COLON COLONIZATION SOCIETY. 



319 



ment by appointing a council of ministers and a 

 council of state for its administration, with D. Jose 

 M. de Castillo for president of each council. This 

 usurpation roused the hostility of the republican party, 

 some of whom, unfortunately, conspired to assassi- 

 nate Bolivar. The attempt was made Sept. 25, 1 828, 

 but failed, owing to the bravery of the officers and 

 attendants about his person, among whom his aid, 

 colonel Ferguson, was killed. Generals Padilla 

 and Santander were accused of participating in the 

 plot, and condemned to death by a special tribunal. 

 Padilla was executed under his sentence ; but the 

 punishment of Santander was commuted for banish- 

 ment. The immediate agents in the attempt were 

 apprehended, and suffered the punishment of death. 

 This did not prevent general Ovando from raising 

 the standard of opposition in Popayan, and gathering 

 so large a force as to demand the immediate pre- 

 sence of Bolivar to resist it. At the same time, a 

 declaration of war was issued against Peru, in conse- 

 quence of difficulties between the two countries, 

 arising out of the attempt of Bolivar to make him- 

 self perpetual president of Peru. Peace was made 

 between the two countries in 1829. In Octo- 

 ber of the same year, general Cordova began an in- 

 surrection in Antioquia, and in January, 1830, Vene- 

 zuela declared herself independent of Colombia, at 

 the instigation of general Paez. Bolivar, about the 

 same time, solemnly declared, at Bogota, every im- 

 putation against him as aiming at a crown to be 

 false, and retired to his country seat, after hav- 

 ing refused to take any part in public affairs. 

 His death, which took place in December of the 

 same year, tended to quell the political commo- 

 tions, and to restore tranquillity in the disturbed 

 provinces. In 1831, general Paez was elected pre- 

 sident of Venezuela; in the same year, general 

 Flores was named constitutional president or Quito 

 or Equator ; and in 1832, Santander was elected 

 provisional president of New Grenada. Regarding 

 the future fortunes of these states, we cannot at pre- 

 sent speculate. See the articles South America, 

 New Grenada, Quito, Venezuela, Bolivar, &c. The 

 following works may be consulted relative to Co- 

 lombia: Humboldt's Tableaux de la Nature; Per- 

 sonal Narrative of the same ; Mollien's Travels in 

 Colombia, Paris, 1823, (translated into English, 

 1825) ; Colombia, 2 vols., 8vo, London, 1822. 



COLON. See Punctuation. 



COLONEL ; the commander of a regiment, whe- 

 ther of horse, foot, or artillery. There were times 

 when, in some armies of the European continent, re- 

 giments were commanded by generals; but this is 

 no longer the case. 



COLONIAL ARTICLES. See Commerce. 



COLONIZATION SOCIETY, AMERICAN. One 

 sixth part of the population of the United States 

 consists of blacks. Of these, 1,852,126 are slaves 

 (See Slavery); the remaining 280,000 are called 

 free. In some of the states, the free black popula- 

 tion is oppressed by legal disabilities, and, in all, is 

 virtually excluded from the enjoyment of some of 

 the most important civil privileges, by the prejudices 

 of the European race. A caste is thus formed in the 

 state, of individuals below the salutary influence of 

 public opurion, cut off from all hope of improving 

 their condition, degraded, ignorant and vicious them- 

 selves, and leaving the same legacy of humiliation 

 and shame to their children. A common descent 

 and colour unite them, on the other hand, with the 

 slaves, and render them the fit agents for fomenting 

 insurrections among them. On this account, they 

 have become objects of suspicion and alarm in the 

 slave-holding states ; and the owners of slaves con- 

 sider it impolitic and dangerous to emancipate their 



negroes, since they contribute to increase the 

 strength of a dangerous class, without deriving any 

 important benefits themselves from the change. 

 This state of tilings gave rise to the colonization so- 

 ciety. So early as the year 1777, the plan was pro- 

 posed by Jefferson, in the legislature of Virginia, of 

 emancipating all the slaves oorn after that period, 

 educating them, the males to the age of twenty-one, 

 the females to that of eighteen, and establishing 

 colonies of them in some suitable place. The plan 

 of colonization has been subsequently approved by 

 the legislatures of nine states ; but it was first car- 

 ried into execution by individuals. The society was 

 formed in 1816. " Its object is, to promote and 

 execute a plan for colonizing (with their consent) the 

 free people of colour residing in that country, either 

 in Africa or such other place as congress shall deem 

 expedient ;" to prepare the way for the interference 

 of the government, by proving tliat a colony can be 

 established and maintained without the opposition of 

 the natives ; that the colonists can be transported at 

 a moderate expense ; that an important commerce 

 might be thus established, and the slave-trade in 

 consequence discouraged. The practicability of the 

 plan being proved, it was intended to extend it to 

 the entire removal of the whole black population. 

 In 1817, two agents were sent by the society to ex- 

 amine the western coast of Africa for a suitable spot 

 for the colony. They selected a position in the 

 Sherbro, and, in February, 1820, the first vessel was 

 despatched with eighty-eight colonists. They were 

 conducted by an agent of the society, and accompa- 

 nied by two agents of the government. The expe- 

 dition arrived on the low coasts in the rainy season ; 

 the three agents, and a great number of the colo- 

 nists, were carried oft" by the fever of the climate, 

 and it became necessary to abandon the colony. In 

 1821, another vessel was sent out, with twenty-eight 

 colonists, and cape Mesurado was purchased as a 

 more favourable position. It has a fine harbour, the 

 climate is pleasant, and the soil is fertile, producing 

 sugar-cane, indigo, and cotton without cultivation. 

 In 1823, the emigrants amounted to 150, of whom 

 several were recaptured Africans, taken from ves- 

 sels seized for a violation of the laws of the United 

 States. In 1828, the colony contained more than 

 1200 inhabitants. It has received the name of 

 Liberia, and the town at the cape is called Monrovia, 

 in honour of the ex-president Monroe. The posses- 

 sions of the society extend 150 miles along the coast, 

 and a considerable distance into the ulterior. Eight 

 stations or settlements have been established, at the 

 request of the native chiefs, who construct the ne- 

 cessary buildings for the accommodation of the 

 colonists at their own expense. The colonists em- 

 ploy several hundred native labourers : and they are, 

 in general, in very comfortable circumstances. 

 Several schools have been established, and the moral 

 and religious character of the inhabitants is excellent. 

 By the constitution of Liberia, all persons born in 

 the colony, or residing there, shall be free, and enjoy 

 all the privileges of the citizens of the United States ; 

 the agent or the society possesses the sovereign 

 power ; the judiciary consists of the agent and two 

 justices appointed by him ; the other officers are 

 chosen by the colonists. The common law is adopt- 

 ed, with the modifications already introduced in the 

 United States, and others required by the peculiar 

 situation of the colony. The party in any action at 

 law is entitled to trial by jury. The commerce of 

 the place is increasing. Rice, palm-oil, wax, and 

 some coffee, are exported. The supreme control ot 

 the government is to remain in the hands of the 

 society until the settlers are in a condition to govern 

 themselves. 



