'But _what_ shall be done? Some--and their motives and philanthropic zeal are worthy of all honor--plead for immediate emancipation. But Mr Ladd had seen enough to know that _that_ would be a curse to all parties. He acknowledged a difficulty here; _but it is a difficulty that often occurs in morals_. When we have gone far in a wrong road, it often happens that we cannot in a moment put ourselves in the right one. One penalty of such a sin is, that it clings to us, and cannot be shaken off at once with all its bitter consequences by a mere volition.'--[Speech of William Ladd, Esq.] 'The warmest friend to the abolition of slavery, while he deplores the existence of the evil, must admit the necessity of cautious and gradual measures to remove it. The inhabitants of the South cannot, and ought not, suddenly to emancipate their slaves, to remain among them free. Such a measure would be no blessing to the slaves, but the very madness of self-destruction to the whites. In the South, the horrid scenes that would too certainly follow the liberation of their slaves, are present to every imagination, to stifle the calls of justice and humanity. A fell spirit of avarice is thus invigorated and almost justified, by the plea of necessity.'--[First Annual Report of the New Jersey Col. Soc.] 'The impropriety and impolicy of manumitting slaves, _in any case_, in our country, one would suppose, must be apparent to all. It is not a little astonishing that individuals acquainted with the facts, and the evils brought upon society by the free black population, should persist in declaring that duty and humanity call upon us to give the slaves their freedom. It really appears to me that there is entirely too much "namby pamby sentimentality" and affected feeling exhibited respecting the condition of slaves. Do these individuals believe that benevolence and humanity command us to turn loose upon society a set of persons who confessedly only serve to swell the amount of crime, while they add nothing to the industry, to the wealth, or the strength of the country? Because abstractedly considered, man has no right to hold his fellow man in bondage, shall we give up our liberty, and the peace of society, in order that this principle may not be violated? The fact is, _the negroes are happier when kept in bondage_. In their master they find a willing and efficient protector, to guard them from injury and insult, to attend to them when sick and in distress, and to provide for their comfort and support, when old age overtakes them. When in health, they are well fed and clothed, and by no means, in common cases, are they hardly worked.'--[A warm advocate of African Colonization in the Alexandria Gazette.]