children shall always form a principal part of the plan and provided further, that all negroes, emancipated by the trustees, shall, on quitting the lands of the institution, be placed out of the limits of the United States.

'The trustees residing on the lands of the institution, provided their number be not less than three, shall constitute a quorum competent to transact business.

'On all matters, except those of the nomination of trustees and coadjutors, and of the admission of young persons aged from 14 to 20, the vote of a majority of the quorum of trustees shall decide.

For the protection of absent and dissentient trustees,-no trustee shall be bound by any contract, to which he has not subscribed his name.

The trustees shall have power to fill the vacancies that may occur in their number, and to increase that number; provided that each nomination shall have the unanimous consent of the trustees, or of their quorum: and provided that the person nominated shall have, previous to nomination, resided at least six months on the lands of the institution; so that, by such residence, a thorough knowledge may have been gained of his or her character.

'The trustees shall not permit their numbers to be, at any time, less than five.

The trustees shall have power to admit other persons as their coadjutors; provided that each such admission shall have the unanimous consent of the trustees, or of their quorum; and provided that each person, so admitted, shall have, previous to admission, resided, during at least six months, on the lands of the institution; so that, by such residence, a thorough knowledge may have been gained of his or her character.

'Such coadjutors shall enjoy every privilege of the institution, except that of trust or management.

To secure the complete independence of all who may join the institution, no one admitted either as trustee, or as coadjutor, shall be liable, for any reason, to expulsion; but from the moment of admission, each person shall have an indefeasible right to the enjoyment of the comforts afforded by the institution; that is, to food, to clothing, to lodging, to attention during sickness, and to protection in old age.

'No member, whether trustee or coadjutor, who may quit the institution, shall be entitled to any compensation for past services, in addition to the participation he will have had in the comforts of the institution while residing in it.

In the admission of members, whether as trustees or as coadjutors, the admission of a husband shall not carry along with it as a consequence the admission of his wife; nor the admission of a wife the admission of her husband; nor the admission of parents,

the admission of those of their children who may be above fourteen years of age; each admission shall, like my own original nomination of trustees, be strictly individual, except that of children under fourteen years of age, whose admission shall be a consequence of the admission of either of their parents.

The children, under fourteen years of age, of all the members, whether trustees or coadjutors, shall be raised and educated by the institution, until they are, respectively, twenty years of age: when they shall, at the discretion of the trustees, be either admitted as members of this institution, or assisted in forming themselves elsewhere into a community.

'Should any child, who has been admitted in consequence of the admission of either of his parents, be removed by either of his parents from the school of the institution, for a longer period than six months, without the consent of a majority of the teachers, such child shall forfeit all claim on the institution.

'Young persons, from fourteen to twenty years of age, may be admitted individually; provided such admission be after a residence of at least three months on the lands of the institution, and by the unanimous consent of the trustees or of their quorum; and, when so admitted, such young persons shall have all the privileges of children under fourteen, and no more; and they shall, like children under fourteen, forfeit all claim on the institution by absence from the school, for more than six months, without the consent of a majority of the teachers.

'On the fourth day of July, eighteen hundred and seventy-six, the trust shall devolve on the then existing trustees and coadjutors, jointly, and thenceforward, every member shall be a trustee.

'Notwithstanding the legal inconsistency which such a reservation may seem to involve, I do reserve to myself all the privileges of a trustee.

'The lands of Nashoba, which I give in trust, amount in the aggregate to about 1860 acres ; lie on both sides of Wolf River Shelby County, state of Tennessee; and are specifically as follows: [Here is inserted a technical description of the Lands.] FRANCES WRIGHT.'

(Signed)

'I, Frances Wright, do give to General Lafayette, William Maclure, Robert Owen, Cadwallader Colden, Richeeson Whitby, Robert Jennings, Robert Dale Owen, George Flower, Camilla Wright, and James Richardson, trustees of the lands of Nashoba, the slaves Wiilis, Jacob, Grandison, Redick, Henry, Nelly, Peggy, and Kitty, with her male infant on condition that, when their labour, together with the labour of the family after-mentioned, shall have paid, to the institution of Nashoba, a clear capital of 6000ds., with 6 per cent. interest on that capital, from the 1st of January,

1827; and also a sum sufficient to defray the expenses of colonisation, these slaves shall be emancipated and colonised by the trustees.

It is, however, the intention of this paper, that the male child of Kitty, as well as all the children, which she, and Peggy, and Nelly may bear, previous to their emancipation, shall be the property of the trustees, till they respectively attain the age of twenty-five years, when they shall be emancipated by, and colonised at, the expense of the trustees.

Further, in consideration of the implicit confidence which I have in these trustees, I consign to their care the family of female slaves, entrusted to me by Robert Wilson, of South Carolina; on condition that the trustees assume all the responsibilities relative to that family which I came under, and which, notwithstanding this paper, I continue under, to their former owner, Robert Wilson: and on the additional condition, that, should the labour of this family, together with the labour of the slaves above-mentioned, have paid, to the institution of Nashoba, the sums before-mentioned, at an earlier date than that at which I am bound to emancipate and colonise them, the trustees shall, at that earlier date, emancipate and colonise the family, and their issue.

To the above-mentioned capital sum of 6000ds., with its interest, I renounce all claim, as well for myself as for my heirs, executors, and successors of every denomination, in favour of the trustees of the lands of Nashoba.

'Witness my hand and seal, &c.

'FRANCES WRIGHT.'

I, Frances Wright, do give to General Lafayette, William Maclure, Robert Owen, Cadwallader Colden, Richeeson Whitby, Robert Jennings, Robert Dale Owen, George Flower, Camilla Wright, and James Richardson, trustees of the lands of Nashoba, all my personal property that is now on these lands.

'In attempting an institution in the United States, for the benefit of the negro race, I was fully aware that much assistance would be necessary, before any thing of importance could be effected.

'To secure a title to this assistance, I have ever felt it requisite that some guarantee should be given to the public, not merely for the sincerity of my intentions, but for my [probable chance of suc

cess.

The mode that most naturally presents itself, on the first view of the subject, is to place the institution, by some legal arrangement, under the management of some public body; and to appoint trustees, subject to the control of that body. The objections to this mode are, I conceive, substantial. There is no public body, with which I am acquainted, that is not, and must not of necessity be, by the political constitutions of the country, a representative of

the feelings of a majority of the nation. In these feelings, as regards the object I have in view, the benefit of the negro race, no reflecting individual can or ought to repose confidence. Every part of the United States feels, more or less, the contamination of slavery. The negro race is every where, more or less, held, by a great majority of the population, in contempt and suspicion. Its very colour is an object of disgust. And in the speeches and votes of Congress, we find an evidence, that the most northern sections of the country harbour prejudices, equal in strength to those of the extreme south.

'Next to the national securities, apparently offered by the legislatures and official characters of the states, some more private associations or bodies seem to present themselves, such as the emancipation and colonisation of societies. In the former of these, I could alone suppose any real sympathy of feeling; as, however excellent the intentions of many members of the colonisation societies, I cannot but consider the essence of the institution to be favourable to slavery; as tending rather to relieve the slaveholders from some of those inconveniences which might force them to abandon their system, than to effect a change in that system itself. The names of many of the Presidents and Directors of these societies, will sufficiently bear testimony to the justice of this observation.

In the members of the emancipating societies, I acknowledge with pleasure the real friends of the liberty of man; and my only reason for not placing this property in some way or other, under their control is, that I conceive their views, respecting the moral instruction of human beings, to differ essentially from my own. This moral instruction I hold to be of even greater importance than the simple enfranchisement from bodily slavery: inasmuch as the liberty of the mind, and the just training of the thoughts and feelings, can alone constitute a free man, and a useful member of society,/.

'My inquiries and observations have led me to believe, that the benevolence of the societies alluded to is based on, or connected with, peculiar tenets of religion; and that the management of any individuals who should not take these for their guide, would naturally be disapproved, and probably interrupted.

8

'Let nothing unfriendly be found in these observations. I respect and esteem the intentions of the societies spoken of, and only differ from them in opinion. This difference of opinion, however, we both agree in considering of the first importance.

'There being, thus, two objects to be attained, the giving some guarantee to the public, that the institution will not be perverted to the private interest of any individual,-and the possessing some security for myself and friends, that such guarantee will not endanger our ultimate views of moral regeneration,-it has been felt necessary to have recourse to sureties of a still more private nature, which alone seem to embrace the desired objects. Let us place trust and

responsibility where we will, we must still place it in men ; and our security must ever principally rest on a belief in their integrity, and a knowledge of their feelings and opinions. In consequence, I have made choice of a certain number of individuals, in whom, and failing them, in others, chosen as before-mentioned, the possession and management of this property, in trust for a certain object, is vested.

'I am fully aware that, by this expression of sentiments, different from those commonly received in the world, the institution will forfeit much assistance which it might otherwise obtain. But I hold a plain expression of opinion to be not only a right, but a duty; and that, in the exercise of this duty, every individual not only best consults his own dignity, but renders the most important of all services to mankind.

'Emancipation, based on religion, has hitherto effected but little; and, generally speaking, has, by the tone and arguments employed, tended rather to irritate than convince.

'In facing the subject of slavery, it is necessary to bear in mind the position of the master, equally with that of the slave. Bred in the prejudices of colour and authority, untaught to labour, and viewing it as a degradation, we should consider that what we view, at first sight, as a peculiar vice and injustice in the planter, is not more so, in fact, than any other vice and injustice, stamped by education on the minds and hearts of other men. We must come to the slaveholder, therefore, not in anger, but in kindness; and when we ask him to change his whole mode of life, we must show him the means by which we may do so, without the complete compromise of his ease and of his interests. There are comparatively few holders of slaves, who will not admit in argument the worst evils of the system, more particularly the idleness, violent passions, and profligacy, it but too generally fixes on their children. But, they will say, what can we do? we are unfit for labour, and are dependent for our very subsistence on the labour of the negro.

'Let us then propose to unite their property, to pursue such occupations as their previous habits may bend to, and to continue to impose the harder tasks of labour, during their lives or necessities, upon the present generation of slaves; conferring such an education on the children of their slaves, as shall fit them for the station of a free people. Let them, at the same time, train their own children in the habits worthy of free men; rendering them independent of the labour of others, by a complete and practical education, that shall strengthen the body equally with the mind, render just and amiable the opinions and feelings, and introduce at once, in a new generation, that complete equality of habits and knowledge, alone consistent with the political institutions of the country.

'In this place, the trustees will be found ready to enter into such terms with the owners of slaves, as shall forward the objects above