is not surprising that their deliberations were in secret."

It is a matter of historical interest to know that in these mysterious
sessions lay the germs of the American Colonization Society. A
correspondence was at once secretly commenced between the Governor of
Virginia and the President of the United States, with a view to securing
a grant of land whither troublesome slaves might be banished. Nothing
came of it then; but in 1801, 1802, and 1804, these attempts were
renewed. And finally, on Jan. 22, 1805, the following vote was passed,
still in secret session: "_Resolved_, that the Senators of this State in
the Congress of the United States be instructed, and the Representatives
be requested, to use their best efforts for the obtaining from the
General Government a competent portion of territory in the State of
Louisiana, to be appropriated to the residence of such people of color as
have been or shall be emancipated, or hereafter may become dangerous to
the public safety," etc. But of all these efforts nothing was known till
their record was accidentally discovered by Charles Fenton Mercer in
1816. He at once brought the matter to light, and moved a similar
resolution in the Virginia Legislature; it was almost unanimously
adopted, and the first formal meeting of the Colonization Society, in
1817, was called "in aid" of this Virginia movement. But the whole
correspondence was never made public until the Nat Turner insurrection of
1831 recalled the previous excitement; and these papers were demanded by
Mr. Summers, a member of the Legislature, who described them as "having
originated in a convulsion similar to that which had recently, but more
terribly, occurred."

But neither these subsequent papers, nor any documents which now appear
accessible, can supply any authentic or trustworthy evidence as to the
real extent of the earlier plot. It certainly was not confined to the