDS,

Voted, That the Report be accepted, and printed and distributed under the direction of the Executive Committee.

Rev. H. WINSLOW, of Boston, offered and sustained by an address the following resolution.

Resolved, That the elevation of the African race to the moral, intellectual, and civil rank enjoyed by Christian nations, is desirable and practicable; and that it is an object to which all Christians should give their support and influence.

The resolution was adopted.

Rev. W. M. ROGERS, of Boston, then offered the following resolution.

Resolved, That while a slave remains upon our soil, the duty of the Christian is clear, to bring the light and love of religion to bear on the evil.

While this resolution was pending, on motion of Rev. N. ADAMS, the meeting adjourned to 9 o'clock, to-morrow morning.

May 26, 1836. The annual meeting was continued according to adjournment. Prayer by Rev. W. CHILD, of Pittsford, Vt. Rev. Mr. ROGERS Occupied the floor in support of the resolution introduced by him last evening. The resolution was adopted.

The following resolution was then adopted, on motion of Rev. JOSEPH TRACY, of Boston, after some remarks by the mover.

Resolved, That the international slave-trade is, in all cases, a violation of moral principle, for which all who take part in it ought to be accounted infamous.

The following resolutions were then introduced and sustained in an address, by Rev. N. ADAMS, of Boston.

Resolved, That in the present state of things, it is desirable, but difficult, to speak wisely on the subject of slavery.

Resolved, That circumstances connected with the progress of this subject, afford an opportunity of studying men and principles, which will not be lost by an observing and reflecting mind.

Resolved, That as the slavery reform is only a part of the reformation of the world, we should observe the ill success which follows many attempts in this reform, and profit by it in other more important departments of labor for human good.

Resolved, That we should regard the present unhappy state of the slavery question, and the evils growing out of it, as evils which will be overruled for some great and good end; and that it is the part of Christian prudence to wait for this result with patience.

Resolved, That, as the gospel is the plan devised by infinite wisdom to reform and save the world, all plans for specific reform must fail, which do not, like the gospel, make compassion and good will towards sinners apparent in efforts to reclaim them.

Resolved, That by violating great moral principles and sacred relations in efforts to do good, we may do an injury greater than any which we seek to remove.

Resolved, That while no language may be able to depict the evils of slavery as they appear to our minds, we should, in our desires and efforts to remove them, sympathize with that calmness which marks the feelings of the Most High, as he looks with infinite abhorrence upon sin.

The resolutions were adopted.

The meeting was closed with prayer, by Rev. H. WINSLOW.

ANNUAL REPORT.

THE past year has been distinguished in a greater degree than any which had preceded it, by the excitement which has prevailed in this country in relation to those interests, which led to the formation of the American Union. In no former year has this subject been so widely or so earnestly discussed. How far truth has been the result of all this agitation, and in what degree, and to what extent, the prejudices and angry passions of men may have been, by this means, excited, so as to prevent them from perceiving the force of truth, we have no means of certainly determining.

The Committee are happy in being able to state, that, in the controversies which have prevailed, they have taken no part; but have contented themselves with presenting to the public such facts and arguments, as appeared to them conducive to a right apprehension of the subject in discussion, and, having done this, they have carefully abstained from other modes of influencing the public mind. In pursuing this course, they have been supported by the accordant sentiments of a large proportion of their fellow citizens, in all parts of the country.

The labors of the Committee have been hitherto in some degree limited, by the want of a Corresponding Secretary and General Agent, and not less so by the public excitement to which they have already alluded. Efforts have not been wanting to obtain the services of a suitable individual to conduct the correspondence, and to carry into effect the benevolent designs of the Union, but the exertions made for this purpose have hitherto failed of success. It is a station of great responsibility, and the number of persons to whom it could be safely intrusted is proportionally small. The Committee have felt the less

regret at their failure in this respect, as the state of public feeling has rendered it every where difficult, and in many places impossible, to adopt important measures relating to the colored population, without exciting a countervailing opposition. This excitement, they believe, has in some measure subsided, although its injurious effects, in preventing the progress of improvement, will probably continue much longer. Still the time, it is believed, has now come, when direct efforts may safely be made for the benefit of the colored race, if plans for this purpose are contrived in wisdom, and executed in that spirit of kindness and conciliation, in which this Union had its origin, and which have characterized all its past efforts.

Although the present condition of the African race is one of great depression, and such as calls for general sympathy, it is not one which should create any discouragement. Low as their condition now is, the time has been when it was still lower. When we consider the circumstances of the whole race, it is easy to perceive that their improvement has already begun. Indeed, when we reflect upon the situation in which they have stood for ages past, it is obvious that they had long since reached the lowest point of degradation and misery. Ignorant even of the elements of civilization, without arts, without learning, without religion, reduced to the most abject civil and political slavery, almost the whole population of Africa had little left either to fear or hope. But even in Africa, causes are now in operation tending to elevate the character of its inhabitants. The slave-trade, though still continued, is no longer countenanced by civilized nations, but is properly ranked with piracy, as being a war against the human race. It would be to little purpose, however, that the African should be left in unmolested possession of his native country, if the light, which beams upon more favored lands, were never to shine upon his. The condition of those who were torn from their homes and families, and consigned to slavery in a foreign land, was indeed most deplorable; but scarcely was he more fortunate who perished amid the darkness of his native land. Faint, indeed, and glimmering, is the light which often shines upon him, who is consigned to slavery in countries called Christian; but it is as the light of the mid-day sun, when compared with the condition of the tribes which have long inhabited the interior, and even the coasts of Africa. But there is now hope for the African, even in the bosom of his native country. The foot of the missionary is already traversing its dreary wastes, and a moral verdure is springing up in his path. Tribes which have been proverbial, as the most benighted and besotted of the human race,-tribes, long sunk in ignorance and vice, have been elevated to knowledge and virtue. This is especially the case with those in Southern Africa. On the western

coast also the missionary has erected the cross, in the colonies which have been recently planted there, and his influence must soon be felt in all the neighboring tribes. Dark, therefore, as are still the prospects of Africa, they are far less so than at any former period.

In the British West Indies a memorable change has recently occurred in the condition of this people, and one which has probably no parallel in the history of the human race. At a single blow the fetters of the slaves have been broken throughout all those islands, and liberty, at least in name, has been restored to them. Almost two years have past away since that event, and still no alarming commotions have been felt in consequence of this important change. In those islands in which the slaves had been well prepared for freedom, by previous Christian instruction, the manumission is in some cases already complete, and none but the happiest effects have as yet followed. In other islands, where the planters had been opposed to the religious and intellectual improvement of the slaves, and where the gradual progress of public sentiment in opposition to slavery had been disregarded or contemned, the final issue of the experiment is still doubtful. If, however, scenes of anarchy are yet to be witnessed in those colonies, they will result from the previous neglect, on the part of the masters, of those measures for the moral improvement of their slaves, which it is one of the designs of this Union to promote.

In the Spanish and French colonies, slavery is not indeed abolished, but the state of public sentiment is such, at least in France, that a change in the condition of the slaves in her colonies may be confidently expected, at no very distant period, provided the grand experiment in the British colonies shall prove successful. In the new governments, established in the recent Spanish colonies upon the continent of America, slavery has obtained no favor. In this connection it is difficult to speak in terms of too deep sorrow, or too severe reprobation, of the recent attempts to restore slavery to the province of Texas, under the pretence of promoting the cause of liberty. There is a depth of depravity, and a desperation of madness, in those who would thus deliberately extend this baleful institution to regions where now all are free, which almost justifies a belief in the adage, that "God first impels to madness those whom he designs to destroy."

The experiments which are now in progress, in different parts of the world, for restoring the blessings of freedom and civilization to the colored race, are in a remarkable degree diversified, though none of them are precisely of that kind which the Christian philanthropist would most desire. The lowest degree of liberty enjoyed by them is possessed by those who have been liberated without previous preparation for the enjoyment of freedom, and who continue to reside in